Chapter 420: The Wax Sculptor

When Franca finished hiding and silently opened the door to Adana's apartment, she saw at a glance that Lu Mian, with his blond hair, blue eyes, and lean, tall frame, was squatting beside the unconscious Adana, vigorously wiping her face with a damp towel.

"What are you doing?" Franca asked in a hushed, puzzled voice.

Shouldn't the target be that member of the "Felicity Society" who was impersonating the art dealer Theresa?

Lu Mian smiled and said:

"I just suddenly thought of a possibility."

"Since an 'Actor' can play anyone, after the fake Theresa established an intimate relationship with Adana, she could have completely controlled this companion, impersonated her, and infiltrated the women's party at the Red House Café."

"Having Adana, whom everyone is familiar with, spread the philosophy of the 'Felicity Society' and the hidden evil god faith would certainly be more persuasive and trustworthy to others than a newly joined member."

Having said this, Lu Mian looked up at the apartment's bedroom and said in a tone used for telling horror stories:

"Perhaps, in some corner here, the real Adana is hidden, in the state of a corpse."

Franca involuntarily imagined such a scene and silently gasped.

She then straightened her back and muttered to herself:

"This story is good; I'll tell it to Jenna later."

After grumbling, she closed the door without making a sound and, while approaching Lu Mian, began to refute his suspicion:

"Blanche Solon should be a 'Pleasure Witch'; she wouldn't be unable to tell if her own companion was real or fake, right? Besides, she has interrogated Adana and knows roughly what abilities an 'Actor' has."

By this time, Lu Mian had already "helped" the unconscious Adana remove her makeup and confirmed that although her appearance had changed somewhat, it was still her.

He whispered with a smile:

"According to your description, I don't really trust Blanche Solon's judgment; her experience in the supernatural field is clearly less than yours, but since she has the Witch Sect behind her and has already verified it, the result of the interrogation is still credible."

Lu Mian no longer paid attention to Adana and, pointing at the fake Theresa—who was under the combined effects of the "Heng-Ha Technique," physical unconsciousness, and the "Felicity Society's" sleeping potion—said to Franca:

"Use 'Mirror Divination' to confirm one last time if she is a core member of the 'Felicity Society'."

Although at the concert, Lu Mian had basically determined that she was a core member of the "Felicity Society" based on her performance, they hadn't followed and monitored her the whole way but had arrived at the destination early to wait. What if the other party had sensed something wrong midway and swapped someone else?

Judging from the fact that this fake Theresa had "Truth Serum" and other secret potions specially made by the "Felicity Society," she definitely had a connection to them, but whether she was a core member was unknown.

The answer to this question would determine how Lu Mian would handle things later.

…………

Next door to Adana's apartment.

Blanche Solon was still monitoring the movements, but she only heard faint, muffled conversations and discovered nothing else.

Are Adana and that fake Theresa planning to chat for a while and drink some red wine? Although that's not passionate enough, it's quite romantic... Blanche Solon looked at the building opposite once again, urging Franca Roland and her lover in her heart, hoping they wouldn't wait until the fake Theresa was completely immersed in desire before launching a surprise attack.

…………

Inside Adana's apartment living room.

Franca raised her right palm, quickly condensed a crystal-clear ice awl, and lightly pricked the fake Theresa's hand, drawing a little blood.

The fake Theresa instinctively pulled her arm back, but she did not break through the triple restriction of unconsciousness to wake up.

Franca smeared that blood onto a mirror, intending to use it as a medium and sacrifice to ask an entity from the Netherworld, hoping to obtain information about the unique identification of spirits.

After completing all the preparatory work, Franca picked up the mirror and chanted in Hermes:

"Shadow wandering in the Netherworld, friendly creature that can communicate, unique eye that never dies..."

The blood-stained mirror surface suddenly rippled with a hint of eerie green, and pale, watery light surged in waves.

After the incantation was finished, Franca respectfully asked:

"Is the owner of the blood the art dealer Theresa?"

"No." A cold, indifferent voice that seemed to be suffering from the erosion of infinite time came from the mirror.

Franca asked the second question:

"Is the owner of the blood a core member of the Trier 'Felicity Society'?"

The indifferent voice gradually faded:

"Yes."

Franca didn't ask any more questions, because this entity only answered two questions each time.

She watched the pale watery light quickly recede inward and watched the blood on the mirror surface creep in eerily and disappear.

Only then did Franca turn her head and say to Lu Mian:

"She is a core member of the 'Felicity Society'."

Lu Mian sighed softly and said:

"What a pity, I don't know that prefrontal lobotomy surgery, and Anthony Reid isn't a 'Hypnotist' yet, so I can only perform spirit channeling directly."

Using "Truth Serum" didn't mean the awakened fake Theresa wouldn't resist. Given her faith and ability characteristics, a fierce battle would be inevitable, and it was highly likely she would still be killed. Since that was the case, it was better to do it now.

Lu Mian squatted down as he spoke, his right palm burning with crimson flames.

Those strands of flame quickly intertwined and rapidly aggregated, turning white.

As Lu Mian lightly pressed his right palm onto the fake Theresa's body, the scorching white fireball vanished into thin air.

Rumble!

A dull explosion sounded from inside the fake Theresa's body, and after the whole person trembled a few times, she completely lost her life.

During this process, Franca had been busy preparing the "Mirror Spirit Channeling."

Although she could forcibly channel spirits while the fake Theresa was unconscious, it wasn't safe enough and could cause some unnecessary trouble to her spirit and mind. More importantly, the target believed in an evil god, which meant there was a risk of being corrupted if things went wrong.

…………

Next door to Adana's apartment.

Blanche Solon, hidden in the shadows, sensed a subtle fluctuation.

Did they use an ability? Has it started? Blanche Solon didn't know if the current change was the fake Theresa starting to use the abilities of the "Mother Tree of Desire" pathway to flirt, or if Franca Roland and her lover had already infiltrated the target location and were preparing to strike.

Without hesitation, Blanche Solon, dressed in a black hunting outfit, silently pushed open the window, crawled out along the shadows, clung to the outer wall, and slowly approached Adana's apartment.

…………

Franca completed the "Mirror Spirit Channeling" and saw the dark, deep mirror water light floating, "reflecting" a beautiful and charming but pale and ghastly face.

"What is your name?" Franca asked straightforwardly, using the simplest question to test the effect of the "Mirror Spirit Channeling."

The fake Theresa answered in an illusory, drifting voice:

"I am Beatrice Ancour."

"What is your real identity?" Franca continued to ask.

Beatrice Ancour said with a blank expression:

"I run a lounge; it came from my late husband."

Only then did Franca lead the question to the key part:

"Are you a core member of the 'Felicity Society'?"

"Yes." Beatrice Ancour's nodding action wasn't even very obvious.

Franca didn't ask about the "Felicity Society's" faith or if there had been any divine revelations recently. Although she didn't fear the evil god "Mother Tree of Desire" as much as she feared "Fu Sheng Xuan Huang Tian Zun"—to the point of not even daring to channel spirits—she still had sufficient awareness of the risks and knew what should be asked, what shouldn't, what was safe, and what might bring corruption.

She deliberated and said:

"Do you know Lu Mian Lee or Xia Er Dubois?"

Beatrice answered this question blankly and dully:

"I don't know."

Don't know... Lu Mian, who was listening, raised an eyebrow.

Do the core members of the "Felicity Society" not know what Susanna Mattise's final plan was?

Franca was equally surprised, frowned, and said:

"What did Susanna Mattise want to do when she went to the Market District before she died?"

Beatrice Ancour said calmly:

"She wanted to awaken the great God Tree, let its root system enter the Trier of the Fourth Epoch, and let its canopy grow into the kingdom of the false gods."

"Did she say how to awaken it?" Franca pressed.

Beatrice Ancour's voice grew colder and colder, and her expression became more and more wooden:

"She didn't say."

Do they really not know that Susanna Mattise wanted to capture me and sacrifice me to the "Mother Tree of Desire"? As Lu Mian's thoughts raced, he whispered a name to Franca:

"Maip Maier."

Franca understood and asked the spirit in the mirror:

"Where is Maip Maier?"

Maip Maier was the former manager of the Old Pigeon Cage Theater, Susanna Mattise's lover and most trusted subordinate.

Beatrice answered in a voice that sounded more and more like a dead person's:

"I don't know. He is male, and we dislike and alienate him."

Hearing this, Lu Mian had a realization and roughly figured out the reason:

Regarding the "Shadow Tree" matter, Susanna Mattise, who had already become an evil spirit, was very extreme in both her choices and actions. She hadn't informed the other core members of the "Felicity Society" of the detailed situation and specific progress; only those directly under her, like Maip Maier and Xia Ludi Calvino, knew the complete plan.

By the time Susanna Mattise and Xia Ludi Calvino died, Maip Maier, who relied on the former to become a core member of the "Felicity Society," was squeezed out and suppressed, so he didn't tell others about the relevant issues.

Thinking about it, this was normal. A secret organization with "desire" as its core would definitely be overflowing with desires and filled with internal strife, and Maip Maier, this man, was an obvious outlier in a core group that advocated women loving women.

Franca pondered for a few seconds and rephrased the previous question:

"What are Maip Maier's recent plans?"

Beatrice's face was pale and greenish, and even her stiff expression was gone:

"A few weeks ago, Maip Maier said he wanted to sneak back into the Market District to do one thing. After that, I never saw him again."

Sneak back into the Market District to do one thing? Lu Mian and Franca were both shocked.

(End of chapter)