Chapter 104: Two Dolls, Diluted Perfume

"Forget it, it’s ugly, but it’s my first try, and it’s not a failure."

Louis decided to keep it.

In fact, making these dolls is quite troublesome, especially the death-substitute dolls—they must be crafted by one’s own hands, and the materials inside should ideally be imbued with spiritual energy.

Louis, being a penniless mystic, had no choice but to squeeze out a bit more from the Flesh-Eating Demon, extracting plenty of its bones and intestines: bones for the frame, intestines for the threads, and he even plucked some straw from the scarecrow to use as stuffing.

Finally, he mixed a lock of his own hair with fingertip blood, wrapped it around a scroll inscribed with the subject’s birth details, placed it at the doll’s heart as its core, and sewed it shut.

Then, sleep with it for one night, and it’s complete.

He had ruined dozens before succeeding with just this one, so even if it looked a bit… absurd, he accepted it.

As long as it worked, that was all that mattered.

"Tonight, you sleep with me." After roughly grabbing the absurd doll, Louis turned to the other doll beside him.

Compared to the absurd doll, this one was far more lifelike.

Made of wood, it resembled a human closely; stare long enough, and it even triggered the uncanny valley’s eerie sensation.

Its core also contained birth details and hair, but its purpose was entirely different from Louis’s doll.

This doll’s exterior looked wooden, but its internal structure was mixed with ashes, corpse oil, blood, corner dirt, locust tree branches…

One might say the materials were unusual, but there was still room for improvement—aside from the corpse oil, ashes, and blood taken from the Flesh-Eating Demon, the rest were ordinary materials.

Even so, this doll could easily kill a person.

Moreover, because Louis crafted it with such precision and quality, he even built a hidden compartment based on Mary Xiao’s notes, allowing the heart core to pop out for easy replacement of the target.

As long as the head isn’t destroyed, simply swapping components lets this doll remain usable indefinitely.

"Perhaps I can use this to cause trouble for ordinary wealthy people."

This thing is meant for ambush and revenge; if you have no target for revenge, your first choice should be profit—ancient sorcerers did exactly this.

But considering his grandfather’s words, Louis chose to calm down first, waiting until his wings grew fuller before stirring up trouble—after all, though this world was chaotic, it was also teeming with hidden dragons and tigers.

He shook his head and placed both dolls carefully away.

Louis turned to the recess in the cave wall, where a bottle of perfume, a box, and a monkey’s paw lay.

He cast a wary glance at the monkey’s paw, then looked at the perfume.

A flicker of longing passed through his eyes, then quickly cooled.

The perfume’s base was the medieval residue his grandfather had given him—his grandfather’s gifts were indeed potent.

Merely opening the cap released a scent of ultimate fantasy; had his willpower been weaker, he might have been consumed by it immediately.

At that moment, he fully believed his grandfather’s claim—that this thing could control minds. Indeed, it could.

This current bottle was merely a diluted version, mixed with water from the original residue; its effect was greatly weakened, yet it still dramatically enhanced charm—dogs passing by would flock to it, impossible to shoo away, and its scent clung stubbornly; even now, traces lingered faintly on his skin.

As a result, Louis diluted it again, splitting it into three bottles, ending up with three weakened versions of the perfume.

"This thing is powerful—if paired with charm cultivation, it would be an unparalleled treasure."

"The Thieves’ and Prostitutes’ Guild—would they have charm techniques?"

Forcing his gaze away from the perfume, Louis turned to the box—it was the third most dangerous item among these, after Jason and the monkey’s paw, and he had ideas he wanted to test on it.

He took out the box.

Dropped a drop of bull’s tear, and the vision opened.

He stared again at the music box—the hazy soul reappeared: a black-and-white clown demon, grinning grotesquely at Louis.

But it did not probe him as it had last time.

Yet now, Louis placed his hand on the box.

Hummm!!!

Instantly, the box began to shake; the crank beside it started turning on its own, and a melodious, ethereal tune rang out.

The four letters spelling JACK spun wildly—something inside was trying to break free.

Louis’s eyes flickered; he willed it, and emerald-green flames surged toward the box, seeping frantically through the gaps into its interior.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!"

A terrifying, inhuman scream echoed through the entire cave.

Outside, the burly men didn’t flinch; they covered their ears and tightened the specially forged door even further.

Inside, the box’s shaking intensified violently, dust flying everywhere, nearly bursting open; emerald-green flames occasionally spurted from the seams, proof of how fiercely it burned.

Yet the outer box remained perfectly intact, utterly undamaged—unbelievably hard.

Louis stepped back slightly, summoning Gu 1, Gu 2, and Gu 3—his three guardians stood before him, watching silently, ready to intervene if anything went wrong.

He recalled the Poison Fire Technique’s teachings: burning evil souls inflicted ultimate harm upon evildoers and spirits; demons, he remembered correctly, mostly lacked physical bodies, existing instead as powerful spiritual entities.

And on this earth, there was likely no soul more evil than a demon.

That meant the Poison Fire Technique was tailor-made for them.

As the screams from within grew fainter, the emerald soul stone in Louis’s hand also rapidly vanished…

Three seconds… five seconds… ten seconds… fifteen seconds…

Hearing the screams weaken, Louis willed it—the emerald flames vanished instantly.

He turned his gaze back—the box lay still, the face inside no longer dared smile at him.

Louis walked over, touched the box. "Come on. Again."

The box jolted violently.

In Louis’s vision, the black-and-white clown demon’s face reappeared—but this time, its expression was far more human, its eyes clear and normal.

"N-no… don’t burn me… I’m Jack."

He seemed to be speaking, but Louis wasn’t a medium and couldn’t hear him—he could only roughly read his lips.

Still, he didn’t believe the demon’s claim of being Jack.

Could a demon really be this pathetic?

Not even able to swallow a common human soul…

It was absurd.

"I want to make a wish. Can you remove the side effects?"

Louis asked.

After a brief hesitation, the clown demon nodded reluctantly.

Seeing this, Louis sneered, willed it again—and the emerald flames flared once more.

"Aaaahhhhh!!!"

"You’re kidding me—you agree too easily. You’re clearly inexperienced at this demon business."

(End of Chapter)