C36 — The Case Of The Villa

Feng Huai listened to the roar of the night watchman behind him; his heart beat two times faster.

 

His eyes darkened, but he didn’t stop; instead, he accelerated the pace and quickly ran out of the opera house.

 

Tan Lin, who was placed by him on the door steps, called the emergency number to explain the situation and location, then immediately turned back.

 

Just as he ran close to the building, he heard a loud bang. The building in front of him collapsed, instantly raising countless dust and gray, making people unable to open their eyes.

 

Feng Huai subconsciously raised his hand to block it.

 

After a few seconds, the dust dispersed, and he waved away the dust in front of his eyes and saw Yu Rui striding out from the ruins.

 

Yu Rui was wearing a modest tuxedo suit, the standard dress code for attending a concert, but now his tuxedo was nowhere to be found, and the black waistcoat inside was stained with a mass of light white dust and also stained with the blo-od of an unknown person.

 

When Yu Rui saw Feng Huai unexpectedly standing in front of him, he slightly froze for a moment, then the corner of his mouth curled up and he asked with a knowing smile, “Looking for me? Were you worried about me?”

 

[Hiss, can Boss Yu express himself a little more blatantly?]

 

[I’m really curious about what happened after that game back then; the originally ruthless Boss Yu has turned into a dull person.]

 

 

[How is this dull? It’s so obvious he… cough.]

 

[Unfortunately, the newcomer doesn’t want to talk to him, hahahahahaha, indifferent face.]

 

Feng Huai really didn’t answer; his line of sight crossed behind Yu Rui, and he saw that the place that was originally the backstage of the stage waiting room had been turned into a piece of rubble. God knew what had happened to it.

 

 

His eyes widened slightly, among the ruins, he vaguely saw the baton that the night watchman always held in his hand. The baton was shining with electric light at times, and the body of the baton was splattered with blo-od.

 

Feng Huai forgot what Yu Rui said; he subconsciously asked, “Where is the Night Watchman?”

 

“At the bottom.” Yu Rui casually replied.

 

He looked at Feng Huai, expecting him to give him more of a reaction, but the other party didn’t give him a single look; instead, he stared intently at the ruins.

 

“Crushed underneath?” Feng Huai took a light breath and finally turned to Yu Rui. “How about you? What game punishment will you receive?”

 

 

He still remembered the lesson from his last novice copy: by causing irreversible death damage to an NPC in the game copy, the player would receive a game penalty.

 

 

“He’s just trapped under the rubble and is still alive.” Yu Rui said, smiling slightly, “So there’ll be no punishment.”

 

Feng Huai blinked, “Still alive?”

 

Yu Rui answered, pulling Feng Huai, who was still curious about the details, to run out with great strides, “Let’s get out of here before he wakes up.”

 

They had just run to the entrance of the Grand Theatre when they heard the siren of an ambulance coming from far and near.

 

In order to save unnecessary trouble, the two of them hid in the corner of the street outside the theater until they watched Tan Lin being rescued by the paramedics and carried into the ambulance.

 

“What are you going to do now?” Feng Huai turned to Yu Rui.

 

With the night watchman trapped, perhaps now was the best chance for them to explore the Sif Opera House at night.

 

 

However, Yu Rui shook his head and said, “Let’s go somewhere.”

 

Feng Huai frowned slightly, but soon he heard a commotion of miscellaneous objects collapsing in the opera house behind him, accompanied by the familiar roar of the Night Watchman—he was out of his trap.

 

 

“You don’t want to face a rampaging Night Watchman.” Yu Rui said, “Besides, it’s not worth the risk.”

 

 

Feng Huai frowned as he looked back inside the pitch-black doors of the Opera House. The electric light of the baton looked even more striking in the darkness, and the tall shadow of the Nightwatchman could be seen darting through that darkness.

 

 

He had to agree with Yu Rui.

 

 

“Let’s go to 369 Sakuragi Road.” Yu Rui said.

 

 

“Where is that?” Feng Huai had some recollection of this address, but he couldn’t think of where he had seen it before.

 

 

They raised their hands to stop a taxi, and after reporting the address, the taxi driver looked at Yu Rui and Feng Huai in the rearview mirror and said, “Going there so late? Are you also heading for that villa?”

 

 

Yu Rui didn’t answer and faintly swept his eyes at the driver who kept looking at them through the rear view mirror, and without any trace, he blocked the blo-od-stained area on his body.

 

 

The driver met Yu Rui’s line of sight; somehow a cold shiver ran through his heart. He stopped talking, started the engine, stepped on the accelerator, and the car body scurried out.

 

The scenery outside the window gradually changed from urban buildings to forest paths. Feng Huai raised his eyebrows slightly, looking at a block of villas appearing in front of him every few dozen meters; they seemed to have arrived in a rich area.

 

The taxi’s meter finally stopped after jumping to 103 yuan. The driver turned his head to look at the two in the back seat and said, “Hey, we’re here.”

 

 

The two stood still in front of a blocked-off single-family house with a rickety yellow cordon that looked like it had been unoccupied for a long time.

 

 

The taxi driver dropped the two of them off and then “bzzzz”ed”the accelerator and sped away from the area as if there was something unclean chasing him out.

 

 

“This is the house of the… former orchestra leader?” Feng Huai narrowed his eyes slightly and asked speculatively.

 

 

A villa that was blocked by such a large cordon and hadn’t been resold until now, as if abandoned… There were not many options for Feng Huai to guess, and he almost immediately thought of all of them.

 

 

Yu Rui answered, lifting the yellow warning line, and took the lead to enter, “Since Xu Zhiming, the former team leader, died in his villa, this villa has not been resold even after two years of the case being closed.”

 

“Even the vast majority of the furniture inside the site has retained its original appearance.” Yu Rui said as he gently rotated the door handle, and with a “creak,”  the gate’s door shaft made an unpleasant movement, opening the house for them.

 

 

Feng Huai raised an eyebrow at his words, “Why?”

 

 

“I heard that initially, a group of police officers who were planning to evacuate the items from the site claimed that when they were planning to move things, they were attacked by an unknown resistance, like something here didn’t want them to alter any of the objects in the house.” Yu Rui said.

 

 

He stepped across the porch and touched the switch for the appliance on the wall by the hallway.

 

 

With a loud “snap,”  Yu Rui switched on the lights of the villa.

 

 

This area was an area of rich people’s single villas, and each villa was separated by an extremely long distance, so there was no need to worry about whether or not the lights would be noticed by others when they turned on.

 

Feng Huai squinted his eyes slightly, adjusting to the light that suddenly turned on in front of him.

 

 

When he looked inside the house, he saw that on the left side of the corridor was the living room, and on the floor there was still the sticker of the outline of the deceased’s body left a few years ago.

 

 

Looking at the surrounding walls again, the blo-od splattered on the day of the crime was so gruesome that he could imagine the situation on that day without closing his eyes.

 

Feng Huai gently inhaled, only to feel that in this villa, the blo-od and yin qi seemed to be confined here, lasting yet not dispersing, and a stale and unpleasant odor filled the air.

 

 

He asked, “You said that no one can alter the placement of things here?”

 

Yu Rui nodded.

 

 

Feng Huai tentatively reached out to a picture frame on a wooden shelf to the side. The man in the frame wore a doctor’s hat and smiled in a gentle manner. It was Xu Zhiming.

 

 

Feng Huai stretched out his fingers and fiddled a little, snapping the frame closed.

 

 

Nothing happened.

 

 

He looked at Yu Rui and raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

 

 

Yu Rui narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight and turned to look away.

 

When the police collected evidence in this living room, nearly forty small tags were placed, some of which had already been overturned, while others were still standing in their original positions.

 

Yu Rui took a fancy to the white sculpture next to one of the well-standing evidence tags.

 

It looked like a pair of unfurled wings, and the part near the base was as slender as a swan’s neck, elegant and gorgeous.

 

It was placed on a waist-high table with a “32” tag attached to the side, probably because the police didn’t think it was of any practical use, and it wasn’t taken back to the police station.

 

Feng Huai let out a “hmm,”  guessing what Yu Rui wanted to do.

 

Sure enough, when Yu Rui picked up the sculpture and was about to smash it on the ground, he received a strong impact on his palm, as if something had slammed into his palm.

 

Yu Rui loosened his hand along with that force, and the sculpture took off into the air. After stalling in the void for a short moment, it was thrown back to its original position unharmed.

 

His eyes darkened slightly, and he suddenly tightened his fists, squeezing that unseen force tightly in his palms and his knuckles so hard that they turned white.

 

 

Feng Huai was able to clearly see that a shape was clearly visible under the wrapping of Yu Rui’s tightened fist.

 

[Damn, Damn, Damn! There really is something unclean!!!]

 

 

[Exciting!! Late-night exploration of haunted villas and other places where crimes occurred! I think we can create a separate game copy now!]

 

 

[+1]

 

 

[Hahahahaha, am I the only one who thinks the newcomer is cute? Why  was he so cute when he poked the photo frame with his fingers?]

 

 

[And then Boss Yu demonstrated the correct posture for making a mistake.]

 

[Hahahaha]

 

 

It looked like a long, thin stick.

 

 

Feng Huai frowned. A thought flashed through his mind, but unfortunately, before he could catch it, he saw the lights in the living room, corridor, and all the rooms flickering, like the circuits were aging or there was no electricity. The flickering light and darkness made people feel palpitations for no reason.

 

 

[Ah fu-ck, this familiar scene! Evil ghosts are on the loose; run!]

 

[Holy Water Salt Shotgu-n!]

 

[Hiss, I think I saw something floating past the corridor.]

 

 

Feng Huai felt a chill on the skin of the back of his neck; a hint of numbness quickly climbed up his back; his pupils slightly dilated; and he violently turned to look at the corridor behind him.

 

 

The wall lamps in the corridor were brightly lit, emitting the sound of electricity passing through them.

 

 

Yu Rui gathered his palm and waved his hand violently; it was as if he had knocked something out, and the gray tealight placed on the coffee table shattered in thin air.

 

 

“It seems that the so-called unknown resistance attack is selective.” Yu Rui said indifferently, as if the attack he had just received was just a simple trial loop.

 

 

As he looked around, the light bulbs flickered as if they would immediately explode, and the entire room became eerie as a result.

 

 

Feng Huai tried his best to ignore the effects of the flickering light around him and said with a frown, “This selectivity can be utilized for us. It’s more like some sort of hint, once we find the pattern and reason behind it.”

 

 

As his words fell, the wildly flickering lights in the entire villa suddenly stopped and resumed their initial steady light, as if the earlier frantic look that resembled that of a nightclub discotheque was all but non-existent.

 

 

“It seems that your words have gained their approval.” Yu Rui said.

 

 

“They?” Feng Huai raised his eyebrows.

 

 

He followed Yu Rui’s gaze and looked towards a glass wine rack filled with red wine bottles on one side.

 

 

He saw all the bottles in the wine rack toppling out of their corks out of thin air one after another, and red wine gushed out rapidly, filling the entire glass wine rack.

 

 

The rich fragrance of wine slowly spread into the room. Feng Huai and Yu Rui stood in front of the glass wine rack and watched as the burgundy color quickly filled their vision.

 

 

Under the reflection of the burgundy-colored glass, one after another, silhouettes appeared in the reflection of the glass.

 

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