Mystery: The Witch of Desire

"Don't be afraid. It's just that the atmosphere here is a bit strange. As long as we don't provoke those beings, there won't be any danger."

Probably not...

As Liviel spoke, she felt as if she didn't have much confidence herself.

Elaine nodded slightly, but remained close to Livre's side, even trying to link arms with her. However, Livre worried that physical contact with Elaine would affect her reaction speed when facing danger, so she refused Elaine's advances.

As they walked, the two men, using the light of their lanterns, noticed that the trees ahead had suddenly become sparse.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

The familiar, dull thud came from that area, becoming clearer as Livre and Elaine drew closer.

We're almost there...

Livre raised her hand, signaling to stop. Elaine understood and stopped one step behind Livre.

Livre carefully crouched down, pushed aside the bushes in front of her, and looked ahead:

Those were figures covered in curly fur, the curly-haired baboons that had been swallowed by the altar during the last anomaly.

They continued to pile up trees and rocks, building the altar that would devour them.

Livre couldn't help but wonder, since all the curly-haired baboons were devoured last time, where did these curly-haired baboons come from? Did someone transport them here?

While pondering, Livre suddenly noticed one of the curly-haired baboons that stood out. It had a few comical-looking tufts of red hair on its head, and its black eyes looked extremely deep.

Livre was startled. She clearly remembered that it was this curly-haired baboon that had looked up at them when she and Edwina last time they arrived!

She had always suspected that the curly-haired baboon was intelligent, but before she could verify it, it was devoured by the trees that grew from the altar.

It's still alive? Did it escape?

After hesitating for a few seconds, Livre leaned forward slightly to make her presence more noticeable, as if deliberately trying to attract the curly-haired baboon's attention.

A few seconds later, the curly-haired baboon with fiery red hair actually turned its head and looked at Livre.

In its deep eyes, a look of astonishment, almost human-like, appeared.

In that instant, Livre was almost certain that it possessed intelligence!

Livre quietly reached out her hand and gestured for it to come over.

The curly-haired baboon hesitated for a moment, then shook its head and raised its paw, gesturing slightly in its direction, as if signaling for Livr to come over.

Now it was Liviel's turn to be in a dilemma. She was conflicted about whether she should trust the strange curly-haired baboon. Even if it meant no harm, it was still dangerous to get close to the altar.

At this moment, the curly-haired baboon pretended to pick up a twig as it slowly moved towards Livr. After moving a few meters, it pointed to its feet and then shook its head again.

Livre squinted and saw a faint spiritual fluctuation where the curly-haired baboon was standing.

She understood that the curly-haired baboon meant that she could only go this far and could not cross the barrier.

After a moment's thought, Livre took out a mirror and performed a divination. After confirming that there was no great danger, she signaled Elaine to continue hiding, while she herself stealthily emerged from the bushes and walked towards the curly-haired baboon.

The curly-haired baboon was clearly quite intelligent, accurately looking in the direction of Livr after she went into hiding, obviously able to sense her presence.

After approaching the curly-haired baboon at a distance of about three meters, Livre stopped, maintaining her invisibility, and whispered:

"You have intelligence, don't you?"

The curly-haired baboon's eyes revealed a sense of melancholy, followed by a bitter, anthropomorphic smile:

"I am actually a human being."

"Humans?" Liviel asked, somewhat taken aback. "What on earth is going on?"

The curly-haired baboon squatted down, pretending to dig in the dirt, and slowly began to speak:

“It’s not just me; all the other curly-haired baboons were once humans…”

"We were tricked onto the island by an organization called the Celestial Church, where they performed an evil ritual. We saw that terrifying, enormous tree, and everyone should have died..."

"But at that moment, some force on the island was stirred, and a giant snake, covered in oil and feathers, appeared and collided with the enormous tree..."

As the curly-haired baboon spoke, his emotions became somewhat agitated, but then his expression suddenly dimmed:

"In the end, we still died."

"However, perhaps due to the influence of that strange snake, we are resurrected after death."

"It was as if we were under a curse, endlessly repeating what happened that night: building an altar, being swallowed by a giant tree, and then crawling out of the ground again..."

Upon hearing this, Livre immediately recalled Edwina's earlier mention of the 'feathered serpent,' which seemed quite similar to the large, feathered snake described by the curly-haired baboon.

The giant tree that had grown from the altar was now covered in pale yellow oil stains between its flower buds, along with some pure white feathers.

The oil stains and feathers are symbols of the power of death.

Could it be that the power of the Mother Tree of Desire and the power of Death collided here, causing some kind of mutation?

After a moment's thought, Livre looked at the curly-haired baboon again:

"Why are you the only one who still retains consciousness? What about the others?"

The curly-haired baboon shook its head, its expression full of confusion:

"I don't know either. Perhaps it's because I was an extraordinary person in my previous life."

Livre had already guessed that this curly-haired baboon possessed extraordinary abilities, and continued to press for details:

"Which route, and which sequence number?"

“I… am a Prisoner Pathway, a Sequence 6 Undead.”

The curly-haired baboon hesitated for a moment, but still answered Livre.

Prisoner's Path...The Living Dead?

Livre couldn't help but glance at the other curly-haired baboons who were still working with blank expressions.

She looked away from the red-haired, curly-haired baboon in front of her and continued to ask:

"You seem very afraid of making any noise. What will happen if you make any noise?"

Upon hearing this, the curly-haired baboon showed a frightened expression:

"That would be a terrifying scene. Even I, who have died countless times, still feel a deep fear. Believe me, you wouldn't want to see it."

Just as Livre was about to press for more information, the curly-haired baboon spoke up again:

"Can you do me a favor? I no longer hope to return alive, but I hope you can take my extraordinary abilities with you, sell them, and give the money to my wife and daughter..."

As if afraid that Livia would refuse, he quickly added:

“I won’t let you help me for nothing. The extraordinary properties of Sequence 6 are worth about 3000 pounds. You can take half, and the rest will be enough for the mother and daughter to live on.”

"Does your body still possess any extraordinary characteristics?"

Livre glanced at the curly-haired baboon, feeling somewhat puzzled.

"Yes. I still possess the abilities of the living dead, but due to the influence of the barrier around the altar, I can only exert a very small portion of them..."

As the curly-haired baboon spoke, it glanced at the altar behind it, which was almost complete, thanks to the arrangement of dozens of curly-haired baboons.

The curly-haired baboon urged impatiently:

"Quickly, take away my extraordinary properties! That giant tree is about to awaken again!"

As he spoke, he pointed to his chest. Livre saw that his hairy chest was slowly becoming ethereal, and she could see a gray mass inside that was trembling slightly.

"If I take away your extraordinary characteristics, will you no longer be able to retain your memories and sanity during resurrection?"

Liviel looked at the extraordinary gray mass and carefully asked her question.

"Perhaps, but that's exactly what I hoped for. It's a way for me to escape this terrible curse of immortality. If my dead body can still contribute to my wife and daughters, then it will all be worth it."

The curly-haired baboon sighed softly, a hint of sorrow appearing in its eyes.

Livre was silent for a moment, then slowly reached out her hand toward the curly-haired baboon's chest.

The curly-haired baboon's eyes grew urgent as it watched Livia's hand slowly approach its chest. In its deep eyes, the pupils gradually focused on a single point.

Suddenly, half a meter from his chest, Livre stopped, looked into the curly-haired baboon's pupils, and calmly asked:

"I still want to know first what terrible things might happen if we make a commotion?"

As she spoke, she threw two mirrors onto the ground not far away, forming a triangular shape with her real body.

The curly-haired baboon paused for a moment, then emitted a rapid hoarse sound from its throat:

"Hurry, it's almost too late..."

It pointed to its chest, reached out eagerly, and tried to grab Livr's hand, but Livr took a step back and dodged it.

It was this action that caused an unusual sound, breaking the surrounding silence. Suddenly, all the curly-haired baboons that were working stopped and looked at Livr and the red-haired curly-haired baboon.

Their blank faces were devoid of any emotion, yet their movements were perfectly synchronized, as if copied from the same template, creating an eerie atmosphere.

"Damn it!" the red-haired, curly-haired baboon hissed, looking at Levi pleadingly. "Take my ability now, and get out of here!"

Without further hesitation, Livre revealed herself and reached into the chest of the red-haired, curly-haired baboon.

The curly-haired baboon's previously illusory chest suddenly solidified, becoming as sticky and firm as cement, as if sinking Livre's arm into a swamp.

A barely concealed smug smirk played on his lips as he suddenly extended his claws, slick with green pus, and clawed at Livr's chest.

*Thud!* The sharp claws pierced into Livre's chest, tearing out a heart that was still pounding.

"Finally, I finally..."

The curly-haired baboon gazed greedily at Livre's still slightly trembling body and rushed forward impatiently.

Just then, he suddenly felt his brain freeze, as if his world had shifted for a few seconds from the outside world.

When he came to his senses, he was shocked to find that the woman's corpse in front of him shattered like a phantom, turning into specks of foam and disappearing.

Instead, several meters away, Livre stood with her left hand raised, her body radiating a dazzling light:

"sun!"

As she chanted in the ancient Hermes language, Liviel activated her power as a priestess of light, and a great deal of light shone down, enveloping the curly-haired baboon.

"No, don't kill me!"

Under the dazzling light, the red-haired curly-haired baboon's form slowly dissipated like ashes, letting out a mournful roar. His roar seemed to possess a penetrating power, like ripples on the surface of water. The dazed curly-haired baboons suddenly became enraged, howling as they charged towards Livia.

Liviel took a few steps back, preparing to defend herself, but she wasn't too nervous. Sure enough, after the curly-haired baboons rushed to the faint barrier, they all stopped in their tracks, only daring to glare at Liviel with empty eyes, but not daring to cross the barrier.

It seems that these curly-haired baboons are indeed bound here, and this red-haired curly-haired baboon is their leader.

It used the abilities of the undead to manipulate these curly-haired baboons.

Livre had already sensed something was wrong with the red-haired, curly-haired baboon, so she set up a mirror beforehand and used the mirror illusion to test him. As expected, the other party took the bait and revealed his purpose.

Liviel continued to manipulate the Priestess of Light's purification abilities, while her right hand condensed into an ice spear, piercing the chest of the red-haired curly-haired baboon.

The curly-haired baboon struggled painfully for a few moments before collapsing to the ground, turning into a corpse that sank into the mud.

With the death of the red-haired curly-haired baboon, the remaining curly-haired baboons calmed down, returned to their positions, and continued to gather branches, polish stones, and build the altar that was nearing completion.

Livre carefully examined the corpse of the red-haired curly-haired baboon. His soul floated to one side like a ghost, and he had the appearance of a middle-aged man, but there were no extraordinary characteristics emanating from the corpse.

After a moment's thought, Livre took out a mirror and activated her psychic abilities:

Who were you in your previous life?

The curly-haired baboon answered blankly:

“I am Rawls, the leader of the Celestial Cult…”

It turns out he was the leader of that cult. Now things are getting interesting...

Livre raised an eyebrow and continued to ask:

"What happened between you and those curly-haired baboons? Describe what happened."

Rawls answered slowly:

“We kidnapped some people from various places and brought them to the island, intending to offer them as sacrifices to our great master. Because we didn’t have enough offerings, we also bought some curly-haired baboons from the southern continent.”

Even though you worship an evil god, this attitude is far too perfunctory...

Liviel couldn't help but internally complain as she listened.

Rawls continued:

"Unexpectedly, during the sacrifice, a feathered serpent rushed out and became entangled with the giant tree that symbolized its master."