Chapter 430: Questioning

Conquer the northern coast of the sea, Troyes.

In the afternoon, the huge harbor of Troyes is still busy. Amid the continuous sound of whistles, countless ships of various sizes are traveling to and from the bustling dock. This largest port city in Castile shows its vitality in the early spring sunshine.

The area near the wharf seems to be more prosperous than other places in the city. There is a constant flow of cars and people on the streets, and there are countless shops on both sides of the streets. The large number of people on the streets brings sufficient customers here, but for this city, not all shops can survive in bustling places.

In the west of the city not far from the bustling dock area, away from the main streets and deep in the built-up area, there are a series of intertwined alleys. These alleys, where the sun cannot shine directly, appear dark, damp and cold. The ditches under the stone slabs at the side of the alley are flowing with peculiar-smelling ditch water, and the walls on both sides are mottled and peeling.

In the dark alley, a female figure wearing a dark windbreaker, a short hat and a mask on her face was walking slowly. She looked around occasionally to be alert to other pedestrians in the alley, while walking quickly forward. After turning a few corners, the woman's eyes focused and stared at a shop on the side of the alley not far away.

This is a small shop with a dilapidated door and an old facade. There is no sign on the shop, only a few extended stalls with things for sale. At a glance, they are all some dried herbs, strange medicinal powders, or strange-shaped minerals.

After standing in front of this old herbal medicine shop for a while, the woman quickened her pace and walked inside. After a brief conversation with the old woman owner, the owner weighed some dried herbs and ground them into powder for her. After putting the packaged powder in her pocket, the woman gave the old woman owner several bills.

After finishing her shopping, the woman left the herbal medicine shop and returned to the alley. After looking around, she chose a direction and walked forward. Just when she had taken a few steps, she suddenly found that she was blocked by a stray dog. At this time, this skinny medium-sized golden retriever was sniffing her carefully in front of her, as if it was sniffing the scent on her body.

"go!"

Facing the stray dog ​​in front of her, the woman frowned and made a direct gesture to drive it away. The stray dog ​​immediately dodged to the side when it saw the woman's drive, without showing any attacking expression or barking.

Seeing this scene, the woman did not think too much. After seeing the stray dog ​​leave, she walked forward quickly and continued to wander around in the maze-like city alleys. After a while, although she turned around in various alleys, she took every step without hesitation, as if she was already very familiar with the terrain here.

After walking for a while, the woman turned and entered an even narrower alley. At the end of the alley was a dirty wooden door.

The woman quickly walked through the alley and came to the wooden door, then began to knock rhythmically. After knocking, she stood there quietly waiting, but after waiting for a long time, the door did not open.

Seeing this, the woman frowned slightly, and just as she was about to knock on the door again, a voice suddenly sounded behind her.

"Ms. Wuyan..."

Hearing the figure behind her, the woman turned around and saw a man standing in the alley behind her. The man was short in stature and wore a brown cloak and a wooden mask on his face. Like the woman, he was dressed to hide himself. The woman was slightly startled when she saw the man's appearance and then spoke.

"You are... Mr. Red Staff?"

"Yes, it's been a long time since I last saw you, Miss Wuyan. It's been more than a month since the last gathering." The man called Hong Wenzhang said to the woman. Hearing his words, the woman spoke with a vigilant look on her face.

"Mr. Red Staff...are you here to attend this month's gathering as well?"

"That's right, but as you can see, there's no one here. Mr. Stepstone is not here, so the meeting this month cannot be held."

The masked red-patterned staff spoke to the woman he called Wuyan. Listening to his words, Wuyan's brows frowned even deeper, and then she continued to speak.

"Mr. Jieshi is not here? How could this happen? Normally if the rally was cancelled, Mr. Jieshi would have made it clear last month, but he didn't say anything like that last month."

Wuyan said this, and listening to her words, the Red-Striped Staff also spoke.

"I don't know the specific situation... Normally, if a rally is cancelled, Mr. Jieshi will make it clear in advance. But you can see the current situation. There is no one here, and there are no messages. This can only mean that Mr. Jieshi may have had some problems."

The Red-Striped Staff said this. Listening to his words, Wuyan replied with some disbelief.

"What happened to Mr. Jie Shi? This is impossible... Mr. Jie Shi is such a powerful Beyonder, what could possibly go wrong with him?"

"That's hard to say, Miss Wuyan. Mr. Jie Shi told us before that in this secret world, there are always people better than you, so it's not surprising anything happens..." said the man codenamed Red-Striped Staff. Listening to his words, the woman codenamed Wuyan murmured in disbelief.

"That's impossible... If even Mr. Jieshi could be in trouble, then what on earth happened..."

Seeing the obviously surprised expression on the woman's face, Red-Striped Staff took two steps forward and spoke in a lowered voice as he got closer to Wuyan.

"Actually, I'm telling you, the atmosphere behind the scenes has been weird lately. Two people in my circle have disappeared for unknown reasons. I don't know why, and coupled with Mr. Tianjie Shi's situation... I have a bad feeling..."

The Red-Striped Staff spoke vigilantly. After hearing his words, Wuyan couldn't help but speak slowly in a worried tone.

"A bad feeling? What...just happened?"

"I don't know, but from what I've heard, things seem to be going badly in all circles lately. You'd better be careful."

After that, Wuyan and Hongwenzhang chatted briefly for a few more words, and then tried to knock on the door at the end of the alley together, but still got no response. After that, they both gave up waiting and left the scene after a simple farewell.

After leaving the alley, the woman continued to wander around the outskirts of the city with a worried look on her face. After wandering for a while, she finally walked onto the busy avenue. Here, she took off her mask, took a deep breath, and then looked at the many carriages passing by on the road.

The woman stretched out her hand and stopped a hired carriage. After the carriage stopped in front of her, she immediately opened the door and got in. After sitting down and closing the door, she spoke to the coachman.

"Please go to the south gate of Huijin Community on Qiumu Road."

"Okay, please sit down miss."