Judging from the livor mortis on his body, this person had been dead for almost two days. However, the absence of the stench of decomposition in the air made him overlook so of these signs.
Xiao Lin crouched down; he recognized this person, Fatty Lao Ma. He never expected that after that night, he would end up dead like this. He chuckled a few tis—the sternum was crushed by an external force, with bones piercing the heart causing death from blood loss. After a few minutes of detailed observation and finding nothing more on the body, Xiao Lin returned to the outside of the glass house.
"General, please leave quickly." Miao Shaoqing urgently warned him over the earpiece. Xiao Lin, without any unnecessary actions, swiftly left the secret room, placing the woman’s head back in its original position. As he was about to leave, he noticed an equilateral triangle mark in a rather inconspicuous place, with a poppy drawn on it.
Xiao Lin made a rubbing of the mark and put it in his pocket. At that mont, the door was pushed open. There was nowhere to hide around, and as soon as the other person entered, they would see soone standing right there. Miao Shaoqing again urged Xiao Lin over the headset, while a drop of cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
"The body is in the armory, and the master has ordered it to be dealt with imdiately." About three people entered from outside the door, front and back, the last one conveniently closed the door behind them.
"Why think of dealing with this in the middle of the night?" The speaker seed to be Chinese, roughly around a height of one hundred seventy centiters.
Perhaps not expecting anyone to be inside, all three kept their heads low, searching the wall for the switch.
Xiao Lin pressed himself entirely against the window fra, only an arm’s length away from them. Any slight movent would expose his presence. In his hand, the Silver Needle, which he had broken into three sections with Inner Strength, was clenched between his fingers.
"Didn’t you see those chicks? They were so spot-on." The last to enter was a shriveled man, clearly soone who had indulged excessively, leading to a frail physique. Excessive indulgence in n poses direct health hazards, as the saying goes, "Spirits ruin a man," aptly describing this type of man.
Suddenly, the overhead lights brightened, montarily blinding the man, and the three fell to the ground simultaneously, not even able to utter a cry for help. Xiao Lin leaped to the floor, retrieved the needles from the bodies of the three, pocketed them, and slipped out the iron door. Simultaneously, another shadow followed him into the main group building.
"Young Master Hua, did you sleep well?" Hua Qingyi glanced at the black man approaching him. He recalled that this person was the butler by Hassan’s side. Typically, people of mixed race are ostracized and discriminated against in the Middle East, especially blacks. Yet, this person was close to Hassan, implying he was extraordinary, enough to earn Hassan’s trust.
"Hello! May I ask what happened?" Hua Qingyi stretched lazily and rubbed his eyes. "It’s so noisy, it’s got all uninterested to continue."
"To be honest with you, there’s been an intrusion in the estate, and three working slaves were wounded. Lord Hassan specifically instructed to check if everything is fine with Young Master Hua." The black man courteously maintained a forty-five-degree bow, his eyes constantly on his toes, refusing to overstep the boundary into the guest’s domain.
"Is that so? Have you found any suspicious persons?" Hua Qingyi tightened his robe, standing barefoot on the marble floor, the chill seeping from his feet into his body made him very uncomfortable.
"We haven’t found anyone yet, but please rest assured, Young Master Hua; the security system within the estate is exceedingly advanced, and it didn’t even occur in the main building. We will use all our resources to track this person down."
"Where is Hassan?" Hua Qingyi looked up and asked.
"The master is in the hall."
"Oh, thank you. I’ll change and co down in a mont."
"It’s best if Young Master Hua could et the master downstairs, only I’d hate to think it would spoil your spirit?" The black man politely inquired, "I still need to notify the other two gentlen, so please allow to excuse myself first."
"Ha ha ha!" Hua Qingyi forced a couple of dry laughs as an answer, turned into the bedroom, took a shower, changed clothes, blew a kiss to the woman on the bed, and walked down the stairs.
Hassan still huddled on his thick carpet. Hua Qingyi couldn’t tell if he had never left or had just returned to this spot. The woman beside him had been swapped; this one was notably more amorous than the last—her eyebrows carried a sultry allure, her eyes wild with a hint of wanton plundering, her cries so wild one couldn’t help but take another glance.
Hassan coughed a few tis, pulling the woman tightly into his embrace. He said nothing, rely gestured for Hua Qingyi to sit beside them.
The black man followed Hua Qingyi down and whispered sothing in Hassan’s ear before retreating back behind him with a solemn face.
Hassan lifted his eyes, his wandering gaze seemingly ignoring Hua Qingyi and simply in his direction, exhaling a puff of smoke. The woman below him thoughtfully added so new tobacco to his pipe, leaving a kiss on his neck. Her enticing eyes glanced at the man before her; it was a kind of seduction, and Hua Qingyi, being a man, and more importantly, an excellent one, understood it well.
"I wonder if my won have satisfied Young Master Hua?" Hassan smoked opium, his solemn deanor at the corner of his eyes causing Hua Qingyi to slightly raise his eyebrows.
"The woman was quite nice, but being interrupted was a bit frustrating."
"Lately, soone has shown a strong interest in my estate, repeatedly trying to sneak in and take a look. Just now, three servants were found injured inside the estate, which is quite troubleso," Hassan said, casting a aningful glance at Hua Qingyi.
"Just common thieves, this often happens in our country, hard to guard against."
"I wonder, where are the n brought by Young Master Hua?" Hassan got straight to the point, bringing the issue into the conversation: "Such a big commotion, yet they’re nowhere to be seen. Instead, you’re more alard than they are. Should I find you so more reliable bodyguards?"
Hua Qingyi unapologetically poured himself a full glass of wine, his expression darkened. "Mr. Hassan, are you implying that my n are the masterminds behind all this?"
"Young Master Hua, just joking, I’d never suspect you. It’s just that caution is necessary in all things, people’s hearts aren’t transparent," Hassan said with a forced smile.
"Mr. Hassan is quite familiar with Chinese proverbs, but I wonder where exactly they were found. Could Qing Yi go there?"
"Such grueso scenes are better left unseen," Hassan paused, his gaze drifting towards the black man.
"Young Master Hua, please don’t misunderstand our master. Perhaps the old servant’s words have caused misunderstanding. I just went to your brother’s room, but it was empty. You know, in the middle of the night here on the mountaintop, what scenery could there be to see, right?" The black servant stood with his hands crossed in front, head lowered, his neither servile nor overbearing voice echoing in the room.
"My brother isn’t in his room?" Hua Qingyi feigned surprise, deeply skeptical of this information: "Did you really see clearly? This could be slander against ."
His tone was significantly heavier, Hassan raised his hand to signal the black man to withdraw: "Young Master Hua, you’ve taken it too seriously; they are just doing their job."
"If that’s the case, it seems I must go up and see for myself, or I’ll never shake off the suspicion," Hua Qingyi snorted heavily and headed upstairs first.
"Please knock on the door!" Hua Qingyi stepped aside to let the black man go forward.
Xiao Lin’s room was tightly shut, no matter how the black man shouted, there was no response. Hassan stood silently to the side, while Hua Qingyi’s heart sank. The black man stood beside Hassan, equally silent.
"Brother!" Hua Qingyi pounded on the door urgently, "Is there a spare key? I suspect sothing has happened to my brother inside."
"Young Master Hua, there’s really no one inside," the black man replied, pulling out a set of keys from his robe to open the door.
The wind lifted the white gauze; the bed was neatly made, the bathroom spotless, as if never used. Hua Qingyi stood frozen in place, woodenly turning his head to look at Hassan, who showed a bizarre smile without speaking. For a mont, Hua Qingyi finally understood why Xiao Lin always said that the Hassan he saw wasn’t the real one; the person before him was completely different from the one who drank with him in the evening. A cold chill rose from behind. Where exactly was Xiao Lin? His palms began to sweat; the situation suddenly fell into an embarrassing predicant.
"Young Master Hua, this..." Hassan deliberately dragged out his words but never finished his sentence.
"Until I find soone, I won’t say anything," Hua Qingyi casually tossed the issue to Hassan: "Any possibility exists; I believe in the truth."
Hassan shrugged, expressing no aning towards such a statent, indeed without solid evidence linking this incident to Xiao Lin, anything said could cause misunderstandings.
"Where are the bodyguards’ quarters?" Hua Qingyi turned to the black man.
The master and servant’s accommodations cannot be mixed; even the guests’ companions must adhere to this custom, so Miao Shaoqing’s room was arranged in the east guest area. At the ti of the incident, this area was relatively far, isolated by a large garden.
The people standing outside wore expressions hard to describe, Hua Qingyi covered his mouth, while Hassan’s looked even more depressed; certainly the most amusing was the black man’s constant murmuring for Allah’s protection.
"Mr. Hassan, do you think it’s necessary to disturb them?" Hua Qingyi suppressed a laugh, asking Hassan. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recomndations and monthly tickets on Qidian, your support is my greatest motivation.)
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