Chapter 139 Mr. Zhang’s Reflections
One day later, Officer Rothes met with Mr. Zhang again. After reviewing his report, he asked, “So, you believe this is a record of witchcraft?”
“Uh, I think so. Although I’ve never seen many of these characters, I can recognize some and recall others. If you need specific content, I might need some more time to study it, but the general gist involves knowledge of witchcraft and potion brewing.”
Mr. Zhang stated rigorously. This translation had been an unprecedented challenge for him. As the text was written with charcoal on brick and stone, the characters were distorted and scribbled, with even ligatures and abbreviations present. Many parts didn’t form complete sentences, clearly intended for the author’s eyes only.
Many sections were entirely incoherent, containing only a few words, possibly mere drafts, and even then, preliminary ones, making his analysis very difficult.
Most crucially, this batch of text was almost entirely different from current Chinese, with vastly different grammar, yet it was highly logical. Mr. Zhang observed a significant number of ancient simplified characters.
For the characters he didn’t recognize, Mr. Zhang could deduce the original character after analysis. Some character designs were so ingenious and their simplification so clever that Mr. Zhang couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
He even had an intuition that this was a very complete system of Chinese characters. In this small cave, behind a few hundred characters, lay tens of thousands of completely simplified Chinese characters.
Mr. Zhang briefly suspected he might be ignorant, having missed out on a folk script. But then he thought it impossible; he had passed the imperial examinations and learned all the standard literary styles.
The only possibility he might have missed, and the most likely one, was the simplified script invented by the Taiping rebels. The question was, how could Taiping rebels have ended up in Iberia?
The ingenuity and conciseness of these simplified characters even made Mr. Zhang applaud, recognizing how easily such a font, convenient for the common people’s understanding, could spread.
During his years studying and procuring goods in the West, Mr. Zhang’s greatest realization was that the fundamental reason for the Great Qing being bullied by foreigners was not poverty or military weakness, but the unenlightened populace.
If these characters could be brought back and popularized among the masses, enabling them to read and learn on their own, it would surely foster a large number of national pillars in the future.
However, he also broke out in a cold sweat. This idea was very dangerous, possibly even seditious. Transmitting basic knowledge to commoners would surely invite severe criticism from genuine scholars, who would denounce him for violating ancestral ways.
Spreading simplified characters could even lead to accusations of being an accomplice to the Taiping rebels, leaving him with no way to defend himself. Yet, even so, it couldn’t suppress the flame of curiosity ignited in Mr. Zhang’s heart.
“I see, I understand now. So that’s what it means. Indeed, based on these words alone, it can be confirmed that the person who wrote this was a witch.” Officer Rothes, having heard Mr. Zhang’s report, finally understood. The case had made new progress.
“Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Zhang. This is a token of our gratitude.” Officer Rothes had someone bring over a bag of gold coins. Patrol officers had ample funding, and case-solving funds were part of that budget.
“Officer, I have a humble request.” Mr. Zhang said after some deliberation.
“Please, go ahead,” Officer Rothes asked, having been about to usher him out.
“Those characters cannot be deciphered in just a day or two. I have only submitted an initial report. However, if given more time, I am confident I can provide a more detailed and accurate translation.” Mr. Zhang stated.
“You mean?” Officer Rothes’s eyes lit up.
“Yes, I am willing to stay in Cando City to continue deciphering those texts. There may be more crucial information within that could help you solve your case.” Mr. Zhang volunteered.
“Haha, of course, you can. I’ve heard that Easterners are very passionate and responsible, and today I see it’s true. Thank you, Mr. Zhang. Do you have any specific requests?”
Officer Rothes felt that Mr. Zhang’s voluntary offer to help must have his own motives, unaware that his real motive was simply to continue studying those characters.
“I wouldn’t dare to ask for anything. However, I do have one request. If you capture this witch, could you allow me to meet her? Of course, it wouldn’t interfere with your investigation, but I suspect she might be connected to our country’s Taiping rebels, which is why she used our language.” Mr. Zhang explained.
“Within the scope of my authority, of course. If we manage to catch her, we will definitely notify you, Mr. Zhang. I’ll trouble you with the rest.” Officer Rothes replied.
And so, matters were settled. While they discussed me and made wild guesses, I was still bedridden, recuperating for three whole days.
During this time, I could only watch Jayad go out to buy firewood, steal money, and gather intelligence, while I stayed in bed in the new house.
That faint, cold aura would occasionally appear in the room. I was certain the female ghost was still there, even peeking at me from time to time. However, it seemed I had scared her badly last time, and now she didn’t dare to come out.
I was also powerless for the time being, unless I could learn the last magic recorded in the Witch’s Notes, the Spirit Communication Technique, then I might be able to communicate with her.
Speaking of which, after Jayad managed to get away from MacDuff, he no longer had to hand over most of his income to MacDuff. All his theft earnings could be used at his own discretion, which drastically increased Jayad’s efficiency in making money.
Initially, Jayad still picked up broken wood chips for fuel. These past few days, he had started buying charcoal directly, bringing it back in bags.
This was because Jayad discovered that instead of the trouble of picking up wood chips, which burned quickly and took a long time to gather, he could steal from three streets in the time it took to collect them.
In the past, since all the money had to be handed over to MacDuff, but the collected firewood was for general use, Jayad didn’t feel much difference. Now, he realized it was better to buy charcoal directly, saving him a lot of time.
Then, as his money gradually increased, Jayad even bought some cups, saucers, and bowls for the new house. Although they were simple and bought cheaply on the street, it made it much easier to give me hot water.
During this period of being confined to bed, I also wasn’t doing nothing. First, I sorted through the spoils of war, obtaining a police-issue revolver. It could hold six bullets and was a very simple and reliable gun.
In my opinion, this revolver, which I knew from my previous life, was much more reliable than the air gun, which, despite its immense power, I had no idea how it worked.
However, Jayad said he didn’t know how to use a gun and asked me to keep it for self-defense. Considering that this gun was confiscated from a patrol officer, it was not suitable for Jayad to carry out at the moment, so I kept it for myself.
Then, I also made Jayad drink the potion I personally brewed.
