Chapter 213 - Under the Big Ben

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

The Big Ben rang slowly. It seemed these ancient and deep bell sounds came from one day in the 17th century, which was the day when it was built.

At any time, there were always the most people under the Big Ben. Why? Because it carried a moving story.

Who was the fashion queen of the 1920s? The answer was only Coco Chanel.

Her design that transcended the limits of life and style of free and random collocation liberated women from the contorted clumsy clothes. Emphasizing elegance, simplicity and easy wearing became the revolutionary pioneer of modern women’s clothing.

Chanel once said, “We must get rid of women from head to toe.”

She wanted to “create a young image”. Chanel’s clothing was frank and free. Her skirts reached the knee, and her jackets were loose and straight. She no longer emphasized the curves of the chest and hips.

Her three-quarters-length woolen coats without waist, without fancy decorations, were as simple as men’s clothes. She objected to the fashion clothes of the past which looked like “pigeons with their chests and buttocks outstretched”.

Instead of “fidgety and disorderly”, she advocated concision, simplicity, comfort, and simple but elegant colors. She liked black and white.

Chanel changed the concept of fashion, making the art of clothing really enter the 20th century.

This strong-willed woman with extraordinary creativity and vitality made CHANEL’s name and its two double-C close together a symbol of fashion and culture.

For people who valued quality, it represented style and status. But even such a woman had her own ups and downs, especially in terms of her love life.

Coco Chanel was unmarried in her life, and the number of suitors she refused was countless. Most of them came from wealthy aristocrats. They not only had prominent positions, but also a deep affection for Chanel.

Even the famous Duke of Westminster was one of her pursuers. Of course, the Duke didn’t succeed in the end.

He once asked Chanel sadly, “For you, even the title of Duchess of Westminster is not good enough?” “Dear, you have to know that I am sincere.”

The fashion master smiled and said, “There are many duchesses on earth, but there is only one Coco Chanel.”

Those words of hers later became the famous slogan of Chanel.

On June 10, 1971, Chanel worked alone late for the upcoming fashion show. She took sleeping pills in the early hours of the morning. She fell asleep, but never woke up again.

She, at that time, was in her favorite suit and wore a necklace. With her wit and playfulness, she passed away, ending her legendary life at the age of eighty-eight.

She left quietly. No one stopped to ask. No one heard her calling for help. She didn’t like loneliness, but had to spend her life alone.

She used to be so prominent, but her dying was so flat. The spoony duke was so sad to hear her death.

In front of the Big Ben, in the flower-filled Regent’s Park, on both sides of the Regent Street, the most popular commercial street in Europe, the surfaces of the tall copper lampposts were painted with rust-proof black year after year.

The streetlights on the streets of central London always seemed to have a sense of historical vicissitudes.

With gold paint used as the foreground and black paint as the background, the bases of the lamp posts were engraved with the same logo as the high-end luxury brand “Chanel”.

It was not the design of the London municipal and that of the French luxury goods company “crashing into each other”, but the two countries both recognized the authentic “Chanel” logo.

Many English people believed that the street lights in London were engraved with “Chanel”, from the name of the founder of the French luxury brand, the legendary woman.

She had an exotic relationship with the Duke of Westminster, one of the owners of the City of London.

In 1925, at a social gathering in Monte Carlo, Chanel met Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster at that time.

The duke was fascinated by the female designer from France. They had a relationship of five or six years.

However, Chanel eventually refused the Duke’s proposal, but the reason was unknown to the world.

The British Duke, who had always been unforgettable about Chanel, decided to engrave the logo of “Chanel” on the street lampposts in central London.

At the same time, next to this mark, the uppercase W was engraved to represent the family of the Duke of Westminster. The reason for he doing that was the spoony Duke wanted to tell the future generations that “There will be many generations of Duke of Westminster in the future, but there is only one Chanel”.

…

Even now, the Chanel logo could be seen on the copper lamps, and there was a capital W next to it.

The rust-proof paint never suspended. As long as the black color faded, it would be repainted. Even the local prime minister wouldn’t interfere with it.

And on the streets near the Big Ben, there were also many people selling mini copper lamps, which were quite similar to the real ones. The sellers would tell the moving story that circulated to attract customers.

Most of the customers were French. Even if it was fake, they were willing to be lied. These people just came to listen to the moving story and buy souvenirs.

They wanted to bring the moving story back and let it continue to be passed down.

“Whoo… this is too touching! Why, why can’t they be together at the end? Ah whoo…”

Under the Big Ben, the group of people of the Blood Moon Hunters also heard this story.

Catherine was touched with tears bursting out. She directly cried out on the street during the day, which aroused the surrounding pedestrians’ confused looks.

And there was a small copper lamp in her hand, which was bought from the storyteller.

“I don’t know if the story is true.” Meiqing couldn’t help but ask herself.

The businessman seemed to understand her. Though he didn’t know Huaxia language, he could see that this oriental woman was thinking about this story. He said, “Some people don’t believe the story.”

“But I’m willing to believe it. It’s not because we make money on it, but that this story is worth pursuing and deserves our respect.”

The businessman was a white-haired old man, but he was very well dressed as an old gentleman. Whenever he told the story, he couldn’t help but straighten his back.

It seemed to be his way of respect to this story, and it must be taken seriously.

“I’m also willing to believe it, because love is a powerful and mysterious force.” Meiqing made a faint smile, replying in English.

“Thank you for your patronage. See you.”

When the old man finished speaking, he turned and left. Carrying his old backpack, holding that cheap cigarette in his mouth, he greeted the dusk alone.

“Hey, you’re all there. I was delayed on the road.”

The next moment after the old man left, Wang Bugui and Chu He came.

“What happened? Why Catherine and Edward are tearful?” Wang Bugui scratched his head to express his puzzlement.

“They were moved just now. It’s like this…”

Zhao Changge stepped forward, held Wang Bugui’s neck, put his mouth close to Wang Bugui’s ear and explained everything that just had happened.

“I see. It’s really touching. If you believe it, it’s true and vice versa. I’m willing to believe anything beautiful.” Wang Bugui also looked up to the sky with a short sigh.

Then he turned around and asked, “Have you found anything?”

Zhao Changge reached his hand out first, answering, “Yes. The vampires are indeed plotting something. The first guy I killed in the first mission is a piece of the vampires.”

“But I don’t know what the specific role he plays. The clue is broken here.”

“That’s right. The beasts I killed with Chihiro were also specially arranged by the vampires. But I don’t know what their use is. They only hunted for human beings at night sometimes.” Feng Tianming also nodded.

Meiqing held her face in one hand, saying, “The vampires near the Stonehenge are aiming at the forbidden book. Occasionally, there will be some powerful ones around.”

Edward dried his tears and said, “The guys we killed are also supported by the vampires. When we went to investigate their nest today, we found that they have been following the arrangements of the vampires.”

“Yes, their weapons are provided by the vampires. I don’t know what they’re going to do.” Catherine dried her tears, echoing with a nod.

“It seems those Counts are ordered by someone to be stationed there and look for something. A very strong female Infante has once come to investigate the cause of their death.” Ning Zhe recited the names of the Buddhas.

Hearing that, Wang Bugui asked with a frown, “What does that woman look like?”

“She has long blonde hair and wears wine-red gorgeous clothes and a big hat. She’s terribly strong. The pressure she released was as powerful as that of the Blood Demon King.” Leng Yueyan said truthfully.

“She’s Natyavir, the second Infante!” Wang Bugui gritted his teeth.

There was no doubt about the strength of this woman. With only 70% of her strength, she could be able to draw a tie with Clara in her normal state. And she could also escape when Clara was at her red dragon state.

Opponents at this level possessed entirely different power when she used her full strength. Even 99 percent of her strength was not at the same level at all with her full strength.

And she also appeared. What was their purpose actually?

“What else did you see?” asked Wang Bugui.

Thinking for a moment, Ning Zhe added, “She seems to have taken a red crystal ball from there. And a small half of the ball is not filled with the blood-red liquid.”

“I also remember it as you said that. The vampires also had a crystal ball, but then someone took it away.” Lyu Hao slapped his thigh.

“Me, too!” Misawa Chihiro jumped up and said.

“We seemed to have seen it, too.” Kamikawa Hiko recalled with a frown.

“We only found a small box with a spherical shape.” Catherine touched her chin with a finger, saying while thinking.

Hearing those, Wang Bugui’s dashing eyebrows were tightly knitted. He could vaguely foresee with his sixth sense that these things were definitely a big picture. They had been planning a terrible plan for a long time!

“What shall we do now?” Chu He asked.

“Wait for the people of the Black Tower to come. I’ve contacted Mentor and her people on the way. The vampires are also good at magic. So, it’s better to discuss these matters with them.”

Wang Bugui said slowly, and then looked to the horizon, waiting for Clara and her people to come.