What exactly happened?
Adol muttered the question to himself, unable to recall what he had done in the past few days.
He looked around as if in a daze, and asked with fear, apprehension, and confusion:
"Who are you?"
Where is this?
"This is your bathroom, don't you recognize it? I'm your private Detective." Klein chuckled as he looked at the young man opposite him, who was still confused about the situation.
"My family... the Detective who protects me... what exactly happened...?" Adol looked around in astonishment, muttering to himself.
Suddenly, he stopped, his already pale face contorted with barely concealed fear:
"Maybe, maybe there really are ghosts in this world! There really are ghosts!"
His voice trembled quite a bit, but Klein could hear two completely different feelings in his voice: fear and excitement, which perfectly matched the emotional color he was conveying.
Excitement? Is this a boy who deliberately provoked vengeful Wraith? He's young, daring, and fearless... Klein made a preliminary guess, but outwardly asked, puzzled:
"Ghost?"
After becoming a " Magician," his Spirit Vision improved slightly, but not by much. He still couldn't see the surface of the Astral Body deep within the Ether Body, and therefore couldn't use this to determine whether the target was Beyonder.
Adol's pale face suddenly flushed slightly:
"Yes, a ghost!"
He waved his arms and added:
"Beyond our senses lies a far wider world! Indeed, death is not the end of everything!"
These lines... they're definitely from a teenager... but I feel like I've seen similar words somewhere before... Klein chuckled and said, "I believe more in another saying: before time itself, which is older than the ancient, even death itself will vanish."
Before Adol could speak again, he took out his gold-cased pocket watch, turned it on, glanced at it, and said:
"So,
How did you manage to get yourself into that state? Like someone who's had a mental breakdown.
"I..." Adol tilted his head and pondered for a few seconds before saying, "I joined a club, and this isn't an ordinary club! We all believe that death is not the end, and through the secret code, we can even intuitively sense death and understand that everything can be reversed. Yes, we believe that the dead can be resurrected!"
Klein had only crawled out of his grave a little over a month ago, chuckled dryly and said:
"Are you trying to resurrect the dead?"
Death is not the end... The world beyond the senses... Everything can be reversed... Secret understanding... Isn't this the doctrine of the Spirituality Religion? This was all created to resurrect Death... He muttered to himself in a daze.
"Yes!" Adol nodded, his eyes shining but unable to hide his fear.
"Where did you get your bodies from?" Klein pressed.
"We, we would, secretly dig up graves, graves that had just been buried, or buy them from the hospital..." Adol recalled.
"As expected, this is a crime that will land you in jail... No wonder Lago Calman didn't want to call the police... He's really daring..." Klein maintained his gentle smile and asked instead:
"So, did you succeed?"
"Not yet... At that gathering, the way they looked at me was like, like they were looking at a corpse, as if they were thinking about where to place the corresponding secret contract... Then, we danced the Spirit Dance, communicating with the world beyond our senses, and after that, after that I have no memory..." Adol's body trembled uncontrollably.
Spirit Dance? So it really is the Spirituality Religion... This guy became a test subject for his companions? Klein frowned slightly and asked:
"Your memory has remained from then until now?"
According to the Nighthawks' internal records, " Spirit Dance " originated from an ancient sacrificial dance, popular in the Southern Continent, and is a ritual method favored by the God of Death.
" Spirit Dance " uses rhythm, cadence, and movement to harmonize Spirituality, enabling it to interact with the natural environment and the object of supplication. Combined with a simple altar setup and corresponding honorific names, it achieves a relatively complex Ritualistic Magic effect.
"Hmm," Adol responded softly, then suddenly looked up, "What day is it today? What time is it now?"
"1:12 a. m. on Friday," Klein answered, relying on his memory.
Adol subconsciously took a breath and said:
I missed the next party...
"They hold Resurrection Ritual outside Green Cemetery every Friday at 3 a. m.."
Green Cemetery is named for its proximity to Green Park Street.
"You still want to go? Have you forgotten what happened during this time? Oh, you certainly don't remember, but you should ask your father, mother, and servants," Klein reminded the boy before him.
And I might not even be able to help you... he added silently to himself.
After this incident, he discovered another weakness of Magician: the lack of ability to deal with Wraith Specter creatures. The only thing they could do was Flame Manipulation. Once a spirit possessed a human, exorcising and Purification it became even more difficult, unless they planned to kill both the person and the spirit.
Of course, Klein wasn't entirely without options in this regard. He could use Ritualistic Magic to accomplish something similar, but that would be extremely troublesome, easily revealing his presence, and unsuitable for actual combat.
After careful consideration, he ultimately chose to use the Azik Copper Whistle to lure out the Wraith, and then Flame Manipulation to complete the Purification.
However, the damage is not severe; if it were a more powerful Wraith, it might be impossible to resolve.
I'm still missing items or talismans to deal with Death creatures. If only I had the Sealed Artifact "3-0782," that " Mutated Holy Emblem of the Sun "... Klein's thoughts briefly wandered.
Adol suddenly remembered his memory loss, his face paled again, and he answered tremblingly:
"No, I don't want to go anymore! I never want to go again!"
"Very good," Klein said with a smile.
Looking at his face, which showed no fear whatsoever, Adol instinctively asked:
"After saying all that, aren't you scared?"
Klein stopped leaning against the wall, slowly straightened up, and answered in a relaxed tone:
"For a Detective, it's better to not believe than to believe unless there's concrete evidence."
After saying that, he Door Opening and walked outside, wondering whether he should contact the Spirituality Religion, since it might involve the mystery of Mr. Azik's origins.
Adol stared blankly at the private Detective's retreating figure for a long while before realizing that the bathroom was empty except for him. The dim Moonlight outside cast shadows in the room, as if something invisible was lurking and watching.
He suddenly shivered and hurriedly shouted:
"Wait for me!"
As they spoke, Adol quickened his pace, rushed out of the washroom, and followed closely behind Klein.
Knowing the fear, knowing the dread, there's still hope... Klein muttered, putting his hands in his pockets.
Back in his bedroom, Stuart didn't notice that Adol had improved. He was still terrified by the ghost story he had imagined and didn't dare to wander off.
Once Adol was asleep again, Klein took out a copper penny and let it twirl between his fingers.
As it approached 2:50, he tossed a coin, caught it cleanly, stood up, and whispered to Stuart:
I'm going to the balcony for a smoke.
"Hurry up," Stuart urged, sounding somewhat tense.
Klein put on his long dress, strolled out, and went to the balcony at the end of the corridor, where he disappeared into the shadows.
Then, he pulled out a rather crudely cut paper figure.
Snap!
Klein flicked his wrist, making the paper crackle, and it rapidly expanded, transforming into a human.
The mannequin was the same height as Klein, with identical facial features and clothing. From a distance, it looked like a meticulously crafted lifelike wax figure.
This is one application of the " Paper Figurine Substitute " technique.
Immediately afterwards, Klein focused his mind, clenched his right fist, and lightly tapped his body.
Without a sound, the dummy came to feel alive, with a red-tipped cigarette dangling from its mouth, the aroma of tobacco filling the air.
"Using a dummy as a prop, this illusion can last for half an hour... What Magician!" Klein put on gloves, pressed and pushed, and secretly slid off the balcony, avoiding the patrolling security personnel.
Outside Green Cemetery, in a secluded grove of trees.
Klein stood in the tree canopy, gazing at a relatively open and flat area not far away.
He was surrounded by evergreen leaves and brown branches, but their surfaces were covered with grayish-white dust.
As Klein could see, seven or eight young men and women dressed in black robes were dancing a strange, slightly twitching, and slightly frenzied dance around a corpse.
The dance was full of rhythm and seemed to carry a certain mysterious quality.
The girl tosses her long hair, the boy kneels and reaches out his hand; these scenes subtly connect with the surrounding environment.
That is the rhythm of nature.
After they danced for three or four minutes, everything within a ten-meter radius was imbued with a wild and chaotic aura, the atmosphere gradually becoming eerie, yet mixed with a touch of the sacred.
It was indeed " Spirit Dance "... Ritualistic Magic even ordinary people could participate in... Klein shifted his gaze and looked at the black-robed man beside the corpse, who was chanting incantations with his head down.
He was the one instructing those young men and women on how to dance the " Spirit Dance."
They should be members of the Spirituality Religion, most likely Beyonder... Klein nodded almost imperceptibly, intending to observe first how they would conduct the Resurrection Ritual.
At this moment, the dance reached its climax. The adult man in the black robe raised his head, removed his wig, and revealed several strange tattoos etched on his bald head.
He raised his hands and shouted:
" Death!"
"Honorable Death!"
"Coming back soon!"
After he shouted, the dance stopped, and the seven or eight teenagers stood on opposite sides, their expressions a mixture of confusion, anticipation, excitement, and fear.
Immediately afterwards, the man in black robes bent down, opened the iron cage beside his feet, and took out a black object from inside.
Klein stared intently and discovered it was a black cat with blue eyes.
"This... this works?" He was clearly stunned for a moment, then suddenly thought of various folk legends about black cats, such as how a black cat, symbolizing evil and a messenger of Hell, would awaken a corpse if it jumped over it.
This was the first time Klein had ever seen anyone use such a method in a ritual.
The man in black robes stepped forward, stopped the black cat in his arms from struggling, and threw it toward the corpse.
Meow!
The all-black cat bristled, meowed loudly, and leaped over the corpse.
At that moment, Klein felt he understood the other person's cat language, and he was certain that the other person was saying three words:
"Damn it!"