Chapter 209

Not looking for a rental carriage at the street corner, Miss Louisa led Xia De two blocks, then suddenly turned into an inconspicuous alley by the road. After walking a distance in the alley, she actually took out a key and opened the front door of one of the houses in the alley.

"Xia De, we can't just have one hiding spot, can we?"

She said to Xia De with a smile as she pushed the door open:

"I bet Annette, Priest Augustus, and the Doctor also have similar second hiding spots, which can usually be used to store some sensitive items that aren't often used."

This house, which was like a "safe house," was not rented; it was bought by Miss Louisa at a low price through connections in her family. Although the price was okay, the living conditions here were very poor, and Miss Louisa didn't treat this as her own house, just as a temporary warehouse.

According to her, besides herself, Xia De was the second person to know about this location.

"Should I feel honored?"

After entering the low house, Xia De asked while looking at the furnishings inside, which were disguised as those of an ordinary poor family. Miss Louisa had already entered the small basement located under the house through a trapdoor under the bed. Besides the trapdoor, the basement had a very small hole through which one could crawl into the city's sewer pipes, but she wouldn't use it easily.

It wasn't because she was worried about the secret passage being discovered, but because it was truly unbearably smelly there.

The voice coming from underground was a bit muffled:

"You not only told me your secrets, but even lent me the invaluable 【Ye Zi of Youth】; what else is there that I can't tell you? Up to now, besides Lei Qianya, Xia De, you are the person I trust the most."

As she spoke, she climbed out from under the trapdoor and handed Xia De a very thick black robe and a mask:

"The place we're going to in a while might be dangerous; it's better if we are a bit cautious."

As she spoke, she also changed into a robe. In order to tuck all her long golden hair into the hood, she even had to reach up and tie her hair with effort.

As Miss Louisa adjusted her collar and prepared to put on the hood, Xia De noticed that she had used a silver clip to hold the leaf and hung it around her neck. Xia De's leaf was clipped inside the cover of his pocket watch; although he didn't need the pocket watch now, it was also a nice decoration.

Leaving Miss Louisa's safe house, they walked another block to the east before finding an empty rental carriage at the intersection. The two were dressed quite strangely in robes and hoods, but the coachman only hesitated for a moment, and after stating that he wouldn't leave the city area and wouldn't go to remote places, he let them get in.

It seems that those who dare to solicit business at night always have some extraordinary insight.

The carriage traveled for nearly an hour in the quiet night, arriving at the northern edge of the Tobesk city area. Afterward, Miss Louisa led Xia De along winding roads, passing through patches of dense, low-rise shacks and two-story simple houses in the suburbs, stepping on mud and smelling all kinds of strange odors, continuously moving in a direction away from the city area.

There were no gas streetlights here, and one couldn't even see the light of many candles.

This was a village on the northern outskirts of the city, a temporary residence for the massive immigrant population attracted to this foggy city. In the early days of the steam industrial revolution in this world, there were originally only some poor families living here temporarily, but later it gradually formed a settlement of this scale, becoming an alternative village attached to the outskirts of the city.

However, this situation only appeared in the Beicheng. Not only because the Beicheng was the lower city area in the traditional sense, but also because the vast plains in the north of the city were the best farming areas and pastures in the Tobesk region.

There was always a need for manpower here; the suburban villages and towns in the cracks between the open plains in the north of the city and the city itself seemed to exist naturally for this bustling steam metropolis.

Avoiding a drunkard vomiting against a mud wall, bypassing a boy urinating in front of his own door, and then using his eyes to intimidate a black wolf dog that wanted to growl at strangers, Xia De followed Miss Louisa through the suburban village that seemed to be two centuries behind the city.

The village also had no exact edge, but the houses gradually became sparse, meaning they were moving away from human settlements.

Further away was a small forest. It took less than five minutes to pass through the woodland along a forest path, and then a gravel road appeared in front of them, connecting to it. Walking a few hundred more steps along the small road, they finally saw their destination: the cemetery located in the northern suburbs of the city.

This place did not belong to the city's public cemetery. The city's public cemetery was under the unified jurisdiction of the 【Sect of Nature and Evil】 and the City Hall; Xia De's superior, Mr. Anluosi, had almost obtained this leisurely job.

This place belonged to people who lived in or outside the city but were not qualified to be buried in the public cemetery.

Although the price of graves in the Tobesk public cemetery was low, there were always people in this world who couldn't afford that price. As a result, some cemeteries appeared in the suburbs where the poor could also be buried; as for safety and the environment, that was not something the poor could consider.

There was no fog in the suburbs like there was in the city. The cemetery located by the forest was very clear under the light of March, and one could even say it was somewhat supernatural.

Miss Louisa slowed her pace, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Xia De, and whispered to him:

"The one we are going to visit is usually called Mr. Corpus; he is the largest supplier of corpse-type materials in the Tobesk region. But this person is the caretaker of this place, and his temper is very strange. Regardless of whether they are regular customers or not, any Ringed Shushi who enters the cemetery area he manages after sunset will be treated in an unfriendly manner, but he only receives guests after sunset. So, follow behind me in a while, do not use the Silver Moon miracle, and I will deal with any danger."

"Is he an illegal person?"

Xia De asked in a low voice again, the sound of his shoes stepping on the dead branches on the gravel path seeming to travel very far.

"Although this person's personality is a bit strange, he usually hides in the cemetery to do his own research, and no arrest warrant from the Orthodox Church matches him. And his unfriendliness to guests visiting at night is mostly just a warning."

The blonde Miss replied.

"Then where do those corpse materials come from? It wouldn't be..."

Xia De pointed forward quietly.

"At least they aren't dug up from this cemetery; no caretaker would be stupid enough to steal corpses from the place they manage. As for where they come from... Detective, I cannot answer that question either."

Using "Detective" instead of "Xia De" was because the two were already approaching the cemetery.

Xia De closed his mouth and followed silently behind Miss Louisa.

He understood that the source of corpse-type materials could not be legal in an era where such order was being established. As for whether it was stealing, digging, purchasing, or other means, he couldn't guess, and couldn't guess at all, so he simply didn't bother to worry about it.