Chapter 358: Chapter 358: The Art of Luring the Enemy_1
That night, after arriving at the location designated by Qiqimora, Aiden conducted a simple reconnaissance of the surroundings.
Soon, he identified a problem.
"Qiqimora, the place where he lives, it’s not a single-family rental house at all..." using the Great Witch’s credentials, he contacted Qiqimora, "Why didn’t you clarify this beforehand?"
The place where Joey Lawson had settled in the village was actually a small estate that operated an inn and long-term rental business. Rather than calling it a rental house, it was more accurate to describe it as an apartment or a guesthouse.
It appeared that there were quite a few people living inside; it was a densely populated location.
Acting there, even a slight mishap might harm innocent passersby, and the likelihood of causing a disturbance with witnesses was also very high.
"What does that matter?" Qiqimora’s voice sounded clearly unconcerned about this level of detail, "They’re just strangers."
Aiden was not particularly surprised by this—those witches who delve deeply into dark magic naturally disregard the law; they never consider the possibility or consequences of involving others.
"Strangers’ lives are lives too," Aiden replied earnestly, "You might not think it matters, but it’s a big deal to me. I don’t want to end up being investigated and sent to the courtroom because of this."
"Didn’t you say you wanted to wait for him to fall asleep before making a move?" Qiqimora asked.
"Change of plan, lure him to a deserted place before starting a fight." Aiden decisively altered the plan, "Luckily, the suburbs are not short of such locations."
It was just needless risk on his part, Qiqimora thought but did not voice this idea. As a witch, her way of doing things was always at odds with Aiden’s.
However, in the end, she did not object: "Fine, you decide, but how do you plan to lure him out?"
"I have made some preparations," Aiden didn’t find it troublesome and quickly formulated an idea, "Since that stalker is so obsessed with Sophie Carter, I have a trick that will definitely make him follow."
...
In the room, Joey Lawson was staring intently at the image conjured in the mirror by magic spells.
To yearn from a distance, untouchable—it was such torture.
For the first time in his life, he had felt such an intense desire to possess.
At first, when he realized he had been deceived, all he wanted was to quell the anger of betrayal with the woman’s life, but then the Scales of Smiles offered him a more tempting proposition. After listening to the flowery words of that butler, the thought hadn’t left his mind—not even once—to make her completely his own.
It was like a person addicted to drugs, fully aware that they were depleting their own life, yet unable to resist letting those dangerous drugs enter their body. He was also very clear about what fate being used by the Scales of Smiles would lead to, but the advantages of this proposal... they were too irresistible for him.
Power, it existed so one could live as they desired.
Just then, he heard a knock at the door.
Joey turned his head warily. He hadn’t told anyone about his stay here, and usually, the guesthouse staff wouldn’t bother him late at night. Eliminating the possibility of a mistaken room, there was only one option left...
An enemy?
Considering his past actions, he was well aware that he had countless enemies.
Joey prepared for battle in his mind when a folded piece of paper was slipped under the door.
He was taken aback for a moment, then quickly got up and rushed to open the door—someone had sent him a message. Before worrying about the content of the letter, catching the messenger would certainly be beneficial to understanding the origin of the message.
But when he yanked the door open, he saw only an empty corridor.
He furrowed his brows in suspicion. There were no signs of anyone, nor could he hear any footsteps. The person who sent the letter seemed to have vanished into thin air right at the doorstep.
Illusion? Sleight of hand?
After a brief moment of contemplation, he closed the door, picked up the folded letter, and examined it before unfolding and reading it.
The letter contained just two lines: "The smiling scales have deceived you. The person in the room is not the real Sophie Carter. Look out the window to your left front direction.
I will wait for you later by the river to the south."
Joey put down the letter, turned to the window, and approached it without letting his upper body appear at the window to avoid being attacked. Instead, he used the wall as cover, peeking out from the edge of the window and looking outside.
Under an oak tree outside the manor, a cloaked figure holding a lantern swayed and gestured to him.
At that moment, Joey’s eyes widened. The light from the lantern illuminated the face of the person standing under the oak tree... It was indeed Sophie Carter, the woman he had been longing to see!
He swiftly cast the "Night Vision" magic to see more clearly, but by then the "Sophie Carter" under the tree had already turned and run away.
Without hesitation, Joey climbed out the window and followed in the direction where Sophie Carter had fled.
Although Sophie Carter’s figure had disappeared for a few seconds, Joey quickly closed the distance and got her back into his sight.
The light from the lantern clearly revealed her position. Following Sophie’s lead, he quickly left the area where the villagers lived and arrived at the riverbank.
Then, Sophie stopped.
Joey also came to a halt, standing more than ten meters away, he looked at Sophie’s back.
"I didn’t expect that you would show up in front of me," Joey said as he took two steps forward, and Sophie slowly turned around.
Then, suddenly, Joey pulled out a short wand and aimed at Sophie.
Sophie looked at him, but before she could react, a twisted bolt of lightning shot out from the end of Joey’s wand without warning, striking Sophie directly. She fell to the ground with a piercing scream.
"Didn’t expect me to attack suddenly, did you? Your disguise is very skillful. I don’t know what kind of illusion you used. It seems that the ’Sophie’ inside the house might indeed be fake..." Joey narrowed his eyes, "but you, I’m certain, are definitely an impostor! The real Sophie Carter, how could she possibly make such a brazen appearance before me at such a time?"
Even if she were real, it wouldn’t be wrong to make the first move, Joey thought. This electric shock wouldn’t be fatal.
"The power of this thing is no less than a gun," Joey said in a cold tone, "If you don’t want to die here, answer me, who are you really?"
Although he had determined that the person was a fake the moment he saw her, since she had appeared in the form of Sophie Carter, he couldn’t just ignore her. Moreover, he was very curious about the content written on the paper.
However, at this moment, something eerie happened—before Joey’s eyes, Sophie suddenly began to melt away.
