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The red light absorbed by the crystal was not ordinary magic—the two wizards who ambushed Matthew the night of Lady Alsha's banquet didn't have that kind of red light in their bodies.

"Matthew?" Link saw him touching the corpse for a bit too long and thought he might have thought of something.

Matthew came back to his senses. In that instant, he recalled the diary of Old White they had just found in the White ancestral home. Old White had recorded something in the month before his death—in that final month, his body had grown increasingly swollen. The physicians at the time tried many methods to no avail, only saying he had some unknown disease.

Matthew suspected Old White had already begun to mutate before he died.

"Can we search the White ancestral home? Maybe we'll find some clue as to why Old White turned into this." Matthew chose to trust his instincts.

Link stroked his chin and said confidently, "We should search it. But I'll need to get permission from Lady Alsha. Investigating a noble wizard in the Blizzard Kingdom is too troublesome."

At this moment, a squad of guards turned the corner from a distant street.

The guards spread out, revealing Alsha and several Court Wizard staff members permanently stationed in Whitestone Town. These staff members were now Lady Alsha's direct subordinates.

The fight with the mutated Old White had just been too loud. Sound carried especially far at night—almost the whole town had heard it.

Perhaps because the commotion was so great and she had left in a hurry, Alsha's attire tonight was rather casual. She had only thrown a dark long coat over her black silk nightgown before stepping out.

The staff members behind her were all Level 1 or 2 wizard apprentices. Matthew had heard Link explain before that most low-ranking staff in the Court Wizard were people with little combat power; they mostly handled kingdom affairs and internal Court Wizard business.

Alsha quickly surveyed the scene and asked softly, "Mr. Link, what happened here?"

"We were attacked on Riverside Street. The attacker was Old White, who should have been dead for months." Link pointed at Old White on the ground.

Alsha stepped forward to examine the corpse. Seeing Old White's body covered in human faces, a flicker of surprise showed in her eyes.

"Ah—!" A wizard behind Alsha let out a startled cry. She was short, with twin-tails.

The Twin-tailed Wizard seemed frightened. It was her first time seeing such a terrifying creature.

Alsha turned her head and shot her a glare. The woman immediately covered her mouth and made no more sound.

Alsha took a pair of giant forest lizard skin gloves from another assistant. These lizard skin gloves had strong protective properties, preventing infection and corrosion from strong acids.

After putting on the lizard skin gloves, Alsha made a preliminary examination of Old White's corpse.

"Cross-check the faces against the missing persons in Whitestone Town."

The Twin-tailed Wizard had calmed down by now. She pulled out a stack of manuscript paper listing all known missing persons and began matching them one by one against the faces on Old White's body.

After a moment, Alsha took off the lizard skin gloves and asked, "Do all the faces on the body match the missing persons?"

The assistant replied, "Madam, all these faces are people who went missing in Whitestone Town within the last three months, but some missing persons are not among the faces."

Alsha nodded and summoned the guards. "Take the body back for further dissection. See if we can find the cause of Old White's mutation."

After the guards took the body away, Link said, "Madam, could you approve a search warrant for the White ancestral home? We'd like to investigate the White residence. Maybe we'll find some clue there about why Old White turned into this."

Alsha thought for a moment. "Alright. I left in too much of a hurry and didn't bring my seal. Come with me to Whitestone Manor, so you don't have to make two trips."

Matthew glanced at the silk nightgown under Alsha's long coat. She lived at Whitestone Manor—it couldn't have been easy for her to gather people and rush over so quickly.

Matthew and the others smoothly obtained the search warrant at Whitestone Manor. Lady Alsha also lent them six guards.

They hurried to the White ancestral home on City Square Street.

Upon arrival, Link knocked on the door knocker.

After a moment, the door opened. A middle-aged man stood there—the butler of the White residence.

Link held up the freshly signed search warrant. "We are Court Wizard investigators looking into the Whitestone Town missing persons case. This is the search warrant."

The butler's face showed great alarm. He quickly called over the young waiter behind him and told him to notify the master. "Your Excellencies, please come in."

The butler led them slowly toward the reception room.

Matthew frowned. He sensed the butler leading the way was stalling for time. Having visited the White ancestral home before, he had a rough grasp of the house's layout. They were now taking a longer route. Still, Matthew could understand the butler buying time for the master—having someone show up for a search in the dead of night would make anyone uneasy, even if they had nothing to hide.

His right hand moved slightly under his wizard robe, casting a detection magic. An invisible wave spread from his hand, sweeping through the White ancestral home.

Link's expression shifted slightly. Up close, he sensed Matthew casting magic, but he said nothing.

Through the detection magic, Matthew perceived that Jack White was no longer in the basement. He was now in the reception room on the second floor.

And the magic creatures in the basement were gone!

"This Jack White definitely has something to hide. Who in their right mind would move magic creatures in the middle of the night?" Matthew thought to himself. When he came before, he had definitely sensed magic creatures in the basement.

When they reached the reception room, they saw Jack White. He was wearing a purple tailcoat. Seeing Link, he greeted warmly, "Your Excellency Link, Your Excellencies the investigators, please have a seat."

Link waved his hand and held up the search warrant. "We're not here as guests. We're here to search. This is the search warrant."

After confirming the warrant, Jack said, "Since you have a search warrant, of course you may search freely. But the White family has done nothing to violate the Wizard Regulations.

What happened tonight? I heard the noise and the night watchman's bugle call. Now you've come to search—does this have something to do with the White family?"

Link explained, "Your father, Old White, turned into a monster. This matter is closely related to the Whitestone Town missing persons case."

Jack's face showed extreme shock. "How is that possible! My father died months ago. I personally handled his funeral! Could some necromancy wizard have desecrated my father's corpse?"

"His body is at the security station. We'll need you to confirm it later. After that, we'll also need to check your father's grave. For now, we'll search this house first."

Jack's expression turned extremely grim. He said slowly, "I will go to the security station to confirm."