Chapter 118: The Intruder in Ke Lai En's House

The Plague Doctor was suddenly put on the newspaper's wanted list, and rumors have begun to circulate in Bei Ke Lan De; Lei Ke Dun is somewhat worried that the Plague Doctor's figurine might have its activation level raised because of this, so he has the crows at home keep watch on the figurine daily.

"Boss, the spirit on that doll has increased a bit," Crow Anu reports the status of the Plague Doctor figurine in his daily briefing.

The remark no longer surprises Lei Ke Dun; ever since the newspaper issued the wanted notice, the crows say that line every day.

"Hope the activated Plague Doctor remains controllable; otherwise we'll have to destroy it."

Lei Ke Dun mutters a line in his mind.

"Hm?"

Lei Ke Dun's inspiration is sparked: someone has infiltrated the house opposite Ke Lai En's.

Lei Ke Dun steps onto the balcony, and his Secret‑Gazing Eye pierces the wall, letting him see inside Ke Lai En's house.

A man with darkened skin, lean and rugged, deep‑set eyes, and high‑altitude lineage has slipped into Ke Lai En's house.

"Is that the guy the ambassador sent? Good luck to our Fool!"

Lei Ke Dun mumbles to himself, but doesn't dwell on it.

Just a Rank Nine hunter, not likely to actually kill Ke Lai En.

On a drizzly afternoon, the sky dim, Lei Ke Dun, lounging on a second‑floor balcony chair and leafing through a book, notices Ke Lai En pushing the door open.

After a moment's thought, he pulls up Tu Ba Ge, who had been loosening soil for a potted plant:

"Go keep an eye on Ke Lai En; if anything goes wrong, give him a hand."

Before Tu Ba Ge can answer, several streaks of starlight coil around his body, then Lei Ke Dun hurls him out, landing him in front of Ke Lai En's door.

Tu Ba Ge, just regaining his senses after landing, scratches his head helplessly, removes his top hat, presses the brim against the door, secures it, then darts inside, miraculously passing through the door's barrier.

Inside, Tu Ba Ge sees Ke Lai En being chased, rolling around the room to evade; the tables are overturned, chairs shattered.

The pursuer and the pursued both notice a rabbit that has suddenly appeared, wearing a bow tie, a little vest, tiny shoes, and clutching a small spade still covered with soil.

Tu Ba Ge's sudden arrival relieves Ke Lai En, while Mo Er Suo, who's hunting Ke Lai En, pays no mind to the pet rabbit.

The next instant, Tu Ba Ge springs up from the ground, and in a blink is before Mo Er Suo, who feels a surge of danger and instinctively steps back.

"Bang!"

The small spade that had been used to loosen soil slams hard onto Mo Er Suo's head, deforming under Tu Ba Ge's tremendous force.

Mo Er Suo's body tilts backward; he feels dizzy and disoriented, unable even to think.

Ke Lai En gapes at the violently acting rabbit, but quickly regains his composure.

While Mo Er Suo is still reeling from Tu Ba Ge's spade, Ke Lai En grabs the standard contract from the coffee table, flicks his wrist, and the contract shoots out like a throwing knife.

The contract pierces Mo Er Suo's throat precisely, blood foaming out, and Mo Er Suo collapses to the ground.

"Phew—thanks!"

Ke Lai En exhales, turns to Tu Ba Ge, who is fretting over his little spade, and says,

"Whew—my little spade is broken!"

Tu Ba Ge, immersed in sorrow over the lost spade, ignores Ke Lai En.

Ke Lai En twitches his mouth, thinking that a big living person without a little spade is unappealing. He takes a deep breath, steps beside Tu Ba Ge, half‑crouches, and says,

"I'll buy you a new little spade tomorrow, as a thank‑you for rescuing me; is there anything else you want?"

Tu Ba Ge lifts his head at the words, his red, large eyes staring as he asks,

"Can you farm?"

"Can't."

Ke Lai En shakes his head.

Tu Ba Ge then asks,

"Can you do experiments?"

"Experiments? What kind? Uh… I don't think I can."

Ke Lai En says awkwardly.

Tu Ba Ge shakes his head in disappointment:

"Then forget it, you can't do anything, and you can't help me work!"

Ke Lai En feels despised by a rabbit.

"I have to go back to loosen soil, goodbye; if you want fruit you can come find me, I've grown many different flavors."

Tu Ba Ge waves a paw, then turns, hops to fling open the front door, picks up his hat from the ground, puts it back on, and darts back to the house across the street.

Watching Tu Ba Ge hop away, Ke Lai En can't help but sigh,

"Do animals now have to know this many skills?"

He then looks at his chaotic living room, foyer, and dining room, feeling helpless; after all, the furniture belongs to the landlord, and he'll have to pay compensation.

Ke Lai En, expression solemn, walks to Mo Er Suo's corpse and performs a spirit communication ritual to divine.

Through the ritual, Ke Lai En discovers the mastermind who sent Mo Er Suo to assassinate him: the ambassador of the Yin Di Si Republic stationed in Bei Ke Lan De.

He retrieves a hunter's extraordinary trait from Mo Er Suo's corpse, then begins to fret over how to dispose of the body.

"The boss says you can call the authorities, or if you find that troublesome let him handle it; however, the boss says his method will be simple and brutal."

Carrying a bunch of colorful fruit, Tu Ba Ge returns to Ke Lai En's living room.

"Call the police?"

Ke Lai En hesitates; the option sounds absurd—his own identity is already clandestine, and now an ambassador is involved.

As for the simple‑brute method, Ke Lai En instinctively thinks the other party intends to destroy the body and erase all traces, which aligns with his perception of Al Tayns.

Ke Lai En doesn't reject the idea of body disposal, but he doesn't yet trust this suddenly‑emerged hidden‑sage investor, so he chooses to handle it himself, despite the hassle.

Tu Ba Ge skillfully places the fruit on the still‑intact sofa, then pulls a gold coin from the decorative pocket on his vest's chest and hands it to Ke Lai En:

"The boss told me to give this to you; he says when indecisive, you consult divination—it's a flaw every diviner has."

Klein took the gold coin Tu Ba Ge was holding in his paw, his face darkening. Although the gesture was thoughtful, he felt a hint of mockery.

Klein ultimately decided to do a divination, since that would give the safest result. However, he didn't use the gold coin Tu Ba Ge had offered; instead, he took the pendulum from inside his left wrist cuff and used his own tool for the divination.

"I should call the police!"

"I should call the police!"

Closing his eyes, he repeatedly murmured the divination chant a few times. After finishing the chant, Klein saw the yellow crystal pendant swinging clockwise.

Tu Ba Ge picked up a fruit that had been given to Klein, gnawing on it while curiously watching Klein's divination.

It noticed that Klein's divination method differed from its boss's; its boss always preferred to close his eyes or toss coins when divining.

After Klein had performed several divinations and figured out how to handle the corpse, Tu Ba Ge curiously asked:

"Why do you always swing the pendant to do divination?"

"Huh? It's a relatively simple and practical method of divination; I'm used to using this method."

"Why would you ask this question?"

After answering Tu Ba Ge's question, Klein felt a bit curious; the rabbit seemed quite knowledgeable about divination.

"My boss likes to toss things for divination; he says throwing an object feels more ceremonial, burp~"

Tu Ba Ge finished eating the fruit in the time it took to say a few words.

"Ceremonial feel?" Klein didn't pay much attention to that; he personally preferred practical things.

"By the way, I still haven't asked what your name is."

Klein asked curiously.

"I'm Tu Ba Ge; the name was given to me by my boss."

Tu Ba Ge had no idea where the name came from; he just thought it was a bit strange.

"Tu Ba Ge?"

The familiar name made Klein freeze for a moment; he suspected that besides himself and Luo Sai Er, there were other transmigrators in this world, such as this rabbit's boss!

That name doesn't fit this world's style at all; it's basically safe to rule out as a mere coincidence.

"To be able to give that name, that person A Er is either a transmigrator himself or has had contact with transmigrators."

Thinking this, Klein felt somewhat excited; in this strange world, he seemed to have run into a fellow countryman. Moreover, he wasn't like Luo Sai Er, a deceased fellow countryman.

To confirm his thought, Klein then asked:

"Did your boss also give names to any other animals?"

Tu Ba Ge gave Klein a strange look.

"There's also a somewhat silly crow named A Nu; he's my underling."

"A Nu?"

Klein pondered for a long time, feeling no sense of familiarity at all. The excitement that had just welled up faded considerably.

(End of chapter)