“Good, since the direction and time are right, let’s go after him. If I can’t catch him, I’ll go straight to the church. I can’t go hungry on my first day in a new City… I shouldn’t think like that, or I’ll feel a bit pathetic myself.”
With such “simple” thoughts, Xia De gathered his belongings and set off along the low wall by the street, chasing the man forward.
To avoid being discovered, even though the fog swirling through the City grew thicker as evening arrived, Xia De still didn't dare to follow too closely. He knew his limitations and understood he had no skills in tailing others.
So, naturally, a dozen minutes later, when they turned past the back wall of a milk delivery company and entered an alley, Xia De completely lost sight of the man.
“Ha~ Should I say, as expected, I lost him?”
Standing in the alley, he looked around blankly, confirming that he had indeed lost his target, then shook his head, giving up on further searching. He didn't dwell on the matter; since he’d lost him, he would go collect his “relief food,” but—
“Where am I?”
In a completely unfamiliar City, while trying to avoid detection and tailing someone, Xia De had no time to remember his route, only knowing that he was now in a very foul-smelling narrow alley.
To his left was the outer wall of the milk delivery company, and to his right was the side wall of a three-story apartment building. On both walls, besides rusty pipes climbing and connecting in different directions, there were layers of messy, filthy words and graffiti. The base of the walls was covered in trash and feces.
Only near the alley entrance were two or three rusted, large-diameter steam pipes, abandoned there by who knows whom.
“I’ll go look at the milk delivery company’s name, then find my current location on the map.”
Once Xia De had an idea, he no longer cared about the person he had intended to follow.
He turned and walked back the way he came through the alley, carefully avoiding stepping on the indescribably foul things in the alley. As he was about to exit the alley, he cautiously stepped aside, because a team of police officers in uniform ran past him in a hurry on the street ahead.
The tall, middle-aged man with a full beard at the end of the team even glanced at Xia De. Xia De returned his gaze with an innocent expression, so the officer didn't bother with Xia De.
“Did something happen over there?”
Xia De stood at the alley entrance, looking in the direction the police had run. Since he didn’t know which street this was, he couldn't tell what was in that direction of the street.
“None of my business,” he muttered, clutching his notepad and walking towards the entrance of the milk delivery company. This wasn’t a factory, just the delivery department’s office building. The yard enclosed a two-story yellow building, and an old-looking dog was lying by the entrance.
The dog even glanced at Xia De as he approached, and seeing that Xia De only stopped at the entrance and didn’t come in, it lazily stood up and moved to lie down where the setting sun could reach it.
The milk delivery company’s name was “Silver Parrot,” a strange name, but it was indeed on the map. The previous Detective had even noted that a murder had occurred here three years ago.
The murder case, of course, had nothing to do with Xia De. He walked forward, holding a map unfolded to a quarter of its size, constantly confirming that his location was correct.
There weren't many pedestrians on the street, so walking with his head down wouldn't cause him to bump into anyone. Unconsciously, amidst the sunset glow and thick fog, he followed the direction of the white steam pipes along the wall, reaching the end of the street. Ahead was a five-way intersection. According to the map, taking the road diagonally to the left, where there was a dessert shop, would probably be a shorter route.
But the intersection was almost blocked by a crowded throng. Near the eastern mailbox was a silver shop, its sign meticulously clean, but something seemed to have happened there. The team of police officers Xia De had seen earlier in the alley was maintaining order, preventing people from getting close.
While he paused to observe, more four-wheeled carriages arrived from behind Xia De and from other intersections. In just a few minutes, more police appeared. There were even some people who looked like scholars from a school, also emerging from carriages, though he didn't know what they were doing.
Xia De hadn't originally intended to join the commotion; the relief food was most important now. But because there were so many people joining the commotion, he was inadvertently pushed to the front of the crowd while trying to cross the intersection.
He wanted to retreat, but the people behind him wouldn't allow it. The police in front kept shouting for people to disperse, saying there was nothing worth seeing here.
Probably seeing that Xia De, who had been pushed forward, had no intention of getting closer, a young police officer with a pen in his chest pocket, who was maintaining order, kindly reminded him to watch out for pickpockets.
This made Xia De a bit nervous. He instinctively reached for the ten-pence banknote in his pocket. After confirming it was still there, his peripheral vision caught another team of armed police officers escorting three men in plain clothes into the silver shop.
The tallest of the men was unusually robust, and the young man in the middle had the demeanor of a scholar. The last man looked familiar to Xia De; it seemed to be the Priest who had handed him a flyer that afternoon.
“Do Priests in this world also work part-time in the police force?”
He thought of this conclusion, which he didn’t even believe himself, and clutched the coins and pocket watch in his pocket, intending to leave quickly, otherwise he would be late.
the moment he turned to try and push his way back, a strange premonition suddenly arose within him. Before he could understand the reason for this feeling, he heard a sound—
Boom!
The explosion caught everyone off guard. The sound, almost tearing eardrums, caused screams to erupt in the crowd. Although no flames were visible, the silver shop’s glass display window immediately shattered, and the wall seemed to tilt, causing the metal pipes on the wall to emit a harsh, metallic twisting sound.
But fortunately, the police had not allowed the crowd to gather at the shop entrance, so when the panicked shouts rang out, no one was injured.
The crowd immediately dispersed like a flood. Xia De, standing at the front of the crowd, remained calm and also wanted to leave, when he saw a brown-haired middle-aged man running towards the silver shop entrance:
“I’m a reporter! I’m a reporter! What happened here?”
He held a notebook in one hand and waved his ID in the other, rushing over more excitedly than anyone, then was deftly pulled back by the young police officer:
“Gas pipe explosion, sir, please do not approach.”
Xia De didn't believe this conclusion at all. How could a gas pipe explosion—
Boom!
Another explosion, almost stopping his heart, rang out in the silver shop. The vibrating air almost created a force that pushed people.
This time, even the glass on the second floor of the silver shop shattered. The falling glass shards forced the police officers maintaining order to temporarily retreat. Xia De, while backing away, saw through the window that on the second floor where the explosion occurred, two people seemed to be fighting in a cloud of white mist, and one of them seemed to have light on his fist.
The distance was a bit too far, and the fog that came with the sunset was also reducing visibility, so Xia De couldn't see very clearly.
“Is it extraordinary?” he thought.
“Yes.”
The woman’s voice startled Xia De, but knowing that the other party wouldn't explain further, he didn't ask, but quickly left the area.
“Those three people just now were definitely from the Church, and something like this happened right after they entered… Sure enough, the Church in this world is most likely an extraordinary power itself, and it seems to be closely integrated with the kingdom’s order… This greatly increases the probability that the Orthodox Church can be trusted. I wonder if I have a chance to, through the Church’s channels…”
This now meant he had two options. Not only the Psychologist, but also the five churches in the City, offered Xia De the opportunity to come into contact with the extraordinary and figure out the voice in his head.
“But, how did I happen to stumble upon something like this?”
He walked in his original direction with the dispersing crowd, and the woman’s voice in his mind repeated a sentence she had already said:
“Observe his ring.”
Although he still didn't know what the woman’s voice in his head was, Xia De at least knew that she had no obvious malice. He immediately obeyed the voice and looked around, and surprisingly, he saw the young man with the pebble ring and the briefcase walking not far ahead again.
“Such a coincidence… there’s no way it’s such a coincidence. Wait, the explosion just now, it couldn’t be related to him, could it? Why would I have such a thought, I have no evidence right now.”
With this thought, Xia De actually didn't want to follow anymore. If the other party could create explosions with their bare hands, like the two in the silver shop, following him would almost be like wanting to replicate the tragic fate of the previous Detective.
“No, no.”
Xia De slowed his steps, wanting the other person to naturally disappear into the distance of his vision. But he didn’t expect the young man to also stop, take out a map to check it like Xia De had just done, then enter the adjacent alley with his suitcase.
“To follow or not to follow?”
The woman’s voice in his head had prompted him three times about that ring; she shouldn't be doing it out of boredom. But Xia De, who knew almost nothing about the world, also had to ensure necessary caution.
He walked forward according to his original plan. When he passed the alley entrance where the young man had turned, he naturally glanced inside and saw the man turn a corner ahead and disappear.
“To follow or not to follow?”
He asked himself again, and suddenly realized that the next decision would affect his life for a long time to come.
“To follow or not to follow?”
He asked the woman in his mind. He heard laughter, and he heard a murmuring reply:
“The path of destiny unfolds before you, guest from a foreign land. Are you content with the mundane, or do you crave immortality? The world is like an ocean; do you have the courage to explore the terrors beyond the peaceful islands? The path of destiny unfolds before you, one leading to the extraordinary, one…”
“Chase!”
Xia De gritted his teeth and, hugging the wall, also entered the alley.