According to the rules, the Security Bureau doesn’t record the status of people other than spirit diums.
But this spirit dium had once reported a case to the police, so the Security Bureau made synchronized records.
This convenience allowed Scarlett Jennings and her team to pinpoint their target.
The group followed the spirit dium’s address.
The spirit dium lived in an alley in the old town, reportedly approached by residents who wanted to communicate with those below.
When people from the Peaceful City Security Bureau visited to confirm the spirit dium was genuinely skilled at spirit communication, they registered her.
When Scarlett Jennings and her team arrived, the room was evidently "busy."
An old single-story house with a small yard, the entrance veiled by thick cotton curtains.
Through the gaps, two or three figures could be faintly seen inside.
An ancient spirit dium was seated on a mat, with a man and a woman opposite her.
Her bony hands gripped one hand of each person opposite while she muttered.
The ti elapsed was uncertain.
Outside, waiting, Scarlett Jennings and her team clearly felt a chilling wind sweep by.
Soon after, the spirit dium inside seed to change her face, and an elderly woman suddenly emitted a young girl’s voice.
"Mom! Dad! You’ve finally co to find ! Sob sob..."
Opposite, the middle-aged couple heard the voice and tone, their eyes instantly reddened. Although their daughter had been gone for almost half a year, they imdiately recognized their daughter.
"Darling! Is it really you! How are you doing down there? Your Mom and I have been dreaming of you these past couple of days. Are you suffering down there? Is it a lack of money?"
The reason they sought the spirit dium was due to repeatedly dreaming of their deceased daughter at night, yet unable to hear her voice, only witnessing her anxious expression.
Having watched "Inspiration," they knew in this world, ghosts and spirits were real, and dared not overlook the dreams with their daughter, thus seeking the spirit dium.
Surprisingly, they genuinely t their daughter!
The spirit dium, possessed, was also visibly excited but soon recalled the pressing matter and hastily said,
"Mom! Dad! I ca in dreams just to tell you, don’t trust cousin’s family! Especially don’t listen to them about adopting cousin!
I heard it! None of them are good people! They plan to cheat you out of your house once cousin is adopted, then have you support their whole family!"
The girl said this all in one breath, leaving the middle-aged couple dumbfounded.
"How—how can this be? But they said, you were good friends with her privately..."
"That’s just a lie she told you! I’m not close with her at all!
She just read my social dia to know my interests, then pretended to be my friend in front of you! I didn’t borrow money from her without repaying!"
The girl’s voice was indignant,
"My only best friend is Elowen Woods! I do owe her a little money, but that money doesn’t need to be repaid; she won’t take it.
Anyway, just don’t ever believe cousin’s family, if they keep bothering you, call Elowen Woods for help on my behalf. Just tell her I said so."
As the girl said this, her body swayed, turning to notice the incense burning beside her was near the end, she hurriedly said, without any formalities or other greetings,
"Also, please help pass this ssage to Elowen Woods, remind her to log in to my account and delete all my phone’s chat logs and private album collections, also next month’s Jingjing concert, rember to burn peripherals for ..."
The middle-aged couple listened blankly, watching as the incense burned out, the originally chattering daughter’s voice paused.
Soon after, the spirit dium lowered her head, raising it once more, her eyes restored to gray and lifeless.
They knew their daughter had left.
An indescribable sadness welled within, but they must still fulfill what their daughter asked for.
After thanking the spirit dium, the couple decided to first seek Elowen Woods and inquire about the peripherals...
Outside, Scarlett Jennings’ group waited for the couple to leave, then heard an old voice from inside.
"Please co in."
Entering, they found dim lighting within, an incense table prominently centered in the hall, with the spirit dium seated on the mat, her eyes visibly unlike a normal person’s.
She was already blind.
"You all... Aren’t here for spirit communication?"
Though the spirit dium couldn’t see, her hearing and senses were still keen.
Scarlett Jennings observed and without much small talk, first stated their identity as Security Bureau officers, then explained their reason to the spirit dium.
"We’re not certain if the girl whose face was swapped is your reported missing disciple, so we intended to confirm it with you."
Evidently, the spirit dium wasn’t able to help them "identify" anyone.
Upon hearing her disciple might have been swapped faces, already hunchbacked, she nearly couldn’t stand but staggered up, silently fumbling into the room.
Shortly afterward, she returned holding a photo fra and a piece of clothing.
The spirit dium directly handed the items to Scarlett Jennings, her voice hoarse after a long silence,
"I can’t see, but this is a photo I took holding that child; please... help look, if it’s her, this is clothes she frequently wore..."
For so reason, as she received the items from the elder’s hands, Scarlett Jennings felt an unexplainable sourness in her chest. She first looked at the person in the photo fra.
With just a glance, she confird the person in the photo was Lucienne Xander.
Compared to now, Lucienne Xander looked younger, yet even while young, her eyes showed gloominess unbefitting a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.
Having seen Elysia Xander previously, with her face swapped, she couldn’t discern the original face.
But now looking at the true photo of Lucienne Xander, she could glimpse so of the girl’s past experiences from her features.
With eyebrows slightly furrowed, Scarlett Jennings felt discomfort.
"It’s her... isn’t it?"
The spirit dium’s raspy voice ca again, though questioning, she internally already had the answer.
She pushed the clothing in her hands further toward Scarlett Jennings, "Can you bring her back? That child... is still alive."
Since Lucienne Xander’s disappearance, the spirit dium regularly attempted spirit communication to summon her spirit.
Yet, she still hadn’t successfully communicated.
Which, in her case, ant sothing positive.
Being alive ant hope still remained.
"That child... Her real na is Layla Xalvadora, she endured bitter years before."
Layla was sent to an orphanage after her parents’ death.
Soon after, she was adopted by a couple and moved away.
As John Dawn shared earlier, before turning thirteen, Layla lived a joyful life, vibrant and spirited.
However, from thirteen onwards, her life seed marred by misfortune.
Parents deceased, her only trusted brother moved abroad and lost contact.
The couple who adopted her were nothing but beasts in human guise!
Their adoption had the sole purpose of grooming her to be the male head’s plaything.
They fabricated dical records for her to leave school, isolating her in the basent for three harrowing years, enduring inhuman treatnt, unseen by daylight.
When the spirit dium found her, she’d even forgotten how to speak.
It took the spirit dium nearly two years to restore her life to normalcy.
Yet even such good days vanished quickly.
Misfortune hadn’t intended to let her go.
Upon hearing her face was taken, the spirit dium could imagine Layla’s current suffering.
But she still comforted herself, it was fine.
Being alive was the utmost respect.
She told Scarlett Jennings,
"Please bring her back."
Her raspy voice carried threads of a plea,
"Coming back... as bitter as it may be, I’ll be this old companion to support her."
She was blind, even without her face, she couldn’t see it.
As long as she returned.
She would be with her, just like those two prior years... stay alongside her.
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