At noon in Igwinte, sunlight scattered onto the streets of White Pearl Street, but the warmth this sunlight brought was difficult to spread into the houses, especially in Ke Li's shop.
Looking at the black muzzle of the gun pointed at him, Ke Li felt a chill around him, and his heart tightened. His movements were completely frozen in place, but having seen storms before, he didn't panic immediately. Instead, he opened his mouth and smiled.
"Hehe... Captain, this is..."
"I think 1 pound is a bit little. I've decided to add your life to it. Give me an estimate, boss."
Pointing the gun at Ke Li, the masked man in the trench coat said slowly in a cold tone, while Ke Li responded with a fawning smile.
"Oh... I see. My previous estimate was indeed a bit off. Please wait a moment... I'll give you a new estimate right now..." Facing the threat before him, Ke Li said with a fawning smile while slowly moving his hand under the counter. There, there was a mechanism.
This was a mechanism Ke Li had prepared for crisis situations. The floor where customers stood in front of his counter was actually a disguised trapdoor. As soon as he triggered the mechanism, the trapdoor would open, and the person standing on it would fall into the trap below. At the same time, a bell alarm would be triggered to call the assistants from the back of the shop.
As a well-known usurer on White Pearl Street, it was impossible for Ke Li not to have a few tricks up his sleeve. He had been threatened more than once or twice before, but those who dared to threaten him were now either working in the dark mines or had been sunk to the bottom of the Iron Mud River.
Ke Li was playing for time while reaching under the counter to trigger the mechanism. His movements were very small and cautious, hard to detect from in front of the counter. However, on the wall behind the counter, a gecko observing from a rear perspective had a clear view of Ke Li's small movements.
Then, just as Ke Li was about to trigger the mechanism, the trench coat man's eyes suddenly turned fierce. He abruptly extended the pistol in his hand, shoving the muzzle directly into Ke Li's mouth, forcing him back two steps and preventing him from reaching the mechanism.
"Ugh! Ugh ugh!"
With his mouth blocked by the gun barrel, this was more coercive than simply having a gun pointed at him. Ke Li, who had been relatively calm at first, immediately became flustered after this. He widened his eyes in panic and made muffled sounds, his expression full of fear.
"I almost forgot to tell you, don't try any small tricks on me. I see things very clearly. Now give me a proper estimate. You won't get another chance, understand?"
With the gun still in Ke Li's mouth, the trench coat man continued to speak coldly. This time, Ke Li was so scared that he nodded repeatedly. Then the trench coat man pulled the muzzle out of his mouth and continued to point it at him.
"Cough, cough cough cough..."
After coughing several times, Ke Li started to pick up his pocket watch again with trembling hands. After taking a look, he looked at the trench coat man before him with fearful eyes.
"This... this pocket watch is exquisitely made... punctual... I, I think it's worth... worth 10 pound!" Ke Li said in a hesitant tone, while the trench coat man silently continued to look at him coldly, with no intention of lowering the gun in his hand.
"No, no! 10 pound is still too low, let me re-estimate... I think... how about 30 pound?"
Ke Li continued to speak, but the trench coat man still didn't show any reaction, and the gun in his hand remained steady.
"Or, or 60 pound! 60 pound should be enough!"
The usurer Ke Li's voice began to tremble, but the man in front of him remained unmoved. Finally, Ke Li couldn't help but speak again.
"112 pound! 112 pound! This is all the cash I have here right now! Please spare my life!" Ke Li said in a panic, and at this moment, the trench coat man also responded silently.
"Then, take the money..."
Hearing the trench coat man's reply, Ke Li quickly nodded, then quickly opened the safe next to him, took out the banknotes from it, and handed them to the trench coat man in front of him. After the trench coat man took the money, he put it away, and then backed out of the shop slowly, still pointing the gun at Ke Li, and then opened the door and left.
Seeing this situation, Ke Li gritted his teeth and quickly rang the bell hanging on the wall. After a while, two burly assistants opened the door and came in from the back of the house.
"What's wrong, boss?"
"I've been robbed! A man in a black trench coat just left! Hurry up and chase him, you two idiots! Tie that guy up and bring him back! Oh, and call more people, that guy has a gun!"
"Yes, boss!"
...
Just as Ke Li's pawnshop was in chaos, at this moment, on the rooftop of the building opposite the pawnshop, Dorothy was standing and looking down at the shop below, nodding slightly with satisfaction.
"112 pound... not bad..."
"Indeed... tuition fees have to be earned through work-study."
As she spoke, Dorothy continued to manipulate the Corpse Puppet Edrick to shake off the pursuing pawnshop assistants behind him. With the help of the crow Corpse Puppet's aerial view, this was an easy task. Before long, Dorothy had completely shaken off the group of lackeys.
After manipulating Edrick to go to the predetermined hiding place, Dorothy temporarily released the Corpse Puppet control, and then successively retrieved the other animal Corpse Puppets. Then, looking at Ke Li, who was angrily scolding his assistants at the door, Dorothy continued to murmur slowly.
"Heh... Your own business has so many dark secrets, you absolutely wouldn't dare to call the police, would you... Then, it's time for the next step..."
As she spoke, Dorothy activated the Corpse Puppet Ring again. Behind her, two figures slowly stood up.
One was a bald middle-aged man wearing overalls, and the other was a young man wearing a cap and a plaid shirt.
There were a total of seven members of the Holy Communion Society who attacked and kidnapped Dorothy at that time, resulting in seven corpses. Apart from two who were mummified and two who were beaten to a pulp at Burton's house, Dorothy still had three corpses available. These were two of them.
Controlling the two corpses of the bald middle-aged man and the young man with a cap, Dorothy had them go downstairs separately and then start wandering on the streets of White Pearl Street. Among them, Dorothy manipulated the young man to approach a tavern. In the noisy bar, people drinking could be seen everywhere.
Dorothy manipulated the capped young man to order a cup of beer at the bar counter in the tavern, and then had the young man wander around the tavern with the beer, carefully listening to the various conversations around him. Soon, she found her target, which was a few guys who were bragging together.
"Hey... have you heard? Something seems to have happened in Ke Li's shop just now? Someone saw him throwing a tantrum!"
"Ke Li? Who would dare to provoke that guy, are they tired of living..."
"It seems so... Someone saw him saying that Ke Li ordered his assistants to chase someone, but they seemed to have not caught him after chasing for a long time. Do you think Ke Li was targeted by a thief..."
In a corner of the tavern, a few slightly drunk drunkards were talking back and forth. Just then, a figure came up to them and spoke.
"It wasn't a small thief at all... That guy Ke Li just suffered a big loss..."
Hearing this voice, the drunkards turned their heads and saw a young man standing by their table wearing a cap and holding a beer. At this moment, he was showing a mysterious expression.
"Suffered a big loss? This brother... what do you mean by that? Are you saying that guy Ke Li encountered some incredible person?" Listening to the young man's words, a drunkard asked curiously, and the young man looked around, then leaned closer, and slowly lowered his voice to speak.
"Let me tell you, I heard from my cousin, who is an assistant in Ke Li's shop. He said that at noon, a strange person was seen outside Ke Li's shop pawning some items. At first, Ke Li accepted them, and then realized something was wrong and quickly told people to chase him."
"Pawns something? Did Ke Li accidentally accept fake goods? That's truly satisfying..." Listening to the young man's words, a drunkard said, but the young man smiled slightly and then continued to speak.
"Hehe... This is far from being as simple as fake goods. Those are stolen goods, stolen goods that originally belonged to Bo Dun. Wei Er!"
"You mean that Bo Dun. Wei Er that the newspapers have been reporting on all day these past few days!? The Bo Dun. Wei Er who was killed at home along with many servants? That purple-clothed scumbag landlord?"
Listening to the young man's words, a drunkard almost jumped up in shock, and the young man slowly nodded, then slapped the table and said.
"That's right... it's him. Let me tell you, the murderer who killed Bo Dun. Wei Er might be in White Pearl Street right now! Right beside us!"