The Laws of Werewolf Hunting

Chapter 373: The hand that takes the man's hand is short, the man that eats the man's hand is short.
It was unclear whether the person who delivered the card was a human or a dark race, but it was a fact that Clayton and Julius were noticed by some being.

As a target directly chosen by an unknown being, Julius' heart almost jumped out of his chest.

He walked to the window and looked at the scenery outside. There were no traces left here.

"Has our investigation been discovered? Otherwise, why would they choose me?" he muttered to himself.

Clayton did not answer, but silently watched Julius's long gray-green hair that fell to her waist fluttering in the wind in front of the window.

Yeah, how could someone suddenly spot him in a crowd?

"The smell in the hotel is too mixed. I can't track that person, and I don't think there will be any good results if I take the initiative to look for him." Clayton stared at Julius' long hair and said, "When you have time later, remember to dye your hair a normal color and hide it in a hat at other times."

If the wizard's hair was not indeed a precious material for casting spells, he would use his nails to "cut Julius' hair" right now.

“What about this address?”

"The cards are all newly made, and the address might just be 'borrowed' temporarily. Go to the meeting on time, there might be a lot of people lying in wait there. If you go late, the person who invited you might have already moved away, and there's nothing to check."

"So what should we do?" Julius asked nervously.

Clayton sighed, "It's just that someone slipped a card in, you wouldn't even necessarily notice it."

Julius suddenly realized.

"And the guy who came to find you might not be the one who caused the disappearance. He tried to trick you out. And the previous missing people had bloodstains in their rooms. Maybe he just noticed that you were unusual and tried to communicate with you privately."

Julius could not fully accept Clayton's explanation, which was still a guess without any basis. The truth might be that the other party felt that he was more powerful than his previous prey and could not be killed quietly, so he resorted to deception.

Someone must be trying to murder him!

In short, he no longer accepted being alone, and decided to share a room with Clayton from now on.

Due to the lack of food, the werewolves also needed to sleep and could not give their bed to Julius, so he could only sleep on the floor with a blanket. As a result, he woke up the next day still feeling tired and his face was pale from the cold.

Clayton suspects that Julius may die of illness before he finds Ginger and Edgar.

But Julius was even more persistent than him.

"Let's move faster." The wizard crossed his arms, shivering and urged him.

Next, they kept moving all day long. Except for meals, they spent most of the day in the carriage, with the almost non-stop roar of machines in their ears.

In order to understand the city, Clayton bought several newspapers and talked to the driver about Viodie's past life, leaving Edgar and Ginger behind. Then he found that Albert was not telling the truth and Julius's worries were not false.

This damn place!

Take bank robberies as an example. The robbery of Dongsen Bank in Sasha City was a big news in the local area. However, in Weiaodi, people have regarded bank thefts as the norm and it doesn’t matter if the bank is robbed because the bank president will spend money to hire a group of private gunmen to snatch the money back from the robbers.

There are laws here, but few people know about them, and in the past few people enforced them.

Before the Royal Police arrived, the sheriffs here were already useless. People trusted security companies and detective agencies more than them, or hid a weapon at home.

Gangs of all sizes have long since replaced the parish boss. They collect a certain amount of protection money and then drive away criminals who are not part of their group, completely replacing the position of the sheriff.

The government's orders here are not conveyed by government officials but through information leaks, and the government rarely explains anything to the public.

The above situation was bad enough. When the carriage passed a group of buildings in a particularly luxurious style, Clayton discovered that the rich area here was different from the rich area in Sasha City. The rich area in Sasha City only arranged gunmen for security at the door of the house, while here, checkpoints were set up on the street corners. Huge black iron arches blocked the entrances and exits of the streets. Privately hired gunmen patrolled the door with rifles in a majestic manner, and no one was allowed to pass through this street, which would be planned as a public area in other cities.

When a rich man's carriage slowly drove through the street, there would always be a group of armed security guards walking behind it, so the traffic was very congested.

Just one night later, Wei Aodi looked completely different in Clayton's eyes.

The industrial level here exceeds that of 80% of the cities in the country, with concrete buildings everywhere, but the lifestyle is still as barbaric as that of the uncivilized people before the Age of Discovery.

This perverse feeling made Clayton feel sick from the bottom of his heart. He just wanted to finish his business quickly and return to Sasha City. Even his hatred for the seller was not enough to make him stay out any longer.

In the north district where the coachman was unwilling to take them, Clayton and Julius had to get off the carriage and walk. Along the way, they drove away seven thieves, broke the hands of four robbers, and passed through fighting gangs twice. Until dusk approached, they finally arrived at the northern border of Weiodi without any danger.

The buildings and population at the border had become sparse, and many low houses had been abandoned, with large holes in the wooden walls, exposing the beams. The ground was overgrown with weeds, but there were deep wheel marks in the mud, indicating that there had been people coming here for a while.

Modern cities no longer need city walls, and when they come here, they can see the scenery in the distance, including the silhouette of the ancient castle in the distant town of Berdalabik.

"We're finally there." Looking at the silhouette, Julius' back immediately straightened.

If even Berdalabik had no trace of Edgar and Ginger, they could return to Sasha City.

Wei Ao Di was different from all the places he had been to before. The malice was subtle but omnipresent, immersing everyone in it. Even if he was a superhuman, a stray bullet from a gang fight on the street could take his life. There was no way to prevent this situation. He just wanted to end it all as soon as possible. However, even if they could see the shadow of Berdalabik now, it didn't mean they could get there immediately. Even if they could get horses, it would take them two or three hours to get there. The road was still dark. Who knew what might be waiting for them in the woods? It would be better to find a family nearby to stay overnight and set off the next day.

They walked to a house with a light on and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly and a man in black holding an oil lamp appeared. He leaned out his upper body and looked at them warily.

"Let me stay overnight. I'll pay you. I'll leave tomorrow morning." Clayton briefly stated his needs.

The man in the room tilted his head to look at the empty surroundings and shone the light here and there, but everywhere looked desolate. "Where are you going?"

Julius pointed his wand at the town in the distance: "Go to Berdarubic."

"What are you going there for? Visiting relatives? There's nothing in Berdalabik, not suitable for gentlemen like you."

Clayton shook his head. "Are you kidding? It's a town after all. How can you say there's nothing there? And we're not looking for anything else. Two friends of ours are missing there, and we want to go look for them. But it's almost night, and it's not easy to go on the road."

"This has nothing to do with me. You can go find another place to stay." The man in black closed the door without mercy, but Clayton held the door open.

"I'd pay a lot, three times the price of the hotel."

The man didn't move, his eyes moving shrewdly, as if he was considering whether it was worthwhile to take them in, but somehow he didn't look particularly greedy.

"Do you agree to this?" Clayton asked.

"Agreed. Please wait a moment." The man closed the door again. They heard him running around inside to pack up things, the sound of glassware breaking, and a loud sigh.

After a while, the door reopened, revealing the man's face, but he looked a little more embarrassed than before.

"come in."

They walked in. The house was so low that Julius could touch the ceiling with his hand, not to mention Clayton. The strong smell of alcohol and pickles filled the house, and on top of that, there was a faint smell of decay lingering in their noses, as if as soon as they opened their mouths, dust would fall from their heads.

The dining table took up most of the hall space, and there was a window on the wall opposite the door for lighting and ventilation. There were two rooms on the left, one was the master bedroom, and the other could be used as a guest room, but both were in a very dark atmosphere, separated only by a very narrow corridor, which could be seen at a glance, and on the right was the kitchen that exuded a greasy smell.

A wooden shelf near the window in the room was filled with various sealed glass cans, and the dark liquid inside looked very ominous.

The cans were covered in dust, but their contents were still visible: some contained pickles, others contained animal entrails soaked in strong liquor, or small animal specimens, the way amateur naturalists do it.

And a glass can had fallen to the ground and shattered. That's what happened.
Glass fragments were flying everywhere and liquor was still flowing on the ground, soaking the brown stains in the cracks of the floor, making it even more disgusting. In the center of the four flows of liquid, a bird that had been dead for a long time was curled up. Its feathers, which should have been golden and dazzling when alive, had lost their luster and were wrinkled and pressed together, making it look thin and pitiful.

The man placed the oil lamp on the table, then went to the kitchen and got a rag that looked dirtier than the floor to clean it up. Behind him, Clayton did not sit down at the round table, but stood, staring at the dead bird on the floor.

This turned out to be a specimen of a young crowned bird. Clayton liked this kind of bird very much, but it is now difficult to see them in the south.

Many farmers with guns would shoot this bird because of its beautiful feathers and fast flying speed, so shooting them became a kind of honor, which made the crowned bird increasingly scarce.

The naturalist's blood in Clayton's body began to take effect instead of the werewolf's blood.

"If you're willing to part with it, I'll give you 20 shillings for this crowned bird."

"What's a crown bird?" The man turned around in surprise. When he noticed that Clayton's eyes were on the nearly damaged bird specimen on the ground, he responded, "So it's called a crown bird? I just thought it was beautiful."

"So you accept the deal?" Clayton asked.

"Of course." The man said very straightforwardly.

"Then please bring another container and alcohol. I will pay for these things as well."

The man went back to the kitchen. Clayton squatted down and held the specimen of the crowned bird in his hand. When he stood up, he looked through the window at the flower bed in the backyard, which was already overgrown with weeds.

After a while, the man came out of the kitchen. He took out an unknown variety of moonshine and a clay jar, but this was obviously not a good choice for placing the specimen.

Clayton frowned, but still used these things to process the specimen.

After checking the room, Julius looked unhappy - if Clayton wanted to occupy the bed alone, the remaining space would only be enough for him to sleep standing up, and he didn't like sharing a bed with others.

Fortunately, the food was good and looked like it was bought from the store. Clayton sniffed it closely before eating.

As soon as they finished their meal, Julius took Clayton to see the room.

He pointed at the bed and offered suggestions actively: "This bed is too small. It is very difficult for two people to lie on it. If we lie sideways on it, our legs will extend beyond the edge of the bed, so I suggest getting two more chairs in the aisle to rest our feet."

Clayton raised his hand to interrupt him.

"There's no need to go to so much trouble. Because..." The werewolf's ears turned, listening to the movement in the kitchen: "We will have two beds soon."