I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 622 - 622 621. The First Victim_1

Chapter 622: 621. The First Victim_1 Chapter 622: 621. The First Victim_1 After sending away Miss Emma, Stone glanced at Lu Ban.

Rather than saying Lu Ban came to aid in his investigation, it seemed more like Lu Ban came to increase the difficulty for him.

Lu Ban’s mouth would spill everything, whether it should be said or not, and despite Stone having known Lu Ban before and being mentally prepared for it, he still found it somewhat overwhelming.

Thinking back on how Cui Siter and Lu Ban used to work together, he must have suffered a lot.

Reviewing the text in his notebook once more, Stone exhaled deeply, suppressing the urge to take out his pipe.

“Miss Emma seems quite aware of Gaude’s identity, indicating that Gaude hasn’t hidden much. He came in contact with the previous owner of the villa, acted as an intermediary to help Bronning purchase the place, and was also Bronning’s business partner, responsible for handling some underground matters,” he said.

“At the same time, Miss Emma has a hostile attitude towards Lily and doesn’t believe this young girl could pose a real threat to her, even contemplating driving her out, which is a normal reaction.”

“Miss Emma’s knowledge of Taoist Crane Cry is limited to legends and local stories, she isn’t acquainted with Master Byron, and Soul Summoning Night to her is nothing but a backward custom; she doesn’t believe her father can truly be resurrected. In fact, as long as she can ensure that her future quality of life doesn’t decline, it wouldn’t matter to her who inherits the family business.”

Stone summarized the content of the interrogation he had just conducted and marked some sentences on his notes.

“Gaude knew the owner of Storm Villa before, and if it wasn’t for his speculative business failing, he might have bought it himself. It must have been a last resort to sell it to Bronning, at least in that way the estate would remain within his sight.”

“The Soul Summoning Night was part of the will left by Bronning, which was kept by his lawyer. After Bronning’s death, Gaude had a clear motive to take back possession that villa.”

“As for the relationship between Byron and Gaude, Miss Emma is unclear.”

He felt that he might be missing something, but upon carefully examining Miss Emma’s testimony, Stone couldn’t discern anything further.

“Next, we should ask Lorne, the primary heir. He was in charge at Bronning’s company and likely to inherit it after Bronning’s passing.”

“I think maybe we should just go directly to Gaude?”

Lu Ban suddenly spoke up.

“What?”

Stone thought he hadn’t heard correctly and asked again.

“Look, even Emma, who doesn’t pay attention to business, knows that Gaude got this house; don’t you think his moves are very crude?”

Lu Ban said.

“What he does is in plain sight, right on the table, even the suspicions are obvious. I think it would be simpler to just directly ask him, how he got this house, and if he knows anything about Taoist Crane Cry. Moreover, the two of us should be more than capable of handling him, right?”

“…You make a lot of sense.”

Stone felt that although Lu Ban’s words sounded absurd, they strangely made a lot of sense.

If Gaude was not problematic, directly asking him might yield more information about the villa and Taoist Crane Cry. If Gaude was problematic, then the problem should be dealt with.

It dawned on Stone how people like Lu Ban, seasoned as the Chosen by Gods, actually accomplished their missions.

Being in his own Foreign Domain, Stone subconsciously approached the investigation in the same manner as he would a case.

Detectives investigate nearly the same way as police but the most important thing is not to disturb the status quo, because after all, they have to face each other in the future. Thus, Stone wouldn’t take extreme measures, and if he could ascertain Gaude’s suspicions in an indirect manner, he definitely wouldn’t confront him directly.

However, Lu Ban was different. The Chosen by Gods arrive at the Foreign Domain like a sudden Gale Wind and disappear just as unexpectedly; they can investigate destructively, even as Lu Ban and Shia initially suggested, by directly finding Taoist Crane Cry’s successor, Byron, dealing with him, and walking away done with it.

Even Stone had to admit, sometimes the methods of the Chosen by Gods are quite effective.

Having made a decision, the two didn’t hesitate and promptly prepared to knock on Gaude’s door.

The time had reached early evening, the sky had darkened, and the Torrential Rain outside the window showed no signs of abating.

The corridors near the outer side of Storm Villa truly faced the storm head-on.

The ancient glass, pelted by rain and buffeted by wind, kept making a tremendous dripping, ticking noise. The gale forced its way through the gaps of the windows, bringing dull thuds to the long-neglected building that set one’s heart racing, fearing that at any moment the raging thunderstorm might break the window, sweeping through the entire corridor.

The eerie paintings of monsters on the way only heightened the sense of horror and terror. Whenever Lei Ting cracked, the dimly lit corridor, solely illuminated by candlelight, would cast shadows of the paintings—the Faux Solar Flare with its many tentacles, the withered hand in the shadow, and corpses in a blur of flesh and blood—making one’s walk down this path a truly hair-raising experience, in dread of some strange and dangerous creature emerging from the corners or crevices.

Lu Ban and Stone walked down this path, their shadows occasionally casting long shapes against the walls.

They reached the door to Gaude’s room.

“You want to go in?”

Stone looked at Lu Ban.

Socially anxious people like him are best suited for dealing with others. Not only does he not feel awkward, but he can also make the other person feel awkward. And when people are awkward, they might do things they normally wouldn’t, potentially revealing information.

Pretty good.

“No problem.”

Lu Ban knocked on the door and greeted whoever might be inside.

There was no response from inside.

“He’s not there?”

Lu Ban looked at Stone.

“The servants said he had been in his room ever since that incident.”

Stone felt puzzled but also pulled out his revolver from the holster under his arm, ready to pull the trigger at any time.

Lu Ban glanced at Stone’s gun, which was not Cui Siter’s Mimic Solar Flare, just a common revolver.

“In detective novels, at this point, it’s usually bad news for Gaude,” Lu Ban said. He tried the doorknob and found it locked from the inside.

“It’s a locked room,” he added.

“Let me handle this,” Stone said, eyes wide as he prepared to shoot the lock off, but Lu Ban stopped him.

“Hold on,” Lu Ban said. Droplets of mud-like blood fell from his hand, quickly seeping under the door seam as if they had a mind of their own, entering the room.

Soon, Lu Ban melted, turning into a puddle of flesh that flowed under the door gap and reconstituted into a human form inside the room.

Only then did Lu Ban see the situation in the room.

The first thing he saw was Gaude.

Unfortunately, Lu Ban and Stone no longer had the chance to inquire Gaude.

The burly strong man was lying on his own bed, covered only by a bathrobe, limbs outstretched, his face etched with shock and bewilderment. His abdomen had been laid open, the innards vanished as if gnawed on by some beast.

He was dead.

*

Please vote, and I appreciate monthly votes!