Chereads / Step Back! Master is Here! / Chapter 12 - Head Crusher, Xuanzang

Chapter 12 - Head Crusher, Xuanzang

After leaving the slums, Tang Luo and the rest did not rush back to the hotel. Instead, they found a quiet cafe.

Little Chu asked the waiter for paper and pen. He then wrote and drew, sorting out the situation.

Based on the clues they currently had.

He described the situation as follows:

Jack the Ripper was a secret organization and not a person.

The previous night, they had met Hodge, a peripheral member that was about to be inducted into the organization.

One or more people in the hotel were also members of the organization.

The organization had the special ability to master skills similar to Zhou Zhenguo's.

The most important thing was that they might have been monitored by this organization since the beginning.

It was a coincidence that Hodge had been lured out.

But it was no coincidence that Li Liang had disappeared on the first night while Cheng Cheng disappeared the previous night.

After sharing his analysis of the situation, Little Chu looked at Tang Luo and Zhou Zhenguo and asked, "Master Xuanzang, Uncle Zhou, what do you think?"

"It makes sense." Zhou Zhenguo nodded, expressing his affirmation.

Tang Luo said, "I am not good at this. Maybe we could follow Benefactor Chu's line of thought and complete the mission."

Little Chu exhaled with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. One was a veteran, and the other was a very capable monk. Little Chu was backed by his intelligence, so he wasn't bad either.

In comparison, Little Chu preferred to achieve victory using intelligence.

The Five Tiger Generals were very popular.

But clearly, Zhuge Kongming was more formidable.

"Next, we have two breakthroughs. One is the hotel, and the other is the clue left by Hodge." Little Chu showed Zhou Zhenguo the letter he had with him. "The situation with the hotel is unclear, so let's not act rashly and alert the enemy. We'll investigate Hodge first."

If not for what had happened in the hotel, today's plan was supposed to be to investigate Hodge.

There was no opposition from Tang Luo and Zhou Zhenguo.

The three packed up and headed straight to Cotland Yard.

How to investigate Hodge? Naturally, with the help of the local authorities.

Originally, for this, a person with credentials was sufficient. Although Little Chu was proud, he was still prudent. He clearly realized that although he used his intelligence to guide the mission, he was still a weak person who had 'no power to restrain even a chicken'.

At most, he had a 'screen of light skill', which he did not know how to activate, and had not been able to execute it again so far.

Compared with the 'Warrior Monk Xuanzang', who was combat proficient or Zhou Zhenguo with skills, Little Chu was a weak chicken.

Splitting up the group was like seeking death for him—an act, which he absolutely would not do. He must follow Zhou Zhenguo or Tang Luo closely.

"Assh*le! Bastard! Imbecile!"

When they arrived at Cotland Yard, Tang Luo immediately heard the roars from the Inspector General's office.

The structure of Cotland Yard was like this:

The most senior was the Inspector General, followed by the Deputy Inspector General, then the Team Commander. Below the Team Commander were the rank-and-file agents.

Lastly, were the patrol police, which was the identity that Tang Luo was now using.

The usual patrol police were long-term external hires, and Tang Luo was a short-term hire to help with the Ripper case.

His immediate superior was a fierce person, and the agents did not speak to him in a good tone either. It was hard to be lively there. If only there was Kong

Oh, there was no Kong Yiji.

Tang Luo asked around and learned from the agent who had sent him the credentials the previous day, the reason behind the Inspector General's anger.

It was actually related to him—Hodge's headless body had been discovered.

Jack the Ripper's case was not yet resolved, and now there was a headless murder case. It would be strange if the Inspector General was not angry. And this "guillotine" that had resulted in the headless murder case was countless times more brutal than Jack the Ripper.

Jack the Ripper, simply ripped the person apart. At most, there were a few organs missing.

The crime scene was discovered in the early morning. It did not look like an act by humans as the victim's head had created a hole. As though a rock had fallen from the sky, crushing the victim's head while leaving a hole in the ground.

According to the agents' speculation, the murderer should be a burly man carrying a sledgehammer so as to create such a scene.

The guillotine was also called Head Crusher and Brother Hammer.

After listening to the agent's description, Zhou Zhenguo's eyes twitched non-stop. He knew what Tang Luo and the rest had done the previous night, but he did not expect it would be so exaggerated.

Little Chu looked at Tang Luo expectantly, as if he intended to find a strange and awkward expression on his face.

Unfortunately, Tang Luo appeared to be indifferent, as if the guillotine and the Head Crusher that the detective spoke of were not related to him.

'His ability to control his emotions was worthy of a Master.'

"It just happened that I also came because of this matter," said Tang Luo. "The identity of the deceased is Hodge, we have already investigated it."

"What?" The agent was stunned and then surprised.

The deceased's head was gone, and the gray coat he was wearing was quite common.

Cotland Yard, within a short time, was unable to identify the deceased.

Unexpectedly, this detective from a foreign country had actually managed to do it. It seemed that the credentials had not been given in vain!

The agent happily rushed to report this, while Tang Luo and the other two stayed.

Close to two o'clock in the afternoon, the three talents stepped out of Cotland Yard. All possible information about Hodge had been obtained from Cotland Yard.

Tang Luo and the rest had not informed Cotland Yard about their deductions on the Ripper organization. Unless things became impossible to handle, they would rather not rely extensively on the armed forces of Cotland Yard.

In The Game of Gods And Demons, there was a saying that had not been wholly verified. After completing the mission, the number of time-effects that were used had an impact on the quality of the reward.

Although it had never been confirmed or verified, according to common sense, those who contributed more to the mission would receive more rewards than those who contributed less.

It was not that they could not rely on external forces in the mission world, but when more help was used, it may affect the "mission evaluation."

Among the Employees of Gods and Demons, this view was quite well accepted.

While walking on the road, Zhou Zhenguo made several glances at Tang Luo before asking, "Master Xuanzang, I suppose you are not deceiving me and pretending to be a newcomer?"

It was one thing stopping him from killing the killer. However, the Head Crusher was not something a newcomer could achieve with empty hands. Having a sledgehammer was still acceptable.

There was no fixed squad in the game. Every time one entered into a mission, the people they met were random.

Tang Luo and the rest's performance betrayed they were new, so Zhou Zhenguo regarded them as newcomers.

Veterans acting as newcomers, pretending to be weak, and suddenly attacking you when your guard was down. Zhou Zhenguo had not seen that, but he had heard of that.

Could the monk be one of them?

"Monks do not lie." Tang Luo smiled. "It is indeed my first time being exposed to this Game of Gods And Demons."

"Then why can you fight so well?" asked Zhou Zhenguo. "This is not normal."

"Training," said Tang Luo.

"How do you train?"

"Daily exercise of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 10 kilometers of running." Tang Luo was dead serious. "And defeat all kinds of demons and monsters while doing so. Then you can also be as good as me in combat."

"Huh?"

Zhou Zhenguo was dumbfounded. What kind of training was this?

"Puff!" Little Chu suddenly laughed.

Zhou Zhenguo looked at him, revealing a questioning expression.

Little Chu looked at Tang Luo and saw that he had no intention of objecting. Little Chu then smiled and said, "Master is talking about the exercise methods in comics."

"…"

Zhou Zhenguo was speechless for a while and realized that he had been impulsive just now. Thus, he did not continue to get to the bottom of the matter.

It did not matter whether this Master Xuanzang (Warrior Monk?) was a newcomer. The goodwill and strength shown so far were enough to prove that he was a strong and reliable partner.

'Is it really not possible to form a team?'

Zhou Zhenguo sighed in his heart.

As a man who had been in the society for decades, he knew how powerful organizations were.

This was true even in a "world" like The Game of Gods And Demons, where one had tremendous power.

When two of the Employees of Gods and Demons of similar strength traveled together, it was certainly better than one—unity had strength!

"Uncle Zhou, I may have awakened my ability last night." Little Chu's words interrupted Zhou Zhenguo's thoughts.

"What?" Zhou Zhenguo frowned.

Little Chu recounted to Tang Luo and Zhou Zhenguo what had happened to him when he was attacked by Hodge last night.

He also had no choice. No matter how hard he tried, he could not execute that thin screen of light after last night. There was nothing he could do even if he kept that to himself. Hence he turned to Zhou Zhenguo for help.

"I have never heard of such a thing," said Zhou Zhenguo.

"Uncle, didn't you mention before that one can also get benefits and rewards during the mission? Isn't this the case?" asked Little Chu.

Zhou Zhenguo said, "The situation I mentioned is not the same as yours. The strength and benefits gained were not born out of thin air like that."

After thinking a while and organizing what he wanted to say, Zhou Zhenguo took out the dagger. "For example, I got this dagger in the mission world, and I was able to bring it back. This reward is different from the reward given after the mission is completed, and is another way to become stronger. The mission world can be considered as a treasure trove. Those who are capable are able to discover more benefits besides completing missions, hence making themselves stronger."

In short, the reward was not issued directly by the "game", but one had to earn it himself.

"What about me?" asked Little Chu.

"I've never heard of your situation before," said Zhou Zhenguo.

Little Chu quietly thought, 'Could it be that I am unique?' Since Zhou Zhenguo did not know, he could only figure it out himself.

In the evening, the sun had set, and it was night.

Little Chu looked at the building not far away from them and said, "I don't like this place, it feels so gloomy."

Not that he was timid. Daring to dress as a woman to serve as bait, showed that Little Chu was not a timid person. It was just that normal people did not like mental hospitals, especially one that was semi-abandoned.

Hodge, a former doctor, used to work there. The reason why he was no longer a doctor was also related to this hospital.

About a few years ago, Hodge had gotten drunk and accidentally caused a fire, destroying most of the hospital.

Hodge, who had a good future, lost his job and paid out a large sum of money as compensation. Since then, he had been living in poverty and became dispirited over time.

His parents had died early, and his relatives and friends no longer contacted him because of that matter.

Only a former colleague would occasionally visit Hodge. Especially in the past few days, many people had seen them drinking in the tavern.

That colleague was a doctor, regarded as the upper-middle class of society. He appeared relatively weak and did not fit Cotland Yard's deduction that the murderer was a burly man.

They had only sent an agent to ask a question or two and did not treat him as a suspect.

In Little Chu's eyes, this person had a probability of more than 90% to be a member of the Jack the Ripper organization!

  1. The five generals that served under Lord Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
  2. A Chinese politician and military strategist under Liu Bei, who was recognized as the most accomplished strategist of his era.
  3. The author is making a reference to the short story, Kong Yiji, by famous Chinese author Lu Xun. Kong Yiji is the main character in the story.