Witch Redemption

The unease in Lana's eyes had quietly dissipated, leaving only composure and determination.

The Last Words of Chapter 22, Number 47

The residence of Li Lan and Lana, now alone, was plunged into a new, deathly silence.

Back in her room, Li Lan began to meticulously read through the Imperial Constitution and the Witch's Code. The Imperial Constitution was similar to the law books Li Lan had seen in her previous life, listing a large number of civil and criminal laws.

The laws that witches must abide by are listed separately on the last twenty pages of the "Imperial Constitution".

Whether it's theft or intentional homicide, they are all equivalent crimes, and the punishment is clearly stated in black and white as the death penalty—a rather one-size-fits-all approach. Li Lan also noticed that one of the points mentioned was the witch's sphere of influence.

If a witch crosses a certain area of ​​the empire's borders without permission, she will be treated as a traitor. Once a witch violates this rule, she will be immediately wanted by the empire's inquisitors and will eventually be executed.

In short, most of the laws listed in the entry were incomprehensible to Li Lan. The blatant malice made Li Lan so angry that she questioned her existence. This was no longer a law, but a naked attack.

The "Witch's Code" is actually a detailed expansion of the witch section of the "Imperial Constitution," specifying daily behavioral guidelines. In fact, everything is similar to what was mentioned earlier in item 47. In this world, witches are absolutely forbidden from killing ordinary people, and apart from participating in missions issued by the Witch Order and hunting monsters on the border, they are not allowed to participate in any other activities.

In other words, witches are absolutely forbidden from becoming adventurers or joining the army; they are special beings to the empire, considered serious offenders.

Of course, what Li Lan cared about more was one point mentioned: every witch possessed a safeguard mechanism, namely the Guardian Warriors. When a witch killed her first ordinary person, this first safeguard would be triggered, summoning terrifying executioners called "Guardian Warriors." Once they appeared, they would immediately kill the witch who had broken the law, carrying out righteous punishment.

It has to be said that this is the greatest deterrent to the witch, which made Li Lan think of the strange situation of number 47 and the others the night before.

"Could it be that they were all attacked by executioners that night because they killed ordinary people, which is why they were so badly injured?"

In this way, what happened that night makes sense.

Li Lan vaguely sensed that what the four seniors encountered that night was probably not as simple as these executioners. Could there be some other unexpected events? For example, the two strange men in black trench coats who easily took them down last night.

Still puzzled, Li Lan silently wrote down the gist of it. At that moment, the clock tower in the inner city was already chiming the midnight bell, and it was time to rest.

"Hey."

He couldn't help but sigh. After studying the imperial laws for so long, he felt that these transmigrators were not human, but beasts.

Thinking back to the news of the deaths of her four seniors today, Li Lan, filled with worry, had little desire to sleep.

After closing her magic book, Li Lan's slender left hand unconsciously gripped the edge of the wooden bed.

Suddenly, he noticed strange writing on the edge of the wooden bed. "Hmm?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Li Lan looked down sharply and her eyes widened instantly.

By the dim light of the magic crystal lamp, he could clearly see four small characters engraved on the edge of the bed. These four characters were not in the language of this world, but were genuine simplified Chinese characters!

"Imperial Constitution".

Li Lan was taken aback. He clearly remembered that on the first day after he transmigrated, he tried to speak Chinese and write a few Chinese characters, but he failed. It was simply impossible to do in this world.

So how exactly were these four characters recorded?

Li Lan recalled that he hadn't returned to his room all day yesterday, spending the entire time in the living room on the first floor. He didn't know what number 47 was busy with, and he was the only one who went upstairs once, staying there for a long time.

"Could it be a code left for me by number 47? The Imperial Constitution, what does that mean?"

What noteworthy elements might there be in the Imperial Constitution?

Li Lan hurriedly opened the magic book and found the relevant information on the Imperial Constitution, but after searching for a long time, she couldn't find any key points related to those four words.

Suddenly, Li Lan had a flash of inspiration, "Could it be those paper books?"

………………

Li Lan quickly arrived at the first-floor living room and discreetly found the booklet on the "Imperial Constitution." "Wait, could someone be watching me? What if something bad happens if I take the Imperial Constitution directly?"

The moment she touched the book, a strange chill ran through Li Lan's heart.

The next moment, somewhat frightened, he moved his hand to the other side, took out one of the books, "Detailed Explanation of Imperial Geography," and then took out six or seven other miscellaneous books. Finally, he casually tossed the "Imperial Constitution" on top of these books and carried it up to his room.

Even after returning to her room, a strange chill lingered, constantly weighing on Li Lan's mind.

"What's going on? Why am I feeling so uneasy? Could it be that I'm really being watched by someone?"

Based on this strange feeling, Li Lan dared not be careless. Instead of immediately opening the Imperial Constitution, she took out another book, "Detailed Explanation of Imperial Geography," cleared her mind of all distractions, and slowly began to read it.

This lasted for more than three hours, until four clear and long chimes came from the clock tower in the inner city.

At this moment, the dark cloud that had been hanging over Li Lan's heart slowly dissipated. He glanced up casually and saw that it was pitch black outside the window, so gloomy it was almost frightening.

"Has the surveillance disappeared?"

Having almost finished reading the "Detailed Explanation of Imperial Geography" in his hand, Li Lan turned to the last page, barely memorizing what he had read before, and then picked up the "Imperial Constitution" next to him.

Since Li Lan had already read through the contents, he pretended to be a little impatient and quickly flipped through the pages. Soon he came to the middle, where a plain white sheet of paper that seemed out of place caught his eye.

"This is……"

To Li Lan's great surprise, the contents of this document seemed to contain several remarkable secrets.

"Don't let anyone else know what's on this before the time is right, including your accomplices."

"Witches can gain experience by killing monsters, and they can also gain experience by killing people, killing other witches, killing heroes such as the Guardians of Order or the Inquisitors of Heretics. The amount of experience gained depends on the strength of the deceased."

"When a witch kills any ordinary person, the first thing she does is trigger the witch's restriction, summoning the executioner 'Guardian of Order'. To deal with such a terrifying monster, one must be at least level 15. Once the Guardian of Order is killed, the second witch's restriction will be triggered, summoning the strongest assassin, the Heretic Inquisitor. It is known that even a witch with a golden grimoire may not be able to fight against him, so one must carefully consider attacking ordinary people. Once one decides to attack, one must be prepared to die."

"The Crimson Night Torrent harbors a secret, also known as the 'Witch Hunt.' Every witch who possesses a Silver Spellbook has a high probability of being hunted down on this night. And what hunts them are not monsters, but something far more terrifying. The witch summoning ritual they orchestrate is actually a purgatory, and we are all sinners in this purgatory, lowly ants. Our existence is to use our lives, after advancing to Silver Spellbooks, to provide the Holy See of the Empire and the Witch Order with the power to resist the unknown."

"If you want to find salvation from this, remember this important information: 23 degrees 26 minutes, 180 degrees. If nothing unexpected happens, when you learn this important information a second time, you will understand what it means."

"Finally, the two methods I mentioned for returning to reality are both false. This is a cage of despair, where death is real, so don't harbor any illusions. Unable to escape this cage, neither I nor those predecessors who died to leave behind hope have ever found a true way home."

"I believe that if it were you, you might be able to forge a different path from ours."

"So please, you must survive!"

The words came to an abrupt end, and the unprecedented shock left Li Lan's mind blank for a moment.

How is that possible? There's no way to end the time travel, so even the supposed final destination of death is a lie?

Why is this happening?

With a drastic change in expression, Li Lan silently closed the book, trying his best to calm himself down. After being lost in thought for several minutes, he fearfully turned off the magic crystal lamp on the table, plunging the entire room into darkness.

He desperately wanted to forget the contents of that piece of paper, but the information it conveyed was deeply etched into his mind, reminding him again and again of the utterly hopeless reality he was facing.

The Empire's Summoning of the Witch is a conspiracy!

And these witches who are being relentlessly targeted are, in reality, fish on a chopping board!

"The deaths of Senior No. 47 and the others last night were definitely not accidental. Even Lana and I will face the same day in the future after we possess the Silver Grimoire. The Silver Grimoire? What secrets does it hold that could bring us such a deadly disaster?"

Fear lingered in Li Lan's mind, preventing him from calming down for a long time.

"Senior Number 47 is probably still hiding many facts. The biggest reason they dare not tell us everything is probably that if we knew those secrets, we would certainly perish in last night's torrent of scorching night. Those two who came after us at the end might have done something to us. The reason we woke up with headaches this morning, could it be..."

Our memories were searched? Did they spare our lives only because they didn't reveal any related secrets to us (confirming serial number 47)?

Better safe than sorry, Li Lan felt increasingly frightened as she thought about it.

An unprecedented sense of crisis made him tremble with fear, and his heart remained unsettled for a long time. "What should I do? What should I do?"

Now it's just him and Lana left, and he can't tell Lana what he's going to say, so he can only keep it all to himself.

Li Lan had a strange feeling that the contents of this paper were not just the secret of number 47 and his group, but also a responsibility. What could be the reason that these four witch seniors were passing on the secret to him in this way?

"This piece of paper must be destroyed! How should we do it?"

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Li Lan wanted to go downstairs to get matches or something similar and burn the paper immediately.

But upon further reflection, realizing it was inappropriate, he quickly restrained his thoughts.

"If the feeling of being watched not long ago was because I was being monitored by someone, then it means that someone suspects that the four dead witches gave us something. If I rashly show anything unusual, there is a high chance that I will be investigated immediately."

Fire can burn the paper completely, but it will inevitably leave ashes behind.

This world contains unscientific methods such as magic, and no one knows if they might use some secret technique to restore the ashes of paper.

Moreover, Li Lan was certain that he was still under surveillance by someone, and if he hurriedly destroyed the paper now, wouldn't that be an admission of guilt?

"It's not appropriate to leave it within the imperial constitution; we must find a way to bring it with us."

Thinking of this, Li Lan's heart stirred. In the darkness, she quietly picked up the "Imperial Constitution," and without making a sound, pulled out the paper that recorded the last words of the senior with serial number 47, and inserted it into the magic book next to her.

………………

Outside the witch's residence, two men dressed in black trench coats with red trim stood under the clear light of the full moon. They were Jeno and Eisen, who were monitoring Li Lan and Lana.

At this moment, they stood with their eyes closed for a long time, until four chimes came from the clock tower in the distant inner city, and Jeno was the first to open his eyes.

"Code name 002, no anomalies, fell into a deep sleep after midnight. Eisen, how are things on your end?"

Eisen, who had also opened his eyes, hesitated for a moment, as if he were thinking about something.

A few seconds later, he coldly replied, "Code name 001, also no anomalies."

In fact, as soon as Li Lan hurriedly went downstairs, Eisen had already spotted this reckless and unlucky fellow, but what happened next was beyond his expectations.

This guy randomly picked up a bunch of random books and read them with great interest for more than three hours. Even when he just shifted his attention, Eisen still couldn't find any clues about him.

"Alright, I'll be leaving the surveillance of them to you for a while. I'll head back to the witch's prison to report."

"Ah."

Eisen closed his eyes again, and this time, what he saw was Li Lan, who seemed to be fast asleep...

Chapter 23 The Secret of the Tome's Storage

In the living room of Building Number One of the Witch's Abode, Lana, who was sitting on a down chair reading the contents of a magic book, looked up after hearing footsteps on the stairs and saw Li Lan's somewhat listless expression.

Didn't you sleep well last night?

Li Lan nodded upon hearing this. He opened his mouth, wanting to mention his suspicion that they might be under surveillance, but hesitated for a moment before changing the subject instead, "What are your plans for today?"

The severed arm left behind by the witch was buried yesterday in a corner of the ruins outside the house, while the hair suspected to be left by the murderer was divided into two parts, with Li Lan and Lana each keeping one part.

"I want to continue reading the books... Oh, by the way, I've already confirmed the legacy of my predecessors."

When this was mentioned, Lana's expression turned somewhat grim.

The situation of these predecessors was even more miserable than he had imagined. Apart from a few sets of clothes to change into, they had nothing else. It could be said that they had left behind very little property, and there was nothing to remember them by in their rooms.

In fact, it was only last night, just before going to bed, that Lana noticed a stack of banknotes on her bed. She counted them and found they were worth a full ninety browns, enough to last them a long time.

Lana wasn't stupid. When she saw the banknotes, she suddenly realized that these four seniors knew from the beginning that they would die. Not only did they not try to avoid it, but they also made arrangements for the two of them.

It's just unknown what caused these four witch seniors to give no further resistance, as if they had resigned themselves to their fate.

Lana sighed in frustration, lamenting that they had left nothing behind and would only live on in his memory. Then, she silently took out fifty browns and handed them to Li Lan, saying, "This is a sum of money left to me by our predecessors. It can support us for a while."