109 How May I Help You (1/2)

”I’ll be honest with you, I need your answer about something.” The voice was polite, ”Who is so intent on hurting an Eastern child? Can you satisfy my curiosity?”

Levy roared, ”F*ck you…ack!” Before he could finish, he was cut off by the pain of his limbs being sliced by knives! There were no wounds at all, as if the knives were inside of his blood and fat, cutting him from the inside. He could not even cry out at the sharp pain. An average person would faint instantly from such pain, greater than that of broken bones, but now, he could not even faint. His limbs spasmed and he writhed uncontrollably on the ground, his eyes rolling in their sockets. The third measure of Black Friday—physical interference!

”Sir, there’s a limit to my patience.” The gentle voice sounded in his ears again, but this time, there was an undertone of anger, ”Tell me who is it? Who wants the Eastern kid? Answer me!”

After minutes of pain that felt like eternity, the practically unconscious Levy finally spoke, ”Sam Luo! The Pyramid King of the Pyramid Scheme! He accepted a large sum to catch that d*mned boy…”

”Who’s money?!”

”An elite. A family with a lot of money! They want the Pyramid King to use the cruelest method to get rid of the kid. That’s all I know! Really! Really!” The hallucinatory pain suddenly stopped, disappearing without warning, as if it had never existed. Levy continued writhing, his body not having recovered yet.

”Okay, next question…” the gentlemanly voice continued, ”Where can I find this Mr. Sam Luo?”

Levy’s eyeballs rolled around as he said, ”The Pyramid King doesn’t have a fixed location. He and his men keep moving…”

”Did you not understand my question?” the shadow interrupted him, pushing the cane against his forehead. The hopeless melody sounded once again. This time, the delicate pain appeared like a warning. The shadow articulated each word carefully, ”I—Want—His—Location!”

”The cemetery! Highgate Cemetery near Whitechapel!” The warning pain pushed Levy to the brink of sanity, and the answer fell from his lips easily, ”That’s where he takes care of traitors. Hudson wants to quit and leave the group, but he was caught. He’ll definitely be there tonight!”

”Give me the address.”

”221 B Baker Street!”

”Very good.” Under the shadow of the hunting hat, the youth curled the corner of his lips into a smrik, ”Next, let’s talk about how many men he has and what weapons they use…”

--

At midnight, the fog still shrouded the city with a whiff of rot and blood. A carriage stopped on one of the downtown streets. The door opened and a little girl hopped out. The girl turned and brought a large golden dog out. The dog landed on the ground and side-eyed the owner of the carriage before lifting its leg and peeing all over the wheels. Not caring at all, the owner glanced at the dog before looking at the girl with smiling eyes, ”The Pyramid Scheme’s territory is right ahead. He should be there.”

Bai Xi nodded and said ingeniously, ”Thanks for the ride.”

”No problem. You just hitched a ride. Your teacher isn’t that stingy,” Hermes said, shamelessly praising himself as if stating a fact.

Bai Xi scoffed and rolled her eyes, ”You knew that I was going to follow him out and was waiting outside, right?”

”Understanding a student’s mind is part of a teacher’s responsibilities. Please don’t mind.” Hermes shrugged, ”And anyway, without my guidance, you never would’ve found the Pyramid Scheme’s temporary location.”

The girl rolled her eyes again, ”I haven’t been wasting my time in Avalon. Even without you, I would’ve found it, alright?”

Hermes could not help but whistle, ”I almost forgot that you’re a bad girl who’s always on the streets. No wonder you don’t feel bad about hitting your teacher, but you have to be careful. The Pyramid Scheme specifically does the dirty work for elites. Kidnapping, trafficking, and prostitution is nothing to them. They’re not as easy to fool as that group of idiots at the pier.

”Even if you’ve learned a lot recently, you’re still not a musician. And not only will you be outnumbered, but the Pyramid Scheme is known for being shady. It’s not impossible to be beaten with a dirty trick.