Mystery: The Witch of Desire

"I heard there was a murder here, and I was worried that they might have to close down. Luckily, I was fortunate."

The young man scoffed dismissively:

"In a place like Windmill Street, the death of two people is no big deal! I really don't know if the editors at the newspaper have lost their minds, that such a small thing is worth making the newspaper!"

Levi observed the man's speech habits and attitude, increasingly feeling that this person didn't seem like a hotel employee, but rather had a gangster-like demeanor. However, upon further reflection, he remembered that Blake had mentioned that the Goldfish Hotel was the territory of the gangster "Old Cat," so it wasn't unusual for employees to have some gangster backgrounds.

Just as he was about to hand the young man a sol note, a gust of wind suddenly blew in from outside the door.

The wind was neither strong nor weak, and it was quite ordinary in Tingen, a city entering summer.

However, it happened to blow right on Reeves' head, knocking off his baseball cap and revealing his face.

At this moment, the young man sitting at the front desk looked up and casually glanced at Rivi's face.

The next second, his eyes widened in shock. He jumped up and shouted frantically:

"Boss, I saw that kid!"

The newspaper in his hand fell to the ground, among which was a portrait.

It is a portrait of Rivière.

Levi was a little confused: Why were the people from the Goldfish Hotel also looking for him? Could Old Cat also be a member of the Hyena Gang?

Without thinking too much, he immediately turned around and tried to escape from the hotel.

However, before he could rush out the door, the workers in work clothes who were chatting and smoking at the door jumped up, pulled out pistols and daggers, and rushed towards Levi.

"Isn't it better to keep smoking?"

Reeves thought to himself in frustration, then immediately turned around and rushed toward room 109.

He had rented that room before and knew that the window opened onto a back alley, allowing him to escape by jumping out.

As I ran to room 109 at the end of the corridor, heavy footsteps were already very close behind me.

"Don't shoot, take them alive!"

Without delay, Levi kicked open the door and ran straight to the window.

However, he was shocked to find that the windows of the room had been sealed shut!

Reeves inwardly groaned, not daring to linger. He quickly turned around and slammed the door shut before the gang could break in, locking it immediately. Then, he deftly shoved heavy objects like cabinets, tables, and chairs behind the door. The next second, the door was violently pounded and slammed, making the entire room tremble as if an earthquake was imminent.

Without a doubt, it won't be long before the other side breaks down the door.

Levi quickly glanced at the sealed window—it was firmly sealed with cement and couldn't be opened anytime soon. Besides, since the other party had thought of sealing the window, there was likely an ambush outside.

Only a direct confrontation remains as an option.

Levi quickly assessed his opponents' strength. Judging from the trap they had set, there was a high probability that an extraordinary individual was hidden among them, and one who was skilled in divination.

It would be naive to think that a pistol could take care of the other party.

Without further hesitation, he immediately took out the mirror and stared at his reflection. But after several seconds, the mirror remained unresponsive.

"What's going on... Is it because we're lacking blood?"

After a moment's thought, Riveri realized the difference between this time and the last. Without hesitation, he drew his dagger, made a cut in his chest, smeared the gushing blood on the mirror, and stared intently into it once more.

Chapter 43 Mirror Magic

A few seconds later, a sinister feeling enveloped the room.

The smooth surface of the bronze mirror gleamed with a cold, eerie light, and the reflection in it seemed like a stranger.

Immediately afterwards, a chill ran down Levi's spine. In the mirror, his reflection sprouted jet-black tentacles that floated above his head, with each tentacle ending in a gaping, blood-red snake head.

At the same time, a gaze seemingly emanating from a vast, primal wilderness descended upon him. As this gaze fell upon him, a strange power, accompanied by a wealth of information, surged into his body from the mirror. This time, he extracted two abilities:

One ability is manipulating frost: it can directly freeze nearby targets or create ice surfaces to hinder approaching enemies, and can also create ice blocks of various shapes as needed. This ability comes from the Sequence 7 Witch.

Another type is mirror magic: it allows one to use mirrors for divination, counter-divination, and spirit communication, and can also use surrounding mirrors as substitutes. This ability also comes from the Sequence 7 witch.

"Not bad, both of the abilities I drew are Sequence 7, but the mirror magic doesn't seem to be of much help in combat, and the frost damage isn't as strong as the black flame..."

Reeve raised his gun and aimed it at the door, ready to fire as soon as the thugs broke in.

At the same time, he quickly mobilized his spirituality, simulating the process of releasing frost. He estimated that his spirituality could release frost about four times, one more than the black flames. In addition, he had surplus spirituality to release the magic mirror for divination.

"Although divination has no effect during the battle, if it is performed in advance, it may be possible to predict the course of the battle and thus avoid certain risks..."

Levi pondered for a moment, then picked up the bronze mirror again and began casting the magic mirror divination.

He gently stroked the blood on the mirror with his palm, silently reciting in his heart:

The process of the battle, the process of the battle...

Perhaps due to the presence of blood, several clear images quickly appeared in Revy's mind:

The first image shows him holding a revolver and firing at the thugs rushing in through the door. The gun spews fire, and the thugs in front are shot down, their deaths gruesome.

Reeves looked at the second image with more confidence:

As he fired at the thugs who rushed in through the door, a door suddenly opened in the wall directly behind him!

An elderly man carrying a pistol emerged from the doorway. His face was covered with a stubble and deep wrinkles, making him resemble an old wildcat.

While Reeves was engaged in a fierce battle with the thugs in front, he calmly shot and wounded Reeves in the arm, and then, together with the thugs who rushed in through the front door, subdued Reeves.

Reeve was immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

He quickly turned around and saw that the wall behind him was perfectly smooth, with no hidden doors or anything like that.

Without a doubt, there is an extraordinary being among the enemy who can open a passage in the wall. The thugs crowding the front door trying to rush in are just bait; the real threat is behind them.

"Luckily, I divined the course of the battle, otherwise I might have been in serious trouble."

Levi decided to play along; since the other party was able to open the door, he could just trap them like turtles in a jar.

He unloaded the regular bullets from his revolver, loaded it with five extraordinary bullets, and then concealed himself in the shadows of the room—if the wrinkled extraordinary person opened the door from the same spot, he would be in his blind spot, allowing him to fire with ease.

Before long, the thugs outside the door increased the force with which they rammed the door.

boom!

They brought something and slammed it violently against the door. Normally, the people inside would have nervously pointed their guns at the door upon hearing such a loud noise.

Clearly, the wrinkled extraordinary individual also considered this an excellent opportunity to attack. A ripple appeared on the wall, and he calmly walked through it, pistol in hand, only to freeze in shock:

There was no sign of Rivi in ​​sight.

He immediately felt a strong sense of crisis and tried to escape by backing away through the wall, but at that moment, a blinding flash of light appeared in the shadows beside him. Almost simultaneously, a bullet pierced his forehead with precision, and white matter mixed with blood flowed out.

The moment the wrinkled Extraordinary fell backward, Levi pounced from the shadows, his tightly gripped dagger slicing into the man's neck, then swiftly spinning to decapitate him.

Now, this wrinkled extraordinary being was truly dead.

At the same time, Levi felt as relaxed as if he were swimming in warm seawater, and the valve inside his body was completely opened—the assassin's potion had been digested.

At that moment, the overburdened door was smashed open with a loud crash, and several thugs rushed in, only to be surprised to find that there was only a headless corpse inside.

Suddenly, a head splattering with red and white matter was thrown at them. The thugs instinctively raised their guns and fired, completely unaware of the cold glint that appeared in the shadows to one side.

Extreme cold frost, mixed with wind and snow, howled in and instantly froze the thugs who were charging ahead.

Bang bang bang!

Reeve swiftly pulled the trigger, cleanly and efficiently killing all the thugs who rushed into the house. Their frozen bodies were shattered into pieces by the bullets, their deaths extremely gruesome.

The remaining thugs outside realized something had happened inside and immediately fled in a sorry state, instead of rushing back in to their deaths.

Worried that stepping outside would lead to an ambush by the other thugs, Levi turned to look at the wall behind him.

The ripples left by the wrinkled extraordinary being as he passed through the wall were still there. Levi tried to reach out a hand, but he couldn't pass through the ripples.

After a moment's thought, he grabbed the corpse of the extraordinary one and held it up in front of him like a shield.

This time, Levi passed through the wall very smoothly and arrived at the back alley outside the Goldfish Hotel.

"It's so useful! If we could turn its extraordinary properties into magical items, that would be amazing!"

Levi couldn't help but admire him. Risking exposure, he dragged the corpse of the extraordinary individual into the shadows of the alley.

Following the shadows, he slipped into another narrow passageway. After several twists and turns, Levi checked around and confirmed that no one was nearby.

He put down the body, preparing to use mirror magic to communicate with spirits.

There are several ways to use mirror magic for spiritual communication. The most effective method requires preparing holy night powder, candles, essential oils, etc.

The most convenient method is to use blood as a medium.

Reeve pulled out a dagger, cut his palm, and smeared the blood on the mirror.

Then, he aimed the mirror at the corpse of the extraordinary being.

A chilling aura instantly enveloped the surroundings, and the mirror seemed to open a deep passage, exerting some kind of force on the corpse.

Under this power, a transparent, dark spirit rose from the corpse, staring blankly at Levi.

"who are you?"

Knowing that the time for channeling was limited, Levi quickly asked his questions.

The soul spoke abruptly:

They all call me 'Old Cat'.

"Old Cat? The mastermind behind the Goldfish Hotel?"

Reeve continued to ask:

Why did you set a trap for me?

Chapter 44 Riverside Theater

The old cat's soul answered woodenly:

“The day before yesterday, the pursuer Princeton came to the Goldfish Hotel. He wanted to find a guy named Revy. He defeated me and asked me to set a trap…”

"Princeton? He's already traced Emily and me to the Goldfish Hotel!"

Levi was startled and immediately felt immense pressure. This 'Pursuer' was skilled in psychic abilities and was likely a Sequence 8 of the Corpse Collector sequence, or even higher, making him a formidable opponent.

Reeve continued to ask:

What else did Princeton tell you?

The old cat's soul had become somewhat blurred, and it answered tremblingly:

"He said if you have any news about Levi, go to the riverside theater and find him..."

“Princeton is stationed at the Riverside Theatre? There should have been a Hyena Gang leader at the Riverside Theatre, so does that mean there are two Sequence 8 or higher Beyonders at the Riverside Theatre at the same time? That’s too dangerous.”

Reeves pondered with some unease, and before the old cat's spirit dissipated, he quickly asked:

"Which path and sequence number are you from?"

“Apprentice, Sequence 9…”

After answering the question, the old cat's soul could no longer hold on and dissipated into countless particles in the air.

"Apprentice... This ability is really useful. It would be great to make magical items out of it."

Levi pondered intently, quietly waiting for the old cat's extraordinary properties to slowly emerge. Once the emerald green property had solidified, he swiftly took it, his figure vanishing into the shadows, and quietly left the spot.

After sneaking out of Windmill Street, Levi circled the nearby streets a few times to make sure no one was following him before returning home to University Street.

Emily was carefully dressing up and practicing etiquette and giving lessons in front of the mirror.

She was somewhat surprised to see Reeves return:

"Why are you back so early today?"

Reeve said calmly:

“I overheard some bad news, so I rushed back to tell you that the group that killed Jason is now hunting us in the underground market.”

Upon hearing this, Emily looked alarmed and said with some worry:

"Can I still apply for a job at Mr. Teyvat's house?"

Levi said after careful consideration:

"It should be possible, their wanted poster doesn't have your picture. However, you still need to choose an alias and dress yourself up in a different style than before. Hmm, this one is pretty good."

Reeve looked at Emily's long hair, which was styled in a bun, and nodded in satisfaction.