Chapter 46: He Can’t Go, But You Can?
After Vivienne left the apartment to head to [Angel Rose], it took less than five minutes for Luxianbei to return to the apartment.
Leaning against the wall, he waited outside Vivienne’s apartment window, stepping on the protruding eaves of the exterior wall like a bird that had briefly stopped to rest.
Indeed, before entering the apartment, she had instructed Nanling Yaohua to infiltrate the building in advance to gather information.
Although she could sense the vast majority of spirit energy fluctuations through her spiritual perception, coupled with the special abilities of her eyes, she could effectively exclude hidden threats within the apartment and the possibility of encountering Vivienne upon entering.
However, there were some things she couldn’t foresee, such as the strange eye-marked logo closely tied to a powerful urban legend.
After leaving the convenience store near Zhonglian’s basement rental, Luxianbei remained vigilant about that eerie logo.
LED screens on tall buildings, subway station advertisements, various common products… items marked with that peculiar logo had completely integrated into the lives of the citizens of Free City, practically omnipresent.
Given Miss Vivienne’s economic situation, Luxianbei figured she would most likely choose inexpensive yet quality products from the logo monster during her daily shopping.
In other words, her home was probably filled with those strange logos.
When Yu Yinchuan left that underground basement rental after assassinating Zhonglian, he made a very obvious move—he glanced back at the eerie logo on the fridge, indicating that he shared some undisclosed relationship with the logo monster.
Now, with Yu Yinchuan’s appearance infiltrating Zhonglian’s home, discovering that Zhonglian had fallen to the g*n, it must have been 100% caught by that logo monster…
Luxianbei couldn’t guarantee that when she transformed from “Yu Yinchuan” into “Lan Yi,” she hadn’t been noticed by some eye printed on the logo, hiding in the dark corners.
Thus, given the uncertainty surrounding what the logo monster intended, she felt it necessary to avoid the probing of the urban legend that possessed a strong tendency to manipulate minds and carried a certain malice.
As for the slight vibrations of the witch-type urban legend’s core caused by the influence of the logo monster, they were currently too minor to consider relevant.
After all, that Lilith had always been a dirty little child, getting inexplicably excited seeing “unclean” things—this didn’t seem to indicate anything significant…
Fortunately, those strange logos didn’t seem to run the logo monster’s powers all the time; they only activated under specific conditions, like a sensor activated by corresponding circumstances, which made evasion possible.
But this was only a possibility; where was Nanling Yaohua’s assurance?
For most humans and urban legends, Nanling Yaohua, whose sense of presence was virtually zero, could be considered the best scout in this world.
Thus, Luxianbei finally unlocked the correct way to use Nanling Yaohua…
————
A moment later.
When Nanling Yaohua’s figure passed through the wall, arriving lightly at Luxianbei’s side, she hurriedly asked, “What’s the situation inside?”
Nanling Yaohua shook his head and raised the small notebook in his hand.
[No issues, no ambushes, and no strange logos—just that the Zhipianxian isn’t here either.]
“Ah?” Luxianbei was stunned for a moment and emitted a voice of surprise, “No strange logos? And the Zhipianxian is missing?”
Nanling Yaohua only wrote a short sentence in the notebook, yet she received a wealth of information, leaving her momentarily dazed.
Regaining her senses, Luxianbei skillfully climbed through the window into the apartment.
Vivienne’s apartment wasn’t large and had an almost open layout; a glance could take in the living room, kitchen, and bed.
Stopping by the window, Luxianbei, who had already activated her special eye ability once today, took a deep breath, rubbed her slightly dry and itchy eyes, managing to withstand the discomfort, and once again activated the North Spirit Seal to invoke her special eye ability.
As the flame-colored halo appeared from the edges of her vision and gradually converged towards the center, the images of the real world began to wash away, revealing what had transpired not long ago before her eyes.
Seeing the Zhipianxian seamlessly blending in like a seasoned double agent, alongside a group of burly men in black sunglasses, casually heading to the [Angel Rose] theater caused Luxianbei’s eyes to twitch uncontrollably.
She truly didn’t know where he had learned such a rotten habit; couldn’t he put up even a slight resistance?
As Luxianbei grumbled internally, she began analyzing the information gleaned from the Zhipianxian and the big men’s conversation.
“…”
It sounded like those guys were likely Mafia gang members? The name Constantin was mentioned in the materials provided by the Wordless Book—the legendary demon hunter of M Country, a founding member of the Night Alliance, and one of the few Mafia leaders in Free City and even M Country…
He wanted to stop my investigation just because I had appeared in Zhonglian’s basement rental earlier?
Were the Mafia gang and the logo monster in cahoots? But why didn’t they want me to continue investigating? Could it be because of that guardian?
While Luxianbei was lost in thought, the scene before her shifted again.
Shortly after the Zhipianxian and the big men left, Vivienne returned to the apartment, switched on the main light, and, with great vigilance, took out a kn*fe hidden near the shoe cabinet.
Then, after receiving a phone call, Vivienne quickly left the apartment. From the content of her conversation, it appeared she was chasing after the Zhipianxian and also headed to [Angel Rose].
“…”
This Miss Chaparelli isn’t acting discreetly at all! She’s actually looking for people to investigate me secretly?
However, she never expected to have connections with [Angel Rose]…
What on earth is that strip club about? The Mafia gang, Yu Yinchuan, Vivienne… why does everyone love to go there? Luxianbei wondered.
As Vivienne left, the apartment once again fell into darkness, and Luxianbei slowly closed her eyes, preparing to end her spying and follow Vivienne and the Zhipianxian to [Angel Rose] for further investigation.
However, after waiting for two seconds, when she opened her eyes again, she was slightly stunned.
The scene she was spying on was not yet finished.
Not long after Vivienne left, with a creak, the apartment door was opened again.
“Clack!” The sound of the old switch resonated as the main light of the room was turned on. A man dressed in a pure white suit, looking handsome as if he had stepped out of a classic opera, appeared at the door.
Upon entering, he covered his nose with one hand, looking disgusted as he scanned the room, before striding to the sofa in the center and sitting down. Leaning back on the couch, he lit a cigar, exhaling smoke while gazing at the slightly moldy ceiling, murmuring to himself.
“I didn’t expect our dear [Witch] to hide in such a place after leaving?”
“Oh? There isn’t a single Ariel Corporation product in the house? No wonder that Ariel guy couldn’t find her trail…”
“Speaking of which, that old guy Constantin is surprisingly good at finding people; I should collaborate with him more often in the future.”
Here was a presumed thief boldly talking big in someone else’s home, which was quite infuriating to watch.
However, Luxianbei wasn’t some justice-driven partner; what she could see was merely the influence of the past and could not intervene directly, unless… she had the Time Princess by her side.
Thus, she could only watch as the man in the white suit lingered for a moment before quietly leaving.
As the discomfort in her eyes intensified, she pulled away from the past image, recalling the words of the man in white with a deepening expression.
Earlier, she had sensed something suspicious from Nanling Yaohua’s reconnaissance results—there was not a single item manufactured by the logo monster company in Vivienne’s home.
This was clearly unreasonable!
Given Vivienne’s dire financial situation, she should have naturally chosen logo monster products, which were 20% to 30% cheaper than other manufacturers, as her best option.
Initially, Luxianbei couldn’t fathom why Vivienne would spend so much on overpriced items, but after hearing the words of the man in white, she had gained some insight—Vivienne was evading the logo monster’s surveillance!
“…”
It sounded like she had escaped from some organization with a codename related to witches, and both the logo monster and the man in white were part of that organization.
The man in white also mentioned Constantin, suggesting that the Mafia gang tracked down to this location and took the Zhipianxian, attempting to hinder “Yu Yinchuan” from continuing the investigation, but it seemed this wasn’t solely the will of that legendary demon hunter.
Connecting this with the attack on the Killer Whale, the assassination of Zhonglian by Yu Yinchuan, the anomalies of that guardian, and the logo monster’s probing when leaving Zhonglian’s basement rental…
At that moment, Luxianbei had arrived at an unsettling hypothesis—the entire situation was related to the so-called New Elders’ Council.
After waiting for a moment, Nanling Yaohua, seeing Luxianbei’s prolonged silence and deepening expression, finally couldn’t help but raise his little notebook.
[What’s wrong? Is the situation serious?]
Glancing at the handwriting in the notebook, Luxianbei shrugged. “It’s quite serious, but it doesn’t concern us. We should stick to the original plan—find the Zhipianxian and hurry up and leave.”
Don’t Constantin and the New Elders’ Council want “Yu Yinchuan” to continue investigating? Then just as they wish, “Yu Yinchuan” won’t investigate anymore! If we can’t provoke them, can’t we hide from them?
Such matters involving the upper echelons of the Solar Eclipse Society should be handled by the big shots!
But where should they go to keep a low profile next? Equatorial Guinea, Mauritius, Nicaragua?
Luxianbei thought for a moment, shook her head at Nanling Yaohua, and said, “Let’s go to [Angel Rose] to catch the Zhipianxian.”
[That strip club?] Nanling Yaohua quickly raised his notebook.
“Exactly!” Luxianbei replied seriously, “How could a kid like Zhipianxian be going to such a place? We need to hurry and bring him back.”
Upon hearing this, Nanling Yaohua’s expression darkened.
He can’t go, but you can?
