Clues

Brent clutched the silver coin tightly and lowered his voice. "Sir, if you don't want to catch something strange, whatever you do, don't eat fish lately."

"Why?"

"Because they've been catching some fish lately—no, I should say those aren't fish!" The boy's eyes held a fear that did not belong to someone his age.

"My uncle works in the cold storage at the docks. He said the things they've been hauling up lately... have things only people should have... like fingers..."

Lu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly. Fingers? He immediately thought of Doctor Laisen being dragged into the darkness.

"And..." Brent swallowed. "Even when those 'fish' are chopped to pieces, the chunks of meat still jump. Even so, important people are buying them back at high prices."

"Who's buying them?" Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes and listened closely.

"I don't know. My uncle didn't tell me..."

"Brent, I'll remember what you told me." Lu Yuan nodded to show that he had taken it to heart.

"Yes, sir! And I promise that every gentleman who gets his shoes shined at my stall will know that Laisen Clinic has reopened."

After saying that, the boy paused to think. "Sir, is the Laisen Clinic you mentioned Doctor Laisen's clinic?"

"That's right. Doctor Laisen won't be coming back anytime soon. I was entrusted with taking over the clinic for a while."

Lu Yuan nodded and placed a silver shield into the cashbox at the boy's stall.

"All right, I'm going to take a walk around Grim. Remember what you promised me."

Watching Lu Yuan rise to his feet, the boy hurried forward and counted out a handful of copper shields.

"Doctor, wait. You're Doctor Laisen's friend, so you're our friend too. Doctor Laisen always got half off with us. This is the fee for that information..."

The boy stepped forward with a small bag of copper shields.

Lu Yuan saw the flash of reluctance in the boy's eyes, yet Brent stubbornly held out the copper shields anyway. He smiled.

"Looks like Laisen got along pretty well around here. He had all sorts of friends."

"But keep the copper shields. Just remember to deliver a newspaper to Laisen Clinic every day from now on. Goodbye."

With that, Lu Yuan left the boy's stall and continued down the cobblestone street.

[You have learned some secrets. Grim Port's current status: 9/50]

The sudden appearance of this experience bar confirmed what Brent had said. Something abnormal had indeed appeared in that stretch of sea lately.

But that was not something a minor "fake" doctor like Lu Yuan could interfere with.

By then, the sun hung overhead. An occasional rickshaw passed along the street, while the dockworkers below had already gone to rest, leaving only several boats of varying sizes moored in the harbor.

Lu Yuan followed the cobblestone road all the way to its end and finally spotted a bakery. Smelling the fragrance in the air, he could not help swallowing.

"Finally, something to eat."

A few minutes later.

Lu Yuan spent one silver shield—nearly a quarter of what he had just earned—to buy two white loaves that could barely be called "food," along with a large piece of black bread as hard as a brick.

"These damned prices." Lu Yuan took a bite of the white bread, his heart aching fiercely.

It made Lu Yuan realize the purchasing power of this world's currency, while also filling him with a sense of urgency.

He needed to make money quickly, raise his medical level, and figure out what kind of organization the Night Watchers really were.

Then he needed to confirm whether this world was safe after all.

Was it crawling with Eerie things, or had yesterday's incident merely been a "coincidence"?

After returning to the clinic and taking a bite of freshly baked white bread, he was finally satisfied.

For the rest of the day, Lu Yuan sat in his chair and read.

It was not until evening that new footsteps sounded outside the courtyard, interrupting Lu Yuan as he lost himself in the sea of books.

[Basic Herbology: 15.1/20]

The footsteps outside were light, sounding like those of a child.

"Doctor Lu, are you there?"

A somewhat familiar voice came from beyond the door.

Closing his book, Lu Yuan rose and opened the half-closed door.

Standing outside was Brent, whom he had met that morning.

Brent held a box in his arms. When he saw Lu Yuan come out, he stepped forward and said, "Sir, these are newspapers about Grim Port from some time ago."

"You've only just arrived in Grim Port, so you probably aren't familiar with anything here. These newspapers might be useful to you."

As he spoke, the boy held out the box to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan looked at the boy in surprise. He had not expected him to be so thoughtful.

After a moment's consideration, Lu Yuan did not stand on ceremony and simply accepted the box.

"Come in and sit for a while."

He gestured for the boy to follow him inside.

The boy hesitated, then shook his head. "Sir, I need to go back first. My little sister is home alone, and I'm worried about her."

"I see. Wait a moment." Lu Yuan went back into the room, took out a money pouch containing thirty copper shields, and offered it to him. "This is a token of thanks."

But Brent hurriedly shook his head. "Sir, you misunderstood. I didn't bring you the newspapers for your money."

"That silver shield from earlier was too much. And since you're Doctor Laisen's friend, I brought these newspapers to thank you."

Seeing Brent's sincere gaze, Lu Yuan did not insist.

He only said, "I appreciate the gesture. I'll pay normally for the newspapers you bring later."

"And Brent, if you ever need medical treatment, you can come to me."

Lu Yuan did not promise anything. He merely mentioned it.

Yet Brent's face immediately lit up with delight.

Naturally, Brent had his own little scheme, but all he had done was bring over some unsold newspapers.

Running errands was nothing. If he could truly gain the attention of this new doctor, getting medical treatment in the future would be much easier.

As for other places to seek treatment, the church's people were nothing but bloodsuckers. Doctor Laisen had once been willing to treat people cheaply, but now that Doctor Laisen was gone...

Of course Brent had to build a good relationship with this new doctor in advance.

Of course, Grim Bay was not without other doctors, but their prices were simply beyond the means of people like him.

Lu Yuan could naturally see Brent's little scheme, but he did not mind.

After all, he might be able to get useful information from Brent in the future.

After closing the door and returning to the room,

Lu Yuan prepared to look through the recent newspapers about Grim Port.

There were some things Lu Yuan did not want to ask directly.

Appearing in this small town with the looks of an Easterner already made him stand out like a black sheep among a flock of white ones.

And he had appeared out of thin air, with no record of entering or leaving.

If this world's "police" were willing to investigate, his excuse of being Doctor Laisen's friend would be easily exposed.

In a world that seemed to be filled with Eerie things, how would an outsider who had appeared from nowhere be dealt with?

Laisen's Diary seemed to have already made that clear.

Putting aside those messy thoughts, Lu Yuan spread several newspaper clippings across the table beneath the dim yellow light and circled several keywords with a red pen.