Mystery: The Witch of Desire

"Thank you for your answer, Mr. Hanged Man. As for that payment, you... you don't need to pay it."

"No, I'd like to ask you for a favor in return for your answer and some extra compensation."

"The Hanged Man said in a deep voice."

"What kind of help?"

Miss Justice asked in confusion.

The Hanged Man thought for a few seconds and said:

“I’ve received intelligence that the notorious pirate known as ‘Hurricane Admiral’ Zilingus has secretly landed and infiltrated Backlund. I don’t know what he’s up to. I hope you can help me find his whereabouts. As for what happens next, you don’t need to take any risks.”

"'Hurricane Admiral' Ziringus? One of the seven pirate generals?"

Miss Justice's eyes widened slightly, and even through the thin mist, her surprise was evident.

It's easy to imagine the impact that news of Zilingus, a figure existing only in aristocratic legends, would have on Miss Justice, a noblewoman.

"Yes, he is also a Sequence 6 Beyonder 'Wind-Chosen' through the 'Sailor' pathway, and he also possesses an extremely powerful magical item, which can also be called a sealed item. He is quite cunning and cruel, so don't try to deal with him."

The Hanged Man solemnly explained.

At this point, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Klein, saying:

“Mr. Fool, may I request your servants to provide assistance at a critical moment? I will pay whatever price you are interested in.”

Klein remained calm and smiled slightly:

"The premise is that my confidant happens to be in Backlund."

"Ok."

The Hanged Man looked away, a mixture of disappointment and anticipation in his eyes.

His only followers were himself, and I could barely be counted as one of them...

Liviel silently scoffed to herself, but how could a pirate general like Zilingus only have a Sequence 6? After all, even Misor King, the third mate under the General of Disease, had a Sequence 6, and Misor King had once been Zilingus's subordinate...

Livre asked with some curiosity:

"Zilingus became a pirate general simply because he was only Sequence 6?"

With just sequence 6...

Everyone at the Tarot meeting, including the Fool, was speculating about these words, marveling at just how powerful Miss Lover was, that she didn't even look down on Sequence 6!

The Hanged Man regained his composure and slowly said:

"Zilingus' bounty is 15000 pounds, the lowest of all the pirate generals, and also the newly appointed pirate general in recent months. However..."

He paused, then said seriously:

"His true terror lies not in his status, but in the magical object he possesses."

What's so special about that magical item from Zilingus?

Miss Justice asked impatiently.

Faced with Miss Justice's question, the Hanged Man answered almost without hesitation, as if without even thinking:

"The true name of that magical object is unknown, but those who know a little about it call it 'the writhing hunger.' Zilingus must satisfy it with the soul and flesh of a living person every other day, or it will take its own master in its place."

The kind-hearted and righteous young lady frowned and said:

"Perhaps this is an important clue that can be used to find Zilingus."

“Yes, but in a metropolis with at least five million people, the disappearance of a few homeless people goes unnoticed,” the Hanged Man reminded him, then added, “Ever since acquiring ‘Crawling Hunger,’ Zilingus has become incredibly difficult to deal with.”

"He was originally just a 'Wind Favorite,' possessing remarkable abilities in the realms of water, wind, and weather. But later, people discovered that he could drive his targets mad, enter other people's dreams, summon light to purify the undead, enhance himself with his singing, and transform into the appearance of different people... He was almost omnipotent."

The description of the Hanged Man is quite detailed.

“We suspect that all of this is caused by the magical item ‘Crawling Hunger’…”

Before he could finish speaking, Sun, who had been quietly listening, blurted out in astonishment:

"shepherd!"

"The Shepherd"? "The Mystic" and "The Listener" pathways, Sequence 5? Hmm, there's a newly promoted elder in the Silver City's "Six-Person Council" who is the "Shepherd," supposedly powerful enough to resist a Sequence 4 powerhouse, uh, an evil spirit of the same rank... Klein's facial expression changed slightly, but it was all concealed by the gray mist, and at this moment, the spectator didn't pay attention to him either.

"shepherd?"

"shepherd?"

Aside from the Fool, Livre and the others looked at the sun with puzzlement.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, the sun suddenly felt a little flustered.

He hurriedly stammered an explanation:

“What I mean is that the characteristics Mr. Hanged Man listed are very similar to the extraordinary abilities of the ‘Shepherd’ class. Every ‘Shepherd’ can devour the souls of others, including vengeful spirits and evil spirits, and use them in a unique way to control them and use their abilities accordingly, just like shepherding lambs for the gods.”

"Therefore, no one knows exactly how much power the 'shepherds' possess. It only depends on how many extraordinary souls they have devoured, which makes them seem extremely terrifying, almost equivalent to high-sequence powerhouses."

"But some people suspect that there is a limit to the number of souls that the 'shepherd' can devour and herd, but that they can be replaced."

So that's what "shepherd" means... The sequence pathways mastered by the Aurora Society are as bizarre as ever... No wonder they worship the true creator. But if Little White could become a "shepherd," oh no, a "shepherd snake," that would be incredibly useful...

Liviel suddenly realized something and couldn't help but look forward to what Xiaobai would look like after his advancement.

At the same time, she sighed inwardly:

Oh, Sun, you really are still just a young child. This is very important news, very important intelligence, something that could be exchanged for something valuable, and you just blurted it out! You blurted it out…

After hearing the sun's explanation, the Hanged Man seemed to remember something, nodded slightly, and then remained silent.

In such situations, remaining silent avoids paying compensation.

Livre understood the Hanged Man's thoughts perfectly and remained silent along with him.

Miss Justice asked with even greater curiosity:

"Which sequence pathway does the shepherd belong to? What sequence number?"

"Sequence 5 of the Mystic Path".

Klein made a subtle remark that further enhanced his already enigmatic image.

You know quite a lot, don't you...

Seeing the admiring look in Miss Justice's eyes, Livre smiled inwardly.

"The Secret Prayer People...the Aurora Society..."

Miss Justice seemed to recall Mr. A, who was suspected to be the messenger of the Aurora Society, and her mood suddenly became a little heavy.

After a moment of contemplation, Miss Justice turned to look at the upside-down man opposite her and said:

“Mr. Hanged Man, I’m willing to accept this commission, but I can’t guarantee that I can find ‘Hurricane Admiral’ Zilingus.”

"There is no better answer than this. Regardless of whether you succeed or not, as long as you make an attempt, I will pay you a certain reward afterward, such as some secret knowledge and intelligence. And if you succeed, perhaps I can directly provide you with the main materials of 'mind reader'. Of course, the premise is that we need to know what these materials are."

The Hanged Man made a promise with unusual generosity, after all, the person he was dealing with was a pirate general.

Liviel couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If she still had the mirror mark she left in Backlund, she wouldn't mind returning to Backlund and getting involved, since she was also very interested in that magical item.

"make a deal."

Miss Justice smiled and accepted the somewhat dangerous, but definitely adventurous, deal, which was very much in line with the taste of a pampered noblewoman.

Next, with Klein's help, the Hanged Man materialized Zillingus's portrait.

One of the seven pirate generals had a distinctive broad chin, brown hair tied into a round bun at the back of his head, and dark green eyes that seemed to hold a smile, yet were unusually cold.

After the Hanged Man finished recounting the story of Qilingus, Livre looked at him and said with a hint of reminder:

"Mr. Hanged Man, how's the situation in Port Pennsylvania going?"

She had intended to wait for the Hanged Man to speak to her first to avoid revealing her eagerness, but to her surprise, the Hanged Man remained silent about the matter, so she had no choice but to ask him herself.

After a brief silence, the Hanged Man spoke slowly and deliberately:

"This week, I haven't been very close to land, so my intelligence sources have been relatively limited. However..."

He paused, then said somewhat strangely:

"Of all the people I've asked, not a single one knows the location of Binsi Port, whether they're experienced sailors or professional information brokers. It might be in the Misty Sea west of the Northern Continent, or it might be an inner harbor of a river, or perhaps it's located in some special space..."

Livre's heart sank; she had already vaguely guessed this outcome.

As Asimov said, the existence of the Port of Pennsylvania may have been kept secret, so no one knows where it is...

After discussing what needed to be discussed and sharing what needed to be shared, the Fool Klein, sitting high above, smiled and announced that the day was over.

Livre, Justice, and the Hanged Man quickly stood up and bowed, and the Sun, seeing this, imitated them a beat slower.

The next moment, Klein pressed his right hand forward, severing the connection, and everyone's figures blurred together. Justice, the Hanged Man, and the Sun disappeared one after another, while Livre's figure blurred for a few moments before returning to normal.

Above the gray fog, only Klein and Livre remained.

Livre, in a good mood, gave a slight bow and said in a 'respectful' tone:

"It is my honor to read the diary with the great Fool."

Klein chuckled awkwardly:

"Miss, please stop teasing me. Come and take a look together. I just glanced at it, and this diary entry contains some very interesting things."

As he spoke, Klein conjured an identical parchment and passed it to Livre.

Livre's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately began reading with Klein:

"On November 3rd, Matilda was three months pregnant. Now I think even the maids from the countryside are pretty. No, I can't lower my standards and taste. Coincidentally, Countess Furles invited me to a private party. Hehe."

"On November 8th, Archbishop Van Esting asked me for help. Hmm, what can I do to help an archbishop?"

"On November 9th, I learned that there was a secret hidden in the sequence pathway. Archbishop Estin told me that after becoming a Sequence 5 Extraordinary, the next part can be replaced by the sequence corresponding to one or two other pathways! That is, starting from the step from the middle sequence to the high sequence! But this is only limited to those one or two. Once the potion of the wrong pathway is replaced, half-madness is the lightest outcome, and it will be impossible to advance further."

"Those pathways that can be interchanged starting at Sequence 4 are: the 'Sleepless' pathway and the 'Corpse Collector' pathway. Hmm, the Church's 'Generalist' pathway and the 'Secret Seeker' pathway can also be interchanged at higher sequences."

"On April 9th, the Church of the Eternal Sun, the Church of the Lord of Storms, and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom are at odds with each other and are hostile to one another. Meanwhile, the Church of the Goddess of Night and the Church of the God of War of the Fusak Empire are irreconcilable enemies. These are things that can be used and are worth considering."

"On April 13th, I attended a gathering of that ancient organization. I never imagined they were also members of this organization. It was truly terrifying."

"So the second blasphemous tablet is in the hands of this organization. This is the first time I've seen this legendary artifact!"

"Sure enough, it holds unimaginable secrets. Hehe, maybe one day I'll create my own blasphemous stone tablet—no, a set, each one containing an ultimate secret!"

Some pathways can be interchanged after Sequence 5... This also confirms what was mentioned in the diary I saw before: Emperor Roselle switched from the Common Knowledge pathway to Sequence 1 of the Secret Seeker pathway, and was suspected of becoming a knowledge emperor.

Livre and Klein finished reading the diary at almost the same time, and looked up at the same time, seeing the satisfied look in each other's eyes.

Klein spoke first:

"According to the Night Watchers, once a path is chosen, it can never be changed. But now it seems that's not the case. The complete path the Night Watchers possess is 'The Sleepless,' and the relatively complete one is 'The Corpse Collector,' which leads at least to Sequence 4. However, it turns out that they can be interchanged after Sequence 5..."

Liviel, after careful consideration based on her previous thoughts, said:

"Now that you know the 'Law of the Immortality of Extraordinary' and all that knowledge, Extraordinary individuals on the same path can upgrade each other's Extraordinary traits, which is already enough to cause Extraordinary individuals to kill each other. If everyone also knows that they can upgrade using Extraordinary traits from adjacent paths, it will undoubtedly further expand the scope of the infighting."

Klein nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this. Then, he and Livre asked almost simultaneously:

"What are the witch's adjacent paths?"

"What are the adjacent pathways for a diviner?"

Chapter 166 The Witch Cult and the Royal Family

The two exchanged a smile, and Livre said:

"Then let's keep an eye out for each other from now on. If we get any relevant information, we'll share it with you on the Gray Fog."

"no problem."

Klein smiled and nodded in agreement, then asked with a mixture of curiosity and eagerness:

"However, what is the name of that ancient organization that Emperor Roselle participated in? He always uses a substitute name, which makes me very uncomfortable."

Liviel, reflecting on the matter of the evil god from the Rose School, said as she pondered:

"Perhaps Russell didn't dare to write down the organization's name for some reason, even though he was using Chinese... After all, for some high-ranking beings, whatever they say will be known. As an organization that has mastered the second Profane Tablet, it is very likely that it has already reached such a position."

Klein listened, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he asked with some concern:

"You just told Miss Justice that the Aurora Society might be plotting something. What's going on?"

Livr raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: