Detective Agency of the Bizarre-Chapter 1348 - 188: Bewitchment

Chapter 1348: Chapter 188: Bewitchment
In the Wailing Cave deep in the Rift Valley, the pure souls of food are said to be battling the banshees circling the cavern.
The Screaming Female Demons appear like slender women with long, disheveled hair, but only from a distance. When they descend from the air, their fern-like hair lifts away to reveal bird-like faces and claws connected to membranous wings.
Some have secondary sexual characteristics, some do not. Clearly, Screaming Female Demons is a collective term for both male and female.
The Screaming Female Demons tumbling down the dunes seem to erase the surface’s illusions of the "Harpies" being both beautiful and dangerous. According to legend, banshees were only female, enjoying capturing men to their nests for mating before consuming them.
The death of their kin provokes the Screaming Female Demons from the nest to take flight, attacking Lu Li. Their screech, capable of reaping low-level demons like harvesting wheat, is merely a nuisance to Lu Li as they turn into arrows aimed at him like insects drawn to a bonfire.
To Lu Li, these Screaming Female Demons, whom even Advanced Demons avoid, are no different from Inferior Demons. The power of the Dreamwalker has been proven; even the Mother of the Marsh and the Twisted Shadow need time to breach his aura, and Lu Li can still move.
Perhaps only the Devil Monarch and high-ranking demons could make him hesitate.
When less than half of the swirling Screaming Female Demons were left, Lu Li began to ascend, halting above the sand dune, beneath the hole. The beams of light falling into the cavern tinged the dream with a twilight yellow, his silhouette bathed in the glow, casting a long shadow.
With fewer and fewer companions, the Screaming Female Demons began to wish to flee, but it was too late. Lu Li, blocking the exit, did not intend to let any escape. It was less about the burden of potentially attracting more banshees and more about reaping 0.2 portions of humanity with each banshee felled.
Attacking like an eagle upon migrating birds, every place Lu Li passed, a Screaming Female Demon fell. Their livelihood, speed, and screech were ineffective against him.
The last Screaming Female Demon suicidally hurled itself at Lu Li, becoming shackled by a bizarre dreamscape.
"The banshees will forever hate you!" Its final scream transformed into a venomous curse, exploding into flesh and blood, before forcibly reassembling into the form of a Screaming Female Demon within the dreamscape.
Some curse lingered amidst the flesh, which Lu Li guessed was what the Blue Blood Chief had mentioned—the banshee’s curse. Thus, he retracted his Dreamwalker powers, falling from the sky, allowing the pieces of meat clinging to him to imprint the dissolving curse upon him.
The Dreamwalker manifested in an instant, gently lowering Lu Li back to the sand dune.
Ignoring the scattered banshee corpses around him, Lu Li briefly searched the cavern, discovering their nest in the cold depths amidst piles of buried bones.
Five Screaming Female Demon eggs, approximately the size of adult cats, were stored in the nest, of which two had already cracked open, the fragments scattered, the hatchlings nowhere to be seen.
Presumably, one or two Screaming Female Demons and their young had survived, but Lu Li did not intend to waste time waiting any longer. He left the cavern formed by the collapsed canyon to reunite with the Blue Blood Chief outside.
"Do you need help?"
The Blue Blood Chief saw the bloodied flesh stains on Lu Li, which were evidently not his own.
"Already resolved."
A ripple brushed over, and Lu Li’s soul was renewed—though a certain illusory mark hovered over him.
"A Screaming Female Demon’s curse."
Noticing it, the Blue Blood Chief said somberly, "Don’t worry, Mayor Burb knows how to remove the curse."
"For free?"
"It requires a soul payment."
"Then never mind."
As long as the curse persisted, Lu Li might continue to harvest humanity endlessly.
Lu Li and the Blue Blood Chief, along with the Yong Demon, reentered the cavern, gathering the Screaming Female Demons’ bodies.
Compared to the trouble of the Screaming Female Demons, their bodies weren’t highly valuable, yet they could still be exchanged for some souls. The Blue Blood Chief picked up two, the Yong Demon dragged seven, as the strong wind drove them out of the Rift Valley.
...
In the study, Mayor Burb clapped to welcome Lu Li’s return.
"Never before in the history of Beauty Lake Town have we received such a delightful surprise as today."
From Lu Li’s arrival in Beauty Lake Town to clearing the Rift Valley, less than four hours had passed—an hour remained until Yuglas would awaken.
The servant arrived with the payment for this commission: a total of 600 souls.
Now, Lu Li had 13 portions of humanity and 1150 souls, more than ever before.
On the silver platter on the desk, instead of Parasitic Demons, there were now cracked open Screaming Female Demon eggs. Mayor Burb savored the egg fluid, interwoven with blood streaks: "Intelligent and brave hero, has the town’s last problem been solved?"
"Basically. As long as Rift Valley Town on the other side of the canyon still exists."
Beauty Lake Town could reestablish contact with the outside world, needing only to guard against the Screaming Female Demons reclaiming the Rift Valley cavern.
Mayor Burb continued to indulge in the Screaming Female Demon eggs, though these luxurious ingredients no longer satisfied him—taking a deep breath, he realized the increasingly enticing souls bore traces of unwelcome impurities.
"Hero, have you been cursed by the Screaming Female Demons?"
"Yes."
"Don’t worry, I can help lift the curse as a reward for your contributions to Beauty Lake Town." Mayor Burb graciously offered to resolve Lu Li’s trouble.
This was why the Blue Blood Chief was only the second smartest.
"What would be the cost for the cure?"
"An uncheap one, given it’s a life-spent curse by the Screaming Female Demon."
As the Blue Blood Chief developed a peculiar emotion, Lu Li asked, "What would it cost in souls?"
"I estimate it would take over a thousand souls."
The Blue Blood Chief suddenly realized what was about to happen next.
"Can I convert it to souls?" Lu Li asked, unsurprisingly.
Even Mayor Burb paused, asking in bewilderment, "Hero, why do you need so many souls?"
"The demons are soon approaching, and I must have enough souls to fight against them." Lu Li openly declared the truth.
"My demonic blood warns me I should not get involved, yet my stronger demon heritage urges me to crack open that demon’s head..." Mayor Burb reflected, "I can privately sponsor you 500 souls."
"Thank you."
"Ho ho ho... such courtesy I haven’t felt in a long time."
Finishing a Screaming Female Demon egg, Mayor Burb took the napkin tucked into his collar, wiped his lips, and signaled for the servant to bring another 500 souls.
"That was back when Beauty Lake Town had its rightful name... Hundreds of townsfolk and guests, maintaining the prosperity of those times together... Every resident nostalgically remembers their former home."
Mayor Burb’s musings affected the Blue Blood Chief, evoking memories of the days of Old Beautiful Lake Town.
No annoying sandstorms raging day and night, obstructing residents from going outside. Beautiful Lake exuding warmth, residents and guests loving to stroll the streets, relax, enjoy the stability brought by order, until a gang of vile Fire Demons destroyed it all...
As the Blue Blood Chief reminiscenced, he heard the voice of a human soul resonate.
"Do you want to reclaim Beautiful Lake?"