The female Bard Ashara, whose singing Mrs. Sangmei mentioned was exceptional, seemed to hail from the "City of Mountains," Middelsburg, in the southeastern part of the Kingdom. She had dark red hair, but her appearance was not particularly striking.
The female Poet appeared punctually at seven o'clock, wearing a soft, predominantly red floral hat, a white shirt with a brown vest adorned with silver buttons over it, and surprisingly, a pair of trousers.
Regulars applauded and cheered, with some even tossing coins towards the high stool.
The female Bard seemed accustomed to this, sitting on the high stool, playing her lute and singing an ancient love story.
The Outsider, after all, had not seen enough of this world's culture, but Iluna had heard this story. It was a very traditional love legend of a princess and a prince, involving adventure, witchcraft, and other elements. And what awakened the sleeping princess was a kiss, described with a trill by the female Poet. She truly described the details of that kiss very meticulously, which again reminded Xia De that this was a Lower City inn.
Such detailed descriptions would surely not be heard during the day.
Although he lived in the Lower City, Mr. Toby Yulian was not what you would call poor. He ran his own general store, and while not wealthy, he could at least survive in this City.
When Xia De and Iluna found Mr. Yulian's home on Roswal Street in the north of the City, following the address, it was already 7:50 that evening.
This street was one of the better neighborhoods in the north of the City, with a streetscape of three-story apartments and shops mixed on both sides. Gas and steam pipes neatly and orderly covered the street-facing walls. Mr. Yulian lived at No. 8 on this street; he had converted the first floor into a general store, with his living quarters on the second floor and above.
It was already night, and there were no general stores open in the middle of the night in this era. While that might be too absolute, no one would certainly be open at night in the chaotic Lower City.
The shop was already closed. Xia De originally intended to knock directly, but Iluna pulled Xia De to walk around nearby, and then in a nearby alley, they found the gas meter for this street.
It seemed this block was newly built in recent decades; old-style residential apartments usually put the gas meter inside the house.
"The Captain told me that before investigating someone, you should try to find and check their gas meter reading as much as possible to confirm if there are any unusual readings and to make a preliminary judgment about the person being investigated."
Iluna shared her experience with Xia De. Xia De opened the lid of the box containing the gas meter inside the wall and saw that it was an old-style City gas meter. Depending on whether gas was used, the internal gears would rotate, causing the reading to change. Each household's gas meter had two readings: one representing the cumulative past reading, and one representing the new usage reading.
At the end or beginning of each month, gas company workers responsible for checking gas meters would use a special metal slot to push and pull, and through the complex mechanical structure inside the gas meter, the latter's reading would be added to the former, and the latter would be reset to zero for a new round of reading accumulation.
By comparing it with the previous reading, it could be confirmed whether someone had tampered with the gas meter. A strip of cloth was usually tied next to the gas meter box, indicating the time of the last reading. This type of gas meter was widely used on the Old Continent.
After the Darkness Domain operation, Xia De somehow gained the ability to see in the dark, which might be related to his absorption of part of the darkness box's power. But Xia De couldn't deduce anything by seeing the numbers, while Iluna, after staring at the readings, quickly nodded and concluded:
"The reading is normal, consistent with what the Captain told me about the gas consumption rate of mixed commercial and residential buildings."
Xia De, however, was curious if the Captain of the Black Stone Security Company had worked in the City tax department before.
After knocking on the door, it took a long time for someone to come down from the second floor. They inquired about their identities through the door, then saw Iluna's identification through the crack, and after repeatedly confirming that their appearances were not like robbers, the cautious Mr. Yulian finally allowed them in.
Mr. Yulian was not living alone; a woman wearing a black veil, with very pale skin, and always looking down, appeared with him. She didn't speak much, and Mr. Yulian apologetically told Xia De and Iluna that she was his fiancée.
Everyone went to the second floor, where Mr. Yulian received them in the parlor on the second floor, while The Lady in the black dress went to prepare hot tea for them. After all three were seated, Xia De surveyed the simple interior decoration and curiously asked:
"Why don't you plan to renovate your house?"
Xia De's meaning was actually that since the other party was getting married, they should renovate the house before the wedding.
"I'm quite used to this style, and the store is also busy. Renovating rashly and delaying business would not be good. Although it's true that two people will be living here now, it's not easy to make money here."
Mr. Yulian said.
It was getting late, so they didn't exchange too many pleasantries. Iluna stated the purpose of their visit and revealed the progress of the cemetery body theft case.
Of course, when Xia De handed the photo to the other party to confirm the grave's location, he "accidentally" touched the other party's hand, allowing the voice in his ear to confirm that Mr. Toby Yulian was indeed an ordinary person.
And upon hearing the body theft case mentioned again, Mr. Yulian was calmer than they had imagined. He answered all questions generally normally and stated that to his knowledge, his sister had not offended anyone.
"She was a very kind person when she was alive. I can't imagine anyone doing such a malicious thing after her death out of hatred."
Just then, the veiled lady walked in with a tea tray, so Mr. Yulian got up to help her distribute the teacups. And when The Lady approached, Xia De instinctively felt that something was wrong with her. He stood up, using the excuse of helping, wanting to create an opportunity for "touch" to confirm, but Mr. Yulian always intentionally or unintentionally stood between the Detective and his fiancée.
"Are there any whisper or blasphemy elements?" Gu
Xia De, sitting back down, cautiously asked in his mind.
【At least without direct contact, no traces of elements were perceived. However】
She seemed to be deliberately teasing Xia De, pausing intentionally:
【Don't change your facial expression, something is a bit strange.】
"What is it?"
Xia De listened as Iluna continued to inquire about the situation from Mr. Yulian, while the strange lady walked out of the door with the tea tray. Looking at her back, there was nothing special about this person.
【The other party is not breathing, their body temperature is much lower than a normal person's, and they haven't blinked once. To put it simply】
Xia De took a deep breath, nodding, as if agreeing with Iluna's statements about the investigation:
"The other party is a dead person!"
He reached this conclusion in his mind, then paused, thinking of an even more terrifying possibility:
"I hope I don't have nightmares tonight."
Mr. Yulian, who had remained calm throughout, finally showed some signs of emotional distress when he mentioned the young man who had abandoned Miss Yulian, leading to her suicide by hanging:
"I'm sorry, I really don't want to mention that person."
"Then do you know the other party's address?"
Iluna said. Mr. Yulian sighed and nodded, giving them the address. Having obtained the desired information, Xia De and Iluna had no intention of staying longer. After comforting the other party a few more times, they stood up and bid farewell.
Mr. Yulian saw them downstairs, watching them walk side by side along the street towards the distant intersection. He extinguished the lights on the first floor and then quickly went to the second floor, leaning out the window to confirm that the two had walked far away before finally feeling relieved.
Xia De and Iluna stopped at the intersection. On the street under the Moonlight, there were only the two of them, with only a few street-facing houses still lit:
"No matter how you look at it, Mr. Yulian doesn't seem like he's about to get married."
The brown-haired girl sighed slightly:
"That so-called fiancée has a problem, and he himself has a problem. I originally thought he was a good person."
Xia De, however, proposed an even more horrifying possibility. He looked up at the Moon in the sky. It was the transition period between summer and autumn, and the monsoon winds were very noticeable, finally blowing away the thin mist above the City. Standing in the City, one could see the starry sky, and the silver Moonlight was reflected in his eyes:
"When Mrs. Sangmei provided information about the wedding dress, I thought Mr. Yulian was a pervert who liked to wear dresses. But now I feel he might be even more perverted—the fiancée we just met is actually his sister's corpse."
Iluna was not surprised at all. Although her "other self" was certainly not as sensitive as Xia De's, she had also noticed something amiss:
"I'm sorry, from the current situation, I might have dragged you into something terrible again."
As her words fell, the light laughter in Xia De's ear prompted him:
【Outsider, you sensed a "whisper."】
"Where?"
【Look behind you.】
Turning around, the corpse bride, veiled and holding a dagger, stood under the Moonlight. Her long shadow, wearing a wedding dress, stretched towards them, swaying under the Moon.
Meow ~
In the distance of the City, a mournful cat's cry came from somewhere. Looking at the bride against the Moonlight, the wind rustled the layers of her gauze dress. The autumn night wind was truly a bit chilly.
