Ch. 1581..1590
Chapter 1581: 1580 Chase Chapter 1581: 1580 Chase “You’re being a bit unreasonable,” Zhuang Liu spoke to him, “We’re just passing by, and you came at us with a gun. Have we offended you?”
The man in black seemed to ponder this question. His gun-holding hand paused briefly before he withdrew the weapon, “Are you friends or enemies?”
Tan Rou took over the conversation, “We’re just passersby.”
Zhuang Liu then started to act, “We’re a pair of bandits, ones who specialize in stealing at night, just like you.”
The man in black was confused by his words, “What are pair of bandits?”
Tan Rou explained, “It means male and female thieves.”
The man in black seemed to believe their story, “You shouldn’t be here. This is our turf.”
“Yes,” Zhuang Liu immediately responded, “Fine, we’ll leave now and never come back.”
Having said that, he wrote a few characters on Tan Rou’s palm, and she tapped a few times on his hand in response, signaling she understood.
Tan Rou also said, “Then we will be on our way, leaving this place to you.”
After speaking, they prepared to turn and leave.
But at the moment they turned around, the black, cold gun was aimed at them again. It seemed the man in black didn’t believe their words after all and still intended to kill them.
Tan Rou whispered, “Bet ten cents he’s definitely pointing the gun at us right now.”
Zhuang Liu replied, “No need to bet, he definitely won’t let us go, because he already shot at us without intending to have a talk.”
Tan Rou said, “On the count of one, two, three, you from the right, I from the left, then we’ll encircle him together!”
Zhuang Liu pressed Tan Rou’s hand, “You go long-range, I’ll do close combat, and try not to let him shoot.”
Tan Rou suggested a change, “You throw things from a distance to distract his vision, and I’ll close in and snatch his gun.”
Zhuang Liu thought for a second, “Okay, watch out for his gun.”
Once they’d agreed on a plan, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu started a countdown while behind them, the man in black also placed his finger on the trigger.
“Three… two… one!”
“Bang!”
Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu dodged the bullet, and it missed, embedding itself inside the wall.
“You’re tricking me!” the man in black said furiously.
Zhuang Liu threw a knife, then picked up some trash from the ground and flung it, “Didn’t you shoot as well?”
The man in black roared and fired at Zhuang Liu, who was no stationary target. He wouldn’t just stand there and take the bullets. His current goal was to distract the man in black and prevent him from shifting his focus to Tan Rou.
Tan Rou also had a knife in her hand. Biding her time, she threw it when she saw her chance. With all his attention drawn by Zhuang Liu, the man in black seemed unaware of the more formidable opponent lurking in the darkness.
Tan Rou’s aim was far superior to that of the bumbling patrol soldiers. Her knife struck the man in black’s wrist. He winced with pain but didn’t drop the gun.
“You can really take it,” Tan Rou remarked, then rapidly charged towards the man in black.
With the injury to his hand, the man in black couldn’t muster much strength, and the gun’s recoil made his shots unstable. He kept missing. Since it was a handgun, there were not many bullets in the magazine, and once they were spent, he couldn’t change the clip.
The heavy handgun now only burdened his wounded wrist, so the man in black, out of frustration, hurled it away and resorted to hand-to-hand combat.
Without his gun, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu had nothing to worry about. They both charged at him, Tan Rou from the left, Zhuang Liu from the right, planning to take him down together.
Realizing his hand was wounded and faced with two adversaries, the man in black knew he couldn’t win today. He immediately retreated, turning to run back the way he had come.
“Chase him, don’t let him get away!” Tan Rou called out.
Zhuang Liu quickly picked up the gun from the ground, “Keep this, it might still be useful.”
If the man in black still had the gun in his possession, they might have hesitated, but now he had nothing, and he was wounded to boot. If they didn’t chase him now, it would be a missed opportunity.
Moreover, the man in black had come at them intending to take their lives. They couldn’t let this slide. They needed to catch him and let him experience what it felt like to have a gun pointed at his head.
“Damn it!” The man in black hadn’t expected to encounter such tough opponents tonight. Had he known, he would have brought a few more guns with him.
Chapter 1581: 1580 Chase Chapter 1581: 1580 Chase “You’re being a bit unreasonable,” Zhuang Liu spoke to him, “We’re just passing by, and you came at us with a gun. Have we offended you?”
The man in black seemed to ponder this question. His gun-holding hand paused briefly before he withdrew the weapon, “Are you friends or enemies?”
Tan Rou took over the conversation, “We’re just passersby.”
Zhuang Liu then started to act, “We’re a pair of bandits, ones who specialize in stealing at night, just like you.”
The man in black was confused by his words, “What are pair of bandits?”
Tan Rou explained, “It means male and female thieves.”
The man in black seemed to believe their story, “You shouldn’t be here. This is our turf.”
“Yes,” Zhuang Liu immediately responded, “Fine, we’ll leave now and never come back.”
Having said that, he wrote a few characters on Tan Rou’s palm, and she tapped a few times on his hand in response, signaling she understood.
Tan Rou also said, “Then we will be on our way, leaving this place to you.”
After speaking, they prepared to turn and leave.
But at the moment they turned around, the black, cold gun was aimed at them again. It seemed the man in black didn’t believe their words after all and still intended to kill them.
Tan Rou whispered, “Bet ten cents he’s definitely pointing the gun at us right now.”
Zhuang Liu replied, “No need to bet, he definitely won’t let us go, because he already shot at us without intending to have a talk.”
Tan Rou said, “On the count of one, two, three, you from the right, I from the left, then we’ll encircle him together!”
Zhuang Liu pressed Tan Rou’s hand, “You go long-range, I’ll do close combat, and try not to let him shoot.”
Tan Rou suggested a change, “You throw things from a distance to distract his vision, and I’ll close in and snatch his gun.”
Zhuang Liu thought for a second, “Okay, watch out for his gun.”
Once they’d agreed on a plan, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu started a countdown while behind them, the man in black also placed his finger on the trigger.
“Three… two… one!”
“Bang!”
Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu dodged the bullet, and it missed, embedding itself inside the wall.
“You’re tricking me!” the man in black said furiously.
Zhuang Liu threw a knife, then picked up some trash from the ground and flung it, “Didn’t you shoot as well?”
The man in black roared and fired at Zhuang Liu, who was no stationary target. He wouldn’t just stand there and take the bullets. His current goal was to distract the man in black and prevent him from shifting his focus to Tan Rou.
Tan Rou also had a knife in her hand. Biding her time, she threw it when she saw her chance. With all his attention drawn by Zhuang Liu, the man in black seemed unaware of the more formidable opponent lurking in the darkness.
Tan Rou’s aim was far superior to that of the bumbling patrol soldiers. Her knife struck the man in black’s wrist. He winced with pain but didn’t drop the gun.
“You can really take it,” Tan Rou remarked, then rapidly charged towards the man in black.
With the injury to his hand, the man in black couldn’t muster much strength, and the gun’s recoil made his shots unstable. He kept missing. Since it was a handgun, there were not many bullets in the magazine, and once they were spent, he couldn’t change the clip.
The heavy handgun now only burdened his wounded wrist, so the man in black, out of frustration, hurled it away and resorted to hand-to-hand combat.
Without his gun, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu had nothing to worry about. They both charged at him, Tan Rou from the left, Zhuang Liu from the right, planning to take him down together.
Realizing his hand was wounded and faced with two adversaries, the man in black knew he couldn’t win today. He immediately retreated, turning to run back the way he had come.
“Chase him, don’t let him get away!” Tan Rou called out.
Zhuang Liu quickly picked up the gun from the ground, “Keep this, it might still be useful.”
If the man in black still had the gun in his possession, they might have hesitated, but now he had nothing, and he was wounded to boot. If they didn’t chase him now, it would be a missed opportunity.
Moreover, the man in black had come at them intending to take their lives. They couldn’t let this slide. They needed to catch him and let him experience what it felt like to have a gun pointed at his head.
“Damn it!” The man in black hadn’t expected to encounter such tough opponents tonight. Had he known, he would have brought a few more guns with him.
Chapter 1583: 1582 Escape
Tan Rou attacked from the left, and Zhuang Liu attacked from the right. The man in black’s right hand was injured, already somewhat weak, and after being hit several more times, it was completely useless.
Seizing the opportunity, Tan Rou chopped at the man in black’s arm with one hand. The man screamed miserably, almost revealing his real voice.
Both of the man’s hands were injured. He tremblingly pulled out a stick from behind his back. Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu thought it was a weapon, but to their surprise, the man put the stick to his lips.
“It’s a flute!” declared Tan Rou immediately, “We can’t let him play the flute!”
The sound of the flute would surely attract that group of zombies; they were not afraid of the zombies themselves, but since those zombies were still living people, they couldn’t kill them. However, if they didn’t kill them, they wouldn’t be able to escape.
Zhuang Liu flung the pistol he had on him, and although it had no bullets left, the gun was still heavy. The man’s hands were already unsteady, and when hit by the pistol, his grip loosened.
After the flute fell to the ground, the man subconsciously wanted to pick it up, but Tan Rou didn’t give him the chance and kicked the flute away. The metal flute clanged loudly in the darkness, rolling off to who knows where.
“Bastard!” the man in black croaked hoarsely. Now deprived of any help, he had to escape quickly or he would die here.
Seeing his resistance was all but gone, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu relaxed considerably, and they even started chatting leisurely.
“I bet fifty cents that beneath the mask is an ugly face,” Tan Rou said with a laugh.
Zhuang Liu responded, “Then I’ll bet fifty cents that he’ll definitely be caught by us soon.”
“His legs are quite formidable, so we should break his legs first to prevent him from escaping,” said Tan Rou as she looked around for a stick or some other weapon.
In the darkness, the man’s flute reflected some light at a corner, and Tan Rou spotted it. Just as she was about to pick it up, a sudden noise rose nearby.
“Hurry, there are voices ahead, there must be people!” a man shouted.
Following that was a series of footsteps; the people approaching must be wearing boots because the sound was very loud.
“Not good,” Tan Rou said, “It’s the Patrol Captain!”
They heard the noise, and naturally, so did the man in black. He deliberately made loud shouts, “Help, there are robbers here trying to kill people!”
Zhuang Liu cursed, “Are you crazy? What good does bringing the Patrol Captain do for you?”
They soon learned the benefit of having called the Patrol Captain.
“Quick, catch them!” the Patrol Captain shouted, “Orders from above, we can’t let these people get away again. If you don’t catch them, you’re all going to jail!”
No one wanted to go to jail, so the patrolmen rushed forward desperately and soon reached Tan Rou and the others. Smartly, they separated the three individuals into three circles.
To leave, Tan Rou and her group would have to break out of these circles, which meant they had to fight the patrolmen.
“No choice,” Tan Rou couldn’t just stand here and be captured, “Fight!”
Zhuang Liu wasn’t foolish either. He knew they couldn’t afford to be caught, so he grabbed the wrist of the nearest patrolman and took a gun from his hands in just a few moves. Although he didn’t shoot at the patrolman, he shot out the streetlight above.
With the streetlight gone, the area was plunged into total darkness. Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu tacitly kept quiet, not calling out to each other. All they needed was to escape by themselves; they could rendezvous later after getting away.
As for the man in black, he was lucky tonight. If they found him again, they would shoot him.
Even injured, the man in black wasn’t someone the patrolmen could handle. With each kick, he opened up a gap in the dark and ran swiftly, diving into an alley and disappearing without a trace.
The patrol couldn’t track like Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu, so they had to let these people go.
“Damn it, they got away again!” the captain of the patrol team couldn’t help cursing.
Just then, his radio crackled to life, “Squad Seven, come in if you hear me!”
Chapter 1584: 1583 ‘zombies’ gone
The Patrol Captain said impatiently, “Squad Seven acknowledges.”
A voice came through the communicator, “Squad Seven, hurry to district D4 to support Squad Two. Repeat, Squad Seven, hurry to district D4 to support Squad Two.”
The captain of Squad Seven responded, “Squad Seven acknowledges, Squad Seven acknowledges.”
This patrol team arrived quickly and left just as quickly; they didn’t even have time for a patrol around the area before they hurried off to D4 district.
This provided Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu with an opportunity. In fact, they hadn’t gone far because the black-clothed figure’s flute had been left behind. Tan Rou had almost grabbed the flute, so there was no way she could leave. Moreover, she had made up her mind that if the patrol soldiers picked up the flute, she would rush out to snatch it.
Zhuang Liu had left but then circled back; since Tan Rou was still there, he couldn’t go far.
Only after they had confirmed everyone had left did Tan Rou emerge from her hiding spot, and Zhuang Liu from another location.
“Why are you still here?” Zhuang Liu asked.
Tan Rou replied, “The whistle that the black-clothed person blew was dropped here, I want to take it back for research. I was just about to pick it up.” But those patrolling soldiers came along and disrupted things, and she lost track of its direction again.
Zhuang Liu said, “I’ll help you look for it. It will be faster that way.”
Tan Rou nodded, “Let’s speed up so we don’t run into more patrol soldiers later.”
They turned on the flashlights on their watches, but the lights were so small they only illuminated a tiny area, making the search very difficult.
“After we find the flute, we still need to go back to the original spot,” Tan Rou said. “I don’t know if the black-clothed person took the zombie away or not, but if it wasn’t taken, we’ll bring the body back for research. Even if it’s gone, we can still collect some blood samples. Besides, there were many holes punched into it; there might be residual human tissue left that we can pick up.”
Zhuang Liu wasn’t a doctor and didn’t really agree with Tan Rou’s behavior of collecting a corpse, but since it was his wife’s request, he would definitely do it. Not just collecting a body—if Tan Rou asked him to kill someone, he wouldn’t even blink.
“I found it.” Tan Rou finally found the metal flute by the curb of the road. The flute was sturdy, showing no damage despite having been dropped forcefully onto the ground.
Zhuang Liu cautioned, “Be careful, it might be poisoned.”
Since his jacket had already been given to the zombie fellow, Tan Rou had no choice but to take off her own jacket to wrap around the flute. Fortunately, both Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu were wearing multiple layers, or they would be naked now.
Tan Rou wrapped up the flute and weighed it in her hand, then said, “This flute is quite heavy.”
Zhuang Liu also tried holding it and found the flute indeed very heavy, more like a solid metal pipe than a flute.
“I’ll carry it,” Zhuang Liu said. “I also found that gun over there, and a strange Round Badge. We’ll take them back for research later.”
Tan Rou nodded, “Let’s go, let’s go back and look for that zombie brother.”
However, when they finally made their way back to the original spot, the body was gone, and even the jacket Zhuang Liu had wrapped it in had disappeared.
“This is also expected,” Tan Rou said. “Surely they are not alone, one person is responsible for controlling the zombies, and another is in charge of cleaning up the scene.”
“It’s not completely cleaned up yet.” Zhuang Liu shone his flashlight a bit, “There’s still a lot of blood on the ground.”
With the body gone, all they could do was collect some of the blood to take back; the blood on the ground was nearly dry, so Tan Rou tore off a small piece of cloth from the jacket wrapping the flute and scraped up some dry blood clots.
“Let’s see if we can find any other human tissues,” Tan Rou said as she crouched down to search.
After a round of searching, they didn’t find any significant human tissues; it had probably all been smashed to bits.
“It’s getting late; let’s leave,” Zhuang Liu checked the time. “Are you going back to the royal palace?”
“No,” Tan Rou shook her head. “I will go back tomorrow morning.”
“We can’t return to the hotel now.” Zhuang Liu stated, “So we’ll have to wait outside for a while.”
The two of them sat on the sidewalk, stargazing until dawn.
Chapter 1585: 1584 report on the situation
“What? Zombies?” Samiyi stood up excitedly from his wheelchair upon hearing Tan Rou’s report, but he fell back down due to the lack of strength in his legs. “How could there be zombies in the royal city?”
“I don’t know about that,” Tan Rou said. “Last night we definitely saw creatures similar to zombies; they didn’t know pain or fear, and even with bullet holes through their bodies, they could still stand up and move.”
Samiyi’s expression turned grave. “How could such terrifying things appear?”
“They were created by someone.” Tan Rou showed Samiyi a lump of blood wrapped in cloth, a mixture of red and black. Last night it was too dark to notice the color of the blood. It was only this morning she realized it wasn’t normal.
“What is this?” Samiyi reached out to touch it, but Tan Rou stopped him. “Like I just said, the zombies are artificially created. This is the blood that flowed from their bodies. You’d better not touch it, for fear it’s poisonous.”
Samiyi immediately pulled his hand back. “Rou, you shouldn’t touch it either. I’ll have someone come and take the blood for analysis soon, to see what it really is.”
Tan Rou wrapped the item up again, “There’s something else I need to show you.”
Samiyi, with a headache, said, “What else could it be? A vampire’s fang?”
Tan Rou smiled slightly. “You’re quite humorous.” She showed a metal flute to Samiyi. “This seems to be for controlling the zombies. There was also a man in black at the scene. At first, we heard the sound of a flute; after that came the appearance of zombies, and finally, as the remaining zombies left, the flute sounded once again.”
Samiyi felt it was all too magical: zombies, flutes, black-clad gunmen – how could all this happen?
Could it be that even the heavens thought she, a woman, should not be king? Why did so many problems arise just as her brother fell ill and she began to take charge?
The Dawn Society, assassination incidents, zombies appearing in the royal city—she had no solution for any of these problems.
“There was also a zombie corpse left on the ground. We originally planned to bring it back, but the black-clad flutist suddenly appeared. He began shooting at us, but we managed to stop him,” Tan Rou continued. “After we fought for a while, he ran out of bullets and started running. We wounded him in the end, but due to the appearance of the patrol guards, he still escaped. This flute is a spoils of war.”
After the previous warning, Samiyi dared not touch it casually. “This flute looks ordinary, can it really control zombies?”
“The flute is heavier than normal flutes,” Tan Rou replied, “and it’s not the flute that controls the zombies, it’s the tune played by the flutist that can control them.”
“The first time we heard the flute sound, the tune was somewhat soothing, so much so that it made people sleepy. Later it proved that the first tune could indeed make one’s actions slow.”
Tan Rou pointed a finger. “The second tune was more stirring. When that tune played, the zombies appeared, very aggressive, hacking at anyone they saw.” She pointed another finger.
“And when the tune changed again, that was when the zombies disappeared,” Tan Rou extended three fingers. “That tune was shorter; the flutist only played a few notes and the zombies vanished into the darkness.”
Samiyi listened with a headache. “How could such a frightening thing happen?”
“There’s another issue,” Tan Rou said. “During this process, a group of black-clad gunmen appeared. Their marksmanship was very accurate, and after a round of fire, they withdrew. I don’t know if they are with the zombies, but they are certainly not good folk.”
Samiyi’s face showed nothing but worry. “Who on earth is behind these terrifying deeds?”
“People make things happen,” said Tan Rou. “Currently, we still have no way to identify the black-clad men, but one thing is certain: their training of those zombies isn’t for any good cause. The zombies may now be used against the patrol guards, who they’ll be used against in the future, I have no idea.”
Chapter 1586: 1585 Strange Round Badge
Samiyi let out a long sigh, “Rou, thank you for taking the risk to do this, and I’m very grateful you shared it with me. I know you don’t need my gratitude, but right now I truly have nothing else to offer you, because you already have what I wanted to give you.”
Tan Rou smiled and said, “I didn’t help you just to gain favors from you, and besides, didn’t you take me to your family’s royal treasury last time? You even lent books to me to read. Just for the books you lent me, I ought to help you properly.”
Although those books had been left behind by Samiyi’s ancestors, by this time, no one in the royal family could understand them. Samiyi thought of giving the books to Tan Rou as a gift to thank her.
But those gifts were too light. Samiyi felt that even giving all the books in the kingdom to Tan Rou could not repay the debt of gratitude owed to her. Tan Rou, however, didn’t care at all. She just wanted to read the books, and she didn’t want to keep them; she simply wanted to borrow and return them after reading.
This made Samiyi feel even more guilty. She said, “Rou, wait for me for a while, and I will send people to look for ancient books throughout the country for you to read.”
“That’s quite the ‘boss’ comment,” Tan Rou said with a laugh. “Go look for the books for me after you’re done with all this busyness.”
Samiyi nodded, “Thank you for your understanding.”
“I’ve said what I needed to say,” Tan Rou stated. “Take the blood clot for testing first, and remember to send me a copy of the results. I also want to see what exactly is inside.”
“Alright, as soon as we have the results, I’ll have someone send the information to you immediately,” Samiyi replied.
“Hmm,” Tan Rou left everything with Samiyi, “Don’t touch this flute just yet, I think there’s something off about it, I’ll take a look when I come back.”
Samiyi definitely wouldn’t touch it; it was a very important item. What if she damaged it?
“Sure, I’ll listen to you,” Samiyi was still very open to advice. She wouldn’t act wilfully just because she was a princess, “Are you going out now?”
“Yes,” Tan Rou revealed a gentle smile, “My love is waiting for me outside.”
Samiyi also smiled, “Go on, have fun.”
Although Samiyi wished Tan Rou would enjoy herself, Tan Rou wasn’t going out for fun; she had important matters to attend to.
Last night, Zhuang Liu found a strange Round Badge, and since he was unsure whether it belonged to the men in black, Tan Rou did not turn it in.
Moreover, she felt the Round Badge looked familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
“What exactly is this thing?” Zhuang Liu examined the Round Badge, the size of a child’s palm, in his hand. The Round Badge seemed to be made of iron, and it was coated with something on the outside; anyway, it was pitch black.
“The pattern on this looks familiar,” Tan Rou touched the grooves on it, “It looks like a flower.”
Zhuang Liu also thought it looked like a flower. “Doesn’t it resemble a sunflower?”
Tan Rou thought it did but also did not, as the petals of this sunflower were too thin, not like petals at all, but more like the quills on a hedgehog.
“Does this look like a hedgehog curled up to you?” Tan Rou asked, “Though hedgehogs aren’t this round.”
Zhuang Liu admired Tan Rou’s imagination. He said, “Rather than a hedgehog, it looks more like a sea urchin. Look, it’s round and relatively small, and it just resembles a sea urchin.”
“A sea urchin?” Tan Rou had a realization, “Wait, I remember where I’ve seen this pattern before.”
“Where?” Zhuang Liu inquired.
“At the entrance to the Faler family’s home,” Tan Rou answered. “The Faler family’s entrance also has a Round Badge hanging there, but that one is much larger than this, and the craftsmanship is rougher. I also thought it was a sea urchin at the time and was wondering why someone would hang a sea urchin pattern at their entrance.”
“Who is Faler?” Zhuang Liu heard a new name.
“Faler is Samiyi’s uncle. He was the one who sent Samiyi out to retrieve the item, and that’s how Samiyi got injured,” explained Tan Rou.
“So this is a secret organization that worships the ‘sea urchin’?” Zhuang Liu said, “Is Princess Samiyi’s uncle also a member of the ‘sea urchin’ organization?”
Besides a sea urchin, what else could you think of?” Tan Rou unfolded the Round Badge. “Does this pattern look like the sun in cartoon drawings to you?”
Chapter 1587: 1586 Abstract Sun
“Cartoon sun?” Zhuang Liu didn’t watch cartoons, so he didn’t know what a cartoon sun looked like, “I still think it resembles a sea urchin.”
Tan Rou pulled out her phone to look up images. Many cartoon versions of the sun popped up on the web page, some poorly drawn and resembling a round sea urchin.
“Now that I look at it, it does seem a bit similar,” Zhuang Liu said. “If the fringe around the circle were drawn a bit thicker, it would look just like the sun.”
“The sun…” Tan Rou pondered for a moment, “This ‘Round Badge’ is identical to the one I saw at the Faler family’s place. Either both are a kind of publicly sold craft item, or they come from the same organization and the pattern is that organization’s emblem.”
Zhuang Liu suddenly asked, “Could that person from last night be the Faler you mentioned?”
“No,” Tan Rou shook her head, “Faler is very old, his ability to move isn’t that strong, and besides, their heights are different; Faler is much shorter than the man in black we saw last night.”
Zhuang Liu couldn’t guess then, as he wasn’t familiar with the people around here, “What do you think that person’s identity is?”
“Hmph,” Tan Rou scoffed lightly, “The sun has already risen, haven’t you figured it out yet?”
“The sun?” Zhuang Liu said, “Do you mean to say…”
Tan Rou didn’t let him continue, “Stop talking, we’re still outside, and for all we know, those people might be lurking nearby. So let’s avoid mentioning that organization as much as we can out here.”
“Ah, got it.” Zhuang Liu nodded, “Looking closely, the design of this ‘Round Badge’ is indeed interesting. It is pure black but has a sun carved in the center, like a sun in the darkness. A sun only appears out of the dark at dawn.”
“I think I understand why the organization is named that,” Tan Rou said, “They believe this country is in darkness and that their light is needed to save it, so they call themselves ‘Dawn.'”
“What they’re doing is far from just, and they don’t deserve to use that code name,” Zhuang Liu said. “They create dangerous zombies and shoot at patrolling officers in the streets. Is this really right?”
“We can’t be sure yet if the shooter and the zombies are in cahoots,” Tan Rou replied, “Let’s not jump to conclusions for now. Tonight, I’m going to meet with Gand. I’ll agree to his request to help train their members and take the opportunity to see how their shooting is.”
Zhuang Liu, concerned, said, “You must be careful. If anything goes wrong, don’t try to outfight them. Just go along with whatever they say.”
Tan Rou knew the Dawn Society wasn’t as clean as it seemed on the surface. Just their research on zombies was enough to show they weren’t good people. There are many ways to save a country, but creating monsters to achieve one’s goals is definitely not the right way.
“Hmm, I know,” Tan Rou smiled, “I’m not stupid. If I can’t beat them, I definitely won’t fight them.”
Zhuang Liu trusted Tan Rou deeply, “Be safe, I’ll be waiting outside for you.”
Tan Rou patted his shoulder to reassure him, “I’ll definitely return safely.”
Since they were already caught up in this chaos, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu wouldn’t easily back out. They were young and craved challenges and excitement—if they could pull this off successfully, they would have a lifetime’s worth of bragging rights.
“Let’s go shopping,” Tan Rou added, “and take this ‘Round Badge’ for a walk in the streets. We’ll look for any house hanging the ‘Round Badge’. If we find one, we’ll note down the location. It’ll make it easier to find Dawn Society members next time.”
Last night’s plans were disrupted again. They still hadn’t caught the person due to deliver the membership fee, nor the manager of this area.
Having wasted two nights in a row, Tan Rou was feeling a bit anxious. She couldn’t go out tonight. If she wanted to go out, she’d have to wait until tomorrow night.
While the two were chatting, Tan Rou suddenly felt it grow darker and looked up to see a thick mass of clouds covering the sun.
“Are those clouds?” Zhuang Liu also noticed, “That’s odd, why would clouds appear now?”
Chapter 1588: 1587, you are hurt
Tan Rou said, “According to the climate conditions of Country J, it’s impossible for there to be patches of dark clouds this season, yet here they are.”
It was probably because there was moisture inside; the clouds drifted slowly, blocking the sun, causing the ground to darken too. Even though it was daytime, it looked as gloomy as dusk.
Many people had come outside to see, and they were also wondering about this phenomenon.
A passerby said, “Black clouds covering the sun isn’t a good omen.”
Another older person said, “I’ve seen this happen before, and then I heard that a big event had occurred that day, the former King had passed away suddenly.”
Then someone else with a bit more courage said, “His Majesty the King hasn’t made a public appearance for quite a long time now, could it be that…” He didn’t dare to continue his thought.
Normally His Majesty wouldn’t make many public appearances, but it wasn’t like him to not show up for a whole week. If there were public affairs to be dealt with now, they were all handled by Prince His Highness, which inevitably led to speculation.
Zhuang Liu whispered to Tan Rou, “Could His Majesty the King really be in trouble?”
Tan Rou was very certain and replied, “That’s impossible; when I left the house this morning, I checked on the King’s condition. His vital signs were very stable, and he was awake this morning, even talking to me.”
Zhuang Liu was then reassured, “As long as the King is alive, there won’t be chaos in the country for now.”
But Tan Rou wasn’t so assured and said, “In many countries, the sun represents the ruler, and the moon represents the ruler’s wife. Now with such an abnormal phenomenon appearing, and His Majesty the King having been absent for such a long time, I think rumors are going to start circulating again.”
“That’s not our concern,” Zhuang Liu said. “Let the Princess worry about that matter.”
Tan Rou raised an eyebrow, “You’re right; we shouldn’t trouble ourselves with that. It’s our time off now; let’s go roam the streets. I found this fun cotton candy shop here yesterday; I’ll take you to buy some cotton candy.”
Zhuang Liu wanted to say “childish,” but in reality, it had been a long time since they had casually strolled around together, so he agreed.
The cotton candy shop was the same one Tan Rou had taken Ina to yesterday. The business was booming with a queue that stretched from inside to outside.
Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu ordered several cotton candies. Since it took time to make, they went to wait in a shady spot nearby, the owner would call out their number when it was ready.
At that moment, a familiar figure came into their view. The person was still plump and tall, but his face didn’t look very good; he appeared somewhat pale.
“Isn’t that the hotel owner?” Tan Rou asked, “Is he here to buy cotton candy too?”
Zhuang Liu said, “He looks a bit pale. Could he be sick?”
As a Court Physician, Tan Rou’s professional habits kicked in, “If he’s sick, then he shouldn’t eat cotton candy. Consuming too much sugar is not good for recovery.”
Zhuang Liu suggested, “Maybe we should go over and remind him.”
The two of them went over to greet Hamillen, who was in line for cotton candy. His movements were a bit sluggish, as if his hands were not so nimble.
“Boss, you’re buying cotton candy too,” Zhuang Liu approached to make conversation.
Hamillen was startled by Zhuang Liu, and his hand holding his wallet trembled, dropping the wallet full of money to the ground.
Seeing this, Zhuang Liu quickly apologized, “Sorry for startling you.”
Hamillen smiled slightly, “…It’s fine.”
Tan Rou picked up the wallet and handed it back to Hamillen, “Your wallet.”
“Thank you,” Hamillen replied with a slight smile. But his movements were still slow, and as the wallet was placed in his hand, he let out a soft hiss, “Sss—”
Tan Rou paused, “Boss, are you injured somewhere?”
Hamillen immediately hastened his movements, “No, how could I be injured?”
Tan Rou noted that his hands were trembling slightly, but she didn’t say it out loud, instead, she said, “Oh, I just smelled some kind of medicinal scent, I thought you might be hurt.”
In reality, Tan Rou hadn’t smelled anything; the air was filled with the sweet scent of cotton candy and even with her sensitive nose, it was impossible to detect any medicinal odor.
Chapter 1589: Identity of the 1588 Men in Black
“Really?” Hamillen’s eyes darted around before he looked away, “I… I didn’t smell anything.”
Tan Rou purposefully said, “Maybe I smelled it wrong. There are so many cotton candy scents here, perhaps there’s one that smells like medicine.”
Before Hamillen could respond, the cotton candy vendor interjected, “Young lady, what you’re saying isn’t right. Our cotton candy is made from natural fruit, so how could it smell like medicine?”
Tan Rou smiled, “Then I must have smelled something wrong.” She said while glancing toward Hamillen.
Noticing her gaze, Hamillen replied, “There’s no smell of medicine on me, if you smelled medicine, it must have been from somewhere else.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Tan Rou suddenly said, “We have an old saying in our country, ‘If you stay in the restroom all the time, you can’t smell the stink.'”
Hamillen wasn’t a fool, and he immediately caught Tan Rou’s implications, but he could not admit to having a medicinal smell. “I already told you there’s no smell of medicine on me, don’t you understand?”
Tan Rou grinned, “Mr. Hamillen, why are you getting mad? I was just joking with you. If you don’t like what I’m saying, then I’ll stop.”
Hamillen replied, very anxiously, “My cotton candy will be ready soon, so I won’t chat with you any longer.”
The vendor said, “Don’t rush off, you just took a number, and I haven’t started making your cotton candy yet, so you need to wait for me to call your number.”
Hamillen’s expression was very conflicted, but in the end, he reluctantly waited for his cotton candy.
Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu sat down beside him, deliberately discussing topics related to hand injuries.
Tan Rou spoke, “Darling, I also want to learn how to make cotton candy, but my wrist is injured and can’t handle the pressure.”
Zhuang Liu cooperated perfectly, “Dear, I’ll learn to make cotton candy and then make it for you.”
Tan Rou replied very annoyed, “Ah, it’s my own fault for being careless. How did I get a cut on my wrist? After getting injured, I didn’t take good care of my hand, kept lifting heavy things, and now my hand is ruined and can’t lift heavy loads anymore.”
Zhuang Liu said with deep sympathy, “Dear, don’t worry. I’ll find the best doctor in the world to treat you.”
Tan Rou pretended to whisper, but loud enough for Hamillen to hear, “Yes, if my hand isn’t treated, I won’t be able to use a gun anymore. Next time we go to an amusement park for a shooting game, what if I can’t hit the target?”
Although Tan Rou was talking about toy guns, the words took on another meaning when Hamillen heard them. He glanced at Tan Rou and saw that she hadn’t noticed him, then looked away.
“You guys wait here; I’m going to buy something else,” Hamillen said.
Tan Rou waved gently at him, “Okay, goodbye.”
After he left, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu immediately followed him. There were still five or six people in line ahead of them, so it wasn’t their turn for the cotton candy yet.
Hamillen walked very fast, quickly ducking into an alley and then looked around to make sure no one was there before rolling up the sleeves on his wrist.
Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu leaned against the wall on either side, invisible from Hamillen’s angle, but they could clearly see what he was doing.
When he rolled up his sleeve, Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu could clearly see a bandage wrapped around his wrist with a small blood stain, apparently blood had seeped through from his wrist.
Hamillen brought the bandaged wrist to his nose to sniff, apparently not detecting any smell. He moved it closer, and this time he must have smelled something as he quickly pulled down his sleeve and started back out of the alley.
Tan Rou and Zhuang Liu quickly moved away. When Hamillen had gone some distance, they gathered together to talk.
“This should confirm it,” Tan Rou said, “He is the man in black from last night.”
“So you actually did smell something on his hand just now?” Zhuang Liu asked.
“How could I!” Tan Rou chuckled, “With that strong scent of cotton candy there, how could I possibly smell any medicinal scent on him? I was just tricking him.”
Chapter 1590: 1589 The body shape is wrong
Zhuang Liu smiled, “You’re tricking him by exploiting his guilty conscience. If he is injured and has applied medicine, then he will want to know whether there’s a medicinal scent on his body, so he will definitely find an opportunity to come out and take a sniff. If he isn’t injured, then we can directly eliminate him as a suspect.”
“Yes,” Tan Rou said, “the facts have proved that he was indeed the suspect last night.”
“But it still doesn’t quite add up,” Zhuang Liu said, stroking his chin in thought, “Although the person in black last night was wearing a black robe and about the same height as Hamillen, their builds don’t match. Hamillen is on the plumper side, but the person last night had a more balanced figure, and with his speed, I don’t think he was a fat man.”
This was also what troubled Tan Rou; she nodded and said, “Indeed, the person last night was too thin, not like Hamillen. But the person last night did injure his wrist, and we had suspected something was off with Hamillen before. If it wasn’t him last night, then who could it be?”
“Let’s go back and keep an eye on him,” Zhuang Liu said, “Now that we have a target to follow, let’s try tracking him first. If it isn’t him, then we can eliminate a wrong answer.”
Tan Rou agreed with this approach. “Okay, let’s head back. But before we go, we need to buy something else to avoid arousing his suspicion.”
“Alright,” Zhuang Liu said, “I see some wooden carvings on sale over there, how about we buy one?”
By the time they had purchased the wooden carving and returned, Hamillen was already waiting there. At this moment, Tan Rou smelled another scent on him, it was a strong aroma of incense.
“What a lovely scent!” Tan Rou sniffed and then asked Hamillen, “Mr. Hamillen, do you recognize this fragrance? It smells wonderful, it fills the entire shop.”
Hamillen looked much more pleasant than before. He took out the freshly purchased incense from his pocket and said, “This is a specialty spice from our country, you might consider buying some if you like it.”
Tan Rou understood why this man had to go out, to buy things to cover up the smell on his body, “Oh, this incense is quite uniquely shaped, we should buy some later as well.”
Now that Hamillen realized the smell of the medicine wouldn’t be detected on him, he became more talkative. He asked, “Have you two been enjoying your time in our country these past few days?”
Tan Rou hurried to answer, “We’ve been having a good time, but we’re still not quite used to it, it’s really too noisy here at night.”
Hamillen looked puzzled, “People around here go to sleep at 8:30 pm, how can there be any noise?”
“There’s someone playing the flute at night.” Tan Rou said with some irritation, “I don’t know who lacks civic sense, playing the flute late into the night and keeping me from sleeping well.”
“You also heard the flute?” Hamillen’s brows furrowed, “Was the sound very loud?”
“Yes,” Tan Rou said, “it was noisy all night, how could I possibly sleep?”
Hamillen muttered, “There won’t be any noise again.”
Although Tan Rou heard it, she pretended as if she hadn’t, “Ah, what did you say?”
Hamillen smiled and said, “Oh, I mean I’ll make a suggestion to the local patrol responsible for public security. There shouldn’t be any noise after this.”
In her heart, Tan Rou thought, his flute is gone, how could there still be noise? But then again, could the Dawn Society only have that one flute?
“Oh, that’s good,” Tan Rou said with a smile.
It was their turn to buy cotton candy, and Hamillen then said, “Mr. Zhuang Liu, Miss Rou, could you possibly let me have your number placard? My daughter is waiting for me at home, and she wants some cotton candy, so…”
“Sure,” Tan Rou handed over her place in line, “You go buy it first.”
The cotton candy vendor had no objections; since the cotton candy hadn’t started to be made yet, it didn’t matter whose order was prepared first.
As Hamillen went ahead to buy cotton candy, Tan Rou quietly told Zhuang Liu, “You stay here in line, I’ll follow him. If he is truly buying something for his daughter, then he will definitely go home.”