I can copy tags infinitely.

[Label copied]

Paranoia

[Effect: When you do what you believe is right, your resistance to anomalies and the effects of fate will increase by 50%]

Before Lynch died, Li En successfully copied his label.

In this way, he was one step closer to the path combination with that special label.

"Are we one level away from being materialistic warriors, and two levels away from being fanatics?"

Li En was indeed very curious about what kind of effect the special label of the guardian would have, which mentioned that it could rewrite the future of the people he cared about to a certain extent.

But right now, it's clear that the matter at hand must take precedence.

He put the flintlock pistol down, went to Joel, and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Joel had a deep wound on his neck, clearly caused by the rag doll.

He couldn't even utter a word; blood was gushing from his wound, and if it wasn't treated promptly, it could very well be life-threatening.

"Let me take you out first. Can you stand up?"

Lee helped Joel up, and Joel's entire weight pressed down on Lee, but he acted as if nothing had happened.

The label of being born with superhuman strength didn't come from nowhere; if possible, Lee En could even lift Joel out of the house.

After Joel was helped out of the townhouse, a significant number of the officers who had been lying in wait nearby rushed over.

"Sheriff!"

"Sheriff! Are you alright?"

"Sheriff! So many people have been injured for no apparent reason, and you're injured too! And the wounds are exactly the same!"

Upon hearing these people's words, Li En immediately realized that Lin Qi's words just now were largely a bluff.

He didn't collect all the hair from everyone, but the amount he collected wasn't small. If he were to actually break the neck of the rag doll, it might really take many people's lives.

Although Joel's invitation to Lee was just a spur-of-the-moment decision, it indirectly saved his own life, as well as the lives of the Scotland Yard officers.

"Take good care of Sheriff Greg," Li En instructed the officers. "I'm going in to check on him."

He returned to Lynch's residence.

Lin Qi's body was still lying there. Li En looked at it with the investigator's eyes and saw that there was no trace of his spirit left.

Even the rag doll he was holding lost its spirit and fell out of the category of abnormal objects.

"Is this rag doll highly bound to Lin Qi?" Li En murmured, squatting down on the study floor and picking up the dirty rag doll.

This rag doll is small in size, only slightly larger than the palm of your hand.

The body was made of coarse, grayish cotton cloth, which became slightly shiny after repeated rubbing.

Its head was slightly larger than its body, and its belly was flattened out, filled with cheap cotton and a small amount of human hair. Looking inside through the stitches, it looked like a horsehair worm crawling out of a praying mantis, which was quite creepy.

"When Lynch is alive, it is an anomaly; when Lynch dies, it becomes an ordinary object again."

Li En thought it was worth keeping this for the time being. If he later learned how to create anomalous objects, this might be a good means of long-range attack.

Since it is not an anomaly, even if Li En looks at it from an investigator's perspective, he will not get any clues.

After carefully tucking the rag doll into his arms, Li En grabbed Lin Qi's shoulder and turned his body over.

The book he held tightly in his arms before he died.

Missed.

"How is that possible?"

Li En was somewhat surprised. The study had no windows on any side, and the only passageway was the main entrance of the house.

Throughout his entire trip, he did not see a second person enter Lynch's residence, which means that the book disappeared on its own!

"At the very end, Lynch wrote something in the book and gave some order to kill me."

Li En frowned deeply; this was a very bad sign.

Because he had absolutely no idea what it was.

When a person is in the ocean, no matter how calm the sea is, he will feel fear.

Because he didn't know what kind of beings lurked beneath the sea surface.

The unknown is the most terrifying thing.

Relighting the silver candlestick in his hand, Li En searched the entire residence by candlelight until his head throbbed with pain and fate seemed to be killing him, but he still couldn't find the unknown book.

"The book is missing."

Lee En reached a final conclusion.

The dangers of the mystical side are beginning to emerge.

Even something as mundane as arresting a criminal acting out of personal vendetta, which seems insignificant from a rational perspective, could potentially lead to a terrible event once it involves the mystical side!

"We'll probably need to be more careful with our actions going forward."

Li En set a premise for his actions and then left his residence.

The surviving Scotland Yard officers filed in and began processing the scene.

As for Joel and the affected police officers, they were roughly carried onto carriages on stretchers and rushed to Bartholomew's Hospital.

As the oldest hospital in London, its medical standards and hygiene conditions were better than those of other hospitals in London at that time.

Of course, it's not much better.

After helping the officers clean up the mess, Lee found a random officer, told him where he was going, and asked him to pass on a message of concern to Joel before leaving.

After a whole day of commotion, night fell, and the whole of London was shrouded in a thick gray fog.

On the Thames, large ocean-going cargo ships, with the low growls of beasts, delivered goods, either plundered or brought from other civilizations, to London.

Like a dragon returning to its nest, it left all its gold and silver treasures in its own kingdom.

"Descending, ascending, climbers, transcending fate..."

Li En murmured these words repeatedly, as if she had a piece of honey in her mouth that she was reluctant to swallow or spit out, which kept rolling around in her mouth without stopping.

These were the words he had heard from Lynch today.

As the first "colleague" from the mystical side that he had encountered in the strictest sense, Lee felt that these words were worth studying.

Perhaps, this is the necessary way for me to peek into the mystical side.

Back home, as soon as Lena took off Li En's coat, she noticed the blood of Joel and Lynch stained the corner of Li En's clothes.

"Young Master," Lena first examined Li En to make sure he had no injuries before asking, "Did you... go to some dangerous place today?"

Before Li En could answer, Zoe, with a piece of candied orange peel in her mouth, said, "No, Li En promised me that he'd come home earlier from now on and wouldn't go to dangerous places, right?"

To be honest, Li En hesitated a little.

But looking into Zoe's eyes, he couldn't say anything else, only manage a smile, "Of course, what younger brother doesn't listen to his older sister?"

Zoe chuckled, then pulled out a piece of candied orange peel from somewhere and stuffed it into Lee's mouth.

The first taste is the sweetness of the sugar coating on the surface, followed by a distinct orange aroma that fills the mouth, with a hint of subtle tartness.

Finally, there's a slightly bitter aftertaste, full of layers of flavor, leaving a deep impression.

Lee En looked up at Zoe's head. Her label was not yet formed, but it was very close to being formed.

I don't know what kind of label it will be.

The father sat on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the Times, and did not say anything to Li En.

Lena looked at the Wells family in front of her, then at the bloodstains on the hem of Li En's coat.

The words that should have been spoken, however, could not be uttered no matter what.

……

Back in his room, Li En put the silver candlestick and necklace back in the bedside table and sat down on the bed.

He had originally intended to review the book "Hermesian Interpretation" before going to sleep.

But when Li En's gaze fell on the bedside table, or rather, on that monkey paw.

He suddenly noticed something unusual.

A line of text was roughly engraved on the wooden bedside table by the monkey's sharp fingernails.

The sawdust still lingered on the table, but it couldn't mask the oppressive feeling emanating from that line of text.

Li En recognized the line of text.

Memento mori.

This is a Latin phrase that roughly means...

"Remember, you will die eventually."

Li En looked at the line of Latin text, then at the monkey paw on the bedside table.

"Is this a threat or a warning?"

There is another translation for this sentence, which doesn't change the general meaning but adds another layer of meaning: "Remember, you are just a mortal, and remember, you will die eventually."

It carries an additional layer of meaning related to being an ordinary person.

If it's the second translation, it means that Li En must step into the mystical side, or he will surely die.

But if it's the first translation, then Li En will die no matter what.

Sitting on the soft bed, the long night felt like a train, rushing forward along its predetermined tracks, with no turning back.

Li En also opened her eyes.

He must step into the mystical side.

Peeping won't solve anything.