Brian Carter was first startled, then overjoyed: “Shopkeeper Wright is truly a master! Are you really willing to help?”

Having already spoken, Samuel Wright couldn’t be bothered to repeat himself and instead pressed on, “You said there will be an opportunity soon—what is it?”

“The corpse driver uses a special medicine to suppress corpses, which emits a unique scent after the Chou hour and before dawn. My nose is sensitive, so I might be able to track it, like a hound.” Brian Carter touched his nose, smiling a bit sheepishly. What he said was mostly true, except he had shifted the time the scent would spread back by an hour, from the Zi hour to the Chou hour. Also, he didn’t mention a word about the aphrodisiac effect of the Zi Yin Disk on women. Little Constable was simple-minded but not a fool; she sensed something was off and realized Brian Carter had other plans. She glanced at him in mild surprise but said nothing.

Samuel Wright laughed in surprise: “Tracking by scent? I’ve only ever heard storytellers talk about that, never seen it in real life.” One of his men questioned suspiciously, “Kid, don’t just make things up.”

Brian Carter looked at him and replied, “You have roast chicken and marinated beef in your pack, but you only gave me plain steamed buns.”

The young man looked at him in astonishment and muttered, “He really does have a dog’s nose.”

Samuel Wright and his two subordinates exchanged glances for a moment, then slowly nodded. If there was a chance, they were determined to seize that mechanical weapon. Since they couldn’t go to Swallow Slope tonight anyway, they might as well follow the two junior officers and give chase. As for the dangers ahead, Samuel Wright didn’t think much about it—if they could catch up, with the others in the open and themselves in the dark, what was there to fear?

Off to the side, Brian Carter looked relaxed. As he expected, the three killers were tempted by the weapon, which was just as he wanted.

Little Constable leaned against the main gate of the Yin family inn, glanced at the sky, then turned back to tell Brian Carter, “The Zi hour has just passed.”

Brian Carter acknowledged, took out a large handful of incense and candles, lit them, and muttered incantations as he busied himself for a while before stopping. He turned to Samuel Wright and explained, “At a time like this, in a place like this, the yin energy is too heavy. Burning incense and candles for peace is a country custom. Please don’t laugh at me, Shopkeeper Wright.”

Samuel Wright was preoccupied with thoughts of the mechanism and paid little attention to Brian Carter’s words, only nodding absentmindedly.

Chapter Eleven: Deadly Poison

The Zi hour had passed, the Zi Yin Disk had taken effect, and a faint scent of plant ash began to drift through the Yin family inn. However, this already subtle aroma was completely masked by the ritual incense and candles burned by Brian Carter.

Samuel Wright stood in the open space before the door, breathing in the smoky, ashen air wafting from the inn, lost in his own thoughts. After a while, he beckoned to his two subordinates: “At the Chou hour, I’ll go with the two officers to chase after the mechanism. You two stay here. Whether I return or not, once the road is clear tomorrow, both of you go to Swallow Slope to find You... Guo Degang and his nephew. This task isn’t difficult, but it’s of great importance—don’t fail.” After the two nodded, he continued, “If I don’t make it back, when you return, be sure to report everything about the mechanical weapon in detail...”

Elsewhere, not far away, Brian Carter suddenly asked Little Constable beside him, “What’s your name?”

Little Constable shot him a glare: “You only just thought to ask now!” Her tone was resentful and dissatisfied, but she still answered truthfully, “Here, I go by the alias William Reed.”

“And your real name?”

“Emily Reed. Not the ‘xiao’ for ‘small’ or ‘dawn’, but the ‘xiao’ from ‘lush bamboo graces the clear stream’, and ‘fu’ as in ‘dawn breaks’.” After saying this, Emily Reed frowned, feeling she was being unnecessarily verbose—was it really necessary to explain in such detail?

“Emily Reed? It does sound nice, but it feels awkward to call. Little Constable Reed just rolls off the tongue better, since you’re a constable anyway.” Before Little Constable could glare at him, Brian Carter smiled and inexplicably said, “Little Constable Reed, I’m sorry.”

‘Little Constable Reed’ looked utterly confused: “What do you mean?”

As soon as she spoke, her expression changed dramatically and she let out a sudden, miserable scream! At the same time, Brian Carter also emitted a series of agonized, gut-wrenching howls... In the blink of an eye, both Brian Carter and Little Constable had bloodshot eyes, tears streaming uncontrollably. The tears they shed were stained with red, as if weeping blood, and where the bloody tears fell, they left behind scorched, ashen marks on the ground.

Samuel Wright was in the middle of giving urgent instructions to his men when he was startled by the screams. He looked up in shock, then his heart leapt in alarm as he blurted out, “Red Tears to Ashes!”

‘Red Tears to Ashes’ was a long-lost deadly poison, and its victims displayed exactly the symptoms now seen in Brian Carter and Little Constable: bloody tears falling to the ground, turning all vegetation to ash... The two officers had been poisoned.

How could such a potent poison appear in the countryside? The man surnamed Rong instantly made a judgment: there must be a poison master hiding nearby. At that moment, Samuel Wright suddenly felt a strange heat surging within his body. He loosened his collar and exhaled a heavy breath. But no matter what, he never expected that as the breath passed through his throat, it would involuntarily turn into a moan.

Though the moan was soft, it was utterly seductive—and it was not a man’s voice, but a woman’s sensual murmur.

A fat merchant exhaling a woman’s moan—this was even more shocking than the murder scene at the Yin family inn. Yet Wright’s two subordinates showed little surprise, only asking with concern, “Boss, are you alright?”

The boss was in serious trouble.