When evil gods hold a meeting in my head

Richard's hair stood on end instantly, and a chill ran up his spine from the soles of his feet...

The face that just passed by the store was so familiar; its resemblance to Luke was almost 99%!

"But how did he get here? Wasn't he supposed to be imprisoned in the abyss? Could it be that Naansanho and the others are dealing with Luke's matter?"

Richard glanced back at Juliet's reaction; she was still wiping the bottles, humming a song, seemingly oblivious to what was happening outside the store.

Didn't she notice?

Or... that wasn't Luke?

Richard wasn't quite sure either, but while he was still in a daze, the figure that looked just like Luke began to walk away.

He then came to his senses and hurriedly turned to Juliet, shouting, "I suddenly remembered something urgent and I have to go out for a bit."

He spoke a little urgently, causing Juliet to look up: "Ah? Where to? Manager, hurry..."

Before she could finish speaking, Richard had already pushed open the door and rushed out.

We absolutely cannot let them get away!

The bell on the door jingled and rang erratically.

Juliet was suddenly left alone in the shop. She stood there, stunned, watching the door sway back and forth, unable to come to her senses for a long time. She muttered, "Why...why did this person run so fast?"

Outside the Xixi Creek Beauty Store, Richard strode after the suspicious figure. The person was wearing a dark gray coat, was tall, and had a back view exactly like Luke's. He was walking quickly into the alley.

Richard gave chase.

The alley was brightly lit, but the person walked in shadows. Richard followed behind, keeping a distance of about ten paces, not daring to get too close or too far. The person walked at a leisurely pace, but each step was firm, as if aware that someone was following.

After turning a few corners,

The alley narrowed, like the handshake buildings he used to live in, so the sunlight couldn't get in at all, and the ground was covered with damp moss.

Richard stepped on it, his shoes slipped, and he almost fell several times, but the other person was not affected at all and walked faster and faster.

Seeing this, he didn't care about falling or not, and had no choice but to quicken his pace.

When an exit leading out of the alley appeared ahead, the person immediately turned and disappeared from sight.

Richard hurried a few steps and turned the corner as well...

But when he looked around, there was no one in front of him!

He stopped, catching his breath as he pondered, "There are walls on both sides, and a dead end in front. How could someone disappear?"

Walking forward to the base of the wall, he noticed a recessed area on the left wall with a pile of broken planks. The right wall was covered in weeds, but nothing else; it wasn't a good hiding place…

Just as he was wondering what was going on, he suddenly heard a muffled thud!

It sounded like an iron cap hitting the ground.

He lunged forward, dodging the spot where he had just been standing, and the next second he smashed down a metal manhole cover!

"..."

Richard looked up and realized that a manhole cover had been flying overhead the whole time!

It smashed into the window of the upstairs neighbor and then bounced down!

At this point, it had rolled back to its original location as if it had a GPS navigation system installed...

With a loud bang.

The drain opening, which seemed to have been open just moments ago, has now been closed again.

"Only a knight like Luke could display such inhuman power..." Richard squatted down and scratched the edge of the manhole cover with his fingers.

I can't pry it open...

But Luke must have crawled into the sewer, what should we do?

Richard's mind raced.

He took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and snapped his fingers.

Purple mist surged from the ring, condensing in his palm. He imagined the shape of a crowbar, and the mist flowed between his fingers, elongating and solidifying. A few seconds later, an iron-gray crowbar appeared in his hand.

He inserted the crowbar into the edge of the manhole cover and pressed it down hard.

The manhole cover remained completely still.

He put in even more effort, bending the entire crowbar, but the manhole cover still wouldn't budge. He changed his angle, bracing the crowbar against the edge of the manhole cover and pressing down with his shoulder—

With a creak.

The manhole cover is loose!

Richard tossed the crowbar aside, gripped the edge of the manhole cover with both hands, and began to lift it. The cover was heavy, and his face turned red from straining, but he managed to pry it open just a crack. He widened the gap and pushed the cover aside.

The dark well opening was revealed.

A foul stench assaulted his nostrils, both fishy and foul, causing him to lean back.

He covered his nose and peered down. It was darker than charcoal ash below; he couldn't see anything. Only the muffled rushing sound of flowing water could be heard…

The person has already run away.

Richard stared at the black hole, panting, "We lost them..."

Just as he was about to stand up, a loud shout suddenly came from behind him.

"What are you doing!"

Richard turned around and saw two patrol officers in black uniforms standing at the alley entrance, holding guns with the muzzles pointed at him.

One of them shouted, "Put your hands up!"

I didn't break the law...

Richard slowly raised his hand.

The two patrolmen approached, the older one squinting as he scanned the manhole cover on the ground, and asked Richard, "What are you doing here?"

Richard opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

What should I say?

He claimed to be a brave and selfless citizen who saw a criminal resembling Luke and then chased after him.

I definitely can't say that!

Just as he was feeling embarrassed, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the other end of the alley.

"Laurent! Laureen!"

Juliet ran over, her face flushed and breathless. Reaching Richard's side, when she saw the two patrolmen, her first thought wasn't what trouble Richard had gotten into, but rather that she should help him explain why his clothes had been stolen…

"What...what happened?"

The older patrolman was startled by Juliet's sudden appearance: "You two know each other?"

Juliet nodded: "Yes, yes, he's a friend of mine from my shop."

The inspectors stared at her for a few seconds, then stared at Richard for a few seconds.

"What are you doing prying open the manhole cover?"

Juliet's mind raced, and she helped Richard lie: "I told you long ago, you must break the bad habit of prying open manhole covers! I'm sorry, officers, he's always felt that the sewers are hiding a lot of thieves, so..."

"A thief?" the patrolman scoffed. "A thief who sneaks into the sewers?"

Another inspector walked to the well, peered down, and said, "There's no one there! Not even a rat."

"They probably ran away..." Richard replied guiltily.

The inspectors stared at him for a few seconds, their gaze settling on his hands.

Richard then remembered that the crowbar was still lying on the ground, and it was very conspicuous.

The older patrolman walked over, picked up the crowbar, and examined it closely: "Where did this thing come from?"

Richard's heart tightened.

"I don't know who handed it to me," he said.

The inspectors glanced at him, then at Juliet.

Juliet quickly said, "He was helping me with some work in the store just now, and he's probably used to carrying tools with him. There's a hardware store right across from ours, and a lot of the workers there do that."

The inspectors were stunned for a few seconds, then they were amused by the two.

He thought about it and realized that prying open the sewer drain was a thankless and dirty job, and probably not many people would be willing to do it...

He threw the crowbar on the ground and clapped his hands: "Alright, stop messing around here."

He paused, then stared at Richard: "Don't pry open manhole covers carelessly next time. What if there's methane gas inside and it explodes?"

Uh-huh!

Definitely not!

Seeing Richard's sincere expression, the two inspectors turned and left.

Their footsteps faded into the distance.

The alleyway quieted down.

Juliet looked at Richard, her face full of confusion.

"What... happened to you just now?" she asked. "You ran so fast, I thought something had happened."