“As expected of a Sage-level relic.”
Xia De flicked the sword, then beckoned to the cat standing pitifully on the bed, and it immediately ran over. It jumped into Xia De's outstretched palm after he crouched down, then agilely ran up his arm to his shoulder.
Now the whole house seemed unsafe, and Xia De couldn't leave the cat alone in the bedroom.
The evil spirit of the middle-aged fat man, bleeding from his seven orifices, collapsing did not make the white mist and cold wind disappear. On the contrary, the footprints overhead became denser, and the eerie green light in front of him grew closer.
He covered Mia’s head with his left hand, gripped the sword with his right, but extended his index finger to press against the cold blade:
“Silver Moonlight!”
The Moonlight that erupted in the instant was radiated from the sword body. The clear, silvery Moonlight dispelled the surrounding white mist, and as the invisible, long-dressed woman evil spirit, seemingly hanged, appeared overhead, a silver arc followed closely, cutting her in two.
But even after defeating the second evil spirit, the mist still didn't disappear. The mist at the doorway, which had been cast in an eerie green, was forced back by the Silver Moonlight, but after the dense mist receded, a wet, black tongue shot out from within the mist towards Xia De.
Clang~
The night watchman's longsword guided Xia De's hand, raising the sword in front of him. The black tongue struck the blade, actually emitting a sound of metal striking metal. The tongue immediately emitted black smoke, trying to retract, but Xia De took a step forward, following faster than the tongue.
He grabbed the tongue with his left hand and gave a sharp pull, dragging out the almost materialized evil spirit hidden in the stairwell.
This soul seemed to come from a more distant era. It sprawled on the ground, its limbs and joints bent backward, its body covered in disgusting pustules, and each pustule bore a different face.
Its overall image was indescribable, and the black viscous liquid dripping from its spiritual body onto the floor mat, whether real or not, was unknown. Its terrifying appearance was enough to make any adult who prided themselves on their strong will collapse; it was not something that should appear in the sunny world of the living.
“Come here!”
His left hand pulled the tongue, and the Great Sin Chains extending from his sleeve followed the tongue forward, trying to bind this terrifying fellow.
But the pustule above the evil spirit's navel burst at the moment, and a ghost in the form of a woman holding scissors darted out, instantly snipping the tongue.
The prostrate black ghost immediately scurried down the stairs, bringing the white mist and eerie green light with it. And the woman evil spirit, holding scissors and covered in blood, rushed towards Xia De, then was struck by Xia De, who was in a very bad mood, swinging the black chains and directly piercing the soul with them.
The power of Great Sin infected the spiritual body; the soul, unable to withstand this profound power, immediately collapsed.
“So the source of all those evil spirits just now was that pustule-covered guy. Where did it come from?”
After putting on his shoes at the door, Xia De took Mia and pursued it to the first floor.
Judging by the white mist and light, the other party did not enter the first floor, but went directly through the hall, using the characteristics of a spiritual body to pass through the door and enter Saint Delan Square.
Xia De pushed open the door and entered the slightly cool autumn night. The black gas lamps, elegantly designed around the square, cast a dim yellow light, and the surrounding residents had already extinguished their lights. In the distance, noisy sounds could be heard; it was unknown which drunkard was having a conflict with the patrolling police in such an autumn night.
He looked up at the Moon above Saint Delan Square, quickly walked down the three steps under the eaves, then turned and swung his sword again, forcing back the ghost hiding on the eaves.
And this time, it wasn't the sword guiding Xia De's hand; instead, Xia De had already learned this movement, and the sword was gradually imparting cold weapon combat experience to Xia De.
Looking at his own eaves, Xia De stepped back a few paces to formally enter the square, watching the terrifying fellow on the eaves cling to the wall and climb up, then suddenly leap down from a height towards Xia De.
“Hmph!”
Xia De threw the longsword in his hand, and the ghost changed direction in mid-air under the Moonlight, but was still pierced by the second sword summoned by the 【Blade of Disordered Time】.
Cracks immediately appeared in the spiritual body, preventing it from controlling its movements again. Thus, the two-handed sword, radiating Silver Moonlight, slashed down:
“Moonlight Greatsword!”
Using Raglai's Leap, Xia De, appearing in mid-air, cleanly cut off the ghost's head with his sword. After landing, his left hand, wearing the Mind Crystal Ring, heavily struck the falling soul fragments beside him:
“Mind Blast!”
A muffled sound appeared in the air, but it was not enough to attract the neighbors' attention. And with the complete collapse of the black ghost, the other evil spirits imprisoned in its body's pustules were actually released simultaneously.
He dispersed the Greatsword in his hand, straightened his arms, and clapped his hands vertically in front of him with a decisive smack. After separating them, brilliant light arcs, parallel to the ground, silently flew forward, annihilating all the souls that had just been released. The power of these pustule evil spirits seemed not to be strong; they only possessed unique abilities because they were being manipulated.
“Directing Death!”
Before the black ghost completely disappeared, Xia De used Miracle to touch the fragments of its soul. Immediately, blurry and fragmented memories flooded into Xia De's mind. Because the soul was too severely shattered, there was very little useful information, only a few familiar scenes of Saint Delan Square Six, leading him to a terrifying conclusion.
Those scenes were not of his current home, but of Saint Delan Square Six from a more distant era:
“That black fellow was originally also the owner of Saint Delan Square Six? This isn't an external soul, but one that was originally in the house? But... where was it hiding? I've lived here for three months, and how did I not discover it?”
He stroked the cat on his shoulder, then looked at his home, where the dense mist on the wall surface was gradually dispersing. Under the Moonlight, Saint Delan Square Six stood quietly, with the shadows along the wall harmoniously coexisting with the bright gas lamp light. Inside the opened door was a dark and deep hall corridor.
His familiar home seemed to have become somewhat terrifying.
He bent down and picked up the night watchman's longsword; the light from the blade had disappeared, indicating that it was safe here.
“But is it truly safe?”
He carefully walked up the steps and placed his hand on the wall between the door and the milk box.
“Very normal.”
“But where did that evil spirit come from? Also, the mirror ghost that appeared when Dorothy performed her promotion ceremony, it wouldn't have been originally in the house, would it?”
Xia De thought of this again, standing at his doorstep, hesitant to go inside. The gas lamps on the outskirts of the square illuminated half of his profile, and also made the fur of the very lively cat on his shoulder show an orange luster.
With a deep frown, he cautiously entered the dark hall. He didn't go upstairs, but first checked the basement, confirming that the two doors of “Space” and “Darkness” in the basement were not the problem.
Returning to the second floor, the traveler's travel door in Room No. 2 was also normal under the Moonlight, but Xia De did not return to the bedroom in Room No. 1 to sleep:
“It’s two in the morning. Tonight, I’ll temporarily go somewhere else.”
He felt awkward disturbing Luvia, and Dorothy's apartment landlady would certainly not allow Xia De, a man, to stay overnight. And if he visited Doctor Schneider at an unusual hour, the doctor would probably be scared again.
So, after packing some clothes, Xia De took Mia by carriage to the Three Cats Inn in the Lower City to spend the night. Among the prizes he won for being the Great City Player champion was a discount at the Three Cats Inn. Mrs. Sangmei, the proprietress, naturally honored the prize. When greeting the young Detective who arrived in the middle of the night, she curiously glanced at the slender object wrapped in cloth strips in his hand, then jokingly asked if he wanted to experience the inn's late-night specialty.
A tired Xia De turned his head to look at the girls in simple clothes, sitting or standing by the wall, and shook his head, saying he just wanted a place for himself and the cat to sleep:
“Whatever is disturbing my house, I will make it pay!”
PS: It's the last day of the month, please give me your monthly votes! The editor said there's a best-selling selection recommendation on the 5th of next month, and there will be a ten-thousand-word update then.
