Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 93 Chasing the Witch Alone
Seeing that the curse had failed to kill the witch, Lu Ze had no choice but to give up and clean up the scene. He wiped away the blood-based magic circle on the ground, and his previously charred left hand was rapidly healing. He stood up from the floor and was about to check the altar when he suddenly noticed a few drops of red blood on the floor in the hallway.

Wait, is this the witch's blood?

Lu Ze's heart stirred. He took out a handkerchief, carefully absorbed the blood onto it, and then hid it in his pocket. After doing this, he turned and went to the altar to analyze the function of the ritual from the perspective of a professional.

Yes, the core of the ritual has been removed. But judging from these patterns, the ritual's purpose was to transform the deceased's life force and resentment into pure energy.
As Luze was pondering, he heard footsteps outside. Dunn entered with Leonard and Klein.

"Captain, you didn't catch them?" Although he had already guessed the result, Lu Ze was still somewhat disappointed to see them return empty-handed.

Wait, even if I catch and kill her, I don't think I can easily take her heart out.

Lu Ze thought to himself.

Looking at it this way, it seems better to let her escape and then secretly chase after her and kill her myself.
He suddenly understood why he had subconsciously hidden the handkerchief.

"It's a pity she got away. But our primary goal is to stop the ritual, so getting rid of her is acceptable. So, do you understand the purpose of this ritual now?"

Dunn asked.

“This isn’t a particularly harmful ritual,” Lu Ze said. “She’s collecting life force and converting it into pure energy.”

"What can this energy be used for?"

Leonard asked.

"Treatment, or perhaps nourishment, that's about it."

Even Lu Ze himself couldn't be sure.

Dunn circled the altar once and picked up the broken silver mirror from the table.

“This should be a personal item left behind by that extraordinary individual,” he said, handing the mirror to Klein. “Klein, try using it to divine and see if you can find any clues.”

"Yes, Captain."

Klein took the silver mirror and was about to begin divination when he suddenly twitched his nose slightly and said in confusion, "Strange, I think I smell something burning."

Yes, I just burned one of my hands, but if you smell it closely, you can still smell the aroma of meat.

Lu Ze casually studied the altar and said, "The spirits have all dissipated, so I can't communicate with them. It seems I can only rely on Klein."

"I'll go to the second floor and take a look."

Leonard went up the stairs.

Luze, however, remained on the first floor. He was very interested in Klein's divination and wanted to observe it live. Although Klein had taught him some divination techniques, his talent seemed to be focused on rituals, and he had never been able to grasp the essence of divination in this area.

Klein pulled out paper and pen and wrote down the divination words. Then, stroking the silver mirror with one hand and holding the paper in the other, he muttered incantations. After repeating this seven times, his eyes deepened, and he lowered his head, drifting into a dream.

Dream divination!
A moment later, Klein slowly woke up and shook his head helplessly, saying, "I was disturbed; I could only see some water mist."

"That's it."

Dunn said, not too disappointed, as if he had expected this to happen.

Not long after, Leonard came down carrying a makeup box, a smile on his face. "Heh, you see, Triss's interests have changed since she became a woman."

Later, Klein tried divination with the makeup box, dream divination, and finding objects with a divination stick, but the answer was still the same—the divination was being interfered with.

Lu Ze frowned.

If these personal items were designed to prevent divination, would the bloodstains she left behind also be rendered ineffective?
It seems unlikely that because her blood was drawn by me on the spot, she wouldn't have had time to sever the connection with her original body, unless she routinely makes such preparations, which most extraordinary individuals certainly wouldn't do. Okay, then this is a valuable clue.

Lu Ze thought to himself. He quickly made a decision. There was no time to lose. He planned to use the bloodstains in the handkerchief tonight to track down her, then kill her and rip out her heart!

Meanwhile, Dunn looked around the room and, finding no other clues, sighed, "In that case, we'll have to investigate in other directions. For example, we could use the clothing found at the scene, or set up surveillance at the train station to investigate the homeowner."

That would require the cooperation of the police department, and it would be time-consuming, but for Lu Ze, this was actually a good thing.

The matter was now closed. Dunn instructed Leonard to contact the police, and then sent Klein and Luzer home to rest. It was only shortly after dark, and there were still horse-drawn carriages on the street. The two waited at the station for a while, then boarded a carriage and returned to Narcissus Street.

On the way, Lu Ze wanted to ask him if he had found the whereabouts of the red chimney roof recently, but when he thought that he was being watched by Ms. M, he didn't say anything more and just chatted with Klein.

Klein was able to contact Azik; I wonder if Azik can take care of Ms. M and rescue Cecilia. I still have one chance to block surveillance; should I use it?
He was thinking this to himself, but he was still chatting with Klein aloud, "Actually, we should have eaten out before coming back. I wonder if there was any food left at home."

To be honest, after a whole night of work, especially with the repair of his left hand injury, he felt extremely hungry.

"Hopefully our sister will be kind enough to save us some dinner."

Klein laughed.

He was also pondering, planning to go to the Gray Fog for divination upon returning. The mystique there was high; perhaps he could break through the anti-divination barrier and find clues. Triss's crimes were extremely heinous; he didn't want such a person to go unpunished.

The two said goodbye in front of their respective homes.

Lu Ze pushed open the door, and the aroma of food immediately wafted out. Seeing Cecilia sitting at the table laden with dishes waiting for him, he couldn't help but smile—it would have been even better if that damned Ms. M hadn't been there.

"Welcome back."

Ms. M smiled and said to him, "It's a real shame we didn't catch that witch, and we also couldn't get the materials I wanted."

So, are you going to punish me?

Lu Ze took out a blood-stained handkerchief from his pocket and said warily, "I've got a clue. I'm going to chase after her tonight. If I catch her, I should be able to get what you want."

At this point, a thought struck him, and he asked, "Or you could come with me. With your strength, controlling a low-ranking witch wouldn't be too difficult, would it?"

Judging from Ms. M's fighting stance, one might be able to identify her problem.
However, Ms. M just smiled at Lu Ze, and a moment later, she suddenly snapped her fingers, and a sharp pain struck him.

"Well!"

Lu Ze grunted and steadied himself against the table.

"Lu Ze!"

Cecilia screamed and ran over to help her brother.

"Haven't you been being a little too disrespectful to me lately?"

Ms. M said with a smile.

Lu Ze trembled in pain, but inwardly he sneered.

She's afraid to make a move; there must be something wrong with her!

Got you!

(End of this chapter)