Pursuit and Interception

Just as Heka returned to the main road and prepared to head back to the sewer entrance near the affluent district, several familiar figures caught his eye.

They were the older beggars.

He did not know why all the familiar child beggars and little pickpockets had vanished from the streets, but Heka recognized these older beggars.

Unlike the child beggars, whose lives lasted only about a year, these people were elderly gang members or relatives of important members.

They had fixed begging spots. Besides begging, they also used their status to engage in extortion, robbery, and similar activities.

Some of the little pickpockets even took an older beggar as their boss, then used that person's familiarity with the streets to monopolize theft in a particular area.

Their arrival meant the gang's attention had arrived as well.

Heka turned and slipped into a flower shop on the side, avoiding their gaze.

Fortunately, his clothes looked respectable enough that no one would immediately take him for a beggar. After bathing, the grime had been washed from his face, and the older beggars did not recognize him at first.

But if he got too close, there was always a chance of being discovered. Heka ran through the sewer entrances in the area in his mind.

He was currently on the edge of the Grayfang Gang's territory, while the gang's strongest control lay within the alleys.

Unfortunately, most sewer entrances were inside those alleys. There were some on the streets as well, but they were covered by heavy manhole covers.

Heka had already looked around. Gang members stood guard beside every sewer outlet.

Could he leave the Grayfang Gang's territory, then?

"What would you like to buy, little customer?"

The flower shop looked fairly spacious from outside, but its interior was crammed with shelves reaching the ceiling. Pots of plants covered the floor as well, leaving barely anywhere to step.

Heka hurried forward and hid beneath the counter, then took out a copper coin and placed it on the countertop.

Behind the table that divided the tiny shop in two stood a somewhat slender woman.

Her gray apron was dotted with colorful flower petals, while several little cats—more abstract than realistic—were embroidered on her bright yellow sleeve covers.

"I... I only have this much money. I want to buy my mother a birthday present."

The woman leaned over the counter. Only then could she see the little customer, with only his forehead exposed.

"What a good child. Would pansies do?"

Actually, daisies and elderflowers would both have been suitable gifts for a mother, but neither was available this season.

The shop owner smiled. She clearly liked this child, who carried a faint scent of soap.

She had just seen his hands. His nails were neatly trimmed, and there was no dirt beneath them. He must have come from a well-bred gentleman's household.

"Thank you."

Heka stood on tiptoe and accepted the flowers from her. Six pansies had been tied together with a cloth ribbon.

Pansies were originally spring-blooming plants.

But people who loved beauty always found a way, and cold-resistant pansies were not uncommon.

They were also frequent visitors in the little flowerbeds on the windowsills of Haifeng Harbor homes.

With just the right amount of shyness and excitement on his face, Heka glanced slightly out the window and immediately pulled his cloak tighter.

Before the shop owner could give him a puzzled look, Heka explained.

"I want to surprise her. What a small world this is. Could I borrow your back door?"

Heka stuck out his tongue at the shop owner, putting on an expression of someone afraid his surprise would be discovered.

The shop owner smiled and pointed to the little door at the back.

"It isn't locked. Just go through. Good luck."

Heka turned around, and his smile vanished.

Small shops like this usually had back doors. Many buildings here had shops on the ground floor and living quarters above, with the owners living upstairs and running their businesses out front.

The flower shop was not deep enough, with nearly a third of its space missing, and there were no stairs leading upward. Heka immediately concluded that the owner had sealed off the rear section.

After all, the back door opened onto an alley where no shop could operate. It could only be a living area the owner had partitioned off with wooden boards.

He absolutely could not leave through the front right now. He had entered the shop to avoid the people outside, and when he went out, the angle would not fully conceal his face. It was inevitable that they would notice him.

Nor could he clash with the shop owner. Buying something and finding an excuse to leave through the back door was the best solution.

Sure enough, beyond the back door was a neatly arranged dining room. A wooden table, several chairs with backs but no armrests, and a low cabinet beside the door were all it contained.

Heka carefully opened the door leading to the back alley, then slipped outside.

He could not use the sewer entrances on the streets, but he remembered a nearby alley where a manhole cover had been stolen, leaving only two wooden planks over the opening. Even if the gang had many lookouts here, he could only give it a try.

Leaving the Grayfang Gang's territory was also an appealing option, but there was no guarantee the gangs outside were not looking for him as well.

Moreover, the gangs had many lookouts stationed along the borders between their territories. The chance of being discovered was too high. More importantly, Heka was unfamiliar with the streets outside and their sewer entrances.

At least he knew this area of the Grayfang Gang's territory better.

Heka planned to find a lightly guarded spot and force his way in. If anyone was watching, he would deal with them.

The boy casually tossed the flowers in his hand into a drainage ditch beside the road, then took the hand crossbow and bolts from his backpack.

Though the hand crossbow was extremely compact—so compact that even Heka, who had less than a third of an adult man's strength, could load it by hand—

it was more than enough against unarmored targets.

Heka had observed that the people guarding the sewer entrances were all beggars and ordinary gang thugs. Their morale was practically nonexistent; the moment anything seemed wrong, they ran faster than rabbits.

A single hand crossbow was enough to deal with them.

Before reaching the intersection ahead, Heka quickly moved close to the wall on his left. After confirming from the corner of his eye that there were no gang thugs to his right, he immediately turned left.

Then, as he skirted around a pile of clutter in front of him, he turned slightly and checked again to make sure no one was behind him.

Yet that feeling of being watched remained, and it was growing stronger.