According to Ciri, this man called Bloody Baron was not a real noble. He was originally an officer. After the defeat in the battle with the Nilfgaard Empire, he led the remnants here and occupied this abandoned place. Gradually, more and more refugees fled here, so he gave himself the title of baron.

However, the Bloody Baron is different from his reputation. He is actually a very friendly person. He not only healed Ciri's wounds after she finally escaped from the swamp, but also let her sleep in the guest room and took her out hunting. They got along very well with each other. Ciri wanted to stay here for a while, but unfortunately, things happened unexpectedly. During one of his outings, the Baron was attacked by a monster. In order to save the Baron, Ciri used her power to teleport to the tower, killed the monster, and saved the Baron.

Although it was a happy ending, because Ciri used her own power, she would inevitably be targeted by the Wild Hunt, so in order to avoid implicating the Baron and his crew, she finally decided to leave Crow's Nest and continue her journey.

When Ciri came back this time, she naturally wanted to meet the Baron to see how this old friend was doing.

And in fact, they were warmly welcomed.

"Hahaha, look who this is! Ciri!!!"

As soon as she entered the castle, she saw a man who was eight feet tall and eight feet in waist, as round as a walking wine barrel, walking towards her with a loud laugh and extending his hand to Ciri. He was wearing heavy black armor and a bright red coat, and had a thick beard. Indeed, unlike the rumors, he looked like a very "heavy" man.

"It's been a long time since we last met. You look well!"

As he spoke, the man patted Ciri's shoulder vigorously, then looked at the three people around her.

"This is……"

"They are my companions."

Xili introduced with a smile, and then Miao Jie came forward and bowed respectfully.

"Hello, my name is Miaojie Igret. It's our first meeting, thank you for your care."

"Liz Argent."

"Fang Zheng."

"Hahaha, hello, welcome to the Crow's Nest."

The Bloody Baron didn't care about the reactions of the three people at all. He greeted them with a smile and then looked at Ciri again.

"So, Xili, are you coming back to live here permanently this time? By the way, I didn't see the man you mentioned. Also, the room you lived in before is still there, you can go back and live there anytime..."

"No, I just came to see how you were doing. Wait until I finish off the Wild Hunt. Then we can have a nice drink together."

"oh?"

Hearing what Ciri said, the Bloody Baron looked her up and down curiously.

"I haven't seen you for a while. It seems you have changed a lot."

"……Yeah?"

"yes."

Looking at Ciri who looked puzzled, the Bloody Baron nodded vigorously.

"When you were leaving here before, I saw that your expression was as bewildered as a fledgling leaving the nest. It was obvious that you were not sure about your future at that time. But I didn't expect that after not seeing you for a while, you could easily say something like 'deal with the Wild Hunt'."

"……ah."

Hearing the Bloody Baron’s answer, Ciri was stunned.

Indeed, thinking back carefully, not long ago, I was still alone on the road desperately fleeing. Even if I met someone who shared my spirit, we would separate after a brief contact. The Wild Hunt was like a nightmare, a shadow that could never be driven away. At that time, even Ciri herself felt that the future was a haze, with no hope at all.

But since when did she stop worrying about those guys?

Thinking of this, Xili couldn't help but look back at Fang Zheng behind him, then turned around.

"After all, I have made some progress... Let's not talk about this anymore. You don't look very well. What happened? Is there anything I can help you with?"

When they met just now, Ciri discovered that although the Bloody Baron seemed quite happy on the surface, there was always some sadness between his brows. She and the Bloody Baron had known each other for a while and knew that he was a straightforward person. Although he did have a bad temper sometimes, generally speaking, he would be fine after venting it out, and would not be like this now, giving people the impression that he was troubled by something.

"……Why."

Hearing Ciri's question, the Bloody Baron was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"This is not the place to talk, come with me."

Soon, the Bloody Baron led the four people into his own room in the castle, then he sat in a chair and sighed deeply.

"To be honest, actually... my wife and daughter disappeared not long ago."

"Why?!"

Hearing this, Ciri was shocked.

"Missing? How could they be missing?"

"I don't know either."

The Bloody Baron shook his head and showed a painful expression.

"I just fell asleep at night, and when I woke up, they were both gone. I don't know what happened. I have sent people to search everywhere and put up notices, but there are no clues in so many days."

"Please let me help you."

Hearing this, Ciri immediately volunteered.

"Maybe I can help you!"

"Of course, if it's you, I think it will be no problem... I'll leave it to you."

And at this moment, Fang Zheng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

"If possible, we would like to take a look at the crime scene. Do you have your permission?"

"What does crime scene mean?"

Hearing such an unfamiliar term, the Bloody Baron was obviously puzzled, while Fang Zheng smiled slightly.

"It's their room. Maybe we can find some clues in the room. Of course, the premise is that their room is still the same as when they left."

"this……"

Faced with Fang Zheng's request, the Bloody Baron was somewhat embarrassed. The atmosphere of this era was also extremely conservative. Logically speaking, adult men should not be allowed to enter a woman's room. However, the situation was urgent after all, so he nodded.

"Okay, no problem, follow me."

Then, the Bloody Baron took everyone to the bedroom on the second floor and turned and left.

It was not until the Bloody Baron left that the girls, who had been silent until then, began to speak.

"He's hiding something from us."

Miao Jie narrowed her eyes, and her soft short green hair swayed gently.

"I could sense that he wasn't telling the truth about his wife's disappearance."

"Miss Xili, you have stayed here for a while. What do you think?"

Liz also looked at Ciri curiously and asked, and the latter smiled embarrassedly.

"It's a bit embarrassing to say this, but I don't have any in-depth contact with his wife and daughter. After all, I prefer to be outside and am relatively close to his subordinates..."

...You are a girl, and instead of getting along well with your mistress, you go out to climb trees and hunt birds all day?

"Ahem, let's not talk about this anymore. Mr. Fang Zheng, how are you going to investigate this?"

Noticing Fang Zheng's gaze, Xili quickly changed the subject.

"Demon hunters do have a skill that allows them to see through the traces and auras left at the scene. Do you, Mr. Fang Zheng, also have this ability?"

"Of course I didn't...Aren't you a demon hunter?"

"Well, strictly speaking, I have only received training as a demon hunter, but I am not a demon hunter."

At this point, Ciri seemed a little embarrassed.

"Only after passing the Trial of the Green Grass can one be considered a true demon hunter and possess the special powers of a demon hunter. I have only received some training but have not passed the Trial, so I do not have this ability."

"It doesn't matter if there is none. After all, as long as the scene is still there, then the problem shouldn't be a big deal. Let me show you how people in other worlds solve cases."

Facing Ciri's answer, Fang Zheng shook his head helplessly. The ability of the demon hunter is useful, but also useless. Of course, in the current era of civilization development, the ability of the demon hunter, which is similar to on-site investigation, is still quite useful, but in modern times, it is basically useless.

"In that case, then you should go and have a chat with the Baron's subordinates."

"how?"

"Because there's something wrong with this."

Fang Zheng stared at Xili and then spoke.

"We just walked in from outside the Crow's Nest. You all saw that after crossing the bridge from the Crow's Nest, we have to go through three doors to reach the castle. This is also normal. After all, this place was built to defend against enemy invasion. On the other hand, it is not so easy to leave the castle. The doors here must be completely closed every night. And how did his wife and two children hide from so many soldiers and leave the city quietly? Are they Laura? Or 007?"

"this……"

Although she didn't know what Fang Zheng meant, Ciri was stunned for a moment and then realized what was going on. Indeed, she had lived here for a while and knew that because it was a time of chaos and disorder, the security was very strict at night. It was indeed strange that two women could sneak out of the castle without being discovered.

Moreover, this is a fortress castle, not a villa with front and back doors like the one in Semlia. To put it bluntly, if the Bloody Baron's words were followed, then his wife and her husband would have to leave first through the first gate of the castle, then the second gate, then the third gate, and then the fourth gate connected to the outside world by a bridge...Except for the third gate, all the other four gates were guarded by soldiers. How could so many soldiers be blind and see nothing?

"So what do you mean, Mr. Fang Zheng?"

"What I mean is, either these two women have wings and can fly, or there is someone behind the scenes. Aren't you familiar with the baron's subordinates? Go in and ask what's going on. After all, you have a good relationship with the people here, so it doesn't hurt to care about this matter. I'll look around here and see if I can find any clues."

"Okay, I understand."

Xili was not stupid. After being reminded by Fang Zheng, she immediately came to her senses, nodded, and turned to leave.

"So what are we looking for next, Mr. Founder?"

After Xili left, Miaojie looked around curiously.

"Indeed, according to what you said, it is quite unreasonable for that gentleman's wife and children to leave. But aren't there many strange monsters in this world? Maybe they kidnapped that gentleman's wife and children?"

"It's not impossible, but it's unlikely."

Fang Zheng shook his head, then raised his right hand.

"I'm not Shinichi or Kindaichi. I'm not very familiar with on-site inspections, but it doesn't matter. We just need to take a look."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng snapped his fingers.

The next moment, the scene in front of me suddenly changed.

In front of the three people, the scene in the room began to change constantly, and soon, an old woman appeared in their sight. Then, a short-haired woman wearing leather armor rushed in, grabbed the old woman and said a few words, and then the two of them hurried away.

"Well, now it seems that these two left on their own initiative."

Fang Zheng made a gesture, "pausing" the screen, and then walked around the two phantoms in front of him. At this moment, Miao Jie and Lisi also stared at the scene with their eyes wide open in surprise.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, this is..."

"Oh, I turned back the time of this room. This way, we can know what happened at that time."

Fang Zheng looked at Liz who seemed extremely surprised and said something casually. Upon hearing his answer, Miao Jie took a step back.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, I guess I can't let you into a girl's bedroom anymore. Otherwise, I don't know what you'll do."

Oh, little girl, you understand a lot.

Fang Zheng glanced at Miao Jie meaningfully. He didn't expect that this noble daughter looked quiet and virtuous on the surface, but actually drove a black car? Her brain circuit reaction was so fast that it was comparable to Ying Lili and Xiao Hei.

"Well, let's continue reading."