95: Chapter 95 Crime Scene

Inside a moving carriage.

Three people sat inside the carriage; besides Nie Ning and Quis, there was a handsome young man.

Nie Ning looked at Quis and the young man with a helpless expression.

No wonder Marina's affections had strayed.

Compared to the brawny Quis, this handsome look was indeed more in line with modern aesthetics.

Originally, Nie Ning hadn't wanted to bring either of them along.

Although Duru was a very capable detective, he usually handled trivial matters.

Unexpectedly, Duru happened to return from outside, and Borton had him tag along to gain some experience.

As for Quis, he had followed along purely because he found Duru annoying.

Nie Ning scratched his head, not understanding Quis's logic.

If you don't like him, just don't look at him. What's the point of following along?

"How many more places are left?"

Nie Ning glanced out the carriage window and asked slowly.

After taking over the case, Nie Ning intended to cut the Gordian knot and eliminate the corrupted entity before it could fully develop.

However, they had already visited three accident sites, and Nie Ning hadn't sensed any trace of a Corruptor.

Furthermore, after looking around the vicinity, there were still no clues.

Because it was very difficult for a Corruptor to be born, Nie Ning couldn't tell for the moment if it was all just a coincidence.

"There's one more place left. This case only happened yesterday."

Duru said while curiously sizing up Nie Ning.

Borton thought very highly of Nie Ning; both his detective skills and personal strength far exceeded the standards of his peers.

Nie Ning nodded and stopped talking, beginning to contemplate the commonalities between these cases.

...

Half an hour later, Nie Ning and the others finally reached their destination.

It was late now, and only a few streetlamps illuminated the dim street.

Not far from the carriage, several Guards stood in front of a house.

As Nie Ning and the others stepped down from the carriage, they immediately caught the Guards' attention.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

A Guard stopped them and asked sharply.

Before Nie Ning could speak, Duru stepped forward and showed his identification to establish his identity.

Just then, several people walked out of the house.

Upon seeing Nie Ning, one of them trotted over to his side.

"Mr. Bronk, what brings you here?"

Horun, the City Lord's butler, bowed slightly and asked with a smile.

As the City Lord's confidant, he knew of Nie Ning's strength and was aware that Audrey might soon leave Ska City.

Nie Ning might become the only Official Wizard in Ska City in the future, so he naturally needed to treat him with care to avoid offending him.

Nie Ning waved his hand. "No need for such formalities, Butler Horun. I'm just here to take a look."

He had a good impression of Horun, who maintained a polite attitude toward both people and matters.

Of course, he didn't rule out that the man was just a social climber; after all, his first visit to the City Lord's Mansion had been as a guest invited by Ivy.

Compared to the simple-minded Quis, Duru, who was standing nearby, unconsciously widened his eyes.

This was the City Lord's butler!

Forget ordinary people—even the noble lords in the city had to be polite when they saw Horun.

Although Nie Ning was powerful, how could he possibly compare to the City Lord's Mansion? Did Nie Ning have some hidden identity?

...

After Nie Ning and Horun exchanged some pleasantries, their attention returned to the case.

Because it involved the supernatural and they already knew a Corruptor had appeared in Mrs. Terry's case, the City Lord's Mansion had sent Horun to accompany the investigation.

The group walked into the room; compared to Mrs. Terry's case, the nature of this one was even more heinous.

The floor was covered in bloodstains that stretched inward and continued down the basement stairs. In the center of the basement was the blood-colored formation that Nie Ning was somewhat familiar with.

The bodies had already been carried away by the Guards.

Judging by the images in the photographs, the deceased had all died from self-mutilation, and the methods used were incredibly cruel.

Almost all of them had slit their wrists, using their own blood to draw the formation, and then severed a part of their bodies as an offering.

Nie Ning looked at the formation on the ground and the charred organ sacrifice in the center.

For some reason, Nie Ning felt that something was off.

Sacrifices were not uncommon in this world; especially after the appearance of various gods and Evil Spirits, such occurrences had become increasingly frequent.

The experiences of the sacrificers varied; some were oppressed by life, others were bullied, and so on, leading them to choose such extreme methods for sacrifice.

Cults couldn't be ruled out either, as those lunatics were eager for the gods they worshipped to descend upon the mortal world.

However, the consequences of doing so were usually very severe, especially those using blood as a medium; almost all the beings summoned were incredibly evil, unknown entities.

That was exactly where the strangeness lay.

If it really was a sacrificial ritual, why was it that only the sacrificer died?

Logically, once such a summoned being appeared, it would go on a rampage to absorb flesh and soul power to strengthen itself.

Could it be that what was summoned was an unknown benevolent spirit?

Or perhaps the unknown entity was too weak and had found a place to hide?

But thinking about it carefully, that didn't seem to make sense.

What would be the point of drawing so many identical formations, unless...

Nie Ning crouched down to examine the formation on the floor.

Because his Spiritual Power had improved significantly and he had been studying Runic Formula diligently, he was barely able to discern the content of the formation.

However, there were many types of runes. The runes Nie Ning knew belonged to a type of Wizard Language, created based on one's own insights combined with natural phenomena.

In this world, besides Wizard Runes, there were also Divine Runes, Demonic Runes, Evil Spirit Runes, and so on.

Drawing upon his understanding of runes and using his Spiritual Power as a guide, Nie Ning began to decipher the runes on the formation.

"Blood, sacrifice, evil... Found it!"

Although he couldn't fully decipher it, Nie Ning had found the part he needed.

Organs!

The victims of this incident were missing their hands, feet, torso, and internal organs, respectively.

If nothing went wrong, Mrs. Terry's husband might have represented the head, meaning the unknown Evil Spirit was being summoned in parts.

"What did you find?"

Horun asked, completely bewildered.

"Based on the previous death cases, the sacrificers should have been summoning the body parts of some unknown entity in stages, which corresponds exactly to the body's organs."

"We must find the real sacrificer quickly; otherwise, once the unknown Evil Spirit's body is fully assembled, the situation will likely become grave."

Nie Ning explained with a solemn expression.

Evil Spirits cannot truly descend into this world; they can only enter using certain clever methods.

For instance, by using the torso of a creature from this world as a vessel, it would also inherit some of the local creature's characteristics.

...