Chapter 76 - Butler
"This is where he lived?" Yi Bing asked and looked the two-storey house before them.
"Yes." Huo Ling nodded and felt nostalgic. When he was young, he had visited Old Tang's house and he played around in the garden with his little sister. Old Tang then would give them snacks. After they ate and they would resume playing. "Even though he's the butler, but he only has little work. He only needs to oversee the servants' works. He doesn't need to serve us tea or food since we have the maids to do so for us." He explained. "He asked for our grandfather to hire him, since he doesn't want to wily his time left in this world alone." He added.
"Did he and your grandfather have a disagreement before when they were younger?" Yi Bing asked as he turned to Huo Ling..
Huo Ling shook his head. "Our grandfather, even though he spoils my sister and I, but he actually doesn't talk much. He is socially awkward." He explained.
"Then, how did he become so-called friends with this butler?" Yi Bing asked.
"Dunno… now that you mention it, I can't remember…" Huo Ling frowned and scratched his head.
However, Yi Bing's heart suddenly leapt in panic. Did the Soul Fragment erase his memory? He thought. Not good… we have to hurry up and finish this matter. Or else, his entire memory will be gone! His expression changed. "Press the doorbell." He told Huo Ling, his tone impatient.
"What are you in a hurry for? What if it'll really be him?" Huo Ling asked, but still pressed the doorbell. "Excuse me!" he called.
The door suddenly opened and Huo Ling held his breath. Uh, no. He doesn't have a breath, anyway. "Who might you be?" it was a middle-aged woman that greeted them.
"Uh, hello." Huo Ling greeted. "May I ask if this is old Tang's house?" he asked.
"Yes. This is it. What business do you have with him?" she asked.
Huo Ling's eyes widened. "Old Tang… is he here? I have something to talk with him." He explained.
"That… you didn't hear?" she said as she looked around, her eyes vigilant.
"What?" Huo Ling suddenly felt nervous.
"Old Tang became missing a few days ago." She told him.
"How?" Huo Ling was shocked.
"He left this house to me, saying to look after his house since he has somewhere to go to." She explained to him.
"Where is it? Did he say what he's going to do there?" Huo Ling asked her, urgency in his voice.
She shook her head in regret. "No." she answered. "He hasn't told me anything." She told him.
"What could it be…" Huo Ling muttered, his brows knit in confusion.
"Young man. You look like you're well-mannered. Be careful on your way." She told him.
"Uh, thanks." Huo Ling said as the door closed. "What happened to him? Was it really him who killed my family?" he asked, doubt in his voice.
Yi Bing didn't answer and just looked at the empty streets. "It's going to be dark. Let's continue tomorrow." he told him.
"Yes…" Huo Ling dejectedly said and walked away.
Yi Bing looked at his hunched back before he turned to look at old Tang's house. "Wait." He suddenly said. "Wait for me here. Don't move from that spot." He told him. Before Huo Ling could answer, he already leapt to the veranda on the second floor.
"Yi Bing - !" Huo Ling called and ran but he saw Yi Bing already disappeared in the veranda of the second floor. He sighed, then looked around the area. His eyes caught side of the bright red flowers as his gaze fell on the garden. "Those flowers…" he said when he saw the familiar roses in the garden. He walked towards it.
At the same time, Yi Bing saw the door of the veranda is open and so he slipped inside. It was a woman's room, but Yi Bing had no qualms. He freely walked around, searching for any clues regarding Huo Ling's family and the butler. Suddenly, he heard rushed footsteps outside the room. He went to the door and leaned his ears close to it to listen outside.
"Damn it. Nobody said that old man has an acquaintance!" it was a woman's voice. She's the one from earlier who greeted them.
"But he really hasn't!" a man's voice said. "We've been watching him for weeks. There's no one visiting him, not even his neighbors! I can't take it anymore! I'm starving, so we broke in!" he explained.
"Idiot! Only for a few weeks?!" the woman said. "What if his family is abroad?" she asked.
"Who would leave their parent?" the man asked.
"I will!" another voice answered. It was of a young man's.
"You shut up!" the man told the young man. "Did they already leave?" the man asked the woman.
"Yeah. I just told them the old man is missing. Pei! What a na?ve child. He looked like he was well-raised." She told them.
"Oh! Maybe we can break in his house, too? Maybe we'll find tons of golds there!" the young man said. His voice sounds excited.
"You idiot! Do you think it's that easy? We even had to endure our hunger for two weeks before we could take down that old man!" the man told the young man.
"Shut up! We don't even know where that child's house is!" the woman added as she slapped the young man's head.
"Let's just follow him if he'll come here again. Listening to your conversation earlier, it looked important what he's going to tell the old man." The man said as he think.
"But – " the young man said.
"Don't worry. With the news of the zombies, most houses were left unattended after their owners escaped." The man said as he patted the young man's back. "That kid's house will be empty soon. Let's just wait for him to go back!" he told them.
"Okay!" the woman and the young man answered in agreement.
Yi Bing frowned. He was right on his guess earlier after he saw the woman was avoiding Huo Ling's gaze. Huo Ling, who has a lot of things in his mind, and as the woman has said - naive, didn't notice the woman's suspicious behavior.
The woman is suspicious. And she actually had accomplices. What did they do to the butler? Yi Bing thought. He heard their footsteps left and he slowly opened the door. The hallway is empty and he went out. He immediately closed the door behind him. He doesn't have to worry being seen, since no one can see him. "Burglars." He muttered as he looked downstairs. They are ransacking the refrigerator. "How long had they been here?" he asked before he went to find clues about the butler. Huo Ling said the old man's family had gone abroad. It's as one of the burglars said. Who would leave their parents at home while they migrated? Children are filial. There must be a reason why the butler was left behind by his family.
He looked around and noticed that there are no family pictures on the walls. Yi Bing frowned in confusion. He crossed his arms as he leaned on the empty wall. He looked around again and didn't find any picture frames beside the flower vase above the table. "Did the burglars hide them?" he muttered. He suddenly felt a headache. He really isn't fond of detective or police movies. Leave it to Qi Shan who's 0007! He lives up to his code as he is really the best in guessing games and mystery plays. "Hm?" he muttered when he noticed there are four bedrooms in the house. Three upstairs, and there's one downstairs.
According to Huo Ling, the butler's family moved abroad. They should be a large family. However, for some reason, they left the old man in the country. "If they're a large family, there should be at least five or six rooms in this house." he muttered as he looked at the homey feeling the house gives. "Did his children feel dissatisfied? Did some of them stayed in the dormitory? Argh." he groaned in irritation as he rubbed the lock of his hair to calm himself. "I'll just ask Huo Ling to clarify this matter." he said. He was about to leave when his eyes caught something.
His eyes caught sight of the door at the end of the hallway. Usually in movies and novels, the protagonist would find something hidden inside the room at the end of the hallway. Yi Bing doesn't understand what's so special with this setting, but he went anyway. He glanced at the burglars downstairs before he slowly opened the door. The burglars must have already inspected each room in the house, and Yi Bing didn't let his hopes up so that he won't be disappointed later.
However, it looks like he's bound to not be disappointed after what he saw.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m