Before Klein could turn over a new idea, he saw the stiffened Senator Maynard, with both hands pushing off the ground, making a heavy wind sound, and lunging straight at him, towards his left side!
In the past, encountering such a sudden situation, he would mostly react slowly and be unable to dodge. Even if he had noticed it in advance, he would have to roll and tumble to escape the range of the other's lunge in time.
But now, Klein almost instinctively responded. With a kick of his shiny, buttonless leather boots, he leaped sideways and landed on the high-backed chair.
Since he had only been promoted for a day, he was not yet particularly accustomed to his own strength, agility, and speed. In his panic, this jump was too high and too far, and he landed on the top of the high-backed chair's back!
There was only a narrow strip there. Klein's heart tightened, and he quickly controlled his body and adjusted his center of gravity.
He wobbled a few times but managed to stand steadily, like a black cat showing off its balance.
While wobbling, he swung his left arm and, following the "zombie" Maynard's lunge, hit its side ribs with his cane, causing it to lose balance and stumble onto the carpet.
Klein stood on the top of the high-backed chair, his right hand quickly raised, reaching into his armpit, trying to pull out the revolver from the gun holster and give the "zombie" in front of him a silver bullet for hunting demons.
But at that moment, he suddenly thought of how to handle the aftermath.
If he shot a hole in Senator Maynard's corpse, how would he explain the cause of death to his family and the New Party members who cared about the matter?
I just fired a shot at his corpse as a finishing blow?
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Klein reached into the pocket on the same side of his police uniform and felt a triangular thin piece.
A soul-soothing charm... He quickly made a judgment and took out the silver charm without hesitation, and shouted out a word in Ancient Hermes:
"Scarlet!"
As the activation spell echoed, the charm emitted a peaceful and serene feeling. Klein hurriedly infused his spiritual energy into it and threw it at the struggling "zombie" Maynard.
Dark blue flames suddenly appeared and enveloped the triangular thin piece, and a calm and gentle blackness quickly spread, eliminating the soul's tension and unease.
The "zombie" Maynard stopped there, its empty eyes staring blankly at the ground, and droplets of mucus fell one by one onto the carpet.
Klein let out a sigh of relief and was about to take out the materials to set up a ritual and solve the unclean creature in front of him through purification.
But suddenly, Maynard's throat made a hoarse sound again, and its empty eyes turned towards the left pocket of Klein's police uniform.
Damn it... Klein jumped from the top of the high-backed chair to the window sill of the bay window.
At the same time, he heard the sound of the high-backed chair falling and breaking.
With a slight numbness in his scalp, Klein had to take out another rectangular silver thin piece.
This was a "Sleeping Charm"!
Not only the living need sleep; the dead are already in a state of "eternal sleep" and only wake up when there is an anomaly, wandering on the ground!
In some esoteric books, it is even described that some "zombies":
They sleep during the day and wake up at night.
"Scarlet!"
Klein shouted out the Ancient Hermes spell again, determined that if this failed, he would not consider the consequences and pull out the revolver, shooting randomly.
Only by staying alive could he worry about the subsequent problems!
Feeling the silver thin piece in his palm become cold, Klein infused his spiritual energy into it and threw it out.
Dark red flames illuminated his eyes, and a slight explosion sound crackled in the guest room.
The quiet and gentle power dissipated, carrying an irresistible fatigue for living beings. The "zombie" Maynard, who had just climbed up from the broken high-backed chair, immediately wobbled a few times, closed its empty eyes, and collapsed with a thud. With the experience just now, Klein didn't dare to relax. He immediately took out the "Amanda Pure Water" distilled and extracted from a mixture of night-scented herbs, deep sleep flowers and chamomile, and the "Full Moon Essential Oil" made from dragon-patterned tree bark and moon flowers, and quickly set up an altar.
Immediately after, he used "Holy Night Powder" to seal off the nearby area with a spiritual wall, including the altar and the sleeping "living corpse" Maynard.
Muttering the incantation, he lit the corresponding three candles and dropped the pure water and essential oil into the flames respectively, then sprinkled the herbal powder. Klein stepped back and, while vigilantly watching Maynard, chanted in Hermes language:
"Night Goddess, more exalted than the stars, more ancient than eternity;
I beseech your favor;
I beseech your favor for a loyal guardian of yours.
I beseech the power of crimson;
I beseech the power of sleep and silence;
I beseech you to purify this unclean creature near me, the man once called John Maynard." ...
"Flower of the Moon, herb of the Red Moon, please bestow your power upon my incantation!"
"Deep Sleep Flower, herb of the Red Moon, please bestow your power upon my incantation!" ...
Silently and imperceptibly, as if a cool breeze from the middle of the night, it echoed within the wall of spirituality. From the body of the "zombie" Maynard, wisps of faint black mist were rising.
When everything had settled, Klein used his spiritual vision and divination methods to repeatedly confirm that the other party would not "awaken" again.
Seeing the result, he finally let go of the heart he had been holding in his mouth, ended the ritual and removed the wall of spirituality.
"Why did he suddenly come back to life?" Klein stood in front of Maynard, who was lying on the carpet, and looked down with a slightly furrowed brow.
For a non-ordinary person with a decent level of inspiration, there would be obvious signs if a dead person were to come back to life. Not to mention that Klein was a "Diviner" and would always have some premonition about such things. But the change just now was completely beyond his expectations.
Unless, unless there was a more mysterious factor at play... Just like the incident with the tuxedo-clad jester... Klein carefully recalled the scene just now and vaguely sensed the problem:
The "zombie" Maynard had been trying to attack the left pocket of his police uniform!
The left pocket? Klein held the silver-inlaid black staff in his right hand and reached into the pocket with his left hand, taking out an old copper whistle placed inside.
This was a copper whistle covered with mysterious patterns. It was the copper whistle that Azik had lent him to summon messengers.
"Did this copper whistle cause Maynard to become a zombie? It's possible. Mr. Azik is either a descendant of the Death God or has some connection with the Death God. It makes sense that the magical item he always carries has a similar effect..." Klein nodded thoughtfully and took out a copper penny to do a quick divination on his judgment just now.
Because he was on the scene, because he was holding the corresponding item, and because he had sufficient information, he quickly got the result and saw the copper penny roll down and land in his palm, with the head facing up.
This indicated a yes... Mr. Azik didn't remind me to pay attention to such a problem. Well... He has amnesia, it's normal that he doesn't remember. Besides, the copper whistle is on him, it might not have a negative impact and is likely suppressed... Next time when going to places with many corpses or prone to hauntings like cemeteries or castles, don't carry this copper whistle. Otherwise, it's like adding difficulty to oneself and courting death... Klein silently noted down this newly summarized precaution and effortlessly carried the naked Maynard back to the bed.
Looking at the distinct marks on the side of Maynard's ribs, Klein sighed and covered him with a white cloth, pretending not to notice.
Let the police department deal with this problem... Hmm, the two talismans just now were consumed by the task and can be reimbursed... He thought as he put away the items and walked to the door with the portrait, unlocking it.
With a creak, the door opened, and Klein saw Inspector Toller standing outside, preventing anyone from approaching.
"What happened just now?" Toller asked, puzzled and worried.
He had vaguely heard some commotion inside.
Klein smiled and exaggeratedly replied, "Mr. Maynard came back to life and tried to give me a warm embrace."
"Don't joke around..." Toller helplessly looked inside.
"Why so serious?" Klein spread his hands and said, "Because of the uncertainty, Mr. Maynard turned into a zombie, yes, the kind in all the ghost stories. Fortunately, I was still here and promptly used ritual magic to remove the impurity, allowing him to return to a peaceful slumber."
"Is this related to his cause of death?" Toller asked seriously.
"I can't give you an answer. I don't even know what went wrong. You should know that in our field, unexplainable things are quite common." Klein gave a perfunctory reply and then shook the portrait in his hand, saying, "During the séance, I saw the scene before Mr. Maynard's death.
"Do you mean... that was the cause of his death?" Toller gave a "you know" look. "That's the theory. We'll have to wait for the autopsy to confirm it," Klein handed the portrait to Inspector Toller.
Toller took a quick look and exclaimed, "Mrs. Sharon!"
Klein looked at him blankly and asked, "Is she that famous?"
Well, judging from her looks and figure, she should be quite famous... He thought to himself.
Toller glanced around and introduced her excitedly, "Mrs. Sharon is the most famous and beautiful widow in Tingen. She's the most sought-after lady in social circles. She was the second wife of Baron Hoy, but unfortunately became a widow."
"She's popular among the nobility and the newly rich merchants. She's a socialite who can be invited to banquets by both the Conservative Party and the New Party."
"It's said that she has ambiguous relationships with her stepson, the current Baron Hoy, some nobles in Backlund, and several high-ranking government employees. She's a very influential lady... I never thought she had such a relationship with Congressman Maynard... Heh..."
In short, she's an excellent courtesan... Klein summed up in his mind. He then pointed to the inside of the room and said, "The next part is not my responsibility. How to interrogate Mrs. Sharon is your problem."
"By the way, before the purification, I hit Congressman Maynard with a stick. You guys handle it and come up with an explanation."