Chapter 98
Chapter 98 Investigating the Villa
After they finished the special buns, the two of them wiped their mouths and returned to the car . On their way there, Xie Yuqing tried to make fun of him, “So, little trickster, is that girl from Star City Corp your girlfriend?”
“You’ll see when we get there . ”
“Still trying to bluff,” Xie Yuqing laughed sarcastically .
The villa was situated in a hilly area and had a superb environment . Trees filled the area and a river was present . Unfortunately, it was pretty far away from the city, so it took almost an hours drive to get there . When they almost arrived, Ye Shaoyang complained, “I think we’re almost out of Stone City district, who would get a chalet out here?”
Xie Yuqing explained, “That’s where you’re wrong . People want the chalets to be as far away as possible . They only stay in these type of places once in a while . ”
“They spend all that money to get this place, but they’re not going to stay in it? Do they not have better places to spend money?”
Xie Yuqing shrugged and said, “That’s why you’re poor . ”
When they got off the highway, they entered a new road, and it led them to a newly developed area . A few chalets were already built, and construction workers filled the site . Xie Yuqing parked the car near what appeared to be the entrance . When they got out and wanted to enter, a security guard came up and stopped them .
“Police business,” Xie Yuqing showed him her badge and continued, “Get the person in charge to come out . ” Then, she walked into the security post and sat on the sofa with her legs crossed . Ye Shaoyang shook his head . Then, he went into the room and stood beside her .
The security guard did not take too long and made a phone call . Then, two men in suits arrived . Ye Shaoyang saw one of them and felt slightly troubled . One of them put out their hand for a handshake, “I’m Manager Zhang, the manager here . What business do you have?”
Xie Yuqing ignored the handshake and took out her badge instead, “We’re here to investigate something . Is there a temple around the worksite?”
Mr . Zhang frowned and said, “Yes . . . there is a temple, why?”
Xie Yuqing stood up and said, “Bring us to the temple now . ”
“This . . . I can’t do that,” Mr . Zhang shook his head and continued, “That temple . . . is private property now, so I can’t bring you in . ”
When she heard this, Xie Yuqing got angry and said, “I suspect that temple is a crime scene, so we need to enter and investigate!”
These words shocked Manager Zhang, who laughed out and asked, “Do you have a search warrant?”
“I will charge you with obstruction of justice,” Xie Yuqing threatened .
Her threat failed to impress Manager Zhang, who shrugged his shoulders and replied, “In any case, if you have a search warrant, I will cooperate . If not, I’m sorry, but you do not have the rights to go into our property to investigate . ” Then, he chuckled and said, “I believe you know what company runs this project? I don’t think you’re foolish enough to mess with them . ”
This reply immediately infuriated Xie Yuqing . The manager’s att.i.tude disgusted her, and she almost kicked him . Ye Shaoyang saw this, so he quickly intervened . He went over to the manager and placed his arms around the manager’s shoulder . Then, Ye Shaoyang said, “Brother, I’m not an outsider . I am friends with your Boss’s daughter . I already gave her a heads up before coming here . She said she’ll be here in a minute, so why don’t you just let us go in first?”
Manager Zhang looked up and down, scanning Ye Shaoyang’s clothes . Then, the ‘Adida’ logo on the latter’s shirt caught his eyes . He let a groan and said, “Pah, I don’t think Miss Zhou would have friends that wear fake brands . If you’re trying to pull a quick one, at least dress in something more legit . ”
Ye Shaoyang thought, What a real sn.o.b . He took out his cellphone and called Zhou Jingru, “When are you arriving?”
“Almost there, have you arrived? You can wait for me at the office . I’ll meet you there . ”
Ye Shaoyang laughed and said, “I wish I could, but there is an overseer here stopping me from going in . ”
“Really?” this news shocked Zhou Jingru, “Who is it? Director Li?”
“No, I think it’s Manager Zhang . ”
“Oh, give me a second then . I’ll give Li Ansheng a call,” she paused for a bit . Then, she said, “Scratch that, just wait for a bit . I’ll be there soon . ”
As he ended the call, Xie Yuqing asked, “Who did you call?”
“My friend, Miss Zhou . ”
Xie Yuqing looked at him with shock . Finally, she realized that Ye Shaoyang had not bluffed at all about his relationship with Star City Corp .
A few minutes pa.s.sed and Ye Shaoyang saw Zhou Jingru walking in through the front gate . She wore a purple dress and had sungla.s.ses on .
“Over here,” Ye Shaoyang smiled and waved at her .
Zhou Jingru walked into the security office and quietly did a visual a.s.sessment of Xie Yuqing .
“Let me introduce you to each other; this is Zhou Jingru, my friend, the daughter of the boss of Star City Corp; this is Xie Yuqing, a friend of mine, she is a detective . ”
“h.e.l.lo,” Zhou Jingru smiled politely at Xie Yuqing and reached out her hand .
Xie Yuqing shook her hand, but neither of them was very enthusiastic about it . Xie Yuqing was slightly disappointed that Ye Shaoyang had not lied at all when he said he knew the daughter of the boss of Star City Corp .
Right then, a chubby man ran to them from afar . His attire seemed to suggest that he had some sort of high-level management position . When he got into the room, he politely nodded and bowed at Zhou Jingru . Zhou Jingru felt rather unhappy; she looked at him coldly and asked, “Why didn’t you let my friends go in?”
“This is our fault, a misunderstanding,” Director Li looked at Manager Zhang and asked in a serious tone, “Manager Zhang, please explain yourself . ”
“I…” Manager Zhang looked at the two of them with his mouth agape . How could he explain himself? So, he had no choice but to bow and apologize .
Zhou Jingru waved her hand and said, “Never mind . Director Li, you can leave now . Manager Zhang, lead the way . ”
Manager Zhang led the way . They got through the worksite and walked on a dirt path . On the way there, Ye Shaoyang asked Manager Zhang, “That temple, what G.o.d is worshipped there?”
“Not sure,” Manager Zhang scratched his head, “Oh, I think it’s called the temple of Madam Chee . ”
Ye Shaoyang stood still and made eye contact with Xie Yuqing . So, this temple worshipped the so-called Madam Chee!
Ye Shaoyang followed up with, “What’s this Madam Chee?”
“There is only a statue of a woman, so I’m not sure . ”
Ye Shaoyang did not continue to ask . He knew the only way to find out the truth—to go in and check it out for himself .
All of them walked in a line . Not far away, they could see a completely empty small village . All of the houses there had their doors and windows opened . Manager Zhang explained that people once occupied these houses . But they all moved because Star City Corp paid all the families and bought their land . These houses still stood because the constructions had not reached here, so they had not bothered to demolish them . They walked through the empty village and finally came to the end . Then, Manager Zhang pointed at an old and ruined temple, “That’s the temple of Madam Chee . ”
The temple had a basically non-existent outer wall . It had three small buildings that surrounded a courtyard . Metal rods and wall panels filled the place . Ye Shaoyang saw this and asked, “What’s with all this?”
“Oh, I’ve asked the workers to temporarily put some of the building materials here, making it a storage area . Someone is posted here to guard the things . ”
After he finished this explanation, he yelled at the building on the left, “Old Feng, you there?”
A skinny man walked out from within . He had a very dull, expressionless look . Ye Shaoyang immediately knew that something was off, so he reached into his belt . However, he changed his mind and began to evaluate the surroundings . He saw a small garden on the left of the courtyard, filled with wild gra.s.s . A wooden frame stood on the right . An old bell hung from the frame, with a small well below it .
Then, Xie Yuqing pointed at the well and said, “Do you think that’s where the man fell in and died?”
Ye Shaoyang walked over and looked down into the well . It was dark and filled with water . Then, out of nowhere, a great quant.i.ty of demon Qi rushed up from the well . “What a strong smell of demon Qi,” said Ye Shaoyang as he rubbed his nose .