Through the window was a dim and simple bedroom. Lex first took out the Shadow Gauntlets and put them on. This extraordinary weapon almost blended with the shadows in the room, and even when worn on his hand, Lex barely felt its existence.
Old Lady Paris was clearly not a clean person. The bedroom was messy, and the quilt on the bed, placed on the inner side, was unfolded, with one corner hanging down to the floor. On the table to the right, there were wool and a crochet hook, seemingly in preparation for winter, but those things looked like they hadn't been touched for a long time, and the table was covered in dust.
In the corner, there was a basket filled with dried radishes, and next to it was a dilapidated cabinet, inside which was a basket of eggs. Two gray rats, sensing the human's smell, scurried into a broken hole in the corner of the cabinet and disappeared.
Lex gently pushed open the door, walked out of the bedroom, and circled this dilapidated house. He visited the living room, kitchen, and washroom; without exception, these places were either dirty or strewn with various garbage, indicating that Paris had not cleaned the house for a long time.
Lex couldn't help but wonder how busy she must be to live in a garbage dump.
However, when he pushed open the utility room, he found it surprisingly clean. The room was neatly organized, and inside, Lex discovered a basement.
Looking at the staircase submerged in darkness before him, Lex could feel that the air below was both cold and damp, as if this staircase led to a bottomless abyss.
He found a lantern nearby, and after it lit up, Lex didn't rush in.
Using the Materials he could find in the tool room, he created two simple traps with little lethality. But if there was something down there and he had to escape, these two traps could provide some obstruction.
Lex remembered that he was always playing the role of a 'Hunter'.
After setting up the traps, Lex picked up the lantern and went down.
The staircase was not long and did not lead to an abyss; Lex quickly reached the bottom.
The basement was spacious and not stuffy. The walls here were made of wooden planks, and a room had been sectioned off. The door was ajar, and cold, damp air flowed through the crack.
Lex walked forward with the lantern, first seeing a wooden cabinet where clothes, hats, gloves, and tools were discarded.
Neither the size nor the style resembled Old Lady Paris's, and besides, among them were two blue worker uniforms; Lex didn't think that old woman would still seek a living in a factory.
In front of the wooden cabinet, in the middle of the basement, a round table was placed, and on it was a wooden statue.
It was a very strange statue, combining the concepts of 'tree' and 'female'. The statue had tree roots, vines, gnarled tree burls, and blooming flowers. But at the same time, it also had female organs, symbolic parts, and a beautiful face.
The delicate carving technique made every strand of hair clear and flowing, with deep-set brows, a high nose bridge, plump lips, and a blend of softness and allure.
Upon seeing this bizarre and overtly evil-feeling statue, Lex felt his heart race and an urge for primal joy!
He quickly averted his gaze from the statue, and then near the round table, he found several candles that showed signs of use, with solidified wax at the bottom.
Although he hadn't yet learned ritual magic, this didn't prevent Lex from concluding that Old Lady Paris had performed some kind of ritual here.
And more than once!
As the light moved, a parchment was pinned to the round table with a dagger. This yellowish paper was clearly not owned by a solitary old woman, and it attracted Lex's attention.
Approaching the paper, Lex saw a spell written in Hermes.
'Hidden behind the Light, not existing in the shadows.'
'You are the great, concealed, invisible one.'
'You are the ruler of desires, you lurk in all things, spreading white haze.'
'I pray to you.'
'I pray for hidden power;'
'I pray for invisible power;'
'I pray for your favor.'
'Here, I offer you a sacrifice of flesh and blood, through the spirituality of blood, to convey my loyal faith!'
Lex gasped. No matter how he looked at it, this was not a spell to pray for help from the Night Goddess.
This spell was too eerie, imbued with evil thoughts; whether it was a flesh and blood sacrifice or the spirituality of blood, it was undoubtedly an evil ritual.
Lex also saw that below the spell, written in Loen, were the Hermes pronunciations of this spell.
In other words, Old Lady Paris probably didn't know the specific content of the spell. Did she think she was sacrificing to the Night Goddess?
Someone was spreading the faith of an evil god under the guise of the Goddess?
Lex immediately pulled out the dagger, rolled up the parchment, and put it away. This thing had to be handed over to the Church; the seeds of an evil god could not be allowed to take root in the Town.
Just then.
Lex heard a seductive sound, like a woman's moans of pleasure, or someone softly chanting. The sound was illusory and ethereal; just hearing a few notes, Lex felt another surge of primal impulse.
The 'Hunter's keen hearing allowed him to quickly locate the source of the sound, which was coming from the strange statue on the table.
Suddenly.
The female face on the statue, its eyes actually looked towards Lex, and a puff of pink smoke came out of its mouth.
Lex immediately covered his mouth and nose and retreated rapidly. Without hesitation, he pointed his Snake Scale Revolver at the statue and fired continuously.
Bang bang bang bang—
Lex fired four shots in a row, the bullets striking the statue, sending wood chips flying, and knocking it off the table.
Falling to the ground, the statue shattered, and a viscous red liquid, like blood, gushed out from within.
The moment the statue shattered, Lex faintly heard a scream, a sound that seemed not to exist in the real world, but rather echoed in his mind.
The sound was fleeting, yet it made Lex's head ache intensely.
He couldn't help but cover his head with his hand, forgetting to leave. When the headache slightly subsided, Lex held up the lantern and looked around, glancing at the half-open door. He raised his revolver, intending to investigate.
Unexpectedly, a faint gasp came from above.
It was his sister Harribel's voice!
Lex immediately rushed up the staircase, entered the bedroom, and climbed out the window.
He saw Harribel leaning against the rubble wall, her body trembling slightly, her face pale, and her pupils slightly dilated.
"What's wrong?" Lex anxiously checked her condition. "Are you hurt?"
The noble girl dressed as a newsboy finally came to her senses, shaking her head, but pointing her finger at the overly large oak tree in front of them.
"There's a tree hole there. In the tree hole, I think I saw a person."
Someone in the tree hole? Lex looked at the lantern in his hand, relieved that he hadn't carelessly thrown it away earlier.