The Moving Moon

The Fifth Age.

St. Samuel's Cathedral, the clergy's private restroom.

Xia Er opened his eyes on the toilet, pulled out a tissue from the side, and wiped away the blood flowing from his ears.

He only realized a problem now.

Attending a tarot session inside St. Samuel's Cathedral... isn't that a bit too presumptuous?

Is this because she's afraid the goddess of the night won't know?

Forget it, it's all Klein's fault. He insisted on scheduling the party for Monday. Who doesn't have to work on Mondays?

Xia Er rubbed his numb ears, wondering how he was going to politely ask Senior Gray for leave.

......

It's 10 PM.

Wearing a black swallowtail coat and a dark red cloak, Chael arrived at the East District, the new headquarters of the Huili Party.

The business here is even more bustling than during the day; even from the third floor, you can faintly hear the noise from downstairs.

As the headquarters, this place certainly wouldn't have that kind of business. The first floor is a bar that also hosts gambling games like "dog catching mouse".

When Shael arrived, Jason, the "living corpse," was already there, clearly having received a message from Shael beforehand.

"My lord, the crimson moon crown is inside."

"The Living Dead" Jason holds up a wooden box.

Shael beckoned, and the wooden box flew into his hand. He said to Jason, "You can go now."

Jason, the "zombie," nodded, led the zombie he was controlling out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

Xia Er created a closed spiritual environment in the room, then opened the wooden box, releasing its spiritual seal. A deep red moon crown was placed quietly inside, and the room was as if a full moon had descended, with the surrounding walls tinged with crimson.

He took out the crimson moon crown, removed his ears, and after they were removed, they turned into two crumpled pieces of paper, which quickly dissipated into grayish-white mist.

"This time, the spirit was actually injured."

If it weren't for her ability to turn paper into something useful and create two fake ears to temporarily replace her real ones, Xia'er might have had to rely on lip reading to get through the day.

He had anticipated the possibility of injury, and with a gentle toss, the spirit body contained the crimson moon crown.

His eyes turned red, as beautiful as rubies, and his spirit's hair began to grow, making his face even more delicate and handsome.

Red scales began to appear around Xia'er, like shattered moons. Spiritual power began to grow, repairing the wounds of his spirit body at a visible speed, and his ears regrew back.

"Let's go out and have some fun."

Surrounded by abundant spiritual energy, Xia'er became somewhat restless. His figure faded and merged into the void, leaping through mirrors and traversing various places under the night sky, consuming his burgeoning spiritual energy as he moved through the moonlight.

In an apartment, Fors was jolted awake from a sweet dream, the painful murmurs echoing in her ears. She glanced out the window instinctively, where crimson moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains.

"Wasn't the last full moon not that long ago?"

Fors gritted her teeth as she spoke, curling herself up in the blankets. As she mentally prepared herself to endure the ordeal, the crimson moonlight dimmed, and the sounds around her gradually faded away.

"What's going on?"

"Wow, that was way too fast!"

Miss Salty Fish, who had already been lying down, got out of bed. Her brown curly hair was spread out on her pale yellow pajamas. She looked at the scattered crimson stains with a blank expression.

Is that all?

She doesn't feel anything yet!

...

Chael, who was experiencing the extraordinary power of the lunar pathway, shuddered.

Can spirits catch colds? Or is this some kind of spiritual premonition?

Sure enough, going out for a stroll at night can easily lead to trouble.

He glanced down at the numerous buildings below, and the black mist transformed into wings, flying back in the direction he had come from.

Fors, who had just lain down again, was once again awakened from her dream. She scratched her hair in frustration. "I should have known, it wouldn't be this easy for me."

Fors grumbled, rolled over, and assumed a position to continue enduring the pain. The moonlight swept across her, and she waited for a while, holding her head, but she didn't feel anything.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Fors was so angry that she threw the pillow away. The sound of thumping footsteps followed. Hugh, with dark circles under her eyes, pushed open the door, looked at her ailing best friend, and said speechlessly:

"What are you yelling about in the middle of the night?"

"I thought you'd seen a ghost."

"I...I had a bad dream."

Fors laughed awkwardly.

"I can tell."

"I think even if there really were ghosts, they would have been scared away by your scream just now."

Hugh picked up the cushion from the floor and threw it at Fors, venting her anger at being disturbed from her sleep. Then she closed the door and went back to her room to sleep.

Boom!

Fors was hit by a pillow and felt a little aggrieved.

She hugged her pillow again, choosing to believe it was just an accident. After waiting a few minutes and confirming that nothing else was wrong, she couldn't hold on any longer and slowly fell asleep.

......

After returning to the Fairy Party headquarters, Chael put the Crimson Moon Crown away again and gave it to the zombie Jason.

The experiment just now revealed that this Level 2 sealed artifact provides an extremely powerful boost to the combat strength of dark creatures.

A Sequence 5 vengeful spirit wearing a crimson moon crown would have no problem being a pirate admiral at sea, and would have a high chance of escaping even if it encountered a pirate king.

"Jason, how's the consolidation of the Huiley Party's territory going?"

"The werewolf Tyr isn't here; he's watching the place elsewhere," Xia'er asked, looking at the undead Jason.

"Sir, we have taken over all the streets previously controlled by the Huili Party."

"Other gangs tried to cause trouble while we were in internal turmoil, but we fought them off."

After Jason finished speaking about the "living corpse," he looked at the somewhat gloomy-looking Shael and tentatively asked, "Sir, would you like some fresh blood?"

The side effect of the Crimson Moon Crown is that it will make the wearer's blood cold. You either need to stop wearing it immediately or drink the blood of a living person to relieve the cold.

"Then I might as well just absorb souls directly."

Shael stretched out his hand, and his palm turned dark, with ghostly figures of the undead appearing.

He absorbed these dead souls and fed them to the vengeful spirits sealed inside the mirror, replenishing their energy.

In the East District, there are countless wandering spirits of the dead, seeking life but finding no way to live, and seeking death but finding no way to die.

"You can make use of the people on these streets. Like I said, you can start a brokerage company and have these people serve us, help those who have fled from the Southern Continent, and let them work where we need them."

"We must also make use of our sea routes and resources in the southern continent, and control the livelihoods of these people, then they will come to believe in us."

"You just need to handle the liaison with the school. For the rest, you can find some subordinates. Those remaining gang members would be suitable. I've also found you a temporary consultant, Hugh Deercha, a well-known underground arbitrator in the East District. Have you heard of him?"

Chael leaned back in his chair and said a name.