Chapter 176

"Mr. Xia Nan, I will be at the Iron Barrel Toad tavern for the next two days. If you have anything you need my help with, just give me a shout!"

"Although our Grey Badger Gang might not be comparable to you even if we add up, there are some trivial matters that are inconvenient for someone of your status to handle, which the brothers in our gang are still quite good at."

Reflected in his dark eyes was the back of Iron-Head disappearing at the corner of the street.

Xia Nan withdrew his gaze, took a step, thinking of going back to Jeff's house first, and considering it after lunch.

But after only taking two steps, his figure paused involuntarily.

As if thinking of something, he looked around to identify the location, and his footsteps shifted, already changing direction.

If "Colander" Da Ben didn't lie, because of his encounters during the Hunting Day, he hadn't met Ba'en for a long time.

By the time he returned to Niumu from River Valley Town, the incident at Ba'en's house had already happened.

Although he learned the cause of the incident from the other party, which increased the possibility of the other party being infected with "Beastification Syndrome."

But it didn't provide any useful clues as to Ba'en's current location.

Therefore, Xia Nan planned to return to Grey Tree Lane again, find Ba'en's neighbor, the girl named "Harriet," and ask for some information in other aspects.

It would be best to know which Sheriff brought the guards to handle the scene at that time.

Even if he didn't want to have contact with official forces because of the chaotic situation of the high-level officials in Niumu Cheng, in order to complete his advancement mission, he could only do so.

If possible, after seeing that Sheriff, Xia Nan also wanted to learn some intelligence related to "Beastification Syndrome" from the other party.

Although he had used his spare time as much as possible in the past half year to urgently cram knowledge related to various supernatural powers, he could only say he had a half-understood knowledge of this ancient and terrifying curse.

Perhaps he could discover some new clues during the investigation process.

Thinking this in his heart, on the wide street in front, a burst of dense and rapid footsteps suddenly came, accompanied by the sharp sound of metal friction and collision.

His gaze subconsciously looked in the direction the sound came from.

Appearing in his line of sight was a squad of guards wearing Niumu Cheng standard armor, with single-handed iron swords hanging from their waists.

Unlike the gentle and calm posture they had when patrolling in the past.

The footsteps of this squad of guards were significantly faster, almost jogging, and the expressions on the guards' faces also appeared exceptionally serious.

In just a few seconds, they crossed the street where Xia Nan was, and their figures disappeared into the buildings behind.

And their direction seemed to be...

The slums?

Xia Nan was stunned in his heart.

The perception ability that reached 7 points after upgrading seemed to have made him notice something.

The original plan was instantly scrapped, he turned around abruptly, and almost instinctively followed in the direction the guards had rushed.

He hadn't guessed wrong.

When Xia Nan hung at the end of the guard squad and followed all the way, the buildings on both sides of the street became dilapidated again.

The road became increasingly narrow, and the surrounding environment gradually became cramped and dirty.

It was like he had already walked through it once before, and the sense of déjà vu was extremely strong.

Then, Xia Nan saw a dense crowd of onlookers, as well as the wailing and painful cries coming from the air.

Even if it was slightly dilapidated, that brick-and-tile bungalow could be considered standing out from the crowd in the slums.

At the moment, however, it had turned into a collapsed ruin filled with the smell of blood, along with several thatched huts around it.

Frowning tightly, Xia Nan crossed the crowd, his gaze sweeping over several figures in the ruins who were bold enough to pick up valuables in the chaos.

His nostrils flared, carefully feeling the direction from which the smell of blood in the air was coming.

Searching, he stopped at a place near the back door of the house.

【Gravity Control】 took effect silently, and without seeing him use much force, the collapsed brick and stone wall in front was easily lifted by him amidst a flurry of dust.

Revealing a broken corpse drenched in blood and flesh.

Fortunately, the face was still relatively complete, although it was covered with a layer of stone dust and ash, making the whole look a bit sloppy and difficult to identify.

But after all, he had just seen it, and with just one glance, Xia Nan recognized the other party's identity.

—It was precisely "Colander" Da Ben, who was still trembling and explaining to him a few hours ago that he didn't intentionally push his teammate down!

Xia Nan's gaze condensed, and there was no extra expression on his face.

Without any disgust, he leaned down to check the injuries on the other party's body.

There were obvious wounds on the abdomen and arms, the chest was slightly sunken downward, as if it had been hit by a heavy object, and he didn't know how many ribs were broken;

There was a small wound on the forehead, oozing blood, but it should only be a scratch and not fatal.

What truly ended Da Ben's life and caused him to die completely was the huge wound on his back that almost penetrated his entire body, where one could see the flesh and internal organs inside.

Xia Nan was not a detective or a forensic doctor and could not judge the whole process of the event just through these superficial and simple traces.

But after crossing over, the experience accumulated in one battle after another, combined with the position where the corpse fell and the wounds on his body, also gave him a vague guess about Da Ben's encounter.

First was the frontal battle.

Coming from an adventurer background, even if he was a bit older, he still had a certain amount of combat ability and courage.

Facing the enemy who launched an attack on him, without equipment and weapons, Da Ben's first reaction was highly likely to engage in close-quarters hand-to-hand combat with the other party.

The injuries on the front of his body could to a certain extent corroborate this point.

And after fighting with the enemy, Da Ben should have quickly realized the gap in strength between them and turned around, wanting to escape from the back door.

As a result, he was caught up by the attacker from behind and was killed with one blow before he had time to leave the house.

Previously, through Da Ben's active notification, he already knew.

This middle-aged adventurer, who had no habit of saving money and often squandered gold coins at the card table and the bar, had offended many people because of working for the gang over the years.

Even when Xia Nan came over, he treated him as a killer hired by an enemy to settle scores with himself and was so scared that he almost ran away on the spot.

At the moment, encountering such a thing didn't seem too abrupt.

But...

He had just left, and Da Ben was attacked and died right after.

Wasn't it a bit too coincidental?

He wasn't some favored one of the God of Death, he couldn't be like those well-known virtual characters in his previous life, dying wherever he went, right?

"Hello, sorry to bother, please make way."

While pondering, accompanied by the sound of friction between the scabbard and the armor, a male voice came from behind.

Turning his head to look, it was a tall guard wearing standard equipment.

Perhaps from the equipment on Xia Nan's body, as well as his easy action of lifting the brick wall just now, he saw part of his strength.

This guard's words appeared exceptionally polite, and he didn't even have close contact with Xia Nan, just standing a few body lengths away, his tone peaceful.

With excellent observation ability, in just a few minutes, he had basically discovered all the details on the corpse, and staying here would not yield more gains.

Xia Nan nodded slightly at the other party, and then gave up his position.

His gaze searched for useful traces in the surrounding ruins, and in his ears were the conversations between several other guards and nearby residents not far away.

"M-my lord, I really didn't... j-just now he..."

"Make it clear!"

"Yes! (Swallows saliva)"

"The one living in this house was a retired adventurer, it seems his name was 'Colander' something."

"You also know, for such a big shot, we usually hide in time, having moved here for so long, we didn't even dare to say a few words to him."

"Hurry up, don't waste my time!"

"Yes, yes! Just now, two waves of people came."

"The first batch was two people, the bald one leading the way was fierce and evil, one look and you knew he wasn't a good person, the one following behind was relatively young, looking at his attire, he should also be an adventurer."

"They stayed in the house for a while and then left, I didn't hear any strange sounds."

"Then, not long after those two people left, another one wearing a cloak came, his body was incredibly burly, seeing that there was no response after knocking on the door twice, he directly smashed the main door open!"

"Then there was a series of crackling sounds in the house, and I could hear a few screams, I didn't know what happened inside, it was swaying and shaking, and it even collapsed the house."

"I didn't dare to stay long, I packed up and hurried out, as for what happened later, I am not very clear."

Alone, burly man in a cloak, dead Da Ben...

Xia Nan divided his attention, carefully keeping in mind the oral account of the resident who lived nearby and witnessed part of the attack process.

He already had some ideas in his mind.

Before he could extend them, his gaze, which was searching for residual traces in the surrounding ruins, suddenly paused.

Seeing that on the surface of a wall brick half-hidden in the stone pile not far in front—

There was a deep claw mark!

Five toes parallel, the middle one long and the two sides short.

And the claw marks he found in Ba'en's house...

Exactly the same!

On the sofa in Jeff's living room.

Xia Nan looked thoughtful, gently rubbing the 【Dead Line】 ring on his right index finger.

Feeling the smooth and cold touch of the ring surface, he pondered in his heart.

He originally thought the clues were interrupted here, and was thinking about whether to find the Sheriff handling the case to communicate and understand.

He didn't expect to encounter the patrol guard squad heading to the slums on the way back, and he even followed them instinctively because of the effect of perception.

Then he discovered the dead Da Ben, as well as the claw marks left on the wall of his house.

According to the oral account of the nearby residents about the image of the attacker, the murderer who killed Da Ben should be precisely the burly man in a cloak that he and Iron-Head happened to meet on the way back.

"So coincidental..."

Xia Nan muttered in his heart.

It was a pity that it was too hasty at the time, and there was no contact between the two sides, perhaps not wanting to cause extra trouble, the other party also ignored the cursing Iron-Head and turned and left directly.

Otherwise, the subsequent development might have been different.

Of course, that was a story for another time.

The development of things, after this trip, also gradually became clear.

If it was purely based on the oral account of the residents who witnessed part of the process, perhaps it would not be possible to determine the identity of the attacker, after all, Da Ben did offend many people during his lifetime.

But if one added the claw marks he discovered later, then it could be determined:

The one who attacked Da Ben just now was precisely the murderer who killed Ba'en's family that night.

Even, the one he accidentally bumped into when he left before was Ba'en himself, who was infected with "Beastification Syndrome"!

His emotions couldn't help but surge, he was only one step away from completing the advancement mission.

Xia Nan suddenly had an urge to rush back to the slums now and search carefully.

But the next moment, he instantly calmed down again.

Going back and forth twice, he also had a preliminary understanding of the complexity of the slums in the Lower City District.

Even if they bumped into each other face-to-face, facing someone like him who was unfamiliar with the environment, as long as they drilled into the alleys and circled around twice, they could easily get rid of him.

And the crowded environment filled with shacks made it difficult for Xia Nan, who possessed the high mobility of 【Tooth Hunt】, to display his skills.

As far as the current situation is concerned,

The good news is that he confirmed his mission target was still in Niumu, and the advancement mission had the possibility of being completed;

The bad news is that he still couldn't determine the other party's detailed location, making capture difficult.

In any case, compared to yesterday, his mission had made great progress.

Anyway, since it was near the slums, Xia Nan planned to find Iron-Head and mobilize the brothers of the Grey Badger Gang to see if there could be any discoveries.

While pondering in his heart, accompanied by a light and cautious sound of footsteps, a somewhat thin shadow under the light shrouded Xia Nan who was sitting on the sofa.

"Mr. Xia Nan, it's time for lunch."

Jeff's daughter "Lilina," with her hands behind her back, called out softly.

Having lived in their house for two days and feeling Xia Nan's quite easy-going personality, this young girl who looked a bit shy on the outside seemed to have opened up a bit to this new guest in the house.

She would take the initiative to greet him when they met, and occasionally chat a few words.

"Alright." Xia Nan smiled and nodded, stood up from the sofa, took a step, and was just about to head to the dining room.

In the kitchen, however, two voices came vaguely.

"Mom, don't buy sulfur-bubble grass in the future, our teacher said that now some merchants are just using those that grow in the sewers to fool people."

"What does your teacher know? Does he go to the market to buy vegetables himself? Aren't they all bought by the servants at home? Don't listen to his nonsense!"

"Mom, it's true, several of my classmates who have connections at home have all said..."

Sewer, plants...

Xia Nan's footsteps paused abruptly, and a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed through his mind.

What appeared before his eyes was the scene when Iron-Head took him to the Grey Badger Gang's station yesterday and introduced him to the unique plants in the Niumu sewers:

"Iron Scab Moss, grinding the dark red crystal particles on its surface into powder and covering it on the wound can accelerate healing." Iron-Head raised his index finger and lowered his voice, "But be careful not to use it for a long time, otherwise it may cause the skin to rot and leave permanent scar marks where the wound heals."

And this morning, when Iron-Head was bumped and grimaced, cleaning his clothes with heartache, the dark red crystal particles that drifted down leisurely as his palms patted.

"Iron Scab Moss..."

"He is hiding in the sewer!?"

Xia Nan turned around abruptly and rushed straight toward the direction of the main door.

As for the Niumu sewers, among the people he knew, no one was more familiar with them than the Grey Badger Gang.

He planned to let Iron-Head take him to the Grey Badger Gang's station again, find their boss "Eight-Fingers" to help, and he would definitely be able to gain something.

Perhaps hearing his footsteps, when passing by the kitchen, Mrs. Daisy also happened to walk out holding a bowl of mushroom soup.

She didn't ask where he was going, just stood at the kitchen door and called out twice:

"Drink this bowl of cream mushroom soup before leaving, I specially added two more slices of cheese today, the taste might be more to your liking."

Footsteps paused.

Stepped back.

Took the meal bowl with both hands and drank it in one gulp.

Xia Nan casually wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth and gave Mrs. Daisy a thumbs up.

Once again rushed toward the main door.

(End of chapter)