Chapter 370: The Darkness of the Human Heart

The man's height was about the same as Xia De's, but his figure under his clothes was very thin. His head was slightly lowered, allowing his hat to cover his face, and Xia De's angle couldn't see his appearance at all.

"Are there traces of elements?"

【No.】

"Is he a Ringed Shushi?"

【You need to get closer.】

Xia De put down the newspaper in his hand and made a gesture of looking across the road. He took out the pocket watch that had been damaged by water in Coldwater Port from his pocket, took a look, and then shook his head and sighed, as if complaining about the unpunctuality of the person he was waiting for. Only then did he fold the newspaper in his hand and walk toward the other side of the street.

He brushed past Miss Swan, who was wearing a red top. The other party was just attracted by Xia De's appearance, but after one look, she didn't stop her pace.

"Of course, please never mention the Light-Guiding Cult to anyone. We haven't shown up for a long time. But if you want to trade again in the future, you can go directly to the address on my business card to find me. We welcome any fair trade. If you can't find me, you can also go to this one, but be careful, this old gentleman's temper is not as good as mine."

【Neither of them is a Ringed Shushi.】

Miss Swan had already left the peeping range of the alley, and when Xia De turned into the alley from the entrance of the antique shop, the peeper had already disappeared.

He walked quickly for two steps to catch up. The alley with the "Black Horn Alley" street sign was a rather narrow straight road, and there were no obstacles in the alley. Xia De was only a few seconds late, but there was no one in the alley at all.

Since the other party was not a Ringed Shushi, the only possibility was that the other party was hiding in another location in the alley.

Both sides of Black Horn Alley were three-story apartment buildings of the same style. The mottled walls were covered with moss everywhere, and the original color of the walls could no longer be seen. The section of the wall near the alley entrance was covered with wanted posters and various flyers. Clotheslines were stretched between the facing buildings, and the clothes that were not yet dry swayed in the thin mist like grey, dusty flags.

"I was only a few seconds late and the other party disappeared, which means the other party entered a building near the alley entrance."

Xia De stood where he was and thought:

"And, when Miss Swan appeared, I kept paying attention to the alley entrance, but I didn't see the door of the house closest to the alley entrance open, which means the possible buildings are the two closest to the alley entrance."

Xia De looked at the houses on both sides:

"He can appear just when Miss Swan appears every time, which means the building where this person is located can directly see the distance of the street..."

Neither of the two buildings closest to the alley entrance had windows opening onto the street, but the attics of these houses were higher than the nearby buildings, and Xia De noticed that the attic of the house on the left had windows, while the attic window on the right was completely sealed with wooden boards.

"This one."

Xia De smiled, turned around, and walked up the steps in front of the house on the left. The stone steps were uneven, and the door in front of him looked as if it had been splashed with excrement.

He reached out his hand to knock on the door but stopped. After considering for a moment, he kicked the door lightly and impolitely.

It took a long time before he heard footsteps coming from behind the door, and the man's voice asked with extreme nervousness:

"Who is it, please?"

"Sir, I'm here to check the gas meter."

The mechanical gas meters and steam meters at Saint Deran Square were all outside the house. The gas company checked them once a month and sent the bill directly to the residents. But the gas meters of this kind of old-fashioned building were mostly inside the house. Xia De had observed in advance that there was no meter box outside the door.

"Okay, why are you here so early this time? It's only the beginning of the month."

The door was opened a crack. Xia De immediately reached out and inserted his hand into it to prevent it from closing, then pulled hard to pull the door wide open.

Behind the door was the strange man dressed in black. Only now he wasn't wearing a hat, so his face was exposed.

Xia De was also startled when he saw that face. The other party's face was completely swollen, red and white, and because of the swelling, the upper and lower eye sockets almost covered his eyes completely.

Besides his face, his hands were also seen by Xia De. Similar to the skin on his face, it was also in that terrible state. This should be the traces left by burns or scalds. The man in front of him had probably encountered a terrible accident.

"What are you doing? Oh, you're not here to check the gas meter!"

Seeing Xia De's attire, the man immediately panicked.

"Of course not, I have other things to do, but I'm definitely not a bad person."

Xia De pulled the door frame with his left hand to prevent the person inside from closing it, and stretched out his right hand to make a handshake gesture:

"Good noon, sir."

Although the other party's face and skin looked terrible, it wasn't an infectious disease, nor was it something dirty, so Xia De didn't mind shaking hands with him.

Xia De's gesture of reaching out made the person inside the door feel a little better. He awkwardly reached out and shook hands with Xia De, then immediately withdrew it, but the moment of contact was enough for Xia De to reach a conclusion.

【Indeed an ordinary person.】

"I came here for Miss Swan's matter."

Xia De pulled the door frame, intending to stand at the door and talk about things, while the man asked suspiciously:

"Sorry, Miss Swan is... oh, so her surname is Swan! That's really a good name."

On his somewhat terrible face, one could vaguely see a look of sudden realization.

The corners of Xia De's mouth twitched. He already understood that this matter had nothing to do with the supernatural at all. Sure enough, it was impossible to encounter relics continuously. But since the matter had been figured out, he didn't mind wasting a few minutes to do a wrap-up:

"Sir, for the past few weeks, you have been peeking at her at the alley entrance every noon. Miss Swan is very worried, so she sought help from the security company, and then the security company found me, a detective. May I ask, what exactly do you want to do?"

The man's face flushed red all of a sudden. Of course, because of his skin condition, this was hard to distinguish.

He stammered and said:

"Hello, detective. I just... wanted to see her. You also know, with my appearance, it's impossible... I just wanted to take a look... I didn't do anything bad, I just..."

His voice gradually lowered. Xia De waited for a while before saying:

"I'm just here to investigate this matter. After this, my conversation with you will be known to the client word for word. She might change jobs..."

"No! I won't peek at her again, please don't disturb her life."

The man suddenly became excited:

"Don't affect her life because of me!"

"Sorry, I don't have the power to make decisions for others. This is a commission, and I must honestly hand over the investigation results to the client."

Xia De shrugged.

He didn't know whether the man in front of him would keep peeking quietly or suddenly do something one day. So, of course, Xia De wouldn't pretend he hadn't investigated anything just because he believed in reasons like love.

Fortunately, he didn't have to judge whether the man in front of him was good or bad, because he was only here to investigate this matter clearly:

"Sir, every decision we make will irreversibly affect the people around us. From the moment you decided to watch her at the alley entrance every noon, the impact on her had already appeared. I won't judge what purpose you have for doing this, I just hope you can understand."

Xia De paused, weighing the words he was about to say:

"Don't be swallowed by the darkness in your heart. When you poke your head out from the shadows, perhaps you think it's admiration, but when admiration ferments further, what will the final result be?"

To put it bluntly, Xia De was warning the other party to behave. But he didn't know whether the other party was good or bad, so he didn't want to hurt others' self-esteem, which was why he used a very tactful way to express it.

"The darkness of the human heart, you should know better than me. Even if you believe you are a good person, can you be sure that when a certain idea takes shape, whether the tiny seed of darkness will swallow your heart in the future?"

Xia De shook his head, deciding to add some more powerful persuasive means in addition to verbal persuasion.

So he lifted his clothes, allowing the man inside the door to see the gun at his waist. The latter retreated a small step in terror:

"What are you going to do?"

"Rest assured, I just want to let you see if my revolver is beautiful. Oh, sir, if you have a good impression of that lady, you can actually find an opportunity to pass her a letter, but absolutely do not use this method to express your love."

"But she will reject me, with my appearance..."

The man said in a low voice. He was a local of Tobesk, and his accent was very heavy:

"... she will, because of my appearance..."

"If she rejects you, then please stay away from her. Isn't this a normal thing?"

Xia De said, let go of the door frame, and prepared to leave. He waved his hand:

"I already know your identity. If you try to do anything to Miss Swan, the police will come here to visit you as soon as possible."

"No, I won't, I won't disturb her anymore..."

The man said in a low voice with his head down.

Xia De nodded, sighed, turned around, and left Black Horn Alley. He wasn't sighing for this matter, but for himself. The second thing was indeed a waste of time.

【But at least it's interesting enough.】

"You think so?"

Without getting an answer from the voice in his ear, Xia De thought for a while:

"It is indeed quite interesting."

The outsider liked to witness different stories, even if they were just stories of ordinary people.

Returning to Lewis Street, Xia De first found a restaurant to solve his lunch, and then decided to take a carriage to the Tax Bureau located in the North District of Tobesk to handle his taxes. The jurisdiction of the North District Tax Bureau included Saint Deran Square, and Swan Castle Street, where the office department was located, was also where the Black Stone Security Company was. Xia De wanted to tell Yi Lu Na about what happened just now and let the Black Stone Security Company notify the client, Miss Swan.

If other consequences really arose because of Xia De's actions today, he would feel guilty.

"Only death and taxes are inevitable." In this complex steam age, death was managed by gods and natural laws, while taxes were naturally managed by the city hall tax department.

There were a total of three tax bureaus in Tobesk, distributed in three directions of the city. The three tax bureaus were jointly responsible to the city hall finance department. Tax evasion was almost impossible. Even if this world was more backward than Xia De's hometown, a detective agency operating legally must have a license. With a license, someone would come to check taxes. ===== CHAPTER 371 =====