People Are Sinister

"Proprietor, why don't you just tell us where Old John is?" Tang Luo interrupted the proprietor and said, "We just want to understand the situation, don't worry."

"…"

The proprietor was obviously unwilling. No one knew how that group of foreigners would interpret the situation. What if something bad happened?

"Since proprietor doesn't want to say, then we'll find Cotland Yard," said Tang Luo. "Just tell them we have clues, except that someone doesn't want to cooperate. It is highly suspicious he is Jack the Ripper."

"No, please don't!"

There was a drastic change in the proprietor's expression.

Looking beyond the daily routine of eating, sleeping, and criticizing Cotland Yard, there had been a state of fear and panic lately, and everyone knew that Cotland Yard was "fuming with anger."

The proprietor was now in trouble and would be taken back for a severe beating. Even after being released, he wouldn't have anywhere to seek regress.

One had to take care of themselves first, over their friends.

The proprietor provided Old John's address and repeatedly said that even if something was wrong with Old John, it had nothing to do with him.

He had just taken pity on Old John and given him a job, to provide relief to the lonely old man.

Old John did not belong to the hotel's staff. Correct, he was just a temporary worker.

"A temporary worker, do you understand?"

After Tang Luo said they understood, the proprietor heaved a sigh of relief.

…

Tang Luo, Zhou Zhenguo, and Little Chu rushed straight to Old John's residence, while Li Liang and the remaining three rested in a different hotel.

Before verifying that the hotel was safe, they would momentarily not stay there.

Tang Luo did not care that Li Liang and the rest did not intend to contribute, as long as they were not a burden.

In the words of Zhou Zhenguo, it was not a problem when Employees of Gods and Demons became fearful when they encountered issues they were unable to solve.

What was problematic was the kind of incapable employees, and when they encountered issues they were unable to solve, they would recklessly rush into things, therefore ruining the plan.

Among the Employees of Gods and Demons, most were cautious. However, some were arrogant.

Speaking of which, this was the last mission where Zhou Zhenguo would meet a newcomer.

According to the information he had received, after five missions, he would not meet any newcomers in the subsequent missions.

Of course, it was not 100% that he would definitely not meet them.

The Game of Gods And Demons was different from the Dimension of The Gods, where there was a big ball of light where one could ask questions from time to time.

Gods and Demons were how most people referred to it as.

All the rules had been slowly deduced by the Employees of Gods and Demons through experience and were not guaranteed to be absolutely correct.

Not to mention, some Employees of Gods and Demons had reservations, or deliberately released the wrong information.

Old John's residence was about half an hour's walk from the hotel. It was situated in the poorer part of town, in the slums.

After arriving, the three of them inquired many times before they found Old John's tiny run-down house—or should it be called a room.

The barrier that encircled his house was slightly better than a fence wall.

Inside, his house was slightly bigger than a room in the hotel.

When Tang Luo and the rest arrived, Old John was chopping firewood in the courtyard.

His cleaning duties at the hotel were at noon, in the afternoon, and at night.

The morning was Old John's resting time.

Upon sensing someone's presence, Old John looked up in surprise and saw Tang Luo and the rest.

He stood up quickly and walked out of the courtyard. He then bowed and asked, "Gentlemen, are you here to look for me?"

As the "only" guests in the hotel during this time, Old John recognized them.

"Yes."

Tang Luo did not immediately jump into aggression mode. Rather, he acted very gentlemanly. "We are detectives. There are some situations that we would like to know more from you."

As he was talking, he took out the documents and unfolded them in front of him.

Old John was illiterate, but he was able to recognize the Cotland Yard stamp at the end of the documents.

Immediately, he got so panicked that he didn't know where to place his hands.

Little Chu immediately said, "So it's you!"

"Huh?"

Old John's baffling expression was extremely real.

"No hurry." Tang Luo stopped Little Chu, who wanted to give trouble, as they entered the small courtyard.

"Mr. John, I would like to know what you were doing when you were in the hotel last night," said Zhou Zhenguo.

This Old John's performance did not seem like a member of the Jack the Ripper organization that everyone was speculating about. Or was this person's acting skill flawless?

"I was just performing my usual cleaning duties." Old John revealed a pained expression.

Zhou Zhenguo suddenly took a step forward and asked while looking down at Old John, "What about the toilet at the end of the corridor on the second floor? Did you clean that last night?!"

Old John was startled and replied instinctively, "No, I did not."

"No?" Zhou Zhenguo's tone eased.

Before waiting for Old John to say anything, Little Chu's expression changed as he exclaimed, "Oh no!"

"What happened?"

Tang Luo remained calm as always.

"Could we have made a mistake?" Little Chu's face was serious. "Sister Xiao Bi heard Cheng Cheng, who was outside, say that there was someone in the toilet. Hence, there was no need to clean. Therefore, we immediately thought it was him. To be honest, we haven't really paid any attention to who is exactly cleaning the hotel, and didn't even note down their appearances."

After speaking in one breath, Little Chu took a pause and looked at Old John with keen sparkling eyes.

"It should be the same for Cheng Cheng. The cleaners may be the ones who perform the cleaning. But the person who appeared outside the toilet, preparing to clean it, may not necessarily be a cleaner!"

"You really didn't clean the toilet on the second floor last night?" asked Zhou Zhenguo.

Old John shook his head. "No, when I went to check it in the evening, it was very clean. Hence, I cleaned it a little bit then. I was not in the hotel at night."

"Where are you then?" asked Zhou Zhenguo. "Don't tell me that you were at home. That is unable to erase our suspicion on you."

"What exactly happened?" Old John was uneasy. "I was drinking in the tavern last night and was there till midnight. I came home very late. The tavern owner can testify for me."

"We have a companion who went missing. We suspect that Jack the Ripper was behind this." Tang Luo said, "We are in the midst of investigating, so I hope you can cooperate. Otherwise, it's easy to make people suspect that you are the accomplice of Jack the Ripper, or even Jack the Ripper himself."

Old John's body trembled. He was on the verge of tears.

Jack the Ripper?

This "hat" was definitely not something the poor low-caste people could afford to wear[1.The phrase 'putting a hat on someone' meant to put a label on someone. Or, in this case, accusing Old John.].

Little Chu took a glance at Tang Luo.

'This Master is ruthless, indeed. He easily placed a big Ripper hat on Old John. Master, could your surname be Wang, considering your ability to dish out hats?'

"I'm not! I'm really not!" Old John swore as he pointed to the sky.

"Whether you are or not, we will know when we arrive at the tavern," said Tang Luo.

…

Soon, they reached the tavern that Old John had been to.

It was not open for business in the morning. However, it was not empty, the tavern owner and his wife were in the midst of cleaning.

On the one hand, they were preparing for the business in the afternoon and evening. On the other, they were cleaning up the garbage left by the overnight guests.

Some of these customers were still around.

The appearance of Jack the Ripper had reduced the hotel's business but increased the tavern's business. Some solo travelers were afraid of becoming the Ripper's target and simply spent the night in the tavern. They felt at ease in a more crowded place. They could just order a few glasses of tasteless diluted liquor, or perhaps the inferior wine that was comparable to industrial alcohol.

Old John had been short on cash and intended to leave after a few sips.

In the end, he had accidentally drunk too much and fallen asleep. Even after waking up, he had not been particularly sober. His courage had been bolstered by alcohol, thus going home on an impulse.

It was not just the tavern owner who remembered it clearly, but also a few of the customers. Those customers were regulars and lived nearby. They were willing to testify for Old John.

Old John had actually left the tavern before the incident, but it was less than half an hour difference.

From the hotel to Old John's residence, Tang Luo and the rest needed around half an hour, even with their slightly quicker pace.

The tavern was a little further away, and it took a little longer to travel between the tavern and Old John's residence.

Old John was a crippled man and unable to walk fast.

When Old John, Tang Luo, and the rest had been walking to the tavern together, Old John had already tried his best to be quick.

Still, that had taken over 10 minutes.

Old John would take at least an hour from the tavern to the hotel, meaning he did not have time to commit crimes. Unless Old John had special abilities.

"Sir, as I said, no matter what happened, it has nothing to do with me." Old John's voice was a lot more relaxed.

"Let's go." The party left the tavern.

Old John hesitated a while before asking, "Sir, who is missing?" The person he asked was Little Chu.

Little Chu replied coldly, "It doesn't concern you, don't ask too much."

His conjecture was confirmed. After clearing up Old John as a suspect, their range was expanded to everyone in the hotel.

Unfortunately, that was bad news.

"Oh, oh." Old John nodded repeatedly.

At that moment, Zhou Zhenguo, who was walking behind, suddenly took a step forward. He grabbed the neck of Old John and gave a push.

Old John was not prepared for that. Suddenly, he lost his balance and was pushed to the ground by Zhou Zhenguo. Before he could react, he was struck by a knee on his back.

Old John turned his face to his side, groaning in pain.

Zhou Zhenguo had a hand and foot pressed down on Old John. He had a ferocious expression as he said sternly, "You may be able to deceive them, but do you think you can deceive me?!"

As he was talking, without anyone's realization, Zhou Zhenguo had already raised his hand up high, with a dagger in it.

To Old John's horror, it came stabbing down at his eyes.

'This uncle, who seems good-natured and easy-going, is actually a savage person.'

Little Chu let out a cry of surprise. He didn't expect Zhou Zhenguo would suddenly create trouble—just like that day he had treated Li Liang.

The dagger stopped at a distance less than three centimeters from Old John's eyes.

Tang Luo withdrew his hand, and Zhou Zhenguo also did the same. He stood up, shook his head, and said, "No."

"No, what?" Little Chu was stunned for a moment before he realized. "Were you testing?"

"Correct." Zhou Zhenguo reached out and helped the still-shaken Old John up.

The test clearly produced results.

Old John was just an ordinary cripple and was not hiding any special abilities. Otherwise, he would have used it at the life-and-death encounter earlier.

Old John reacted, cursing him, "You are sick!"

After that, he became afraid of possible retaliation from Tang Luo and the rest and limped away panicky. His walking speed was indeed very slow.

"When did the two of you plan this?" asked Little Chu.

Without Tang Luo's cooperation, this test could not be done.

"No planning," said Tang Luo. "Benefactor Zhou gave me a glance after he took out the dagger, and I naturally knew."

"…oh."

Little Chu let out a dry chuckle, thinking, 'Sinister "adults"!'