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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
I quickly changed the subject and pointed to the side room in the hall, "By the way, we've been making a ruckus outside, yet the couple, Yang Guo and Dragon Girl, haven't reacted at all?"
"Wen Zhan laughed, "Yang Guo and Dragon Girl are running a restaurant here, so they must be in seclusion. Since they've chosen to retreat, they definitely won't bother with other people's affairs."
"Is that so?" Fatty was skeptical and shouted hoarsely, "Boss, there's a dead person at your restaurant's entrance."
There was still no sound from inside the room, as if there was no one there at all.
Hmm, something feels off. Even if they're in seclusion, they should still respond if there's such a commotion outside. Now that Fatty has specifically called them out by name, it would be quite rude if they remained silent.
Fatty glanced at me and seeing that I didn't speak, he stood up and walked to the door of the room, knocking loudly. Despite this, there was still no response from inside.
"What’s going on?" Fatty turned back to look at me in surprise.
"Kick it open!" I also stood up. Damn, this situation feels wrong.
Fatty nodded and took two steps back before delivering a side kick to the door latch.
With a loud bang, the wooden door was kicked open by Fatty, revealing a dark room inside. I greeted Wen Zhan and Wen Qianqian as the three of us walked over.
Fatty had already entered the room and turned on the light bulb. The room was very simple—just a bed and a large chest; nothing else was present. The bedding on the bed was neatly arranged, indicating that no one had slept there. The large chest had been opened by Fatty, revealing only a few pieces of clothing inside.
"Where are they?" Fatty scratched his head in confusion.
"Could it be that they didn't sleep here last night?" Wen Qianqian frowned.
"That's unreasonable." I rubbed my thumb against the stubble on my chin and said, "Last night, we all saw Yang Guo and Dragon Girl enter this room, and they haven't come out since."
"Could it be that while we were all outside just now, they sneaked away?" Wen Qianqian suggested.
"The door was kicked open by Boss Ding. If they had left, how could the door have been closed from the inside? This isn't a simple latch; it's the kind that requires someone to bolt it from the inside," Wen Zhan pointed at the door that Fatty had kicked open, expressing his doubts.
"That can actually be solved," I replied with a smile. "First, this wooden bolt can be dragged back into place little by little with a dagger; second, there might be a secret passage in this room."
"Right, there must be a secret passage," Fatty immediately agreed with me. Having gone through life-and-death situations together, he had encountered various hidden mechanisms several times. Upon hearing about finding a mechanism, he became interested and rushed forward to move a large box aside, saying, "Maybe the exit of the secret passage is right underneath here."
There was nothing under the box.
Fatty let out a sound of surprise and walked over to the bed. Using brute strength, he cracked the bed apart with a few loud noises.
Last time in Sun City, when we were searching for the Golden Puppet's secret chamber, Fatty had discovered a mechanism under the bed. However, this time there were no mechanisms on or under the bed; there was only a mess of broken bed boards and bedding.
At that moment, Wen Qianqian suddenly pointed to a certain spot and weakly said, "Could they have climbed out the window?"
Following her finger was a wooden window. I walked over and pushed it; sure enough, it wasn't securely shut. With one push, I opened it more than a foot wide.
I couldn't help but chuckle bitterly; it seemed that Yang Guo and Dragon Girl had indeed climbed out through the window.
Back in the hall, the three men sat silently smoking. Wen Qianqian looked out the window, seemingly lost in thought. Suddenly, Fatty said, "Do you think it’s possible that the boss and his wife are up to something?"
"That shouldn't be possible; they've both been retired masters for many years. However, in this world, nothing is certain," Wen Zhan chimed in as he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. He knocked off some ash: "I've heard from Father that they have been living in seclusion for over ten years now. But judging by what happened yesterday, Yang Guo's temper is still as explosive as ever; he doesn't seem like someone who's been retired for over ten years."
"People can change their circumstances but not their nature. If he used to have a bad temper, even if he practices self-restraint for twenty years, he'd probably still have that bad temper." It was rare for Fatty to come up with such a philosophical statement.
Just as I was about to praise Fatty, the hall door creaked open, and Du Neng walked in, followed closely by Fang Feng, who shot us a sharp glance.
Is Fang Feng out of his mind? Do you think we are gods? Just squinting your eyes won't convey your meaning to us!
Du Neng seemed to have calmed down, his eyes filled with determination: "Bosses, I know you are not ordinary people, but whether you are here for medicinal herbs or gold, I, Du Neng, hope to follow you. I must find out the true murderer of Li Xiaoxiao."
We exchanged glances; Old Du, we understand your desire for revenge, but the people we are facing are not ordinary. With your old bones, it’s better if you don’t join in and instead go home to arrange Li Xiaoxiao's funeral properly.
Just as I was unsure how to refuse him, Fatty suddenly said, "Brother, the one who killed Li Xiaoxiao might be a ghost. Are you sure you want to get involved?"
Du Neng glanced at Fatty and replied firmly, "Fang Feng just told me that even if it's a ghost, I'm not afraid!"
The power of love is indeed great; it can make you so fearless. I wonder if you've considered your family at this moment? I cleared my throat and said, "Old Du, since you've made up your mind, I won't stop you."
I smiled and turned my gaze to Fang Feng: "What about you? Do you want to come with us to Cauliflower Village? If not, just wait here. In the morning, there will be a car coming by; you can ride back with it then!"
Fang Feng hesitated for a moment: "I'll stay by Teacher Du's side; it's safer that way."
Du Neng patted Fang Feng's shoulder hard, tears glistening in his eyes.
"Alright then, you two sit down first and have something to eat. We'll set off in the morning." I turned to Wen Zhan and said, "Brother, at this point, I don't mind telling you that we are not here for medicinal herbs; we specifically came for the haunted Wei Family."
Wen Zhan narrowed his eyes: "So you're here for gold as well?"
"To be honest, I'm not particularly interested in gold. However, if there is gold available, just give me a little when the time comes," I replied with a smile.
Wen Zhan was taken aback for a moment before bursting into laughter: "We’re all from the same world; I won’t hide it from you. My purpose here is not just for gold but also because of the haunting. Otherwise, how could I justify my Kung Fu skills? Initially skeptical, but after witnessing what happened earlier, my resolve has only strengthened. You seem like an honest person; if there is gold later on, let’s split it evenly—I'll take half and you can divide the rest."
I smiled and agreed, but in my heart, I couldn't help but admire Wen Zhan again; this guy really had a generous spirit.
Finally, we arrived. After finishing the Sweet Potato soup, Wen Zhan made a call to his subordinate, and the six of us squeezed into the car. The vehicle only drove for a few minutes before stopping because there was a landslide ahead, completely blocking the road.
After getting out to take a look, Wen Zhan chuckled bitterly and said, "We can't go any further; everyone get out of the car."
Wen Qianqian pulled out a printed map, glanced at it, and then looked up to say, "Even without the landslide, we would have to start climbing the mountain path not far ahead."
"This girl is pretty, but her brain doesn't seem to work very well. Doesn't she know there's an app called Gaode Map on her phone?" After getting out of the car, Fatty whispered beside me with a laugh.
"You’re the one whose brain isn’t working. The signal here is poor; why don’t you use your phone to show me the map? This is called being attentive," I retorted.
"That’s true." Fatty scratched his head and chuckled. That's just how he was; if you could convince him, he would humbly admit his mistakes. But if you couldn't convince him, well, he would stick to his guns.
We continued forward for a few minutes when Wen Qianqian pointed to a path leading up the mountain. "This path leads to Wei Family."
I couldn't help but sneak a glance at her map. I saw that a winding line had been drawn in red marker, snaking its way to the upper right corner of the map. At the endpoint, a large circle was drawn in red with the words Wei Family written beside it.
"Where are we now?" I asked curiously.
"Right here!" Wen Qianqian said as she poked at the map with her finger; her finger was already quite close to that red circle.
It seemed we would reach our destination soon.
Even so, it took us half an hour to reach the entrance of Wei Family. Damn, how did I not realize that the vertical height of climbing up the mountain doesn’t count as distance on the map?
Like all rural houses, there are always a few families situated in remote places, and Wei Family was one of them—lonely and perched halfway up the mountain. Aside from a patch of ground in front used for drying rice, it was surrounded by trees.
As we saw in the video, the wooden house's board walls had turned a dark, oily color, looking quite dirty. Du Neng pointed at the house and said, "This isn't dirt; this is history. This entire house could easily sell for over a hundred thousand."
Everyone cautiously walked toward the main door of the hall in the center of the wooden house. I exchanged a glance with Wen Zhan, then reached out and pushed on the door. Since the Wei Family incident, this wooden house had been abandoned, and it was unlikely anyone still lived inside.
Because of this, I expected that with my push, the door would open easily. However, to my surprise, it didn't budge at all; it had been secured from the inside.
"Huh?" Wen Zhan exclaimed in surprise. "Could there be someone inside?"
"Not a person, but maybe a ghost," I replied with a smile.
Wen Qianqian shot me a glare. "Boss Zhong, there's no need to scare us at this time."
I smiled without responding and pulled out my phone to show them the video. When they saw that right hand pulling open the door, they all gasped softly. Wen Zhan frowned and said, "So, whoever secured the door inside might be that right hand!"
I nodded and pretended to nudge Fatty to get a shotgun from him while Fatty pulled out a submachine gun directly. He signaled everyone to step back while he stood by with his weapon, and I prepared to kick the door open.
Just as I was about to kick it, the door creaked and opened by itself.
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