"Could you tell me a bit more about the physical characteristics of that urban eldritch creature?"
Snapping back from her thoughts, Xu Xiaoyou pondered for a moment before saying, "She had fur."
"And a pair of sharp claws. No human ears..."
Listening to the features the girl described, Bai Nian'an's heart stirred, and her hand making notes came to a halt.
The features described seemed very similar to the Dye Thief that appeared not long ago. However, in the intelligence reports, the Dye Thief was merely a hazard-level creature, not even reaching the nightmare-level required to be classified as an urban legend. It was a relatively common disaster rank on the Star of Art.
Yet, the psychic wave the association had just monitored near the Dream of the Black Swan apartments was disaster-level—a jump of two whole major ranks!
In the history of the Star of Art, the number of disaster-level creatures ever born could be counted on one hand. The higher-ups of the association took this extremely seriously; if the situation worsened further, they would dispatch a prism grade fixer to resolve the matter.
She vaguely sensed something was off in the girl's words, yet she couldn't put her finger on it.
Xiao Mi hadn't reacted, which meant the girl wasn't lying about the description.
"She was humanoid, like some kind of animal."
"A rat?" Bai Nian'an decisively zeroed in on the key question.
Xu Xiaoyou didn't look surprised. After putting on a thoughtful expression, she shook her head.
"I don't think so. It was a bit dark then, and I didn't see her clearly. I only remember some features."
From the corner of her eye, Bai Nian'an glanced at Xu Xiaoyou's jacket pocket, pointing at an object peeking out from a corner.
"What's that?"
It looked like a stamp with a faint red dye around the edges, and the pattern in the center was a pink-and-white monthly rose.
"Sorry, sorry."
Xu Xiaoyou pinched it out and quickly stuffed it back into her pocket. Her whole demeanor became unnatural, her eyes darting around as if she had a guilty conscience.
"A flower voucher?" Bai Nian'an blurted out.
Her expression suddenly turned strange.
In her memory, only "flower guests" who frequented the flower streets all year round would carry such flower vouchers. Usually, only VIP customers of the flower shops would receive them. The monthly performance and the level of importance of the shop's employees were all closely tied to these vouchers.
The service providers in the flower shops were, naturally, both male and female, collectively known as flower cores. She had heard of the feats of wealthy women from the upper social strata visiting flower shops and ordering dozens of stamens in a single night.
"You..." For a moment, Bai Nian'an didn't know what to say.
She recognized that flower voucher—it was for Monthly Rose Street, right there in the Queen's District, only two streets away from the Dream of the Black Swan apartments. The flower shops on Monthly Rose Street were quite famous, operating under the persona of innocent flower cores.
Xu Xiaoyou lowered her head in shame. "I don't go to those places often. Tonight was just an exception..."
At that moment, Xiao Mi was startled awake from its dreams. It flipped over, and its fan-like broad ears flapped rapidly, emitting a piercing "Hmph-wheeze, hmph-wheeze!" alarm!
Bai Nian'an's gaze toward the girl became even more complex. The girl had lied in that sentence; her gentle appearance was far too deceptive. She hadn't expected her to be a regular at such a place.
Seeing Bai Nian'an's expression, Xu Xiaoyou sneered inwardly.
The lie she had told in that sentence wasn't "not going to flower shops often," but rather "tonight."
She hadn't expected the flower voucher cards she had obtained from the gacha to come in handy here. These cards could be exchanged for a voucher for any flower street of equal value. As a person of integrity, she naturally had no interest in such a vice industry, much less any desire to spend money there.
If possible, she didn't even want to set foot in such a place.
"And what happened after the attack? Why were you hiding in the room, and why did that blue-haired girl try to stop us?"
Xu Xiaoyou let out a long sigh. "To be honest, after being attacked by that urban eldritch creature, I lost a segment of my memory."
"I was terrified at the time and instinctively sought shelter. You can't blame her for this."
She really didn't remember those few seconds when she was on the verge of losing control. If Tang Xin hadn't discovered the anomaly in time, the situation would likely have been even more troublesome.
For some reason, the Gaze of Spiritual Vision inside her had resonated extremely strongly with Angelina at that moment, nearly going berserk.
Bai Nian'an hesitated to speak.
Up to this point, most of what the girl had stated seemed to match up with the Dye Thief, aside from a few physical features.
From the general appearance to the flower street matching its habits, to the amnesia after being attacked—if intracranial lesions occurred in the next few days...
She thought of a possibility: the Dye Thief had developed new traits, and at a certain moment, it had erupted with a higher psychic wave. That period happened to be when this girl was attacked.
She was aware of cases where urban eldritch creatures gained new traits and their disaster rating increased.
As for the minor differences in physical characteristics? That wasn't important. A change in traits often accompanied a change in the essence of the creature. She wouldn't be surprised if it turned from a rat into another animal, or even from a humanoid into a red gelatinous slime.
If that were the case, the girl before her was indeed just a victim of this incident. The real urban eldritch creature had escaped their perimeter at the very beginning, utilizing its trait of being invisible in the "blackness."
Furthermore, the residual aura of the creature on her body had mostly dissipated. She had no reason to suspect her further.
She hadn't expected an inconspicuous hazard-level urban legend to grow to disaster-level in a single night. They had seriously underestimated the growth potential of the Dye Thief; she had to report this to the association immediately.
For the next ten minutes, Bai Nian'an asked a few more minor questions, which Xu Xiaoyou handled calmly.
Late at night, this long interrogation finally came to an end.
The two tuners in the interrogation room were almost falling asleep on their feet. Seeing the interrogation finish, they shook themselves awake and straightened their shoulders.
"You were likely attacked by the Dye Thief," Bai Nian'an said.
"The Dye Thief?" Xu Xiaoyou looked up.
"Yes." Bai Nian'an took a card from the pocket of her investigator uniform and handed it to Xu Xiaoyou. "This has my contact information. I'll be coming to see you again in the next few days."
"Don't worry, it's just to take you for some check-ups. No one knows if you'll develop severe intracranial lesions after it birthed new traits," Bai Nian'an said with a smile.
Seeing Xu Xiaoyou's face turn pale, she comforted her gently. "You can never tell with urban eldritch creatures. Perhaps nothing will happen after all?"
Xu Xiaoyou nodded, and the heavy stone in her heart finally dropped.
It seemed she had passed this hurdle. It was a close call; mental-type abilities were notoriously troublesome.
A montage-style lie—using the method of reversing order, changing verbal expressions, or combining real fragments to make the final information presented a lie.
She didn't like to lie. Xiao Mi could testify to that.
"Let me walk you back." Bai Nian'an pushed open the door of the interrogation room. "It's snowing hard outside, and it's late. It's not convenient to go back alone."
"It's fine, no need."
As soon as Xu Xiaoyou stepped out, she noticed a figure sitting on a metal bench in the hallway. Tang Xin was covered in her thick military overcoat. It was unclear how long she had been waiting outside; she looked asleep now, her head tilted slightly against the bench. The wind brushed past her face, and a few stray hairs clung to her lips, looking peaceful and beautiful.
She lightly tapped Tang Xin's shoulder. The latter slowly opened her eyes and sat up from the metal bench, her voice still a bit groggy. "Hmm? Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Xu Xiaoyou said.
"Then let's go home." Tang Xin stood up.
Xu Xiaoyou watched the girl clutch the military overcoat to her chest and walk away while rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Her face was calm. "Yeah, let's go home."
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