33 Silversilk Castle 1 (1/2)
Huaishan City, southern suburbs
Green mountains and rugged rolling hills were reminiscent of a thick green carpet covering the land.
On one of the hills scattered several yellow and white dots. Upon a closer look, these were actually small residential houses. These houses were in the shape of cubes, built with cream-colored marble stone.
The building walls and door frames were covered in green ivy, of which some of had blossomed small flowers.
Below one of the houses stood two arched gates, inside was a semi-outdoor resting area.
There were two tables inside, and sitting by the left table were four people, resting and drinking tea.
Two middle-aged men and two young women sat across from each other.
The older man had a well-trimmed beard, he was wearing a nice and delicate black suit. He looked around 40 years of age and had a wooden cane in one hand. He lifted the teacup from the table and took a sip.
”Mr. Kelly has come all the way here to discuss the collection of antiques of misfortune, this kind of enthusiasm is rare nowadays.”
His eyes landed on the middle-aged man sitting across from him.
The man’s skin was a bit pale. He had blond, curly hair, and a blond goatee, wearing a tidy white suit. He seemed relaxed and elegant. He was much younger, about thirty instead.
His eyes were the most dazzling, they were like the finest rubies, transparent and crystal clear.
”I am also amazed by Mr. Quicksilver’s enthusiasm, to not only collecting these antiques and jewelry by yourself, but also looking for their places of origin and background stories.
The man sighed.
”Collectors like us, aren’t we all intrigued by these things? The dream life of coming home to a house full of antiques with mysterious backgrounds. It’s like… like…”
”Like our own house and lives had become mysterious, filled with powers unknown to men,” Dale Quicksilver added with a smile.
”Exactly! That’s the feeling!” The blond man nodded. ”Life is always so boring, that’s why we long for us, for our lives to be filled with puzzles and mysteries. That is the most interesting part of finding these antiques of tragedy.”
”Indeed.” Dale Quicksilver approvingly nodded, his eyes glanced over the man’s wrist, ”I unexpectedly came across an antique of tragedy while investigating a case, and I got hooked on collecting them ever since. Time flies by like an arrow, over the past decade, I’ve collected hundreds of them in my house.”
”Hundreds!?” The blond man’s eyes gleamed with light, ”That’s incredible! Only a man such as Detective Quicksilver is worthy of these treasures, I’m sure they are completely different from the stuff you had earlier. Anyway, the reason you have come here, is it related to antiques?”
”Not exactly.” Dale Quicksilver shook his head, he took over the pipe from Ms. Si Lan and smoked from it, he slowly blew a smoke ring. ”We are here for a well-known criminal in detective business, it’s a serial killer case. The case was settled, that’s why we have time to come and investigate.”
”Is that so? The well-known criminal, would that be the Golden Hoop?” The blond man mused as he pinched his beard. After receiving a positive answer, he continued, ”Golden Hoop had committed dozens of crimes all over the federation. I heard that other than you, only one famous detective had met him face to face before. Would you be kind enough to inform me of this Golden Hoop’s story?”
”I do apologize, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I have a non-disclosure agreement with the police department,” Dale Quicksilver shrugged, ”Well, we might get going soon, I have to go to the Silversilk Castle this afternoon, would Mr. Kelly be interested in joining us?”
”The Silversilk Castle? I’ve heard of that shabby place over the years of living in Huaishan City, it’s the inheritance of a military officer, he didn’t have enough money to maintain the castle, and he had sold most of the stuff in there,” Kelly replied. ”I’ve heard that the castle was for sale, but it was too worn out and desolated, visitors had left as soon as they saw it. Are you planning on buying this castle?”
”Just visiting the place, I don’t plan on buying it.” Dale Quicksilver laughed. He turned around and said a few words to Si Lan, who nodded in reply and walked out towards a two-floored house nearby, disappearing behind the green and thick bushes.
”The vegetation here is rich, and there are no signs of withering this late in the fall, if it wasn’t too far from my home, I’d love to move here,” Dale Quicksilver blew another smoke ring and lamented.
”I agree, that’s why I’ve moved here and never wanted to leave,” Kelly replied. He spoke a few words with the blond girl with ponytail next to him, the girl stood up and walked towards the black car parked outside.
”From here to Silversilk castle is a two-hour drive, it’s almost 5:00 pm now. If we go at this time, we would have to come back during the late night. Or perhaps Mr. Dale was prepared to stay there for the night?” Kelly stood up and questioned.
”I’ve spent a few nights there the past few days, no big deal. I talked with the castle’s owner Mr. Nusves and paid him some money, I have rented the castle for two months. Since everything in there was already sold or moved out, he didn’t worry about it too much.” Dale Quicksilver also stood up, ”On another note, you don’t have to bring your car, there’s nowhere to fill gas, we’d be better off riding in a carriage.”