Chapter 497: The Bao Hua and the Lion

Do you even hear what you're saying?

After hearing Li Ang's reply, the female police officer's expression was no longer describable as merely complex.

A man whose views were considered radical even among rebels had just interrogated rebel high-ups—and the questions he asked were devastating enough to drive the man straight into a wall until he killed himself.

And after finishing his interrogation of the rebels, he calmly warned her to watch out for the Raine family's desperation, then calmly told her he was about to go to the Raine estate to claim kinship…

Wait… which side are you even on?

Completely baffled by Li Ang's reply, the female police officer had a thousand questions burning in her chest, but seeing his exhausted face, she didn't dare disturb him further; instead, she carried the unconscious female prisoner to the far end of the vehicle.

…

Since the entire carriage had been chartered, there was no need to slow down or stop frequently for passengers, and to reach their destination sooner and rid themselves of these unusually troublesome travelers, the steam-powered carriage was pushed to its maximum speed.

Thanks to all these factors, the carriage arrived at Redwood Avenue, where the Raine family resided, in less than half the usual time, and promptly unloaded the "plagues" onto the street.

Li Ang, who had napped briefly on the carriage, had regained a little strength; his complexion had improved noticeably, and after stepping out into the cold wind, no trace of abnormality remained.

Ignoring the female police officer's hesitant, unspoken gaze, Li Ang picked up the ram's head and broom, assessed the surroundings of Redwood Avenue, then walked toward the two towering trees at its end—each nearly a hundred meters tall.

Yes, Redwood Avenue was exactly as its name suggested: it truly had two enormous redwood trees planted along it.

These trees, with reddish-brown bark, reaching over a hundred meters in height and averaging more than eight meters in trunk diameter, should never have appeared in the industrial capital, let alone on Redwood Avenue, where every inch of land was priceless.

But for certain groups, these were no obstacles—in fact, the more difficult and unreasonable the act, the more it demonstrated their superiority and distinction.

These two redwoods at the end of Redwood Avenue had been forcibly transplanted by the royal family from hundreds of miles away, then gifted to the kingdom's two most noble families, planted at the gates of their private estates.

According to the royal family's original statement, they hoped these trees—capable of living over a thousand years—would symbolize the two most loyal supporters of the throne, destined to endure alongside the nation for generations.

Unfortunately, the royal family had been, quite frankly, a bit too self-important.

The Bao Hua family, after receiving the trees, did not last many years before launching a violent coup to overthrow the throne entirely—only to be betrayed, their entire clan executed, the execution platform set directly beneath the very tree gifted to them.

The other family, though they never staged a coup, had transformed from the once ambitious, expansionist Lionheart family into the Raine family—one of the kingdom's three greatest blights, a massive abscess festering at the heart of the realm…

Honestly, these trees being this unlucky… there might be something to them.

Using his Clearance Bureau credentials, Li Ang successfully entered this private road, closed to the public; he did not admire the villas and gardens lining either side, but strode past the opulent buildings, heading straight for his target.

"Hey? You're going the wrong way!"

Seeing Li Ang reach the end of Redwood Avenue and turn right instead of heading toward the Raine estate, the female police officer, still carrying the prisoner, hurried to warn him:

"Not that way! That's the Bao Hua estate! The Raine family is on the other side!"

"I know."

Following the road to the right, he reached the abandoned, overgrown ruins of the Bao Hua estate, where faint traces of its former grandeur still lingered at the gate.

Li Ang first inspected the ground—once an execution platform, soaked through with blood—then cautiously approached the slightly withered giant tree, touching its cracked, dark-brown bark.

No reaction.

It seemed the tree, which had witnessed the Bao Hua family's downfall and provided much of the wood for their execution platform, had not become abnormal—it remained merely an ordinary redwood.

With a mix of regret and relief, he withdrew his hand; having confirmed the tree showed no anomaly, Li Ang turned back the way he came and headed toward the Raine estate. You really are… if there are two opposite choices, you have to step on both?

Having chased after him for miles while carrying a prisoner heavier than herself, she'd barely caught her breath when she had to turn around again—exhausted, the female police officer secretly glared at Li Ang from behind, just as he had once doubted her, now doubting whether he was mentally unwell.

And this suspicion reached its peak the moment Li Ang led her to knock on the Raine family's front door and told the butler their purpose.

…

Wait… you really are here to claim kinship?!

After cooling off on the carriage, the female police officer had assumed Li Ang was simply too tired, annoyed by her questions, and had just brushed her off with a lie.

But after being led into the Raine estate and guided by two servants into the three-story building housing the family genealogy, she watched as he actually began flipping through the portions of the genealogy permitted for review—and unable to hold back any longer, she crept over and whispered:

"Li Ang, I've read your file—your parents were ordinary people from Raine County, with no connection to this Raine family!"

"I know."

Without looking up, he replied, then, overwhelmed by the two massive cabinets of books before him, he promptly delegated the free labor.

"Put the prisoner down and help me go through the Raine family genealogy."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean 'huh'? Forgot you've already been conscripted by me?"

"…"

Remembering her current "status," the female police officer, who needed his help, obediently complied.

Rejecting the two servants' offers of assistance, and enduring their strange glances, she tightly bound the prisoner; then, as if struck by an idea, she hurried back and leaned close to Li Ang's ear, whispering excitedly:

"I get it! You're going to check the Raine family genealogy first, looking for those with abnormal life paths—or sudden rises in fortune—and dig into their crimes, right?"

"…"

You know what? I actually was thinking that…

But I'm not looking for crimes—I'm looking for traces of profit gained through abnormal objects. Those whose "rags-to-riches" stories clearly don't add up? They're far more likely to have had contact with the Ram's Heart.

Li Ang gave her a surprised glance, then nodded slowly, half-truthfully:

"Something like that."

"I knew it!"

Confirmed in her suspicion, the female police officer clenched her fist triumphantly, then, like a thief caught in the act, glanced nervously at the distant servants before whispering:

"So how can I help you?"

"You? Just handle this."

After thinking for a moment, Li Ang rummaged through the shelves and pulled out a relatively thin register, handing it to her.

"You're a cop—you're probably better at this."

(End of chapter)