Chapter 2149: Seeking Cards

At noon, the countess treated Xia De and the cat to a sumptuous meal, and during lunch, she asked what Xia De planned to do in the afternoon.

"My vampire friend's investigation has no results yet, and your pursuit of the 【Light-Seeking Seminar】 and the 【Dragon Feast Sect】 has no news either, so I plan to go around the city and try to see if I can run into Miss Ilese by chance."

After all, his time key could be used again.

"Just go around? Then I'll find something for you to do."

The countess said with a smile:

"Remember, there were rumors in the local area that three precious Luo De cards appeared, but because the Black Hand Gang killed that foreign merchant, the whereabouts of the three cards are now unknown. I have already found the whereabouts of one of them. If you are interested, go and find it."

This idea was quite good.

"Also, is the 'Empress' divination card I gave you when we first met still with you?"

"Yes."

"Give it to me after lunch, and I will add some new functions to it."

Although Bella Belindell's ability in combat was not outstanding, her means in other aspects were still very strong. She could also be called a master of alchemy—of course, still incomparable to Laplace Howard, but at least she could handle most situations:

"Regarding the piece of golden dragon scale we found outside the city, after studying it for more than a week, I found some very interesting phenomena. I won't explain the specific principles. In short, this dragon scale is resonating with the other six dragon scales. I originally intended to use this dragon scale as an anchor point to directly divine the positions of the other six dragon scales of the seven major families, but after many experiments, I found it still didn't work. But at least I can do it, relying on this dragon scale, to resonate with other dragon scales at close range."

In the alchemy workshop under the manor, she carefully used the metal divination card to touch the dragon scale that had been burned to red. The small scale then "melted" into the card, and then the witch threw the card into the ritual base array prepared on the table, using the ancient language ritual to endow it with new abilities:

"Okay, now the dragon scale is inside the card. When you move in the city with this card, if you get close to other scales, the card will give you a hint through vibration."

Little Mia stood on Xia De's shoulder and stretched out her little claws to pull at the metal card. At this time, the card only had some scale engravings on the surface compared to just now.

Xia De praised:

"This is really convenient. However, what is its effective detection distance? Will it be affected by walls or water currents?"

"That's hard to say."

The blonde witch shook her head:

"After all, I don't have a second scale, but I always feel that you will definitely encounter other scales. Don't ask for the reason, I believe this is destiny. Even the non-human thing walking out of the dragon's nest that I prophesied doesn't have such a peculiar ability as you."

"Um..."

Xia De, who originally wanted to say goodbye, pursed his lips, thought of the kiss before lunch, and felt that it was better to clarify the misunderstanding:

"Actually, the person you divined is very likely me. The date you obtained that prophecy was the day I first arrived in this city."

The countess did not feel very surprised, but looked at him and repeated the information obtained on the Belindell Big Ben:

"The non-human thing that walked out of the ancient dragon's nest and once conquered the dragon of time and space will completely affect my life in the not-too-distant future."

"Dragon's nest, well, I did come into contact with a dragon's nest ruin that day, but the dragons were long gone. Conquering the dragon of time and space... probably, maybe, possibly... related to the dragon descendant girl who gave me that glove."

Xia De stopped talking.

"And you have indeed completely affected my life."

The witch said lightly, and pressed her right index and middle fingers together on her lips:

"Mr. Good at Lying, did you think I would be very surprised? Did you really think I couldn't guess anything?"

"This..."

Then her two fingers pressed on Xia De's lips again. She was very satisfied with Xia De's awkward look:

"Take your cat and go around the city well in the afternoon. Beware of the light, the strange phenomenon that appeared at the banquet last night has no conclusion yet. Also, please remember, after you solve the demon, I must see that unicorn."

After lunch, it should have been Little Mia's nap time, but it was not in a hurry to go home this afternoon, but stood obediently on Xia De's shoulder and left Belindell Manor with him.

While the countess provided news about one of the three precious cards, she also further supplemented the news about the merchant who originally held the three cards.

The merchant came from another place, and the name he claimed was of course a pseudonym. He had already contacted a local underground Luo De card casino and was going to sell the three cards to them as a "treasure of the shop." But on the night of the transaction, the Black Hand Gang found the merchant and killed him, but failed to find the three cards on him or in his home.

So the underground Luo De card casino that was originally going to buy the cards became the key suspect, but unfortunately, the casino was an industry of the Blake family. Finally, the Blake family proved that the three cards were not in their hands. Since then, the whereabouts of the three cards have been completely unknown.

And the process by which the countess obtained the clues was purely accidental. The apartment where the unlucky merchant lived in the city has been vacant since the murder, and no one dared to live in it. His neighbor was an accountant at a pawnshop under the Belindell family. Two weeks after the murder, the accountant heard that three cards were missing from his dead neighbor's hands, and then he realized the clue he had once obtained.

The accountant didn't think he could find those Luo De cards with this, but wanted to sell the clue. He succeeded, of course, but also aroused the suspicion of the pawnshop because of his lavish spending—

"Could this guy have embezzled public funds?"

In short, after some investigation, the information in the accountant's hands was sent to the desk of Countess Belindell. As for the sold information, it was naturally "recovered" by the loyal maid Miss Matilda herself.

"A week before the merchant died, the accountant, who returned home late because of overtime, found that the lights were still on in the hallway of his neighbor's house at night. Curious, he stood at the other party's door for a while, and then heard the conversation coming from the hallway behind the door... The door of that apartment was obviously not soundproof."

Xia De, who was holding Little Mia in the carriage, recalled the clues:

"The merchant and a man he called 'Mr. Gillot' were discussing the payment method for a deal. The accountant didn't hear what the specific transaction was, only that Mr. Gillot was going to pay the merchant 20 crowns, which is about 250 pounds. Ordinary Luo De cards of course don't have such a high price, but if they are precious cards, and more than one... The dead merchant was originally going to sell the cards to the underground casino, but was heard by his neighbor to have other transaction objects, so the merchant wouldn't have sold the three cards to multiple objects before he died, and then thought about running away after getting the money, right?"

Xia De felt that he had touched the truth.

Who is "Mr. Gillot" needs Xia De to investigate himself. He is now taking a carriage to the residence of the dead merchant to look for clues. After the merchant died, the things in the apartment were not moved. The police station also knew that this involved the Black Hand Gang and some nobles, so there was no conclusion yet.

Xia De originally thought this was another opportunity for him to show off his "breaking and entering" skills. After sneaking into the house, he might be able to find the contact information of "Mr. Gillot."

But unexpectedly, after getting off the carriage at Elm Street, he saw that the door of No. 7 Elm Street, which should have been sealed, was open. The seal on the door was obviously deliberately torn off. Xia De could even see that one end of the seal was still stuck to the wall and swaying in the wind:

"Don't run around for a while."

Xia De patted the little head of the cat on his shoulder, and the latter meowed obediently. After paying the fare, he confirmed that he was still wearing the witch's eyeshadow, then touched the pistol at his waist, and then pressed the hat on his head and walked over.

Elm Street is not a very wealthy neighborhood, and the street-facing apartment is not a house like St. Deran Square. Although the apartment is three stories, the area of each floor is very small, and one can almost see everything inside just by standing at the door.

And when Xia De arrived at the door, he saw three men rummaging through the house. They were rummaging so carefully that Xia De had to cough, and the three turned to look at him.

One had a tattoo on his neck, one had a single eye and wore an eyepatch, and one had an obvious scar on his face, which made them look like bad guys.

"Get lost."

The tallest scar-faced man among them said to the stranger with a dog squatting on his shoulder. Xia De hesitated, pointed at himself, then took a step inside, and closed the door behind him:

"I'm sorry, I also want to come here to find something."

The three of them stood up from where they were rummaging for things, cracked their fingers and shook their wrists, and walked toward Xia De with very unkind expressions. Xia De thought about it, but in the end, he didn't touch his pistol, but twisted his shoulders and shook his wrists, and walked toward them:

"Let's say it first, I don't cover medical expenses."

Xia De reached out and pushed away the first fist that hit him, then kicked the scar-faced man to the ground. Then he grabbed the fists of the other two with both hands at the same time, broke their wrists with a crack, and pulled them to collide together. They screamed and covered their wrists and fell to the ground like dolls that couldn't stand still.

After such a friendly exchange of fists and feet, the three people who claimed to be from the Black Hand Gang were beaten to the ground by him. Xia De sighed, squatted down and said to them:

"I ask and you answer, otherwise it won't just be your wrists that are broken." ===== CHAPTER 2150 =====