Red Moon Returns

"Another gas pipe explosion..."

"The pipelines in Rhine City are too old and always explode..."

The comments in his ears made Lin Qi feel a little depressed. The red-haired woman who was chatting and laughing happily a few hours ago has turned into what she is now.

The stretcher was covered with white cloth, covering the body underneath from head to toe. Dark red blood seeped out from under the white cloth, and there was also a burning smell.

After all, the life he knew was disappearing before his eyes, and Lin Qi was inevitably a little sad.

But more of it was weird and astonishing.

How could it be the same coincidence as the fire in the Hall of Order?

It was as if the experience of the night before yesterday was repeated, everything seemed to be controlled by someone, and I hit a wall step by step. Like a flying insect trapped in a spider web, the harder it struggled, the deeper it sank, and was eventually swallowed up silently by the web.

But there was no sign of direct intervention.

Moreover, only the archbishop and himself knew about the actual investigation. It could not be leaked, and it should not be targeted. Besides, it was a completely impromptu decision to track the trajectory of the strange objects before closing in the evening, even for Natalie. It was too late for the police officer to reveal it.

what on earth is it? Is there someone behind the scenes?

The more Lin Qi thought about it, the more he felt that danger was lurking around him, and his mind became more and more confused, until someone from behind tugged his arm.

As soon as he turned around, he saw Officer Natalie's strange expression and... a head of dazzling red hair.

At some point, Mrs. Bessie had quietly appeared behind her, and she and Officer Natalie were looking at him as he lowered his head in deep thought next to the body in a depressed mood.

Um? what's the situation? Wasn't she the one who died?

Lin Qi opened his mouth, pointed at the red-haired woman, and then pointed at the body behind him.

"Um, I don't know him. Maybe he's a guest I've received before. He just said he wanted to talk to me about something, and then he blew himself up in front of me. It's probably because ordinary people's minds have been eroded by strange objects. This kind of thing is quite... It's common, but this man's death was a little more violent. The police gentlemen said he had explosives hidden in his body and are investigating his identity."

Mrs. Bessie's expression was quite calm, more relaxed than the surrounding passers-by, as if nothing had happened just now.

"It exploded and you were okay?"

Lynch looked at the broken glass doors and windows, and then at Mrs. Bessie. Despite such a severe explosion, the red-haired woman was still dressed as she was when we met at noon. Not only were her clothes not dirty or damaged, but her hair was not messed up. She even held the ivory pipe in her hand, looking graceful and elegant.

"You underestimate the power of the Soul Shifter, not to mention Mrs. Bessie. With her ability to protect herself, she will be fine even if I am killed." Officer Natalie patted Lynch on the shoulder and turned her head. Explained to Bessie, "We encountered some situations today. He was a little nervous. Don't mind."

"Pfft, I don't mind. Natalie, your little partner is quite cute, and you actually feel sorry for me. Young man, I like you, and I will give you a 10% discount when you buy or sell things in the future."

"Wait, don't lie to me, you can't do this when selling things." Lynch blurted out instinctively.

"Haha, I was so stupid just now, but now my reaction suddenly became faster." Mrs. Bessie had no consciousness that the store had just been bombed. She took Officer Natalie's hand and said, "Sit in the back, first Now that your business is done, I’m afraid my place will be closed for a few days.”

So I was just fighting a battle of wits with the air? In fact, the accident here has nothing to do with us.

Gee, it's a bit embarrassing, but it's always a good thing that the people you know are not dead.

Lin Qi followed, sighed slightly, and entered the store while laughing at himself.

The cluttered shop had already become worse, with all the goods overturned. No wonder it was closed for a few days.

Mrs. Bessie didn't look distressed and walked in briskly. However, the three of them had just walked halfway when a shout from a blue uniform came from behind.

"Madam, Mrs. Bessie, please wait a moment. I have a question that I need to ask you for confirmation. Do you remember the name Donny Naton?"

"Never heard of it. Was it the one who exploded just now? What does this person do?"

"A reporter from a newspaper is said to have been missing for several days."

"I really don't remember. I'm sorry, Mr. Police."

The blue uniform left in disappointment, while Mrs. Bessie led the two of them around the debris on the floor and into the small door behind the counter. A narrow corridor appeared in front of Lynch. At the end of the corridor was an ancient dark door. Red wooden door.

It was rough and heavy, with a strange skull painted on the door, exuding a strange aura.

[Gate of Blood, my blood and soul will guide you and bring you to me. 】

"In order to prevent ordinary people from accidentally coming into contact with special products, and to prevent accidents like just now, all mysterious-related facilities and items are stored separately. Come with me." The red-haired woman said, taking out a sewing needle and pricking it. His fingers smeared a drop of blood on the skull's forehead.

Two lines of blood flowed from his eyes, and Lin Qi smelled a strong smell of blood. Then the heavy wooden door slowly opened, revealing a dark space behind it.

"Hold on."

Mrs. Bessie entered the door first, just like walking into a normal room, and then there was the sound of moving the lever, and the lights quickly came on.

The moment the door opened, Lin Qi felt a stinging pain in his eyebrows, a buzzing in his ears, countless lights and shadows shaking in front of his eyes, and he was in a daze, as if he might faint at any time. It was not until a few seconds later that the discomfort gradually faded away. , with lingering fear, he pressed the center of his eyebrow where the illusion of pain still came from, smiled at the worried police officer, and signaled that he was fine.

‘Travel companion, what’s going on? ’

[The gate distorts the distance between two points, bringing you into direct contact with another location. 】

‘So this is Doraemon’s random door? ’

The female voice was silent for a moment before continuing:

[No, both sides need to be fixed. 】

‘Hiss, you peeked into my memory, pretending not to see it when you remembered you shouldn’t have seen it. So why do I have a headache? ’

[There are eleven sources of mysterious filth behind the door, which have caused too strong stimulation. Do you need me to show you the strange objects one by one? 】

‘Forget it, I won’t peep into this kind of privacy. ’

"Are you okay, Lynch?" The police officer had already held his arm and said loudly, "Bessie, Lynch..."

"Don't worry, it's a normal phenomenon for people with keen inspiration. It will get better after a while." Mrs. Bessie had already lit the lamp and walked out, but she was stunned. "You recovered? So fast? Impossible, I can't do it here. There are disaster-level..."

"Huh? What?" Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"Ahem, I'm talking about destructive-level strange objects. People who can't sense them will not be affected, but how can they recover so quickly if they sense them."

"Maybe it's because my brain is slower than others." Lynch shrugged and muttered in his mind, "Is that what you said, that I recover faster than others?" ’

[Yes, your will is strong enough to quickly adapt to abnormal stimuli, not just mysteries. 】

"There is no such thing as this."

Mrs. Bessie looked at Lynch for a while, put aside her surprise for the time being, and led the two of them into the open door of blood. Behind the door was a rather spacious space with no doors or windows, but there was a gas pipe sticking out of the wall, which was warm. Gas lights illuminated the entire space. There was only a red wooden door poking into the corner of the room, not leaning against the wall at all, which looked quite strange.

There is a row of metal cabinets standing on the wall, and there is a vague feeling of weirdness and ominousness inside. In the middle of the room is a circular platform raised from the ground, like an altar, with complex patterns carved on it.

"thing."

Bessie took the box handed over by Officer Natalie, stroked it for a moment and said, "Well, the way to store William's holiday surprise is to ensure that the packaging is complete and the ribbon is tied."

As she said that, she placed the strange object on the altar, crossed her arms, and looked at the strange object beside her, lost in thought.

"You need to track the trajectory of the strange object, right?"

"Yes." They both nodded at the same time.

"Huh, the strange object looks like an entity, but in fact it is just the embodiment of the dream memory. Therefore, the actual concept of carrying and transferring the strange object is not really taking an object, but carrying a memory."

Lynch felt like he was back in a college mathematics class again, and the only thought in his mind was what was she talking about?

"So if we want to see the mysterious trajectory clearly, we first need a light that can guide me to focus on the mystery."

As she spoke, the red-haired woman carefully took out twelve black candles from the cabinet on the side and fixed them one by one around the altar.

"The black falcon is a semi-mysterious creature from the New World. It likes to eat creatures contaminated with mysterious filth. Even hundreds of meters in the air, it can keenly detect subtle mysterious tracks on the ground. Integrating its soul into a candle can perfectly meet our requirements. ”

The candles were lit one by one, and whether it was an illusion or not, Lin Qi only felt the sound of flapping wings and a clear scream ringing in his ears.

"The mysterious trajectory is too illusory for mortal eyes to peep into, so we need to guide the mystery to leave a brief illusory mark in reality."

This time she brought a small incense burner, grabbed a handful of dry leaves, stuffed it in, and then lit it gently.

"Dreamcatcher is a standard mysterious plant. Once in a lifetime, it can guide the mysterious memories of dreams to temporarily appear. Unfortunately, it will only show all the surrounding memories indiscriminately. But if the juice of the human-faced sunflower is dripped at this time, it will There’s directionality.”

As he spoke, he opened a small glass bottle and poured three drops of liquid into the incense burner. There was a soft pop, and thick blue-purple smoke came out of the incense burner. However, the smoke seemed to be restricted, hovering above the altar without spreading outward at all.

"Turn out the lights for me."

Instructing Lynch to turn off the gas light, there was only a circle of fire around the altar in the room. The red-haired woman sat cross-legged next to her, clapped her hands together, and a crystal ball floated in front of her as if it was being held up.

"Then, I'm here to find you."

Mrs. Bessie wiped her left and right eyelids with her index finger, then pressed her fingers on the crystal ball, pushing the crystal ball to float in the blue-purple mist. Her eyes followed the crystal ball closely, and there was a strange smile on the corner of her mouth. The atmosphere also became more and more unpredictable, leaving Lynch and Natalie unable to even breathe.

‘Traveling companion, traveling companion, she is not using any power or ability, why does it look like magic. ’

[Secret method, using mysterious special techniques, she used one of them. 】

‘Can I use it too? ’ Lynch was full of expectations.

【Can not do it now. 】

‘Does that mean it’s enough to wait until my soul is alienated? ’

[Yes, I wish you success. 】

"Oh, I found you, honey."

Lynch was harassing the voice in his head. Mrs. Bessie in the blue mist suddenly moved and murmured softly. At the same time, the movement of pushing the crystal ball became faster and faster, but the amplitude became smaller and smaller.

"You are right here, I saw your trajectory... thorn flower... ah~~"

The sound that sounded like she was dreaming suddenly stopped, and Mrs. Bessie let out a shrill scream, jumped up suddenly, kicked the strange object away, grabbed a basin of water next to her and violently poured out all the candles, and then threw the crystal ball He smashed it hard on the ground and smashed it into pieces. His legs were weak and he knelt beside the altar.

However, the next moment, she jumped up quickly, grabbed the hammer next to her, and smashed it against the altar. She hammered three times in a row, breaking the stone platform into several pieces. Then she threw away the hammer and collapsed to the ground again. , holding his head and shrinking into a ball, constantly muttering in a low voice: "He is looking at me, he is looking at me, he..."

"Bessie, wake up."

Natalie hugged the red-haired woman hard, and only then did Lynch see her front clearly.

At this time, the red-haired woman no longer had the calmness she had just now, and now had a look of horror on her face. The corners of her eyes were cracked, and blood was seeping out from the wounds.

"He found me, he found me, it was so scary, hoo, it's okay, I'm okay, just one step away, hoo, Natalie, hoo, I escaped."

"What's going on? What happened?" The police officer hugged Mrs. Bessie and gently patted her back to calm her down.

"I disturbed an evil and terrifying existence and was almost overtaken by it." The red-haired lady broke away from Officer Natalie's arms, grabbed her hand and shouted, "Listen, Natalie, no matter what you are doing, If you are pursuing anything, stop immediately and stay as far away from it as possible.”

"What did you see?" the police officer said solemnly.

"I don't know. I didn't see it clearly. If I see it clearly, I won't be able to come back. But that evil will is too terrifying. No, it is definitely not something we should touch. That damn strange thing is related to With this terrifying will, the thing you want to investigate is closely related to it, no, it is directly related. God, what case are you investigating and why are you directly related to this existence? Stop immediately and stay away from this case. , otherwise you will be approached by this will sooner or later."

"Bessie, this is not the first time we have faced those cultists who worship evil gods."

"It's different, it's absolutely different. Our souls, everything about us, will be swallowed up by it. No one can escape. It's too scary. Quick, stop now. Also, take that piece of shit away, hurry up, I will never Won't touch it again, never."

"Okay, okay, don't touch it, neither of us will touch it." Natalie gently helped Mrs. Bessie wipe the blood from the corners of her eyes, "Are you okay? Will you be affected in any way?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. I'm a professional. If you say I ran away, I ran away. Fortunately, I just sensed a little breath through the trajectory. I have to rest for at least half a month. The mental impact is too great. I You must start meditating now, otherwise you will be left with permanent trauma. Remember what I said and never touch this case again.”

"I understand, don't worry, I'll ask for leave from Victor when I get back."

Natalie comforted her for a while, then picked up the strange objects on the ground, winked with Lynch, and returned to the outside world through the Blood Gate.

In Mrs. Bessie's shop, the police were still taking final notes. The two of them walked to the Rand River without disturbing the busy police officers.

It was already past four in the afternoon, but the sun was still shining warmly on me, temporarily dispelling the chill in my chest.

Looking at the mysterious expert who was calm and composed just a moment ago, he was almost frightened crazy on the spot in the blink of an eye. The reason was not even that he was being targeted, but just being noticed. Lin Qi finally had an idea of ​​the danger he was facing. Intuitive awareness.

An ancient flicker stared at him, and he was already dead. If he continued to investigate now, he might be facing something even more terrifying.

A narrow escape from death.

But it's impossible to give up now. If you give up, you won't be able to get the memories of Red Moon, and you will definitely die in a month.

It means that if you shrink your head, you will die, and if you extend your head, you will die. Instead of shrinking and waiting to die, it is better to stand up straight and give it a try, maybe you can survive.

It's just that the danger now has exceeded expectations, she...

Lynch turned his eyes to Officer Natalie. She had obviously not recovered from the shock and was also lowering her head in thought.

I have to work hard to survive, but she is not the same. I underestimated the danger before and planned to hug her thigh. Now that I know how dangerous it is, I would be very sorry for my savior by involving her again. I want to find a way to let her Quit, it's enough for me to do this by myself.

But given her character, it might be difficult...

"Sorry, Lynch." As his mind was spinning, Officer Natalie's voice came to his ears, "I'm quitting."

Um? Lin Qi was a little stunned for a moment.

"My father died in the incident when the evil god came. I don't want to be involved in similar cases again." The police officer lowered her head and said in a low voice, "Bessie is right. This is no longer something we should contact. I will explain the situation to Victor and let him find a way to solve the follow-up investigation. "

Lin Qi's lips moved but he said nothing, but his heart felt much more relaxed.

"You don't need to continue to be a consultant. Take a good rest these two days. I will ask someone for the Red Moon Memories you need. Maybe I can find them. Then I will go back to the club first and come to see you in two days. Don't run around these two days. Wait for my news at No. 221." Officer Natalie raised her head, looked at Lynch deeply, showed a faint smile, took off her hat and bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you, Lynch."

"Yeah." Lynch did not refuse. He knew that this was a good opportunity for the police officer to withdraw safely.

She didn't know her mission, so she asked him to withdraw too. This is good. He doesn't have to worry about how to persuade her to withdraw.

As for himself, he didn't think of giving up at all. Instead, he raised a fighting spirit.

Go home tonight, sort out the clues, and continue to fight tomorrow.

I now have a gun and a ring, at least I have some self-protection power, let me see how terrifying you are.

Lynch touched his two things and smiled.

In addition to them, I have a bigger one, right, travel companion.

[No, Lynch, I just...]

‘I know you are just a witness and will not provide me with any substantial help. I am mentally prepared, but you will always stay by my side and watch me, just like before. ’

Silently.

‘Tsk, don't be fooled, I can't get it out. ’ Lynch pouted, ‘Not to mention whether it is like before, you will at least accompany me. ’

[Yes. ]

‘That's enough, let's go home first, and continue to witness the scenery of this world together tomorrow. ’

Mumbling in his heart, Lynch bowed deeply to the back of Officer Natalie who had already gone away, turned around and walked towards home.