Chapter 9: Reverberating Whispers

Old Constable Weston didn't say anything more.He just gave Lin Jie a deep look, his expression as complex as London's thick fog, mingled with shock and suspicion.

Silently picking up his long-cold cup of coffee, he turned and left the reading room, leaving Lin Jie alone.

Lin Jie appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief.

His "bait" had successfully caught the fish's attention. Now he needed to carefully consider whether to wait or take the initiative.

He didn't want to get too deeply involved with Scotland Yard's troubles - his true target remained the mysterious organization hiding in the shadows, the one hunting him.

What he needed to do was grasp the key intelligence about "Jack the Ripper UMA" before they found him.

After staying in the reading room all morning and confirming he wasn't being followed, Lin Jie finally left this temporary sanctuary.

Instead of returning to the chaotic "Rat's Nest," he chose to wander aimlessly through the streets and alleys of White Church District.

This wasn't meaningless wandering.

He was doing something only he could do - surveying the "hunting grounds."

He was drawing a mental map in his mind.

Marking all the crime scene locations from the newspapers one by one - Buck Street, Hanbury Street, Berner Street, and last night's George Street.

He discovered these locations appeared scattered but all revolved around a core area.

This was a region formed by several main roads and countless alleys, with extremely high population density and fluidity.

This killer possessed strong territorial instincts.

More importantly, he wanted to personally visit those crime scenes. He wanted to test his ability, to see if he could "hear" some whispers from the past that others couldn't detect, from those forgotten corners.

His first destination was the nearest crime scene at Berner Street.

It was in a small courtyard behind a place called the "International Workers' Educational Club." At this point, the yard had been cordoned off with crude police tape by Scotland Yard, but for White Church District residents, such barriers were meaningless.

Lin Jie easily climbed over a collapsed section of wall into the courtyard.

The yard was empty, with only faint dark stains washed by rain remaining on the damp stone floor. The air carried an lingering scent of blood.

Lin Jie paced slowly, his eyes not focusing on the obvious traces but scanning the surroundings - the high walls, locked back door, the single narrow exit.

This was a perfect killing spot - enclosed, secluded, where sound could hardly escape.

He slowly crouched down, reached out his hand, hesitated for a moment, then finally pressed his palm gently against the mottled, cold brick wall. This wall had most likely witnessed everything that happened that night.

Closing his eyes.

Focusing his consciousness completely on the contact point between his palm and the wall.

Instantly, a faint but clear sensory flood poured through his arm into his mind.

Unlike the violent impact of passive triggers before, this time because the event had passed some time ago, the "information concentration" had greatly diminished, and the feedback became much gentler, like a severely damaged recording tape, fragmented and full of static.

What he first "heard" was an extremely suppressed, drowning-like sense of suffocation.

Then came an intense fear emotion so thick it felt tangible.

Followed by a cold sensation tearing through the air, swift and precise. No extra movements, only the most efficient killing.

Finally, everything settled into a bizarre satisfaction mixed with ecstasy and hatred, like an artist admiring their own work.

This emotion was identical to what he felt when staring at the diary sketches, but much clearer!

"Huff—!"

Lin Jie jerked his hand back, gasping for breath, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Every time he used this ability felt like deep-sea diving, placing enormous strain on his mind.

But he hadn't come away empty-handed.

This "reading" made him one hundred percent certain - this crime was undeniably connected to the UMA he knew about.

However, just as he prepared to leave, two figures casually passing by the alley entrance made his heart leap into his throat.

It was them!

The two investigators who had chased him in the apartment! The Top-Hatted Man and that Burly Man!

They weren't wearing the proper wool coats from two days ago, but had changed into semi-worn coarse jackets more suitable for moving around White Church District. Yet their sharp, capable demeanor and keen eyes still stood out starkly among the numb crowd.

They also seemed interested in this crime scene, pretending to casually pass by while professionally scanning the yard's environment.

Lin Jie immediately ducked behind a pile of discarded wooden crates, completely hiding his body in the shadows, not daring to breathe loudly.

The organization had indeed gotten involved.

They weren't just hunting him - they were also tracking this UMA. Two separate trails had unexpectedly converged in this small courtyard.

Lin Jie calmly observed them through the cracks between crates.

He noticed the Top-Hatted Man held what appeared to be a sophisticated brass instrument resembling a compass. The instrument's needle was trembling erratically.

He was measuring something while quietly conversing with the Burly Man beside him.

"The 'anomalous fluctuations' here are already very faint. It seems we're too late," the Top-Hatted Man said quietly, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Damn it, Barton!" the Burly Man complained. "If we'd captured that Oriental earlier and gotten the 'Cartographer's' diary, we might have predicted this thing's movements. Now everything's messed up."

"Don't rush, Marcus," the Top-Hatted Man called Barton shook his head. "It's not that simple. This 'Jack the Ripper's' movements are more elusive than any 'Town-class' we've encountered before."

"And don't you find it strange? That Asian, a complete outsider with no records - why would he have the 'Cartographer's' diary?"

Lin Jie hiding behind the crates heard their conversation clearly.

For the first time, he learned their names - Barton and Marcus, and that the German who died on the "Sea Witch" had the codename "Cartographer."

The instrument in their hands was clearly some equipment capable of detecting residual energy from the inner world, as peculiar as his own gun.

This was priceless intelligence for him.

But it also meant that his own ability-based investigations could potentially be detected by such instruments! His earlier actions had been like dancing on the edge of a cliff!

Fortunately, Barton and Marcus hadn't discovered him. After their brief inspection yielded no valuable clues, they turned and left.

Only when their figures completely disappeared from the alley entrance did Lin Jie dare emerge from behind the crates. Leaning against the wall, he felt his back soaked with cold sweat.

This encounter served as a stark warning.

His enemies were far more professional and powerful than he'd imagined. They possessed technology and equipment he couldn't begin to comprehend.

Against such opponents, his only advantage was the "information gap" - they didn't know he possessed the ability to read memories, much less that he had precisely matched "Jack the Ripper" with a specific page from the Cartographer's diary.

He needed to accelerate his pace.

He looked up at London's eternally lead-gray sky. Beneath this seemingly calm urban shadow, an unknown shadow war was unfolding.

And he, an accidental intruder, had to find his place in this war - or face certain death.