Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 98 The Witch's Anatomy
In the pitch-black night, on the flowing river and the cold ice, Lu Ze, panting, looked at Mrs. Sharon's corpse, her skull ripped open. Her brains were still warm, but the blood that had flowed out had already frozen to the ice.

I have a feeling that I've seen similar scenes before.

Lu Ze smiled bitterly to himself.

After catching his breath and closing his eyes to meditate and regain some of his spirituality, he drew his dagger and staggered to his feet. The gunshots had been going on for a while; although the river was somewhat secluded, curious people might still come by, so he needed to deal with the body as soon as possible.

Lu Ze walked up to Mrs. Sharon's body, pondering how best to make the cut.

At that moment, a thought suddenly came to his mind.

Perhaps I should try to communicate with her through psychic abilities to obtain more information. Whether it's inside information about the witch cult or details of human trafficking, although I can't tell the captain, at least it would make me less passive.

"Spiritual communication" is a skill that psychics like Daly excel at, but "mysticians" or "diviners" like Luzer or Klein can also manage it with some effort through rituals. However, it must be done quickly; if the target's spiritual energy dissipates, it cannot be accomplished.

With that thought, Lu Ze no longer hesitated, using his dagger to create a spiritual wall around himself and the corpse. Then he sprinkled hydrosol and herbal powder, and whispered the name of the goddess of night in Hermes.

"She is the goddess of the night, more sublime than the stars and more eternal than eternity."

During the recitation, Lu Ze couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

I'm bypassing the organization, acting in secret, and even asking the goddess for help. I doubt she'll punish me. She's already given me assistance, so she must have tacitly granted me a certain degree of freedom.

Lu Ze comforted himself in this way and continued the ritual, chanting the incantation:
“I pray for the power of the night;”

"I pray for the hidden power;"

"I beg you to grant me spiritual access to this evil witch."

Hermesian incantations echoed within the enclosed space, and a terrifying yet hidden power descended, surging into Luze's body. Luze's azure eyes rapidly turned deep black, the black spreading quickly and swallowing up the whites of his eyes, making him appear both frightening and mysterious.

Through those pure black eyes, Lu Ze saw the lingering spirit within Mrs. Sharon's body. She floated aimlessly, only reacting with a venomous expression when her gaze met Lu Ze's.

Lu Ze naturally didn't care about the dead man's resentment. He reached out and touched Mrs. Sharon, and the goddess's power connected him with her spirit.

The scenery before my eyes suddenly changed.

In a chaotic corner of the neighborhood, a handsome man who bore a resemblance to Mrs. Sharon carefully examined a note with a few lines written in Rune script:
"Sequence 9: Assassin".

"Main ingredients: the four paws of an adult night cat, and all the feathers of a concealed night hawk."

"Auxiliary materials: 80 ml of pure water, 5 drops of white datura juice, 5 g of night-blooming jasmine powder, and 10 g of adult black night civet whisker powder."

The scenery shifted, and the man appeared in a dark alley. He looked much more mature and sinister, appearing cold and ruthless. Standing opposite him was an extremely beautiful woman. Concealing his lust for her, he bowed respectfully and accepted the note she offered. The note read:

"Sequence 8: The Instigator."

Main ingredients: Heart of the Demon Throat Honey, Poison Sac of the Dark Lurker.

Auxiliary materials: 100 ml pure water, a nasal tube for the Magic Throat Honey, 5 drops of blue datura juice, 10 g of water fern powder, and one unpeeled walnut. The scene continued to change, and finally, Mrs. Sharon, whom Luze recognized, appeared before him. She reclined languidly in a chair, her curves beautiful and captivating. She said to Triss below, "I've almost won over that councilor. As long as he's on our side, future transportation channels will be much faster."

On the dressing table behind her stood a statue made of white bones.

She was a woman with an eerie yet beautiful appearance, whose hair extended all the way to her ankles, each strand as thick as a snake, with eyes at the ends.

As Lu Ze looked at the statue, it reacted. Under the gaslight, the statue's surface shimmered and danced, all the snakes' hair seeming to come alive, writhing. And at that moment, the head of the woman made of bones began to slowly turn.

She looked at Lu Ze, her hard, bony face seemingly smiling.

"Boom!"

The illusory world suddenly collapsed, and Luze's consciousness returned to the ice surface.

"what!"

He clutched his head and let out a painful scream, as if a sharp blade had cleaved his skull, exposing his brain directly to the cold air. It took him a long time to recover before he could stand up with difficulty.

In that instant when he met the statue's gaze, some forbidden knowledge forcefully entered his mind. Looking back now, it seems to be a name.

"The name of the Primordial Witch?"

Lu Ze murmured incredulously.

The Primal Witch, an evil god worshipped by the Witch Cult. He had seen her in the Night Watchers' records; she was an extremely dangerous and terrifying deity who had brought horrific disasters to the world. But this theoretically highest-ranking member of the Witch Cult, upon encountering Luze, an enemy who had just killed one of her followers, actually forced her own name upon him?

It was as if they were begging Luze to call upon His holy name!
Lu Ze was speechless, only feeling a bit numb in his head.

First the true creator, then the hidden sage and the primordial witch—don't all the evil gods like me a little too much?

Speaking of names, among the knowledge given by the necromancer's potion, besides the True Creator, there was another mysterious being called Urolius. However, this name contains the description "a follower of the True Creator," clearly indicating that he is on the same side as the True Creator. Therefore, Luze has never prayed to Him.

If you pray, perhaps another mysterious being will covet you.
Forget about it for now.

Lu Ze shook his head. Time was of the essence; it would be best to remove Mrs. Sharon's heart first.

So he picked up his dagger and approached the corpse whose skull had been ripped open.

Anyone who frequently performs autopsies knows that the heart is protected by the ribs, making it no easy task to remove. Forensic pathologists often need to use a saw to cut through several ribs to extract the heart. Lu Ze struggled greatly but failed to remove the ribs, ultimately resorting to a ritual and using flesh magic to obtain a complete witch's heart.

However, Luze couldn't just take a heart, because Ms. M, who was constantly monitoring him, would notice something amiss. Therefore, he also solemnly removed Sharon's other organs, as well as her hair and eyes. To be fair, such materials are indeed used in some taboo rituals of the Mystic People, but Luze wasn't particularly keen on using them because they seemed too insane.

After doing all this, Lu Ze didn't rush to leave. Instead, he took out all of Mrs. Sharon's belongings, as well as the extraordinary properties she had extracted. He then used a ritual to disturb her corpse, preventing anyone from divining or communicating with her through spirits.

Only after that did he throw the witch's body into the Tasok River, walk across the gradually thawing ice, and enter the shadows of the street.

(End of this chapter)