Salted Fish Chapter 3: Nightmen Police

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

The white-haired man rushed forward with an arrow step, held Duan FeiZhou’s body with one hand, and placed him gently on the ground. According to the medical knowledge Duan FeiZhou had learned, he would die of blood loss within a few minutes with such a wound and the amount of bleeding. Was this the end of his miserable transmigration?

Hate it. So resentful. But it’s not too bad to die in the arms of a beautiful man.

The white-haired man tilted his head up, and called out loudly, “Xenophon!” 

The drop of blood on his face slowly slid down his cheek like a trail of bloody tears.

The raven swooped down, and the moment it landed, it transformed into a man clad in a black coat with black hair and yellow eyes. He picked up Palmer’s wand, stepped over the twitching Palmer, half-knelt in front of Duan FeiZhou, and tore open his clothes to reveal his blood-soaked chest.

“I have…last words…” Duan FeiZhou gritted his teeth, and endured the pain. “My epitaph should be written like this, ‘never believe in scam emails’…”

“How educational!” the raven man lamented.

“Shut up. You won’t die.” The white-haired man said in a bad mood.

The raven man touched Duan FeiZhou’s wound gently with the metal rod. Duan FeiZhou only felt a warm current flowing to his limbs, and the pain magically disappeared. He touched his chest in disbelief; the skin was as clean as new, and there was no wound.

“I’m alive again!” He did a sit-up, and glowed.

The raven man looked at him with the same eyes as he would someone who was mentally handicapped.

Duan FeiZhou shrank his neck back. “It’s just now that…I was obviously stabbed, but why did the wound disappear?”

Could this also be…magic?

“Ah, that’s a long story,” the raven man said gleefully. “But before you ask your question, can you answer me whether you are Palmer’s accomplice?”

“No!” Duan FeiZhou said righteously.

“Then who treated Palmer’s injuries?”

“Uh…”

The raven man uncuffed the silver handcuffs on his waist and snapped them around Duan FeiZhou’s hands. Duan FeiZhou looked at the brand new silver bracelet on his wrist with tears. “Wait, let me explain. I was forced to treat Palmer! I’m a victim too!” 

“Doctor Chester?” came a timid voice from not far away. A pale, worried face popped out from behind the wall of a deep alley. It turned out to be Ruth Roberts, and she was carrying a small basket that smelled like baked bread. She looked nervously at the group, wondering if she should get involved in this mess.

But when her eyes fell on Duan FeiZhou’s wrist, she couldn’t think of anything else and jumped out like a rabbit.

“You guys are the police?” Her eyes moved back and forth between the raven man and the white-haired man. “You’re here to arrest Doctor Chester? Is it because he…Because he’s practicing medicine without a license?”

The raven man raised his eyebrows. “He’s practicing medicine without a license? Ooh, that’s an added crime.”

Duan FeiZhou couldn’t help but hold his forehead. “Ruth, don’t…”

Duan FeiZhou, who had transmigrated, hadn’t even gone to medical school and naturally didn’t have a license. Aberdeen had a lot of unlicensed black doctors, and the police usually turned a blind eye. If they really come to search, money could be used to muddle through.

The young girl looked at the raven man and pleaded, “Mr. Policeman, he’s a good man! He doesn’t have a license, but he’s the best doctor here! He has saved so many lives! If it weren’t for him, my father would be dead! Please spare him!”

The buildings on both sides of Mire Street woke up with curious eyes showing behind every window and doorway. In fact, the battle between the detectives and Palmer had already woken up most of the residents of Mire Street, but they all unknowingly didn’t take noises that happened in the night seriously. Until they heard Ruth’s shout.

A door opened. The ragged residents of Mire Street poured out into the street and surrounded them.

“The girl is right!” said a hunched-over old man. “If it weren’t for Doctor Chester, I’d be dead! Mr. Policeman, please!”

Another man rushed up to Xenophon. “Yes! My wife was saved by him too! It would have been two dead bodies if it wasn’t for Doctor Chester!”

A woman holding a crying baby, “My baby too! I can’t afford to pay the medical bills. Doctor Chester didn’t charge me a penny!”

The raven man looked around, a little overwhelmed.

Ruth looked at his face and suddenly said, “Ah.” She remembered something, pulled a handful of coins out of her pocket and shoved them into his hand. Her face turned red, “Please take this, Mr. Policeman!” 

“Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever received a bribe.” The raven man weighed the coins with a look of amazement.

“I know it’s a little small…if you don’t think it’s enough…I’ll think of something else…”

Before the words left her mouth, countless hands were reaching over. Each hand held a few pennies with worn edges, the shillings reflected the cold moonlight, gold pounds were wrapped in handkerchiefs like treasures as the residents of Mire Street offered up their savings. Some even grabbed dried fish and celery, hoping the policeman would take them.

“Let’s all chip in!” someone was shouting. “Every family contributes something! Let’s get Doctor Chester free!”

Duan FeiZhou’s eyes glowed at the Mire Street residents scurrying to hand over their coins.

The white-haired man closed his eyes, and a soft sigh escaped his lips. “Xenophon, let him go for now. Call the local police to help clean up the mess.”

The raven man puffed up his cheeks like a sullen pufferfish. “Well, now that you’ve given the word…” He glared at the Mire Street residents, and exclaimed, “You’ve got it wrong! We’re not arresting Doctor Chester. We’re just asking him to go back and cooperate with the investigation!”

Ruth pointed to the handcuffs on Duan FeiZhou’s wrists. “Then why are you handcuffing him?”

Raven Man trailed off, “That’s for…Uh…Testing the handcuffs to see if they work.”

Ruth gave him a skeptical look, crossed her arms in front of herself, and stared at him in silence, with the words, ‘I’m not well-read, but don’t lie to me,’ written on her face. The surrounding Mire Street residents followed suit.

For a while, the street fell into a dead silence.

The raven man cast a look at his companion for help, but the latter didn’t move. He had no choice but to remove the handcuffs from Duan FeiZhou’s wrists.

Ruth beamed with joy.

To cover up his embarrassment, Raven Man shouted, “There! All right! Break it up! You want to interfere with police work?”

Ruth looked reluctantly at Duan FeiZhou, but was eventually persuaded to leave by her family, who came after hearing the news.

The police soon arrived.

The white-haired man flashed his badge. “London Police Department is on the case. Take the two suspects to the nearest police station.”

The London Police Department – the famous Scotland Yard, whose name was known throughout the UK and was almost synonymous with “police elite” – was met with a look of awe from the Aberdeen police.

Two hours later, Duan FeiZhou was sitting in the interrogation room of the Aberdeen City Police Department, which was used for arraignment (or intimidation) of suspects.

Procedural justice was not yet widespread in that day and age. Suspects didn’t qualify for legal aid, and torture to extract confessions was commonplace. Anyone being interrogated in this room should be terrified and eager to explain everything they know, and leave as soon as possible.

Duan FeiZhou was just the opposite. He just wanted to sit here a little longer. If you asked why… Who wouldn’t want to be in a room with a beautiful man?

It was the white-haired detective who was in charge of interrogating him. Duan FeiZhou couldn’t take his eyes off his face. How could there be such a good-looking person in the world? Even if he had been stabbed by the white-haired detective before, he had no resentment. The Three Outlooks of mankind were as easy to follow as the five senses, which was a great sorrow for the race.

“…So I was forced to heal Palmer. I have absolutely no idea what they do. I wish you could tell me!”

The white-haired detective listened intently. His broken arm was still unattached, and the prosthetic interface dangled with wisps of cables like torn tendons and blood vessels. He looked in the direction of Duan FeiZhou, but his eyes didn’t focus on Duan FeiZhou’s face at all, and stared vacantly at some distant place behind him.

“Mind if I have a cigarette?” He took the cigarette case from the inside pocket of his coat.

“Don’t mind. But smoking is bad for your health.”

The corners of the white-haired detective’s lips lifted slightly, “Really? That’s right up my alley.”

He held his cigarette and tried with difficulty to light the match with one hand. He tried several times, but the match wouldn’t light at all. Duan FeiZhou couldn’t stand it anymore, so he struck a match and lit the cigarette.

The white-haired detective took a deep breath and exhaled smoke. Duan FeiZhou pinched his nose and leaned back. The beauty and the smoke were undoubtedly a perfect match, but the smell was still too much for him.

“Palmer is a fugitive from the law, and Goldstein is his assistant.” The white-haired detective said lightly.

Duan FeiZhou stared at him intently to make sure he wasn’t joking. “So, Mr. Detective, what’s your name?”

“Zeno Xenia. You can call me Z,” the white-haired detective said coldly.

“Okay, Mr. Z. So, there really is a world of…” Duan FeiZhou paused and said word-for-word, “Magic?”

“Haven’t you already seen it with your own eyes?”

Duan FeiZhou grabbed Z’s hand ecstatically. “Teacher, I want to learn this!”

A cold smile rippled in Z’s ruby eyes. “You want to learn?”

Duan FeiZhou’s eyes glowed. “I’m at least a medical student! If I learn to heal, won’t that be a great addition?”

Z asked, “Do you know what I do for a living?”

“Yes, I do! You’re an Auror!” ¹

There was an awkward silence.

“Ahem, sorry.” Duan FeiZhou cleared his throat, and said with a straight face, “You are the police who specialize in catching evil occult practitioners?”

“We are the London Police Department Abnormal Case Investigation Unit, called ‘Nightmen.'” Z showed a cruel smile. “We specialize in arresting occult practitioners, whether they break the law or not.”

Duan FeiZhou asked, “If there is no crime, why arrest them?”

Z said, “Because they have learned the secret arts, which is a crime.”

His words were like a blow to the head, making Duan FeiZhou’s heart chill. These two guys are not the Aurors but the Heresy Court? He complained discontentedly, “But you guys know the secret arts too. Wouldn’t you guys be arresting yourselves?” 

“I won’t. It is Xenophon who knows the secret arts.”

Duan FeiZhou remembered that Xenophon should be the man who could turn into a raven. He asked, “Then why don’t you arrest Xenophon?” 

Z said, “There is a saying that the only thing that can defeat magic is magic, and to defeat the devil, you must first become the devil.”

At that moment, the door of the interrogation room opened. The raven man’s, Xenophon’s, head poked in. He handed in a document, “Palmer has given his full account, boss. You’ll have to sign the confession.” 

Z gestured to him. Xenophon laid the document on the table, pulled a pen out of his pocket, shoved it into Z’s hand, tugged on the only brass-colored prosthetic Z had left, then placed it where his signature should be on the document.

Duan FeiZhou looked at his strange movements and suddenly understood that this guy might not be able to see. He stared into Z’s ruby eyes and couldn’t resist waving his hand in front of his eyes a few times.

Z clutched his wrist with one hand.

“Strange, I think I felt a fly flying around in front of me.” Z said as he increased the force.

“I was wrong. I was wrong!”

Z let go of his hand, and Duan FeiZhou cupped his red and swollen wrist and gave him a cross look of resignation.

“Xenophon, do you know what this kid just said to me?” Z said in a flirtatious tone. “He said he wanted to learn the secret arts.”

Xenophon exclaimed, “Oh, my friend, that’s not a good idea!”

Duan FeiZhou glared at him, “Didn’t you learn?”

“I call that self-sacrifice.” Xenophon sighed and raised his eyes to look into the distance, intoxicated by his own feat.

Duan FeiZhou asked, “So, the average person can’t learn anything?”

“That’s not true.” Z said, “The Nightmen of the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit has more or less mastered some secret techniques to catch occult practitioners.”

Duan FeiZhou shot up. “Then I would like to join you!”

It wasn’t easy to transmigrate over to this world. After three years of poverty, it seemed to be the turn of life, and he would never let go of this perfect opportunity. Besides, if he became a Nightman, he could meet Z every day. Once he thought about it, Duan FeiZhou smiled so much that he couldn’t close his lips.

Xenophon said carelessly, “We are short of manpower; why not recruit him?” 

Z grunted noncommittally.

No sooner had the two men discussed the outcome than the door to the interrogation room opened again. A local Aberdeen policeman leaned in halfway. “There’s a lawyer outside. Says he’s from London. Looking for Leopold Chester.”

His eyes lingered meaningfully on Duan FeiZhou’s face for a moment.

“Oh, you still know how to hire a lawyer!” Xenophon slapped Duan FeiZhou’s shoulder so heavily that it almost slapped him into a high and low shoulder.

“I don’t have that kind of spare money…” Duan FeiZhou’s shoulders were starting to hurt now along with his wrists.

Could it be that the residents of Mire Street pooled their money for him? Were there good lawyers in Aberdeen?

In a short time, the lawyers arrived. The first person to enter the interrogation room was a man who had a large, fluttering belly, followed by a lawyer with short limbs who struggled to squeeze through the door frame. The last to enter was a man with a red face. He had a fashionable sideburn beard, a bowler hat of satin fabric, a civilized cane, and all the pizzazz of a wealthy and successful gentleman.

“How do you do, gentlemen?” The pot-bellied gentleman smiled gruffly and bowed slightly to the three men in the interrogation room. “I am David Lynn, a lawyer from London, and I am here in place of my client Joseph Chester, who is looking for his nephew, Leopold.”

Xenophon immediately craned his head to look at Duan FeiZhou with such magnitude that Duan FeiZhou wondered if his neck would cramp up. Z’s reaction wasn’t as great as his, but he also turned his head slightly sideways.

“Me?” Duan FeiZhou pointed at himself. He had an uncle? How come he didn’t know that himself? No, he was a transmigrator and didn’t know many things.

“Ah, it’s you!” Mr. Lynn was overjoyed, “You really do look like Joseph!”

“He asked for me?…Is there something wrong?”

“He passed away a month ago. May he rest in peace.” Mr. Lynn’s face swept over with a hint of sorrow but quickly turned to joy. “He left you an inheritance.”

“Bang!” Duan FeiZhou flipped the table over.

Early that morning, the residents of Aberdeen were only awakened from their sleep to witness a once-in-a-century spectacle. A young blond man stood on the roof of the police station, and was screaming hysterically as he threw rocks down. “Get out! I don’t believe this! Don’t you dare lie to me! I will never trust a scam mailer again!”

Down on the street below stood a rotund gentleman. He dodged the rocks awkwardly and shouted urgently, “But your uncle did leave you an inheritance!”

“To hell with it! I tell you, I know the police! I’ll call the police to arrest you!”

“But this is the police station!”