Shireen realizes she is being followed.

At that time, she had just gotten off the public carriage and was queuing up outside the bakery near her apartment, preparing to buy some discounted leftover bread for dinner. The sun had not yet completely sunk into the sea level in the west of the port area, and the alchemy street lamps had not yet been lit. It was the street

The worst time for illumination.

Then there was a quarrel at the end of the team. The nervous Shirin subconsciously looked back and saw two men dressed as sailors pushing each other. She found that the dispute had nothing to do with her, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief... At this moment

, she made eye contact with the stalker.

The man was leaning on the railing on the other side of the street, wearing an unfashionable thick windbreaker and a black wide-brimmed hat. The moment their eyes met, the man immediately turned away.

Half an hour ago, she had seen this man at the bus stop near the company. He was also peeking at her intentionally or unintentionally, but there were other girls around Shirin at that time, so she didn't take it to heart.

After that, they got into the same carriage, but the man's seat was far away from her. When Shireen got off, the man was still in the car.

Now it seems that he must have done that on purpose. As long as he got off the bus one stop later than her, she could relax her vigilance. Shirin didn't know how he found her, but if she didn't look back just now, she would still be caught now.

Keep in the dark.

Fear gripped her. She felt breathless and cold sweat broke out on her palms.

The person following her must be related to Thomas End, and she had known for a long time that things would not be that simple. Maybe he asked the answers he wanted to know from other receptionists, and finally narrowed the scope of suspicion to a range that could be investigated one by one.

Maybe he has already targeted her, but he hasn't found the evidence yet, so he hired someone to follow her.

Shireen knew that she was probably trying to catch the wind. When people are extremely nervous, they tend to exaggerate the connections between abnormal phenomena. In normal times, maybe she would convince herself to calm down. But not this time. She couldn't control herself this time

fear emotions, and the physiological reactions brought about by fear.

She was so scared that she had to escape from this person's sight.

Her hands began to tremble, and Shirin had no choice but to press them tightly against her body. She couldn't collapse, not yet. So she put her left hand on her chest, took a few deep breaths, and finally managed to regain some ability to think.

That person was following her, at least there was no doubt about it. So she had to pretend to be nonchalant first so as not to alert the stalker. She didn’t know what kind of person the other person was, and she didn’t know what he would do after being cornered...

And now she can't take action. The surrounding environment is very unfavorable to her. The dim light is the best cover for the stalker. He can safely and boldly close the distance without worrying about alerting irrelevant passers-by.

But as long as she can wait until the street lights are turned on, the situation will be reversed. The alchemy street lights in Minato are a newly invented alchemy product a few years ago. They will automatically light up when the surrounding area darkens to a certain level.

When the surrounding area becomes brighter, the stalker must restrain himself. The gazes of passers-by will become a deterrent and make him restrain his hands.

That's right, then she can distance herself. Only then can she have a chance to escape.

But how should she escape? Should she escape directly to her apartment? Is the apartment really safe?

Thinking, she had to think... The stalker only targeted her this afternoon, so he probably didn't know where Shireen lived yet. If he knew, then he would have laid an ambush near the apartment instead of risking being discovered.

Risk is riding the same carriage as her.

She knew she was making assumptions. Sometimes, assumptions were a dangerous way of thinking that could tempt her to ignore real dangers.

Yes, she cannot underestimate the other party. The stalker is at least three inches taller than her and has a burly physique. It is definitely not a problem that Shireen can handle alone.

She couldn't get rid of him on her own. To get out of danger, Shireen needed help from others.

Witch hunters are of course the first choice at the moment. But most of them protect the blue-blood nobles near the central city and rarely appear in the port area.

So only the city guard is left. There are usually city guard patrols on the docks in the port area to ensure that the conflicts between porters and ship owners during price negotiations remain at the level of verbal disputes. If she can lead the stalker to the dock, maybe...

…

But will the stalker let her get her wish? And even if she succeeds, how can she explain all this to the city guard? She suspects that someone is following her?

No, no. They would just laugh and think of her as a country girl who catches wind and shadows.

Unless she can reveal the stalker's identity and make him invisible under the light.

At this time, she found herself standing in front of the takeout window, and the female clerk in white uniform smiled at her.

She realized she had come to buy dinner. "Two loaves of bread, please."

While waiting to be packed, Shirin pretended to be careless and secretly glanced at the sea level to the west. Now there was only a dark red bright spot left in the sun. As long as the light got darker, the alchemy street lamps on the street would automatically light up.

Bright.

The female clerk handed her the packed bread bag, Shireen paid her two Cooper coins, and then turned and left the bakery. She turned at the first intersection she encountered and headed back to the apartment.

Behind him.

She hopes her plan will succeed.

The port area is not the most prosperous area of ​​Huoyin City, but there are still many evening entertainments. There are more pedestrians on the street than she expected, but unfortunately there are not many enough for her to blend into the crowd and escape.

So she could only continue moving towards the dock.

The causeway of the canal went straight to the west, and Shireen hurried forward pretending to have something to do. The evening sea breeze blew in her face, and there was a faint salty smell in the air. The smell was mixed with fear, and she felt a pang in her stomach.

Overwhelming, just want to stop and vomit.

But she didn't dare to do that. She didn't dare to do that when she was being followed.

She walked onto a stone bridge across the canal, when a four-wheeled carriage drove towards her. Shirin realized that this was an opportunity to confirm the distance, so she pressed herself against the railing of the stone bridge to the right, and quickly walked as the carriage passed by.

Glancing back.

In the gap between the car and the horse, Shirin saw the figure wearing a thick trench coat. He was beside the railing on the other side, only about twenty steps behind her.

She swallowed a whimper of fear, turned around and quickened her pace to move on.

The closer she got to the pier, the more pedestrians were on the road. Shireen gradually couldn't distinguish the footsteps of the stalker, but she knew that he was always there and getting closer to her...

Soon, a wide open space on the pier appeared in front of her about a hundred steps away. At this moment, the alchemy street light above her head turned on.

Shireen just felt her tense nerves relax a little, and then she heard a rush of footsteps behind her. It sounded like someone suddenly started running.

He is a stalker. He knows that he is about to lose his chance, so he plans to make a desperate move.

In a sudden panic, Shireen realized desperately that there was no way she could run into the dock before being caught.

But then she spotted two men in city guard uniforms sitting in an open-air restaurant nearby.

Shireen lifted up her skirt and ran away.

As soon as she ran a few steps, she bumped into someone, causing the other person to yell at her. However, Shirin didn't bother to stop and apologize, and she didn't even have the courage to look back.

She rushed to the dining table where the city guards were sitting, almost tripping over the debris on the floor. "Gentlemen, help me! Please, someone is here."

"Wait a minute, miss." The older man raised a hand, "Speak slowly. What's going on?"

"Someone, someone is following me!" She replied breathlessly, raising her trembling hands and pointing behind her.

"I think I know why," his young partner said, and then smiled at Shireen. Young boys often smiled like this at her, but this was the first time on this occasion.

"Calm down, kid, you're still on duty." The older man looked behind Shirin, then showed a confused look. "Who is following you?"

"That's it." Shirin turned around, only to find that the stalker was gone.

"That's it?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, but..." She felt a little dizzy, followed by a feeling of powerlessness that surged throughout her body.

Someone was definitely following her just now, and there was no way she was mistaken about that thick trench coat. But where did he go? How could someone with that kind of figure disappear out of thin air?

This doesn't make sense... Just a few seconds ago, Shirin heard his footsteps. What happened?

"Miss, this kind of thing is not a joke." The older city guard sounded a little impatient, obviously thinking of Shireen as a brainless country woman.

"If you're still scared, maybe we can take you home." The young city guard suggested.

"If you step even half a step away from the dock, guess who's ass will get a taste of these new boots? As for you, miss, as long as you identify the person who is following you, in the name of the Duke, we will arrest him immediately.

But if you're just frightened by your own imagination, I'm afraid you're not looking for a city guard, but a psychotherapist."

"Imagine?" Shireen repeated in shock, feeling insulted.

"Okay, that was my choice of words. So where is the 'real' stalker?"

***

When Shireen returned to the apartment exhausted, it was already completely dark. Her boots were ripped open while running, and she walked very awkwardly. The bread she bought fell to the ground when she collided with someone else.

, by the time she remembered it, it was already too late, the bread had been trampled into a ball of black mud by passers-by.

What a great day, she thought to herself, what a perfect day. Hungry, she climbed up the steps, took out her keys and opened the door.

Thomas End was waiting for her in the house.

She opened her mouth to breathe, but found that she couldn't take in any air in her lungs. The owner of the handicraft shop smiled and nodded to her, and then covered her eyes with a pair of huge hands.
Chapter completed!