Chapter 216: Investigation and Pursuit

Is things going a bit too smoothly? Yun Mu looked at Dunn, whose expression barely changed; his deep pupils made it impossible to tell what this guy was thinking.

The two of them had only joined the Scarlet Relief Society today, and it just so happened they encountered Kamaier and Qiaosefu fighting. Why did they have to start fighting at this time today, instead of yesterday, or perhaps tomorrow? Even if one called this a coincidence, could what was happening right now also be counted as a coincidence?

This is a trap! Recalling what Dunn had said to her during the day, Yun Mu immediately became twelve times more alert.

"Proceed according to the original plan," Dunn whispered in her ear, then walked to the front of Qiaosefu's door and raised his hand.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who is it?"

Having just returned home and not even had a chance to sit down, Qiaosefu heard the knocking at the door and asked loudly in a bad mood.

"Hello, I'm a worker from the gas company. May I check your home's gas meter?"

"Gas company, gas meter?" Behind the door, Qiaosefu's tone sounded very surprised: "My home doesn't have any gas-using appliances."

"Huh?"

Dunn was stunned for a moment upon hearing Qiaosefu's words; his expression hadn't changed at all even when he learned there was a Bloodline aura in the room earlier.

Could the fact that the other party didn't have a gas meter be even more surprising to him?

Well, after all, he came from the Winter Capital, so it was normal not to understand the common knowledge here in Frostfall City.

Yun Mu watched the scene before her and thought to herself.

"The company says there's an issue with the gas lines in this building; it might be a leak in the pipes within the walls. Can you let me in to check?"

Coming back to her senses, Dunn, after a brief moment of thought, immediately fabricated a reason that didn't hold water at all.

"If it isn't handled in time, it could cause poisoning or an explosion accident."

Anyone with a bit of professional knowledge wouldn't be fooled by such a claim.

However, Qiaosefu on the other side of the door was just an ordinary dock worker, and coupled with Dunn's serious tone, he was actually intimidated by the other party for a moment.

"Ex, explosion?"

Qiaosefu pushed open the door with a pale face, but when he saw that the person standing outside wasn't some gas company worker, but Dunn wearing a Police Guard Uniform.

The palm gripping the doorknob tightened suddenly, and it looked like he was about to slam the door shut again.

Yet how could Dunn possibly let the other party close the door? He immediately jammed his foot into the gap of the door, then pulled a police badge from the chest of his guard coat and opened it up in front of Qiaosefu.

"Hello, Mr. Qiaosefu, I am Guard Dunn. We recently received a report of a missing Young Girl and would like to ask you some questions. I hope you can cooperate well with our work."

"Sor, sorry, I thought you were a scammer."

Seeing the police badge in Dunn's hand, a flash of panic crossed Qiaosefu's face, but he quickly calmed down, loosened his grip on the doorknob, and pushed the door open:

"Ask whatever you want, but I'm a bit curious: is the person who reported it Kamaier?"

"You don't need to know."

Dunn said coldly, then took a step forward and walked into Qiaosefu's home.

Yun Mu followed closely behind him, her gaze observing the surroundings surreptitiously.

The aura of a Bloodline, not in the living room... Is that direction the bedroom? Spreading her Blood Perception ability throughout the room, she quickly detected the location of that Bloodline.

Only, what made her feel a bit strange was that the Bloodline, from the feel of it, seemed... so weak.

The Supernatural level wasn't even a Second-tier Elite; judging from the aura in the blood, one could even say it hadn't reached the upper limit of an Apprentice.

With this level of strength, could it really be a trap? Yun Mu couldn't help but feel suspicious.

No, no, no, cannot let down one's guard.

This was likely just the other party's disguise.

If she really thought that, then she would be the one falling for it.

However, having said that, this Qiaosefu's acting was truly good. Whether it was the fleeting panic on his face when he first opened the door, or the seemingly calm but impossible-to-hide tension right now... if she didn't know this was a trap, she might have really thought this was his genuine performance.

So, how was she to convey the information that the Bloodline was in the bedroom to Dunn? Should she signal with her eyes?

Yun Mu poked Dunn's leg with her finger without moving a muscle, and when he turned his head to look at her in confusion, she signaled the direction of the bedroom with her eyes.

"..."

"No need for such trouble." Noticing her gaze, Dunn looked at Qiaosefu and asked directly: "Mr. Qiaosefu, may we search your room?"

"Huh?" Qiaosefu didn't expect Dunn to get straight to the point; he was stunned for a moment before immediately reacting: "No, you can't! Even if you are guards, you can't pry into my personal privacy without permission!"

"Sir, we are just doing our job."

Dunn waved his hand, his tone firm.

"You are the prime suspect in the case right now. If you want to prove you aren't the culprit, it's best to cooperate with our work."

"You..." Qiaosefu's words hadn't even left his mouth before they were shrunk back by Dunn's serious expression.

But soon, he braced himself and said loudly: "I've already told Kamaier everything I had to say. I really was just chatting with his sister for a while at the time, and then we parted ways. Her disappearance has nothing to do with me!"

"Then you should cooperate with our work even more." Dunn acted like a true Guard, looking at Qiaosefu and saying: "I am only here to investigate the case of the missing Young Girl."

"I will pretend not to see anything else."

"I haven't committed any crimes!" Qiaosefu emphasized.

"Yes, yes." Dunn nodded casually, looking as if he didn't believe the other party's story at all.

Click. Just at this moment, a subtle sound, like some kind of latch being released, reached Yun Mu's ears.

A normal person definitely wouldn't be able to hear it, but a Transcendental could!

The direction the sound came from was Qiaosefu's bedroom! "Dunn... Guard."

Yun Mu immediately looked at Dunn; she believed he should have heard that sound as well.

"It seems there's no time to waste words."

Dunn pressed down the brim of his hat, then, completely ignoring Qiaosefu's warning, walked toward the direction of the bedroom.

Creak.

The old wooden door was pushed open by his hand. In the room, which contained only a wooden bed, a dilapidated wardrobe, and a fuel-burning bedside lamp, Yun Mu noticed a trace of blood left on the bedsheets.

And the window on the room's wall was currently in an open state.

"This is the fifth floor, you know."

Qiaosefu seemed to think of something; his legs went weak, and he immediately slumped onto the floor.

Ignoring that guy, Yun Mu and Dunn walked into the room, arrived before the opened window, and looked down.

A rope made of bedsheets twisted into a strip and tied beneath the window sill was swaying in the wind. This scene, which Yun Mu had only seen in movies before she transmigrated, left her momentarily dazed.

Why did that guy have to run? Wasn't this place a trap set by the other party?

Ever since a moment ago, she had felt that something was strange, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

At this moment, this strange feeling had reached its peak.

"Whew, the target is downstairs!"

Yun Mu took a deep breath, scanned the area with her Blood Perception ability, and immediately said to Dunn.

This was the fifth floor; a rope made of bedsheets wasn't long enough, so the target could only use it to escape to the floors below.

The sound they had just heard was likely the window being opened, and not even half a minute had passed since then.

Even if they had tied the bedsheets to the window sill in advance, jumping down immediately after opening the window, it was absolutely impossible for them to have run very far!

"Hmph!"

With a light huff, Yun Mu pressed her hand against the window sill and jumped down in one fluid motion!

Grabbing the bedsheets tied outside, she jumped down with agile movements, then rolled upon landing, quickly rose to her feet, and chased in the direction she perceived.

The owner of the fourth-floor room didn't seem to have returned yet; after the Bloodline arrived there earlier, they pushed open the living room door and rushed into the building's hallway, and were currently running rapidly down the stairs toward the lower floors.

Since she wasn't following the route the other party took to escape, Yun Mu turned around and stepped onto the railing of the fourth-floor balcony.

The height was about fifteen meters; it should be no problem! Yun Mu judged in her heart, then leaped lightly! "Bang!"

Her legs landed solidly on the ground; aside from a faint tremor, she felt no discomfort at all.

It really was fine!

Yun Mu thought with some excitement; performing such an act made her feel like a little superhero.

However, excitement aside, she hadn't forgotten the task at hand.

Before that Bloodline could run to the first floor, she would block the front entrance first—just as Yun Mu was thinking this, on the opposite side of the street where she was currently located, which was the other side of the building, a sound similar to the one she made when she landed reached her ears.

From her Blood Perception scan, she discovered that when the Bloodline reached the second floor, they had actually done the same as her and jumped directly out of the window!

Damn it, she forgot that the other party was also a Bloodline and possessed the same ability as her to perceive the blood of living creatures.

They must have decided to jump to the completely opposite street after discovering she was blocking the front entrance.

This way, even if Yun Mu wanted to chase them, she would have to make a huge detour. Dunn didn't know what he was doing either, still staying in Qiaosefu's room on the fifth floor; was he chatting with the guy!?

She complained in her heart while making a wide detour, chasing in the direction the Bloodline had fled.

The other party's speed was far inferior to hers; even if she had to take a long way around, Yun Mu was confident she could catch up.

What's more, the other party was injured; the bloodstains seen earlier on the bed in Qiaosefu's bedroom were clearly the Bloodline's.

Yun Mu could tell, after all, the scent was exactly the same. 【Shadow Assault!】

The moment the Bloodline appeared in her line of sight, Yun Mu took out the card containing the 【Concealment Cloak】, injected it with Spirituality, then threw the cloak over her shoulders and released the equipment's active skill.

Swish! Her figure escaped into shadow, and the distance between the two was instantly closed.

And the moment she emerged from the shadow, Yun Mu gripped the 【Fixed Shadow Instrument Blade】 tightly, spun it rapidly in the air, and then slammed it down!

【Shadow-Fixing!】

"Ah!"

The running Bloodline stopped abruptly; unable to make any movements, she made intimate contact with the brick road face-first.

"Whew, finally caught up."

Wiping away non-existent sweat from her forehead, Yun Mu squatted down and pulled out the Fixed Shadow Instrument Blade that had been inserted into the gap in the brick road.

This dagger's active skill was quite useful, it was just a shame that it only worked when the target had a shadow.

If it were a night without any light source, it would just be a very sharp weapon.

Fortunately, the streetlights in Frostfall City wouldn't turn off until 11:30 at night, which allowed her to use this dagger to restrain that Bloodline just now.

However, logically speaking, the other party shouldn't have fallen.

After all, when she used this dagger to fix the shadow of a candle earlier, even the burning flame could be brought to a standstill.

Was it because she inserted the blade into the gap in the bricks instead of directly into the shadow?

Spinning the hilt with one hand casually, Yun Mu hung the Fixed Shadow Instrument Blade back at her waist and looked at the Bloodline who was standing up from the ground.

Now she could truly confirm that the guy in front of her was just an ordinary Bloodline.

Not even a Transcendental, no profession, just physical fitness slightly stronger than an ordinary person.

Yun Mu had heard Lucy explain this situation before.

In the ancient era, uh, it didn't seem that ancient.

In short, during the period when the Scarlet Court still existed, the Transcendental system was far from as complete as it was now.

Theoretically speaking, after becoming a Bloodline, possessing Sharp Fangs and Claws, and extraordinary means like consuming human blood, a Bloodline could already be considered a Transcendental.

But there was no profession!

Looking at it now, these abilities could only be considered racial traits.

Therefore, becoming a Bloodline ≠ becoming a Transcendental! Yeah, that's about the situation.

"Ooh, it hurts..."

The female Bloodline who had fallen face-first propped herself up and looked up at Yun Mu with tears in the corners of her eyes.

She had short, pale gold hair and a pair of Scarlet eyes characteristic of a Bloodline; she seemed to have bumped her nose when she fell, and she was currently rubbing it gently with her fingers.

Contrary to what Yun Mu had expected, this guy looked like she had no intention of resisting at all.

"Are you not going to keep running?"

As soon as the words were out, Yun Mu felt foolish for the question she had asked; the other party had just been caught by her, so it was obvious that she had stopped running because she felt she could no longer escape.

"No, I cannot run anymore," sure enough, the golden-haired, red-eyed female Bloodline shook her head after hearing her question.

"Huh?"

Just then, Yun Mu suddenly noticed something, and she looked at the other party and asked: "Do you know a worker named Kamaier?"

"I, I do." Upon hearing her question, the other party appeared somewhat bewildered, but after hesitating for a moment, she still spoke up: "Kamaier is my brother."

(End of this chapter)