Mystery: The Last Shepherd

Chapter 178 Traces
In Lu Ze's memory, the landlady Emily was a very hardworking girl.

She wanted to leave this awful East End and find a better life. Every day, she left home early and walked to a school in another district, returning home after school. After dinner, she would immediately go back to her bedroom to continue studying.

Several times, when Lu Ze woke up in the middle of the night, he could clearly hear the sound of writing downstairs. The sound was reassuring, as if he could see the girl hunched over the table.

Lu Ze doesn't dislike people who try to save themselves.

"Emily hasn't come back yet."

So when he heard his sister say that, he was taken aback.

His ears were ringing, and he could faintly mumble in his sleep. He wasn't in good condition because he hadn't rested enough.

"what time is it?"

Luze looked around blankly; the room was already dark. Usually by this time, Emily would have already finished school and walked home. If Luze were awake, she would typically come over to ask him questions about grammar or math, or help out in the kitchen.

"It must have been just past 9 o'clock, not long after the clock tower started chiming."

It was 9 o'clock, almost two hours later than her usual time to get home.

Is something wrong at school?
Impossible, it's not the world before I traveled through time.

Could it be that they encountered an accident, got injured, or were attacked?
Lu Ze stood up from the sofa.

Have you searched the surrounding area?

"Not yet, because I don't feel comfortable leaving you here alone."

"Let's go take a look together."

The two stepped out of the apartment. The streetlights flickered on sparsely, creating a dirty orange halo in the thick fog, making it difficult to see the road.

The infrastructure in the eastern district is terrible; having even a few streetlights is considered relatively good. Many streets have no streetlights at all, relying solely on the crimson moonlight to illuminate the way.

The damp, cold air seeped into the clothes through the gaps, bringing an uncomfortable chill.

It feels like winter is almost here.

Lu Ze thought to himself.

Backlund has a rather unique climate, with abundant rainfall throughout the year, summers that aren't too hot, and winters that aren't too cold. Of course, this "not too cold" is relative to Fussac to the north. To be precise, temperatures here can drop below freezing in winter, and there can even be snow.

It's worth noting that sometimes the snow that falls in Backlund isn't white, but rather black snowflakes soaked in smoke and pollution. A sharp critic in the newspapers put it this way: "On winter mornings, when you open your door, you see a city shrouded in thick fog, covered in black snow, and the corpses of homeless people lying stiffly in the snow, their eyes wide open in death—it's like hell."

Of course, Lu Ze has no time to think about environmental pollution right now.

The two of them followed Emily's usual route to school, heading towards the school.

As night deepens, streetwalkers, drunkards, thieves, and robbers begin to appear, their identities often shifting between these professions.

"Hey handsome, wanna have some fun with this guy?"

A woman carrying a bottle of liquor hiccuped and asked in a vulgar tone.

Have you seen a girl with a schoolbag nearby?

Lu Ze asked calmly.

"No."

Upon hearing that the other party had no intention of patronizing the business, the woman's attitude became less friendly, but seeing his handsome face, she still gave an answer.

After that, Lu Ze searched for a few more minutes, but still found nothing.

Blindly searching like this isn't a solution; I need external help.

He thought to himself. Who should I look for?

Is it the local Lehman gang, or Klein who can offer divination assistance?
Time is of the essence, and I may have no choice but to seek help from one of them.
"elder brother."

Just then, the figure of a black-haired girl quietly emerged from the alleyway beside him and called out to him.

This was a shortcut back to Housetin Street, but the alley was narrow and in a secluded location. Luzer walked into the alley and saw his sister standing in the middle, pointing out some bloodstains to him.

A few drops of blood splattered onto the ground and walls, appearing to have been left during a struggle.

Lu Ze frowned slightly, walked to the bloodstains, and squatted down.

The damp, cold air of Backlund made the walls and floor very wet, and the bloodstains hadn't completely dried. He picked up a drop with his finger and gently smelled it.

It was very young blood, carrying the vibrant energy of a young girl. The blood on the other wall was much dirtier, giving off a sense of depravity and evil.

Although he couldn't discern the physical details of the blood's owner as clearly as a vampire, he could still glean some information from it thanks to his mastery of flesh magic.

A fight broke out here, and people were injured and bleeding. One of them was a young girl, and the other was a simple-minded thug.
Lu Ze silently got up, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

His gaze swept across the dark alley. Soon, he spotted something in the ditch beside the alley.

He walked over and picked it up, his eyes narrowing involuntarily.

It was a slightly worn-out handbag filled with textbooks, notes, and a fountain pen. Normally, it was kept on the cabinet in front of the porch, and its owner would take it with her when she went to class, keeping it until she returned in the evening.

—Emily's schoolbag.

Lu Ze stared intently at the schoolbag, feeling a surge of anger slowly rising within him.

Why did you treat her like this!
She just wanted to leave this awful place, was she wrong?
"Brother, these are Emily's things."

"I know."

Based on the information previously obtained from the injured poor people, it's not hard to guess that Emily had been kidnapped.

It may be related to human trafficking.

Although he had unexpectedly obtained the clue he had been searching for, Lu Ze's expression was not happy. He used his dagger to pick up the remaining blood on the ground and dripped it onto the back of his hand. Then, he used the knife to carve strange patterns on the back of his hand, letting the blood seep into the lines.

“Show me the location of the original owners of these bloodlines.”

Lu Ze murmured softly, and soon, the blood began to converge in one direction.

Just then, he felt a gaze, looked up, and saw Ms. M smiling at him.

Her smile seemed to carry a certain deeper meaning.

Is it malice, or anticipation?
Influenced by her smile, Lu Ze's mind was filled with even more frantic babbling.

"Let's go."

He suppressed his discomfort and turned to his sister, saying, "It's a pity, it looks like we won't be able to go to that gathering of extraordinary people tonight."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the pitch-black dungeon, Emily awoke from her daze.

Where am I?
She heard the soft sobs of many girls around her. She opened her eyes and found herself trapped in a cell, surrounded by many other girls her age. They were somewhat panicked, tears streaming down their faces, some with numb and empty eyes, as if they had completely given up hope.

Emily's gaze moved upwards through the dungeon bars. Above the steps, the door leading to the hall was tightly closed, with only a sliver of light shining through the cracks, and the faint sounds of voices and music could be heard.

The sounds were lively and joyful.

(End of this chapter)