Versatile Mage

After Officer Ozawa left, Lingling walked around the Sacrificial Mountain.

She could confirm that this was where the evil energy was released. Lingling knew very well that the Red Demon might be nearby. If she was too obvious, the Red Demon might target her.

Lingling left. She already knew that the evil energy was in the Sacrificial Mountain and was likely in the temple’s spirit tablets.

…

After Lingling returned to her room, she opened the visitor list and carefully checked the names.

Lingling was checking the first page when someone knocked on the door. She frowned.

“Who is it?” Lingling asked.

“It’s me.” Mo Fan’s voice came from outside.

Lingling opened the door.

“Didn’t we agree that we won’t meet up?” Lingling angrily asked.

“I found something. What about you? Did you find any clues?” Mo Fan walked in. He glanced at Lingling’s laptop on the table and the list of names.

“I haven’t found anything so far. I only know that a guy, who was imprisoned at the lowest level of the East Guardian Towers, escaped and visited the Sacrificial Mountain. What about you? Did you find anything special?” Lingling stood in front of the door.

“I sneaked into the East Guardian Towers. It was different from what we expected,” said Mo Fan.

“In what sense?” Lingling asked.

“Everything in the East Guardian Towers was in order. The guards were on patrol, the prisoners were strictly guarded, and there were almost no signs of riots,” Mo Fan replied.

“That is a bit abnormal. Ordinary people live in the West Guardian Towers, and it is full of anger, ugliness, and irritability. On the other hand, the East Guardian Towers have many criminals, but it is calm and peaceful,” said Lingling.

“Did you find anything else?” Mo Fan said helplessly.

“No. There are very few clues and everything I have found till now is all fragmentary. I feel that nothing is related to what we are looking for, but at the same time, everything seems to be connected. It is giving me a headache,” said Lingling.

“Okay. I will continue to search. Come and find me if you find anything important,” said Mo Fan.

“How can I find you? I still don’t know who you are disguising as,” said Lingling.

“Let’s choose a place. If you find anything, we will meet at the stone platform at the east cliff,” said Mo Fan.

“Okay.”

…

After closing the door, Lingling opened the notebook and began to look for information about Ki Kurokawa.

Lingling soon found the documents about shocking things Ki Kurokawa had done. These documents were internal documents of the Japanese government and were not open to the public. They recorded the terrorist incidents of Ki Kurokawa slaughtering civilians.

Ki Kurokawa was a manslayer. He had slaughtered people more than once. He had killed thousands!

Lingling finally understood why Officer Ozawa was in a panic. If such a manslayer was out, it would seriously affect the Twin Guardian Towers and even Osaka Castle.

‘Was this also related to the Red Demon?’ she wondered.

The Red Demon was not a manslayer. It liked to control other people’s minds and turn them into its spiritual slaves.

Lingling’s mind was a mess. The special environment of the Twin Guardian Towers made it possible for people to be affected by the magnetic field of the Red Demon.

However, who were the people related to the Red Demon Kazuaki? Where was the Red Demon hiding? The Red Demon was greedily staring at these people caught in his game like a cunning game designer.

Lingling lay on her back on the soft bed, turned her head to the side, and looked at the three sketches on the bedside table.

She had drawn these three sketches near the suspension bridge. They recorded the scene of an army entering the East Guardian Towers. At that time, Lingling felt that there was something strange about it but could not understand exactly what.

She took two of the papers each in one hand. Suddenly, she got it! Lingling understood the difference between the two!

The first sketch showed the army entering the East Guardian Towers. The third sketch showed the army coming out and walking on the suspension bridge.

The number of people had changed! When they entered, there were about twelve men in that army. When they exited, there were thirteen people in the army!

There was an extra person!

Lingling got up from the bed and finally understood why she felt something was strange.

“Why was there an extra person? Either a soldier was guarding it and he came out with the others. Or the army took someone out of the East Guardian Towers and asked him to put on a military uniform to hide him. Could it be that the person they brought out was Ki Kurokawa?” Lingling muttered.

‘Did the army let Ki Kurokawa out? Did someone use the army to help Ki Kurokawa escape from prison? Did the army do it on purpose?’

There were so many questions in her mind which could only be answered if she talked to the army directly.

“Why is he on the visitor list?” She found that Kaede Takahashi was also one of the visitors.

Kaede Takahashi also visited the Sacrificial Mountain. The night of his visit, he sleepwalked to the edge of the cliff, and the yellow lightning severely injured him. If he could not recover, he would lose the chance of joining the National Institute.

Lingling continued to flip through the notebook. If she was guessing right, a person named Sinchino Mochizuki should have also visited the Sacrificial Mountain.

Since the Sacrificial Mountain was where the evil energy was stored, people who behaved strangely would be on the list.

Lingling looked at last month’s record but did not see Sinchino Mochizuki on the list.

Lingling typed his name on a fresh page and circled it in red ink. She wasn’t sure if he was affected by the Red Demon’s magnetic field. Either it made him lust after a woman and commit a crime, or he was the Red Demon. There were some side effects when the Red Demon occupied someone’s consciousness and memories.

“It can also be Ki Kurokawa.” Lingling wrote down the name.

A person imprisoned in the East Guardian Towers had escaped and visited the Sacrificial Mountain of the West Guardian Towers. Either someone had helped him escape or it was the Red Demon who was in fact Ki Kurokawa.

Lingling was about to close the notebook after she keyed in the names of these two suspects. However, she hesitated. She reopened the ‘suspects’ column and added another space. She had a third suspect in mind, but she didn’t key in the name yet.