“Oh!”
Xia De’s physical prowess was simply too strong, so it was the other person who was knocked down. The stranger, knocked down by Xia De, cried out in pain, and if he hadn’t been pulled, he might have truly fallen to the ground. It wasn't that the other party intended to extort Xia De, but rather that the other party was simply too old.
“Sorry.”
Xia De apologized slightly, and the old gentleman he had bumped into shook his head, saying it was nothing.
Xia De’s pupils constricted slightly. The old gentleman in front of him, who seemed to not want to attract attention, was actually an acquaintance—the carson rick linguist, Professor Higgins, whom he had thought of just an hour ago, residing on the fourth floor of Sicar Inn.
Without showing his inner surprise, Xia De helped Professor Higgins pick up his fallen hat, then continued to walk forward.
“Aren’t you curious?”
“Of course, I am…”
Although he said that, Xia De still didn’t turn his head:
“Help me check if he has stopped at the entrance of Warehouse No. 18.”
“No, he continued to walk forward.”
“As expected, cautious.”
Xia De turned right, entering the alley connected to Punjab Avenue. He stood in the alley and counted 30 numbers, and when he walked out of the alley again, Professor Higgins was no longer visible on the street.
He called out to the Boy selling newspapers and bought a copy of this morning's “Sicar Morning Post.” Then he entered the tobacco shop facing the street, thinking of buying some pipe tobacco for Priest Augustus as thanks for the Miracle he provided. By the way, he could also arrange to meet Priest Augustus this Sunday.
This Sunday, Xia De would go with Sister Devlin to see the Boy who was said to be able to see through death. After meeting Priest Augustus, he could have Luvia use two or three coins to divine whether Xia De had truly encountered a Chosen One that day.
Although the suspects were still limited to three people, it also meant that they could know whether the current guess was correct.
After all, they didn't have extra coins to test them one by one.
While shopping at the tobacco store, Xia De’s eyes still observed Warehouse No. 18 diagonally opposite through the store window. Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, Professor Higgins, with almost the exact same movements as Xia De just now, pulled his hat down and slipped out of the warehouse door, then walked along the wall towards the street corner without looking back.
This proved Xia De’s guess was correct; Professor Higgins was also a Gray Gloves member. Compared to twenty minutes ago, he only had a black leather briefcase in his hand.
“Receiving goods, and it’s just a briefcase? What could be inside?”
Xia De thought in surprise, stopped chatting with the shopkeeper about the great earthquake, paid for the tobacco, and walked out of the shop with the newspaper. By this time, Professor Higgins had already walked far away, but if Xia De wanted to chase, he could still catch up before he got into a carriage or turned at the next intersection.
“So, do you want to chase?”
This time, Xia De did not say he was not interested. Before the actual goods appeared, he did not want to touch the goods himself and get into trouble. But now the goods had appeared, and it seemed to be just a briefcase.
He was indeed curious about what it was, but he was still weighing whether following him would cause him other troubles.
“However, there was no more intelligence in that pen, so how did Professor Higgins know the warehouse location and time?”
After hesitating for a moment, Xia De still chose to follow. If the professor went straight to the train station and left the Delarion Kingdom, Xia De would pretend he knew nothing. But if the professor returned to the inn, Xia De would probably decide, depending on the situation, whether to see what was in that briefcase.
“It’s four o’clock in the afternoon. No matter what happens, I must leave Middelburg before five-thirty. This way, I can reach Feather Pen Street by six-thirty, ask Dorothy out for dinner, and tell Leia about the quantity of goods in the warehouse.”
Xia De made his arrangements, then walked quickly forward, following Professor Higgins.
Actually, for this Carson Rick agent, the safest method would be to immediately take that briefcase and return to the Carson Rick United Kingdom on the southern foothills of the Rommel Mountains. But he did not choose to do so; instead, he truly returned to the Sicar Inn.
Xia De deliberately lingered for five minutes before entering the Sicar Inn. He had thought the professor had already returned to his room on the fourth floor, but to his surprise, the other party was sitting in the corner of the first floor, talking to a stranger with that briefcase.
The stranger looked about thirty years old, with golden hair pressed close to his scalp, and very pale skin, but it was an unhealthy kind of paleness. He was wearing a somewhat dirty black coat, and his boots were covered in mud.
The moment Xia De saw the other person, a red Blood Echo almost immediately rose from the other person's body, then condensed into a symbol of a small, even somewhat cute, blood-red bat above the other person's head.
Only Xia De could observe this scene. He was slightly surprised, and then he realized that this was a new effect added to his Blood Echo by the Vampire God at the last party, which allowed him to easily identify Vampires.
“This method of identification is really simple.”
Xia De glanced again at the small bat symbol floating above the other person's head, then walked to the counter to order drinks. The innkeeper, Mr. Tales, of course still remembered “Mr. John Watson” who had helped him deal with the police, and greeted him warmly, recommending the special drink of the day.
At this point, Xia De also roughly understood how Professor Higgins had obtained information about the warehouse.
Whether Vampires belong to the Undead race is still debated in the Ring術士 academic world, but they are indeed skilled in abilities such as spiritualism. Therefore, if Professor Higgins could find a way to break into the police station and steal that pen, he could certainly find a way to have a Vampire help with spiritualism on the corpse.
“Speaking of which, the police deputy chief did say that on the night the pen was stolen, the body shot on the fourth floor was also moved. So it was spiritualism... How interesting. Could it be that this professor contacted the Vampire through the uncle and nephew who lived on the fourth floor? Or perhaps, the Gray Gloves themselves have connections with the local Vampire population?”
Pondering in his heart, Xia De sat at the counter, casually chatting with the innkeeper, Mr. Tales, about the earthquake that happened in the mountains yesterday. He planned to wait until Professor Higgins and the strange Vampire finished talking, then he could try his luck with Echoes of the Past, attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation.
But the professor and the Vampire's conversation was not harmonious. Soon after, the two had an argument. The pale-faced man, who looked very down-and-out, suddenly stood up and said loudly:
“This won’t do! You promised me 200 pounds! If you don’t pay now, don’t even think about leaving!”
