140 A Study of Blood Words 2

"Well, there are two possibilities." Ye Qingxuan held up two fingers. "The first is that the Professor followed the traitor like a ghost. The traitor didn’t notice him at all and revealed all his minions and channels while escaping, providing clues for the Professor. In the end, the Professor followed the traitor into this safe house and killed him."

"Then what’s the second one?"

"The second one is scarier. The Professor knew early on that the traitor would hide here." Ye Qingxuan sighed. "Maybe the guy begged for help at the police station, ran all the way back here to hide, and then he turned around…and realized that the Professor had been waiting here all this time."

"So which one is it?"

"I don’t know." Ye Qingxuan shrugged. "I’m not a bug living on the Professor. How would I know? But either one is scary enough."

Bai Xi’s expression fell. "So you discovered all that, but it’s useless, so what’s the point?"

"No evidence is useless." Squatting in the center of the room, Ye Qingxuan gazed around. "It’ll be easier to deduce once we know the pre-conditions. We know that, no matter how the Professor entered, the traitor was terrified…"

What would the Professor do to someone that betrayed and almost killed him? Cut him to pieces? No, that was too bloody and not the Professor’s style. Threaten him? No, that was too simple. The horror of being threatened was nothing compared to physical pain. Threaten his family? But someone as lowly as the traitor was most likely a poor bachelor with no family. Even if he had family, the Professor would probably bring them here and make him watch his family die before his eyes.

Then what did the Professor do in those short minutes that suited his viper-like personality? Did he simply just burn the man? But that was not aesthetic. The man was still on fire when the police had arrived…It seemed more likely that the Professor had killed the traitor to shut him up.

So here was the question…They had only been alone for a few short minutes. What could the Professor have done to take revenge for the betrayal?

Ye Qingxuan began to ponder. Quickly, he bent down and began searching through the ruins. Unfortunately, the site had already been searched through and not much was left behind; however, there were many small traces.

In the end, he managed to recreate the crime scene…even though it still looked like a mess.

He squatted, staring at the empty space littered with shards. He stepped onto it carefully and swung his arms before finally concluding that this is where the man stood when he was set ablaze. It was laughable.

He had betrayed the Professor and fled with the last shred of hope to this secret hiding spot. Then he closed the door, turned around…and saw the terrifying face. It was the Professor standing behind him.

"You betrayed me!" The Professor must have said that, right?

Ye Qingxuan closed his eyes, entirely immersed in his imagination as he thought over and over.

The man stood there and saw the Professor. Maybe he panicked and knelt down, begging for mercy, but it had been too late, so he fell into despair. In his last moments, he denounced this criminal who had hands dyed red with blood. Or perhaps he said something even uglier? Did the Professor become angry? Then the Professor…

Ye Qingxuan turned around and looked at the broken chair on the ground. Perhaps the Professor had sat there, listening quietly. His expression would have been calm and composed, his face gentle and elegant. He would not have even moved his eyebrow because he had been angered long ago. Not begging nor furious insults could change his decision to punish the man.

Then the punishment came…What could it have been?

Ye Qingxuan shut his eyes, focusing on his thoughts.

In the darkness, he seemed to have become the hopeless criminal, waiting to be slaughtered by the Professor. The figure walked toward him step by step and he…what did he do? Following it was endless pain. But the pain stopped suddenly. Something had surprised the Professor…Yes, it was the sound of the police.

The Professor’s only mistake was that he had miscalculated how long it would take for the police to arrive. He decided to end the torture and quickly kill the traitor.

But would it not have been better to use a sword? It would not have left any traces of aether. Why fire? Why did he burn the traitor to crisp…And why did the man leave behind those bloody words before he had died? What did the words mean? The blood words, blood words…

Sweat beaded on Ye Qingxuan’s forehead. He racked his mind, flipping through the records in his brain, but he could not find anything related to those symbols. No matter if one looked at its structure or logic, this writing system did not exist! But then why would the traitor leave it behind?

"Blood words, blood words…" Ye Qingxuan murmured to himself. "It doesn’t make any sense!"

"Of course it doesn’t make any sense." Bai Xi glared at him. "I told you the guy just randomly drew it."

"Randomly?" Ye Qingxuan froze.

An light flashed in his mind. It was like lightning at night, appearing and vanishing within a second, but revealing a hidden shape.

Ye Qingxuan quickly came up with a ridiculous theory. The possibility of it made him want to laugh, but there was no better explanation.

He opened his eyes slowly. "I think I got it."

Bai Xi, who had been playing with marbles in a corner, looked up. "What did you get?"

"The so-called big secret and what the Professor did to the traitor…" Ye Qingxuan scooped up some ashes. He smiled as he studied it. "It’s just a guess, but the Professor is seriously out of the ordinary." He rose and patted the dust from his shoulders. "Okay, let’s go."

"You’re being mysterious again." Bai Xi pouted. "So what do we do next?"

Ye Qingxuan cocked his head at Lestrade standing at the intersection and chuckled. "Next, we need our inspector friend to help take us somewhere."

"Where?"

"The headquarters of the Avalon police department."

--

At noon, dark and gloomy clouds covered the sky. Rain drizzled onto the streets. Lestrade stood before the entrance of the Avalon police department in a raincoat. His expression was dark as he glanced around every now and then.

As people passed by, uniformed policemen would sometimes greet this man who was rising through the ranks. Lestrade would force a smile onto his face and reply to each of them.

Finally, the anxious waiting came to an end. A black carriage stopped before him. The door opened slowly.

The youth inside the carriage had his feet up and sat comfortably in the soft chair. He was not wearing the strange robe, but a new set of clothing. He seemed polite and endearing.

Noticing Lestrade waiting for him, he looked down. Studying Lestrade, he smiled. "Seems like you’ve been doing well these days."

"Thanks to you." Lestrade forced out a smile. "I’ve arranged everything. Please come with me." He turned to lead the way, but his expression quickly darkened. Had he gone crazy? This was definitely not normal. He was a policeman with a bright future. Why was he bringing a mysterious dark musician into the Avalon police department? If someone found out, he would be dead!

He shivered subconsciously, regretting the decision, but he had no choice and no means to protest. He had given all that up the moment he exchanged with this demon.

"Stop standing there and hurry up." The voice in his ear was full of awe. "This place is usually so heavily guarded. You can’t get in without someone leading you. Do you have a cafeteria here? How’s the food? Would you mind if I got a free meal?" As Holmes spoke, he looked around with friendly and harmless smile on his face. He waved at the passing policemen like a tourist.

The guard wanted to stop him, Lestrade quickly threw his hand over his shoulder in a friendly manner. The guard hesitated and decided to turn a blind eye.

Just like that, they had passed through the various checkpoints and entered the heart of…the place with the most "justice" in Avalon.

In the square behind many doors, Ye Qingxuan looked up at the towering gray-white building and emblem.

A squad of policemen who had just finished assembling left for their mission with their weapons. When they brushed shoulders, Holmes raised his hand and waved at them.

"Are you crazy?" Lestrade looked down, his features twisting. "If anyone here finds out who you are, you’re dead!"

Holmes laughed. "Don’t be nervous. I trust you!" He patted Lestrade’s shoulder. "You won’t let that happen, right?"

Lestrade’s shoulder trembled and he did not reply.

A voice sounded from afar. "Oh, is it Lestrade?" A man with an umbrella saw them and walked over.

Lestrade froze. Ye Qingxuan could feel the panic radiating from him.

The man neared. He was clad in a vintage musician robe and looked like a priest. The red dragon emblem of the Royal musicians was on his chest. He looked as if he was around thirty-years-old, but his hair had already started graying. His most striking feature was his eyes. Those blue orbs were as deep as the starry sky. One felt naked when under the stare of those eyes.

They were the Starry Eyes, a superpower bestowed by the Originator after a musician from the School of Revelations broke through the Barrier of Knowledge and resonated with the world. All truth was revealed under those eyes.

No one knew why a Royal Musician was here today! Nobody else would have cared, but Lestrade was terrified by Claude’s eyes. Revelations musicians were experts at recognizing one’s aura. The dark musician would not be able to escape!

"Mi-mister Claude, long time no see. I didn’t expect to see you here," Lestrade stammered.

Claude nodded at him. His expression changed when his gaze moved to the youth, as if he sensed the darkness.

"Sh*t." Despair and regret flashed through Lestrade’s mind. He was going to be discovered!