Chapter 177 Crucial Clue

"Mr. Xia Nan, I'll be at the Iron Bucket Toad Tavern for the next couple of days. Just give me a shout if you need anything!"

"Our Gray Badger Gang might not amount to much compared to you, but the brothers are pretty handy with the sort of trivial matters that someone of your status shouldn't have to bother with."

His dark eyes reflected Ironhead's figure as he disappeared around the street corner.

Xia Nan withdrew his gaze and started walking, planning to return to Jeff's house first and figure his next move out after lunch.

But after only two steps, he paused.

As if remembering something, he looked around to get his bearings and changed direction.

If "Colander" Big Ben wasn't lying, he hadn't seen Buck in a long time due to what happened during Hunting Day.

By the time Xia Nan returned to Nym from Rivervale Town, the incident at Buck's house had already happened.

Although what he learned from Big Ben revealed the cause of the incident and increased the likelihood that Buck was infected with "Lycanthropy," it provided no useful clues about Buck's current whereabouts.

So, Xia Nan decided to make another trip to Ash Tree Alley to find Buck's neighbor, the girl named Harriet, and ask her for more information.

Ideally, he could find out which constable had led the guards to handle the scene.

Even though he wanted to avoid official factions due to the current chaos among Nym City's higher-ups, he had no other choice if he was going to complete his Advancement Quest.

If possible, once he met with the constable, Xia Nan also wanted to gather some intelligence on "Lycanthropy."

Although he had used as much free time as possible over the past six months to cram all kinds of knowledge on supernatural powers, he still had only a rudimentary understanding of this ancient and terrifying curse.

Perhaps he could uncover some new clues during the investigation.

Just as he was thinking this, a dense, hurried flurry of footsteps suddenly echoed down the wide street ahead, accompanied by the sharp clatter of scraping metal.

He subconsciously looked toward the sound.

A squad of guards came into view, wearing Nym City Standard Armor with one-handed iron swords hanging at their waists.

Unlike their usual slow and leisurely patrol pace, these guards were moving noticeably faster—almost at a jog—and their expressions were exceptionally grim.

Within seconds, they crossed the street where Xia Nan stood and vanished among the buildings behind him.

And their direction seemed to be...

The Slums?

Xia Nan couldn't help but freeze.

His Perception, having reached 7 after his level up, seemed to alert him to something.

His original plan instantly discarded, he spun around and, almost purely on instinct, followed the guards in the direction they were hurrying.

He had guessed right.

As Xia Nan trailed at the back of the guard squad, the buildings on both sides of the street once again grew dilapidated.

The road grew narrower, and the surroundings gradually became cramped and filthy.

It was as if he had just walked this path; the sense of déjà vu was incredibly strong.

Then, Xia Nan saw a dense crowd of onlookers and heard wails and cries of pain drifting through the air.

Even if slightly worn, the brick-and-tile flathouse that had stood out like a crane standing among chickens in the Slums was now reduced to a collapsed, blood-reeking ruin, along with a few surrounding thatched huts.

Frowning deeply, Xia Nan pushed past the crowd. His gaze swept over a few bold figures rummaging through the ruins to loot valuables in the chaos.

His nose twitched as he carefully gauged the direction of the bloody stench drifting through the air.

Searching, his eyes settled on a spot near the back door of the house.

[Gravity Control] activated silently. Without him seeming to exert any effort, the fallen brick and stone wall ahead lifted easily amid a swirling cloud of dust.

It revealed a mangled, bloody corpse.

Fortunately, the face was mostly intact, though covered in a layer of stone dust that made it look somewhat grimy and hard to identify.

But having just met him, Xia Nan recognized the man's identity with a single glance.

—It was "Colander" Big Ben, the very man who had trembled just hours ago while explaining that he hadn't pushed his teammate on purpose!

Xia Nan's gaze narrowed, his face devoid of emotion.

Without any disgust, he crouched down to examine the injuries on the body.

There were obvious wounds on his abdomen and arms. His chest was slightly caved in, as if struck by a heavy object, with who knew how many broken ribs.

There was a small, bleeding cut on his forehead, but it looked like a mere scrape that wasn't fatal.

What truly ended Big Ben's life was the massive gash on his back—a wound that had nearly cleaved completely through his body, leaving flesh and internal organs visible.

Xia Nan was no detective or forensic examiner; he couldn't deduce the entire course of events just from these superficial traces.

But the experience he had accumulated through battle after battle since transmigrating, combined with the body's position and wounds, gave him a rough guess as to what Big Ben had gone through.

First was the head-on combat.

As a former Adventurer, even if a bit older, he still possessed a certain level of combat ability and courage.

Facing an enemy charging at him while unarmed and unarmored, Big Ben's first instinct would likely have been to engage in close-quarters combat.

The injuries on the front of his body partially corroborated this.

After grappling with the enemy, Big Ben must have quickly realized the disparity in their strength, turned around, and tried to flee out the back door.

Instead, the attacker caught up to him from behind and dealt a lethal blow before he could even leave the house.

From what Big Ben had volunteered earlier, Xia Nan already knew this.

This middle-aged Adventurer, who had no habit of saving and often squandered his gold coins at gambling tables and bar counters, had offended many people over the years while working for gangs.

When Xia Nan first approached him, Big Ben had even mistaken him for an assassin hired by an enemy to settle a score, getting so terrified he nearly bolted on the spot.

Now, meeting such an end didn't seem all that surprising.

But...

He had only just left, and immediately afterward, Big Ben had been attacked and killed.

Wasn't that a bit too coincidental?

He wasn't some favored child of the Grim Reaper, nor was he like those famous fictional characters from his past life who brought death wherever they went, right?

"Excuse me, please make way."

As he pondered, a male voice rang out from behind, accompanied by the scraping sound of a scabbard against armor.

Turning his head, Xia Nan saw a tall guard in standard gear.

Perhaps deducing some of Xia Nan's strength from his equipment and the effortless way he had just lifted the brick wall, the guard spoke with notable politeness. He didn't even step too close, choosing to stand a few paces away while maintaining a mild tone.

With his outstanding observational skills, Xia Nan had already noted most of the details on the corpse within a few minutes; staying here wouldn't yield anything more.

Xia Nan gave the man a slight nod and stepped aside.

While his eyes scoured the surrounding ruins for any useful traces, his ears picked up a conversation a short distance away between several other guards and a local resident.

"M-My Lord, I really didn't... J-Just now, he..."

"Speak clearly!"

"Yes!" The man gulped.

"The one living in this house was a retired Adventurer, went by 'Colander' or something."

"You know how it is, my Lord. We usually avoid big shots like that whenever we can. He lived here for so long, but we barely even dared to say a word to him."

"Hurry it up, don't waste my time!"

"Yes, yes! Just now, two groups of people came by."

"The first group was just two guys. The bald guy leading the way looked fierce and vicious, definitely not a good sort. The one following him was younger, and judging by his outfit, he looked like an Adventurer too."

"They stayed inside for a bit and then left. We didn't hear any weird noises."

"Then, not long after those two left, another guy in a cloak showed up. He was incredibly built. When he knocked twice and got no answer, he just smashed the door open!"

"After that, there was a huge crashing racket inside, and we heard a few screams. I don't know what happened in there, but the place started shaking and the whole house collapsed."

"I didn't dare stick around. I packed up and rushed out immediately, so I'm really not sure exactly what happened next."

A lone man, a muscular figure in a cloak, a dead Big Ben...

Xia Nan split his attention, carefully committing to memory the account of the nearby resident who had witnessed part of the attack.

He already had a few ideas forming in his mind.

Before he could dwell on them, his gaze—still searching the surrounding ruins for traces—suddenly caught on something.

Just a short distance ahead, on the surface of a wall brick half-buried in a pile of rubble—

There was a deep, prominent claw mark!

Five parallel toes, the middle ones long and the outer ones short.

It was exactly the same as the claw mark he had found in Buck's house...

An identical match!

...

...

On the sofa in Jeff's living room.

Xia Nan wore a thoughtful expression as he gently rubbed the [Deathline] ring on his right index finger.

Feeling the smooth, icy texture of the ring's surface, he turned things over in his mind.

He had thought the trail was dead and had even been considering whether to contact the constable handling the case for more information.

He hadn't expected to run into a patrol squad heading for the Slums on his way back, nor that his Perception would compel him to follow them so inexplicably.

Then he had discovered the dead Big Ben and the claw mark left on the wall of his house.

According to the neighbor's description of the attacker, the killer who murdered Big Ben was likely the same cloaked, muscular man he and Ironhead had accidentally bumped into on their way out.

'What a coincidence...' Xia Nan muttered internally.

It was a pity everything had happened so hastily. There had been no real interaction between them. Perhaps not wanting to cause extra trouble, the man hadn't even paid attention to Ironhead's cursing before turning and leaving directly.

Otherwise, things might have played out differently.

Of course, that was just hindsight.

After this trip, the sequence of events had gradually become clear.

If he had solely relied on the resident who witnessed part of the process, he might not have been able to confirm the attacker's identity. After all, Big Ben had indeed offended many people in his life.

But factoring in the claw mark he found later, it was certain:

The one who had just attacked Big Ben was the same killer who had murdered Buck's family that night.

Furthermore, the person he had unexpectedly bumped into upon leaving was Buck himself, infected with "Lycanthropy"!

His emotions couldn't help but surge. He was only one step away from completing his Advancement Quest.

Xia Nan suddenly felt an impulse to rush straight back to the Slums and thoroughly search the area.

But a moment later, he calmed down.

Having made two trips back and forth, he now had a preliminary grasp of how complex the Slums in the Lower District were.

Even if they ran into each other face to face, someone familiar with the terrain could easily shake off an outsider like him just by ducking into an alley and looping around a couple of times.

Moreover, the cramped environment packed with shacks made it difficult for Xia Nan to utilize the high mobility of his [Fang Hunt].

Given the current situation, the good news was that he had confirmed his quest target was still in Nym, meaning his Advancement Quest was still possible to complete.

The bad news was that he still didn't know the target's exact location, making capture difficult.

Regardless, compared to yesterday, his quest had progressed significantly.

Since they were right by the Slums anyway, Xia Nan intended to find Ironhead and mobilize the brothers of the Gray Badger Gang to see if they could discover anything.

While he was lost in thought, a light and cautious set of footsteps approached, and a somewhat frail shadow cast by the lamplight enveloped Xia Nan as he sat on the sofa.

"Mr. Xia Nan, it's time for lunch," Jeff's daughter, Lilina, called out softly with her hands clasped behind her back.

Having stayed at their house for two days and sensed Xia Nan's rather easygoing personality, this young girl—who usually seemed somewhat shy to outsiders—had apparently warmed up a bit to the new guest.

When they bumped into each other, she would take the initiative to greet him and occasionally make small talk.

"Alright." Xia Nan smiled and nodded. Standing up from the sofa, he took a step, preparing to head to the dining room.

From the kitchen, however, the faint sound of two voices drifted out.

"Mom, stop buying Sulfur Blister Grass. Our teacher says that some vendors nowadays just use the stuff growing in the sewers to trick people."

"What does your teacher know? Does he go buy groceries at the market himself, or does he just send the servants? Don't listen to his nonsense!"

"Mom, it's true. A few of my classmates with connections said so..."

Sewers, plants...

Xia Nan abruptly stopped in his tracks, a flash of insight striking his mind.

Flashing before his eyes was the scene from yesterday when Ironhead, leading him to the Gray Badger Gang's hideout, had introduced him to the unique flora of the Nym Sewers:

"Iron-Scab Moss. If you grind the dark red crystalline granules on its surface into powder and apply it to a wound, it accelerates healing," Ironhead had whispered, raising an index finger. "But you have to be careful not to use it long-term, or it can cause the skin to rot and leave permanent scars where the wound heals."

And earlier this morning, when Ironhead had been knocked grimacing to the ground and was painfully dusting off his clothes, those dark red crystalline granules had drifted down lightly with every pat of his hand.

"Iron-Scab Moss..."

"He's hiding in the sewers?!"

Xia Nan spun around and sprinted straight for the front door.

Of everyone he knew, no one was more familiar with the Nym Sewers than the Gray Badger Gang.

He planned to have Ironhead take him to the Gray Badger Gang's hideout once more. If he asked their boss, Eight-Fingers, for help, he was bound to turn up something.

Perhaps hearing his footsteps as he rushed past the kitchen, Mrs. Daisy happened to step out carrying a pot of mushroom soup.

She didn't ask where he was going. She just stood at the kitchen door and called out, "Finish this bowl of cream of mushroom soup before you go. I specially added two extra slices of cheese today; the flavor might be more to your liking."

He halted.

Stepped back.

Taking the bowl with both hands, he downed it in one gulp.

Xia Nan casually wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth and flashed Mrs. Daisy a thumbs-up.

Then he bolted for the front door once again.