"Mr. Xia Nan, I’ve been at the Iron Bucket Toad Tavern these past few days. If you need my help with anything, just give a shout!"
"Although our Gray Badger sticks together might not match up to you, we’re still quite skilled at handling some trivial matters that may be inconvenient for someone of your status to deal with."
The dark eyes reflected Iron Head’s back disappearing around the street corner.
Xia Nan withdrew his gaze, took a step, thinking of going back to Jeff’s house first and considering things after lunch.
But after taking just two steps, his figure paused involuntarily.
As if he had thought of something, he looked around to identify the location and gradually changed direction while moving.
If Ben "Colander" was not lying, due to the encounter during Hunting Day, he hadn’t seen Buck for quite some time.
By the time he returned to Neum from River Valley Town, the incident at Buck’s house had already occurred.
Although he learned the cause of the incident from the other person, increasing the possibility of the other person being infected with "Beastification."
Yet, there was no useful clue provided about Buck’s current whereabouts.
Therefore, Xia Nan planned to revisit Grey Tree Lane, find Buck’s neighbor, a girl named Harriet, to inquire about other information.
It would be best to know which sheriff handled the scene with guards at that time.
Even though he didn’t want to have contact with the official forces due to the chaotic situation among the upper echelons in Neum City, to complete his advancement task, he had no choice.
If possible, after meeting the sheriff, Xia Nan intended to learn some information related to "Beastification" from them.
Although he spent most of the past half year using any spare time to urgently make up for various knowledge involving supernatural powers, he still had a limited understanding of this ancient and terrifying curse.
Perhaps he could discover some new clues during the investigation process.
Thinking , a sudden dense and urgent sound of footsteps accompanied by the sharp noise of metal friction and collision came from the wide street ahead.
His gaze instinctively followed the direction from where the sound came.
In sight, was a team of guards wearing Neum City’s standard armor, with single-handed Iron Swords hanging by their waists.
Unlike their usual patrolling posture, which was calm and leisurely.
The footsteps of this team of guards were noticeably quicker, almost jogging, and the expressions on the guards’ faces were exceptionally serious.
In just a few seconds, they passed through the street Xia Nan was on, their figures disappearing into the buildings behind.
And their direction seemed to be...
After leveling up, his Perception Ability reached 7 points, as if it sensed something.
The original plan was instantly scrapped, and he suddenly turned around, instinctively following the direction the guards were heading.
As Xia Nan followed at the end of the guard team, the buildings on both sides of the street once again became dilapidated.
The road narrowed even further, and the surrounding environment gradually became cramped and filthy.
It felt familiar, as if he had walked through it once before, the overwhelming sense of déjà vu was incredibly strong.
Then, Xia Nan saw a crowd of people watching, along with the wailing and cries of pain in the air.
Even slightly dilapidated, but considered outstanding in the slum, was that brick house.
Now, it had collapsed into ruins with a few surrounding thatched dwellings, pervaded with the smell of blood.
With a frown, Xia Nan bypassed the crowd, his gaze scanning the figures brazenly looting belongings amidst the chaos.
His nostrils flared, carefully sensing the direction from which the bloody smell was carried by the air.
Searched, stopping near the position behind the house.
[Gravity Control] silently took effect, without much effort, the fallen bricks and stone walls were easily lifted amidst a flurry of flying dust.
Revealing a bloody and broken corpse.
Fortunately, the face was relatively intact, albeit covered in a layer of stone dust, making it somewhat messy and difficult to recognize.
But he had just seen it, one glance was enough for Xia Nan to recognize the identity.
— It was Ben "Colander," who had been shivering a few hours ago, explaining to him that he hadn’t intentionally pushed his teammate!
Xia Nan’s gaze focused, his face showing no extra expression.
Unhesitant, he bent down to examine the injuries on the body.
There were obvious wounds on the abdomen and arms, the chest slightly caved in, as if struck by heavy objects, with ribs broken beyond count;
There was a small wound on the forehead, bleeding, but it seemed to be a scrape, not fatal.
What truly ended Ben’s life, thoroughly killing him, was the massive wound on the back that nearly perforated his entire body, revealing the blood and internal organs within.
Xia Nan was not a detective, unable to deduce the complete course of events just from these simple and shallow traces.
But from accumulated experiences in battles since crossing over, combined with the position of the fallen body and the wounds on it, it gave him a vague guess on Ben’s encounter.
Firstly, a frontal combat.
As an adventurer, even if slightly older, he still possesses certain combat ability and courage.
Facing the enemy attacking him, without equipment and weapons, Ben’s first reaction was likely to engage in close-quarters melee combat with the opponent.
The injuries he sustained on the front of his body could somewhat corroborate this.