Those who resided in the Tulip Apartments were generally middle-class individuals with quite decent incomes – mostly teachers, accountants, engineers, lawyers, and the like.
Today, after work, these well-dressed gentlemen and ladies didn't rush home to prepare dinner or invite some beautiful lady for a romantic date.
Their gazes were all fixed on the police cordon, and most people's attention was drawn to the Demon Hunter, who, despite his aged face, exuded a potent masculine charm.
"I've heard that although Demon Hunters have no emotions, they still possess desires. Their bodies age very slowly, and they are stronger than normal people!" a young lady, draped in a white fox-fur shawl, wearing a veiled hat and a grey silk long dress, said, looking at Jeros somewhat entranced.
This kind of mature and world-weary middle-aged man held a great attraction for these young wives, often left alone in their empty homes.
Silas looked at the predatory gazes of those well-dressed ladies in the distance, then turned to look at the serious Jeros, thinking to himself, "I have to say, Master Jeros truly possesses a unique masculine charm."
"Your choice was very wise, Silas," Jeros said at that moment, putting down his pipe.
Silas snapped back to attention, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts and listening intently.
"The array here, along with the spiritual energy and mystical items, forms a precise spiritual energy bomb. If one were to enter rashly, it would directly trigger the mechanism and detonate. The effect would be immense, probably enough to completely flatten a small half of this apartment complex."
Hiss!
Orson Heath, Silas, Jack, Roland, and the others present all sucked in a sharp breath upon hearing this.
Orson Heath quickly asked, "Master, should we evacuate the crowd first?"
Jeros nodded. "To be on the safe side, an evacuation is necessary. I'm not very good with these things; completely disarming it will likely require assistance from others."
Hearing this, Orson Heath led all the police officers to begin a temporary evacuation of the surrounding crowd.
Although the residents were very dissatisfied upon hearing the news, their lives were at stake. Grumbling their reluctance, they nevertheless obediently took their most valuable possessions and retreated to a safe area.
Jeros sat down and took out several sheets of white paper and a charcoal pencil from his suitcase, then began to draw and analyze seriously.
As time passed, the sky completely darkened.
A biting cold wind blew, accompanied by falling snowflakes.
The evacuated crowd, though far from their homes, were properly accommodated in a hotel. They ate dinner and warmed themselves by the stoves, waiting for the outcome, feeling quite comfortable and at ease.
Silas stood quietly beside Jeros, waiting patiently.
Ding-a-ling…
An hour later, the clear ringing of a bell sounded.
Jeros stood up, shaking the white paper he had already filled with drawings. "Finally, they're here."
Silas looked up at the sound and saw the Night Watchers – Logan, Marx, and Poppy – emerging silently from the darkness like three ghosts.
Caw! Caw!
In the sky, a red-eyed crow, which had appeared at some unknown point, cawed twice and flew back into Logan's large robe.
"Is there actually something even our Master Jeros can't handle?" Logan said with a smile as he walked over.
The two seemed to have a good relationship. Jeros's lips curled up slightly, a rare, faint smile appearing, as a sign of welcome.
"You know me, Logan. I'm clueless when it comes to the flow of spiritual energy and diverging firing pin theories," Jeros said bluntly.
"Master Jeros!" The two younger Night Watchers bowed in greeting.
Jeros nodded, then stepped aside to reveal Silas. "Let me introduce you, this is…"
"We already met this morning. We both had a very good first impression of each other," Logan said with a smile.
Jeros didn't ask further questions, pointed inside, and said, "I've finished the sketch. Take a look."
Logan walked over, took the drawing, and examined it. He then raised his lantern to illuminate the dark room.
"It's actually a formula from the Book of the Undead," Logan said, surprised.
Jeros's voice, as always, was calm and monotonous. "Which means the intelligence was correct. The Book of the Undead, one of the three mystical codices lost by the Church back then, did indeed fall into the hands of the Death Cult."
"It should be correct. However, they don't seem to have studied it thoroughly yet. The entire formula still has a slight flaw."
As Logan spoke, he muttered a couple of phrases, and a profound spiritual energy enveloped his lantern.
Instantly, the warm, bright light of the lantern transformed into a cold, eerie blue.
Then, the glass cover of the lantern opened by itself, and the blue flame actually flew out like a sprite!
"My heavens!" Seeing this, Silas's eyes widened in utter amazement.
This was the first time since coming to this world that he had witnessed such a direct display of supernatural ability.
This sprite-like flame slowly drifted around the room.
And Silas, by the light of this flame, saw dozens of invisible purple threads in the seemingly empty room.
These threads connected different objects, like the tripwires of landmines, incredibly dangerous.
Looking at a thread less than a meter from the doorway, Silas recalled that this very thread had been less than ten centimeters from Jack's chest earlier.
Instantly, a feeling of having narrowly escaped death welled up within him.
After the flame sprite had made a full circle, it returned to Logan's lantern.
Logan hung the lantern at his waist, then drew a pure silver dagger from beneath his robe. "Use your interference sigil to ensure this spiritual energy doesn't go haywire. I've already marked all the key nodes. Let's make this quick."
Jeros, upon hearing this, drew the silver-white short sword from his back. The two Masters, like gymnasts, easily bypassed the threads and walked inside.
"They should be alright, right?" Silas, currently a non-combatant rookie, was clueless about these things.
Warren nodded. "Don't worry. With the Master and Uncle Logan working together, there won't be any problems."
Silas breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and waited quietly.
At half-past ten in the evening, after two and a half hours of meticulous disarming, the two Masters neutralized the bomb and retrieved the two core mystical items from within.
A pair of jet-black goat horns, and a jar filled with the brain of some unknown creature.
The two Masters treated these materials with great importance, transferring them to their own suitcases without offering any explanation.
Logan then said, "Silas, we found the soul of the deceased inside. It was fixed here as the trigger for the bomb. It's safe now. Go and deliver her."
Silas nodded upon hearing this, took out The Lunar Codex from his pocket, and walked inside.
"Don't forget to inquire about the culprit," Jeros added.
Silas walked in and saw the room was now brightly lit by gas lamps. Stepping into the living room, he didn't see many intricate mechanisms, only some blood-red patterns resembling demonic scrawls.
Activating his Spirit Vision, Silas saw that these red patterns were drawn with some kind of blood imbued with mystical power.
If drawn correctly, they could condense immense power.