Cat 242: Uneasy Guilt

Chapter 242: Uneasy Guilt

The three of them slipped through the Cheng estate’s dog door without incident.

In the direction of Grandfather Cheng’s quarters, flames roared and smoke billowed high. Servants were desperately shouting as they battled the fire. For a moment, the entire Cheng compound was in chaos.

Liu Jingxi felt a surge of satisfaction—justice served.

Yet Yan Jiyun’s gaze lingered quietly on Cheng Xueying, but he saw no such satisfaction there. Instead, he caught a trace of grief, the sorrow of one who mourns for a fellow sufferer.

Of course—just now, that old man Cheng had intended to kill Cheng Xueying as well, caring not at all that Xueying was his own granddaughter.

Suddenly, Cheng Xueying said to them, “My father was also killed by my grandfather.”

Yan Jiyun had no mind for comfort. “Third sister-in-law, my condolences. But look—what’s this?”

Still lost in sorrow, Cheng Xueying just stared.

Liu Jingxi, however, reacted quickly. He’d wanted to ask his cousin why, in the midst of escaping, he’d bothered to swipe some random, battered box.

Yan Jiyun said, “Did neither of you listen to what the old man said before? The red box.”

Liu Jingxi replied, “How is this red?” It just looked like a regular wooden box.

Yan Jiyun said, “He’s so old—when this box was new, it must have been bright red. After decades, of course the paint’s worn off.”

Liu Jingxi examined it from all angles. The corners did show a faint trace of red lacquer. It really was a red box.

“Hard to imagine your grandfather, of all people, would let the paint wear off—that’s just stingy.”

With Yan Jiyun and Liu Jingxi’s teasing, Cheng Xueying’s spirits steadied. “My grandfather’s family had already fallen on hard times before. If he hadn’t married my grandmother, who came from money, he’d probably still be living in obscurity. He’s never been generous.” So the box’s shabby state wasn’t surprising.

Yan Jiyun didn’t care about its appearance; he asked, “What’s inside that he tried so hard to take with him, even while escaping a fire?”

Liu Jingxi glanced around. “Let’s get in the car and talk somewhere else.”

With Grandfather Cheng’s place on fire, the whole household was in chaos—no one would be paying attention to their movements.

“Let’s go.”

Liu Jingxi took them to a house he had bought outside.

If he took them back to the Liu estate right now, they wouldn’t have the convenience of checking the box’s contents together. Here was better.

Neither Yan Jiyun nor Cheng Xueying cared about the location or decor; all their attention was on the box.

In front of the two, Yan Jiyun thought it best not to reveal his magic tools. He simply watched as Liu Jingxi found a hammer and forced the lock open.

Without warning, Liu Jingxi flipped open the lid—and the contents were revealed at once.

There were quite a few property deeds, but those were of little use to them. Yan Jiyun opted to dump everything out onto the table.

With a clatter, a worn leather scroll tumbled out.

The three of them all fixed their eyes on it.

As Grandfather Cheng’s own possession, Cheng Xueying was fastest to act—he unrolled the leather scroll.

Yan Jiyun leaned in, feigning ignorance. “What is it?”

Cheng Xueying said, “A treasure map.”

Of course Yan Jiyun knew, but he spoke casually—he hadn’t expected Cheng Xueying to know as well; he’d thought only Liu Jingxi did.

Liu Jingxi glanced up at Cheng Xueying, also feigning ignorance, “A treasure map?”

Cheng Xueying said, “Oh, stop pretending, Liu Jingxi. Your Liu family has a piece too.”

Liu Jingxi dropped the act, though confusion lingered. “We do have a small piece, but how did you know?”

Cheng Xueying replied, “My father told me. This map was my grandfather’s greatest treasure. He took it everywhere, but no one knows exactly what it points to.”

Liu Jingxi took a piece out from his own breast pocket and aligned it with the one Cheng Xueying held. “So now we’re missing just two pieces. Sister-in-law, want to join forces? I want to get those last two as well.”

Cheng Xueying said, “Join forces? Do you know where the other two are?”

Liu Jingxi replied, “I do. The Chen family and the Lin family.”

Cheng Xueying asked, “Are you sure?”

Liu Jingxi said, “I’m sure.”

Cheng Xueying thought for a second. “Very well. Why don’t we share our information?”

Liu Jingxi agreed easily, “No problem.”

Suddenly, Yan Jiyun interjected, “Third sister-in-law, why did you marry my third cousin?”

Cheng Xueying paused, a hint of guilt flickering across his face. Remembering that he’d been rescued today, and that his marriage into the Liu family was complicated, he answered straightforwardly, “At first, marrying into the Liu family wasn’t my choice. Later, I remembered someone I was close to might be in the Liu household. If I went, I could be with them. So I did.”

Liu Jingxi asked, “Someone you’re close to?”

There was no shortage of women living in the Liu estate, plenty of young ladies, even his own betrothed often stayed there. But few were around Cheng Xueying’s age—his fiancée was one, but she didn’t stay often. It could also be his sister-in-law or some other cousin.

Ding.

[Congratulations, player, main quest two completed. Points will be awarded when the quest ends.]

Yan Jiyun: ???

That was what he’d guessed before, but the wretched game never indicated anything—only when Cheng Xueying personally admitted it did the task count as complete? So you had to directly interact with NPCs?

No, this scenario’s tasks were simpler than he’d thought.

The first mission had just been to find and deliver Liu Jinghao’s killer to the mourning hall. The second was to get a willing explanation from Cheng Xueying about marrying into the Liu family—a much less taxing task by comparison.

For a moment, Yan Jiyun looked forward to seeing what the next quest would be.

Meanwhile, Liu Jingxi and Cheng Xueying were conferring over how to find the rest of the treasure map.

Before that, though, Yan Jiyun asked innocently, “Anything scandalous about the Chen or Lin families?”

The fire he’d set in the Cheng household seemed to have unsettled the other two—yet they looked into his sincere eyes as Cheng Xueying said, “The Chen family and the Liu family are rivals, but they don’t have as many skeletons in the closet as ours. The siblings get along, the family is united; otherwise, they wouldn’t have remained the wealthiest for so long.”

Yan Jiyun said, “Chen family must have a weakness. Getting the map from them can’t be easy, right?”

Cheng Xueying answered, “They do. My father mentioned once: Chen Senior adores his only daughter.” He knew this because everyone in Jiangnan City had heard of it—on her eighteenth birthday, Chen Senior threw an extravagant party, with all the local dignitaries in attendance.

Liu Jingxi nodded, “I remember. I was there myself.”

Cheng Xueying said, “Your Liu family got invited?”

Liu Jingxi replied, “That was before my third brother got into a fight with Chen Qin over that dancer.” Mid-sentence, he realized his slip—third brother was third sister-in-law’s husband.

Cheng Xueying said, “I always thought you were the one fighting. That’s what everyone said.”

Yan Jiyun commented, offhand, “If that hadn’t happened, maybe you’d have married my second brother instead.”

Cheng Xueying and Liu Jingxi both glared at him. “Don’t talk nonsense!”

Yan Jiyun quickly covered his mouth, not for fear of them, but because he decided to keep the secret to himself for now—to surprise them later.

He changed the subject. “What about the Lin family?”

That was the most mysterious family—there were open, minor conflicts among the Liu, Cheng, and Chen families, but the Lin family always seemed uninvolved.

To steer the subject quickly, Liu Jingxi said, “The Lin family isn’t rich, but they aren’t poor. In recent years, hardly anyone in town hears anything about them.”

Yan Jiyun asked, “How many people are in their family?”

If the Cheng family hadn’t been so set on favoring sons, they’d be thriving—after all, the daughters of the family were quite productive.

Liu Jingxi replied, “Not many. The Lin family has only one son, a little older than me. They’re unusual—they’ve had a single male heir for nine generations. The men are known for deep affection—always marrying only one woman, a fact much admired by the women in town.”

Yan Jiyun asked, “So, have we any way to obtain the other two pieces from them?”

It had cost Liu Jingxi considerable effort to get his older brother’s map. The Cheng family’s part was a welcome accident—he’d like to get the other two, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Liu Jingxi said, “It won’t be easy.”

Cheng Xueying said, “I might try with the Lin family, but the Chen family’s more difficult. I don’t know them well.” At the mention of the Chen family, his expression grew faintly disgusted.

Yan Jiyun guessed he must know a few things—not because of disputes between their families; after all, he’d already fallen out with the Chengs.

Yan Jiyun speculated, “Sister-in-law, is that Chen son a bit of a womanizer?”

Cheng Xueying asked, “How did you know?”

Yan Jiyun answered, “It’s not hard to guess. Isn’t he in love with Liu Rongzhi of the First Dance Hall? What man isn’t?”

A womanizer, then, surely had run into Cheng Xueying at some point, with some unpleasantness, or Xueying wouldn’t look so disgusted at the mention of his name.

Suddenly, Liu Jingxi objected, “I’m not a womanizer.”

Yan Jiyun said, “I didn’t mean you, cousin.”

Liu Jingxi touched his nose and glanced again at Cheng Xueying, then continued sorting through the remaining items from the box. Besides the leather scroll, there was a photo.

A black-and-white photograph.

Yan Jiyun saw it too—there were five young people in the group shot. Three of them closely resembled the older generation of the Liu, Cheng, and Chen families. The other two were strangers.

“Do you recognize them?” Yan Jiyun asked.

Liu Jingxi pointed out each person, identifying them. The tall, burly one was from the Lin family; the one who looked young and handsome, they didn’t know.

Yan Jiyun took the picture—people in those days tended to write names on the backs.

Sure enough, on the back, after the four family surnames, there was a single name: Wei Liu.

“Wei Liu? Who’s that?”

[Congratulations, player, for triggering Quest Three: Find Wei Liu.]

Damn, how was he supposed to trace someone from an old photo? This was a black-and-white shot from forty years ago; everything had changed, and the man would now be over sixty.

Besides the treasure map and photo, there was nothing else of value in the red box.

Midnight struck.

Yan Jiyun yawned, and before his tears could form, several large carriages rumbled past Liu Jingxi’s villa.

Someone knocked loudly at the door, startling Cheng Xueying. “What’s happening?”

Liu Jingxi got up and headed for the door. “You two sit tight; I’ll check it out.”

It was his house—nothing serious should happen here.

Yet Yan Jiyun suddenly grew silent. He heard Liu Jingxi opening the door, then the sound of familiar footsteps.

A moment later, a tall figure appeared before him and Cheng Xueying. Liu Jingxi came in behind Ninth Master, saying, “Ninth Master, there really aren’t any cats here.”

Yang Er added, “Your house is closest to our Ninth Master’s place. His cat just jumped in—sorry to trouble you.”

It was indeed a nuisance—Liu Jingxi’s face flushed with irritation. How dare they just barge in? The Ninth Master’s house wasn’t even nearby!

Yan Jiyun yawned again; just as he closed his mouth, he saw Ninth Master, riding crop in hand, staring straight at him.

“Ninth Master?”

The man didn’t even seem to realize Yan Jiyun was really here.

“Yan Jiyun, weren’t you supposed to have gone home?”

Yan Jiyun answered casually, “Yes, but my cousin had some trouble at home. I’m staying with him tonight. Are you looking for a cat, Ninth Master?”

Yang Er quickly explained, “A white cat, just ran out.”

Yan Jiyun instantly shook off his fatigue, his expression chilling. “Bai Xue?”

Yang Er nodded, “That’s right—Bai Xue.”

Yan Jiyun pressed his lips together. “I’ll help you look for her. Cat-catching is my specialty.”

Ninth Master was disconcerted by Yan Jiyun’s steady gaze. As Yan Jiyun turned to head upstairs, the Ninth Master realized his own odd nervousness.

He hurried after him. “Wait, don’t—”

Yan Jiyun’s figure disappeared at the staircase.

The abruptness of it all left everyone else bewildered.