Chapter 144: Obstacles
“Morning, Uncle Wang. Cleaning up so much garbage this early in the morning.”
Uncle Wang dumped the contents of a large black plastic bag into the garbage station all at once. The heavy weight made his old waist groan. His face flushed red as he pounded his waist. Suddenly, he heard an amusement park employee calling out to him as the man passed by.
Hearing someone call him, Uncle Wang’s whole body trembled. He widened his eyes and stared fixedly at the passing man, responding stiffly: “Ah, yeah. Got up early in the morning, and plastic bags, leaves, and such were everywhere…”
Faced with Uncle Wang’s intense gaze, the employee felt a bit creeped out but also found it strange. He muttered “this weird old man” and responded with a dry laugh: “Well then, I’m off to eat breakfast. See ya.”
Uncle Wang kept watching the employee’s figure until it scurried away awkwardly. Only after confirming the other hadn’t noticed anything did he withdraw his nervous, vigilant gaze. Then he muttered to himself: “I… what have I done…”
……
Chen Xiaolin startled awake on the sofa. Cold sweat soaked her beautiful hair, and her pale face still bore the terrified look of one who had survived a disaster. She scanned the surroundings, all wounded all over, confirming that her experiences last night were not just a nightmare. Those things more repulsive and frightening than nightmares actually existed in reality. They lived dark and sneaky lives in corners people wouldn’t notice. Perhaps even if we humans saw the corners, we’d still act as if we hadn’t noticed them, letting them writhe and multiply there as if they didn’t exist.
“Awake now, little girl?” The young man dressed in an ordinary T-shirt and jeans walked out from the kitchen, carrying a bowl of fresh meat porridge, a friendly smile on his face.
Looking at him, Chen Xiaolin felt as if she were seeing a living immortal. Her watery eyes widened round, repeatedly reflecting and replaying last night’s real memories.
Driving took a full hour in total, much later than expected. Many strange things happened on the road: like encountering a car accident that blocked the way, or rarely bumping into sudden rain, reducing visibility and making the road slippery, forcing them to slow down.
Faced with these anomalies, Chen Xiaolin just muttered “what bad luck.” But Li Duojin, who had been resting with eyes closed in the passenger seat, opened his eyes at some point. With a grave expression, he said to her, “This is destiny not wanting us to go there. Looks like the place you’re taking me to really has a problem.”
Li Duojin’s serious demeanor gripped Chen Xiaolin’s heart. She couldn’t help feeling a urge to back out. Her courage was actually much greater than most people’s, but when she saw Li Duojin’s eyes that transcended his apparent age, it was as if an elder were speaking to her. That strange, absurd feeling could only be understood by those with the same firsthand experience.
“Maybe it’s just coincidence.” Chen Xiaolin instinctively still leaned toward these being random events.
Li Duojin, however, looked out the window at the pouring rain and sighed: “Everything has cause and effect. Every coincidence is connected by necessity. Those in the midst won’t know if they are one link in that necessity. Linked ring by ring, the whole world operates.”
Chen Xiaolin just thought he sounded profound, making Li Duojin fit even better with the identity of master.
But after that, Chen Xiaolin was once again startled by a scene that appeared in reality. Her belief in “coincidence” began to waver.
There, on the necessary road to Zheng Yu’s home, appeared a roadblock sign that wasn’t usually there, reading “Mountain body landslide ahead, no passage.”
Chen Xiaolin looked at Li Duojin in shock and found him looking at her too. Suddenly, she couldn’t find a reason to argue back.
“Should we turn back then?” Chen Xiaolin exhaled deeply. She tried hard to view the series of strange events now happening from a normal perspective. She wasn’t stubborn enough to risk her life for the truth. She wasn’t that great, nor that pure.
Now with heavy rain and a mountain body landslide, it really seemed like something was telling them not to proceed. But from a normal angle, accidents are frequent in rainy weather, and taking a detour would cost time and energy. For today, there really was no need to persevere.
“No problem, let’s go anyway. We can take a detour.” However, Li Duojin gave Chen Xiaolin an unexpected answer.
The one who first warned of danger ahead and claimed the series of obstacles blocking their path were destiny’s hints surprisingly didn’t think of escaping. Instead, he had an attitude of facing difficulties head-on.
“You’re serious?” Chen Xiaolin asked in surprise.
“Have you not been serious the whole time?” Li Duojin countered.
Chen Xiaolin froze, then furrowed her brows and said seriously: “Of course I’m serious too. I was just worried you might feel dissatisfied, so I thought of rescheduling. Since you’re so insistent, I have no reason to give up. Alright, I’ll take another route.” With that, she sharply turned the steering wheel, turned around, and drove toward the path through the woods, taking a shortcut to the destination.
This shortcut was smooth all the way, with no more strange events.
But precisely because of that, Chen Xiaolin grew even more uneasy, as it felt like a kind person hindering his progress to protect him from danger had given up on the good intention to save her.
Isn’t there a saying? Curiosity killed the cat, and good advice won’t persuade a damned ghost.
Chen Xiaolin brought Li Duojin into a villa Zheng Yu owned in the suburbs. She remembered this was the only one of his houses with an attic. She hadn’t seen or heard of attics in his other properties in Magic City.
Now the villa inside was empty and devoid of life, the room dim and dark.
“How do we get in?” Li Duojin asked, puzzled.
Hearing this, Chen Xiaolin said nothing more. She just went to the access control at the door and pressed her right thumb’s fingerprint on it. The access control beeped, the red light flashed a few times, then turned yellow, and the villa door opened.
Li Duojin narrowed his eyes. “Looks like Miss Chen really had a very close relationship with the late Mr. Zheng Yu.”
“Yeah, very close. Almost got together.” Chen Xiaolin didn’t hide it now and laid her cards on the table. One reason for her persistent investigation into the truth behind Zheng Yu’s death surfaced.
Li Duojin said calmly: “Did Miss Chen like Mr. Zheng?”
Chen Xiaolin didn’t answer and just led Li Duojin into the room.
“What about his child now?” Li Duojin entered the room, admiring the elegant and low-key decor inside the villa. After seeing the family photo on the wall, he recalled the deceased’s family situation.
“His parents are taking care of it for now. We can visit later if there’s a chance.” Chen Xiaolin said. The child who first discovered the attic anomaly must have something special too.
“Enough of that, Master Li. After coming in here, do you have no special sensation?”
“Yes, up there?” Li Duojin pointed above his head, which was exactly the villa’s attic.
Now only me and one colleague are left in the office… The dumb leader’s decision made me laugh in anger. Even with mild symptoms, we have to go to work. Healthy people’s health doesn’t seem to matter.
