Chapter 140 - Fake-death Pill

"I've already investigated the situation over there," Professor Tennessee said. He stood up, opening a black drawer, and pulling out a thick stack of documents.

Cassius grabbed and quickly skimmed through them. They contained information on the history of the two cities as well as specific details about the Alphama mountains. It was quite detailed, and he nodded in approval.

"Professor Tennessee is very thorough."

Tennessee sat back down and smiled. He wasn't some half-baked scholar! He had real expertise, which was why he was a professor at Wenmingda University. As long as money was involved, no problem was too difficult for him to solve.

He picked up his tea and took a small sip. Before he could swallow, he noticed a bulging yellow envelope on the table. A large hand slid the envelope across, stopping just in front of the porcelain cup tray.

"Here's a small token of my appreciation, Professor Tennessee."

"

Gulp.

"

Professor Tennessee quickly swallowed, a smile spreading across his face as he very naturally slipped the envelope into his pocket. Just from the feel, he knew the cash inside was more than sufficient.

Fifteen minutes later, Professor Tennessee stood at his office door, warmly calling out to Cassius's departing figure, "If you need anything, Mr. Twilight, feel free to come to me again."

Tennessee didn't move from his spot until Twilight disappeared round the stairway. He patted his bulging pocket, a smile reappearing on his face before shutting the door with a click. A cheerful whistle could be heard faintly from inside the office.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

***

On June 18th, in the Year 107 of the Hongli Federation, the weather was clear.

Shire County, located in the northern part of the Hongli Federation, was a large county with nearly twenty million people. In topographic terms, Shire County was flat and resembled what an oval-shaped egg would look like if it were lying on its side on a table.

Bordering the Alphama mountains to the west, while the east connected to the ocean, Shire County was home to several medium-sized coastal cities. Economic development naturally decreased from the coast progressing inland, with the least developed cities being Mirror Lake City and Bright Mountain City, both of which were near the Alphama mountains. But calling them the "least developed" was only in relation to the other cities in Shire County. In comparison to the rest of the nation, Mirror Lake City and Bright Mountain City were still considered above average.

The two cities primarily supplied timber and developed tourism. During the summer, they were popular destinations for escaping the heat. As such, ensuring tourist safety was quite the concerning matter. Both Mirror Lake City and Bright Mountain City had consistently done well in that regard, with a decent and admirably efficient police force. Due to the combination of those factors, the number of tourists have steadily been on the rise, leading to the flourishing of various tourism-dependent industries.

In a police station at Mirror Lake City, Sheriff Burton sat in an office, reading the Mirror Lake Morning News while sipping his scalding coffee.

"Which bored tourist pulled a prank this time?" He shook his head in exasperation. In the corner of the newspaper was a lengthy report reading "Mysterious Symbols Found at Croxton Farm in Southern Mirror Lake!" accompanied by a black-and-white photo.

The photo showed an isolated area at a farm with incomprehensible black symbols on the ground. The circular design had chaotic lines inside that resembled teeth or claws, and some inscrutable tadpole-like characters. The article included expert analysis, stating that the symbols were drawn using black charcoal mixed with some plant ash.

Burton couldn't help chuckling. This was all part and parcel of Mirror Lake City’s rapidly growing tourism; there'd always be one or two attention-seeking, risk-taking tourists.

Just half a year ago, there had been the Purple Lake incident.

Many tourists had claimed that they had seen parts of the lake’s surface turn into a stunning and magnificent magenta early in the morning. At the time, there was much speculation which caused a huge stir. Some claimed it was a divine sign, while others thought it was a mystical scientific phenomenon.

In the end, it turned out to be a group of visiting university students who had been dumping purple dye into the lake every dawn just for fun. The students were eventually caught and detained at the police station for several days for damaging the lake environment.

That nonsense in the Mirror Lake Morning News about mysterious symbols was likely a similar thing. Plus, if it really was some sort of cult ritual, wouldn't they use blood to draw the symbols? Using charcoal and plant ash to fool people... It was probably some folks that had too much time on their hands and nothing better to do.

Burton shook his head and put down the newspaper.

Knock, knock, knock.

A series of urgent knocks sounded at the door. Burton raised his head slightly. "Come in."

A young officer immediately walked in, his face concerned. "Sheriff, another disappearance was reported this morning."

"What?" Burton frowned. He could already feel a headache coming on.

The past half month had been a nightmare for the police station. There had been a string of disappearances in Mirror Lake City, with many tourists perfectly fine one day, only to vanish without a trace the next.

It seemed like it was happening again.

As he expected, Burton was soon called into his superior's office. Five minutes later, he was out and he speedily headed over to where the criminal investigation team was stationed.

"Criminal Investigation Team, follow me. We’ve got another case."

A little over half an hour later, a small town between the Alphama Mountains and Mirror Lake was brimming with officers in dark blue uniforms. They questioned the townspeople while they jotted down notes.

"Nothing unusual happened last night. It was just like any other evening. A few of us went out to town with Sarah so we could try some of Mirror Lake City’s local delicacies. She was still here this morning and said she wanted to go for a walk. Then she just up and vanished. We searched everywhere for her and all we could find was the necklace her mother gave her near the lake."

"Are you talking about that blonde college girl? I saw her heading toward the lake around 6 a.m when I was walking around town this morning. Later, I saw her friends asking around, looking for her..."

***

At the edge of town, Burton turned to ask an officer. "Any useful leads?"

"None yet, but the other teams are searching around the lake. We’ve mobilized more officers than usual this time, so we should be able to find something."

Over an hour later, in the dense woods of eastern Mirror Lake, floating white clouds dotted the blue sky and sunlight bathed the treetops, making the green leaves glisten. The wind rustled through the trees, the leaves whispering overhead like a gentle rain, sometimes from the east, and other times from the west. Sunlight, simultaneously warm and cold, filtered through the leaves of some sparsely grown trees to cast long, dappled shadows in a clearing. The surrounding scenery looked peaceful and serene.

If you ignored the corpse on the ground, that is.

The slightly overweight Burton, dressed in his blue police uniform, periodically wiped sweat from his chubby face. A tall, thin man with a hooked nose stood beside him, puffing on a black pipe. It was the Special Task Force's Sheriff Randy.

Randy took a drag from his pipe and said to Burton, "Strange, isn’t it? It looks like she was taken by a wild animal, but there are no bite marks, just these puncture wounds on her neck."

They looked at each other then back at the female corpse on the ground. Her clothes were neat and showed no signs of struggle. Her face was pale and judging by the expression on her face, it looked like she had died somewhat confused. Three pairs of puncture marks resembling snake bites marred her slender neck.

A few minutes later, their colleague from the forensics department provided an initial assessment.

The woman had died from severe blood loss, though not from the wounds itself. It was as if some creature had drained her blood. The three pairs of punctures on her neck were likely left by whatever had fed on her.

"Wolf? Bear? Tiger? Or maybe some kind of bat?" Burton’s mind raced as he read the report, though he couldn’t fathom what kind of creature could drain all the blood from an adult using only a few small punctures. "Let’s head back first and file the report with the chief."

Three days later, on June 21, Year 107 of the Hongli Federation...

"Another disappearance?! This is the fifteenth one this month!" Burton rubbed his throbbing head and set the newspaper down before hurrying to the chief’s office.

Two minutes later, Chief Kenneth sighed. "There’s nothing more we can do about this. Let's just do our jobs well. After all, something else is involved in this..." He paused, then continued, "I reported this to our superiors three days ago, and they said they’d send someone to handle it. By my calculations, they should be here soon."

Kenneth and Burton chatted for about ten minutes longer. Then, a soft knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Kenneth said, looking up.

An officer rushed in. "Chief, there’s an oddly dressed man outside who wants to see you. We’ve put him in the lobby for now."

"Oddly dressed?" Burton couldn’t help but ask.

"Yeah, it's a scorcher today and he’s dressed all in black. Wide-brimmed hat, trench coat, sunglasses, face mask, and gloves, the works," the officer said. They had a strange look on their face, clearly having never encountered such an oddity before.

Meanwhile, a steam train came to a hissing stop at the Mirror Lake City’s train station.

"Passengers, please disembark. This is Mirror Lake City," the conductor called out as he stepped off the train, guiding the crowd. One by one, the passengers grabbed their luggage and quickly left the platform.

The conductor called out into the carriage, "Is there anyone still on board? We’ve reached Mirror Lake City!"

A few seconds later, a tall, handsome figure emerged from the carriage. His long, golden hair flowed like a lion’s mane and shone brightly under the sunlight.

The surrounding passengers glanced over but kept their distance, seemingly awestruck by his statuesque physique and extraordinary looks. The conductor, struck by the passenger’s remarkable appearance and indescribable aura, was rendered momentarily speechless as well.

The golden-haired man, however, paid no mind to the attention. He gazed up at the azure sky where fluffy clouds partially covered the sun as a flock of white birds flew by.

"What wonderful weather. It's no wonder my martial uncle chose to retire here," he murmured to himself. Suitcase in hand, the man squeezed through the crowd as the conductor watched on.

Later that afternoon on the same platform, the sky turned into a blend of yellow and red as if it were straight from an artist’s palette. The floating clouds looked like a golden field, or perhaps a shimmering sea.

Another train arrived at the platform, hissing as it released steam. Amidst the conductor's calls, numerous tourists disembarked in small groups, with clear destinations in mind.

Click.

A black shoe landed on the platform and a man who was around 1.9 meters tall stepped down. He wore a light gray T-shirt and black pants, and although he carried a large suitcase that was at least twice the size of everyone else's luggage, it didn’t look out of place. Perhaps it was because of his enormous size that even the suitcase seemed so small in such a well-built man's hand.

The man glanced at his watch, then quickly walked forward, blending into the crowd of tourists.

The next morning at Lillian High-End Apartments, Cassius opened his eyes from his bed. A sliver of sunlight flooded in through the gap in the curtain, splitting the white sheets in two. He quickly washed up and waited in the spacious living room.

A knock sounded at the door. "Mr. Twilight, your breakfast is here," a sweet, pleasant female voice came from outside.

"Coming." Cassius went to open the door.

A young woman with a lovely visage and graceful figure stood outside, dressed in a uniform. She waited quietly, holding a tray in her fair hands.

"Come in." Cassius walked back inside, and the waitress followed, placing the breakfast on the table before respectfully leaving.

Lillian High-End Apartments provided some services similar to hotels. Cassius sat at the table and began eating his first breakfast in Mirror Lake City. It tasted pretty good.

As he ate, he thought back to the information he had roughly memorized. It wouldn't be easy finding the Akaba Ruins with those clues. After all, they only narrowed down a region. Progress was minimal. Whether he could find it in just over a month was still up in the air, and Cassius was ready to bail at any time.

After finishing breakfast, he casually picked up the complimentary Mirror Lake Morning News from the tray, and his eyes instantly zeroed in on the bold headline: "Series of Disappearances Shock Mirror Lake City!"

The article detailed the situation, citing over twenty disappearances in Mirror Lake City within a month, involving both locals and tourists. The police had found three bodies, all dead from blood loss, and all seemingly drained by something!

"Vampires?" Cassius shook his head indifferently. He had seen his fair share of these kinds of reports; sometimes they were true, most times they were false. It wasn’t unusual for them to make the papers.

He read further. The article mentioned that nearly all the missing persons had disappeared somewhere by Mirror Lake where it was closest to the Alphama mountains. Based on the evidence, it seemed that the victims had been taken there.

"Wait! Mirror Lake, mountains, a dense forest, vampires, ruins..." Cassius muttered to himself as several elements began to piece together. A vague image started to emerge in his mind. A piece of Twilight's memory.

"Fake-death pill?"