Mystery: The Witch of Desire

The carriage slowly came to a stop, and the three of them alighted one by one. Just then, Emily suddenly frowned, subconsciously raised her hand to her lower abdomen, and a hint of embarrassment flashed across her face.

She tried desperately to hold it in and not delay the mission, but her stomach seemed to be deliberately working against her, making her experience the most intense bloating she had ever felt in her life.

"I guess I drank too much coffee earlier... Excuse me, I need to take care of some personal matters first."

She said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

The patrol officer beside him immediately pointed to the end of the street:

"Miss, there's a public restroom at the other end of the alley."

Emily thanked him and quickly walked in that direction.

After she walked away, Dunn looked at the patrolman beside him and spoke in a calm tone:

"Let's start first, we don't need to wait for her."

The patrol officer nodded, stepped forward, and knocked heavily on the apartment door.

A moment later, the door was slowly opened. A slender man with black hair and brown eyes appeared behind the door, his brows and eyes showing an undisguised weariness and exhaustion.

At that very moment, a public carriage heading to the dock area happened to pass by the gate of No. 2 Narcissus Street.

Inside the carriage, Livre leaned against the window, casually observing the street scene and buildings along the way. Her gaze swept over the entrance to number 2, then suddenly froze, her eyes fixed on the apartment building entrance—

Two figures dressed in black trench coats stood there, their auras calm and solemn—the Night Watchmen! And the one in the lead was none other than Dunn Smith!

In an instant, a surge of suppressed anger welled up from the depths of his heart, and painful, fragmented memories suddenly surfaced: Jason, his own parents, surrounded by night watchmen, the cold muzzles of guns flashing with searing light...

Amidst the turmoil of her emotions, her gaze fell upon the slender man who had opened the door, and a strange sense of familiarity welled up within her.

After a moment's thought, Livre suddenly remembered the other person's identity:

Klein Moretti!

Chapter 132 Let's use psychic abilities on Klein.

Livre vaguely remembered meeting Klein at a ball at Elizabeth's house. He was Melissa's brother, and Melissa was Elizabeth's close friend. But the thought stopped there, and she felt a little confused: how did she meet Elizabeth? And why was she attending that aristocratic ball? The memories in her mind were somewhat blurry, and strange in every way.

A sudden tremor ran through Livre's heart, and she immediately wanted to jump out of the car and secretly follow Dunn and his group.

Public carriages travel on fixed tracks and never stop arbitrarily. Jumping off abruptly would be too conspicuous and would only expose her. She could only suppress her eagerness and wait silently for the carriage to reach the next stop before getting off and turning back.

The carriage finally arrived at its destination. Livre turned to Fors and Hugh beside her, her tone tinged with apology:

"I'm sorry, something urgent has come up and I can't go to the dock area with you. See you at our hotel."

Hugh and Fors were taken aback. Before they could say anything, Livre had already jumped off the public carriage.

She activated her invisibility in a secluded corner and sprinted to No. 2 Narcissus Street, more than ten minutes after she first passed by. Just then, a carriage parked at the door drove away, heading towards Zotland Street.

Livre's heart sank. The Night Watchers had already left. She wondered what business they had with Klein.

She waited in the shadows for about half an hour, eliminating the possibility of the night watchman returning, and then took out a mirror to perform divination:

"It would be dangerous to infiltrate the Klein family."

A calm mirror surface indicates the absence of danger.

Livre felt completely at ease, and her figure disappeared again, silently sneaking into Klein's apartment. A faint smell of cooking lingered inside. Klein was busy at the stove in the kitchen, his movements as he wielded the cleaver were smooth and skillful, showing that he often cooked for himself.

Livre had a vague feeling that Klein's temperament was somewhat different from what she had seen before, but that was normal; two years had passed, and people always change.

Seeing an old friend she knew from when she was still a man again, Livre was in a good mood. She slightly altered her appearance, revealing herself behind Klein, and smiled:

"Hello, young gentleman."

Klein was startled and jumped around, flipping the knife in his hand in the air before gripping the hilt again and pointing it at Livre.

Livr smiled faintly:

"Put down the knife, I meant no harm."

Klein was taken aback, but under the influence of these highly seductive words, he obediently put down his knife and looked at Livre with some nervousness.

"Okay, that's settled."

Liviel's lips curled into a captivating smile. With a flick of her fingertips, she retrieved a mirror from her bosom, gleaming with a faint, ethereal light. As she infused her fingertips with spiritual energy, the mirror's surface shimmered with light and shadow, quickly reflecting Klein's spirit. After advancing to Sequence 6, the Witch of Pleasure, her necromancy had greatly improved; now, she could communicate with the living without harming the spirit.

The next second, the scene before her eyes shifted, and she and Klein found themselves in a vast, gray, empty sea. The sound of waves was faint, and the mist was so thick that the horizon was indistinct. This scene was remarkably similar to the one when she was channeled by Ms. Daly, except that this time, she was no longer the passive recipient, but the one in control of the entire situation.

She looked up and saw Klein's spirit standing frozen in the void, his eyes vacant and his face blank, as if he had lost his own consciousness.

Livr approached with light steps, her sweet voice carrying a hint of seductive enticement, and slowly asked:

"What does the night watchman want with you?"

Klein shifted slightly, his tone calm, as if recounting a memory unrelated to himself:

“My two friends, Welch and Naya, are dead, and they came to me asking about it.”

Livr raised an eyebrow:

Why would this matter alarm the night watchman?

Klein's voice remained calm:

"Their deaths were strange. Welch literally smashed his head against the wall to his death, while Naya drowned herself in the washbasin."

Liviel paused slightly, thinking to herself: This is indeed strange. Such a death is no ordinary accident. No wonder it would attract the attention of the Night Watchers.

She composed herself and asked again:

"What did you tell the night watchman?"

“Naya, Welch, and I would meet often to study a Quaternary notebook together.”

Klein answered truthfully, his eyes still glazed over.

A Quaternary notebook? Interesting. A thought struck Livre, and she pressed on:

"What else do you know about the deaths of Welch and Naya?"

Klein's spirit suddenly swayed, a trace of pain flashing across his face, and his tone became hesitant:

"I don't know... I can't remember anything..."

"You have amnesia?"

Livre frowned, her tone carrying a hint of inquiry.

“I don’t know…” Klein clutched his head, his voice filled with pain and confusion, “My head hurts so much, I can’t remember anything…”

Looking at him, Livre couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion. When she was psychic by Ms. Daly, she had also feigned a headache, pretending the psychic session had reached its limit, hoping to make the other woman stop probing. Seeing Klein like this now, she realized that those psychic in question could indeed experience such severe headaches. It seemed her previous pretense had accurately reflected the truth.

She had no intention of tormenting Klein, and seeing this, she didn't press further, quickly throwing out one last question:

"So, the night watchmen got nothing from you? They got nothing at all?"

Klein's body trembled slightly, and his voice trembled weakly:

"They...they took my...notebook."

As soon as he finished speaking, Klein's body began to tremble, as if he was about to collapse. Livre didn't delay any longer. She raised her hand to dispel the summoning spell, and simultaneously used the Instigator's power, her voice gentle yet highly seductive, whispering in his ear:

"Forget I was ever here, forget everything about me... Go back, go back..."

As the psychic spell was dispelled, the surrounding gray void gradually faded, and the scene stabilized. In reality, Klein shuddered violently, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his face pale, his eyes still glazed over.

Before Klein was fully awake, Livre took out a 10-pound note and carefully slipped it into the lining of his coat. Then, she vanished like a ghost, leaving Klein still squatting in the same spot.

She left the money with Klein for two reasons. First, she noticed that Klein's family was rather poor and he must be having a hard time. Out of consideration for her old acquaintance and as compensation for the spiritual communication she had given him, she left the 10 pounds as a form of financial assistance.

Secondly, the 10-pound note was hidden in a lining of Klein's clothes, so he probably wouldn't notice it immediately. In the following days, Livre could use the Miser's ability to locate Klein, and perhaps even find out information related to the Night Watchers and the Fourth Epoch Notebook through him.

About ten minutes after Livre left.

Klein stood up from the ground, his eyes regaining their clarity.

He cautiously looked around, making sure the extremely beautiful woman had left, before slowly taking out the 10-pound note from a hidden compartment in his clothes, muttering to himself:

"In such a short time, two groups of extraordinary individuals have already come to investigate. It seems that Welch and Naya's deaths are indeed unusual... What faction does that lady belong to, and why did she leave me money? However, what I told the Night Watchers is no different from what I told that lady. Even if they can corroborate each other, they probably won't find any flaws."

"That woman seemed to think I would lose my memories of her, and that was indeed the case. When she pulled me into that blurry world, my consciousness almost snapped off for a moment, but then it returned. The feeling that blurry world gave me was very similar to the feeling when we gathered above the gray fog. Could it be that because I had experienced the baptism of the gray fog, I was able to maintain my consciousness in that blurry world?"

Klein pondered this with some confusion, then suddenly remembered what the gray-eyed officer with thinning hair had said earlier: that another expert would come in a few days to help him recover his lost memories... that expert would probably also be extraordinary.

"Three waves of extraordinary individuals have come knocking on my door in a row. It's really giving me a headache. At the party, I'm the unfathomable Mr. Fool, but in real life, I'm just a newbie who hasn't even stepped into the realm of extraordinary yet. I'm being squeezed for information by all sorts of people. It's quite a contrast..."

Klein gave a wry smile and went back to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

……

Livre left No. 2 Narcissus Street, glanced at the clock. It was still early, and she guessed that Fors and Hugh hadn't returned yet.

She was also interested in the underground market in Tingen, so she hailed a horse-drawn carriage and headed to the Dragon Bar in the dock area.

About half an hour later, she arrived at her destination. The atmosphere of the dock area was the same as it had been two years ago, extending the spirit of maritime civilization to the inland city of Tingen.

At this moment, the Dragon Bar was packed with people inside and out. Liviel finally managed to squeeze in and immediately spotted a familiar face among the wanted posters:

Danitz the Blazing, the bounty is still 3000 pounds.

"I'm sorry, I really misunderstood you back then..."

Livre looked at Danitz's wanted poster and muttered to herself.

"However, if I ever get the chance to see you, I still want to beat you up..."

Livre continued forward, passing the boxing ring area in the center of the bar.

In the boxing ring, a shirtless man is fighting a woman dressed in flamboyant attire. The woman appears to have a slender and healthy figure, but her fighting ability is utterly unremarkable.

In the boxing ring, she was like a little lamb, chased around by that wolf-like man. Every time she was caught, he would lift her up and humiliate her, then throw her against the railing, only for her to bounce back to the center of the boxing ring, and the cycle would continue...

The packed crowd around them expressed their love for the sport with their enthusiastic cheers; they were clearly more interested in this game of tag than in regular boxing.

Dragon Bar invented WWE in the steam age! Good heavens, could their owner, the former Punisher, also be a time traveler?

Livre muttered to herself as she entered the billiards room at the back.

Inside the billiards room, several tables were occupied by people playing billiards with focused concentration. At another table, near a door leading to the underground area, several men were gathered around, seemingly doing nothing, but actually verifying the identity of every visitor who wanted to enter the underground area.

Livia moved closer without making a sound, her beautiful appearance instantly attracting the attention of the group:

"Miss, do you wish to go underground?"

“Yes.” Livre’s eyes lit up with longing. “I’m very interested in the occult and came here specifically because of its reputation.”

A man nodded and said:

"Normally, only regular customers or those who pay an entrance fee can enter, but for a beautiful lady like you, we don't mind giving you some special treatment."

As he spoke, he opened the door leading to the underground.

"Thank you for your generosity."

Livre smiled and lifted her skirt to express her gratitude. Although the entrance fee wasn't very expensive, receiving kindness from others was indeed a pleasant thing.

Entering the basement and passing through several rooms, Livre suddenly found herself in a place the size of the movie theater from her previous life.

There are twenty or thirty stalls of all sizes here, piled high with bottles and jars. People walk between the stalls, exchanging information, examining items, arguing, and haggling.

Just then, Livre suddenly felt a somewhat confused gaze fixed on her. She turned her head sharply and saw a pale-faced young man with messy black hair walking towards her with an expression that was half sleepwalking and half mad.

He stopped in front of Livril, staring at her blankly.

Suddenly, he laughed loudly:

"Haha, monster, monster, a monster with only a head and a spine!"

Before he could finish speaking, the young man suddenly screamed in agony, blood streaming from his eyes. He writhed on the ground, cursing under his breath.

"Damn it!"

Livre paused, and just as she was wondering what was going on, Fors and Hugh walked over from a stall:

"Don't worry about him. His name is Admiral, an orphan nicknamed 'The Monster.' He has a natural high level of intuition and can often see things he shouldn't see and hear things he shouldn't hear, so he often talks nonsense and gets hurt."

Fors shook his head and explained that he had already conceived a vivid character design that he could use for writing a novel.

Livre nodded thoughtfully. The next second, Admitor struggled to his feet, not paying much attention to the blood flowing from the corner of his eye, and wandered off to another place.

He calls himself a monster, a monster with only a head and a spine. What does that mean?

Livre was somewhat confused and could only dismiss Admitso's words as nonsense, turning the conversation to Fors and Hugh:

"Ladies, how was your haul?"