Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 87 – Spirit Dance

　　”What on earth has happened?”

　　Ataru whispered the question silently, unable to recall what he had done in the last few days.

　　He looked around the room sleepwalking, scared, terrified, and confused, and asked:

　　”Who are you?”

　　”Where is this?”

　　”This is your washroom, don’t you recognize it? I’m the private investigator in charge of your protection.” Klein looked at the older boy across from him who hadn’t yet figured out the situation and let out a low laugh.

　　”My home …… to protect my detective …… exactly what happened ……” Atlue stunned looked around and murmured to himself.

　　Suddenly, he paused, his already pale face colored with unconcealed fear:

　　”Maybe, maybe there really are ghosts in this world! There really are ghosts!”

　　His voice was rather shaky, but Klein heard two distinct sensations, fear and excitement, which perfectly matched the color of the emotions presented.

　　Excitement? This was a boy who deliberately invoked a resentful spirit in order to seek excitement? What a young and bold boy who is not afraid of death ah …… Klein made a preliminary guess, but on the surface, he asked back in confusion:

　　”Ghosts?”

　　After becoming a “magician”, his spiritual vision has slightly improved again, but not by much, still unable to see the surface of the astral body deep within the etheric body, unable to use this to determine whether the target is an extraordinary person.

　　Ataru’s pale face suddenly flushed a little:

　　”Yes, ghosts!”

　　He added, waving his arms:

　　”There is a wider world beyond our senses! Truly, death is not the end of everything!”

　　This line …… is really an adolescent teenager …… but I think I’ve seen similar words somewhere …… Klein smiled and said, “I believe more in the another saying, that in the face of time older than old, even death itself, fades away.”

　　Not waiting for Atru to say anything else, he pulled out his gold-cased pocket watch, pressed it open and looked at it, and said:

　　”So, how exactly did you get yourself into that state before? It’s like a patient with a mental breakdown.”

　　”I ……” Ataru said as he inclined his head in thought for a few seconds, “I joined a society, and it’s not just any society! We all believe that death is not the end, and using the secret contract we can even intuitively sense death and understand that everything can be turned around, and yes, we believe that the dead can be resurrected!”

　　Klein, who had only crawled out of the grave a month or so ago, said with a couple dry chuckles:

　　”You guys are trying to resurrect the dead?”

　　Death is not the end …… The world beyond the senses …… Everything can be reversed …… The Secret Deed of Sense …… Isn’t this be the teachings of the Spirit Order? It was all created for the resurrection of the dead …… He muttered something indistinctly to himself in his mind.

　　”Hmm!” Ataru nodded with glowing eyes but hard to hide his fear.

　　”Where did you get your corpses?” Klein pressed.

　　”We, we would, secretly dig graves, just buried not long ago, or buy …… from the hospital,” Yatru recalled.

　　Sure enough, it was a crime that would send you to jail …… No wonder Logo Carrollman didn’t want to call the police …… That’s a pretty bold thing to play …… Kline kept his gentle smile and turned to the question:

　　”So have you had any success?”

　　”Not yet …… At that party, they looked at me as if, as if they were looking at a dead body, as if they were trying to figure out which location to place the corresponding mikveh …… Then we did the Spirit Dance, communicating with the world beyond our senses. Then, then I have no memory of it ……” Ataru’s body trembled uncontrollably.

　　Spirit dance? It’s really the Spirit Order… …… This guy became a companion’s test subject? Klein asked with a slight frown:

　　”Since then, your memories are up to now?”

　　According to the night watchman’s internal information, “Spirit Dance” originated from an ancient ritual dance, popular in the southern continent, and is the favored ritual method of the Grim Reaper.

　　The “Spirit Dance” uses rhythm, rhyme, and movement to harmonize the spirit, so that it interacts with the natural environment and the object of prayer, and then combines with a simple altar arrangement and the corresponding honorific name to achieve the effect of a more complex ritual magic.

　　”Hmm.” Ataru responded lowly, suddenly looking up, “What day of the week is it? What time is it?”

　　”1:12 AM on Friday.” Klein answered from his memory just now.

　　Ataru subconsciously sucked in his breath and said:

　　”I’m missing the new party ……”

　　”They hold a resurrection service outside Greene Cemetery every Friday at 3:00 AM.”

　　Greene Cemetery was named for its proximity to Greene Park Street.

　　”You still want to go? Have you forgotten what happened to you all this time? Oh, it’s true you don’t remember, but you should ask your father, mother, and servants.” Klein reminded the teenager in front of him.

　　And I may not still be able to help you …… he added silently in his mind.

　　After this incident, he had discovered another shortcoming of magicians, that is, they lacked the ability to deal with spiteful ghosts and phantom-like creatures, only the manipulation of flames could be counted, and after the other party had possessed a human being, dispelling and purifying became even more of a problem, unless one planned to take out the human being along with the ghost.

　　Of course, Klein wasn’t completely helpless in this regard, he could set up ritual magic to accomplish something similar, but that would be very troublesome, easily exposing himself, and not suitable for actual combat.

　　After thinking about it, he finally chose to use the Aztec Copper Whistle to lure out the resentful souls, and then manipulate the flames to complete the purification.

　　However, the extent of this kind of damage wasn’t high, and if he met a more powerful resentful spirit, he might not be able to solve it.

　　I still lack items or spells to deal with necromantic creatures, if only I had the seal “3-0782”, the “Mutated Sun Emblem” …… Klein’s thoughts briefly diverged. A momentary break in Klein’s thoughts.

　　Ataru remembered the lack of memory at once, his face paled again, and he answered with a shudder:

　　”No, I don’t want to go! I never want to go again!”

　　”Very well.” Klein praised with a smile.

　　Ataru looked at his face that did not contain any semblance of fear and subconsciously asked:

　　”After all I said, aren’t you afraid?”

　　Klein stopped leaning on the wall and slowly stood up straight, answering in a relaxed tone:

　　”For a detective, unless there is definite evidence, one would rather not believe it.”

　　With that said, he opened the door and headed outside, thinking about whether or not to contact the Order of the Spirit, after all, it might involve the mystery of Mr. Aztec’s birth.

　　Atru stared stonily at the back of the private investigator in front of him for a while before realizing that the washroom was empty except for himself, while the moonlight outside was dimly lit, illuminating the inner room with shadows, as if something invisible was lurking and watching.

　　He shivered violently, and busied himself with a cry:

　　”Wait for me!”

　　As he spoke, Ataru quickened his pace and rushed out of the lavatory, following closely behind Klein.

　　Knowing the aftermath, knowing the fear, there is still salvation …… Klein cooed, and inserted his hands into his pants pockets.

　　Upon returning to the bedroom, Stuart didn’t realize that Atru had gotten better, still too stoned from the ghost story he had imagined to walk around.

　　When Atru fell asleep again, Klein took out a copper penny and let it spin and hover between his fingers.

　　As the clock approached 2:50, he flipped the coin and caught it securely, then stood up and whispered to Stuart:

　　”I’m going to the balcony for a cigarette.”

　　”Hurry up.” Stuart barked somewhat tightly.

　　Klein put on his long gown and went slowly out the door to the balcony at the end of the corridor, hiding into the shadows.

　　Then he pulled out a relatively crudely cut paper figure.

　　Snap!

　　Klein shook his wrist so violently that the paper crunched, shaking it so that it quickly expanded and transformed into a human being.

　　The dummy and Klein general height, features are identical, clothing is no difference, from a distance, like a fine carved simulation of the wax statue.

　　This was one of the applications of the “paper dummy” technique.

　　Immediately after, Klein condensed his spirit, clenched his right hand into a fist, and lightly knocked on his body.

　　Noiselessly, the dummy had the feeling of being alive, and there was a cigarette with a reddish head in his mouth, and the smell of tobacco filled the air.

　　”With the dummy as the basis, this illusion can be maintained for half an hour …… really magician ah!” Klein put on his gloves and, with a press and a brace, slid stealthily off the balcony, avoiding the patrolling security personnel.

　　……

　　Outside Green’s Cemetery, in a secluded wooded area.

　　Klein stood in the canopy of trees, looking out over a relatively open and flat area not far away.

　　He was surrounded by evergreen leaves and brown branches, but they were all stained with gray dust on their surfaces.

　　As far as Klein could see, seven or eight teenage boys and girls in black robes were dancing a strange, slightly jerky, slightly maniacal dance around a corpse.

　　The dance was rhythmic and seemed to carry some sort of mystical flavor.

　　The young girl flung her long hair, the boy knelt down and reached out, and there was a vague subtle connection between this scene and the surroundings.

　　It was the rhythm of nature.

　　After they had danced for three or four minutes, everything in the surrounding area of about ten meters was colored with a wild and confusing atmosphere, and the atmosphere gradually became sinister, mixed with a little bit of holiness.

　　It is indeed the “Spirit Dance”…… even ordinary people can participate in the ritual magic …… Klein removed his eyes and looked at the black-robed man on the side of the corpse who was buried in chanting incantations.

　　He was the one who was instructing those young boys and girls on how to perform the “Spirit Dance”.

　　It should be a member of the Spirit Order, most likely an extraordinary person …… Klein nodded slightly, intending to observe how the other party held the resurrection ceremony first.

　　At this time, the dance entered its climax, and the adult black-robed man raised his head and removed his wig, revealing several bizarre tattoos inscribed on his bald head.

　　He raised his hands in the air and shouted:

　　”Death!”

　　”Honorable God of Death!”

　　”Will soon return!”

　　After he shouted, the dance stopped, and the seven or eight teenage boys and girls stood on one side each, their expressions both mesmerized and expectant, exuberant and fearful.

　　Immediately afterward, the black-robed man bent down, opened the iron cage near his feet, and cradled a black mass from within.

　　Klein gazed at it and realized that it was a blue-eyed black cat.

　　This, this would work? He visibly froze for a moment, and suddenly thought of all the folklore legends about black cats, for example, after the black cat, which symbolized evil and symbolized the hell-bringer, jumped over a corpse, that dead body would be awakened.

　　This was the first time Klein had seen someone use a similar method in a ritual.

　　The black-robed man stepped forward, stopped the black cat in his arms from struggling as hard as it could, and threw it towards that corpse.

　　Meow!

　　The pitch-black cat exploded its fur and yowled loudly, leaping over the dead body.

　　At this moment, Klein thought he understood the other cat’s language, and he was sure the other was saying three words:

　　”MMP!”