A fountain pen...it's actually a fountain pen!
Shocked inwardly, she glanced at the others as quickly as possible.
Gunter was squatting by the fence, studying the differences in the vegetation. The mustache agent and a middle-aged agent were talking in low voices while staring at the fierce woman behind the fence, listening to her complaining about the price of things in the vegetable market rising again.
Only Xia Yibing kept staring at her. When she glanced at him, she winked at her and then turned her gaze to her right sleeve.
She saw it.
Hitzfeld nodded to her, half squatted down and touched the big dog's head.
Xia Yibing came over sensibly and stroked the dog's head. The two of them passed the pen under the thick dog hair - Hitzfeld's skirt had no pockets, so it was too dangerous to hold it in the sleeves.
"What are you doing?" Prince Gaunt suddenly stood up and stared at them in disbelief.
Hitzfeld was startled and quickly stood up: "Uh... just touch it, that's all."
Xia Yibing took advantage of the momentary cover created by her standing up to take out a small notebook from her pocket. When the two plainclothes detectives locked their eyes on her, she already had a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other, pretending to be taking notes.
"That's what I'm curious about." Prince Gaunt glared at the big dog unhappily.
"I don't know how long it has been since this thing took a bath. You guys aren't afraid of lice..."
"Well, that's what I mean. So I think that besides asking us to feed it, Villefort might also want us to clean it..."
Prince Gaunt frowned and stared at the girl.
His intuition told him that something seemed wrong, but he looked carefully at Hitzfeld and then at Xia Yibing, and there was nothing unusual about either of them.
The girl even acted a little surprised, spreading her hands and raising her eyebrows, looking quite confused.
So Batty really wants us to feed the dogs?
Gaunt wondered.
The old house could be described as extremely poor. He suspected that thieves would not even want the shabby furniture that had been lying there for decades. The only thing that matched the intelligence and information was the black and white photo.
He planned to ask Sarah VII about the matter of the Wests after he returned, but to be honest, he always felt that this shouldn't be the only thing he gained.
"You should give it some meat." The shrew said, "I usually try not to mistreat it. I won't let it go hungry if I have enough to eat. But you know, an old woman like me who lives alone doesn't have much spare money to buy meat. It doesn't eat well and has become much thinner than it was a year ago."
Hitzfeld took the opportunity to continue talking to her and asked about her general background.
Her name is Daisy Runcie, and she is 62 years old. Runcie is her husband's last name. Mr. Runcie passed away six years ago and left her a large old house. Of course, she couldn't live in such a big house by herself, so she rented out all the rooms except the ones necessary for life.
Hitzfeld found out that there were four rooms for rent, which meant that Mrs. Runcie could collect four shares of rent. This allowed her to support herself even if she didn't work, but the rent for this shabby old building was extremely low, and even with four shares, it was not realistic to buy meat regularly.
“Do you have a lot of tenant turnover?”
“It changes very frequently.”
"What kind of people usually want to rent a house?"
"They are all down-and-out guys."
"Please give more details."
"Oh, most of them are young people, most of them are from other places, they want to apply to local universities but can't afford to stay in a hotel, so they find a place like mine to stay for a while."
The girl raised her eyebrows, that would mean she could receive even less rent.
Rubbing the dog's head vigorously with her hands, she was already thinking that if she confirmed that it was really that thing after returning, she would definitely give the dog a good meal.
In fact, she had almost confirmed it.
Otherwise it would be impossible to explain why the dog was so close to her.
After carefully obtaining Gaunt's permission - after all, he was now the real director - they were able to return to headquarters with the dog.
"Are you really going to give it a bath?"
"of course."
"Then I'll go buy it food?"
"Buy more meat."
The above conversation took place in the bathroom of the temporary lounge.
Xia Yibing pouted and watched Hitzfeld take off his dress and start to pee in just a cheap bathrobe. She glared at the big gray dog sitting next to her with some jealousy.
The big dog was not afraid of this scene at all. On the contrary, it was very happy. It jumped into the pool without waiting for Hitzfeld to put the water in place, and the water splashed all over her head and face.
Xia Yibing immediately turned around and left.
She was afraid that if she stayed any longer she would lose her composure.
Half an hour later, she came back with a bunch of fragrant oil paper bags.
But the bath is not over yet.
She had to sit in the lounge and wait silently, imagining the scene in the bathroom while glaring at the agent who must have been sent by Vista to monitor her with a gloomy look.
"..." The man felt timid after being stared at by her, and found an excuse to slip away, thinking that they were indeed serving dogs, so it wouldn't matter if he let them go for a while.
Another half an hour passed before Hitzfeld walked out of the bathroom wearing a new dress and with wet hair tied up.
What does it mean that she puts on the eye mask right after taking a shower?
Just as Xia Yibing was about to open her mouth, she saw a white shadow walking out from behind the girl.
Is this still that dirty and smelly beast?
Her eyes widened.
There was hardly a trace of other colors in the snow-white fur, and the two deep, sapphire-like eyes seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, so much so that she even felt that the dog's face could express emotions.
"Sorry, I got all wet when Lily was shaking off the water, so I thought we should just take a bath together..."
Hitzfeld grinned and apologized to her.
"Wang!"
The big white dog rubbed its head on her delicate calves and barked excitedly.
"But I didn't expect it to be so majestic after washing... It looks a bit like the Snow Wolf King. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Wang!"
"Lily, are you clean and comfortable now?"
"Wang Wang!"
"This is food." Xia Yibing couldn't bear to see the man and the dog being so affectionate, so she threw a bag on the ground in displeasure.
"Eat quickly and send me off after you finish eating."
Is she jealous?
Hitzfeld was a little confused.
And a dog... Is that so?
Besides, Lily is a bitch.
The dog was quite arrogant. It seemed that it could sense the woman's hostility. It had been willing to be touched on the head by her for Hitzfeld's sake, but now it raised its head with an upright look that showed it would not accept charity.
Xia Yibing was so angry that she laughed. She ran out in the snow and wind to buy it, and it still despised it?
"Where's the stuff?"
Seeing her start to roll up her sleeves, Hitzfeld quickly changed the subject.
At the same time, he squatted down, opened the oil paper bag, took out a thick meat pie that was obviously filled with ingredients, and fed it to the big dog.
"At this."
Xia Yibing reached into her arms and quickly took out a pen.
It doesn't look very good.
It should have been quite delicate, but the metal surface had several wears and tear spots, and a layer of dust had accumulated in the hard-to-reach area in the middle of the buckle.
"that's it."
Hitzfeld narrowed his one eye.
Yes.
This pen was the key item that helped her defeat the evil god in the second golem curse a year ago - there should still be some divine blood ink left in it!
It's so important.
The power to reverse cause and effect. With it, he and others would have an extra life out of thin air.
After the disaster, this thing was taken away by the security bureau or the library staff, and she couldn't tell who was who at the time.
I thought I would never see it in my lifetime, but I didn't expect it to be in Villefort's hands.
Yes, he is the leader of Shadow Lion, so it makes sense for him to keep this thing.
So he had been planning to return this thing to me for a long time?
Looking at the dog happily eating the biscuit, a picture appeared in Hitzfeld's mind - whenever Villefort had time, he would hold a pen for the dog to smell, so that the dog would remember the smell of blood stained on the pen.
That's why it's not afraid of her.
It was a similar smell, and it had smelled it before.
--------
Those who saw the title and clicked in can go and face the wall.
Chapter 86: Traces
Taking the pen from Xia Yibing, Hitzfeld frowned slightly.
It was because the item was badly damaged and no longer looked as exquisite as it did when she first got it.
It seems that I was not the one who recycled this thing at that time, so could it be that—
Thinking of a bad possibility, she immediately gripped the pen and pulled it out. Sure enough, she saw that the nib of the pen had been severely damaged and the two pieces of metal that were pieced together had split apart.
I didn't use much force when I used it to cut my wrists.
Did it break when it fell?
His face turned dark because it was difficult to use the writing function of the pen to do anything.
She checked the ink in the pen again and was sad to find that there was only a very small amount of ink left. Even if she repaired the nib, it might not be enough for her to draw a sketch.
While she was checking her pen, Xia Yibing was looking at her carefully.
In order to hide his face as much as possible, Hitzfeld put on an eye mask as soon as he got out of the bath, but it was difficult to let his wet hair hang down, so except for some scattered bangs, the rest of his hair was tied up behind his head.
This actually showed her evolved face pretty much, but she guessed Xia Yibing might have seen it more comprehensively and didn't take it too seriously.
It was exactly as she thought, Xia Yibing didn't pay too much attention to it.
But it’s different now. The woman is eager to compete with the dog, and her mind is more focused on some things that are usually easily overlooked. Only after careful observation can she finally notice the differences.
The long black skirt with a white silk lace collar had a plain hem without any decoration, but it was a little shorter than what the girl usually wore, revealing her white and tender calves and the round toes in the wooden slippers.
Her skin, fresh from the shower, was stained with moisture, as soft and smooth as white jade, but with a hint of pink. Her hairstyle, which was more like that of a mature woman, did not diminish her girlish charm, but made the eye mask and collar stand out even more. Xia Yibing couldn't take her eyes off her once she saw it.
Is she getting prettier again?
There was a gleam of surprise in Xia Yibing's eyes.
She had had similar doubts at the last banquet, but she didn't think much about it, thinking it was just because the dress she wore was too beautiful and she didn't often take off her blindfold.
But now she was sure that Hitzfeld had become more handsome, and the contours of his facial features were gradually changing in the most suitable direction. It was just that the two of them were too familiar with each other, and Hitzfeld always covered his face with an eye mask or hair, so she had never noticed it.
At this scale...I think she will catch up with me in a few years.
Silently glancing at a certain part of the bulge, Xia Yibing began to think wildly, thinking that since she suddenly decided to take a bath with the dog, she must have not brought any underwear...
So she just kept staring at it, and she didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but she actually felt something different under the pure black fabric.
"I can guess that His Highness is going to Kevin Prison based on simple observation." Hitzfeld's cold voice came from above, "Why don't you try to guess, can I guess what you are thinking about now?"
"I'm sorry!" The woman immediately sat up straight, her eyes changing from looking around to staring at the ground.
But even so, I can't stand it.
In this range of vision, all she could see were the girl's tender white instep and sparkling toes. Her brain became a complete mess and she didn't know what to say or what to do next.
