Chapter 226
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Chapter 226: The Ritual
An Qingyu fell silent.
Indeed, if their hypothesis was correct, two victims had been nailed to that wall that night. Yet the blood analysis only showed Sun Xiao’s blood, making their theory untenable.
“Moreover, if there was a second victim that night, where’s the body?” Lin Qiye continued. “They wore this pub’s waiter uniform, but none of the other waiters died, so who exactly… was the victim?”
At this point in their deduction, both began doubting their reasoning, but if this wasn’t the case, they couldn’t explain the wound directions on the body…
The case grew increasingly mysterious.
As they pondered, Lin Qiye’s phone rang. He checked it, his eyes brightening.
“The Deputy Captain says they’ve found some clues about this Mystery. I need to go back,” Lin Qiye put away his phone and told An Qingyu, “You’ve seen the body, time to leave.”
An Qingyu sighed helplessly, “This case is more complex than I imagined. These four bodies reveal too little… I think I need to examine the crime scene again.”
“Here’s my phone number. Call me if you find anything.”
“…I don’t recall agreeing to help solve the case. I just wanted to see the body,” An Qingyu’s expression turned strange.
Lin Qiye turned, staring silently into An Qingyu’s eyes.
An Qingyu smiled wryly, “Fine, I understand. Since you didn’t turn me in to the Night Watchmen, I’ll tell you if I discover anything.”
“Mm.”
…
Peace Affairs Office.
Underground.
Around the long table, all Squad 136 members had assembled. Wu Xiangnan held a thick stack of documents, his expression serious.
“After Qi Mo reported the Mystery’s characteristics the day before yesterday, I immediately searched the Night Watchmen’s internal database to identify it…”
“For Night Watchmen, the most crucial step in handling Mystery incidents is confirming the Mystery’s identity. Once we know what it is, we can generally understand its abilities, strength, habits, and weaknesses.”
“Some Mysteries are immediately identifiable, like the Mask-Face Man or Flame-Vein Earth Dragon with their distinct features. But others are harder to identify from the incidents alone, like the Nanda Snake Demon and our current Mystery.”
“Based on Wen Qi Mo’s keywords – invisibility, telekinesis, finger-cutting, and electronic interference – I found nothing matching these conditions. The only remotely similar one was the Ten-Cut Ghost Child, but it lacks invisibility and telekinesis abilities, and its low intelligence makes such complex cases impossible.”
“This means we’re likely facing an unrecorded type of Mystery.”
Wu Xiangnan distributed the documents to everyone, his expression growing grave.
“Then, I searched for rituals involving finger-cutting murders and wall-nailing, finding some disturbing leads.”
Lin Qiye took a document and opened it, frowning slightly.
“Long before the Mist descended, a small Western religion had an ancient legend about a ritual for vengeful spirits to ascend. This ritual transformed weak vengeful spirits into powerful ghost entities. Historically, two spirits used this ritual to advance directly from the River Realm to the Sea Realm.”
“To complete this ritual, one must sacrifice a human soul every two days, cutting off their ten fingers within ten seconds before death. The victim’s feet must not touch the ground at death, and death must occur at 3:33 AM.”
Lin Qiye’s eyes narrowed at this time. The pub victim’s estimated time of death was between 3 and 4 AM, matching this detail.
The method also perfectly matched the ritual.
“After sacrificing five human souls consecutively, the ritual’s first phase completes. With sufficient soul power injection, the weak vengeful spirit transforms through the ritual into a truly powerful ghost entity…”
“Soul power?” Hong Ying scratched her head in confusion.
“Think of it as sacrificing hundreds of ordinary people’s souls. Of course, it’s about total soul quantity, not necessarily that many people. Some people’s souls are inherently powerful, worth dozens of others, like those with Interdictions or even Mysteries themselves.”
“You mean to complete the ritual, after killing five people, it needs to kill hundreds more at once?” Chen Muye’s expression darkened.
“Correct, and the ritual location has strict requirements,” Wu Xiangnan continued. “The location diagram is in your documents.”
Lin Qiye flipped through his papers, finding a photo of an ancient stone tablet pattern. Five black dots formed a star-like arrangement, connected by lines with twisted characters seemingly annotating something.
“Combining the previous four crime scenes, I created a plane model. Applying this ritual pattern, I projected the approximate location of the final ritual.”
Wu Xiangnan produced a map, circling a small area in red.
“The high-end residential district?” Wen Qi Mo asked surprisingly.
“Yes,” Wu Xiangnan nodded. “Following the ritual steps, it will sacrifice the fifth victim here, then kill hundreds to meet the soul sacrifice requirement before advancing to the Sea Realm.”
“Time-wise, tonight… at 3:33 AM tomorrow morning, it will strike,” Lin Qiye said gravely.
Everyone turned to Chen Muye.
Chen Muye nodded, speaking slowly: “If so, our next phase is clear. This red zone isn’t large. Tonight, we seven will spread out in different directions, constantly monitoring the area.”
“Once anyone spots the Mystery, signal immediately. Within twenty seconds, we can all reach the scene and eliminate it.”
“This is a residential area, and the time is dawn. It must have preparations to kill so many at once…”
“Everyone prepare. We’ll stake out early, maybe catch it before the ritual begins.”
“Yes!”