Clues

More than the person hiding behind Li Ming, what actually made Winnie more curious was the magical ability Su Ran had displayed.

Although the Human Federation had warrior sequences that used magic essence to strengthen the body, and magic sequences that used magic essence to cast single-element spells…

…someone like Su Ran, who used wind elements and then immediately used ice elements again…

…so far, Winnie had only ever seen Su Ran.

For Winnie, Su Ran’s magical ability didn’t hold much appeal.

The blood magic of the vampires didn’t have the same limitations as humans.

Whether it was fire or water orbs, they could cast them at will, simply by using the corresponding incantation.

From this perspective, the magic Su Ran used had quite a few similarities with the vampires’ blood magic.

And compared to blood magic, it seemed to even lack the step of chanting an incantation.

“Looks like I’ll have to remind her, so she doesn’t slip up in front of others.”

If it were discovered that Su Ran could use two different types of elemental magic, she might very well be sought out by others soon.

The only person Winnie needed to worry about now was the one hiding behind Li Ming; he was the only one who had seen Su Ran use two different types of magic.

“But since the other party has chosen to hide their head and show their tail, they must have grander schemes and won’t show themselves over something like this.”

Winnie quickly set aside her worries and smiled.

“Besides, as long as she’s under my watch, she definitely won’t get into trouble so easily.”

Seeing that Li Ming’s corpse was already emitting a burnt smell, Winnie waved her hand and withdrew the flames she had released.

The thing in the crater no longer looked human, but Winnie had still left a physical clue.

She had allowed the two severed arms to escape the fire.

With the remaining arms and the palm left at the police station, a simple comparison would be enough to know that the person in the crater was Li Ming.

Moreover, the charred corpse still retained the aura of blood magic, which would push the blame for Li Ming’s death onto the vampires who had burst in from the Northern Border Defense City, providing the best possible cover for Su Ran.

Winnie always had a well-thought-out plan before taking action and never acted impulsively.

As dusk fell, after confirming that Li Ming was a puppet, Winnie didn’t plan to linger here any longer.

‘The coward behind him wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave clues in a puppet’s hideout, would he?’

Winnie prepared to drive back just like that.

If there was still time when she got back to the city, she planned to pick up Yuan Shirui, who had been abandoned to shop alone at the mall.

‘Speaking of which, did I forget to give her the Sakura Cafe’s bank card?’

‘Never mind, it’s not important. I’ll let Shirui pay for now and reimburse her when I get back. She gets to eat the food too, anyway.’

As she thought of this, Winnie was already back in her car, starting the engine and driving away.

Just as Winnie appeared and burned Li Ming’s corpse, Su Ran had already arrived near a small, three-story building that looked like the office for the surrounding sports field.

The office was built right next to another gate of the sports field.

Su Ran made searching here the final part of her trip.

She had already searched all the nearby venues.

They were basically empty at a glance, with no signs of human life.

Now, this office had become the most likely place to find traces of Li Ming’s life.

After letting out a groaning sound as if it couldn’t bear the weight, the iron gate in front of her was slowly pushed open by Su Ran.

Unlike the previous few venues, the iron gate here was not locked.

For Su Ran, this was good news; the probability that Li Ming had once lived here was steadily increasing.

Approaching the first floor of the office, Su Ran decided to search the entire place.

There were only about forty-five minutes left until the last bus arrived.

Even if she left directly from this gate and rushed to the bus station, the time left for Su Ran to search was at most only half an hour.

…the time for each floor was about ten minutes.

It sounded like a lot, but for a first floor with several small offices, it was a bit tight.

Su Ran went through room after room but didn’t find what she was looking for.

She then proceeded to the second and third floors and got the same answer, seeming to indicate that the clue she wanted was not here.

Currently, the only place Su Ran hadn’t looked was the rooftop.

There were only two or three minutes left before she had to leave.

To ensure she could catch the last bus, Su Ran’s rationality told her that she should turn around and leave now to give herself some leeway.

In the end, Su Ran still chose to go up to the rooftop for a look.

Unfortunately, the entire rooftop was empty; she didn’t see a single thing.

Just as Su Ran was about to leave in disappointment, a burnt mark on the rooftop caught her attention.

Piled within it were all sorts of papers that had been burned to black ash, but two fragments could still be clearly identified.

On one piece, the character “Su” could be seen written on it.

From another part of it, one could infer that it was her former name, Su Ran.

The other piece was stacked underneath.

The name was no longer clear, only the character “Dai” remained.

‘Dai what?’

If “Su Ran” was herself, then this “Dai what” could very well have suffered the same fate as her.

In other words, if she found her and learned about the situation, she would very likely find out how the other party had learned her address.

She might even be able to find out their purpose for seeking her out.

As for how to find the other person, Su Ran had some ideas.

Since Li Ming had come to her door, he must have also gone to the door of this “Dai” person.

As long as she paid attention to recent hot topics in Jiangbei City, there would surely be related reports.

Or she could go directly to the Blood Cats to inquire about cases similar in nature to her own.

With her status as a Blood Cat, and by spending a little money, she should be able to get information on Jiangbei City.

Putting away the two paper fragments, Su Ran hurriedly ran towards the bus station through the nearby gate.

During this process, Su Ran even used magic essence to speed herself up.

Her path was unobstructed, and Su Ran’s luck was good.

Just as she arrived at the station, the bus pulled up.

“Manager, Shirui, I’m back.”

Unlocking the door, Su Ran returned to the Sakura Cafe’s dormitory.

Just as she pushed the door open, she saw Winnie and Yuan Shirui organizing the ingredients and putting them in the refrigerator.

“You’re back?”

In the kitchen, Winnie glanced calmly at the newly returned Su Ran.

She was dressed very neatly and cleanly.

Winnie couldn’t even find a single blade of grass on her knit cardigan, and her small leather shoes were shiny and bright without a single scratch.

If Winnie hadn’t been following behind her, she might have really been deceived by Su Ran’s appearance, thinking she hadn’t been to a desolate place like the Jiangbei City suburbs at all.

“Shirui, take the thing out.”

Without stopping her hands, Winnie calmly arranged for Yuan Shirui to get to work, to prevent her from accidentally letting something slip.

In any case, the thing she was taking out was also very important.