Chapter 131: Blood Feast
“Wilde?” Lin Jie was just putting away the used ropes under the counter when he raised his head upon hearing those words.
“Has Joseph still not found the whereabouts of his old friend?”
He still remembered that the original reason Joseph first came to the bookstore was to reconcile with Wilde. Yet, it had already been a month, and perhaps his search hadn't been very effective.
Wilde, an 'empty nester' had already experienced the crisis of ‘having an unfilial child trying to seize his assets.' Of course, the possibility that Old Wil was hiding from Joseph couldn’t be eliminated either, considering the past arguments the two of them had in the past. Although Joseph had good intentions and made efforts to reconcile with Wilde, that didn’t necessarily mean Wilde felt the same.
“Uhm...yes.”
Beads of sweat broke out on Claude’s forehead. Old friend my *ss! Teacher's greatest desire is to rip out Wilde’s heart and lungs.
“But it isn’t like we gained absolutely nothing either. We’ve found some clues... A while ago, he appeared near Fifty-Second Avenue and stayed for some time, at least for an entire day.”
Fifty-Second Avenue...
Lin Jie calculated the approximate location in his head and was startled by his realization. Wasn’t that the location of the second bombing accident that had occurred recently?
Although the incident in question had occurred a week ago, the media was still reporting and following up with the story.
Apparently, the accident over there was more serious than the explosion caused by a gas leak on this street. It seemed that rioters took advantage of the heavy rain and used that opportunity to plant explosives in the sewage system. The series of explosions resulted in the collapse of the base foundations.
Coupled with the flooded streets, the central valve of the sewage went completely out of control and the continuous flooding eventually flattened several streets. In addition to that, rioters also attacked and raided the scientific research institutions in the Central District. Perhaps it was their rampage through the Central District that made the Central District Police Unit take action and launch a large-scale clean-up operation.It was also related as to why a police cordon had been raised in the area some days back.Yet during all of this, Wilde had stayed near Fifty-Second Avenue for a whole day. Most of the residents had already been evacuated, and more importantly, that area had been the most severely affected by the flooding.
Normal people would have no reason to stay around in that area, much less for such a long time. Lin Jie could tell from Claude’s demeanor and tone that he was referring to the time, or perhaps, the entire day of when the previous bombing attack occurred. Perhaps Old Wilde is connected to that attack! Li Jie arrived at this conclusion after observing how Claude expressed himself.
Could Old Wil have been so traumatized by the Charles incident that he joined some sort of hateful organization?
“Unfortunately, he hasn’t come to see me since the last time he returned his book.” Lin Jie became uncomfortable at the thought that one of his old customers had chosen to go down the wrong path.
“Does it have to do with the events on Fifty-Second Avenue?” Li Jie asked. “There’s no need to hide anything, you can just tell me.”
“Yes.” Claude heaved a sigh.
In truth, they had suspected that the bookstore’s owner was inciting the recent happenings regarding White Wolf, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case.
But who could say that was the case with Wilde?
Although they were all guests, from the supposed timeline, Wilde had come the first. The gift that Wilde had given was still displayed on the counter. Asking the bookstore’s owner for help dealing with Wilde would highly likely fail. They could only hope that the bookstore owner would at least provide them with some small clues.
“Teacher has been attempting to track his whereabouts and we would like your help. We are willing to pay the price for it.”
Secret Rite Tower had already gotten hold of the altar within the sewers and had launched a full-scale investigation in the past four weeks.
First, they had found the aetheric traces left by Wilde near the battlefield. Secondly, the evidence of blood sacrifices used by those hunters seemed to point at Wilde as well.
Joseph and Wilde had crossed paths multiple times throughout their history, hence his understanding towards Wilde’s magic was close to perfection. This meant that if Joseph said that he detected Wilde’s magic, then it was almost entirely accurate.
Lin Jie frowned. If they’re already using the term “track”, then Old Wil has already become a suspect in the case. Just what had he done?
“I’ll do my best. However, since I’m agreeing to this, I think there are some things that need to be discussed first. Over the call just now, you said that ‘Blood Feast’ was on the move, right? Are you tracking them?”
Claude nodded. “Yes. This organization has existed for a long time, engaged in shady business. Because they’ve been established for so long, they have members scattered everywhere and records dating back several decades.
“We’ve been conducting our investigation without rest and recently found traces of their activity once again.”
A pyramid scheme with a long history? Sounds evil indeed.
But if they had the power to make the Central Police Unit powerless for at least a decade or longer, then it must mean that they were an extremely powerful criminal organization. Moreover, the background noises during the call seemed like a fierce exchange had broken out. It seemed that this wasn't just a simple pyramid scheme that Lin Jie had assumed it to be, but an armed terrorist organization instead.
“Old Wilde had mentioned to me that ‘Blood Feast’ had invited him some time ago. At that time, I had stopped him... but I doubt he listened to me.
“Recently, he mentioned that there was a feast going on soon, so I assume this is what he meant,” Lin Jie explained with a sigh.
Claude was taken aback for a moment before his eyes suddenly widened.
Destructive-rank black magician, “Faceless Black-scaled Man” Wilde was invited to join 'Blood Feast' in the past?! This is important information!
And "Blood Feast” sprang out shortly after Wilde reappeared after many years! Could it be that Wilde still joined the “Blood Feast” despite the advice from the bookstore’s owner?
This evil organization has existed in Norzin for a very long time, with members for all the various factions. After a convene of members, an initiator would issue tasks and offer rewards which participants accomplished together, with a middle-man as witness and safeguards. Secret Rite Tower had suspected 'Blood Feast' to be the ones behind this recent incident.
They initially thought that Wilde would never join 'Blood Feast' given his character and status. If things had truly turned out this way, then 'Blood Feast' has surely summoned their members to action recently. Secret Rite Tower had to speed up their investigations!
“Thank you for your warnings.” Claude stood up and saluted gratefully. He finally understood the bookstore owner’s 'kindness'; Mr. Lin had even been willing to give a hint regarding such an important matter. It’s just...sigh, there weren’t many like the bookstore owner in this world... thought Claude to himself.Not only was the activities associated with the 'Blood Feast' bad enough, but several hunter organizations had gotten quite restless recently.
Of course, hunter organizations would be restless. The blood of dream beasts flowed through their veins. They were savage and violent by nature, always constantly prepared for any battle. Just the scent of one drop of blood was enough to incite them all to swarm. And now, the most tempting blood of them all had been placed on a picnic table — White Wolf's original blood formula. ———Ji Zhixu had already led the fledgling hunter organization, Spider, to take over most of White Wolf’s territory. In just three months, they had already experienced three large-scale battles and countless small skirmishes.
They never seemed to sleep, constantly fighting again and again, all while becoming stronger. But disadvantages were bound to appear sooner or later. Ji Zhixiu received news that other hunter organizations were already planning a fourth attack, and this would be the most important one. Win, and Spider stands firm. Lose, and everything including their lives would be forfeited.
Two weeks after Ji Zhixiu had last visited the bookstore, “Pale Nightwatcher” Ackerman came to an old White Wolf hideout and officially became a member of the Spider hunter organization.