Embers of Embers

Chapter 10 Worse Than Death
Outer city, East Eileens district, 121A Cork Street.
It was night in Jiudunling, and the dark whale in the night sky was swimming slowly as usual, and then cast a huge beam of light to peer at the sleeping city.
Hot water vapor gushes out from under the manhole cover, and Lorenzo slowly emerges from the white tide.
He looked pretty good, but his face was a little pale, he was walking very slowly with a cane.
Lorenzo escaped before the follow-up mounted police arrived. The intricacies of the downtown area saved him. Judging from his familiar movements when running away, it was not the first time that he was chased.
It's just that this time he couldn't escape smoothly. I can only say that I have to admire the hands-on ability of the thugs. They actually made a nail gun and came out. Lorenzo was still hit in the dense barrage as he fled in embarrassment. , a finger-long iron nail was shot into his waist, but fortunately it was just a skin injury.
Thanks to the steam that filled the air day and night, the clothes of the people of Old Dunling were always wet, so Lorenzo liked black, so that people could not tell whether his clothes were stained with water or blood.
After walking for a long time, he finally arrived at the door of his house.
121A Cork Street.
The location here is remote and it is a new area that has only been developed in recent years. Therefore, the house price is very cheap. However, even though it is cheap, it is not something Lorenzo, the detective, can afford. Then under the introduction of Shrike, he found a place. Nice rental.
Lorenzo did not dare to knock on the door, opened the door gently, and walked in cautiously.
The owner of the first floor is the landlord, Mrs. Van Lud, a very hard-core old lady. It is said that she used to be a female soldier and the most heroic air cavalry among them.
She often boasted to Lorenzo about the glorious deeds of her youth, and her favorite was the story about how she met her husband.
I still remember that at the end of the Glorious War, the entire Old Dunling was in turmoil. At that time, Mrs. Fanlude returned to Old Dunling as a wounded soldier to recuperate. At that time, there was a riot inside Old Dunling, and as a wounded soldier, she had to be dispatched urgently.
Lorenzo guessed that she met some officer and fell in love, but the actual situation was that Mrs. Vanlude pulled the iron rope from the sky as an air cavalry, blew off the enemy's head with one shot, and captured one by the way, and the one who was The unfortunate captive was her future husband.
"You married an enemy?" Lorenzo was very confused at the time.
"He was just a young man who didn't learn well. He became a good person under my discipline."
"What were you thinking at the time? You were fighting! And then you came back with a husband?"
"Lorenzo, you are still young. Do you know about love at first sight?"
Her old and cloudy eyes were shining as she answered.
It’s really a hard-core love story. A heavily armed female hero descended from the sky. She was supposed to kill this unfortunate child with one shot, but she fell in love at first sight and failed to pull the trigger. Just like a primitive man, she was knocked unconscious with a stick. His head, when he wakes up, he will only have two choices, either take the woman in front of him, or be executed for treason.
What exactly happened after the marriage between the two was unknown to Lorenzo. Lorenzo also had doubts about Mrs. Verde's words, but when he thought of the fierceness with which she drew her gun and shot her when she owed rent, Lorenzo Renzo said no more.
He quietly climbed upstairs. There were two doors on both sides of the living room. One belonged to Lorenzo and the other belonged to his roommate. He was a very ordinary person. He was a mechanic by profession and often worked overtime in the factory.
The lights in the room were off, and it looked like the unlucky mechanic was working overtime again.
After entering his own room, Lorenzo felt truly relieved.Hanging the clothes neatly on the hangers, he carried the medical kit into the bathroom. This was one of the reasons why he liked it here. It had a separate bathroom, which was great.
The warm water fell, and he carefully cleaned up the wound with his upper body naked.
The wound was not big. After careful cleaning, Lorenzo began to disinfect it. You must know that most of the homemade weapons made by the thugs in the Lower City were not lethal. What was lethal was what was attached to those weapons.
In that dirty ghost place, you never know in which stinking ditch a knife or sword was placed the night before.
The era of war has passed. What kills people now is disease. Most people die from infection after injury, and this group of people don't even have basic medical awareness.
An artifact was once popular in the lower city. It was just a rusty metal weapon. Lorenzo called it the Tetanus Blade. After all, there were black doctors everywhere there who didn't know where they came from. Once infected, It was basically a death sentence.
After treating the wound, Lorenzo slowly stood up, the fatigue all over his body urging him to sleep quickly.
Inadvertently, his eyes glanced at the mirror, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw ferocious and twisted black lines reflected in it.
It was a tattoo, a big black tree growing along Lorenzo's spine. It was a very strange feeling. Looking directly at the tattoo, it was as if Lorenzo himself was a piece of human skin, and the iron branches and thorns It held up the entire body, but it seemed like a twisting black snake, wrapped around the mortal body.
Weird and dark, as if the darkness leads to another world.
The tree that holds up the world.
Lorenzo seemed to be accustomed to ignoring its existence, just glanced at it and ignored it.
"The tattoo is pretty good."
Suddenly there was a sound in the room.
Beast-like vigilance cut through Lorenzo's nerves like a razor, and murderous intent rolled in his gray-blue eyes.
Looking around, the man was sitting on the sofa wearing an exquisite mask, his movements were full of casualness, as if he regarded this place as his own home.
"I almost killed you."
Lorenzo's mood was not high. After realizing the man's identity, his hand stretched out from the blind spot of the man's sight, holding a loaded gun.
This is one of Lorenzo's habits. His swords are hidden everywhere in this small room. If someone trespasses, Lorenzo can pull out the weapon from behind the towel even if he is wiping his ass. Blow his head off with a gun.
"It seems that you don't like to let others see your tattoo, but it's actually pretty good and very artistic." Shrike watched Lorenzo put on his coat, and then sat opposite him.
"I just don't like being stared at by a man all the time."
Lorenzo fired back mercilessly, then put the pistol aside and looked at his employer.
"So what is the purpose of the noble shrike's night visit?"
Shrike did not answer Lorenzo's words, but instead picked up the iron box on the side. As he opened it, the aroma of tobacco hit his face.
"I guess you have these marks for a purpose."
That was Lorenzo's cigarette case. Even though Lorenzo's face was full of dissatisfaction, Shrike was still like that, flipping through the cigarette case and making comments.
"This is... mandrake?"
Picking up the cigarette painted with red lines, Shrike was a little surprised when he smelled it.
"I thought you didn't recognize this thing."
Lorenzo was a little surprised that the shrike could recognize the mandrake. In his opinion, people like the shrike should be addicted to money and wine.
"A group of shamans from the Land of Plenty recently arrived here. They talk about gods and demons."
Shrike continued to look through the cigarette box and said.
"Their leader wanted to make a living in the lower city, so when he came to see me, he told me a lot about shamanic witchcraft, such as this mandrake grass. They said that smoking this thing makes the smoker a so-called 'spirit'. Then the user will trigger his 'spiritual vision' to see things he shouldn't see."
There was a little playfulness in his eyes, and then he looked at Lorenzo.
"How long have you been using this thing?"
"It's none of your business, Shrike."
Lorenzo responded with a rare toughness to Shrike's question.
"Okay, okay, what's the matter with this cigarette?"
Shrike knew Lorenzo's habit. Most of his cigarettes were mixed with refreshing herbs, but this cigarette was special at the moment. There was a black line drawn on it, and there was only one.It gave off a chilling feeling, as if it contained deadly toxins.
"It's poisonous. It's best not to touch it if you don't want to die." Lorenzo patiently explained to Shrike.
"Hmm...I guess this is your murder tool?"
"Is there a mark on the murder tool?"
Lorenzo taunted Shrike mercilessly, even though a few hours ago, the financial backer almost shot him in the head.
"That's the cigarette left for me. The neurotoxin will put me into a coma, and then my heart will stop beating in my dreams."
It was his suicide tool, but Lorenzo said it effortlessly, as if it wasn't his life that died.
Shrike was in a daze, as if he didn't expect that this cynical man would be so cruel to him. Seeing Shrike's expression, Lorenzo then said slowly.
"You have been hanging around in the lower city for so long, and you should know very well that there are some things more terrifying than death, so sometimes death is the most correct choice."
Death is only a moment, but pain can last a lifetime.
"What a profound philosophy of life."
The shrike was stunned for a moment and praised.
"So, did Lorenzo Holmes experience the 'might as well die' thing?"
Like a viper baring its fangs, the shrike sat smiling.
What awaited him was the dark muzzle of the gun quickly raised, and Lorenzo's gray-blue eyes cold.
"As you said, Shrike, coming to Inlveg and Old Dunling is a brand new life, and a new life should bid farewell to the past, right?"
"It looks like you're really angry." Shrike said casually, "I'm just curious what the man in front of me looked like before he changed his name to Lorenzo Holmes, but it looks like you still don't want to talk about it."
This is not the first time such a conversation has occurred. Ever since Lorenzo came to Old Dunling six years ago, Shrike has tried to dig out his past more than once.
Everyone who starts a new life should have his own past, but Lorenzo is different. No matter how much Shrike investigates, he still doesn't know his origins, as if he appeared out of thin air.
"Don't be angry. I still trust you. After all, you are my iron thorn. If you still don't want to talk, then let's change the topic."
Shrike didn't care about Lorenzo's offense. The two of them were special. Although they were in an employment relationship, most of the time they had equal status.
"Let's talk about the progress of today's case. Thanks to you, Su Yalan Office has begun to pay attention to it."
As he spoke, he took out the delicate revolver from his arms and pointed it at Lorenzo. Shrike showed a kind smile under his half-mask. No one knew whether the last bullet was loaded at this moment.
After talking about the private matter, let's talk about the real thing. To be honest, if there is no one who can replace him, Shrike really wants to kill the big detective in front of him.
(End of this chapter)