The girl had already crossed too far to turn back, and now Lana could only deal with her directly.
Lana snapped her fingers. A strand of yellow mystic energy blood at the tip of her index finger, glowing softly like molten gold. The air trembled faintly as the energy seeped forward and flowed into Blake’s body.
Blake’s eyelids fluttered violently before snapping open. His pupils were pitch-black, swirling with malice.
The mont his gaze landed on Lana, a twisted, chilling smirk stretched across his face.
"What are you doing here?" his voice rasped, layered with sothing inhuman. "Are you courting death?"
Lana did not flinch. She had long grown used to confronting ghosts. A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Yes," she replied calmly. "I am courting death."
She paused, her eyes sharpening. "But not mine. Yours."
The ghost ground its teeth violently. The sound was so harsh that Lana felt her chest tighten. Blood seeped from Blake’s gums, staining his lips red.
’He’ll need a healer for his teeth alone after this,’ she noted coldly.
"Stop harming this body," Lana warned, her voice steady but heavy with pressure. "Otherwise, your end will be far worse than anything you’ve imagined."
The ghost ignored her completely. The next second, Blake’s head slamd backward against the wall with a sickening thud. Once. Twice.
Lana’s expression hardened.
Without hesitation, she increased the output of her yellow mystic energy, pouring it relentlessly into Blake’s body.
A piercing scream echoed throughout the entire villa. The sound crawled into every corner, making hearts shudder with fear. Outside the room, everyone exchanged pale, horrified glances, suddenly realizing just how close they had been to death itself.
Inside, the black energy around Blake began to dissipate, unraveling like smoke under sunlight. Blake’s body sagged forward, utterly exhausted. His eyes slowly returned to their normal color, and the oppressive weight around him vanished.
The suffocating pressure that had clung to him for days disappeared completely. Lana did not stop imdiately. She waited, maintaining her flow of energy, watching carefully.
Five minutes passed. The ghost was completely severed.
To ensure she was not mistaken, Lana lowered her gaze slightly.
"Mr. Crow."
A faint flutter echoed in the air. "Sense the atmosphere."
Almost instantly, Mr. Crow’s voice responded. "There is no remaining ghostly presence in this villa."
Lana finally exhaled, the tension leaving her shoulders. She lowered her head slightly, relief washing over her, but confusion soon followed.
’Why was it so easy?’
"That’s because your level is already close to the mid–yellow rank," Mr. Crow chuckled. "You were dealing with a twenty-two-year-old ghost. Compared to a twenty-eight-year-old one, this was nothing."
Hearing that, Lana let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"So for ," she muttered inwardly, ’this was barely an appetizer.’
She turned toward Blake. He was sitting upright now, looking around with lingering fear in his eyes. The mont his gaze t hers, his body stiffened, and he instinctively tried to retreat.
Lana felt a flicker of pity for him, but it did not linger.
She raised her hand calmly. Another wave of golden-yellow light flowed from her palm and entered Blake’s body. Warmth enveloped him instantly.
At first, panic surged through Blake, and he nearly struggled to flee. But the pain throughout his body lted away, replaced by comfort and ease.
’A healer...?’ he realized faintly.
Yet confusion remained. He had never seen this woman before. After being possessed, his mories were fragnted, his consciousness unstable. He rembered everything, and that made him wary of everyone.
"Who are you?" he asked cautiously.
Lana smiled faintly.
"By law, your savior," she replied. "For now, you can just think of as soone hired by your friend."
With that, she turned and walked toward the door. Blake stared after her, stunned. The mont she left the room, confusion overwheld him. Just as he attempted to struggle free, the door burst open.
Jimmy and the others rushed inside.
The instant they saw Blake looking normal again, they all let out shaky sighs of relief.
Jimmy cautiously approached and untied the ropes binding Blake. When Blake only looked confused and not possessed, the tension finally drained from everyone’s faces.
"What happened?" Blake asked, his voice hoarse.
Jimmy quickly explained everything in brief. Blake pressed a hand to his chest and swallowed.
"That was... too close," he muttered. "I almost died."
"We should leave imdiately," Jimmy urged. "This villa is seriously strange."
Blake nodded without hesitation. Fear still lingered in his bones.
Soon, everyone began walking toward the exit. But just as they reached the entrance, the door suddenly closed.
They froze.
Lana stood there calmly. She dragged a chair over, the legs scraping loudly against the floor, and sat directly in front of the entrance. She crossed her legs and looked at them with a composed expression.
"This case isn’t closed," she said calmly. "I’m still owed two hundred million dollars."
Confusion spread across their faces.
"And of course," Lana continued, her gaze turning sharp, "a good price deserves good service."
She leaned back slightly.
"While dealing with this matter, I learned sothing very interesting."
Her eyes swept across them one by one. "There is a traitor among you."
The mont those words fell, the atmosphere froze.
Lana’s gaze swept over them slowly, the air around her calm yet suffocating.
"One of you deliberately hard Blake."
The words fell like stones into still water. A sharp intake of breath rippled through the group as everyone instinctively looked around, eyes darting from face to face, as if the culprit would reveal themselves under sheer pressure.
Lana let out a soft, almost amused chuckle.
"Don’t bother straining your nonexistent IQ," she continued casually. "You only need to rember one thing."
She lifted a finger, her voice turning colder.
"Who suggested the ga?"
A chill crept through the room. The sll of damp wood and old dust suddenly felt heavier, pressing against their lungs.
"That ga wasn’t harmless," Lana went on. "It was the gateway. The ritual that allowed Blake to be possessed."
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