Old One-Eye's Basement (1)

By then, the carriage had turned off Landon Street and entered a commercial street. Vendors lined both sides of the road, all caught off guard by the sudden raindrops. Moreover, the rain was growing heavier and heavier. People packed up their stalls, ran about, and shouted, throwing the scene into chaos.

Seeing this, Green could not help frowning and instructed the coachman to be careful.

Green and Lola were safe from the rain inside the carriage, but the people outside were scurrying around like headless flies. That made Green sense something unusual. Though a sudden rainstorm could cause some confusion, it was not as if knives were raining from the sky. There was no reason for such panic and terror.

"Stop!~" Green suddenly shouted, but the carriage did not stop, and the coachman driving up front gave no response.

An ominous premonition rose in Green's heart. He exchanged a glance with Lola, and both saw the gravity in each other's eyes.

Green lowered his voice. "It seems we've run into something uncanny."

This was not Lola's first encounter with something uncanny, and she remained fairly calm. She nodded slightly and drew the long-barreled revolver tucked at her waist. As she gripped the gun, a faint white glow spread across her wrist and the back of her hand—it was Battle Aura being activated. Battle Aura flowed into the grip, runes emerged across the revolver, and a faint sharp gleam flickered at its muzzle.

At that moment, the temperature around them suddenly dropped. Some of the carriage's metal parts were even coated with white frost.

Outside the carriage, all those people who had been wandering about like headless flies stood rooted to the spot, their eyes vacant as they stared blankly ahead. From afar came waves of low, unpleasant sobbing.

Green tightened his grip on his wand and signaled Lola with his eyes. Neither of them made any rash move.

At the same time, that low and unpleasant sobbing drew closer from afar, then receded again, passing directly over the rooftops of the buildings along the street.

A moment later, the sobbing vanished, the clouds scattered, and the rain stopped. The people on the street returned to normal, though they looked as if they had been through a serious illness, their spirits drained.

Green and Lola both let out a breath, yet lingering fear still clung to them. A powerful uncanny being had passed nearby just now—there was no doubt about it.

Yet merely passing nearby had been enough to alter the weather in a small area and leave everyone on an entire street dazed and soulless. Such a spectacle, such power—could it have been an official-grade uncanny being that had come to Landon City?

Fortunately, the other party did not seem hostile—at least, it had not been hostile just now. Otherwise, no one on this street, including Green and Lola, would likely have survived.

Green looked toward the direction in which the uncanny being had vanished. It was precisely toward the Rose Cafe, where he and Lola had met earlier.

Troubled times indeed. The case of Baron Lonanks's murder has yet to be solved, and now an even stronger and more unrestrained uncanny being has appeared. I wonder whether this uncanny being is friend or foe to the previous one. Uncanny beings are appearing here one after another—Landon City is truly becoming more and more dangerous.

Though an interruption had arisen along the way, it did not affect Green's plans. More than ten minutes later, he followed Lola to the Lower District and got out of the carriage before an inconspicuous little building by the street.

"Miss Claudi is here!" The moment they entered, a clever and obedient-looking young girl came forward to greet them, treating Lola with great warmth.

After Lola introduced her, Green learned that the girl was named Cindy. She was One-Eyed Kerry Jin's lover as well as his business receptionist. Born a commoner, she had attended university and was a very shrewd, precocious girl.

"What is Old One-Eye doing?" Lola asked casually as she led Green farther inside.

Cindy put on a helpless expression. "Darling, your timing is unfortunate. The old man was called away by the mayor, said there was some business to discuss."

"What business? Is it convenient to say?" Lola and Green were both curious.

"Who knows? It's all so mysterious." In truth, anyone with eyes could see what she meant. Once she learned that Green's surname was Wilson and that he held a baronetcy, she deliberately mentioned the mayor to show that her household had connections everywhere. They even handled the mayor's business, no less than the Wilson Family. It was somewhat too blatant, though. She was clever, but still immature.

Lola had long understood Cindy's style. When Cindy was not paying attention, Lola shrugged at Green, indicating that she was not cut from the same cloth as this woman, then asked whether Green wanted to wait for Old One-Eye to return.

Green said it did not matter. If they had to wait, then they would wait.

Cindy then led them to a well-decorated reception room, brewed two cups of hot tea, and treated them with great enthusiasm.

"By the way, Cindy, has there been any new stock on the market lately?" Lola asked after taking a sip of tea. The market she meant was the black market.

Cindy gave a bitter smile. "What new stock could there be? Things have been awfully strange lately. Several groups of those grave rats have been wiped out, with heavy casualties. Their strength has been badly depleted, and now they don't even dare go underground to work."

Grave rats referred to tomb robbers, who were the main suppliers of goods for the black market.

"Oh? What exactly happened?" Both Lola and Green were intrigued.

"I only heard about it myself," Cindy said unhurriedly. "Starting half a month ago, it would suddenly rain around Landon City even on clear, sunny days. Within the area where it rained, people became muddleheaded, as if they had lost their souls. Some even went mad outright. Those grave rats encountered this several times and were all frightened out of their wits. They said they had run into something uncanny."

"Rain!" Green's heart sank. Recalling what had happened earlier, he thought, Could it be that the uncanny being had been wandering around Landon City for a long time and had finally entered the city? Or did this uncanny being also come to Landon City with those three elves?

Unfortunately, Cindy had only heard rumors and did not know much. She soon changed the subject.

About half an hour later, a burly one-eyed man in his fifties, dressed in a black trench coat, walked in from outside.

Though Kerry Jin had only one eye and a scar across his face, combined with his bald head and red, bulbous nose, he looked not fierce but somewhat comical. He truly did not suit his identity as an underworld boss.

After exchanging pleasantries and explaining their purpose, Kerry Jin was also very enthusiastic. He had been worrying about how to deal with that junk! Throwing it away felt wasteful, but no one wanted to buy it.

"Since Mr. Wilson is interested, how about you look over the goods first, and then we can discuss the price?" One-Eyed Kerry Jin led Green and the others farther inside. Following a wooden staircase, they entered a basement.

Though it was a basement, it was neither damp nor dark. Once the gas lamps were lit, the entire room was illuminated. It covered seventy or eighty square meters, and more than a dozen shelves were crammed with all sorts of miscellaneous things.

"It's all here. Mr. Wilson, take whatever you like. The price is negotiable." Kerry Jin looked easygoing, but he wore the face of a merchant, ready to wait for a good price.

Green was no fool either. He swept his gaze over the basement, shook his head, and smiled. "Old One-Eye, I think we should settle this first. We're all people who know what we're looking at. These are all damaged pieces, and some are simply fragments. To put it bluntly, they would be rubbish if thrown outside. Don't even think about raising the price on the spot. Let's be straightforward today—regardless of what it is, how about two gold pounds apiece, and I can pick whatever I want?"

One-Eyed Kerry Jin blinked his remaining eye, considered it for a moment, then nodded and laughed heartily. "That works. Profit or loss, it all depends on luck and discernment. But two gold pounds won't do. I want three gold pounds per item."

"Deal!" Green agreed immediately. It was only a difference of a few dozen gold pounds, not worth agonizing over. Besides, if he picked too many items and the difference of one gold pound caused him a heavy loss, he would not be upset at all. On the contrary, he would be happier, because that would mean his Graveyard would gain more Psychic Energy.

After reaching an agreement, Green began searching the basement under the watchful eyes of the other three. He did not inspect things closely, merely touched them casually. Before long, he had passed three shelves without taking a single item. Kerry Jin frowned slightly. He did not believe Green had come all this way merely to amuse himself. If he was being so nonchalant, it meant Green possessed some special method of determining whether these damaged antiques or magical items had value. Clearly, not one of the hundred-odd items on the first three shelves was worth Green making a move for.

It was not until the fourth shelf that Green, who had almost passed it by as well, stopped at the very end. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes, and then he smiled and pointed. "This counts as one item." As he spoke, he picked up a half-broken sword that was extremely old and covered in rust.

Seeing that Green had chosen so carefully only to take half a piece of scrap iron, the three onlookers were all somewhat surprised. Cindy could not even be bothered to watch anymore and simply turned around and left.