Chapter 227

At 126 Market Avenue, in front of the three-story building with a garden in the back, Lu Mian, disguised as the Poison Sting Gang member Alsay, rang the doorbell.

Amidst the ding-dong sound, the male servant who had previously invited Louis Longde into the house opened the wooden door.

Seeing Alsay's joyful expression, he also smiled:

"Have today's votes been counted?"

"Yes!" Lu Mian used joyful emotions to mask the slight difference in his voice. "Mr. Auguste Artois should be able to become the new councilor by tomorrow noon!"

That male servant had long since believed in the Great Mother and had been promised that after this election, he could receive a gift and become a "Thug." Hearing this, he was very happy and led Lu Mian straight to the living room.

In the living room area, "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, who had changed into water-blue silk pajamas, sat on the sofa. He said to "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina, who was snuggling against him while he rubbed her buttocks, and "Baldy" Harman, who was pacing back and forth around them:

"Endure it, just endure until tomorrow night.

"Within these 24 hours, no matter what happens, you cannot leave here!"

Is that so? If there's a fire, an explosion, or an earthquake, we have to stay here and wait for death? Lu Mian muttered to himself, shook off the male servant, and quickly approached:

"Boss, good news!"

"Black Scorpion" Luo Jie was exceptionally excited by these words, forgetting to examine his subordinate's movements, voice, and attire. His eyes lit up as he said:

"Mr. Auguste Artois has already been elected?"

"Baldy" Harman and "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina also turned their gazes toward Lu Mian.

At this moment, Lu Mian had already approached the glass coffee table in front of the sofa, bringing the distance between himself and "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie to within three meters.

He said very excitedly:

"We're only two thousand votes away from the majority!"

"Black Scorpion" Luo Jie was somewhat disappointed, but still very happy.

He nodded and said:

"Very good..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his gaze fell on Lu Mian's hands.

Both were wearing black gloves.

Alsay didn't have such a habit!

Just then, two blinding flashes of lightning lit up in Lu Mian's eyes.

They were like bullets, shot out silently, as fast as real thunder.

With a snap, "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie seemed to hear the illusory sound of his own spirit body breaking. This caused him to feel intense pain, and he let out a scream, raising his hands to cover his head.

In this state, he completely forgot to activate the "Undead Land" that enveloped the master bedroom and the living room.

The sudden change and unknown source made it difficult for "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina and "Baldy" Harman to figure out the specific situation, so they could only react instinctively.

One of them straightened up, guarding against Alsay, who was suspected of being problematic, while the other sprinted toward the Boss to protect his other side.

Lu Mian didn't let this opportunity slip. While pulling out "Fallen Mercury" with his backhand, he had already lunged toward "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, who was curled up on the sofa.

Seeing this, "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina raised her right elbow, disregarding the fact that she would be harmed, to help "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie block this strike.

Her other hand picked up the axe placed nearby, attempting to hack at Alsay.

Suddenly, a figure in a black robe and hood was outlined behind her.

Franca!

Franca used "Invisibility" to follow Lu Mian all the way in here. Her first target was "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina, who could provide protection for "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie.

She didn't directly assassinate "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie because she was worried that a fatal blow threatening his life would cause that "Magic Array" with the substitute effect to activate automatically.

The sleeve sword burning with black flames popped out. Accompanied by Franca's full-force strike, it plunged into Castina's back with a *puff*, piercing through her heart.

Castina's brownish eyes widened, and her face froze in an expression of disbelief intertwined with pain and despair.

Her movement to block in front of "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie didn't stop, but she had already lost the subsequent strength.

Lu Mian's arm seemed to have no bones. With a snap of his joints, his forearm swung out, leaping right over the right elbow Castina had used to block, allowing the silver-black evil dagger to stab straight toward "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie's body.

The tip of "Fallen Mercury" inserted into the water-blue pajamas, piercing the skin on the rib area of this Poison Sting Gang boss.

Bright red blood quickly seeped out. "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, who had eased slightly from the pain brought by the "Spirit Piercing," regained his senses because of this.

He let out a shrill scream in extreme anger. Following this, blurred faces—some greenish, some pale—emerged on the floor, ceiling, and surrounding walls of the living room. Most of them belonged to normal people, a few came from children, and all of them had twisted expressions, filled with pain.

As the "Undead Land" manifested, "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, who was about to be completely stabbed in the ribs by "Fallen Mercury," disappeared from Lu Mian's sight, leaving behind only the silver-black dagger stained with spots of blood.

*Bang-clatter! * "Baldy" Harman knocked over the coffee table and rushed over, throwing a punch at Lu Mian, who had just fallen onto the sofa.

Lu Mian raised his hand in haste, was hit, and his body swayed as he slid to the ground.

While in mid-air, his eyes reflected "Baldy" Harman's figure, and then two rays of light like lightning lit up.

Harman, who was about to take advantage of the momentum to pounce on him for close-quarters combat, felt the pain from the depths of his soul and couldn't help but scream in agony.

His body froze there, leaning backward. Franca, who had already dealt with "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina, used her right hand to pull out a classic-style brass-colored revolver.

She aimed at "Harman's" bald head and quickly pulled the trigger.

With a *bang*, an iron-black bullet pierced into Harman's shiny head, causing it to explode like a watermelon, scattering red and white like fireworks in all directions.

"Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, who had just emerged from a ghost face on the side wall, happened to see this scene and let out a shrill scream of extreme hatred and sorrow.

Accompanied by this shrill scream, his eyes became deep, as if a fierce life was burning inside them.

The blood splattered all over the living room and on the two corpses boiled, surging toward "Baldy" Harman and "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina as if they had a life of their own, dressing the two dead bodies in blood-colored coats as they swayed and stood up again.

The blood on "Fallen Mercury" then ignited, emitting a bright light like the warm sun of spring.

"Black Scorpion" Luo Jie remembered the death of Margot vividly and had a deep impression of it. After recovering, his first reaction was to eliminate the blood he had left on that evil dagger and take the opportunity to attack the enemy, so as not to die inexplicably in the battle.

His second reaction was to end the battle quickly and hurry to ask "Lady Moon" for help. After all, even the "Rebirth" ritual couldn't eliminate the influence brought by Charles's evil dagger; simply burning the blood might not necessarily have an effect.

Yes, he had already recognized the attacker as Charles through that silver-black evil dagger.

That damn lunatic Charles!

The bright flames on "Fallen Mercury" burned along the blade toward Lu Mian's fingers. Lu Mian threw the silver-black evil dagger away without the slightest reluctance, throwing it onto the ground full of twisted faces.

At this point, he no longer needed "Fallen Mercury."

—This silver-black dagger exchanged fate only using blood as a medium, not relying on blood. Once fate formally entered the exchange process, whether the blood existed or not could no longer affect subsequent developments.

And when Lu Mian passively pulled out "Fallen Mercury," the exchange of fate had already begun.

He didn't make any choices, letting "Fallen Mercury" play its part.

Lu Mian's left hand pushed off the pale, blurred faces on the ground. Relying on the "Beggar Monk's" endurance, he bounced back onto the sofa amidst the bone-chilling cold and the feeling of stiffness.

There were no twisted and terrifying ghost faces here, only "Baldy" Harman and "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina, who were flowing with blood and whose original appearance could no longer be seen.

These two corpses opened their arms at the same time and pounced on Lu Mian, attempting to imprison him on the spot.

On the other side, Franca jumped up lightly, landing on a chair as if she had no weight.

The ground covered with pale or greenish faces had somehow been covered by a large patch of white frost, forming a transparent layer of ice.

This bound those ghost faces within, initially limiting their movements.

Almost at the same time, Franca's left hand, which was pressed against her sleeve sword, gripped lightly, causing the black flames inside "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina's body to explode instantly, igniting her from the inside out.

The residual spirit of that blood-colored corpse let out an illusory crackling sound, and her already mutated body melted quickly like a candle, falling to the ground drop by drop.

"Black Scorpion" Luo Jie, who had shifted his position relying on the "Undead Land" characteristic, let out another shrill scream.

A layer of black flames ignited on Franca's body surface.

Compared to her black flames, these black flames from the "Warlock" flaunted unmasked evil, as if burning everyone's life and energy.

With a *crack*, Franca's figure shattered, leaving only irregular mirror fragments.

On a layer of ice freezing the ground, the "Witch's" body was quickly outlined, and she leaped out.

She took the initiative to create frost and freeze the ground, not to limit "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie's movements, but firstly to reduce the influence of those ghosts, and secondly to prepare enough materials for the "Mirror Substitute."

*Bang, bang, bang! *

Without the pincer attack from "Dwarf Candlestick" Castina, Lu Mian successfully broke free from the headless Harman after a head-on clash, jumped onto the already overturned coffee table, pulled out his revolver, fired at "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie on the wall, and took out the painting depicting a strange sun.

He wasn't worried that his attack on the target would cause the exchange of fate to be interrupted, because he was neither the wielder of "Fallen Mercury" nor was he holding it now.

Those bright yellow bullets hit the wall fiercely, but "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie had long since shrunk into a pale, twisted, transparent face, disappearing from Lu Mian and Franca's sight.

(End of chapter)