Mystery: The Witch of Desire

Miss Justice replied in an detached tone.

"I also collected two pages."

Livre added a touch of excitement to her tone, matching her current mood.

"Very good."

Mr. Fool's voice remained as calm and steady as ever, as if everything had been within his expectations.

"Let's write down our thoughts in the diary now."

As soon as he finished speaking, a brownish-yellow parchment and a dark red fountain pen instantly appeared in front of the three of them.

The three of them picked up their writing tools and began to recall the symbols in their memories, expressing their urgent emotions.

Without a sound, line after line of text appeared on the yellowish-brown parchment.

Livre first reproduced the real page of Russell's diary, and then reproduced her forged diary. When reproducing the forged diary, she was extra careful, afraid of making any mistakes. Even the text that appeared seemed to be neater.

In less than a minute, Miss Justice and Mr. Hanged Man had copied all the notes they had written down. Livre was a little slower, but she also finished copying her notes in about ten seconds.

Without the Fool making any move, the five parchment pages appeared in his hand.

Then, he began to read silently. Although the gray mist shrouded his face, Livre could still sense an aura of focused concentration: indeed, Mr. Fool could understand simplified Chinese characters.

The Fool, without revealing any expression, turned the first four pages of the diary, his gaze falling on the fifth page, the one Livre had fabricated.

Livre's heart tightened suddenly, and she unconsciously held her breath.

Whether it was her imagination or not, she had a feeling that Mr. Fool also trembled at that moment.

Chapter 145 A Respected Name? He is a God!

The following time seemed to drag on endlessly. Livre timed it by counting heartbeats and discovered that Mr. Fool was taking about twice as long to read the fifth page of his diary as before.

At this moment, he put down the five pages of his diary, looked up at Livre, then turned to Justice and the Hanged Man, and smiled slightly:

"Sorry, I got a little engrossed in it."

Miss Justice smiled calmly:

“I understand, and I look forward to the day when I can exchange the contents of Emperor Roselle’s Diary with you.”

"That comes at a price."

The Fool smiled and glanced at Justice, then swept his gaze over the silent Livia, and calmly spoke:

“Miss, you’ve provided two pages of the diary this time, so you can state your desired reward. If you’d like an interpretation of Russell’s diary, I can grant your request.”

Upon hearing this, both the Hanged Man and Justice looked at Livre, with Miss Justice even showing a look of envy.

Livre felt a pang of anxiety; she hadn't expected Mr. Fool to bring up his reward.

She was torn. For someone who couldn't read simplified Chinese, interpreting Russell's diary was undoubtedly tempting. If she didn't accept the interpretation as payment, she would surely arouse the Fool's suspicion. But if she accepted the interpretation as payment, wouldn't she be wasting an opportunity?

Her thoughts raced, and a sudden inspiration struck her. She said respectfully:

"Mr. Fool, thank you for your generosity in granting me the opportunity to glimpse Emperor Roselle's secrets. However, I may face a life-or-death crisis in the next two weeks. I would like to use this opportunity to enhance my strength, or in exchange for your assistance. I would like to propose my specific request at the next gathering. Is that alright with you?"

When the topic of life-or-death crisis came up, she recalled the hunt for Mrs. Sharon, which would undoubtedly be very dangerous. In this way, she wouldn't be considered to be lying and could escape certain methods that might detect lies.

After a brief silence, Mr. Fool nodded slightly and said:

"Sure, but I must remind you, two pages of Russell's diary are not enough to get me to do it."

Liviel's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly replied:

"That's natural, it's just wishful thinking on my part."

Mr. Hanged Man remained silent, while Miss Justice cast a somewhat pitying glance at him, perhaps because she had heard that Livre was in a life-or-death situation.

After a brief silence, Miss Justice clasped her hands together in front of her and said:

"Mr. Fool, Ms. Lover, Mr. Hanged Man, I have three questions I would like to ask. If you think the answers are of great value, tell me what you want, and I will try my best to find them later."

“No problem,” the Hanged Man replied simply and calmly.

Miss Justice thought for a few seconds and said:

"My first question is, what exactly does 'playing' mean? I've found that the residual spirit in the potion has very little effect on me. Is it because I've been playing the role of an audience member all this time?"

The Hanged Man remained silent, turning his gaze to the Fool, seemingly also awaiting an answer.

Mr. Fool tapped the edge of the long table with his fingers and said in a relaxed tone:

"Let me use a more vivid example to illustrate this. The core power of Sequence Potions is a heavily guarded castle. Those remnants of spirits that can cause backlash reside within the castle. Our goal is to eliminate them and truly become the masters of the castle."

"We have two options now. One is to force our way in, which may not succeed, but will definitely hurt ourselves, unless we crush them with an absolute advantage, which we obviously do not have."

"The second method is that we have an invitation from the castle owner. This invitation will allow us to pass the guards' check and sneak into the castle to easily eliminate the enemy. However, the problem is that the invitation contains descriptions of the guest's appearance and temperament. Therefore, we must disguise ourselves and 'play' the invited guest. Do you understand?"

As if he had anticipated this, the Hanged Man immediately countered with:

"That invitation is the name of the Sequence Potion?"

“Yes,” Mr. Fool replied affirmatively, then looked at Livre and said, “As Miss Lover said, playing a role means anchoring the core of the character, or roughly speaking, anchoring the name of the potion.”

Miss Justice suddenly realized what was going on, as if she fully understood the meaning of "playing a role," and couldn't help but praise her with delight:

“What a brilliant method, Mr. Fool! Your explanation has enlightened me and made it even harder to understand what Miss Lover said at the last party. Fortunately, I’ve been instinctively playing the role of ‘spectator’ all this time.”

She paused and then said:

“I believe this is a very valuable answer, and I cannot accept it so easily. Mr. Fool, what kind of exchange do you require? Of course, I remember I still owe you a page of Emperor Roselle's diary. And Miss Lover, I also owe you a favor. Although I cannot directly provide you with the means to enhance your strength, you can ask me if you need money or materials.”

"Thank you for your generosity. I will make the request when needed."

Livre smiled in response, silently praising Miss Justice in her heart: What a kind-hearted rich girl, Miss Justice, you truly deserve the name of justice.

At this moment, Mr. Fool spoke:

“You can give me more of Roselle’s diary, or…”

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"Or any situation concerning the Antigonus family, even the parts I knew before."

The Hanged Man remained silent for a few seconds, then glanced cautiously at the Fool at the head of the bronze table before speaking slowly and deliberately:

“Mr. Fool…then I can now pay you for your answer.”

"no problem."

Mr. Fool gave an affirmative answer.

The Hanged Man considered his words carefully and said:

“Antigonus is an ancient family whose history can be traced back to the Cataclysmic Era before the Fourth Age, and is associated with the second ‘Profane Tablet’.”

"The second 'blasphemous slab'?"

Miss Justice made no attempt to hide her doubts.

The Hanged Man glanced at the Fool, and seeing that the other did not speak up to stop him, he thought for a moment and said:

"The first 'Blasphemy Slab' appeared in the Dark Age, which was the second age when we humans struggled to survive under the protection of the gods. The second 'Blasphemy Slab' appeared at the end of the Third Age. In fact, it could be said that its appearance marked the end of the Cataclysmic Age."

"The information on these two 'blasphemous tablets' is strictly confidential to the seven major churches. I only know a little about it: they both involve the way of God, but I don't know the differences between them."

"Was it the first or the second blasphemous tablet that Emperor Roselle looked at?"

Miss Justice asked with some curiosity.

"The second one."

Before the Hanged Man could react, Livre gave her answer. Righteousness now held immense weight in her heart, and she was determined to please this wealthy patron as much as possible.

"The second blasphemous tablet is in the hands of an ancient, clandestine organization, and for security reasons, I cannot reveal its name."

Livre spoke with feigned profundity, but in reality, she herself did not know the name of that ancient organization. What she had just said came from the page of Russell's diary that Jason had given her, which did not mention the name of that ancient organization.

Miss Justice nodded thoughtfully, then turned to look at the Hanged Man.

The Hanged Man was slightly annoyed by Livre's interruption, but he didn't show it and continued to introduce the Antigonus family in a low voice.

According to him,

During the reign of Solomon in the Fourth Age, the Antigonus family had already become a prominent noble family. With the establishment of the Tudor Empire, the family rose to the center of the Northern Continent, shining alongside ancient families such as Amun and Abraham. After the War of the Four Emperors, the Blood Emperor of the Tudor Empire fell, and the Antigonus family fell from its peak along with the Tudor Empire, being hunted down by the Seven Gods and ultimately destroyed by the Church of the Night.

After listening, Mr. Fool nodded slightly and tapped the edge of the long table several times with the fingers of one hand.

Then, he spoke slowly:

"Very good, I am very satisfied with this reward."

"It is my honor." The Hanged Man said nothing more.

Miss Justice glanced at Mr. Fool, then at Livre and the Hanged Man, and smiled faintly:

"Now for my second question: what are the names of the subsequent potions for the 'audience'? Where can I find clues about them?"

I'd like to ask that directly too, but if I reveal that I'm a Sequence 6 Pleasure Witch, there would probably be some troublesome consequences.

Liviel looked at Miss Justice with a hint of envy, but then she felt relieved. Even if she had the relevant information, she didn't have the money to trade. Sequence 5 potions and recipes would probably cost a lot of money.

The Hanged Man paused for a few seconds and then said:

"I'll answer this question for free, since I was the one who guided you onto this path."

Mr. Hanged Man is so generous! This is so unlike his calculating image. Could it be that he, like me, has figured out that Miss Justice is a rich person and wants to extend a helping hand to her? Sigh, money really is alluring no matter the world.

Liviel sighed inwardly and continued listening to the free potion knowledge.

The Hanged Man continued:

"The Sequence 8 following 'The Audience' is called 'The Mind Reader,' and the Sequence 7 was formerly known as 'The Psychoanalyst,' but is now usually referred to as 'The Psychiatrist.' This is what I learned from a member of the Psychological Alchemy Society, who I think should possess quite a few potion recipes for this path."

Do you know the current whereabouts of that member of the Psychological Alchemy Society?

Miss Justice asked with shining eyes, seemingly quite pleased with the names of the next two sequence potions.

The Hanged Man chuckled, a rare occurrence for him.

“I know, he sank near Sonia Island, I sank him myself.”

"If you're looking for the Psychological Alchemy Society, then I'm sorry, the trail has gone cold."

Mr. Hanged Man, there's no need to mention such details, would it be awkward if we met in person someday? But he really is ruthless. Considering his close relationship with the ocean, could he be a pirate or a bounty hunter?

Livre muttered to herself, somewhat speechless, while Miss Justice seemed unsure of what expression or words to use in response.

She took a breath, suddenly looking a little embarrassed, and said with a hint of shyness:

"The third question is, what would happen if, I mean if, an ordinary animal drank a Sequence 9 potion?"

Pfft... As expected of Miss Justice. After the previous two gatherings, I'm not surprised that Miss Justice would do something like this. However, I don't seem to have the right to laugh at her, after all, I also keep a Sequence 8 extraordinary creature...

She wore an indifferent expression, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her:

"Ordinary animals don't have human brains, so they'll most likely die on the spot or turn into monsters. But if they survive, they should be able to become extraordinary beings, and might even become like humans, able to speak and think."

She paused, then continued:

"By the way, Sequence 8 of the Pharmacist Path is Beast Tamer. They have the ability to tame extraordinary creatures and can raise them more easily than normal people. However, as far as I know, even for Beast Tamers, raising an extraordinary creature is not an easy task... If you have any further questions in this regard or need any practical help, you can ask me."

"Okay. Thank you, Miss Lover."

Miss Justice breathed a silent sigh of relief and nodded in a relaxed tone:

"I have no other questions."

Livre and the Hanged Man indicated that they had no other questions and looked together at the Fool at the head of the table.

"I have something to ask of you," the Fool said with a smile, his posture unchanged. "It requires your cooperation."

Seemingly sensing the tension among the three, he reassured them:

"Don't worry, it's a small matter. If you succeed, it will be of great help to you."

Klein twitched his fingers slightly and smiled as he spoke:

"As I said before, we're going to do some experimentation so that you can ask for leave in advance and don't have to worry about what to do if you're in an inappropriate situation on Monday afternoon."

"This is exactly what we wanted."

Miss Justice's brows and eyes relaxed.

Livre asked with some curiosity: