Chapter 326: True or False (Thanks to Zhuri Yiran for the Silver Alliance donation again)

After briefly mentioning the reason for choosing his current seat, Buller looked up at Lu Mian and laughed self-deprecatingly:

"I didn't expect you to fire directly."

Lu Mian touched the revolver placed on his right side and smiled slightly:

"It seems the people you met before were all good citizens who followed the law."

Buller, who had developed his current habit after being beaten up a few times, instinctively wanted to retort, but after comparing the performance of those before with this one, he felt what the other party said made a lot of sense.

Thanks to the protection of the law, he, a columnist for "Ghost Face" magazine, could live until now!

"Aren't you afraid of the police?" Buller tilted his head to look at the waiter who was holding the menu and drink list and didn't dare to come over. "Firing a gun in a place like this is no small matter. Someone should have already gone to report it."

Lu Mian smiled:

"So, we have to hurry."

As he spoke, he picked up the pistol, pushed out the cylinder, and filled a blank spot with a golden bullet in front of Buller.

"I want to know which courtesans have left City Wall Street, left this pleasure world, in the last two months." Lu Mian asked at a pace that was neither fast nor slow.

Buller instinctively shook his head:

"They can't be considered real courtesans. Those ladies all have their own luxurious residences and fixed high-status lovers, frequently entering and exiting high society, and can influence certain industries or policies just by their words. The ones here can only be considered courtesan reserves."

"I just want to know who fits my description." Lu Mian didn't care at all about the specific definition of "courtesan."

Buller looked at the revolver in his hand and recalled:

"Four. Little Lorna married a Loen merchant and went to Backlund; 'White Vase' Sophie became the mistress of Councilman Baptiste and started attending some high-society banquets and salons, with hope of becoming a real courtesan; 'Dew Rose' Marie suffered from mental illness and destroyed her face with scissors one morning, and was sent to an asylum; 'Condiment Beauty' Paulina suddenly disappeared from City Wall Street, as if she had been taken away by someone with status."

While Buller was narrating, he actually saw the handsome thug in front of him who would fire without a word take out a notepad and fountain pen and start taking notes seriously.

He swallowed his saliva and continued:

"I met Paulina on Vincent Street a while ago. She was indeed living well, with a four-wheeled carriage, a maid, a manservant, and a butler.

"Unfortunately, I had other things to do at the time and didn't find out exactly where she lived."

Vincent Street... Lu Mian remembered this was one of the five streets Franca divined, the furthest from City Wall Street, and was a quite quiet high-end neighborhood.

Combining Buller's description, he initially suspected that Paulina had become Guillaume Bénet's mistress.

For a wanted criminal, directly keeping a quasi-courtesan was definitely safer than frequently consuming on City Wall Street. And Guillaume Bénet himself belonged to a person with brains and ability; currently, only his desire for intercourse was increased, and he was hungrier, not turned into a fool who couldn't control himself at all. He would inevitably choose a plan with lower risk.

At this time, rapid footsteps came from outside the cafe, and three policemen were quickly approaching the entrance.

Lu Mian put on his dark blue duckbill cap unhurriedly, put away the notepad and fountain pen, counted out 50 gold coins in banknotes, and placed them in front of Buller.

After doing these things, he picked up the revolver, stood up, walked to the back door of the cafe right beside him, and opened it to leave.

*Bang! *

The policemen pushed open the door of "Hope Cafe."

…………

Vincent Street, villa-style houses stood on both sides, the road was wide and clean, pedestrians were few, and carriages occasionally drove by.

After Lu Mian turned in here, looking at it at a glance, he actually felt a bit at a loss as to where to start.

He couldn't just sneak into every house and search room by room, right?

And even if he really wanted to do that, he wasn't the most suitable candidate. Leaving it to Franca was obviously more appropriate, but that was very dangerous.

After thinking for a few dozen seconds, Lu Mian smiled, walked toward one of the houses, and directly rang the doorbell.

The person who opened the dark brown door was a young manservant. He had no Southern Continent ancestry, looked at Lu Mian with a face full of confusion, and asked in a pure Trier accent:

"Sir, is there anything you need?"

Lu Mian said with a smile:

"I want to ask which lady on this street is the most beautiful."

"..." The manservant was stunned. It was the first time he had encountered someone asking about such news.

No, it wasn't the first time. Everyone discussed it privately, and when bragging in bars, someone would occasionally be curious about such things, but who would directly knock on a stranger's door to ask when the sun was fierce?

What exactly did this person want to do?

Before the manservant could react, Lu Mian had already taken out a 10-gold-coin banknote and handed it over with a smile.

The manservant's eyelids jumped. He hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately chose to accept it.

He suspected that the young man opposite was the kind of fake "Dandyist" who specialized in deceiving the bodies and wealth of wealthy ladies. His appearance and behavior were very consistent with the descriptions in the newspapers.

But if the target wasn't his own mistress or young lady, why refuse a reward?

When the other party got what they wanted, a certain lady also got pleasure!

The manservant looked left and right and said in a low voice:

"The lady living at No. 50 is very beautiful. She is a true Trier person. She actually married a provincial person from the south. That accent..."

The manservant shook his head with indignation and disdain as he spoke, as if he had been unhappy about this matter for a long time.

The smile on Lu Mian's face became more obvious.

Sure enough, after obtaining a beautiful Trier courtesan, the parish priest, who had the negative effect of "impulse to show off," found it hard not to show off to the surrounding neighbors.

He might not hold a banquet or ball to announce it, and it was unlikely he would directly bring his mistress to visit, but he would definitely appear in the eyes of his neighbors from time to time in some way, letting them know that a provincial person could also have a beautiful courtesan as a mistress.

At such a time, Guillaume Bénet himself would definitely make sufficient disguises, but it was unlikely he would let his mistress cover up her own beautiful appearance, and might even let her dress up carefully, striving to show a style that left a deep impression.

Of course, Lu Mian still couldn't confirm from this that the lady was Paulina, or that she was the parish priest's mistress, but the fact that he obtained the expected feedback bit by bit through the method of bold assumptions and careful verification made him feel that he was getting closer and closer to Guillaume Bénet.

Outside the gate of No. 50 Vincent Street, Lu Mian cast his gaze inside with the posture of a passerby.

It was a beige three-story building. One could vaguely see a lush green lawn and a colorful garden behind it. A gardener was pruning there, revealing a side profile.

Lu Mian quickly withdrew his gaze and crossed the pilaster of the building with an expressionless face.

He was worried that a long gaze would arouse suspicion from some people.

As for whether the parish priest would recognize him in the dark, he wasn't worried, because before setting off, he had used "Nisse's Face" to partially change his appearance and told his companions who were acting together that it was makeup.

Gold mixed with black, handsome appearance could be Lu Mian, or it could be someone else. As long as Guillaume Bénet didn't have the ability to see through illusions and take the initiative to use it, it was impossible to discover that the hunter had already arrived in this area.

Lu Mian's plan now was to directly leave Vincent Street, have Jenna or Franca come, hide in the shadows of the house opposite No. 50, and patiently monitor until the target's suspicion could be ruled out.

The reason he didn't disguise himself as a tramp like before was because there were almost no tramps on this street, and if one or two appeared occasionally, they would soon be driven away by the servants.

Just before leaving the beige building, Lu Mian naturally looked back again and saw a male figure appear behind the living room window.

The figure was not tall, not even 1.7 meters, wearing a dark shirt and black trousers at home, with a relatively sturdy build, a slightly hooked nose, and black hair that was neither long nor short.

In an instant, Lu Mian's pupils dilated sharply and then quickly returned to normal.

The corners of his mouth curled up bit by bit, and invisible flames seemed to be ignited in his eyes.

Although the person had done a good disguise, even if he were burned to ashes, Lu Mian would recognize him!

He was the parish priest of Cordu Village, Guillaume Bénet!

Lu Mian withdrew his gaze with difficulty and continued forward.

At the same time, thoughts raced through his mind as he began to consider which course of action to choose next.

Not long after, he reached the end of Vincent Street.

Just then, a parrot with green and white feathers flew from the direction of City Wall Street and landed on his shoulder, chattering:

"We found the target!"

Found the target? Then who did I see? Another parish priest? Lu Mian was both surprised and suspicious, stunned for a moment.

Which side was the real Guillaume Bénet? Was his judgment wrong, or were the "Iron-Blooded Cross Order" and "Rat" Christo's gang deceived?

…………

A quarter of an hour ago, City Wall Street, "Dill" Brothel.

Albus was in the affiliated bar on the first floor, drinking Lie-Lang-Qi while observing what the waiters, handymen, and foremen in this brothel were responsible for.

During this process, he would casually look at the customers coming and going, but had no gains, because those who wanted to hide their identities frankly wore various masks, and those who didn't want to hide their identities were almost impossible to be his target.

After having a rough understanding of the operation of "Dill" Brothel, Albus took the opportunity of going to the washroom to turn to the road leading to the kitchen, waiting for a waiter holding several notes.

This waiter was responsible for summarizing the needs of each room and placing orders to the kitchen.

Albus, with dark red hair, took the initiative to greet him and directly took out a handful of golden coins and a thick stack of banknotes from his pocket.

The waiter immediately showed a confused and curious expression.

Albus said with a smile:

"I came here to find a bastard. I don't know what he disguised himself as, only that he is about the same height as you, likes to find the most famous ladies, and likes to find food to fill his stomach immediately after exercising."

"If you can provide me with relevant information, these are all yours."

ps: Thanks to Zhuri Yiran for the Silver Alliance donation again.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 327 =====