the culprit

Cyril was also surprised.The woman had met him once, had eaten a snack mixed with drugs five years ago, and Felix had taken him to Dr. Douglas's house. The doctor was not there, and the young red-haired woman said confidently that she could save him.The grace of saving his life is naturally in his heart, but he will never forget that she once wrote a mysterious contract on Felix's arm.

"I haven't seen you for five years. I thought there would be a warm hug anyway." The red-haired woman, Wei Ya, muttered dissatisfiedly, then turned around and brought Cyril into the room.The taciturn young man didn't bother to look at the interior decoration, let alone marvel at the transparent medicine jars piled up in the corner, but simply asked to see Felix.

"Going right now?"

"Going right now."

Wei Ya sighed helplessly, and put the child in her arms into the cradle.

"I'll take you there when my husband comes back." She pouted at the child who kept tossing her arms and legs, expressing that it was impossible to leave her alone at home.Seeing that Xi Ruier didn't speak, he explained to himself that he had no money to hire a servant because he was too poor.When she lied, she probably forgot that she was living in a big house that the poor could never afford to live in, and the pair of coral trees at the door alone were worth a lot.The lack of servants is probably due to stinginess, but Cyril didn't talk too much about it.

"Tell me his address, and I'll go there myself."

Hearing what he said, Wei Ya, who has always been too lazy to go out, immediately beamed with joy, as if she was waiting for his words.She reported the address again, and handed it to Cyril on a paper note, as if he was afraid that he would not be able to find the way, and kindly drew a detailed map beside it.

"The roads over there are very complicated. Outsiders will definitely get lost when they go there for the first time, but I have drawn a map for you. Don't worry, you can find it right away by following the map." Wei Yahao patted Cyril's face dryly. Shoulder, said beamingly.

Cyril took the piece of paper, looked at the map horizontally and vertically, but couldn't see what Wei Ya drew.He folded the paper silently and put it in the pocket of his coat, thanked the woman and left in a hurry.

"Oh, wait, wait...well, what's your name?"

The person had already reached the door, and Wei Ya chased out with her skirt in her hand, holding a finely crafted cane in her hand.

"I heard that a new observer is coming. My husband made this overnight. It should be a gift." She handed the cane to Cyril, and then took out a bunch of bottles and stuffed them into his arms like a magic trick. Li, "This is a bunch of new things that I have successfully developed. There are instructions on the bottle, and you can come to me when you run out."

Cyril glanced at the labels on the bottles. In addition to some supplementary medicines commonly used by inhuman creatures, there were also things such as blinding agents and incinerators. Smelling salts to carry with you.Still unable to figure out the function of these things for a while, he put them all into his waist pocket without having time to classify them.There was no place to stuff the cane, so he had no choice but to hold it in his hand, nodding his head to thank Wei Ya.

"Let's go while it's still dark. It's even harder to go there when it's dark."

Cyril went out with his luggage in one hand and his cane in the other, but he couldn't find a carriage anyway.He silently read the address Wei Ya told him, and walked for a long time according to the map given by the teacher before finally finding the street where Felix lived.He thought it would be an ordinary civilian settlement, but he didn't expect it to be a slum.

Possibly worse than ghetto.

it's getting dark.

Under the moonlight, dilapidated houses of different heights are scattered on both sides of the winding and narrow streets. There are large mold spots scattered on the wooden walls, and green moss grows on the stone walls.The road paved with stone slabs was full of potholes, with a few tenacious weeds growing in the gaps, and the dirty gutters on both sides exuded an indescribable stench.

Children in ragged clothes shuttled among the passers-by who were walking fast, waiting for an opportunity to find a few copper coins from their pockets. If they could have a few rolled-up banknotes, they would be rich. Expenses are covered.

The scantily clad Liuying was wearing a corset, trying to make her breasts appear more plump and attractive. Whenever a pedestrian passed by, they would rush to hold their arms with their hands in worn lace gloves, and leaned over to use their breasts. Dawdling, he tried to pull people into the room with a hypocritical and greedy smile.

The pimps and madams target young women who are here for the first time, shy and intimidated by the necessity of their lives.The pimps and madams surrounded them like flies, looked at them like cattle, pinched their chins and forced them to lift their heads bowed in shame, commented on the facial features and even the teeth, and stroked and pinched them obscenely. Their breasts and waists, even want to lift their skirts to check on the street.

The shrill laughter of children, the obscenity of warblers and pimps, and the screams and sobbing of girls forced to make ends meet intertwined in the stench of the gutter, and the well-dressed gentlemen kicked away those who dared to steal. The filthy children snatched their money back from them one after another, salivated and bargained with the warblers, and raised their middle fingers to flick the banknotes in their hands.

Cyril finally understood the reason why Wei Ya said that it is more difficult to go here when it is dark.

Along the way, he was stumbled countless times by children who tried to steal, brushed away countless pairs of hands holding him in the smell of cheap perfume, and even drank back countless pimps who hinted that he had more exciting services guest.When he finally found the address written on the paper, the pimp who followed all the way couldn't help laughing, patted his shoulder with greasy hands, and looked at him with a face full of "no need to pretend to be so sanctimonious".

Even standing outside the house, Cyril could still hear voices coming from the wall from time to time.The pimp said it was his home.Not all prostitutes are willing to stand on the street to solicit customers. The prostitutes hide here, and he brings the customers one by one. Afterwards, he gets [-]% of the money, and the income of a prostitute for a whole night may only be enough for the next two days. Meals.

The pimp got closer and said that he could bargain with the prostitutes, saying that they are born to be low, as long as they have money, no matter how low the price is, they are willing to open their legs to receive customers.

"It's you who's mean." Cyril said coldly.He left the disgusting pimp behind, went around to the back of the house and found the entrance to the basement, and was about to go down when the pimp chased after him and shouted in a very nasty tone: "You are here to find that Something strange! His back is festering and bleeding all the time! Don’t pretend, I know that only the most despicable prostitutes can get that kind of disease! You should hurry up..."

Before he finished speaking, a dazzling silver light flashed in front of his eyes, and the cold and sharp blade touched his neck.

The well-dressed young man was still carrying his small suitcase in one hand, and a slender pistol made of sterling silver in the other, with the point of the knife facing the pimp's throat.The cane made of half mahogany fell at his feet, and the silver-coated stick at the bottom shone dazzlingly under the moonlight.

"This is a precious gift from a friend. I didn't want to use dirty blood to sharpen it. But if you are still so ignorant," Cyril's eyes were like knives, and his expression was as cold as a dark cloud, "I don't mind telling you This house of prostitutes can take all your money and leave tomorrow morning—the police won’t take seriously the death of one or two people like you in this kind of place.”

The pimp was so frightened by Cyril's eyes that he couldn't speak for a moment. He tremblingly raised his hand in a comforting gesture, pulled the stiff muscles on his cheeks and smiled apologetically, and fled around the house uselessly. The fetid streets crowded with warblers and bustards.

The hand that raised the knife took a while to slowly put it down.Cyril closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After he calmed down a little, he picked up the wooden sheath on the ground and let the knife in his hand return to the disguise of a cane.

Descending the creaking wooden stairs, the basement was dark with no candles and no windows.Cyril fumbled in his waist pocket, he had matches, but at this moment he couldn't tell which bottle contained the sulfuric acid, and finally had to give up.

Just as he was thinking, a cluster of lights lit up not far away, and a pale vampire approached with a candlestick, looking up at the young man who was still standing on the stairs.

By the faint candlelight, Cyril looked at the cramped basement.A bed, a table, a chair and an old wooden box against the wall, that's all the furnishings in the room.The shirt on Felix was clean, but very old, and Cyril suddenly felt an inexplicable anger in his heart.He walked down quickly, put the suitcase and cane on the table, and was about to ask Felix why he lived in such a ghostly place, but when he heard a bang, several books stacked on the table fell down.

He subconsciously turned his head and took a look.

The titles are all familiar.Most of the books are very new, only one seems to have been turned over many times, a few pieces of bronzing on the spine are missing, and the edges of the hard shell are also rough and fuzzy.

Cyril was surprised to find that these were the books he had given Felix.

Five years ago, Felix passed away without a word. He looked at the books on the table every day, wondering whether to take them away or throw them away.Later, he hesitated for a long time when he left, and decided to leave them in the manor where no one would go again.There they would gather dust, be eaten by the rats and cockroaches that lurked there, they would be dragged to the ground by these nasty and annoying critters, and the pages would fall apart and be ignored.

Cyril thought about their end.

But I didn't expect to meet them again here.

The anger dissipated in an instant, and the questioning words melted in his tongue, he stared at them, then looked up at Felix.The vampire put the candlestick on the table, silently picked up the fallen book, reached out and picked up the young man's box and put it on the old wooden box.

From time to time, embarrassing and annoying sounds came from overhead.

Cyril raised his hand to caress the old collection of poems, pulled it out, and opened it. The serious handwriting of the 15-year-old boy still remained on the butterfly page.

"Why do you want to live in this kind of place?" He softened his tone, bit the tip of his tongue, hiding his almost uncontrollable secret joy.

"It's cheap, hidden, and full of weird freaks."

The word freak reminded Cyril of what the pimp said just now, and the unknown fire suddenly surged, he had to close his eyes again to take a deep breath, and asked Felix to take off his clothes.