Chapter 110: The Queen An (2/2)
Xiaotao called a pest removal company to clear the ants away. Meanwhile, we sat down on the sofa waiting. It was like a scene out of a horror movie—the sea of bullet ants was all around us, but none dared to approach.
Had they been released out into the neighborhood, not only would they harm the residents around here, but they would become an invasive species that might endanger the wildlife in the area surrounding Nanjiang City. These little insects might be innocent, but there was no choice—they had to be killed.
Once the pest removal company arrived, the bullet ants were all eliminated via insecticide. Xiaotao paid the bill and told them to remove the ants at the haunted mansion tomorrow.
Now that the real murderer was captured, I could finally breathe easy again. Xiaotao spent the next two days dealing with the paperwork, then we went back to the haunted mansion together.
I burned joss paper there in honor of the boy who died there and both of his parents, hoping that all three of them would find peace in their afterlife and move on to their next reincarnation.
“Do you think what you’re doing would really help them?” asked Xiaotao.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “But at least it’s a show of respect for the dead.”
As we were leaving the empty mansion, Xiaotao suddenly looked back at it and sighed.
“Because the money that Ren Facai used to buy this house had been acquired illegally,” she said, “the house is now confiscated by the court. Why don’t we buy it? I hear there are plans to build a subway line near this area in the next two years. The price of the land would definitely skyrocket by then. What do you think?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I shook my head. “Just think of what happened to its previous owners! It’s a bad omen—wait, did you say should ‘we’ buy it?”
Xiaotao’s face turned red. “It was just a slip of the tongue! It’s nothing, seriously!”
We stared at the house for a long time without speaking a word. This was the second time Xiaotao and I had gone through a near-death experience together. I suddenly realized how fickle life was, and how we could be alive today and dead tomorrow.
“You know—”
“By the way—”
We broke the silence at the same time.
“What were you going to say?”
“What were you going to say?”
I plucked up my courage and grabbed Xiaotao’s shoulders. Her cheeks blushed and her eyes glimmered. Her face was illuminated by the soft light of the setting sun, and she looked stunning.
I inched my face closer to hers. Xiaotao closed her eyes, as if in anticipation of what was to come next. At that moment, I heard a Maserati with loud electronic music booming driving towards us, and all the courage that I mustered up was shattered into a thousand tiny pieces in an instant.
The car screeched to a halt near us, and two people emerged from it—Ye Shiwen and Zhang Yan. I noticed that they were hand in hand. It seemed that the two had gotten together!
“Hey, Song Yang!” shouted Ye Shiwen. “What are you doing here?”
I scratched my head. “Well…”
“Is that policewoman your girlfriend?” asked Zhang Yan. “She’s gorgeous! She looks just like a supermodel!”
“I’m not this idiot’s girlfriend!” snapped Xiaotao. She then stomped away to her car. I called out to her but she completely ignored me. I couldn’t help but silently curse at these two idiots who just had to turn up at the worst moment.
Ye Shiwen patted me on the shoulder and comforted me. “We disturbed your special moment, didn’t we? Come on, brother, I’ll treat you to a nice meal and we’ll talk about the case.”
“Oh, yes, great idea!” nodded Zhang Yan. “It’s all over the newspapers! I never thought that there’d be a great detective among us in our college. It’s all so exciting! I must have your signature later!”
The fire of fury was raging inside me at the time, but I kept silent. I secretly thought, wouldn’t it be nice if they just died?
I would soon regret having such thoughts. I had no idea at the time, but in a few weeks, a strange and tragic case would occur right in our college.
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