Chapter Volume 2, Legend of a Hero 5: Publicly, the Hero in Need of an Identity (2/2)

In the alley, there was blood and flesh scattered everywhere. The way it was scattered seemed almost as though someone had intentionally tried to use the blood to lay a red carpet in the alley. The main remnants of the body were leaning against the wall. Actually, it was mostly bones left – white bones with blood and flesh sticking to them haphazardly. The most complete section was the head, where we could at least still see some skin and an eyeball.

The blood smelled very fresh. It seemed like the incident had happened not too long ago… Fresh blood… What a waste…

“Charles!” Ji Luo Chu shouted at me.

I abruptly came back to my senses, and then replied automatically, “Yes?”

“Come over and cover the eyes of your young master properly… Don’t let him see!” Ji Luo Chu used an extremely stern tone in his last sentence.

“Very well.” I quickly stepped forward and covered the young master’s eyes.

Ji Luo Chu frowned and said, “Cover his eyes tighter! Don’t let him peek.”

I could only walk another step further and tightly wrap both my arms around the young master’s head. Only then did Ji Luo Chu nod his head in satisfaction. Afterwards, he did not pay any further notice to the young master and me. Instead, he walked forward and started to take photos from various angles with his camera, just a few steps away from the corpse.

At this moment, the young master suddenly pinched me. I returned to my senses, and then slightly relaxed my arms and adjusted my position. This way, the young master would be able to see the situation from the gap created.

A corpse that has been shredded into pieces… What kind of person could have done this?

If it were ten years ago, I would have been very certain that this was not the work of humans. However, now that there were more and more modified humans, a mechanical arm would be enough to shred a person.

Now, whether this was the work of humans or non-humans, it would be really hard to say for sure.

After Ji Luo Chu took pictures for a period of time, he lowered his camera. Seeing that, I immediately hugged the young master’s head tightly again, so as to prevent him from discovering the young master peeking at the body.

He walked over and told me, “Let’s go. If the police come and see us standing too close to the corpse, they will be very unhappy.”

I gave a nod, and while hugging the young master’s head, turned and brought him out of the alley… However, I found it a little funny. The young master had once chopped off DSII’s head without any hesitation. To him, the only difference between this corpse and the humans that are alive and kicking would probably merely be that he could not open his mouth to speak?

“The security nowadays is really just terrible!”

After walking out of the alley, Ji Luo Chu seemed to be very displeased. He turned toward his brother, and then in a firm tone that brooked no objection, said, “Luo Lun, from now on I will come and pick you up after work at night. You’re not allowed to run around freely in the middle of the night either!”

Luo Lun received a fright and shouted loudly, “Gē!”

“There’s no—”

Beep beep!

Ji Luo Chu furrowed his brows. After he took out his cell phone and operated it for a while, he revealed an apologetic expression as he said, “I cannot stay and wait for the police anymore. The boss in my studio is looking for me.”

“Charles also can’t stay.” The young master looked at me as he explained, “He has requested leave for tonight and is going to look for someone!”

“Is that so? Then you guys should get going too.” After saying that, Ji Luo Chu turned to his brother and instructed, “Luo Lun, please invite Olga over. Request that she close the store for now and ask her to wait here for the police. She can accompany you to the police station to make a statement too.”

Luo Lun immediately started to say, “I can wait here by myself—“

“No way!” Ji Luo Chu interrupted his words with a low yell. This made Luo Lun’s expression turn mulish. However, he was clearly quite intimidated by his brother, for even though his entire face was filled with dissatisfaction, he did not dare to rashly talk back.

Just then, the young master burst out laughing. This made the two brothers, who were in the middle of fighting, pause and look at him in puzzlement. The young master smiled as he replied, “Luo Lun, my brother is exactly like yours. He’s always not allowing this and not allowing that, hehe!”

Luo Lun grumbled quietly, “Yours definitely doesn’t nag as much as mine…”

At this time, Ji Luo Chu’s cell phone rang again. His expression was full of apology as he said, “Sorry, I really do have to go. Luo Lun, go help Olga close the store.”

Luo Lun muttered “okay” and following that, went ahead and left first.

Ji Luo Chu showed a hesitant expression at this point. I told him, “It is all right. You can go first. We will wait for Olga to come over.”

After Ji Luo Chu left, the young master abruptly said, “Probably another incident just happened!”

I froze for a moment, and then asked in reflex, “Did Mr. Bramble and the others tell you that?”

“No. Ever since last night when I instructed them not to tell me the situations from the surveillance cameras, they still haven’t reported to me even now!” The young master tilted his head and looked in the direction Ji Luo Chu had left in. He said, “It’s because Luo Chu-gē left in a hurry.”

What relation is there between Ji Luo Chu leaving before us and an incident happening? I felt mystified and could only ask for clarification. “I do not understand, Young Master.”

The young master replied with a confident smile, “Ji Luo Chu. He is definitely First Wind!”

I was stunned and was not able to say anything for a long period of time. It had completely not crossed my mind that the young master would say something this shocking all of a sudden.

Once I thought about it more, I found it even stranger. I could only ask, “Young Master, Mr. Ji Luo Chu’s left arm has not been modified, but First Wind’s left arm has been modified.”

The young master chuckled as he said, “Charles, I look from head to toe like I don’t have any modifications, right?”

Hearing those words, I too started to smile. This was indeed true. Though the young master looked like he had not modified his body, the truth was that every part of his body had been modified at some point in time. If that was the case, then First Wind might have his own way of disguising such a thing.

At this point, the young master explained to me, “As long as I observe for a long enough time, I can ‘measure’ a person’s appearance in great detail. Though Luo Chu–gē’s hair color is a fairly ordinary shade of gold, there are still deeper and lighter shades to differentiate between even if it is gold in color. Luo Chu–gē’s and First Wind’s hair are both the same dark gold in color. His height, weight, the shape of his jaw, and the length of his right arm are all exactly the same as First Wind’s. Though his voice is a little different, First Wind’s voice is possibly altered. Therefore, Luo Chu-gē is definitely First Wind!”

I was a little shocked as I said, “If that is the case, then if we were to meet Solitary Butterfly and Dragon Peace as well, would Young Master be able to recognize them?”

“For Solitary Butterfly, yes. For Dragon Peace, possibly not.” The young master tilted his head, deep in thought as he said, “Dragon Peace is a little strange. With that body shape of his, it’s impossible to hide in the city without getting discovered. So, I think he doesn’t usually have that kind of body shape.”

I agreed whole-heartedly. Even werewolves after transformation would look like children in front of Dragon Peace.

“Young Master,” I suddenly realized something. “Perhaps Mr. Ji Luo Chu has also guessed your identity, just like you did.”

The young master rubbed his head, saying, “Yeah, probably because my hair color is still too obvious? But I can’t dye my hair… I hope Bàba can fix DSII’s body a little faster. This way, An Xiang Ye and Dark Sun can appear at the same time.”

I was still pondering over the question of why the young master’s hair could not be dyed when the young master tugged at my arm. He said, “Charles, go and look for the werewolf!”

I froze momentarily and took out my pocket watch to take a look. Then I said, “Young Master, it is only ten o’clock right now.”

The young master shrugged his shoulders as he said, “I will have Bramble-shū resume reporting the situations from the surveillance cameras. In a few moments, I will go and change into Dark Sun’s attire to go patrolling around the neighborhood for a while. You don’t have to follow me.”

So that is how it is. I bowed, and said, “Very well. Then, I do ask Young Master to take care.”

When I lifted my head up, there was already no one in front of me… The young master is really behaving more and more like the heroes in the movies—coming and going without a trace.

After I confirmed that the young master had indeed left, I glanced around. Once I ensured that no one was paying me any attention, I stepped onto the wall of the building, and then dashed all the way up.

Though I had accepted my friend X’s request, I truthfully could not say that I had been searching to the best of my abilities in these past few days. This made me feel extremely guilty. From now onwards, I definitely would have to start searching seriously.

I jumped onto the rooftop of the building and surveyed the surroundings. I started to analyze where I should start my search from. Sunset City was, after all, a big city, and if I were to search every alley it would definitely exceed the two week limit that X had asked for. Therefore, I had to start by searching the places where there was a higher possibility of finding him.

Hmm… Generally speaking, if a bloodthirsty werewolf wants to kill someone, either they will specially go out of the city to do so, or they will pick places within the city that are more impoverished and lacking. After all, even if the humans there were to simply vanish, it would not raise too much of a commotion.

Within Sunset city, the place with the worst living conditions was the southern part of the city.

X-Killer, the place where I was right now, was located in the western side of the city. Speaking of which, this area was indeed the Aristocrat First Wind’s area of influence. A photographer with an irregular work schedule, the composed manner upon seeing the mutilated corpse just now, and his rushing off because something had come up… Ji Luo Chu really did match the characteristics that a hero should have. The question is, does his little brother, Luo Lun, know about it?

“Do not think about heroes anymore.” I smiled wryly. Now was the time when I should be focusing on properly completing my friend’s request.

I looked down at the stretch of black earth. Tonight, there was moonlight in abundance. It was indeed a good occasion to be searching for werewolves.

Then, I shall start searching from the southwest…The southern side seems to be Dragon Peace’s territory. I sure hope that I do not run into him during these two weeks.

Following that, I started my lifestyle of going out every night to search for the werewolf Cornell.

Every night, the young master would go out at ten o’clock, and before I came back, he would go out for a morning run again. This made me feel extremely concerned. Could it be that the young master had specially left early and returned late so that I could have more time to search?

Bothered by my worries, I questioned Dell, who replied casually, “Yeah! The young master comes home at about two in the morning. If an incident happens, then his timing isn’t as regular. Sometimes, he doesn’t return until three or four.”

And then he goes out for a morning run at five o’clock? Does this count as having slept?

On the other side Mr. Bramble explained in more detail, “Butler, don’t be nervous. I have already asked the young master. The young master says that he actually doesn’t need to sleep every day. Even if he goes without sleep for a few days, he would still be fine. If he sleeps every day, two hours per day would be enough. Any more than that is excess and actually doesn’t help much.”

These descriptions really sounded extremely familiar. If it were not for the fact that the young master did not drink blood, I would believe that I was serving my fellow kind.

May also started smiling as he said, “The young master also used to do so in the past quite often. Though he would go to his room to sleep at ten o’clock, once anything happens, he would leap out from his bedroom window and only come home when dawn is about to break.”

So that is how it is. I relaxed a little, but I still continued to feel a little guilty. Hence, I put even more effort into serving the young master, and even made various kinds of different cuisines for the young master every day. Though the young master is not picky with his food and does not have any particular food preferences, he likes new things that he has not yet seen before. Therefore, as long as I used a method of cooking that he had yet to see, it would make him very happy.

For example, today’s dinner was Kaiseki cuisine. The young master had shown a face full of curiosity at the sashimi. When I was just about to bend over to pour the roasted barley tea, he had already spread a thick layer of wasabi and soy sauce on top of the sashimi. Just when the words, “Please wait a short moment,” had barely left my mouth, he had already shoved the entire slice of raw fish into his mouth.

“Young Master…” I was somewhat at a loss as to what to do. After all, I could not possibly ask the young master to quickly spit the food out.

After chewing twice, the young master’s face started to contort. He looked as though he was suffering a lot. I quickly served him the roasted barley tea and gently patted the young master’s back, telling him, “Young Master, please quickly drink some tea!”

The young master took the cup and finished the entire cup in one gulp. Then, he exhaled a very long breath before he nonchalantly said, “It’s really strong, but it tastes pretty good.”

Then, he picked up another slice of sashimi with his chopsticks, put on the same amount of wasabi, and shoved it into his mouth again… The young master’s tastes were as expected, also very “heroic.”

After dinnertime, the young master took out his homework. I helped pour a glass of milk for the young master and then turned away, intending to go clean up. However, the young master abruptly called out to me, “Charles.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned around to reply, “Yes.”

As the young master drank his milk, he said, “That day we were at X-Killer, wasn’t there someone who died in the alley? The autopsy report is out. The victim was a tourist and was torn apart with great force. His body pieces were strewn about, and there were quite a few traces of claw and tooth marks. The canines shown in the bite marks were abnormally developed and are definitely not the kind that a human would have. Other than that, they had also managed to collect animal fur. It is surmised that the person was attacked by a large animal.”

What kind of large animal could tear someone apart like that? Moreover, it was even in the midst of a large city. It simply was not possible that there was a previously undiscovered bear at large attacking humans here.

Other than werewolves, I simply could not think of any other possibilities. However, the location of X-Killer was in the west, which was in a completely different direction from the south, the place that I had been searching. Perhaps I had guessed wrong since the very beginning.

“What a pity that there aren’t any surveillance cameras in that alley.” The young master spoke in a tone full of regret. However, he smiled after that. “But we can still manage to find a few clues! For example, when the case happened, only the victim walked into that alley, and no one else.”

I was shocked, and words escaped from my mouth. “How can that be? Werewolves cannot become invisible.”

The young master laughed as he said, “Of course it’s not invisibility. The thing is, there is one place where surveillance cameras are absolutely unable to check. That’s the sewers.”

The sewers?

“If that werewolf was living in the sewers, then that would be really troublesome.” The young master said with concern, “The sewers of Sunset City are extremely tangled and complex, and moreover, a lot of vagrants live there. If someone were to dare to step into their territory, they would attack indiscriminately. Though they are really very weak, many do not fear death. To defeat them one-by-one under the constriction of not killing them is really very difficult.”

The young master looked at me all of a sudden, and warned me in an earnest tone, “Charles, I think it’s better for you to just search on the surface. As long as your brain doesn’t have a satellite navigation system installed, don’t ever go down into the sewers!”

Young Master, no one’s brain has a satellite navigation system installed in it…. I hesitated. Perhaps the young master did have one.

“Okay. Charles, you can go and look for the werewolf now.”

Upon hearing this, I froze momentarily but then replied hastily, “Young Master, it is merely eight o’clock at the moment.”

The young master shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m going to go out now anyways! I have already made an appointment with Luo Chu-gē. I’m going to his studio for a test shoot today!”

I quickly said, “Young Master, please let me accompany you…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

I went blank for a moment. However, these words were not said by the young master. When I turned around, Melody was just walking in through the entranceway. She gave us a charming smile. “The young master has me for company!”

I started laughing involuntarily. The young master was openly laughing even more heartily as he said, “Melody, why are you dressed like that?”

Her outfit was a white high-collar blouse, and her hair was combed neatly and tied into a bun at the back of her head. She was even wearing a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. With her tight skirt and the black high heels with thick-heels on her feet, she looked like a female executive from an office… except that that tight skirt was a tiny bit too short.

Melody turned around on the spot and exclaimed, “A shrewd and capable female butler! Isn’t that what I look like?”

I smiled as I shook my head. However, the young master nodded his head vigorously.

Melody seized the young master and looked at me. With a provocative tone, she said, “If the young master says I look like one, then I look like one.”

I gave a slight smile and did not pay any mind to her provocations. I merely briefed her, “It is great that you are accompanying the young master. Please remember, no matter what the photographer says, do not ever let the young master wear dashing clothes and a cold expression at the same time. That is because that kind of appearance is simply too much like Dark Sun.”

The young master showed an expression of sudden realization. Melody instead impatiently said, “Got it. Young Master, we’re going!”

I really did not understand why Melody was in such a rush. Other than the last time when we had gone out and coincidentally run into an incident, causing her to have no choice but to help delay time, I had never seen her have that much interest in accompanying the young master outdoors.

The young master laughed quietly. “I told Melody that Luo Chu-gē is a very nice person and also is very good-looking!”

So that is how it is.

“What?! What kind of secrets are you two whispering about! If you’re not going, then I’m leaving.” Melody pouted in dissatisfaction.

“We’re going right now!” The young master immediately grabbed Melody, not letting her leave, while at the same time bidding farewell to me, “We’re heading off now!”

“Very well, please watch your step.”

My gaze followed the young master and Melody as they went out the door. Afterwards, I changed out of my butler’s attire to the clothes from X-Killer, and as usual, I went out to search for the whereabouts of the werewolf Cornell.