Mist in the Forest

The mist in the forest grew thicker.

The night wind brushed past, carrying the faint scent of datura from the witch. She stopped, slender fingers playing with the silver chain at her waist, making a crisp sound that was strangely intoxicating.

The Night Bell, the Mysterious Woman.

Ye Yan's gaze darkened. He clearly remembered the detective's warning: "Witches always appear at midnight. Their laughter will claim lives with the twelfth toll..."

But it wasn't midnight yet, was it?

"Miss, I don't need you to show me the way. Would you mind stepping aside?"

The witch covered her mouth and giggled.

"I'm afraid I can't. My sisters at home are waiting for me to bring back a guest for them to entertain."

Since talking wasn't working, Ye Yan stopped wasting his breath.

Friend or foe, he would restrain her first and ask questions later.

Ye Yan drew his gun in a flash and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

The bullet struck the witch's right calf with pinpoint accuracy, but passed straight through on contact. The dark purple fabric rippled like water, sending out ring after ring.

The woman's figure twisted and faded like a reflection in water.

"An illusion..." Ye Yan's heart tightened. He immediately realized that he had fallen into some kind of auditory trap. The bell at the start, the swaying silver chain, and the clinking ornaments might all have been carefully crafted hypnotic suggestions.

"Oh, my, what an impatient guest~~"

The witch's alluring voice drifted near and far, as if countless versions of her were speaking at once. Between the trees, he could just make out the hem of her swaying skirt, like an elusive glimmer of ghostly light.

"I kindly offered to show you the way, and this is how rudely you treat me~"

Ye Yan held his breath. He had keenly noticed that several shadows on the ground were slightly distorted.

He abruptly raised his hand and fired three shots in succession.

At the ancient tree to his left, the bend in the path ahead and to his right, and the dead branch above his head.

Three clouds of smoke burst open at once.

"That won't work~"

The witch's laughter suddenly coalesced into a physical form behind Ye Yan. "Haven't you realized yet? From the very first toll, you were already caught in my web."

"Is that so?"

Ye Yan held out his hand and took the [Moon Shadow Tear] Daphne had given him from the Consciousness Space.

[Moon Shadow Tear]

[Category: Tier One Curio]

[The moon spies; the sea returns. The dead who slumber in the ocean depths— their reflections will forever remain within the pearl's mercy.]

[Aspect: Winter, Moon]

Moonlight fell on the pearl formed from a teardrop, and the swirling mist suddenly surged violently.

The witch, hidden in the depths of the shadows, curled her red lips.

As she had hoped, under pressure, her opponent had thought to summon a spirit to turn the tables.

She leaned forward unconsciously.

The pearl's glow was reflected in her violet eyes, her pupils dilating slightly with excitement.

The first wisp of mist rose from the pearl as Ye Yan's low voice echoed through the night:

"Moon shadow sinks into the sea; the dead return."

The obscure syllables rolled across his tongue.

He deliberately chanted the spell in the distinctive rhythm of the Queqian Meter, both blocking the witch's scrutiny and layering the summoning power through its cadence.

The witch watched from the shadows, holding her breath as she tried to unravel the ritual's secrets.

But when the first obscure syllable left Ye Yan's lips, she found that although every word of the spell came through clearly, some strange rhythm seemed to erect a barrier in her mind.

Familiar English words were broken apart and rearranged, finally becoming a string of incomprehensible code.

"How can this be?"

The witch unconsciously bit her red lips, a flicker of frustration passing through her violet eyes.

Moonlight poured down like liquid silver. A figure appeared and disappeared in the mist above the pearl, then dissolved into a streak of light as soon as she emerged, as if she had never existed.

The witch lightly stroked the silver chain at her waist.

Though she was unwilling to give up, she knew she couldn't stay any longer. The spirit would find her soon if she did.

She was about to retreat when she suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold at the back of her neck. The Shadow Maiden had somehow appeared behind her, an ice spike in her hand reflecting the moonlight.

"Clang—"

A bell rang abruptly.

A flicker of confusion crossed Daphne's mismatched eyes, and the ice spike suddenly stopped mere inches from the witch's skin.

Taking advantage of that split-second opening, the witch's figure twisted and dissolved like mist.

"What a shame~"

Her voice still lingered in the air, but her true form had already appeared beneath a great tree ten paces away.

Before she could even catch her breath, a cold metal object pressed against the back of her head. Ye Yan had somehow circled behind her, the barrel of his revolver gleaming in the moonlight.

"Miss Witch, the game is over."

Ye Yan's index finger rested steadily on the trigger.

The witch could clearly hear the trigger click. A bead of cold sweat slid down her delicate jawline.

"Your name, your origins, and your purpose."

Ye Yan spoke softly, but his words carried an irresistible force. He pressed the gun harder against the back of the witch's head, the cold metal sinking into her soft hair.

The witch's thick lashes trembled slightly.

"If I find out you've lied to me..." Ye Yan paused deliberately, pressing the revolver down a little farther. "If my finger slips in the heat of the moment, I don't think either of us wants to find out what happens."

At his words, the witch's breathing noticeably quickened.

Her full chest rose and fell beneath her tight dress, and the ornaments on the silver chain at her waist chimed softly with her trembling.

"Handsome sir."

The witch turned her head slightly, letting the moonlight trace the perfect curve of her profile.

Beneath her straight nose, her crimson lips parted. She made her voice deliberately soft and gentle, her final syllable trembling seductively. "Could you really... bring yourself to kill me?"

As she tilted her head back, the broad brim of her hat slipped down, revealing a stretch of snowy-white neck. Her eyes shimmered, and the beauty mark beneath one eye lent her an added touch of allure in the moonlight.

It was a pose she had carefully planned.

The witch was trying to seduce Ye Yan with her beauty.

According to the intelligence reports from Witch Lane, the young man before her was certainly formidable, yet he clung to a laughable sense of justice. In previous mission records, he had even paid a steep price to save his companions.

That was why she could remain composed despite the young man's deadly threat.

After all, Witch Lane's assessment report had identified this hot-blooded young man's weakness: he was far too soft-hearted.

"Pointing your gun at me like that..." The witch deliberately made her voice sound wounded. Her lashes fluttered, and a crystal-clear tear appeared at the corner of her eye. "You're going to frighten me~~"

As she played the victim before him, her fingertips quietly crept toward the silver chain at her waist. Among the dangling ornaments was a concealed silver bell.

If he let his guard down, she could turn the tables.

However, Ye Yan didn't miss the faint tremor of the witch's fingers. His gaze turned cold. "Daphne, wake this witch up and make sure she understands her situation."

"As you command, sir."

Moonlight surged like a tide, and the golden-haired girl's form gradually solidified in its silvery radiance.

Her mismatched eyes gleamed coldly in the night, like two ice-cold gemstones. Frost quickly gathered between her slender fingers, forming a crystal-clear ice spike.

Without the slightest hesitation, Daphne flipped her wrist and thrust the ice spike toward the witch's mesmerizing violet eyes.

"Wait!"

A nightingale suddenly flapped up from a distant treetop and landed in the clearing before them.