Chapter 343
The body, the dining knife, the blood, Xia'er, Lu Xi... Everything she had just witnessed vanished without a trace, leaving her standing alone in the room, as if all of it had been nothing but a dream.
Was it a dream?
Dr. Aivina, the psychologist, suddenly realized what had happened.
“No, no, no... Xia'er... don’t...”
Aivina quickly searched the room for a weapon to end her own life, but found nothing. In a moment of desperation, she dashed to the window, threw it open, and jumped out without hesitation.
But as her body hit the ground, it felt as if she had landed on a soft trampoline; the ground sank deeply before bouncing her back up... Even though such a violation of logic had occurred, and she realized this was a dream, she couldn’t escape it in the short term.
This was not something an ordinary "dream thief" could accomplish...
At that moment, Aivina, now unconscious, was being carried by Xia'er into a carriage, barely brushing past the "missionaries," yet not a single one noticed the anomaly.
Xia'er, holding Aivina, and Lu Xi, who followed closely behind, were like invisible figures, unnoticed by anyone.
Lu Xi took the reins at the front of the carriage, urging the horses to gallop toward the most chaotic area, the East District, the district of the Holy Church.
That was the poorest and most disorderly part of Ansu, the territory of the Goddess of Salvation Church. Lu Xi had previously arranged for Tara and the others to hide there, planning to secretly help them escape once the city’s martial law was lifted.
As the carriage rolled into the Holy Church District, no one thought there was anything unusual about this ordinary carriage.
But as they passed through a sparsely populated alley, the dream-carriage suddenly vanished, and Xia'er landed firmly on the ground, catching up with Lu Xi ahead.
“Follow me, quickly.”
They twisted and turned through the dark, chaotic alleyways, which were even more dilapidated than the Bell Tower District, yet Xia'er felt a strange sense of reassurance.
This was her familiar environment.
Soon, Lu Xi stopped in front of a ramshackle shed. After confirming that no one was around, she rhythmically knocked on the door.
Slowly, the wooden door creaked open, revealing an elderly man, frail and bent. Upon seeing Lu Xi, he slightly bowed and stepped aside, allowing Lu Xi to bend down and enter the shed with Xia'er. They found a hidden tunnel inside and descended into it.
The old man, left above, leisurely closed the door and concealed the entrance to the tunnel once more.
“This used to be an underground gambling den. I discovered it during a crackdown on illegal gambling. After shutting it down, I had an old subordinate buy it. I saved his life; he can be trusted.”
As Lu Xi led the way, she explained, the air thick with a musty odor.
When they reached the bottom, the space suddenly opened up, resembling a large wine cellar, with several ventilation pipes leading up to the surface.
Though it was spacious, the living conditions here were far from pleasant.
“They’re staying in those rooms over there. The largest one connects to the underground waterway and has been converted into a laboratory…”
“Hmm…”
At that moment, Aivina, cradled in Xia'er’s arms, let out a whimper, slowly waking up—she had finally broken free from the double dream and returned to consciousness.
“Can you call for them?” Xia'er asked softly, looking at Aivina.
“Sure.”
Without hesitation, Lu Xi went to the rooms, opening doors one by one in search of people.
She had put all her chips on the table; there was no turning back now.
---
Chapter 190: Xia'er’s Time-Limited Plan.
“Lord Seraphin.”
“Your Excellency Seraphin.”
At the door of Aivina’s room, two “detectives” stepped aside to let a woman wearing a terrifying black iron mask, with only her chin exposed, enter.
Seraphin quickly walked into the room and immediately spotted the figure lying in a pool of blood. Beside the body, several “missionaries” of the God of Order were murmuring prayers.
As she stepped in, the overwhelming stench of blood made Seraphin’s scalp tingle. When she saw the face of the fallen and the magical potion materials scattered nearby, the last shred of hope in her heart vanished completely.
“Damn it…”
Seraphin crouched down swiftly, beginning to examine the wounds on the body.
There were a total of eight stab wounds, each varying in depth, but it was clear at a glance that the most fatal wound was the one that pierced through the eye and into the brain.
“Aivina is missing. We suspect she fled after committing murder,” one of the high priests said to Seraphin.
“We are the first eyewitnesses and have already examined the wounds.”
Seraphin remained silent, raising her right hand to press against the first wound on the chest. The low-temperature iron liquid she conjured flowed down the wound, sealing each one before extracting the bloodied molds.
Soon, all eight molds were retrieved and quickly sorted into two groups, lined up in two rows.
“Aivina didn’t kill this person, or at least the murderer wasn’t acting alone.”
Seraphin’s mind raced; she had to find a way to exonerate Aivina and prevent her family from being embroiled in this murder case.
“These two sets of knife marks are distinctly different. The first four stabs and one throat cut are deeper, and aside from the one that pierced the liver, the others are relatively straight. This attacker clearly had greater strength and was a skilled killer.”
“The other three wounds are irregular, indicating that the attacker lacked the strength to keep the blade steady. The stab to the chest didn’t even break a rib; it merely grazed...
Clearly, this person was weaker and targeted non-lethal areas—an amateur.”
After a brief pause, Seraphin continued, “Moreover, these three stabs show no significant bleeding, only minor bruising. There’s no inflammation or swelling around the wounds, indicating they were inflicted post-mortem.”
“The murderer is an extraordinary being with at least the strength of a 2nd-tier ‘Berserker.’ After killing Windsor, they forcibly finished Aivina off and then abducted her.”
“Aivina and Windsor had no prior conflict; she had no motive to kill Windsor.”
The air hung still for a few seconds, and after a moment, one of the church “missionaries” slowly spoke.
“You’ll need to discuss this with that Excellency.”
He paused for a second before adding, “If you need any assistance, feel free to come to the church. We take our leave now.”
Seraphin gritted her teeth.
She knew exactly who that “Excellency” was.
It wasn’t the queen, nor the consort prince, but the powerful voice of the royal symphony.
Windsor was his daughter, a well-known “secret” in Ansu’s extraordinary circles.
“Your Excellency Voice.”
As the “missionaries” were about to leave, the greetings of the “detectives” rang out at the door. Seraphin licked her dry lips, stood up, and turned to face the door, bowing her head, “Your Excellency Voice.”
A tall man with white hair walked slowly toward Seraphin. He ignored her, instead kneeling slightly before the corpse.
He reached out and gently closed the remaining intact eye of the body. The voice of Voice was devoid of its previous calmness and cheer.
“Let’s hear the situation.”
Seraphin steeled herself and recounted her deductions. After a long while, Voice finally stood up, adjusted his white tailcoat, and said, “Today, someone escaped from Windsor Palace, named Xia'er... Do you have any leads?”
Xia'er? That genius “Lawkeeper”?
This time, not only Seraphin but even the heads of the “missionaries” felt a chill run down their spines.
If Aivina was the murderer, then indeed, the God of Order Church had no immediate connection to the case, as Aivina had not officially joined the church yet.
But if Xia'er was the murderer, then the God of Order Church couldn’t wash its hands of it...
Because Xia'er had joined the God of Order Church before being captured, and even now, she could still be considered a member, as she hadn’t yet been taken to the Holy Law Court for judgment.
The Russell family and the God of Order Church were now tied together.
“This is also my failure to supervise, allowing a ‘Lawkeeper’ to escape. You can’t blame yourselves for this.”
A faint smile appeared on Voice’s face as he squinted, saying, “Seal the information. I’ll report to the queen.”
With that, Voice left Aivina’s room, but the others in the room were drenched in cold sweat.
“Quick, find Xia'er and Aivina’s whereabouts before the queen intervenes!”
“Report back to the church, hurry!”
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