Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 42 Summoning Spirits
Lu Ze held the lantern above his head and used the light to survey the office.

—The security personnel were already asleep, so it wasn't a problem even if the light from the lanterns shone through the window glass, as long as it wasn't too obvious.

Perhaps because Mr. Pound was the manager, his office was decorated in a more upscale style and was larger than the other offices. In the center of the room, towards the back, stood a white oak desk and a matching chair. The wood had a warm, lustrous color and appeared translucent under the light.

"Ok?"

Leonard exclaimed in surprise, "Giving the manager such nice furniture? This company is richer than I thought."

"Is 10 pounds too little?"

Lu Ze laughed and looked around.

A locked iron filing cabinet stood against the wall. Beyond the cabinet were a sofa and a coffee table. The sofa's leather looked high-end, and the coffee table was even made of black walnut, a material more expensive than white oak, with a coffee pot and cups on it.

In addition, the bookshelves and the coat rack behind the door also look to be of a relatively high standard.

Leonard leaned closer to the table, sniffed it slightly, and frowned. "The paint smell is still very strong; it was only recently purchased."

"so what?"

Luzer sensed something was off about Leonard. Weren't they here to investigate an affair? Why were they looking at this table?

Leonard looked up at him. "Business at the docks has been slow for the past three months. The stevedores are working only sporadically. How can this shipping company make money and afford to replace the manager's furniture with such high-end furniture?"

His question startled Lu Ze.

"But they bought it anyway, who knows why."

This behavior is at most somewhat suspicious; the company might have some secrets, but they have no way of verifying them right now.

Leonard thought for a moment and realized that buying a table didn't really prove anything, so he smiled casually and said, "Never mind, let's get on with the business first."

He extended his right hand towards Lu Ze, indicating "Go ahead."

Lu Ze nodded, took out the candles, herbs, and essential oils he had prepared in advance from his pocket, and then lit a candle on the ground.

"Go and get that hat from the clothes rack."

He told Leonard, who quickly did so.

Luze took the hat, drew his silver dagger, and created a spiritual wall that sealed off the entire office space. He sat down directly opposite the candle, which at this moment symbolized himself.

Lu Ze dripped a drop of "black rot essential oil" into the flame; this was something representing the realm of death. The essential oil hissed and steamed as it burned, and an indescribable odor immediately filled the air.

"It felt like I was in a hospital morgue."

Leonard commented with a frown.

Lu Ze ignored him and continued sprinkling Moon Spirit Flower powder into the flames. This flower blooms only at night, and it is said that when one approaches the flower at night, one can hear ethereal whispers.

The unpleasant smell faded, replaced by a different, serene, and mysterious aura. The air around the candle became peculiar, as if something invisible was disturbing it, creating ripples.

Leonard was caught up in the atmosphere and stopped talking.

Luze took a deep breath and shouted in ancient Hermes, "Me!"

The air near the candle trembled, as if in response.

Luze switched to Hermes and continued reciting:

"I summon in my own name,"

"A spirit wandering in illusion, whose true form is reflected in the beings of the upper realms in this place, a friendly one willing to answer questions."

call!
The instant Lu Ze finished reciting, the candle flame turned a deep blue, then swelled to the size of a human head. From within the flame, a phantom face emerged.

And then, that was it. Just a face!

The face floated in mid-air, looking at Lu Ze, as if waiting for him to speak.

Lu Ze had seen many grand occasions, so he was not surprised at all by such a strange existence.

The ritual he used this time was called the Spirit Summoning Ritual, which summons spirit beings through his own spirituality to achieve his own purpose—the “upper realm” in the incantation refers to the spirit realm in the field of mysticism, a strange space that does not exist in reality.

The advantage of this ritual is that it bypasses the limitations of the gods and can enhance one's abilities by leveraging the mystery of the spirit world; the disadvantage is that there is a great deal of uncertainty, as the spirit world is full of strange and unusual creatures, and its danger and reliability are unknown.

Therefore, Luze deliberately added constraints to the spell: "located here" requires the summoned creature to know the situation here, and "friendly creature willing to answer questions" is to hope that the other party will be more polite.

Now that the spirit beings have been summoned, it's time to ask questions.

"Do you know the owner of this hat, Mr. Pound?"

Lu Ze picked up the hat and asked.

The face floated, seemingly conveying a sense of certainty to Lu Ze.

"Do you know who Mr. Pound's mistress is? Um, do you understand what I mean?"

Lu Ze asked somewhat awkwardly, but to his surprise, the other party continued to express certainty—it knew.

"Could you draw her, or tell me her name?"

Lu Ze asked further.

This time, the illusory face did not answer. It floated up and down, seemingly very confused.

"Could it be that Mr. Pound has more than one mistress?"

Leonard quietly chimed in from the side.

what?
Lu Ze was taken aback upon hearing this.

So how should he ask the question?
After thinking for a moment, Lu Ze got up from the floor, took a company map from the company brochure on the bookshelf, and unfolded it on the floor.

"Did Mr. Pound have his affair at the company?"

The other party gave an affirmative answer.

"Then can you show me the location where he had the affair?"

Lu Ze asked.

If the location can be determined, the investigation will be much easier.

After receiving confirmation from the other party, Lu Ze used a dagger to cut his finger and dripped blood onto the map. The dripping location happened to be the manager's office where they were located.

Blood is a spiritually rich material and can be used as a medium for rituals.

The ethereal spirit creature stared at the map, and some strange force began to propel blood across it. Leonard and Luzer held their breath, watching the trail of blood, which represented Mr. Pound's usual routes.

The blood left the office, went down the corridor, entered each office and circled around once or twice, but did not stop. Instead, it continued down until it left the office building.

"Field combat?"

Leonard's low voice suppressed a laugh.

The blood flowed across the courtyard, reversed direction and entered the back of the company, proceeded along the Tasok River, and finally stopped at a river bend marked "Abandoned Shipyard," where it continued to circle.

The blood dripping from Lu Ze gradually gathered here, and under the light, this place was blood red to the point of being purple.

(End of this chapter)