Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 169 Why didn't you die?
Under the first arch of the Backlund Bridge.

In theory, the bridge archway would be an ideal settlement for homeless people. First, the bridge deck overhead and the adjacent piers would provide shelter from the wind and rain; second, it would be convenient to fetch water from the riverbank. However, in reality, there is no trace of anyone living there.

Thanks to the Poor Law, homeless people were not allowed to rest anywhere. The police would drive them away all night, preventing them from sleeping, until they obediently lined up to enter the workhouse, where they would exhaust themselves with arduous work.

Lu Ze walked down the bridge and along the riverbank with its strong fishy smell towards the bridge arch.

Looking into the distance, a person was already waiting in the shadows of the bridge arch. Due to the dim lighting, his face was not clearly visible. As he drew closer, it became apparent that he was dressed in worker's clothes, wearing an iron mask that covered the upper half of his face, while the lower half was covered by a thick beard.

They're very careful about concealing their faces.
Lu Ze himself had also changed his appearance, stepped forward, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Detective Sherlock Moriarty?"

"it's me."

The other person replied, also lowering their voice.

Ok?
Lu Ze was slightly taken aback, feeling inexplicably that the voice seemed somewhat familiar.

Although the other person lowered their voice, the natural timbre of their voice couldn't be altered. In particular, Lu Ze's hearing was extremely sensitive, allowing him to discern even the subtle differences.

With this question in mind, Lu Ze walked under the bridge.

"Mr. James Holmes?"

The other person also asked, their tone tinged with nervousness and anticipation.

"Yes."

Lu Ze replied. The sense of familiarity grew stronger; the other person's hair, build—everything conveyed the same message: he had seen this person before. If it were just a slightly familiar voice, it would be understandable, but as more and more evidence emerged, Lu Ze couldn't help but become suspicious, wondering if the person standing opposite him was someone he knew.

But that person is already dead!

Are there any other characteristics? I need more concrete evidence.
Lu Ze kept his breath, his gaze sweeping over the other person as he said, "The fact that you're here means you must have understood what's on the back of the letter, right?"

Yes, I understand.

The other person replied, nervously adjusting their mask. A flash of yellow light appeared on their wrist as they raised it. In that instant, Lu Ze saw the source of the flash.

It was a clear yellow crystal pendant, which the other person had tied to their wrist.

Citrine pendant!
Lu Ze's head was spinning. The yellow crystal was like a key, connecting all the previous clues, and the other party's true identity was about to be revealed!

"Klein!"

Lu Ze exclaimed in surprise.

Across from him, Klein, who was wearing a mask, suddenly jolted, then said incredulously, "You know me?"

That's impossible, I've never seen this person before.
As he was thinking this, he saw the ordinary-looking person reach out and wipe his face, and the unremarkable face quickly changed into an exceptionally handsome, yet slightly crazy, face.

"Lu Ze!"

Klein removed his mask and exclaimed the other person's name in equal surprise.

The two looked at each other, then said in unison:
Why aren't you dead?

This statement startled them both.

"brush!"

The next second, Klein suddenly jumped back, widening the distance between them. The Joker's intuition told him that he sensed some kind of danger.

Looking up ahead, he saw a ferocious and crazed expression on Lu Ze's face, a terrifying aura spreading outwards, and an illusory feeling of hunger permeated the entire space beneath the bridge.

Klein felt a shock on a soul level, as if the man in front of him was no longer his familiar colleague, but some kind of extremely dangerous monster that was craving his flesh and soul!

"What happened that day has nothing to do with you?"

He heard the other person ask slowly, their voice filled with an extremely dangerous pressure.

"of course not!"

"Klein shouted angrily. He himself was a victim, and was currently striving for revenge, yet he was being doubted like this by Luze. Naturally, he wasn't happy about it. "Then how did you survive?"

Luzer even suspected that Klein had faked his death and that joining Blackthorn Security Company was part of the mastermind's plan to use his fake death to escape once everything was over.

"That's what I wanted to ask you! How did you survive? If you can be resurrected, why can't I?!"

"Klein shouted."

So it seems there's a serious problem with the blood mist on him, but why was everything normal when the divination was performed on him before?

"."

Luze was speechless after Klein's words. Yes, he could be resurrected, so why couldn't the other party?
Once he was logically confused, his uncontrollable madness was dispelled, and he gradually regained his rationality, somewhat restraining his overflowing momentum.

"call"

Feeling the pressure disappear, Klein straightened up and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"So, it really has nothing to do with you?"

He heard Lu Ze ask softly.

"It has nothing to do with it."

"You're from another time traveler too?"

"That's right. To be honest, I only traveled through time a few weeks before you joined the team."

Which line of that letter did you understand?

Lu Ze was asking where the other person was from before they traveled through time.

".First line."

Klein replied.

"Shall we exchange a code word?"

Lu Ze asked.

His words made Klein tremble slightly, and a look of nostalgia appeared on his face—because the words were not spoken in Rune, but in Chinese, the language of their homeland that they had left.

"No need."

Klein replied in the same language.

The two looked at each other, both feeling a strange sense of unreality. These two transmigrators from another world had unexpectedly worked together for a time, and both had both faked their deaths and been resurrected, only to meet again by a strange twist of fate under the bridge.

"Li Ran."

"Zhou Mingrui."

How did you travel through time?

"I went through a ritual, and then I time-traveled. What about you?"

"Big truck."

"Very classic."

After that, the two, both time travelers, exchanged some information. Luze learned that the mastermind behind his death was named Ince Zangwill, and that he possessed a peculiar quill pen capable of creating coincidences. Klein came to Backlund partly to find Ince Zangwill, and partly to become stronger.

Klein also learned about Luzer's recent situation, discovering that after his resurrection, he was taken to Backlund by his sister and miraculously absorbed the extraordinary characteristics of Sequence 5. However, this also caused him to experience mental problems once again.

The two of them tacitly agreed not to ask each other again why they had been resurrected.

　Thank you to reader Orison_H for the 500 Qidian coins!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)