Chapter 172: Night Travelers

Lu Mian pulled out the dagger from Hedesi and said with a smile:

"There are some things I want to ask you."

"You could have just come to find me directly; you didn't have to do this," "Hammer" Ait instinctively tried to stall for time.

At the same time, he scanned the surroundings of the room with the corner of his eye and didn't find a single corpse.

And based on his experience fighting Xia Er, it was impossible for the opponent to kill ten armed thugs in one breath without letting any one of them escape.

On the contrary, indoors, even "Hammer" Ait himself wouldn't dare to face the siege of ten handguns. In that case, he might be able to kill three or four of them, but he would inevitably die himself.

If he was like that, Xia Er, whom he considered to have a certain strength gap with himself and only won by relying on schemes and tricks, was even less capable.

Based on the scene, "Hammer" Ait believed that most of those ten subordinates should have escaped, and among them, there would definitely be a few who went to ask "Black Scorpion" boss for help.

Thinking of this, "Hammer" Ait ignited a strong desire to survive:

As long as I don't anger Xia Er and can stall for six to seven minutes, there's a great hope of being saved!

"If I didn't do this, given my relationship with your Poison Sting Gang, how could I possibly see you?" Lu Mian deliberately created the illusion that he wasn't necessarily going to kill.

He raised the dagger in his hand and said:

"Don't talk nonsense anymore. Answer whatever I ask. You should be very clear that I don't have much patience. If you refuse to answer or lie, I will kill you immediately. At worst, I'll go find 'Baldy' Haman later to ask. Anyway, there are still quite a few people in your Poison Sting Gang who know those things."

Lu Mian forcing those gang thugs to leave was partly due to the situation and partly a deliberate act.

If he didn't let "Hammer" Ait feel that he still had hope of living, how could he pry open his mouth in a short time without occult means?

Only when people have hope of living will they fear death even more!

"Hammer" Ait immediately replied:

"Okay!"

He had already decided to reveal some information and would describe it in detail, striving to hold out for six to seven minutes.

Of course, he also considered whether Xia Er would give up questioning at the last moment and kill him directly, but apart from cooperating, he had no other way. He could only pin his hopes on the information he provided being valuable enough and attractive enough to make Xia Er unable to resist listening to the end.

About three minutes... Lu Mian calculated the time and asked:

"Have you seen Louis Lund?"

"Hammer" Ait hesitated for a moment.

With a swish, Lu Mian swung the dagger and stabbed it into his shoulder. Bright red blood instantly overflowed.

"This is a warning, the final warning," he pulled back the dagger and told the opponent flatly.

"Hammer" Ait, whose expression was slightly distorted, felt the opponent's ruthlessness and the approach of death, and a wave of fear rose in his heart.

He blurted out:

"I've seen him!

"At the Mill Dance Hall, and many other places, there are wanted posters for Louis Lund. As soon as I saw him at the boss's house, I recognized who he was."

"Hammer" Ait felt he couldn't use silence and hesitation to stall for time anymore; that would lead to uncontrollable consequences.

Lying was the same, because he wasn't sure which questions Xia Er was using to test if he was lying.

In comparison, more cumbersome descriptions and seemingly valuable nonsense were easier for the opponent to accept.

As expected... Lu Mian felt a wave of joy in his heart.

After confirming that Louis Lund had a certain relationship with "Black Scorpion" Luo Jie of the Poison Sting Gang, the purpose of his action this time was achieved. The remaining questions were extra rewards; it was better if he had them, and it didn't matter if he didn't.

"What is he looking for 'Black Scorpion' Luo Jie for?" Lu Mian asked further.

"Hammer" Ait shook his head:

"I don't know the specifics. I only heard that it seems the lady Louis Lund serves has come to Trier and wants to coordinate the respective spheres of influence with our Poison Sting Gang to avoid conflicts.

"This matter has been permitted by 'Lady Moon,' and our boss is mainly responsible for coordinating the details."

"'Lady Moon'?" Lu Mian didn't expect another "Lady Moon" to pop up.

He hadn't even figured out what was going on with "Lady Night."

"'Lady Moon' is the object our 'Poison Sting Gang' serves. No, our boss mentioned that she is not a 'Lady' now; she is the 'Lady who gives birth to gods' and must pray to her frequently. I haven't seen her; only the boss and 'Baldy' have seen her."

Not a "Lady"... changed from "Lady Moon" to "Lady who gives birth to gods"... This is having obtained more gifts, and the status has been further improved? Lu Mian nodded gently:

"What is the relationship between 'Lady Moon' and 'Lady Night'?"

"They both belong to an organization called the 'Night Travelers.' 'Lady Moon' seems to be the leader, or at least a big shot at the leader level," "Hammer" Ait said after adding some cumbersome descriptions to what he knew.

An organization that believes in that hidden existence? Lu Mian pulled the topic back to the area he cared about most:

"Will Louis Lund come to find 'Black Scorpion' Luo Jie again?"

"He should come again next Saturday or Sunday to see if the things communicated before have been done and if any adjustments need to be made. I don't know the specifics of when," "Hammer" Ait answered truthfully.

I can reunite with Louis Lund on Market Avenue next Saturday or Sunday? After Friday, I'll be stationed on Market Avenue! Lu Mian felt a joy in his heart and instantly became excited.

He turned to ask:

"What kind of power does 'Black Scorpion' Luo Jie possess?"

"He, he is a 'Warlock'," "Hammer" Ait stammered instinctively. "Our boss said himself that the essence of a 'Warlock' is to use life to cast spells. It can be his own, or it can be someone else's, but it seems he has to control them beforehand."

He really is a "Warlock"... really strange and cruel... Lu Mian recalled the battle with the "Midwife" in his mind.

Seeing that he wasn't surprised at all, "Hammer" Ait was extremely glad he hadn't lied and said further:

"I've only seen him use a few kinds of spells: a strange curse, manipulation of blood, black flames that make people weak, and an influence on corpses and ghosts. I don't know about others."

At least he also has the ability to set up a "territory," making it full of undead to help him share damage and allow him to shift positions strangely... Lu Mian muttered silently, looking at "Hammer" Ait, signaling him to continue.

"Hammer" Ait bit the bullet and said:

"Our boss also said that if the recent matters can be handled well, he should be able to obtain more gifts and become a 'Sower'."

Speaking of this, Ait quite regretted that he hadn't chosen gifts at the beginning but had picked a potion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been affected by materials and other factors, and Sequence 7 would have been far out of reach.

And as long as enough contributions were made and the body could bear it, one could obtain more gifts.

"'Sower'? Symbolizing harvest and life? Uh, when Madam Pualis was still Prit, she produced a large number of illegitimate children and was hated and resented by countless people in the Darlie region, to the point that his family had to distance themselves from him and let him pretend to be missing... Is this a manifestation of a 'Sower'? At that time, Prit was affected by the power of gifts and also couldn't control himself a bit? After 'Sower,' he seemed to have changed his gender. Is that the status level corresponding to the ladies, or the sequence before the ladies?" Lu Mian had many associations.

"Hammer" Ait looked at Lu Mian's expression and said fluently:

"I don't know what's after 'Sower.' I only know Wilson is a 'Thug,' equivalent to Sequence 9, and Haman is a 'Gardener,' whose strength is about the same as mine, but he knows those trees and flowers very well and can make some medicines with magical effects. Hmm, he has a kind of potion that can make skin temporarily as hard as tree bark. I tried to chop him with a knife, but he only suffered a minor injury. He also has medicines to treat some illnesses and knife and gun wounds."

So the predecessor of "Warlock" is "Gardener." No wonder that "Midwife" always used giant scissors as a weapon... It's good that I asked for this information. If I were to assassinate "Baldy" Haman without leaving him room to react, he wouldn't use his body to block "Fallen Mercury" at all... Targeted information is really useful... Lu Mian sighed sincerely in his heart.

"Hammer" Ait thought for a moment and said:

"Haman once said that those spirits born from trees and flowers would be very afraid when they saw him because he is a 'Gardener' responsible for pruning them."

Ait, trying to stall for time, forcibly pulled to another matter:

"Our boss mentioned that among the unacknowledged supreme existences, there are only three that don't need too much trouble to grant divine power: one is the 'Great Mother' we believe in, one is named after desire and trees, and one seems to be strange fog. Other existences wanting to grant divine power must hold very large and very difficult rituals that are easily discovered and destroyed."

"Mother Tree of Desire"? What is the difference between them and that existence named after Fate, and why can they grant divine power without super-large rituals? Heh, I wonder what would happen if a "Gardener" faced a "Fallen Tree Spirit"—suffering suppression of status? As Lu Mian's thoughts turned, he suddenly changed the topic:

"Who is the parliamentary candidate you support?"

"It's Hugo Artua of the Enlightenment Party," "Hammer" Ait saw that a lot of time had passed and was looking forward to it more and more.

If those bastards ran a little faster, they should have seen the boss by now!

Ait, who was waiting for Lu Mian to ask what the Poison Sting Gang was going to do recently, suddenly saw the opponent raise his right hand and swing the dagger.

With a thud, the dagger was inserted into his temple and stirred a few times.

"Hammer" Ait's mouth opened wide, his face full of horror, and his eyes gradually became desperate and unfocused.

Thump, he fell down and lost his breath.

Lu Mian let the dagger remain in "Hammer" Ait's head, quickly bandaged the wound on his body, then put away other things, carried the corpse on his back, opened the window in the room, and jumped down from there.

Since it was only the second floor, he landed steadily and ran wildly.

Lu Mian didn't choose the most direct route but detoured to Nightingale Street and ran from there toward Market Avenue.

Along the way, the night was dark, streetlights were rare, and the surroundings were so dark that they seemed to swallow the pedestrians on the road.

Spending over two minutes, Lu Mian carried "Hammer" Ait's corpse and ran to the entrance of the Breeze Dance Hall.

The two gang thugs guarding there were about to stop him, but they saw Xia Er's face.

So, they stopped and let the opponent enter.

In the cafe on the second floor.

Louis walked to Baron Brignais's side with a stack of paper, a black handgun, a triangular spike, and a bullet pouch:

"Baron, the things for Xia Er are all ready."

More information and weapons.

Baron Brignais nodded:

"Tomorrow morning, you send them to the 'Golden Chicken Hotel'."

After giving the order, Baron Brignais said quite expectantly:

"I wonder what kind of good show he will perform for us and when he will take action.

"What do you say, will he choose 'Hammer' Ait, or 'Baldy' Haman, or that 'Candlestick'..."

Baron Brignais hadn't finished speaking when the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, from far to near, running up.

The gang thug guarding the first-floor entrance looked at Baron Brignais with horror:

"Xia Er, Xia Er is here! He, he is carrying someone, no, a corpse!"

At this time, Lu Mian appeared at the top of the stairs, smiling and walking toward Baron Brignais, his footsteps much heavier than usual.

"That is?" Baron Brignais looked at the corpse on Xia Er's back, both puzzled and solemn.

Lu Mian threw the corpse to the ground, clapped his hands, and said with a smile:

"'Hammer' Ait."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 173 =====