Abyss Sequence-Chapter 468 - 43: The Puppet

Lykan’s other neighbor was an elderly female elf named Selena Pearl Sparkfire.

Upon seeing Yan Luo, this old woman immediately smiled and asked if Yan Luo was the human leading the trade with Pearl City. Discovering that it was indeed as she thought, she became even more delighted.

Selena was originally from Pearl City, and her relatives had recently written to her, telling her that Pearl City was thriving with the help of human trade caravans.

So, after meeting Yan Luo, Selena was quite enthusiastic.

When Yan Luo asked if Lykan had shown any strange behaviors, the old woman- like opening a floodgate- began to talk non-stop.

Aside from the explosion of the alchemical cauldron seven or eight days ago, the old woman also saw Lykan repeatedly examining a piece of child-sized clothing in the backyard.

The old woman’s thoughts weren’t so dark; she guessed it was Lykan’s child’s clothing and that perhaps the child had passed away for some unknown reason. Sometimes, he might be missing his child, hence taking out the clothes to look at.

It was exactly so.

Lykan and Yevgenia’s youngest daughter had died from an illness. The couple both felt remorse, yet Lykan was more rational, aware that his young daughter could not return. Meanwhile, Yevgenia was steeped in the grief of her daughter’s death, only recently easing up after meeting Sasa.

If Lykan were given a reason to study demonic studies, could it be that he was doing so to resurrect his daughter?

Everyone needs a reason for doing something, even those with mental illness—what drives them is their illness itself.

Previously, Yan Luo had been unable to find a reason to believe Lykan had an interest in demonic studies. Now, he found it.

Lykan sighed and confirmed Selena’s statement: "Yes, sometimes I do miss Pena. Even though more than twenty years have passed, I haven’t been able to forget it. She...Pena passed away due to a neglect on Yefuni’s and my part, and to this day, we haven’t been able to let it go."

"Would you want to bring your daughter back to life?" Yan Luo asked Lykan.

Lykan looked at Yan Luo with a peculiar expression, "Uh... Sometimes I do have such absurd thoughts, but resurrecting the dead without them becoming undead is something impossible in this world."

By comparison, Lykan seemed less obsessed with his daughter, at least not to the extent that Yevgenia- after seeing Sasa, who resembled their late daughter unbearably so- desired to make Sasa her own daughter.

If there was indeed an elf researching demonic studies, Yan Luo suspected Yevgenia more than Lykan, at least based on current observations.

However, Yan Luo still didn’t know if demons were capable of resurrecting the dead; he merely formed an association based on previous scenarios.

Yan Luo waved goodbye to Selena, and stood on the street with Lykan, gazing at the sparsely filled avenue, lost in thought.

Lykan asked, "Holy Sir, where do you need to investigate next?"

Even though Lykan knew Yan Luo was investigating him, he felt he had a clear conscience and would face it all tranquilly.

"Where does Lutz Qingbai live?" Yan Luo turned to look at Lykan.

Lykan pursed his lips, unsure of Yan Luo’s train of thought and why he suddenly associated Lutz Qingbai.

"Please follow me."

Lykan led Yan Luo toward Lutz Qingbai’s house.

Meanwhile, donning her personal terminal, Yevgenia gazed at the house ahead, listening to the sounds within, awaiting Yan Luo and Lykan’s arrival.

After stepping out of the reception room, Yan Luo indicated his personal terminal to her, suggesting he might want to use it to communicate with her, thus she dug out her spectacle-style terminal from home.

After putting on her terminal, she found another terminal within range, and Yan Luo contacted her accordingly.

Previously, when Yan Luo mentioned he would investigate Lykan Hongfeng, in addition to Lykan himself, another elf’s expression changed, and that was Lutz Qingbai.

Yan Luo couldn’t understand why Lutz had a change in expression, so he intended to ask Yevgenia to help investigate.

By taking Lykan away and letting Lutz go deliberately, Yan Luo was trying to fish.

Elves at the academy rarely encountered human technology, so they were unaware that Yan Luo could remotely contact Yevgenia and keep an eye on Lutz.

Lutz himself hadn’t thought of this; thus, after separating from Yevgenia and heading in different directions, he went straight home, causing some commotion.

Upon receiving Yan Luo’s request, Yevgenia quickly left her home to rush to Lutz’s front door.

She trusted her ex-husband, hoping to clear Lykan of suspicion.

Seeing Yan Luo and Lykan approaching, Yevgenia received a message: [Ms. Yevgenia, please leave for now, do not meet or interact with us.]

If Yevgenia appeared before other elves, seeing both her and Yan Luo with their spectacle-style terminals, it would be easy for elves to deduce that they could contact each other remotely.

Since the elves hadn’t discovered this yet, Yan Luo hoped to keep this advantage under wraps for later opportunities.

Yevgenia sighed silently and left quietly, not alerting any elf.

Lykan led Yan Luo to the front of Lutz’s house, listening to the noises from within, suddenly feeling puzzled.

It was then that Yan Luo knocked on the door.

The noise within the house abruptly ceased, and moments later, Lutz Qingbai, exuding a gloomy atmosphere, opened the door.

Upon seeing Yan Luo and Lykan standing outside, his heart raced, becoming nervous.

Lutz forced a smile and stuttered, "H-hello..."

"Hello, Mr. Lutz." Yan Luo greeted him, then switched the topic, "May I ask, what are you packing?"

Lutz swallowed, "Yes, yeah."

Yan Luo asked again, "Can you tell me what you’re packing?"

"Uh..." Lutz shrank back, "Just some lab materials."

Without another word, Yan Luo presented his identification, "Please cooperate; I need to investigate some things in your home."

Standing behind Yan Luo, Lykan’s gaze at Lutz also shifted, seemingly sensing something.

Sweat started to form on Lutz’s forehead, and his heart raced again, "T-that..."

Yan Luo pushed his identification toward Lutz, "Please cooperate!"

"No!" Lutz screamed.

Was Yan Luo someone easily halted by words?

The magnetic field erupted abruptly, binding Lutz as though with ropes, rendering him unable to move, leaving him only able to talk and blink.

"What are you doing?!" Lutz was both shocked and angry.

Ignoring Lutz’s outburst, Yan Luo lifted him and barged into Lutz’s home.

This house was a three-story wooden building, larger in area compared to Lykan’s research study, and its internal space was also bigger.

Lutz’s house appeared tidier than Lykan’s lab, with no scattered clothes or papers.

"Let me go!"

As Yan Luo headed upstairs, Lutz, his face flushed, struggled vigorously.

Upon finding that purely physical effort couldn’t break the binding, Lutz began chanting a curse swiftly.

He only managed half a sentence before Yan Luo sealed his mouth.

The magnetic field compressed Lutz’s mouth shut, preventing him from speaking.

The first floor was a living room and a kitchen, with multiple rooms on the second floor. Based on the earlier disturbances, Yan Luo easily located the room where Lutz had been.

"Hold on..."

Lykan followed behind Yan Luo, but by the time he reminded Yan Luo of the protective magic on the door, it was too late.

Being a man of action, Yan Luo immediately pushed the door open.

The spell on the door detected the intruder wasn’t Lutz, causing light to blossom into a hammer aimed at Yan Luo’s face.

Boom!

The hammer shattered upon impact; Yan Luo’s face remained unscathed.

Both Lykan and Lutz were stunned upon witnessing this scene.

"Welcome back, Master."

Just then, Lykan heard an all-too-familiar voice from inside, and Yan Luo saw the tall figure in the room, raising an eyebrow involuntarily.

——It was Yevgenia!