Chapter 78: Blood Mist

The evening wind blowing through the grape trellis made Xia De, who had just escaped death, tremble uncontrollably. Even for a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, having one's head explode like a watermelon would certainly mean death. He sat there motionless, watching the scene before him, while a whisper sounded in his ears:

【I thought you would throw the dice, attempting to roll a 20 once more to turn the situation around.】

"No, I wouldn't gamble on luck. I only used the act of throwing the dice to force him to fire his gun. Otherwise, once he became cautious and used other methods to kill me, I would have truly gone to meet Death... Speaking of which, the last time I rolled a 20 was because of countering the 【Puppeteer's Script】. If the Blood Spirit School sends another page of the script, can you still help me?"

【Of course.】

The woman chuckled in Xia De's ear, her voice still pleasant.

A stiff smile appeared on Xia De's face, and his mood gradually calmed down. Still sitting there, he said to himself in his heart:

"I'm not relying on luck here. Since it's called the Gun of Kindness and cannot kill those who commit suicide, then given my luck tonight, perhaps it might have an effect in the opposite situation."

【Do you have any other plans?】

"The original plan was to fake my death, but whether faking my death could deceive the other party also depended on luck."

After saying this, he took another deep breath and exhaled, only then feeling that he could control his body, which had gone numb from the fear of impending death. His back was actually already soaked, and when blown by the evening breeze, his body couldn't help but shiver.

Xia De stood up, feeling as if he had been reborn compared to when he sat down a few minutes ago. Calmly and carefully, he used the headless corpse's clothes to wipe the dice, then collected it along with the ring and the Silver Moon's orb into his pocket.

When retrieving the 【Gun of Kindness】 from the corpse's hand, he was surprised to find that blood had soaked into the cylinder part of the firearm, revealing a circle of tiny inscriptions that hadn't been noticed before—

Do not harm self, do not harm others.

"Ha~"

He gave a dry laugh. Now, his face and the front of his shirt were covered in blood, but he hadn't forgotten to take the 【Puppeteer's Script】 from the stone table.

The small book's leather cover seemed to be able to absorb blood, so it hadn't been contaminated. Unfortunately, the first nine pages had already been used, and to prevent the holder from discovering the previously used content, the preceding sentences had even been blacked out.

Xia De shook his head, holding the small book in his hand. Without dealing with the bloodstains and brain matter on the ground and the table, he dragged the headless corpse away from under the grape trellis with one hand, turned, and walked into the garden maze.

Blown by the night wind, his brain became completely clear. After the feelings of terror and calmness faded, he thought with some melancholy:

"I must obtain power; I will never gamble with my life again. The divine radiance, the power of a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi—I must obtain them all!"

【I will bless you, Outsider.】

Dragging the corpse, he entered the grass behind the hedge. He didn't continue walking, as the bloodstains on the ground couldn't be hidden.

Xia De sat down, sitting beside the corpse, breathing in the scent of the grass, recovering his strength, and pondering what he could do.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting on the grass before he heard footsteps approaching. Before he could even stand up, he saw Miss Anate, whom he had parted ways with only tens of minutes ago, push aside the hedge and appear before his eyes.

The female diviner with short brown hair tilted her head to look at the headless corpse, then looked at Xia De, who was wearing a shirt and covered in blood on his face. Her brows, adorned with light makeup, furrowed slightly.

"I didn't kill him."

Xia De, holding the gun and sitting beside the corpse, said. He noticed that his voice had returned to its normal state. Fear had receded; he now only craved power.

Miss Anate glanced at the corpse again, raising her eyebrows in surprise:

"Although it has no head, judging by the attire, this seems to be the Heart Collector of 【Mercury Blood】. To think he died at your hands. What have you been doing for these ten-plus minutes?"

"Has it only been ten-plus minutes? It's very complicated to explain; it's a story about a revolver and luck, perhaps even more complicated than the matter itself. If you want to hear it, I can keep it brief."

He said, but Miss Anate, with her purple eyes, shook her head:

"Then there's no need to say it for now. Something has happened inside the manor, and we need your help."

She reached out a hand to Xia De. Xia De looked at the bloodstains on his hands, feeling embarrassed to contaminate someone else's hand, and finally shook his head, choosing to stand up on his own.

"You were able to divine that I was here?"

He asked while looking toward the manor in the distance. In the hazy night, a layer of extremely faint blood-colored halo seemed to surround it unknowingly. Not only that, after he activated 【Blood Echo】, he actually discovered that traces of blood appeared even in the air; this was a blood mist imperceptible to the naked eye. And the Lake View Manor seemed to be wrapped in a giant blood-colored cocoon.

In his special vision, he seemed to see a giant, deep shadow crouching over the manor, with a blurry blood-colored beam of light connecting to the depths of the night sky, which had turned gloomy at some unknown time.

With a muffled groan, he immediately deactivated the spell. Just that single glance had made his head buzz. He was very familiar with this feeling; it was the aura of a god. Merely the power generated by the ritual itself was already astonishing enough.

"No, it's because the smell of blood here is too strong. I came to try my luck; I originally wanted to catch a cat to help me. Detective, now put on the corpse's clothes and wear this mask; there's no time for you to wash up."

The headless corpse's wine-red formal suit didn't look obvious even when stained with blood, while the mask was a wooden implement formed by the twisted branches after Miss Anate lightly stroked the flower bushes. Its design was ordinary, tied to the head with grass rope.

"Has the evil god already descended?"

Xia De asked, feeling the speed of his heartbeat. Looking at the manor with the naked eye, he could only see darkness shrouding it. Deep and mysterious, the Lake View Manor seemed to have completely changed at this moment.

"Not yet. We encountered that Lady, or rather, Mr. Lasoya. The other party is a Sixth-Ring Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi. Right now, the doctor, the priest, and Dorothy have trapped him, or have been trapped by him. I need a helper."

"Luck really is terrible."

He thought in his heart.

Xia De could imagine what dangers would await him upon entering the manor. He could choose to leave, but he couldn't watch his friends, whom he had only recently met, all die. Since he had become a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi, he had to be prepared to face danger; he wouldn't flee. Always fleeing, there would eventually come a time he couldn't escape.

"I'll go with you."

His mood at this moment was surprisingly calm, and the corners of his mouth even subconsciously curled up with a hint of pleasure. He knew that the choice he had made was the correct one. Even if he really died in the manor tonight, he wouldn't regret this decision.

Miss Anate observed the detective's expression; as a diviner, she understood Xia De's current mood:

"This is the life of a Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi. Once you step into the supernatural and the mystical, there is no turning back. Detective, perhaps you just experienced a choice between life and death not long ago, but forget about that for now. Sorry, although this is very dangerous, you are about to experience life and death with me once again. Your story can wait until tonight is over before you tell us."

"Will the evil god descend? Also, I noticed traces of a ritual existing within the garden as well."

Xia De asked, having changed his clothes and put on the mask, walking out of the grass with the heroic Miss Anate. The latter shook her head toward the moonlight, her purple eyes seeming to glow:

"Whether the evil god descends, I don't know. We can only do what we are capable of doing. The god-descending ritual is large, and the layout in the garden is very peripheral and unimportant. What's important is the third floor of the manor. Follow me, Detective."

Leaving only the headless corpse lying in the grass behind the hedge, gloomy clouds drifted from afar to cover the three moons, and the galaxy no longer twinkled with light. The headless corpse was gradually covered by shadows and blood mist, and the place returned to peace and tranquility once more. ===== CHAPTER 79 =====