Jiang Baiman heard this and laughed out loud:
“You are certainly full of confidence.”
She then added:
“That’s a good thing, at least when we encounter difficulties and become frustrated, lacking fighting spirit, you can still be full of confidence and infect the whole team.
“That’s called idealistic optimism.
“Uh, haven’t you said that before?”
Shang Jianyao nodded:
“I don’t mind you quoting me.”
Jiang Baiman rolled her eyes at him and walked out of the stairwell.
She looked around and said thoughtfully:
“There may still be some ‘Anti-Intellectualism Church’ believers in this courtyard. The person who warned Zeng Guangwang may also be hiding nearby.”
Lin Feifei, who was “controlled,” lived here, and Zeng Guangwang, who was warned and almost hanged himself, also lived here. If it wasn't a pure coincidence, it meant that there were many "Anti-Intellectualism Church" informants in this area.
Before Shang Jianyao could give his "suggestion," Jiang Baiman sighed:
“It’s a pity we don’t have photos, otherwise we could ask the gatekeeper.
“Checking every household is too labor-intensive for us to complete, and it’s easy to alert the enemy and cause accidents.”
Shang Jianyao's eyes lit up, and he quickly said:
“I can draw the person who warned Zeng Guangwang based on his description.”
“Let’s forget about that.” Jiang Baiman, remembering the paintings Shang Jianyao had drawn, directly rejected his self-recommendation.
She thought for a moment and said:
“Go to the Hunter’s Guild and find O’Dick. He might have a way to extract that person’s image from Zeng Guangwang’s dreams.”
“Hopefully.” Shang Jianyao looked regretful.
The two of them left the door in Huangjiao Alley, turned onto South Street, and walked towards Central Square.
Just as they were about to turn onto West Street, a loud bang suddenly came from the front to the side.
Boom!
Jiang Baiman and Shang Jianyao reacted instinctively. One rolled up into a ball behind a street chair, and the other lay prone on the spot, pretending to be a corpse.
This wasn’t to say that it could block bullets, but rather to avoid the sight of any potential attackers.
After the explosion, Central Square became noisy, filled with screams, shouts, and the sound of hurried footsteps.
Seeing that there was no fierce fighting, Jiang Baiman left her hiding place and looked at the location of the explosion.
It was Wildgrass City Public Library.
The glass windows of this building had all been shattered, and black smoke and red flames were billowing out.
The fire brigade, which was not far away, quickly arrived and used various methods to put out the fire.
Several people covered in blood were carried out one after another. Some were still groaning, while others were lifeless.
Jiang Baiman glanced at Shang Jianyao, who had stood up, and a term emerged in her mind:
“Anti-Intellectualism Church!”
She withdrew her gaze from the library, which was not too severely damaged, and habitually observed the surrounding situation.
Suddenly, her gaze stopped at one place.
At the intersection of East Street and Central Square, a group of people who saw that the "alarm" had been lifted were gathering to watch.
On the edge of this group of people was a man wearing a black windbreaker.
He had his hands in his pockets, was about Jiang Baiman’s height, had slightly messy short hair, and was very thin. His face was unusually pale, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, or had not yet recovered.
As if sensing Jiang Baiman’s gaze, he turned his head and looked back.
His eyes were almost pure black, like an abyss that could bury people’s souls.
This man’s lips curled slightly, revealing an indescribable smile.
Then, he squeezed into the crowd and disappeared from Jiang Baiman’s sight.
“Did you see him?” Jiang Baiman asked Shang Jianyao after a few seconds of silence.
“I saw him.” Shang Jianyao’s arms had somehow taken on the pre-running posture, but his legs didn’t move.
Jiang Baiman immediately laughed:
“I thought you were going to rush over and beat him up.”
Shang Jianyao gave Jiang Baiman a strange look and replied frankly:
“I can’t catch up.”
“That’s good, at least this way, you haven’t revealed that you know he’s a dangerous person.” Jiang Baiman glanced at the library, where the fire was under control, and slowly exhaled. “Hopefully, not many books were lost.”
This was the hope for many children in Wildgrass City.
If it’s just teaching literacy, a “temporary teacher” is enough, but if you want to learn more, you definitely can’t do without books.
Jiang Baiman didn’t say anything more and led Shang Jianyao into West Street and into the Hunter’s Guild.
She was thinking about how to leave a message for O’Dick if she couldn’t find him in the lobby when she found this "Senior Hunter" sitting in the corner area where she and Shang Jianyao usually liked to stay, waiting for someone.
“We have a new clue.” Jiang Baiman walked over and said with a smile.
“I have one too.” O’Dick, wearing a thick woolen coat, stood up.
“Were you waiting for us?” Jiang Baiman immediately understood.
“You should wait at the door so we can see you at a glance,” Shang Jianyao helpfully suggested.
O’Dick ignored him and said directly:
“I’ve already found out which high-level member of the local guild met Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei.”
Found out? Probably found out with dream abilities… Jiang Baiman asked calmly on the surface:
“Who?”
“Cui En, the vice president of hunter affairs.” O’Dick pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor. “I’ll take you to see him.”
Jiang Baiman didn’t rush to mention the windbreaker man. She gave Shang Jianyao a look to prepare him.
Then, they went up to the second floor together. In a small room with only a long table and a few chairs, they met Cui En, the vice president of the local Hunter’s Guild.
He was tall and thin with a large nose and sparse but still black hair.
Shang Jianyao sized him up for a while and suddenly asked:
“Have you dyed your hair?”
Cui En opened his mouth, forgetting the words he had originally organized.
After a few seconds, he proudly touched his hair:
“No.”
“I see…” Shang Jianyao seemed a little regretful.
Jiang Baiman strongly suspected that he was regretting not being able to recruit dyeing business for his brother in arms, Fei Lin, the leader of the Rootless Mercenary Corps.
O’Dick didn’t waste any time and broke the strange silence:
“I just communicated with President Cui. He met Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei about a month and a half ago.”
Cui En trusted O’Dick very much and didn’t even have a bodyguard with him. He pointed to the chairs across from the long table and said:
“Sit down.”
After Jiang Baiman and Shang Jianyao quickly sat down, Cui En sighed:
“I didn’t want to mention this matter. It has no value and will only bring unnecessary trouble and involvement. As a result, O’Dick somehow found out.”
“About a month and a half ago,” the vice president recalled. “It was one morning when my assistant told me that someone wanted to visit me to talk about a big mission. I didn’t have anything to do at the time, and my assistant said that they seemed to have a background, so I agreed.
“Then, I met Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei in my office.
“They didn’t actually have a big mission to talk about. Their purpose was to learn about ‘Mechanical Paradise.’”
“‘Mechanical Paradise’?” Jiang Baiman was slightly surprised.
This was a large force that fully mastered the technology for producing intelligent robots and had many factories. It was located at the entrance to the sea at the southern end of the Old Mountain Range.
It was relatively mysterious, and its transactions with the outside world were mainly handled by robot armies. No other forces had ever entered their controlled area.
——“Pangu Biology” was located at the northwestern end of the Old Mountain Range.
“Yes.” Cui En replied with some confusion. “I don’t know why they wanted to learn about ‘Mechanical Paradise’. They were even willing to offer a good reward for it. Unfortunately, I don’t have much contact with ‘Mechanical Paradise’. Although the lobby is full of ‘Mechanical Paradise’ products, the president and the local president are in charge of the relevant affairs. Therefore, I can only tell them to try to find connections and visit the president on North Street.”
The president of the local Hunter’s Guild was City Lord Xu Liyan.
“No wonder…” Jiang Baiman solved a question in her mind—why Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei had entered North Street.
They were going to the City Lord’s Mansion to ask to see Xu Liyan, the city lord and president of the Hunter’s Guild.
Cui En picked up the white porcelain teacup in front of him and took a sip:
“I haven’t seen them since then, but I can confirm one thing: they left North Street later.
“Because I was worried that this matter would bring unnecessary trouble to the president, I instructed my assistant and the relevant clerks not to leak this news. I don’t know how O’Dick found out.”
Obviously, Cui En was worried about O’Dick’s sudden discovery of this secret.
At this time, O’Dick nodded slightly, indicating to Jiang Baiman that Cui En was not lying.
Jiang Baiman then looked at Cui En and said with a smile:
“We understand.
“Thank you so much for your trouble, President Cui.”
“It’s nothing. If it can help clarify Liu Dazhuang’s death, I would even be grateful,” Cui En said, standing up, and sent Jiang Baiman, Shang Jianyao, and others out of the room.
Outside, while walking towards the stairs, Jiang Baiman smiled and said, looking ahead:
“Another exchange of information?”
“Okay.” O’Dick did not refuse.
Jiang Baiman said, "Mm":
“We found a ‘temporary teacher’ who was threatened by the ‘Anti-Intellectualism Church.’”
She omitted the causes and consequences, described Zeng Guangwang’s address and experience, and highlighted the windbreaker man in the crowd after the library explosion whose image was similar.
“This style…” O’Dick’s expression gradually became serious. “It’s very similar to the ‘Priest’ who was active in ‘Initial City’ before.”
Shang Jianyao’s expression immediately became excited.
Jiang Baiman glared at him, telling him to restrain himself, and then said to O’Dick:
“Your turn.”
O’Dick looked at the stairs in front of him, and after a moment of silence, said:
“I didn’t come to Wildgrass City by chance. I was invited.
“I’m investigating Liu Dazhuang’s death not because I just happened to come across it, and not because he was an information peddler.”
At this point, O’Dick stepped into the stairs, leaving a sentence:
“He was secretly serving the City Lord.”
Hearing this sentence, Jiang Baiman felt all the clues intertwine in her mind, and it seemed that they were not far from outlining the answer.
ps: Asking for monthly tickets at the beginning of the month~
ps2: There is a new fan fiction activity for 诡秘, everyone can go take a look.