156 Tomorrow is a Good Day (2/2)

But soon, Ye Qingxuan found something strange. ”What is this?” He carefully squeezed the corpse’s stiff wrist. Flipping it over, he studied the grain-sized sore on his palm. ”Ringworms?”

”It should be formed by the bacteria or fungi on him,” Ghosthand said. ”Sailors often have this type of skin disease.”

Ye Qingxuan shook his head. ”It’s different from what sailors have. Their skin diseases are usually caused by sunburn, allergic reactions, and organisms in the seawater. This looks like he caught it by working in rotting and humid places. He hadn’t been infected for long either. He should’ve been at a very dirty place recently…”

Quickly, he thought of something. Tossing the hand down, Ye Qingxuan cast a rune and called forth a water bubble. He splashed the water on the corpse’s feet. Under his manipulation, the water regrouped into a dirty ball. He cast another instantaneous rune for fire and evaporated the bubble. The water vanished quickly.

A clump of dark red dirt remained in the air. It radiated with a rotting smell. There were also specks of white crystals in it.

”What is this?” Ghosthand furrowed his brows.

”Dried mud.” Ye Qingxuan rubbed the dirt in his hands and watched as it fell through his fingers. ”There’s only one place in Avalon with this kind of dirt. Only the mud in the sewer is dark red like this.”

”Are you talking about the mud diggers?” Ghosthand thought of the occupation. ”Actually, Lychee had hired many mud diggers who used to unclog the downtown sewers to put traps all over the tunnels, like he was looking for something…He probably found it, or else the Professor wouldn’t have come for him.

”Lychee is partners with the Indians, so it also means that he’s working for the parliament. The Professor is still searching for clues about the parliament.”

Ye Qingxuan nodded. ”Where do they mostly work?”

”The proximity is too large.” Ghosthand shook his head. ”Avalon’s sewage system is complex. Not many people can navigate it well. If they wanted to do something, they could only put traps everywhere.”

Ye Qingxuan guided the dust on the ground into a map of Avalon. ”Show me where they had traps.”

Ghosthand paused before drawing a circle on the map. Practically half of the downtown was included, as well a portion of midtown.

”No, it’s too big. It’s like searching for a needle in the haystack,” Ghosthand said, shaking his head. ”There are thousands of stores in this area, not to mention the sewage system underneath. One portion even goes toward Queen’s Avenue. It’ll be even harder to distinguish there.”

Ye Qingxuan scanned the map. A string of names flashed past his mind: King’s Cross, Bay Queen Park, Amersham and…

Ye Qingxuan’s eyes brightened and he pointed to a spot on the map. ”It’s here.”

Ghosthand looked at where he was pointing at. ”The Arkham Asylum?”

”Correct.” Ye Qingxuan showed Ghosthand the small bits of white in the clump of dirt. ”This should be saline and other chemical materials. The asylum just happens to have a factory nearby that produces these things for the Royal Research Institution. No other places in the sewer would have such heavy chemical residue.

”Lychee must have been working in the sewer under the chemical factory. If we want to find the Professor, we should look there.”

Hearing Ye Qingxuan’s analysis, Ghosthand’s eyes brightened and then dimmed again. The youth could feel the murderous intent and fear in his heart. Ye Qingxuan looked up and gazed at him, smiling.

Ghosthand’s lips twitched and he lowered his slightly raised finger. He had suddenly felt the urge to kill after hearing Ye Qingxuan’s analysis. If he did not kill the youth now, he would be even more difficult than the Professor in the future…Now, he was already able to be the Professor’s opponent. If he rebelled against the Shaman in the future, it would become a big problem.

But quickly, his logic pushed down this urge. Ghosthand’s expression returned back to normal and he sighed. ”As expected, Mr. Holmes. You are more of a detective than a musician, and you’re quite awe-inspiring. No wonder the Shaman thinks highly of you.”

”A detective? That was one of my childhood dreams.” He rose and dusted his shoulders. ”I feel accomplished for scaring Mr. Ghosthand as well. But I hope we won’t have this type of misunderstanding again.” He enunciated clearly and his voice was neutral, but his meaning was clear: If there was a second time, if Ghosthand showed any hostility, Ye Qingxuan would fight back without hesitation.

What was more headache-inducing was that Holmes was able to discover the truth from the smallest clue. If he sensed that Ghosthand saw him as an enemy, he would not act brashly. Instead, he would set a string of traps. Even if he did not kill Ghosthand, it would still be torture.

If Ghosthand wanted to kill him, he would have to be well-prepared and have the determination to fight to the death. Holmes was the most difficult enemy and no matter what, Ghosthand did not want the youth to be above him.

Sensing that the youth was unhappy, Ghosthand sighed. ”My apologies, please do not mind me.”

”No problem. I’d be honored to be your enemy.” Ye Qingxuan waved his hand and moved on from the small test and returned to the main topic. ”It’s almost daybreak. If we act now, it’ll be hard to cover our tracks, and we might fall into the Professor’s trap. I plan on going to the factory tomorrow. Would the Shaman be able to give me some aid?”

Hearing this, Ghosthand fell into deep thought. He waved his hand, telling the others to leave.

In the stillness, he stated, ”Tomorrow isn’t a good day. If you can, I hope you can wait a few more days. I’m sure that’s what the Shaman would say as well.”

”Oh?” Ye Qingxuan furrowed his brows slightly. ”Why not?”

”The Shaman had asked me to work with you, but tomorrow, I have to be his bodyguard and I won’t be able to help you.” Ghosthand smoked his pipe and said quietly, ”The storm is about to arrive. Mr. Holmes, please reconsider.”

Considering this, Ye Qingxuan asked, ”Are you planning something big tomorrow?”

”Our battle with the parliament has reached its climax. There are hundreds of corpses thrown into the sewer every day. We received news that the parliament is planning something big tomorrow. There had already been a large amount of armaments sent to the thugs, including two archangel armors with serial numbers erased. We will also fight back officially tomorrow.”

His words shocked Ye Qingxuan. ”Is Avalon just going to let you fight in downtown like this?”

”If Avalon wants this battle, then it will happen. Hasn’t it always allowed fights in downtown to go on?” Ghosthand replied lightly. ”Downtown will be a mess tomorrow. Mr. Holmes, I hope you don’t fall deeper into this quagmire. We won’t be able to aid you in your mission, so why don’t you change the date?”

Ye Qingxuan thought for a moment and sighed. ”Whatever, let’s just do our own thing. You work on the parliament and I’ll work on the Professor. We all have our own missions at hand. It’s just killing people so why do I have to choose an auspicious day?”

Ghosthand saw the determination in his eyes. After considering for a moment, he pulled a card from his pocket. ”If you insist, don’t reject the help of this man.”

”Who?” Ye Qingxuan took over the card. There were no words on it. The white paper just seemed to be a design of a horse stained with red. He understood instantly. ”The butcher?”