Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 3 Ms. M
Sirius Aripipr lay on the ground, seemingly dead.

"huh, huh"

Li Ran, panting, put down the revolver.

After the passion of the fight subsided, he realized how exhausted he was, and the places on his body that had been hit earlier were even more painful.

His mind went blank, and he suddenly felt a strong sense of unreality.

Am I dreaming? Time travel, hallucinations, murder—these are things I've never encountered in my twenty-odd years of life. Could it all be just a dream?
Just as Li Ran was thinking this, he was shaken awake.

"Lu Ze, are you alright?!"

Cecilia's beautiful face appeared before him. She gripped Luze's arm tightly, her worry evident.

It doesn't seem like a dream.

Li Ran came to her senses and couldn't help but sigh.

"I am fine."

He said it casually, then stood up and looked around.

Cecilia looked at him with concern, but said nothing more.

Among the pile of odds and ends that had fallen from the drawer was a mirror. Li Ran reached out and picked it up, looking at the mirror.

The mirror reflected a strikingly handsome young man with black hair, blue eyes, and striking features. He wore a thick, heavy straitjacket covered in sturdy black leather straps. If all the straps were fastened, no amount of struggling would seem to free him. His face was gaunt and pale, and deep within his azure eyes lay a hidden, unyielding madness and pain.

While handsome, he appeared somewhat sickly.

Is this Lu Ze?

Li Ran quickly matched the face with his past memories.

No, I should say now, this is me.

He thought with a wry smile, and the young man in the mirror also laughed miserably.

Li Ran, who died in a car accident on a blue planet, was resurrected in the body of a mentally ill young man in another world and gained all of his memories. At this moment, Li Ran was surprised, confused, fearful, and regretful, but in the end, he still showed a helpless smile.

On the bright side, it's better than actually dying. Since this is reality, let's accept it.

From this moment forward, I am Lu Ze.

"Li Ran," Lu Ze thought to himself. "No, I mean it."

Cecilia was still looking at him with concern. Luze smiled and was about to say something comforting when he heard a commotion outside.

He reached out and pulled back the curtains, and crimson moonlight immediately poured down onto the floor, making him feel even more real as if he were in another world.

You can see the view outside through the window.

It was night, a crimson moon hung in the sky, gas streetlights illuminated the road, and a four-wheeled carriage rattled by. Several people, men and women, stood outside, seemingly local residents. They were looking at Luze's house with suspicion and uncertainty, discussing something amongst themselves; the commotion came from them.

Oh no, it's gunshots!

Lu Ze's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized what was happening. He had fired six shots in quick succession; the nearby residents must have heard it. What would happen if they followed the sound and saw the corpse on the ground?
But then he thought about it again and calmed down.

So what if I saw a corpse? I was acting in self-defense! It was that old bastard Sirius who attacked us first! Besides, he's covered in tumors now, like a monster. Any normal person can see that something's wrong with him, and it's obvious who's good and who's bad.

Thinking this through, Lu Ze felt a little more at ease. After a moment's thought, he turned to Cecilia and said, "Cecilia, go downstairs and call the police."

"Call the police?"

Cecilia's eyes widened.

"Otherwise, do you think we can run away or cover it up?"

Lu Ze said, glancing at his younger sister who had been taken for a bribe.

Like Luze, Cecilia has black hair and blue eyes, and is very beautiful. However, compared to Luze's frail health, she has more youthful vitality.

“If we call the police immediately, we can take the initiative. If we conceal the truth, we will be suspected. As long as we make it clear that it was self-defense, they should not make things difficult for us.”

"Oh, okay. Luze, aren't you coming with me?"

"I'll stay here to protect the scene."

Cecilia nodded and hurriedly ran out.

Through the window, Lu Ze saw his sister rush out of the house. The onlookers were startled and scattered in a panic, but quickly gathered again after she left, their faces full of curiosity, like a flock of ignorant lambs. She should have known to go to the street to find a patrol officer; why did she have to run all the way to the police station?
Hmm, I hope so.

Lu Ze thought to himself, his breathing gradually calming down.

The room quickly fell silent, so quiet that the dripping of blood on the altar could be heard. Sirius's body lay supine, the bullet having ripped open his skull, and his already torn mouth made his face even more gruesome.

That's kind of creepy.
Lu Ze's lips twitched. He rummaged through the clutter on his desk, pulled out some pistol bullets, reloaded his revolver, and only then did he feel at ease.

When he turned his gaze back to Sirius, he suddenly noticed a striking white patch on the black-robed corpse. Taking a few steps closer, he discovered it was several folded sheets of paper.

The page was gently blown open by the wind, revealing just one word—

Luze Longdor.

Is this letter about me?

Staring at the few sheets of paper, Lu Ze hesitated for a moment, then squatted down and used two fingers to pick them out.

Logically, he should have protected the scene, but his intuition told him that the letter might contain important information about him.

Lu Ze unfolded the letter.

The letter was written in Rune. Luze quickly familiarized himself with the script by consulting his memory, and then slowly read on:

Dear Ms. M:

As you instructed, I have successfully taken control of Luzer Rondor. You are right; he possesses a strong aura of the Lord. However, Ms. M, while I am pleased, I also loathe him intensely!
He possessed the aura of the Lord; he could encounter Him in his hallucinations and hear His teachings. This is a blessing that all believers yearn for, yet he, that damned Luze Rondor, actually said he hated his fate and loathed those hallucinations!

This blasphemer, this foolish scoundrel! How dare he!
He is unworthy to be so close to the Lord; he should be a sacrifice for the Lord's coming! I can feel the Lord within his body; his defiled body has imprisoned the Lord's will!
Lord! Lord!
I can't wait a moment longer! I know! This must be a trial sent down by the Lord for me, it must be! I will use his death to call for the Lord's return!
Today is his eighteenth birthday, and from a mystical perspective, it's the perfect time!

This is a frenzied and malicious letter. The handwriting is relatively neat at the beginning, but it becomes increasingly chaotic as it progresses. Coupled with Sirius's mad language, it perfectly reflects the writer's excellent mental state.

"It seems Sirius was already acting strangely when he wrote the letter," Lu Ze thought to himself. "No wonder he would commit such a murderous blood sacrifice."

However, despite its frenzy, the letter still revealed some terrifying information.

Sirius's approach to Luze Rondoir was indeed premeditated. He was probably from some clandestine organization, ordered to control Luze, and was writing the letter to report to his superior, "Ms. M"—although he went mad halfway through writing it.

Furthermore, Luze's body seems to genuinely have a problem, seemingly related to the "Lord" Sirius mentioned. Considering Sirius's sudden transformation, it's possible that something mystical exists in this world.

"What the hell? My body has been targeted by a cult?"

He couldn't help but frown.

In other words, he might be captured and used as a blood sacrifice by a madman like Sirius in the future?
That's fucking bullshit.
Lu Ze took a deep breath, feeling restless and uneasy.

at this time--

"boom!"

Without warning, Lu Ze felt a tremendous force strike his chest, and the world before him suddenly rushed forward. The next instant, his back slammed heavily onto the cold, hard floor.

Only then did he realize that he had been pushed backwards!

The pitch-black ceiling filled the field of vision, and a horrifying, broken head slowly emerged from beneath it.

It's Sirius, the lingering ghost!
Even with its skull cracked open, it could still move!
His heavy body pressed down on Lu Ze, and he crawled stiffly and slowly toward Lu Ze.

"Bang! Bang!"

Luzer's hair stood on end, filled with shock and rage. He raised his revolver and frantically pulled the trigger at Sirius's head. Bullets pierced through one after another, Sirius's head becoming like a rotten watermelon, but even so, he still held Luzer down tightly.

This is practically a moving corpse!

Sirius extended his withered, aged hand to Luze, where a twisted black mark was etched. The mark, as if alive, wriggled and contracted until it broke through the skin, transforming into a small sphere mixed with blood and black lines, floating silently in a manner defying the laws of physics.

"Get away! Get away!"

Luze sensed danger emanating from the small ball. He roared and slammed the butt of his revolver into Sirius's body. Sirius tried to break free, but his body was held tightly, making escape impossible!

He saw Sirius's bloodied and mangled face move slightly, as if he were smiling.

"Lord, please save us."

Sirius's tone was cold and hollow, his movements stiff, as he slowly stuffed the small black and red ball into Luze's mouth.

(End of this chapter)