Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 193 Offering Its Blood and Flesh
"This does not belong to the category of ancient mysticism. Such intricately carved patterns are creations of the present era, but their origin is still evil scriptures. These are some cognitive products derived by later generations from evil scriptures."

The Scarlet Witch carefully examined the sketch in Milo's hand, as if recalling something:
"These straight lines, do you see them? They are definitely a form of expression for the anniversary that only emerged in modern times, but they all come from the same source. This set of runes originated from the sacrificial site of an ancient clan. In the days when the ancients were still alive, their followers were their clans. The clans would serve their superiors in various ways, including sacrificial rituals."

The witch's rough, withered fingers traced patterns on the simple drawing paper. She tilted her head slightly, her voice becoming low and eerie:
"The lifelong desire of the clan is to be embraced by the superior and become one of their offspring. In their understanding, there is only one way to become an offspring: self-sacrifice, abandoning the human body and even the soul, to completely embrace the superior. This process often comes at a bloody price."

Listening to the Scarlet Witch's words, Milo vaguely felt that this logic corresponded to what he had seen in Icom.

Perhaps people with twisted minds like the Derapor family and Mrs. Freya were collectively called "familias" in ancient times.

In this light, Milo has to admire Nero, who also has the blood of Drapol flowing through his veins. He suppressed the faith inherited in his bloodline and fought his way out of the town of Icom.

"Then what does this have to do with the diagram?"

Milo still didn't quite understand. According to the Scarlet Witch, the runes carved on the corpse were products of the Familia, different from the ancient totems recorded in the evil tomes. Could it be understood that the perpetrator of the hanging corpse case was the Familia of some ancient being?

"The Families don't always get to see the Ancients they serve. Most of the time, the Ancients treat them like ants, and serving them is just wishful thinking on the part of the Families. So they've devised many ways to summon and attract the Ancients, which you can think of as acts of currying favor with them, such as sacrifices. Over the long years, they've figured out some of the Ancients' habits and preferences, and that's why they make sacrifices for them," the Scarlet Witch explained slowly to Milo.

"Summoning? Attraction?"

Milo frowned and simply recounted the details of the case to the Scarlet Witch.

This includes the state of the body on the canal, the patterns carved on the skin of the body, and some unusual clues at the scene.

"According to you, this is something that only a Familia possesses. Can I interpret this as someone replicating a Familia's summoning ritual, or perhaps the perpetrator is a Familia member themselves?"

“You’ve said everything you need to say.” The Scarlet Witch paused for a moment, then added, “The antlers could be a clue. Generally speaking, in human civilization, antlers carry connotations of nobility and holiness. Perhaps, as you said, this is a summoning ritual of the clan.”

"That's it? That's all?" Milo shrugged.

"That canal is also worth noting," the Scarlet Witch replied casually.

“The canal?” Milo suddenly remembered that at the crime scene, old Theon had been staring absently at the surface of the canal…

“Water is always the first element for the birth of life. In the barren and desolate early days, those noble ancient beings were all born in water sources. I can help you look up records of ancient aquatic creatures, but it may take some time,” said the Scarlet Witch.

"You can even find this? Does that mean there's an encyclopedia of the Old Gods?" Milo narrowed his eyes, trying his best to get more information out of the Scarlet Witch.

However, the other party scoffed disdainfully, "Old Gods? Have you forgotten? When did I ever say that the Ancient Ones are the same as the Old Gods? The ancient creatures you've encountered might just be beasts raised by the Old Gods, or even worse than beasts. So stop confusing the Old Gods with the Ancient Ones. Such inappropriate wording would have gotten you strangled by your own kind in the Desolate Era. Ignorance."

Milo touched his nose somewhat awkwardly.

It was a strange feeling, since he hadn't experienced this since graduation.

"Okay, so according to you, this is a ritual similar to sacrifice or summoning. In any case, its purpose is to bring something here, and this thing is very likely to be an aquatic creature. It also had its own kind in the old days, and it might even have been a cult, right?"

Milo took out his pen, bit off the cap, and wrote everything down in his notebook.

He circled words like "antlers" and "canal" in particular. After doing all this, Milo took out the sketches Henry had drawn.

The content is about the woven object he found under the bridge at the Confession Pier, which resembled a birdcage or altar.

Do you remember this thing?

Milo treated the Scarlet Witch like an encyclopedia, bringing up everything he didn't understand, regardless of how much she knew; he just asked her first.

"Human civilization has evolved countless products with religious significance over the long course of time, more than the total number of all the ancients since time immemorial. I'm not an anthropologist." The Scarlet Witch showed little interest in what Milo was holding.

It's clear that this was created by a small group of people in modern times.

“If you don’t recognize it, just say you don’t recognize it. Why are you being so stubborn?” Milo shook his head.

However, it wasn't all for naught. At least it confirmed that the hanging corpse case was, as he had predicted, a clandestine ritual, the purpose of which was to lure some ancient creature to Nanwei City.

Milo is still unable to ascertain the perpetrator's specific motives, but there is no doubt that if he gets his way, the result could very well be a disaster in the city of Nanwei.

After all, it's impossible for something good to happen when an old thing that has lived for countless years suddenly appears in a troubled neighborhood.

"Shouldn't you be thinking about your own life or death right now? How can you still be thinking about these things?" The Scarlet Witch was reminding Milo, who was followed by the shadows of countless hounds, ready to crush Milo's head at any moment.

“I don’t want to sound too high-sounding, but if you’d seen the victim’s body, you certainly wouldn’t say something like that.” Milo looked at the few sheets of paper in his hand and shook his head helplessly.

The Scarlet Witch remained silent for a long time after hearing Milo's words.

Her face was obscured by a hood and her loose, dry hair, so Milo couldn't see her expression or know what she was thinking.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps there was another reason.

In short, Milo's unintentional remark awakened a memory sealed within the Scarlet Witch's heart.

Some bitter memories from long ago, the outlines of people who have long since turned to dust in the years, all of it all rushed into my mind in an instant.

Deep in her memory, there were others who had said similar things and done similar things.

……

But soon the Scarlet Witch pointed to the runes drawn on the paper in Milo's hand and said:

“Go and investigate. No matter what this ritual may bring, the ancients can also be the Holy Communion. Offer up its blood and flesh, and I will seek for you a glimmer of hope against the hounds.”

(End of this chapter)