The Virtuous Dark Witch

Chapter 8

"A secret?" The white-haired woman's lips trembled as she whispered: "How could there still be a secret?" Her clan had waited nearly ten thousand years for this day. Everything had gone so smoothly—why did they fail at the last step?

"Since it's failed, dwelling on it is useless," the Witch Hag pinched her inelastic cheek, looking disgusted. She dropped her hand and ordered the white-haired woman: "First send me ten young Rozin men. I need to recover."

“Yes.”

The two old horses trotted along the flat path. Under the moonlight, tree shadows loomed ahead. The faint glow of a castle was visible on the eastern horizon—that was Anastas City.

Inside the carriage, Elara Dessey watched the black crow for a long time. Only after confirming it was fine did she breathe a sigh of relief. She pushed open the rear window, rested her arms on the sill, and scanned her surroundings: "Tonight's calm must have something to do with Anastas City."

"The Lord of Anastas City will hold banquets for three consecutive days," Merlyn Dessey chuckled. "Naturally, the Andros active nearby will go to congratulate him." It was a pity for the Rozin people living in Anastas City. "Once we enter the city, we can get out and walk around."

"Okay," Elara felt a little excited. The cities here were different from her past life—they belonged to the night. Unfortunately, for ordinary people, the night was also very dangerous. But on the other hand, she had never seen a vampire feed in her ten years of life—mostly because she rarely left the West Sea Forest.

Jingle… jingle…

Suddenly, faint bell sounds echoed through the quiet night. Elara looked up toward the source. Several small lights quickly approached, and soon she saw what they were.

Four sika deer emitting faint white light pulled an exquisite four-wheeled silver carriage, galloping through the air. It roared past above them like a shooting star, heading toward Anastas City in a bold and unrestrained manner.

Elara blinked, staring at the lingering glow of the carriage's axle. She couldn't recover for a long time. If she guessed correctly, that must have been the carriage of a Light Witch—its momentum alone screamed wealth.

She sniffed, unable to hide her envy: "Witch doctors really are rich." She couldn't give up on her dream.

"Pfft," Thea Dessey—who had been in a bad mood—burst out laughing. Merlyn, however, wasn't as amused. Her face darkened, her expression unreadable.

Speaking of Light Witches, Elara remembered something. She closed the window and turned to her mother: "Will we run into Poppy in Anastas City?" After her mother had snatched her father from Poppy all those years ago, Poppy had sworn to be her eternal enemy.

"So what if we do?" Merlyn sneered. "Do you think a Dessey Witch is afraid of her…"

“Merlyn…”

A gentle female voice suddenly cut through the air. The two old horses were blocked and had to stop. Merlyn Dessey's brown eyes sharpened, and her bright red lips curved upward slightly: "Poppy?" It was her. Even after all these years, she would never mistake that hypocritical voice.

"Your daughter has grown up," a pair of jade-like feet glowing with pale white light stepped on the short weeds. The woman wore a loose white robe and a white veil over her head, revealing only her light brown eyes. She approached the carriage, hesitation in her eyes—but it quickly turned to determination: "I've been waiting for you here for a month."

Merlyn suddenly tossed Elara to Thea. "Protect her." In the next moment, she disappeared from the carriage and reappeared in front of the white-robed woman. Her purple cloak fluttered gently in the wind. She clenched her right hand empty-handed, and a one-meter-long purple jade staff materialized in her grip.

But just as she was about to strike, she noticed something was wrong with the other woman's aura. She raised her eyebrows, her gaze dropping to the woman's swollen belly. Anger surged within her: "Are you here to die?"

The woman sneered, tears filling her light brown eyes, but she stubbornly held them back. "If you don't leave the West Sea Forest soon, I really will be dying."

She and Merlyn were born in the same year. Because of their clans, talent, and more, they had always been compared by the outside world. Both were arrogant and refused to admit defeat, so every encounter ended in a fierce fight.

Eighteen years ago, Merlyn had even stolen a Rozin man's servant she had set her sights on, humiliating her completely. Logically, they should have been mortal enemies. But now that she was in such a predicament, the only person she could trust was Merlyn: "Ten thousand gold coins." Her slender hand trembled as it rested on her abdomen. "I want you to help me… kill him."

Merlyn's eyes widened in shock. It took her a long time to snap: "Have you lost your mind?"

"No, I haven't," Poppy waved her right hand outward, and a layer of light surrounded her and Merlyn. She clutched her belly tightly with her left hand, channeling Light Witch Power into it as she stumbled forward a step: "Merlyn, do you know how long I've waited for this child?"

"The child is still alive," Merlyn stared at her. If they hadn't fought for so many years, she would have suspected this wasn't Poppy—Poppy was too proud to bow to anyone.

A tear rolled down Poppy's cheek. She smiled sadly: "Feel it. Is there one or two in my belly?" As soon as she finished speaking, tears poured out. Merlyn was stunned—she suddenly understood. "You… you…"

"Yes," Poppy didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. "They're twins. At first, I still held a glimmer of hope. Every day, I prayed to Apollo, asking him to let me safely give birth to the twins. I didn't ask for their talent—only that they wouldn't devour each other. But… but after I was three months pregnant, the other child's pulse grew weaker and weaker."

Hearing this, Merlyn grabbed Poppy's left hand. Sure enough, there was only one pulse left: "If you kill him, the old witch Boyle will never let you off."

"When did Dessey Witches start refusing money?" Poppy gripped Merlyn's hand tightly. "I've tried—Light Witch Power can't kill him. The only thing that can is the Holy Crow Spirit Dagger of the West Sea Witch Ancestor." She was in agony, but she knew the life in her belly couldn't stay. "Merlyn, think of your daughter." Think of your Dessey Clan's ancestor, Selah Dessey. Help me."

"She can't help you," Thea took Elara out of the carriage, flashed in front of Merlyn, and separated her from Poppy.

"If you're telling her to think of our Dessey ancestor, then you should know that if she helps you, she might be cursed by the Twin Holy Spirits. The curse that even the West Sea Witch Ancestor couldn't survive—why do you think my sister can resist it?"

Elara let go of her aunt's hand, squeezed next to her mother, and hugged her waist tightly. She looked at Poppy: "If you can't kill him, then let nature take its course and give birth to him." I'm still too young to lose my mother."

Poppy's gaze swept over Elara, then returned to Merlyn. Merlyn clasped her daughter's small hand tightly, sighed deeply, and shook her head: "It's too late." Boyle is coming."

Before she finished speaking, the jingle of golden bells echoed from the sky. Six majestic white deer flew through the air, and an old woman in a golden robe stood on the frame of a golden four-wheeled carriage. Her hoarse voice rang out across the night: "Poppy, come back with me."

Poppy's legs gave way, and she fell to the ground. She glared at Merlyn angrily and shouted: "You'll regret this."

"Maybe I will," Merlyn glanced at the old witch, who ignored them completely. She took Elara and Thea back to the carriage, leaving Poppy behind. Some things were beyond their control.

"You can't leave," Poppy tried to crawl up to chase them, but she couldn't move. She could only watch as the carriage slowly drove away. Despair overwhelmed her, and she burst into wild laughter: "Hahaha… You'll regret this… Hahaha…"

The carriage fell into dead silence. Thea crossed her arms, leaning back and sulking.

Merlyn ignored her, holding Elara in a daze. Elara's mind was still on what had just happened: "Mother, are twin witches really that powerful?"

Before Merlyn could answer, Thea suddenly sat up and snapped at her sister: "If I hadn't stopped you, would you have agreed to her? Have you forgotten how the West Sea Witch Ancestor died? Or do you think the old ghosts of the Larissa Clan will let you off if you kill the twin witch?"

Merlyn sighed softly and shook her head: "I never planned to agree to her." She stroked her daughter's soft cheek. "The twin witch is a problem the Larissa Clan brought upon themselves." But it's rare that there's still one sensible person left in the Larissa Clan." Their years of fighting hadn't been for nothing.

"A twin witch?" Elara looked up at her mother, curious.

Merlyn smiled and kissed her forehead: "A twin witch is born as one of two twins. But 'surviving alone' doesn't mean the other died—it means the stronger twin devours the weaker one, brother or sister, to enhance their own talent."

"One plus one equals two," Elara somewhat understood. "Twin witches are powerful because they combine the talents of two people." What kind of world was this? Twins didn't even have consciousness yet, but they already knew how to plunder.

"A long time ago, twin witches didn't exist," Thea had calmed down, her eyes turning dark. "This situation happened because Poppy's ancestor, in pursuit of so-called power, used Witch Power to fuse healthy twins."

"They gained power," Merlyn lowered her eyelashes. "But it came with sin. The twin witch ancestor of the Larissa Clan was born with two souls—one good, one evil. Although the 'good' soul was the main one, it felt guilty for devouring its brother, often letting the 'evil' soul take control. The result was unrestrained killing.

If it were just killing, twin witches wouldn't be so feared. He also created an evil Witchcraft Spell called Soul Projection—using magic to project his will onto others' souls, thereby controlling them. It was precisely because of this that the Dessey ancestor had decided to kill him.

But no one expected that after the West Sea Witch Ancestor only erased one of the twin witches' souls, she was cursed by the Holy Spirits. In the end, she could only use her last bit of Witch Power to seal the other soul.

"The curse," Thea clenched her fists, hatred clouding her eyes. "The curse that the West Sea Witch Ancestor suffered has always been a mystery. Everyone says it was cast by the twin witch ancestor, but who can be sure it was the evil soul?"

"The truth about the Twin Holy Spirit Curse will come to light one day," Merlyn hugged her daughter tightly. "Now that a twin witch has appeared in the Larissa Clan again, we'll just have to wait and see."

The West Sea Witch Ancestor's journal recorded that the body of a twin witch was also the best soul vessel. When Poppy came to her today, she asked her to kill the fetus in her belly, but never mentioned asking the Light Witch Ancestor of her clan to erase the separate soul. This made Merlyn suspicious—after all, one soul of the twin witch ancestor from back then was only sealed, not destroyed.