Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1195: Chapter 36: Mrs. Witch of Haidong Qing

Saint Andrews, located in northern Scotland, is named after being the burial place of Scotland’s guardian, Saint Andrew.

Not far from town, at a manor, an old Ford car came to a stop, and a group of young men and women stepped out of the car.

The car was rented, and after that, the driver slowly drove away.

The couple seemed very young, the man wearing a gray scarf around his neck, and the woman, on the other hand, had dyed her hair a short white.

They were sizing up the entrance of the manor.

The manor looked like it hadn’t been lived in for a long time, with moss covering the walls and mottled rust on the iron gates.

There were no extra buildings nearby, just a patch of woods in front; the road wound its way through the woods, twisting and turning, and in the distance, the North Sea could be seen.

Because it was already spring, the area around the manor was covered with a thick layer of dead leaves, the scent of earth mixed with the smell of the sea, permeating every inch of the ground.

The girl with the grayish-white short hair… at this point, Nero yawned, making a lookout gesture—this place was selected by the maid, but it wasn’t until arrival that she realized its size was beyond expectation, “This is just too big…”

“I heard it’s one of Ms. You Ye’s properties…” the young man with the scarf looked up, staring at a tall tower inside the manor, and after a while, he sighed, “Sure as hell rich…”

“One of them…” Ms. Nero heard, her lips moving slightly.

How should one put it.

Even though she had once been one of the Twelve Divine Generals of the Michael Club, with a considerable annual budget at her disposal, for the fighters, improving strength was the royal road, and there wasn’t much feeling towards money—just faced with the description of ‘one of them’, Ms. Nero couldn’t help but show a tinge of poverty.

Da Zhe was rather energized, “Let’s go, the boss is supposed to come over a few days before school starts. Ms. You Ye said to tidy up the place before then.”

Ms. Nero pursed her lips, yawning, “No hurry, there’s a whole month left! I see a nice place in town, how about we go have a drink?”

Da Zhe didn’t mind drinking, “I’m fine with that, the cleaning work isn’t really urgent… but can you really make it? I’m worried you don’t have enough time… have you transcribed the books already?”

“Can you not tell such heartbreaking stories…”

“Let’s clean up first.”

Da Zhe chuckled, then picked up the back of Nero’s collar, dragging her into the manor.

…

…

The alarm rang at eight.

Chen Mingming opened his eyes, the curtains tightly drawn, the desk lamp still on. He sat up straight, pinching the bridge of his nose—having spent the entire night asleep at the desk.

He glanced at the sketchbook, then casually closed it and placed it back in the drawer.

After taking a shower, Chen Mingming opened the wardrobe. The clothes inside were of only two simple colors, without any patterns, black and white, neatly arranged.

As usual, after freshening up, Chen Mingming began preparing his breakfast.

The slippers at the entrance to the living room hadn’t been moved, no need to knock on his mother’s door, Chen Mingming already knew she hadn’t come home all night—not that his mother’s lifestyle was indiscreet; she simply put almost all her passion into her work.

At this moment, Chen Mingming’s phone rang. It was a call from Zhou Yusheng.

From the sound, Zhou Yusheng seemed a bit fatigued.

“I discussed your matter with your mom yesterday when I had some time…”

Chen Mingming sat silently, gazing at the clock on the opposite wall.

“Listen, you’re an adult now, you can make your own choices, even your mother can’t force you to do something you dislike. Mingming, did you hear me?”

Chen Mingming said, “You stayed up working last night too, didn’t you.”

On the other side of the phone, Zhou Yusheng paused and then frowned, “A big case came up recently, it’s urgent, and I’m not the only one working overtime.”

Chen Mingming casually replied, “Have you had breakfast.”

“Not yet… don’t interrupt, this matter can’t be decided entirely by your mother’s wishes!”

“Grab something to eat, after an all-nighter, it’s good to have some liquid food, better for the stomach.”

“I told you not to interrupt, I’m talking about serious stuff… hey! Hey!”

Pressing a finger on airplane mode, Chen Mingming finished his breakfast, cleaned up, washed the dishes, dried them, and placed them back in the cabinet.

As usual, he headed out.

…

“Morning! Hey hey!”

In front of the residential entrance, a lively silhouette suddenly jumped into Chen Mingming’s sight… it was Tara.

Chen Mingming looked at the girl in surprise.

Spring had arrived, the weather had warmed up significantly, Tara wore a dress today, her legs were straight, wrapped in thick long cotton stockings, then a white jacket, holding a cup of coffee in her hands.

“How do you know I live here,” Chen Mingming curiously asked.

Tara flipped her bangs, laughing proudly, “Didn’t I tell you, I’m a monster. Monsters are omnipotent, didn’t you know! I said yesterday I’d come find you today. See, I keep my promises, right?”

Chen Mingming replied calmly, “Did you promise.”

Tara walked up, naturally holding onto Chen Mingming’s arm, “I have no class today, I’ll keep you company all day. Tomorrow, you keep me company all day. Then Saturday and Sunday, I have to work, next Monday and Tuesday, there are classes and review prep for exams.”

Chen Mingming opened his mouth, frowning.

Tara whispered, “I’ll accompany you to find the person, and you… accompany me on a date.”

Chen Mingming thought for a while, “Where to find them, the school has already been searched, I don’t know elsewhere.”

“To find someone, you go to where many people are.” Tara blinked and said, “Dongle Square has a food festival today, tons of people, maybe there’s a chance, I’ll help you find them!”

“No, I still have class.” Chen Mingming shook his head.

Tara clung to his arm, leading him forward, the girl’s voice brooked no argument, “You’re about to go abroad, what class do you have to go? Come on, follow me, I’ll make sure you get stuffed… hmm, find the person!”

Life… once again disrupted.

…

In front of the teaching building.

“This is what you need.”

Zhao Le turned his head away, but still handed over the item… his forehead was a bit sweaty, he had to get up early for this, run a long distance, barely making it on time.

Dong Shaofeng laughed, opened the bag for a look, “Not bad, even got a thermos container, promising… if there’s anything else, come find me.”

Saying this, Dong Shaofeng carried the bag and walked up the stairs of the teaching building.

Zhao Le let out a breath and lowered his head, planning to leave.

However, another two teammates reached out to stop him at this moment, “Zhao Le, don’t leave so quickly. Can you do something for your brothers?”

Zhao Le lifted his head, angrily, “You guys, don’t be too excessive… you!”

He saw one of the students raising a phone at this time, and a photo on the phone made Zhao Le’s breathing instantaneously rapid. He instinctively tried to reach out to grab it, but another person directly caught him around the waist.

“What do you guys… what exactly do you want!!”

The student holding the phone lifted his chin, and the student who caught Zhao Le released him, simultaneously taking out several stacks of homework from his backpack and slapped them onto Zhao Le’s body, “Top student, we need these assignments for the next class. Please do them well for us. What? Not doing them? Take it!”

Zhao Le gritted his teeth and held onto the homework tightly.

“By the way, the teaching office also wants us to write a few reflections. It would be best if you write ours as well, including Young Master Feng’s.” The teammate sneered and then used his phone to tap Zhao Le’s face, “Good luck… puppy.”

The two laughed and left.

…

…

In front of the square, the crowd was massive, and the smell of food was everywhere.

Tara held two skewers in her hand, savoring them, seemingly forgetting Chen Mingming beside her, her eyes excitedly scanning the various stalls.

She only spoke to Chen Mingming when she exclaimed, ‘Wow, this is delicious!’, ‘This looks good too!’ and ‘I can’t eat any more!’

Chen Mingming shook his head, turned around while Tara was looking at a stall owner preparing food, and left the crowd.

Perhaps if she hadn’t suddenly barged into his plans, he wouldn’t feel this kind of disharmony… he thought.

To find that person?

If it weren’t for Tara’s sudden thought, Chen Mingming felt he wouldn’t have thought in this direction.

Without a doubt, he clearly knew he was indeed concerned about that person… it’s something he yearned for even more.

Lonely, desolate, as if floating apart from everything else, like a spirit walking the earth, silently watching all that happens around.

That person seemed to have a world of his own, but this world didn’t reject reality… Quiet, seemingly just a surface, but deeper within lay the substance that truly attracted Chen Mingming.

Only since the last holiday of the previous year had he not seen this person in the library — and the last book that person read, Chen Mingming had also finished.

It was a book about antique porcelain.

Suddenly, Chen Mingming felt a hazy consciousness, tiredness approached, but not due to lack of sleep… Chen Mingming’s schedule was very regular, perfectly balancing exercise and rest, so he didn’t believe he could be mentally exhausted.

Yet, he suddenly closed his eyes and fell down.

Logically, he should have fallen to the ground — but clearly didn’t, because a pair of hands caught him… it was a man dressed in a black suit: Wei Zidao.

…

“The forty-seventh one.” Wei Zidao glanced at his companion, Liu Minghao.

Liu Minghao nodded and then pointed inside the square somewhere — specifically at the staircase, they planned to question Chen Mingming, naturally not hoping too many people would see.

Of course, they did not know who Chen Mingming really was, merely because the Eight Diagrams Copper Mirror identified him as one of the fifty-plus auras detected.

Possibly these forty-seven individuals could provide useful information, or maybe not… As the number of investigated individuals increases and consistently yields nothing, Liu Minghao even begins to question whether this entity with more than fifty auras can truly offer something.

The two quickly helped Chen Mingming into the mall, and then slipped into the back staircase.

“Let me.” Wei Zidao placed Chen Mingming on the staircase, said this, and extended his hand to start examination with an instrument.

The checking process was swift, but the instrument didn’t show anything — Clearly, if the instrument hadn’t malfunctioned, this examined subject was just an ordinary person.

“Let’s interrogate.” Liu Minghao straightforwardly said — Of course, not holding high expectations for the forty-seventh target… This seemed like a routine job.

But right then, the instrument suddenly flickered!

“It’s monster’s aura!” Wei Zidao suddenly turned back, “This kid has a monster’s aura on him… But it’s very weak, almost undetectable.”

“He’s not a monster.” Liu Minghao frowned.

Wei Zidao is a rookie agent, but Liu Minghao already holds intermediate rank, with countless interactions with monsters. He was once a temporary disciple of some Taoist sect, so distinguishing most of the demons with the naked eye is possible.

“There’s something off.” Wei Zidao nodded, then took a deep breath, and pressed Chen Mingming’s forehead with his hand.

Yet at this moment, an intense aura abruptly appeared—not from Chen Mingming, but behind Wei Zidao and Liu Minghao!

Both reacted extremely quickly!

Liu Minghao turned, drawing a black metal rod, while Wei Zidao directly pulled out a unique silver-black revolver.

“What do you want to do to my boyfriend!”

A somewhat angry voice came, and both at the same time saw a young girl in a white coat… Tara.

The girl right now possessed something that surprised them even more.

Her face was covered with numerous dark-green, tattoo-like patterns… And those patterns were still increasing!

Simultaneously, Liu Minghao and Wei Zidao’s position—or rather, this entire section of the staircase—with a giant cyan halo floating on the ground, walls, and steps.

Liu Minghao exclaimed, “Eagle Totem?”

The cyan totemic circle on the ground showed no sign of disappearing, while Tara’s gaze was sharp… but now, Liu Minghao took out an identification from himself.

Tara frowned and waved her hand, causing all anomalies to vanish, hesitantly saying, “You are… from the Management Bureau?”

Liu Minghao nodded, then produced another box resembling a mirror case, opening it… It’s a tool used to identify those already registered with China Transcendent.

Beep beep — search successful.

A few lines of text appeared distinctly on the small screen.

Name: Tara.

Race: Human-monster hybrid.

Occupation: Haidong Qing’s Mrs. Witch, advanced monster…

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PS: (2/27)