Witch’s Night: Chapter 23 Song
Cecilia clumsily climbed down from the high chair, her bare little feet carefully stepping on the floor.
Looking at the empty room, her expression was a bit lonely. She looked up at the sky again, the vast starry sky gradually appearing as the sun set.
But Cecilia didn’t like the starry sky. Although it was very beautiful, whenever she looked at the sky, the starry sky always gave her an indescribable feeling.
Like fear, but not quite. Cecilia couldn’t accurately describe this feeling.
“Grandpa Bishop hasn’t come back yet…”
Cecilia carefully took one step at a time, her small figure moving through the gradually darkening room.
Finally, Cecilia returned to her bedroom and curled up on the bed.
“When will Grandpa Bishop come back… Cecilia will be obedient…”
Even though the darkness was scary, and being alone was scary, Grandpa Bishop had said that Cecilia had to learn to be independent and strong, otherwise her illness would become more serious.
But… it was so scary…
Cecilia buried her small head in the quilt, surrounded by an unusual silence, no noise from the neighbors, no rustling of insects.
Nothing at all.
As one of the three Bishops of the Church of the End Gods, Hamid Surian naturally couldn’t always stay in this small house, let alone always accompany Cecilia.
Most of the time, Cecilia was alone at home, waiting for Grandpa Bishop to return.
Since all energy in the mega-city was supplied by the “Ember,” including lamps and other household items, the followers of the Church of the End Gods couldn’t come into contact with energy from the Ember.
So, at night, if Hamid didn’t come back to light the candles, Cecilia could only stay in the pitch-black room.
“It’s okay, Cecilia, don’t be afraid, Cecilia…”
Cecilia imitated Grandpa Bishop’s tone, whispering to herself,
“As long as Cecilia is obedient, everything will be alright…”
In the silent darkness, a pair of amber eyes shone brightly.
……
“Can you see anything, Miss Chris?”
Luo Yan raised her head slightly, looking towards the sky above the building in front of them.
There was clearly nothing there, but Luo Yan always felt that something was watching her.
Chris squinted in the direction Luo Yan was looking, but didn’t see anything after a long while.
“Miss Luo Yan, could you be hallucinating?”
Chris looked at Luo Yan nervously. Even putting aside her identity, it wasn’t a small matter for this girl, who controlled the power of “Envy,” to have hallucinations.
“No, it’s just up ahead.” Luo Yan shook her head and pointed to the old residential building in front of them. “I sense that the God’s Chosen is inside.”
“Mm.”
Chris’s expression became a little more serious. The danger of a “God’s Chosen” was self-evident, especially one nearing death.
An out-of-control demonic power was far more dangerous than most out-of-control esper abilities, especially since Lannister was currently in a crisis and couldn’t afford any distractions.
Night always fell quickly after sunset. By the time the two reached the residential building, it was so dark that it was difficult to see the house number.
Looking at the solid door in front of them, Chris frowned slightly, wondering how to open it without alarming anyone inside, when Luo Yan raised her hand slightly, and a faint blue light flashed.
A spatial rift silently opened, and in an instant, the door was swallowed by the rift, forever lost in the Void.
“Although my Void Traversal is a bit unreliable, opening a door is no problem.”
Luo Yan looked at the stunned Chris and said seriously.
Chris: “…”
You call this opening a door?
And why did it feel like no matter how impressive an ability was, it always seemed so down-to-earth in Miss Luo Yan’s hands…
Complaints aside, the move Luo Yan showed Chris was indeed impressive.
It wasn’t just opening a door; it was the level of control over demonic power. Basically no God’s Chosen could achieve this level.
As for Devil’s Minions and Devil’s Apostles, when they used demonic power, they always tried to maximize its destructive power and wouldn’t use it in such… mundane situations.
Anyway, their goal had been achieved. As Luo Yan became more proficient in using “End,” the aura of the Void didn’t even have time to surge out when she opened and closed the rifts.
Luo Yan walked in front, entering the residential building first, followed closely by Chris, who stuck to Luo Yan’s side like a shadow.
It was an old residential building, not only was the design of the style and layout quite last century, but most areas showed signs of aging.
By Lannister’s standards, this building was completely dilapidated, but such dilapidated buildings were common in the outer districts.
Most commoners weren’t wealthy enough to rebuild their houses, and even the few who were slightly better off had moved to the inner districts… As for the upper class of Lannister, they wouldn’t pay attention to such trivial matters.
Luo Yan and Chris walked carefully on the dilapidated wooden floor of the residential building. The silent environment was devoid of any sound, even their faint breathing was masked by Chris using “Siren’s Song.”
“Something’s strange…”
Chris carefully observed the interior of the residential building and frowned slightly.
They were now walking in the corridor of the building. The long and narrow corridor was very clean, but there were things on both sides that shouldn’t exist in this era.
Oil lamps…
There was still some clear oil in them, seemingly used not long ago.
But the problem was that Lannister wasn’t backward, and the technology of the Ember Formation was quite mature.
This wasn’t the Lower District; there was no need for these oil lamps used hundreds of years ago during energy shortages. The energy directly supplied by the Ember Formation was clean, simple, and very cheap.
Luo Yan didn’t notice these things; her attention was focused on the God’s Chosen’s aura.
What puzzled her was that the God’s Chosen aura, which had been quite clear outside, became unclear after entering the residential building.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t sense it, but rather… it was everywhere.
As if the building itself was the God’s Chosen.
How could this be?
No… perhaps it really was possible. There were too many incomprehensible things in the New Era, and things related to Calamities and Demons couldn’t be speculated using common sense.
Just then, Luo Yan suddenly heard a very faint melody, accompanied by an ethereal humming.
She immediately calmed down and listened carefully.
“One guard went mad, two guards were biting, three guards were all alone, four guards held hands and went to heaven…”
She heard it again.
The nursery rhyme that Luo Yan had faintly heard when entering Lannister now echoed in her ears once more.
At first, Luo Yan really thought it was a Lannister nursery rhyme. Although the lyrics were a bit strange, weren’t all nursery rhymes like that?
It wasn’t until later that Luo Yan learned from Hua Qingling that only she had heard the song, and there was no such nursery rhyme in Lannister.
But now…
Luo Yan turned to look back and saw Chris with a look of horror on her face, her mouth opening and closing silently, mouthing two words,
“Singing.”
She… also heard it.
“Five guards all died, six guards were laughing, seven guards were crying, eight guards worked together, nine guards all came out…”
“Eeya eeya, ten guards lived happily ever after, eeya eeya, everyone created the most beautiful world together…”
As the melody progressed, the lyrics became clearer, and the source of the singing grew closer. This time, it wasn’t just a whisper that only Luo Yan could hear, but a bizarre nursery rhyme echoing in the real world.
“Miss Luo Yan, be careful!”
Finally, Chris shouted. She saw Miss Luo Yan turn to look at her, and a pair of amber eyes suddenly lit up behind her.
Then, Luo Yan heard the last lyrics of the melody beside her ear,
“Ten guards went mad…”
In this building filled with the aura of a God’s Chosen, Luo Yan, who was most sensitive to auras, was actually slower than Chris.
She didn’t notice it until the other party was right next to her.
Without any hesitation, Luo Yan conjured a sharp blade made of spatial energy and slashed backwards.
But it cut through nothing.
Was it an illusion?
No, it wasn’t.
A pair of amber eyes appeared in front of Luo Yan, staring coldly at her.
The dim light made it impossible to see the other party’s appearance clearly; she could only vaguely sense that its body was quite small.
The place where Luo Yan slashed should have been this unknown creature’s chest, but there was no feeling of flesh and blood, as if it were just a phantom.
But the problem was… even a phantom couldn’t be immune to the damage of a spatial rift.
As long as it existed within this space, even a spiritual body, a spiritual domain, a consciousness, or even a conceptual entity, would be treated equally under hyperspace severance.
“Retreat!”
Luo Yan wasn’t reckless, and neither was Chris. When in doubt, retreat was the best strategy.
Their methods couldn’t affect the strange phenomenon here, so the best way to protect themselves was naturally to leave immediately.
The two retreated without hesitation… or rather, they ran for their lives. The corridor wasn’t long, and they could reach the door quickly.
In less than ten breaths, the door Luo Yan had opened earlier appeared in front of them.
Two similar figures dashed out the door, completely ignoring what was happening behind them.
But the next moment, Luo Yan and Chris froze.
“Thump!”
It was the sound of shoes stepping on a wooden floor. They had once again entered the residential building, and in front of them was a seemingly endless corridor.
“One guard went mad…”
The singing started again, but this time, it came from behind them.
Luo Yan and Chris immediately looked back, and the same pair of amber eyes appeared before them.
But this time, they could finally see the other party clearly.
“Is this… a ghost?”
Chris couldn’t help but ask.
The form of the amber-eyed being was a ghastly shadow, its terrifying fangs and exaggerated claws daunting, with sharp bone spurs all over its body.
But… it looked quite cool?
The ethereal singing came from this ghost, quite different from its appearance.
“I don’t know why, but after seeing it clearly, it doesn’t seem so scary anymore.”
Luo Yan’s expression was a bit strange, and Chris felt the same.
The ghost’s appearance was certainly terrifying, but this kind of terror… depended on who was looking.
It was undoubtedly terrifying for ordinary people, but Luo Yan and Chris had been through countless battles and had seen far more terrifying and disgusting monsters.
The unseen terror was the true terror, and a monster that could be seen was like having its health bar displayed, instantly becoming something to be conquered.
However, the ghost didn’t attack. It just stared at Luo Yan and Chris, its cold and terrifying eyes seemingly filled with bloodlust, but it still didn’t move.
……
Meanwhile, the situation in other areas of Lannister.
The Calamities caused by the Church of the End Gods mostly occurred in more important areas, such as the core district and the several important districts attached to it. There were almost none in the Lower District and the Old Town.
Although these cultists were deeply and widely hidden, their small numbers were still insufficient to cover the entire Lannister, and the Calamities they could trigger weren’t endless, so they could only choose the most important places.
As for other areas, after the core district and other key strongholds fell, their destruction was only a matter of time.
Due to the presence of the mole, Lannister’s response was quite inadequate. Cultists kept revealing their identities, disrupting Lannister’s defenses.
Coupled with the Council of Elders’ lockdown, the entire Lannister fell into unprecedented turmoil.
Norian’s actions were out of helplessness. The betrayal of a high-ranking official had a huge impact on the situation. If it wasn’t contained in time, the cultists would have more resources to exploit, causing even more serious harm to Lannister.
Amidst this war, an old man dressed as a farmer inconspicuously left the core district.
“The barrier at the base has been triggered, but the other party is only trapped and hasn’t collapsed due to the divine aura of the barrier.”
The divine words of the message brought Hamid crucial information. He nodded and replied,
“Don’t worry, it’s just a destined guest arriving early.”
“But Miss Cecilia…”
“She is the barrier itself. If the barrier is fine, she will be fine.” Hamid replied indifferently. “Even if Cecilia accidentally meets this guest, I believe they will get along well because they are the same kind of people.”
“But… Bishop, there’s more than one guest?”
“Oh?” Hamid was a little surprised. “Who else?”
“Chris, the daughter of ‘Siren’s Song’ Tina, and also the second daughter of the Lequista family.”
“So it’s the Errant’s offspring… just an uninvited guest, eliminate her.”
Hamid narrowed his eyes, his tone pious. “The most important thing now is what oracle our most esteemed guest has brought.”
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