"Miss Jialinna even doubted if I was a man."
Xia De stood on the 坡道 in front of the bridge entrance, searching the river for the occasional red glows while explaining to Luvia:
"It's really funny, the gods themselves admitted that I am a man."
"That's good."
Luvia looked like she wanted to laugh.
After entering the Lower City in the northern part of the City, Darkness gave up swimming at the bottom of the river and instead moved quickly near the surface.
When he finally chose to come ashore, to avoid being discovered by the Church, he also chose to move through a dark vortex, going directly from the water to the shore.
Without the obstruction of the current, it was easy to discover the direction of the blood-colored glows this time.
Xia De and Luvia chatted as they turned from the riverside boulevard into a nearby alley.
Darkness did not pass over other people's rooftops; instead, every time he encountered a fork in the road, he would use a Dark Talent to move, leaving no trace at the intersection.
He circled the vicinity very cautiously several times, so much so that Xia De and Luvia, wandering aimlessly, almost attracted the attention of residents in the nearby blocks.
Finally, Darkness abruptly walked out of the alley and then moved eastward.
He did not leave the Lower City, but probably thought he had escaped pursuit, so he no longer circled.
Finally, he entered Rotten Fish Alley, the alley where the blind musician Mr. Mandis once lived.
Walking under the gray suspended corridor between the two towers, then passing an empty building that had been burnt, and entering a slightly more open alley.
Continuing eastward, passing through the dilapidated apartment buildings with peeling walls that stood in the Lower City, following the direction of the steam pipes, and finally arriving at the five-way intersection centered around a large pagoda tree.
"I walked this way when I came to find the late blind musician Mr. Mandis."
Xia De said to Luvia, covering his mouth and nose with his collar in advance because he knew the alley ahead was filled with feces and garbage.
"Then where did you start from at that time?"
Luvia asked.
"St. Anthem Square, which is the center of the Lower City."
"I often come around here; the Ring術士 black market in the Lower City accounts for sixty percent of the City's share."
The two almost retraced Xia De's last path, emerging from the intricate slum alleys onto the street north of St. Anthem Square, and then, on this foggy morning, along with the bustling crowd, they actually entered St. Anthem Square.
"His hideout is actually around here?"
Luvia seemed a bit surprised, while Xia De stood by the square, watching the blood-colored glows head straight into a place he was very familiar with:
"There's something even more surprising."
"What?"
"He lives here."
Following the direction Xia De's hand pointed, Luvia looked past the vendors and crowds in the square and saw the inn occupying most of the eastern side of the square, seeing the three cat figures on the wooden sign, and the name "Three Cats Inn."
"Are you sure he lives here?"
Luvia was a bit disbelieving; on their way here, they had discussed Darkness's possible hiding places, such as the underground sewers of the Lower City, the drainage ditches by the river, the wall crevices at the end of dead-end alleys, or long-abandoned, haunted old houses.
But they never imagined that the other party would actually be staying at the Three Cats Inn.
"I can't believe he lives here and the Church still can't find him."
Xia De was equally stunned, but Blood Echo would not be wrong.
This was a tracking ability combining blood, time, and space; Darkness could not possibly take countermeasures unless he realized someone was tracking him with this ability.
"The other party might have disguise abilities; perhaps when we find him, his appearance will be different from what you saw."
Luvia reminded, Xia De nodded, hesitating for a moment;
"Although it's confirmed that the other party is at the Three Cats Inn, to be safe, we should still go in and take a look.
We don't need to see him in person, but rather to confirm his exact location.
Once confirmed, immediately report the information to the Church."
In such a densely populated area, Xia De and Luvia did not want to fight Darkness.
"No problem, but wait a moment."
Luvia took out a coin and tossed it:
"No problem, although the divination result may not be entirely accurate, at least I'm sure we're not in mortal danger on this trip."
"Alright, please follow me."
From the intersection at the edge of the square, they converged into St. Anthem Square, where the late summer midday sun shone in from behind the buildings surrounding the square.
It was already ten o'clock in the morning; as Xia De pulled Luvia through the crowd, he even thought that if things went smoothly, they could have lunch together.
And if there were no surprises, this should be Xia De's last adventure this summer.
Xia De was already very familiar with the situation inside the Three Cats Inn.
Upon entering the inn, he did not approach the counter, but instead found a table next to the female Bard playing the lute, sat down, and called a waiter to order some drinks and food.
Luvia observed the situation on the first floor and borrowed rhode cards from Xia De for divination.
Xia De's eyes carefully observed the staircase on the first floor, as he was seeing the figures left by Darkness within 24 hours, so there were quite a few red glows on the first floor.
By the depth of the color, one could effectively distinguish the proximity of these red glows to the current moment.
Xia De found the glow he had been tracking all along, and then compared it with other glows, basically confirming that Darkness had not come down after returning here last night.
This raised a new problem: although no other traces of his movement were found near the Three Cats Inn on the way here, this Six-Ring Arcanist with a demon on him might still be here, but it's also not ruled out that he left by other means.
The waitress brought a tray with the Three Cats Inn's special "Goat Milk Beer" for the two.
Hops floated above the liquid, and a full glass of the drink made a "thunk" sound when placed on the wooden-grained tabletop.
Luvia collected the cards and returned them to Xia De, then, after the waiter left, she whispered under the sound of the lute:
"Darkness is most likely still here, but I can't be completely sure.
Xia De, for safety, we cannot go upstairs directly."
"Yes, I understand.
But we can't just leave like this."
Xia De looked up and thought for a moment:
"It's 10:03 AM now.
We'll sit here for half an hour, without any extra movements.
Once my Blood Echo state disappears, if Darkness still hasn't come downstairs, I'll think of another way."
"No problem."
Luvia said, took a sip of her drink, then frowned:
"Oh, this is truly awful."
At 10:27 AM, Xia De's eyes returned to normal, but Darkness still did not appear on the first floor of the Three Cats Inn.
During this time, four people came down from upstairs, none of whom were Ring術士.
Seeing that the time was about right, Xia De took Luvia to the counter.
The inn owner, Mrs. Sangmei, obviously still recognized the Detective who had won the King's Secret Order: Stand-in from her, so she wiped her hands with a towel and chuckled playfully:
"Oh, isn't this Hamilton Detective? Back here again?
Look, you've brought another pretty girl this time.
Is this your new assistant?"
Luvia raised an eyebrow.
"Good morning, Mrs. Sangmei.
This time I still need your help with something, but I don't have time to play cards this time."
Xia De greeted her familiarly, hoping this time would be as smooth as the last.
"Don't worry, until I figure out how to deal with you, I don't want to give you the cards I worked so hard to collect again."
Mrs. Sangmei put down the rag she was wiping her hands with, then asked curiously:
"So, Detective, who are you looking for this time?"
Xia De did not want to rashly involve ordinary people in the disputes of Ring術士, especially since Darkness was not an ordinary Ring術士.
Just as he was thinking of how to phrase his words, trying to persuade her to give him the ledger directly rather than asking her for clues about the guests, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear:
Outsider, watch your back.
A High-Ring Sorcerer has entered the inn.
"What? A High-Ring Sorcerer?"
His eyes widened slightly, then he shook his head at Mrs. Sangmei:
"This time I still want to inquire about Miss Mary from last time.
The client is really troublesome, with other demands.
But I can't go directly to her this time; she's full of lies, so I want to understand the situation from you."
Mrs. Sangmei did not know Xia De's true intention, so she didn't realize he had abruptly changed the subject.
But Luvia knew what Xia De originally wanted to ask, and although she was puzzled, she stood by without speaking.
He's coming in your direction.
"I really don't want to deal with this kind of technical worker, but she clearly had some things she didn't say last time.
Oh, I even left Mr. Mandis's relic to her, and she still lied to me."
Xia De complained, standing at the counter.
"It seems you rarely deal with such professionals; they are always like this."
Mrs. Sangmei shook her head, looking accustomed:
"People like them, I've seen too many..."
"Madam."
It's him.
A man a head shorter than Xia De, with a somewhat thin build, walked to the counter, took off his hat, and knocked on the tabletop as he spoke.
He looked quite kind, and appeared sickly.
Even though the temperature in late summer midday was still not low, he was still wrapped in a heavy coat.
The coat was dark red, almost black, with all its double-breasted buttons fastened, as if he feared freezing to death if he unbuttoned it.
He smiled apologetically at Xia De:
"Excuse me, sir, I have an urgent matter I wish to ask this lady about.
May I speak first?"
Saying that, he pushed a coin to Xia De.
Xia De nodded, indicating understanding, and sat with Luvia at a slightly adjacent table.
