Chapter 275: Dance Again
After obtaining the Breath-Sensing Sigil, Dorothy released two zombie rat puppets from the magic box. She then used the sigil and, with the puppet master’s ability, consumed four “Cups” to transmit the sigil’s effect onto the rats, temporarily enhancing their sense of smell.
Dorothy had the rats sniff out the scent of the true culprit among a pile of letters. She controlled them to move silently around various locations in the theater, sniffing as they went.
Dorothy had already reviewed the theater’s layout and knew the range of Adele’s spiritual perception. She had marked the areas she needed to search, mainly the edges of the audience seats and the cabins.
Using the theater’s ventilation system, Dorothy’s puppet rats scurried about. Soon, they helped Dorothy find a scent matching that on the letter. It was on a young man named Byron in one of the cabins.
Unlike Byron, due to the puppet master’s ability, Dorothy’s small zombie puppet could receive protective effects from the Veil Ring worn by its original form. Thus, she didn’t worry about being detected by Adele’s spiritual perception. In silence, she confirmed Byron’s location.
‘The killer has been found… Now, how to deal with him? Since this is Adele’s matter, she should solve it herself.’
With this thought, Dorothy again controlled Ed, who was waiting in a corner, heading toward Adele’s room. Upon entering, she saw Adele smoking a cigarette on the sofa.
When Ed entered, Adele felt a bit surprised. She blurted out, “Did you find him? So quickly?”
“Otherwise? Your sigil works well; I’ve already found him.” Ed closed the door behind him and walked toward Adele, sitting in front of her.
“He’s in Cabin Seven now. The scent matches perfectly with what was on the letter. As you said, it’s your turn.”
Looking at Adele, Ed said calmly. Adele looked at Ed with a playful glance, then extinguished her cigarette in the ashtray.
“Cabin Seven? That’s quite far from the stage; my ability is hard-pressed to affect such a distant area. Heh… I didn’t expect Detective, you would be so efficient. You found him so quickly. Now, it’s my turn.”
Standing up from the sofa, Adele seemed ready to leave. Seeing this, Dorothy immediately controlled Ed to ask, “Wait. Can I ask, how do you plan to handle him? If there’s too much commotion, it might attract the An Yin Bureau. Also, if innocent people get hurt, it will be difficult to restore your reputation.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan. I’ll handle him quietly and discreetly, Detective,” Adele said with a mysterious smile. Ed paused slightly, then continued, “Alright, do as you wish. But if you can give him a complete body, I might help you with the police.”
“To help me with the police… Your skills always exceed my expectations, Detective. I’ll try my best to keep him intact…”
As Adele headed for the door, she saw two policemen guarding outside. These were assigned to watch her.
“Miss Adele, you can’t leave here yet,” one of the policemen said directly. Adele smiled seductively and winked at him.
“I suddenly remembered some clues for solving the case. Detective Ed is taking me to find them. We can go by ourselves. Please don’t follow us, officer.”
Adele said to the policeman. In an instant, the two policemen’s expressions wavered. They felt Adele’s charm had surged several times, capturing their full attention. A desire overwhelmed their minds, clouding their judgment.
“Alright… Miss Adele, please hurry back.”
“Thank you, officer.”
Then, Adele quickly left, followed closely by Ed. Curious about the previous scene, Dorothy asked Ed,
“What was that just now? Hypnosis?”
“No, it’s charm. Not as effective as a vampire’s hypnosis, it can only reduce human judgment and make them easier to deceive. It makes people like you more. Compared to hypnosis, it requires less preparation and is harder to detect. Hypnosis needs eye contact, but charm can be triggered by a glance, a voice, or even a light touch.”
Adele explained. Dorothy’s heart skipped a beat, wondering if Adele had used charm on Ed earlier.
This fleeting thought passed, and Dorothy focused on the current situation, asking, “So, what exactly do you plan to do with the killer?”
“Of course… it’s dancing!”
“Dancing?”
“Yes, as a dancer, I must dance. The audience must be impatient after such a long wait…”
With a smile, Adele murmured, accelerating her steps towards the backstage of the theater.
…
In the main hall, another performance ended, and the applause was relatively sparse. Adele still hadn’t appeared, deepening the disappointment among many viewers. Some even prepared to leave early.
In Cabin Seven, far from the stage, Byron ate some dried fruit from the coffee table in front of him and checked his watch. It showed nine minutes past nine. There were only twenty minutes left until the show ended.
“Soon, very soon. Once it ends, we’ll see how you suppress it. Adele hasn’t shown up for so long… anyone would think something’s wrong.”
Watching the host calming the audience, Byron muttered. He wasn’t in a rush, patiently waiting for the final moments. Time was on his side.
‘Although I failed to injure Adele this time, I’ve somewhat damaged her reputation. Without an audience, her dance won’t accumulate spirituality quickly…’
Byron thought. Meanwhile, the host finished calming the audience and began introducing the next act.
“Ladies and gentlemen, although Miss Adele isn’t here, many of these performances contain her efforts. For instance, this next one, ‘Cotton White Dance.’ Please join the dancers in this performance!”
After the host loudly announced and left the stage, the curtains slowly opened to reveal a line of dancers.
These dancers wore identical white short skirts, half-masks, and coiffed hair with small horns as props. They were uniformly dressed, concealing their identities.
As the dancers appeared, music started again. With lively tunes, the white-clad dancers moved together, their quick steps marking the floor rhythmically. On stage, they danced joyfully, sometimes gathering and dispersing, creating an effect like a flock of sheep with their decorations.
The audience immediately noticed this performance was more captivating than the previous ones and began applauding.
While the audience watched attentively, the white dancers suddenly gathered at the edge of the stage and jumped down. At first, the audience thought it was an accident, but then realized the dancers continued to dance, moving through the aisles into the audience, their movements orderly. This allowed the audience to observe the dancers more closely.
It was a dance that interacted with the audience!
Upon understanding this, applause erupted again, praising the creative performance.
“Hmph… quite a spectacle…”
In the cabin, Byron sneered, continuing to enjoy the sweets he had prepared. His eating speed gradually increased.
…
Ugh… Writing is tough, and my schedule is getting worse. I might take a couple days off to adjust.
