After the three carriages separated, the car Shireen was riding in quickly turned north. There were few pedestrians on the street, but occasionally one or two carriages with closed carriages could be seen, and the passengers in the carriages obviously intended to hide their identities.

They walked in silence for more than ten minutes, and the carriage finally turned again and came to an east-west street. It seemed particularly deserted here, with the dim cold light cast by the street lamps, and the surroundings were surprisingly quiet.

Shirin suddenly discovered that there were no rooms with lights on in the houses on both sides of the road.

"How strange, Dead Leaf." She touched the female elf next to her with her elbow, "Why is there no one living in this area?"

The dead leaf lifted the curtain on her side and bent down to look out the window.

"Hmm, this seems to be... Blackberry Street?"

"Gods." Katie, who was sitting opposite, shuddered.

Jerome also opened the curtain at his hand, "Yes, it's Blackberry Avenue. What the hell, why do you want to take this road?"

"So no one will dare to follow us?" Katie asked nervously.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Shireen didn't understand. "Is there anything special about this street?"

Dead Leaf lowered the curtains and said, "You've never been to this area, so it's normal that you don't know. Blackberry Street is located at the northernmost end of the college district. Behind this row of houses is the outer wall of Huoyin City."

"So...oh, gods!" Shireen exclaimed, "We are near the vine net?"

Dead Leaf nodded.

Shirin felt as if someone was holding her throat. She swallowed hard: "Those murderous vines..."

"They are all activated, and quite active." Dead Leaf confirmed, "They will attack any living creature that comes too close. It is said that more than a dozen people died on the first night."

No wonder everyone left here, Shireen thought, no one can sleep peacefully near those murderous vines. In the past week, many citizens fled from nearby cities to the college area, and hotels and rental houses quickly disappeared.

It was sold out.

Even so, no one wanted to live in a neighborhood close to the city wall.

Everyone fell silent in unison, fearing that the sound of conversation would attract the threat hidden in the night.

Shirin felt a little conflicted.

She really wanted to lift the curtains and take a closer look at the vine network. But her reason told her that that scene would probably add new material to her nightmares at night.

Fortunately, she finally controlled her hand.

Although Blackberry Street turned into a no-man's land, it was a bit scary, but the road was the smoothest. The carriage galloped on the smooth road for a few minutes, and turned south at the third intersection.

Finally leaving that weird street, everyone seemed to be relieved and interested in continuing the conversation.

"So," Shirin was the first to break the silence, "Are we going to the City Hall? I always thought the City Hall was in the Platinum District."

"The city hall has branches in most urban areas, and the red hall also has branches." Kuye explained, "After the chaos came, the municipal staff in the College District quickly ran away, because most of the public officials here lived in the Platinum District.

and Blossom District. At times like this, everyone wants to be with their families."

"I see."

Shirin used to live in the port area, where the port authority was responsible for managing and maintaining public security, so there were no branches of the city hall and the red hall.

"Ah, you can already see the bell tower of the Academy of Truth." Jerome pointed to a tall tower building on the left side of the carriage.

"We should be almost there." Dead Leaf nodded, "From here, walk south for ten minutes and you should be able to reach the main street of the college district. Keep walking along that street and you will find the city hall of the college district..."

However, to their surprise, the carriage stopped on the side of the road. The four of them looked at each other, and Dead Leaf opened the window.

"What's going on?" She stuck her head out and asked, "Why did you stop?"

"This is the order I received," the coachman's voice came from the front, "Send you here first, and then wait for further instructions."

"What happened?" Shireen asked.

"I don't know." Dead Leaf shook his head, "You guys stay in the car, I'll go out and take a look."

"No, Dead Leaf." Shireen pulled the sleeve of the female elf, "What if there is danger outside?"

"If there is danger, I can hear it in advance..." Dead Leaf raised his eyebrows slightly, "I see, someone is waiting for us."

"Who?" Katie asked.

Alessa Juvens appeared quietly in the light of the streetlight. She put on a black night clothes and looked like a fully armed female assassin.

She quickly came to the carriage and said, "Please get off here, Miss Marron, I want to take you to meet someone."

"I thought we were going to the city hall," Shireen said defensively.

"The others go first. After the things here are done, we can take my carriage there."

Dead Leaf opened the car door, "If Shilin stays, then I will stay too."

"Hmm, it's useless for me to stop you anyway." Alessa shrugged, "Then don't waste time. The sooner we finish things here, the sooner you can see your friends."

Dead Leaf jumped out of the carriage lightly, and then stretched out his hand towards Shirin. Just as Shirin was about to follow him out, Katie, who was sitting opposite, suddenly held her hand.

"Be careful, Mal...Shireen," she whispered, "protect yourself."

"I'll be fine with Dead Leaf." Shirin nodded, "Meet you at the city hall later."

After the two got off the car, the carriage continued to move forward.

Alessa tilted her head towards a building on the side of the road, "Follow me, you two."

Shirin and Dead Leaf exchanged a look, "Where are you going?"

"A hotel, where an acquaintance of yours stays."

"An acquaintance?" Shireen couldn't help but frown, "Who?"

"You'll know it when you see it - trust me, you'll thank me for it later."

They put on the hood of their cloaks and walked into the courtyard of the hotel. Since it was still dinner time, the hall was crowded with hotel guests.

Seeing this scene, Shirin suddenly became worried. There were so many people inside, what if someone recognized her?

However, Alessa did not take them through the hall, but went around from the outside of the building to the backyard. There were some small sheds here, one of which had a light on, and two decent people were guarding the door.

"Is everything okay?" Alessa asked.

"Everything is fine, ma'am," a decent person replied.

Alyssa nodded, then turned to Shireen. "He only wants to see you, Miss Marron, so you'd better go in by yourself."

Shireen looked up at the dead leaves. To her surprise, the female elf nodded.

"She's right, Shireen." Dead Leaf whispered, "You'd better go in by yourself."

"Why? Who is inside?"

"Fair Clarks."

————

Clarks looked poor. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes were a little dark. The once strong and burly man seemed to be only a thin shadow.

Shireen was horrified by his appearance. "Oh gods, Mr. Clarks - what have they done to you?"

"It's not their fault." Clarks forced a pale smile, "Please sit down, Miss Marron, I have something to tell you."

"They forced you to do this, right?"

He was silent for a moment, "Alesha Juvens thought I was hiding something about the bombing. So after the hearing, she visited me in person, hoping to get the truth from me."

"The truth?" Shireen repeated softly.

In fact, Ku Ye once mentioned various doubts in this case to her.

Although they all agreed that Clarks was not the mastermind or accomplice of the bombing, his refusal to defend himself during the trial was indeed strange. Because most people who have been wronged will try their best to defend themselves, and it is impossible to refuse the help of a lawyer.

…

Clarks nodded slowly, an action that seemed to take a lot of energy from him.

"I am very grateful for everything you have done for me, Miss Marron. My family and I owe you a favor, a favor that can never be repaid. So you have the right to know the truth. It is not what is published in the Fire Seal City Daily

Those truths are not the truth you worked hard to investigate...the real truth."

Shirin suddenly had an ominous premonition, "What exactly do you want to say?"

He lowered his head and stared at his hands for a long time, as if looking for courage.

Finally he raised his head and looked directly into Shireen's eyes.

"You must be wondering why I kept silent during the interrogation." He said softly, "It's because I was protecting a friend."

Shireen looked at him in surprise, "No...this is not true..."
Chapter completed!