The woman who walked in had a slightly bloated body. She was also rather short.
Even though the weather was cold, she had the lapels of her coat opened considerably. Despite her slight chubbiness, the size of her breasts was quite stunning.
Even before she reached the bar, Chen Xiaolian could smell the thick scent of cheap perfume.
The owner quickly threw a look at Chen Xiaolian. The meaning behind his glance was clear as day: The one you are looking for is here.
Chen Xiaolian quickly got up from the bar’s chair and moved forward.
“Catherine Eddowes?” Chen Xiaolian approached her.
The woman looked at Chen Xiaolian before glancing at Phoenix who was standing beside him.
Suddenly, the normal expression on her face changed!
An expression of panic and fear appeared on her face!
Then… the woman let out a cry, abruptly turned around and ran!
“Hey!” called Chen Xiaolian. He was about to give chase when a hand reached out from behind the bar to grab his arm.
The pub owner was glaring harshly at Chen Xiaolian. He asked, “Hey, just who are you people? Why did Kate appear so fearful of you people? Are you here to look for trouble?”
“Move aside!”
Chen Xiaolian snapped back his arm and the pub owner was flung out from inside the bar. As he fell, he smashed onto a chair by the side.
“Damn it!”
Two muscular men who were sitting by the entrance to the pub quickly sprang to their feet. Next, they charged forward, shouting, “You’re asking for it, kid!”
One of them had pulled out a dagger.
Without showing any hesitation, Chen Xiaolian rushed forward. He delivered a kick upon one of the incoming fellows, knocking him out. The resulting momentum also caused him to flip over. The other fellow attempted to execute a bear hug from behind. Chen Xiaolian shouted, “Phoenix!”
Phoenix was quick to catch on. Like a gust of wind, she dashed out of the pub doors.
Chen Xiaolian threw a backhand punch and the fellow behind him was sent flying due to the impact. His body slammed into the wall as a result. As for Chen Xiaolian, he turned away and ran out of the pub to give chase.
Rushing out of the pub, he saw that Phoenix had already caught Kate. They were standing across the street near a junction.
Kate was just an ordinary person. Additionally, she was also slightly fat and she was wearing high heels. Under such circumstances, if she was capable of outrunning Phoenix, Chen Xiaolian could only say that a huge BUG had occurred in the system.
Chen Xiaolian quickly ran over toward their location.
“Catherine Eddowes!”
“Don’t… don’t touch me! Don’t hurt me!” the woman screamed out in a loud voice. She appeared to be very frightened and panicked. Then, she quickly put on a strong front despite her feelings of fear. She shouted, “I am one of Dawson’s people! If you dare touch me, you’re dead! Dawson will pluck out your eyeballs!”
“By Dawson, did you mean the pub owner? His arm is already broken,” said Chen Xiaolian. He then grabbed hold of the woman’s shoulder. “So, you can forget about him coming over to rescue you! Now, answer me. Why did you become so afraid after seeing us? You look shocked and scared of us. Why is that?”
“I… …” The woman’s eyes darted around.
Chen Xiaolian exerted slightly more strength on his grip. The strength of his body had been enhanced up to [B+] class. Thus, even though he had only exerted a little bit more strength, Catherine Eddowes felt a wracking pain coming all the way from the bones of her shoulder. She quickly screamed, “Let me go! Let me go! Don’t! All right! I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Let me go and I’ll talk!”
Chen Xiaolian loosened his grip and pushed the woman to the side of a wall. He said, “Do not lie!”
“During the day… during the day, some police officers came to look for me!” Catherine Eddowes said in a panicked voice. “The police officers showed me your pictures! Both you and this young woman are Chinese, making it easy to recognize you!”
“Police? Pictures?” Chen Xiaolian frowned.
“That’s right, the police! One of my friends was killed in the subway station last night! According to the police, the surveillance cameras managed to capture a photo of you people. So, the police came looking for me and asked me to identify you people… that is how it is! I swear everything I said is the truth! It is the truth!”
Chen Xiaolian was partially convinced.
What the woman said appeared quite logical.
She was acquainted with the first victim who died in the subway station last night… considering the fact that they were in the same profession, that was not surprising.
As for himself getting his photo snapped by the surveillance cameras in the subway station, that too, was not surprising. It was highly likely that the police had considered him as a suspect.
When the police were investigating a murder case, looking for the friends of the deceased to find clues and even asking them to identify the suspects were nothing surprising.
It would appear that what she said was plausible.
Hesitating for a bit, Chen Xiaolian then pulled the woman over and said, “Now, come with us.”
“No!” the woman screamed out sharply. “No! You want to kill me! No no no! I don’t want to die! Don’t kill me! Nooo!”
She struggled with all her might, but Chen Xiaolian kept holding onto her as he pulled her toward the place where he had parked the car…
At that moment…
Chen Xiaolian suddenly heard Phoenix shouting out in haste, “Dodge!”
All he could feel was a force slamming into him, causing him to stagger forward by a few steps!
He subconsciously turned his head and saw something shocking.
A bang echoed out!
The sound was like a shockwave, spreading out through the street in the night sky.
At the same instant, the head of Catherine Eddowes, who was standing close by, burst open like a smashed watermelon!
Phoenix had already pounced forward. She caught Chen Xiaolian and the two of them rolled over to the side of the street and to the back of a car.
“Sniper rifle!” Phoenix immediately pulled out her own rifle. “In the ten o’clock direction!”
Chen Xiaolian’s heart pounded violently. He felt shocked and furious! Catherine Eddowes died before his very eyes when she was standing right beside him. This important character had died while under his protection!
Thankfully, having gone through three instance dungeons, Chen Xiaolian was more cool-headed than before. He promptly pulled out the side mirror of the car and stuck it out, using the reflection on the mirror to look in the ten o’clock direction…
“I cannot find anything.” Chen Xiaolian checked the mirror.
There was a storied building shrouded in darkness in the direction. However, no reaction could be observed.
Phoenix took a deep breath and said, “Strange… why would someone kill Catherine Eddowes… they actually used a sniper rifle. This is definitely not Jack the Ripper! He would not use something like a sniper rifle! Could it be… other participants?”
“The radar did not reveal any game participant in the vicinity.” Chen Xiaolian gave the radar a glance and clenched his teeth. “The Hell! What is going on?”
“Charge forward!” Chen Xiaolian growled with a low voice. Then, he abruptly took off the coat that he was wearing and threw it out fiercely. At the same time, he ran out from another direction. He ran with all his strength and his figure became like a whirlwind that swiftly swept through the street toward the building.
Phoenix quickly ran after him.
…
Upon the rooftop of a building at the ten o’clock direction…
By the time Chen Xiaolian arrived, there was no longer anyone at the rooftop.
“There are some marks on the ground. Someone had been here before.” Phoenix pointed at some footprints on the ground. Besides that, there were other traces as well. “Look at this place. Someone was lying here in a prone sniper position.”
Due to the traces left on the layer of dust on the ground, Chen Xiaolian too, had noticed that.
“Whoever it is had ran off,” said Chen Xiaolian with a frown. “How could they be so fast… … also… who could it be?”
…