"Good evening, Lord Merlin."
Lin Qiye sat on the chair opposite Merlin, the Chaos Rubik's Cube on the table flickered slightly, automatically moving towards Lin Qiye, like a child who had been wronged.
Lin Qiye directly ignored its movement and got straight to the point:
"Lord Merlin, I actually came this time because I have some things I want to ask you... Have you heard of the Tian Cong Yun Sword?"
Merlin frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head, "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of it."
Lin Qiye sighed inwardly, but this was not beyond his expectation. As an ancient God of England, Merlin naturally wouldn't have heard of Japanese mythology.
"That is a weapon that exists in mythology... In short, anyone struck by it will have all physical injuries unable to recover, and it will also injure the Soul. Even if they are resurrected, they will not heal." Lin Qiye gave a simple introduction to Merlin based on Instructor Hong's description, "I want to know, is there any good way to deal with the wounds left by this kind of Divine Artifact?"
"Leaving eternal Soul wounds..." Merlin pondered, "Although I don't know about this kind of Divine Artifact, from your description, its core should have two attached attributes: 'eternal' and 'Soul'. Any weapon involving 'eternal' is very difficult to deal with."
Lin Qiye's brows furrowed tightly, "Is there no way to heal it?"
"It's not that there isn't." Merlin pondered for a moment, extending two fingers, "Based on my speculation, there are probably two ways to heal this kind of wound..."
"The first method is the most simple and crude. As long as you destroy the core of the Tian Cong Yun Sword, its attached attributes will naturally disappear, and the injury will be able to heal."
Lin Qiye's mouth twitched. You call this "simple"?Personally going to Takamagahara, killing Susanoo, and then shattering the Tian Cong Yun Sword... If he could do this, he would definitely be one of the top Gods.
For him now, it was nothing short of a pipe dream.
"What about the second method?"
"The second method is to find another Divine Artifact that possesses the 'eternal' attribute and can simultaneously heal injuries," Merlin said calmly.
"Hmm... For example?"
"I don't know either."
Lin Qiye:...
Alright, these two solutions are less reliable than the last.
"Is there no other way?" Lin Qiye couldn't help but ask.
"I can't think of any." Merlin shook his head, "If you absolutely have to mention a third method, it would be to pray for a 'miracle' to happen."
Lin Qiye sighed and stood up from his seat.
"I see. Sorry to have bothered you."
Lin Qiye walked out of the study and looked at the chaos of the caregivers in the yard. He stopped for a moment and shook his head helplessly.
It seems that helping Wu Xiangnan heal the injury on his hand... is difficult.
...
The next day.
A black van stopped at the entrance of the pub. Wen Qimo and Lin Qiye got out of the van and walked towards the pub that had been cordoned off by the police.
This pub wasn't large, but the decor was quite exquisite. The combination of vintage style and neon atmosphere had a unique charm, making it a popular spot for online influencers on this street.
However, this pub, which was once lively and somewhat upscale, was now empty and desolate.
Lin Qiye and the other person crossed the yellow cordon and walked directly into the pub.
Lin Xi Chen had hoped to visit the scene today to observe—given her passion for detective work eventhough she is simple-minded—but unfortunately, Chen Muye insisted she wasn't fully recovered and made her rest for a few more days. At that moment, had she possessed cat ears and a tail, she would have looked exactly like a kitten deprived of its favorite toy.
"Is there no one guarding this crime scene?" Lin Qiye looked around, not seeing a single police officer, and asked in surprise.
"This case involves the 'Mysteries', so regular police officers cannot intervene. Guarding the scene, searching for clues, examining the body... These matters are handled by our specialized processing department. Although it looks like there's no one guarding, there are actually people hidden outside on 24-hour watch. If a suspicious person comes, they can be caught immediately."
Lin Qiye nodded. Just then, a young man wearing a black jacket walked in from outside the door.
"Brother Wen, here to look for clues again today?" The young man saw Lin Qiye next to Wen Qimo and asked in surprise, "This is..."
"New member, Lin Qiye, Lin Qiye. This is the person from the specialized processing department I told you about, Xiao Hei. You two should get to know each other better; you'll be working together often in future operations," Wen Qimo said with a smile.
Unlike the previous temporary members, Lin Qiye is now a full-fledged, officially registered Night Watcher. He is about to formally take over the Night Watcher's work and truly integrate into this organization.
"Hello, Brother Lin," Xiao Hei smiled and extended his hand.
"Hello," Lin Qiye shook his hand.
"Xiao Hei, give Lin Qiye a brief introduction to the situation," Wen Qimo said.
"Okay." Xiao Hei's expression turned serious. "The incident happened yesterday, specifically on August 26th at 10:45 AM. The Pub Owner entered the shop to open it but found a strong smell of blood inside. After walking into the backyard, he discovered that the pub's waiter, Sun Xiao, had died tragically there."
Saying this, he led the two towards the backyard.
"Only opening at past ten in the morning?" Lin Qiye seemed a bit surprised.
"This kind of pub does business mostly at night. Starting at past ten is already considered diligent," Wen Qimo explained from the side.
Lin Qiye nodded, and soon the three of them reached the entrance of the backyard.
On the ground in the backyard, there were numbered markers one after another. Next to each marker was a corresponding photo of the scene. On the wall, a human outline was sketched in white chalk, suspended in mid-air in a 'cross' shape."
"The deceased is Sun Xiao, male, 28 years old. He came to this pub two years ago to work as a waiter. Before that, he had been working in a restaurant. Actually, in the pub waiter line of work, very few people can stick with it for so long. The reason he could do it for two years is firstly because the Pub Owner was very good to him and the pay was decent, and secondly because he had two elderly people at home to support and urgently needed money."
Xiao Hei lowered his head to look at the information in his hand and continued, "According to the autopsy report, the time of death was between 3 AM and 4 AM that day. There are traces of a total of five nails hammered into the deceased's body. Four of them are distributed on the limbs, all puncture wounds, corresponding to these four red dots on the wall."
Lin Qiye squinted his eyes to look. Indeed, there were four deep gouges at the hands and feet of the white human outline on the wall. There were still bloodstains in the gouges. It was these four nails that had nailed the deceased to the wall.
"And the deceased's fatal injury was the nail that pierced the heart, a single fatal blow."
Xiao Hei reached out and pointed to the wall. At the heart position of the human outline, a small red dot was marked, representing the location where the nail had pierced the heart.
"In addition, the deceased's ten fingers... were all severed, and the cuts were very smooth. No knife capable of causing this kind of injury was found within this pub."