Chapter 284 Black Umbrella
Chapter 284 Black Umbrella
"Barnuto."
"Ok?"
A familiar voice called out from behind, which seemed to be his mother's voice. Without having time to think about why his mother, who lived in an old house in the countryside, would appear here, the police officer named "Banuto" instinctively turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice, but there was nothing in sight.
Call ~
A gust of cold wind blew silently, and an old woman with curly white hair had unknowingly laid on Officer Banuto's shoulder. She exhaled a breath of icy and chilly air, which blew out the raging fire on his shoulder.
With a thud, Banuto's legs lost strength and he fell to the ground, his pupils suddenly losing their luster.
Death is like a lamp going out.
Ning Zhe stuffed the ghost's tongue into his pocket, deftly stripped off Banuto's police uniform and put it on himself, and took away his service pistol, electric baton, and a large black umbrella.
According to Ning Zhe's observation, the police officers standing guard at each entrance and exit of the castle all carried such a large black umbrella, but it was unknown what its specific purpose was.
Wearing a police uniform and carrying a pistol, Ning Zhe held up a black umbrella and looked up at the sky. Today was a clear day with not a single cloud in the sky.
Ning Zhe hid Banuto's body and used his mobile phone to send one or two greeting messages to Banuto's mother, brother, girlfriend, etc. The moment he received a reply, Ning Zhe's facial features changed, and the police uniform that was originally a bit restrictive became a fit.
"Okay, let's go." Ning Zhe, holding a black umbrella, walked along the path along the flowerbed lined with flowers and came to the lecture room.
Sheriff Ebnik was standing in front of the pulpit, concentrating on flipping through the dusty Apricot Leaf Sutra. When he heard footsteps at the door, Sheriff Ebnik looked up and asked, "What's the matter, Banuto? Do you have anything to report?"
"I found something over at the stable, Sheriff." Ning Zhe said without changing his expression, "There are some strange marks on the bottom of the pool behind the stable. They look like human footprints. Do you want to check it out?"
"Really?" Sheriff Ebenick thought for a moment and nodded, "Call Carmack and John and take me to see it."
"Ok."
Ning Zhe left the lecture room and followed the instructions of the sheriff to find the two police officers named "John" and "Camack". The three of them, together with the sheriff, walked around the laundry room and came to the stable on the west side of the bell tower.
Horses are very valuable and need to be carefully cared for. The wooden stables are covered with neatly trimmed straw, which is better than the living conditions of some servants. Behind the stables is a square wide pool, which is connected to the drainage pipes under the eaves to collect rainwater.
The boiler room workers would move large red-hot rocks into the pool, boil the pool water to disinfect it, and then use it for horses to drink. If soybean meal was mixed with cold water, the horses would have diarrhea after eating it.
So not only the living conditions, but even the diet conditions of the horses are better than those of ordinary servants.
However, Vanessa Castle had not been inhabited for a long time, and naturally there were no horses, so there was no water in the pool. Sheriff Ebonick asked his officers to bring a ladder, climbed into the pool, and looked at the black marks on the drain pipe thoughtfully.
“It seems to be traces of coal…” Sheriff Ebnik squatted down and touched the messy footprints on the bottom of the pool with his hand: “The intruder seems to have been to the boiler room underground, so the soles of his shoes are stained with coal slag.”
"Carmack, John, you climb in through the sewer pipe. Banuto, follow me, let's go to the basement and take a look." The sheriff made a prompt decision and quickly divided the work.
Ning Zhe played the role of Police Officer Banuto conscientiously and followed the police chief into the bell tower. As he walked, he looked at the black umbrella in his hand with interest.
When the sheriff and two colleagues identified him as 'Officer Banuto', Ning Zhe got some memories of Officer Banuto from their misleading misunderstandings:
They are all police officers from the Brechette Town Police Department, who were ordered by their superiors to go on this field trip. The main task of these small town police officers is to block the roads around Vanessa Castle and assist the special task force sent from above to investigate the theft of cultural relics from Vanessa Castle.
The black umbrella was not brought here by the police officers of Brechette themselves, but was uniformly distributed by their superiors. It was specially marked in the burnt-after-reading operation manual:
[When you hear a sound similar to a woman screaming or crying, immediately open your umbrella until the sound fades away or disappears]
[If your umbrella is lost accidentally, immediately seek help from the nearest companion. The two of you can temporarily share an umbrella.] [Do not stay in Vanessa Castle without an umbrella. Leave as soon as possible while ensuring your own safety.]
"It seems that the previous guess was correct. The 'special task force' sent by the superiors is probably the staff of the Flimmisret family." Ning Zhe raised his head and glanced at the shoulder of Sheriff Ebonic who was walking in front of him. He had a rough idea in his mind:
"There is at least one grantee in this task force, and there is a high probability that there is an upgrader. His ghost is related to the 'umbrella' and is dangerous and lethal. The crying and screaming of women are signs of approaching danger. But as long as you hold an umbrella, you can avoid that dangerous rule to a certain extent..."
After just one encounter and a few minutes of effort, Ning Zhe figured out the outline of the rules of the unknown upgrader. Although Taiyi's rules lack the simple and crude lethality of Terang, they have a unique advantage in information collection.
While thinking, Sheriff Ebonick walked through the first floor hall of the bell tower and nodded to the police officer standing guard at the door. The two of them came to the west side hall and entered an inconspicuous small door. Behind the door was a staircase leading downwards.
Vanessa Castle was built according to the specifications of a war fortress, and the network of secret passages is intricate. If you don't live here all year round, it would be easy to get lost in the secret passages even with a structural diagram.
"Did you find anything in there?"
"We found some scratches on the floor and walls of the boiler room, which should have been left by a blunt object..."
Sheriff Ebonick briefly exchanged a few words with the police officer at the boiler room door, then took Ning Zhe inside.
This was Ning Zhe's first time to come to Vanessa Castle in reality. It was basically the same as the one in his dream, but also very different.
Because it is to be open to the public as a public attraction, the real Vanessa Castle has undergone targeted renovations in various places. The furnace door of the giant boiler in the center of the boiler room has been removed, and the floor has been swept clean without any coal slag. Only a few bags of decorative coal blocks are piled next to the furnace door to prevent tourists who come to take pictures from getting dirty.
Sheriff Ebonick briefly checked the only few bags of coal in the boiler room and found nothing suspicious.
"It seems that the coal dust under the intruder's feet was not picked up in the boiler room." The sheriff frowned, "But other than the boiler room, where else can there be coal in the castle?"
"Warehouse." Ning Zhe reminded.
"Yes, the warehouse." Sheriff Ebonick clapped his hands and said, "That's right, Banuto, we should go to the warehouse and take a look."
But just as the two were about to leave, they were stopped by police officers standing at the door.
"You can't go through there, Sheriff." The police officer on guard shook his head and said, "The senior members of the task force are investigating in the warehouse. Until their investigation is completed, no one is allowed to enter the warehouse."
"I am also an idler?" Sheriff Ebenike widened his eyes.
"This is an order from our superiors..." The police officer on duty smiled bitterly helplessly.
"I know it's an order." Sheriff Ebnik snorted and muttered, "I found some clues at the pipe outlet at the bottom of the pool. They should be helpful to the investigation of the task force. Let me go over and report."
The police officer on duty smiled stiffly: "You really can't go over there, Sheriff..."
"Get out of the way! I said I can go, so I can go!" Sheriff Ebonick pushed him aside stubbornly and walked out of the boiler room: "Banuto! Follow me!"
Ning Zhe gave an apologetic smile to the police officer on guard who was knocked away and quickly followed him.
(End of this chapter)