Part 1 The Joker Chapter 124 The Wrap-Up
Hiding in the shadows of a house a few dozen meters away, Klein kept looking out into the darkness at the target building, vaguely hearing a violent gust of wind and clearly distinguishing the banging of guns.
”If the enemy is fleeing toward my place, should I draw my gun and make a show of it, or pretend I didn’t see it?” He thought as his body trembled slightly and sweat seeped from his palms.
The extraordinary person who could use various means to shorten the life of a dying person definitely couldn’t be only Sequence 9 or Sequence 8, it wasn’t something that he, a soothsayer, could fight against head on, even if he sacrificed himself, he might not be able to slow down the other party and create a chance for Dunn and Leonard and the others to catch up.
Fortunately, the goddess of the night seems to have heard the prayers of the “faithful” guards, and no one has ever fled towards the location where Kraven is hiding.
After a few minutes, he heard the sound of singing coming from the target building.
Turning his ear sideways and discerning it carefully, Klein confirmed that it was a folksy ditty that Leonard Mitchell used to hum, filled with vulgar phrases.
Whew, he breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out of the shadows with his gun in one hand and his staff in the other, leaning toward the target building.
The folksy ditty was the very signal for the rendezvous he had agreed to with Dunn and the others!
Just two steps in, Klein suddenly paused, leaned his cane against a nearby iron fence, and switched his revolver to one hand.
Then, he unclasped the silver chain inside his cuffs and let the citrine pendant fall naturally.
Swapping the positions of the revolver and the spirit pendulum, Klein waited until the citrine’s shaking was smooth, and immediately half-closed his eyes, entered a meditative state, and silently recited the divination statement:
”The singing just now was an illusion.”
”The singing just now was an illusion.”
……
After seven times, he opened his eyes and saw the pendant turning counterclockwise.
”Not a hallucination ……” Klein put a heart back in his chest, tucked in his spirit pendulum, lifted his cane, and darted close to the arched, iron-barred gate of the target building before handing the silver-encrusted, black cane to his right palm, where it was held along with his revolver.
He had just reached out and touched the bars, attempting to push them open, when he suddenly felt a piercing coolness come over him, like having a neckful of ice shoved down his throat in an unprepared manner.
Hiss! Klein shrank violently, baring his teeth.
”It’s just like winter in here ……” He peered out at the garden behind the barred gate by the faint starlight and the distant streetlamps, and saw that the branches and vines there were withered, the flowers faded, and many of the leaves were tinged with a white frost that had fallen on the dark brown dirt.
Awesome! With a secret exclamation, Klein flexed his fingers and tapped his brow twice, opening his psychic vision.
He retrieved the silver-encrusted black wooden staff in his left hand, pressed it against the fence, and exerted his strength to push open the hidden gate.
With a creak, he sidestepped through and stepped onto the stone path that led to the small gray and blue building, flanked by plants that seemed ghostly in the darkness of the night.
Such an image made Klein think of all sorts of ghost stories and paranormal movies.
He subconsciously slowed down his breathing and accelerated his steps, but just after walking a few meters, his left shoulder was suddenly tapped by someone.
Poof! Poof! Klein’s heart first stuttered, then beat violently.
He raised his right hand and aimed in that direction with his revolver, then slowly turned around and looked over.
In the faint light, he saw a branch swaying and nearly falling.
”You call that scaring yourself?” Klein’s mouth twitched and he swung his cane, knocking the branch down.
He continued to walk forward, the ears began to appear if the sound of weeping, sadness, and eyes also reflected a transparent, blurred, close to invisible “shadow”.
These shadows feel the breath of the living and the warmth of flesh and blood, have flocked over.
Klein was so startled that he immediately ran up and stomped into the front door of the gray and blue house.
Was this what the captain had said about feeling the atmosphere? Indeed, it is much more frightening than the one that helped Sir Dwyer …… The grudge is obviously more dull than the “ghostly shadow”, and there is no active aggression …… He thought as he walked toward the altar located in the center of the living room, which was A round table, covered with crudely made puppets, and three extinguished candles.
Dunn Smith was standing in front of the altar, his back to Klein, holding up one puppet after another to watch.
Fry, the “corpse collector”, was quietly watching the fluttering “ghosts”, trying to reach out and calm them, but could only pass through them feebly, and the “ghosts” did not attack him, seeming to treat him as one of their own kind. They did not attack him, but seemed to recognize him as one of their own kind.
Leonard Mitchell’s tone changed when he saw Klein arrive, his voice becoming low and magnetic:
”It is a peaceful morning,”
”just right for that quieter sadness.”
”Hearing only through the fading autumn leaves,”
”The sound of chestnuts gently falling to the ground.” (Note 1)
……
In the sound of this slow and gentle poetry, Klein seemed to see a lake reflecting the shimmering moonlight, and the red moon hanging silently in the sky.
The “ghosts” calmed down, no longer chasing the scent of the living and the warmth of flesh and blood.
Dunn put down the puppet in his hand and turned back to Kline:
”It was a horrible cursed ritual, fortunately we have destroyed it.”
”You set up the ritual to appease the remaining spirits, then try to channel them and see if you can get a clue from them.”
Crane, who realized he was no longer a liability, immediately puffed out his chest and looked up:
”Aye, Captain.”
He reached the altar in two or three steps and reached out to sweep the puppets out of the round table.
At this time, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a different name and corresponding information on top of each puppet.
”Captain, have you found anyone you recognize?” Klein asked casually.
After asking, he looked at Dunn, who in turn looked at him, and both fell silent.
I’m so stupid …… How could I ask questions that test the captain’s memory! Klein nearly covered his face and sighed.
If I were any other leader, I would definitely find a chance to put my shoes on afterward, but fortunately, fortunately, the captain will forget about this matter …… I really don’t know if this is considered an advantage or a disadvantage …… he thought, half thankfully and half flirtatiously.
After more than ten seconds of silence, Dunn seemed to finally distinguish between reality and dream, and opened his mouth:
”There is someone you know.”
”Who?” Klein stopped rearranging the candles.
”Joyce Myer, the survivor of the ‘Clover Tragedy’.” Dunn replied succinctly.
Joyce Myer? Anna’s fiancé …… Klein instantly associated it with the fact that Sawers of the Jeppesen Home seemed to have been abetted and induced to break out early and attempt arson.
He withdrew his right hand and said in a deep voice:
”‘Abettor’ Tris?”
”He used the shortened lives of the dying as a sacrifice to try to damn all the survivors of the ‘Clover Tragedy’? Because he doesn’t know who noticed the problem and reported it to the police ……”
And it’s unlikely that Tris would have been able to take out all of his targets, scattered and living in different places, in one go if he’d gone straight for revenge; after two or three cases at most, he’d have been noticed by the Nightwatchmen, the Substitute Punishers, and the Mechanical Hearts, and would have lost the opportunity to continue his crimes. …… Klein almost brainstormed the other man’s thought process for why he’d chosen to do so.
Dunn nodded, then shook his head:
”Not all the survivors, but all the survivors of Tingen City, and his cursed ritual can only affect people within that range.”
”Also, the ritual was performed by a female, not Tris.”
Klein frowned slightly:
”Maybe it’s a strong person sent by the Spirit Knowledge Society to help Tris?”
”Well, the source of the Spirit Knowledge Society may have involved the Witch Cult, and it’s normal for the strongman to be female.”
Dunn smiled, his voice mellowing, “I agree with your judgment, and while there is only the female here, and no Triss, one can make the necessary guesses, such as, they don’t live together, or, for example, that Triss is out searching for the would-be dead.”
Without further ado, Klein set up the three candles, took out the full moon oil and crimson sandalwood and other materials, and quickly set up the altar.
Using the silver dagger to create a sealing wall, he began to pray to the “Goddess of the Night, Lord of Sleep and Silence”, and completely pacified the “ghosts” inside and outside the house.
Unfortunately, during the subsequent channeling session, Klein only saw a few images of the residual spirits from their previous lives, and did not obtain any useful clues.
After letting these “ghosts” really sleep in the night, he ended the ritual, lifted the spiritual wall, and shook his head at Dunn, Leonard and Frye:
”This place was so damaged by the backlash of the ritual interruption that it lost any remaining images of its owner.”
Dunn, not surprised, pointed to the stairs and said:
”Then let’s go to the second floor and try again.”
”Uh-huh.” Klein and Leonard and the others immediately expressed their approval.
The three night watchmen went down the stairs, all the way to the second floor, and split up to search the various rooms.
Finally, they rendezvoused in a bedroom with a dark fragrance floating around, saw messy piles of dresses and skirts, and saw a single open and unclosed box.
”Is this makeup?” Dunn asked casually as he picked up a box from the dresser and sniffed it.
”Called skin care products to be precise, they’ve stopped being called by mixed names since Roselle the Great.” Leonard corrected with a grin, “Captain, as a gentleman, necessary common sense still needs to be understood.”
Klein didn’t join in their discussion and turned his attention to the mirror on the dresser.
The mirror appeared visibly cracked, with pieces falling on top of the carpet.
”That Extraordinary One was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t destroy it thoroughly enough ……,” he said suddenly in a hushed voice, “Maybe it’s worth a try.”
”Over to you.” Dunn replied trustingly.
Crane flew up the candle from the first floor and lit it in front of the shattered mirror.
Amidst the dim candlelight wavering, he took out the Full Moon Essential Oil and other items to create the Spiritual Wall.
After doing all this, Klein stood in front of the mirror reflecting the glow of the three candles and chanted in Hermetic:
”I pray for the power of the night;”
”I pray for the power of concealment;”
”I pray for the favor of the Goddess;”
”I pray for this mirror to be given a brief restoration, and that it will present all those who have been reflected in the past month.”
……
As the incantation was recited sentence by sentence, a strong whirlwind suddenly blew within the wall of spirituality.
The pieces of that mirror were swept up and settled piece by piece in their original positions.
The cracked mirror floated with a dim light, and as Klein ran his hand over it, it instantly reflected a silhouette, but not Klein, who was in its direct line of sight.
It was a young girl with a round face, gentle and sweet, perhaps because the mirror had been damaged, or perhaps because the backlash from the interruption of the ritual had also affected the second floor, her features were rather blurred, and it was not clear to see exactly what she looked like.
But even so, Klein still felt that the other party was inexplicably familiar.
Note 1: Quoted from, Tennyson, Eleven of the Collection of Mourning, It’s a Quiet Morning, Flying White, Translation.