Instead of looking for a cab at the street corner, Miss Louisa took Shade for two streets, and then suddenly turned into an inconspicuous alley beside the road. After walking for a distance in the alley, she actually took out the key and opened the door of one of the houses in the alley.
"Shad, we can't just have one hiding place, right?"
As she pushed the door open, she smiled and said to Shade:
"I bet that Annat, Father Augustus, and the doctor have similar second hiding places that they can use to hide sensitive items that are not often used."
This "safe house" was not rented, but bought at a low price by Miss Louisa through her family's connections. Although the price was reasonable, the living conditions here were very poor. Miss Louisa did not regard this place as her own house, but just as a temporary warehouse.
According to her, Shad was the second person besides herself to know about the location.
"Should I feel honored?"
After entering the low house, Shade asked while looking at the furnishings inside that were disguised as an ordinary poor family. Miss Louisa had entered the small basement under the house through the trapdoor under the bed. In addition to the trapdoor, there was a small hole in the basement that could be crawled into the city's sewer pipe, but she would not use it easily.
It’s not because they were worried about the secret passage being discovered, but because the stench there was unbearable.
The sound coming from underground was somewhat dull:
"Not only did you tell me your secret, you even lent me the priceless Eternal Youth Leaves. Is there anything else I can't tell you? So far, besides Leicia, Shade, you are the person I trust the most."
As she spoke, she crawled out from under the trapdoor and handed Shade a very thick black robe and a mask:
"It may be dangerous in a while, so we'd better be cautious."
As he spoke, he also changed into his robes. In order to tuck his long golden hair into the hood, he even struggled to tie his hair.
When Miss Louisa adjusted her collar and prepared to put on her hood, Shade noticed that she had clipped the leaf with a silver piece and hung it around her neck. Shade's leaf was clipped in the cover of his pocket watch. Although he didn't need the pocket watch now, it was also a good decoration.
After leaving Miss Louisa's safe house, they walked east for another block before finding an empty horse-drawn carriage at the intersection. The two of them were dressed quite strangely in robes and hoods, but the driver hesitated for a moment, saying that he would not leave the city or go to remote places, and then let them get on the carriage.
It seems that people who dare to solicit business at night always have some extraordinary insight.
The carriage traveled for nearly an hour in the quiet night and arrived at the northern edge of Tobysk. Then Miss Louisa took Shade along the crooked road, passing through the densely packed low sheds and two-story simple houses on the outskirts of the city, stepping on the mud and smelling all kinds of strange smells, and continued to move away from the city.
There were no gas street lamps, not even much candlelight.
This is a village on the northern outskirts of the city, a temporary residence for the huge influx of foreigners attracted by this foggy city. In the early days of the steam industrial revolution in this world, only a few poor families lived here temporarily, and later on, a settlement of this scale gradually formed, becoming an alternative village attached to the outskirts of the city.
However, this situation only occurs in the North City, not only because the North City is the traditional lower city, but also because the vast plains in the north of the city are the best farming areas and pastures in the Tobysk region.
There is always a need for manpower here. The open plains in the north of the city and the suburban villages and towns between the city seem to exist naturally for this prosperous steam city.
He dodged the drunk who was vomiting against the mud wall, walked around the boy who was urinating in front of his door, and then threatened the black wolfhound who wanted to growl at strangers with his eyes. Then, Shad followed Miss Louisa through the suburban village that seemed to be two centuries behind the city.
The village had no definite edges, but the houses became increasingly sparse, meaning they were moving away from human settlements.
Farther away was a small woods. It took less than five minutes to walk through the woods along the forest path. Then a gravel path appeared in front of us connecting to it. After walking a few hundred steps along the path, we finally saw the destination of this trip, the cemetery located in the northern suburbs of the city.
This is not the city's public cemetery. The city's public cemetery is under the unified jurisdiction of the Church of Nature and Evil and the City Hall. Mr. Anros, Shad's boss, almost got this leisurely job.
This is for people who live in or outside the city but are not eligible to be buried in a public cemetery.
Although the graves in the Tobysk public cemetery are cheap, there are always people in this world who cannot afford such prices. As a result, some cemeteries have appeared on the outskirts of the city for poor people to be buried. As for safety and environment, they are not something that poor people can consider.
There is no fog in the suburbs like in the city. The cemetery located at the edge of the woods is very clear under the light of March, even a little magical.
Miss Louisa slowed down her pace, walked side by side with Xia De, and whispered to him:
"The man we are going to visit is usually called Mr. Kopps. He is the largest supplier of corpse materials in the Tobesk area. But this man is the gravekeeper here and has a very strange temper. Regardless of whether he is a familiar customer or not, any ring sorcerer who enters the cemetery he manages after sunset will be treated unfriendly by him, but he only receives guests after the sun sets. So follow behind me for a while, and don't use Silver Moon's magic. I will deal with any danger."
“Is he an illegal figure?”
Xia De whispered again and found out that the sound of shoes stepping on the dead branches on the gravel path seemed to be heard from far away.
"Although this person has a bit of a weird personality, he usually hides in the cemetery to do his own research. Any wanted order from the Orthodox Church does not apply to him. Moreover, his unfriendly attitude towards visitors who come at night is mostly just a warning."
The blonde replied.
"So where did the corpse materials come from? It can't be..."
Xia De quietly pointed forward.
"At least it wasn't dug out from this cemetery. No gravekeeper would be stupid enough to steal a body from the area under his jurisdiction. As for where it came from... Detective, I can't answer that question either."
The word "detective" is used instead of "Shad" because the two are already close to the cemetery.
Xia De closed his mouth and followed Miss Louisa silently.
He knew the source of the corpse materials, which could not be legal in this era of order. As for whether it was stolen, purchased, or some other means, he could not guess, and he had no idea, so he simply did not worry about it.