Sir Chen, your wife is missing!

An unarmed woman holding hundreds of thousands of cash in her hands seemed to be saying to others, "I'm rich, come and rob me."

After arranging a series of matters, Feng Qingyu packed up and prepared to go to Mannheim Town.

Sartel and Yaye went to the Toronto County Office of Rhodes Island to handle some medical orders and to look for potential partners to cooperate with Rhodes Island. They left the house early in the morning and continued to work.

Fa didn't want to involve them in the investigation of the strange town, so he still adopted the strategy of fighting alone and drove away in his rented car.

The haunted house was bathed in a dazzling golden light in the afternoon. It was not as eerie and terrifying as it was at night. At most, it was an old and dilapidated house.

From a distance, it looks a bit creepy, but if you actually walk into the courtyard, you will be overwhelmed by endless desolation and sadness. The former splendor is gone, and only the unattended, wild plants growing wildly, the dilapidated swings and slides, the decayed dining table and benches are left...

"Things are so messy, they really need to be sorted out. It might take me a week or more to do it alone. Tsk, let's move in first and think about it later."

Feng Qingyu walked to the main door and rang the doorbell.

The doorbell made no sound and the touch was very poor. It must have been broken or out of power. I had no choice but to resort to the most primitive method of knocking on the door with the back of my hand in an attempt to attract the owner's attention.

She knocked for several minutes until the back of her hands were numb, but the administrator still didn't come to answer the door.

Maybe she was still on duty at the town library and hadn't gone home. It was said that she was the only administrator in the library, and the other administrator was a white-haired old man who came to take over at around six o'clock in the afternoon and left work at six o'clock the next morning, and was replaced by the young Elafia.

Very few people come to borrow books. Only some people from nearby schools and towns come occasionally. The administrator's job is relatively easy, and there will be no salary deduction even if they sleep in the library during working hours.

There were still about two hours until six o'clock. Feng Qingyu was too lazy to run to the library, nor did he want to be stared at by the townspeople with deathly eyes, so he simply took down the toolbox he had bought.

Someone needs to clean up the messy courtyard. Obviously, the administrator is not a person with leisure time. After get off work every day, she just stays in the room reading, isolated from the world. The next day, she continues to work and live mechanically, over and over again, like a stagnant pool of water.

The lives of this type of people are like wound-up watches and clocks. Although they can guarantee absolute precision, they lack variables and a little passion. To put it nicely, they follow the rules, but to put it bluntly, they live a boring and tedious life day after day, like a cold machine.

Speaking of machines, Feng Qingyu couldn't help but think of the respected doctor in Rhodes Island who was affectionate and had a bit of warmth.

She should still be leading a monotonous and unhealthy life.

"I can't think about it anymore..."

Feng Qingyu was worried that his determination to revive the family business would waver, so he shook his head and devoted himself to tidying up the yard.

42. Revisiting the Haunted House

Keeping a garden in good shape is a huge project. The most messy things are probably the plants that grow wildly without a gardener to trim them, as well as discarded items and garbage piled everywhere.

Olive oil doesn’t look like someone who would pay someone to take care of it, and it doesn’t know how to take care of it itself, otherwise it wouldn’t be in this state of decay.

She probably just wanted to let them degrade on their own and turn into dust as time went by because she was too lazy to deal with them. There were many people who had the same mentality as her, and ended up making their living environment worse and worse.

Since you are going to live in it, you must not make it look like a haunted house, otherwise you will get a fright when you go out to take a breath in the yard in the middle of the night.

The tool box contains thick gloves specially for construction, which can protect the palms from being cut when cutting entangled vines and thorns and can improve work efficiency.

The scissors for cutting plants were also in the toolbox. Feng Qingyu felt that she would need them sooner or later when she came last time, so she bought a few on the street. She also trimmed the plants at home. Although her skills were not as good as those of professional gardeners, at least it would not cause an uncomfortable and irritating visual impact.

Today we have less time, so we can only walk around the house and roughly clear away the weeds and plants.

Looking down, he saw the Qingxiao sword at his waist sparkling in the afternoon sun, with the blue light flowing and flickering on its surface, as if suggesting that its owner could use it to weed.

A sword that can cut through iron like mud can indeed cut faster than a pair of garden shears.

"If it's just for clearing weeds, there's nothing to be afraid of. Besides... those unruly people aren't necessarily any weaker than me in terms of fighting power."

Feng Qingyu didn't worry about whether such a big sword would scare people. Besides, this was a notorious haunted house. Anyone who got close to it would be in trouble, right?

Adults and children alike are afraid of this forbidden area covered with thorns and weeds.

She is like the protagonist in "The Legend of King Drakgael". With the thirst for knowledge to explore unknown places, she uses the sword in her hand to cut through thorns and sweep away all obstacles, just to reach the other side of her dream.

The other side of the dream is to clean up the yard.

"It's worthy of being the precious sword that the boss gave me. It's very fast for chopping things with it."

If anyone passed by the mansion, they would definitely see a young woman with outstanding appearance holding a long sword, slashing at the messy plants with smooth movements, and the chopped parts piled on the ground, getting thicker and thicker.

Feng Qingyu was somewhat confident in his swordsmanship. Although he might not be as outstanding as Chen Sir, it was enough to use it to clear the road. The weeds and other things that were cleared were not transported away with a cart for the time being, and it was not convenient to burn them at will, for fear of causing a fire and giving those tricky or even weird townspeople an excuse to blame them. So they were first piled in the southeast corner of the courtyard, which was closest to the gate and most convenient for transportation.

When she began to pick up the debris in the grass, the current owner pushed open the half-open iron gate and heard rustling noises coming from the grass. He immediately grabbed a shovel with only the handle left and swung it towards the source of the sound without mercy.

"Boom-"

The wooden stick accurately hit the figure in the bushes half a person's height, and the front end was stained reddish brown by the splashing blood.

With a scream of "Ah", a pair of beautiful black dragon horns appeared first, followed by a head of long black and shiny hair. The guy who was hit covered his bleeding forehead with a distressed look on his face.

The stick hit him hard enough that it broke his forehead.

The unlucky person who was hit was Feng Qingyu, who was cleaning up the debris. She was concentrating on picking up the rotten wooden boards and debris scattered on the ground. Just as she was about to stand up, she was hit by a club.

At that moment, she felt dizzy, a string of golden stars appeared in front of her eyes, and warm liquid flowed down from the painful area.

Although being hit on the head is a normal thing, Feng Qingyu was often hit on the forehead when he participated in street fights in Longmen. Now that he has retired for so long, he is still not used to being hit like this.

"Hiss... Miss Administrator, you are quite strong..."

She felt both aggrieved and helpless.

The administrator's expression did not change at all. Even though a "bloody disaster" occurred at his doorstep, he remained calm as if nothing had happened, and did not show the guilt or panic he should have for injuring someone.

As Peg, the Liberian girl from Mannheim, said, this guy has no emotions in his heart. Not even an expression appears on his face, let alone any emotional fluctuations in his heart.

It would not be an exaggeration to describe this young lady as having a heart of stone. After all, she is the kind of person who won't even help the elderly in the town cross the road.

"I'm sorry, but your behavior in the bushes was suspicious, so I had to take self-defense. To be honest, there are many people in this town with bad intentions. On the first day I moved here, several people sneaked into the yard in the dark, but I scared them away. As long as I hear the second person's voice, I will attack the source of the sound reflexively."

The administrator narrated her past experiences in a calm tone. Even when describing the thrilling scenes at that time, she adopted a light-hearted attitude. One can imagine what a dangerous situation she was facing.

It is not easy to live alone in a small town in the wilderness, where the townspeople with ulterior motives may appear at any time and have to live in fear every night.

In this case, she must be in need of a reliable companion.

"I used to be a street fighter and I've never lost a fight. You can trust me 100%."

Feng Qingyu raised the sword in his hand. That sword was no ordinary thing. It was different from those unsharpened swords or toy knives sold on the market. Its previous owner had used it to wipe out an entire Longmen gang and drank the blood of hundreds of people with it.

When Feng Qingyu got it from the previous owner, she also used it to defeat several guys who came to seek revenge. Now that the sword is about to be unsheathed again, she is not afraid at all.

I am no longer the colored pen that needs to hide behind the Rhodes Island operators every day.

"Take care of the wound on your head first. There is a medicine box in my room. Come with me."

The administrator glanced at the tidy courtyard, her lips slightly raised, as if she was smiling a little. Feng Qingyu pretended not to see her smile, thinking that this guy looked good when he smiled.

Some things are precious precisely because they are luxurious, and no one in the town has ever seen the administrator smile.

Feng Qingyu covered her bleeding forehead and followed the administrator into the house. This was her second visit, and her impression of the mansion had changed from a terrifying haunted house to an ordinary residence.

It's just an old house, but with such a beautiful landlord living with me, it doesn't seem scary anymore.

The administrator asked her to stay in the living room on the first floor while he went to the second floor to find the medicine box.

The silver-haired Elafia disappeared at the end of the spiral staircase, and the room suddenly became dead silent.

43. Basement

The living room on the first floor is different from the first time I came here. The thick cardboard boxes piled on the ground are nowhere to be seen. The items inside should have been placed in various places in the house, each with its own function.

The empty living room only has a set of sofas and a coffee table. There are still many items that have not been added, and the space is very large.

The original rotten wooden floor has been replaced with new and smooth tiles. The administrator was willing to renovate the house. After all, it takes a lot of money and effort to renovate such a large house. Sometimes it is more convenient to buy a new house.

No one knows why she bought the haunted house. Maybe she wanted to get a bargain, or maybe she was just interested in living in an abandoned mansion where a terrible event had happened.

After waiting for two or three minutes, the administrator reappeared with a transparent plastic suitcase in his hand, which was filled with various special medicines for external injuries.

Such medicine boxes are very common and basically every household has one.

The method of treating forehead wounds is also very simple. First, clean the wound with hot water, then apply alcohol to disinfect it, sprinkle some medicine that helps the wound heal on the medical gauze, and finally stick it with medical tape.

The administrator's movements were very skilled, even smoother than those of some interns.

Feng Qingyu had no intention of understanding why the administrator knew surgical bandaging, and the other party might not tell her. The two of them did not speak during the whole process. As long as you don't think about the word awkward, you won't feel awkward.

After the last step, Feng Qingyu said "thank you" to her. On second thought, it seemed a bit strange to thank someone who hurt him. Under normal circumstances, he would have punched the person who hurt him a few times, letting him also have a taste of being slashed.

In order to investigate, she had to endure humiliation.

Unexpectedly, the administrator was actually seriously reviewing his behavior just now.

"You stay for dinner tonight as an apology for what happened just now. I'll go to the kitchen to prepare. You can walk around the house to get familiar with the situation, but don't touch anything without permission."

"Ah...ok."

The administrator turned and walked into the kitchen, put on an apron, opened the refrigerator and selected ingredients.

Feng Qingyu thought that he couldn't miss this opportunity, so he bypassed the kitchen and prepared to look for the entrance to the basement. According to adventure novels and common sense, there would usually be some unknown secrets hidden in the basement of such a spooky mansion.

Of course, it is possible that those secrets have been quietly erased. Since it is an investigation, we have to investigate the most suspicious places, otherwise it is the same as not having been here.

She didn't know the structure of the house and could only explore it on her own.

The floor of the living room is solid, and the basement is not directly below, so it should be hidden somewhere else. Feng Qingyu walked around the living room and found nothing suspicious.

Walking to the back door, you can see the courtyard behind through the half-open window. The area is also very large. There is also a wooden house in the corner, which should be used to store tools and be used as a tool room.

There is land for growing crops in the backyard, but it has been occupied by weeds and wild flowers for many years, becoming their paradise. Various plants that cannot be named compete with each other for beauty, and together with the abandoned yard, they form a strange but beautiful scene.

"I'll be busy later."

Feng Qingyu vaguely felt that the weight on his shoulders had increased a little.

She is the kind of person who cannot stand seeing things placed randomly, and she cannot allow the place where she lives to become a mess, so she will definitely clean it up in the end.

It is not easy to tidy up everything by yourself, maybe you need help from others.

It would be much easier if Surtel was called over to help deal with the problem. As for Yaye, Feng Qingyu never expected to get her help. Their personalities didn't match from the beginning.

She walked into the yard and came to the door of the tool room.

The rotten wooden door was vulnerable. Although it was a new wooden door replaced by the previous resident, it had only been there for a few years. It had become fragile due to wind, sun and rain and could be broken with a little more force.

The door was not locked, but was held together by a wire and a thumbtack next to it, forming a closed state. One could enter by removing the wire. The tool room was spacious, larger than a single-room student apartment in Victoria.

When I opened the door, an extremely damp and corrupt smell hit me in the face.

It was the smell that would be produced by a confined space that had not been ventilated for a long time. The floor was littered with discarded tools. The previous owner had cleaned the room, so the situation wasn't too bad.

If no one had cleaned it up in 70 years, she might not want to come in.

The most suspicious thing now is the tool room, which is likely to contain a secret passage.

Feng Qingyu walked around the clutter in the room and began to pace along the edge of the room. When he reached the lower left corner, the solid floor became hollow, and it made a crisp sound when he stepped on it.

There is still space underground.

After moving the cabinets blocking the top, we can see a square sliding door facing upwards. This is a classic basement design that we have seen countless times in movies.

"..."

Feng Qingyu took a deep breath, grasped the door handle, and slowly pulled it backwards.

The rusty hinges made a shrill sound, and some dark red iron filings fell to the ground as the wooden door opened. An even more unpleasant damp smell surged from underneath, mixed with the smell of mold.

There was no need to expect the environment to be very good. After the smell dissipated a little, Feng Qingyu took out a special pocket flashlight for Rhode Island outdoor adventures that he had prepared in advance from his pocket. It had high brightness and low power consumption, and the battery could be recharged and used repeatedly. The outer shell had a solar charging module, so even if the battery was out of power, it could be quickly fully charged by placing it in a sunny place.

It looked suspicious to walk around someone else's house with a flashlight as thick as her wrist, and she didn't want to alert anyone.

The beam of the flashlight illuminated the downward stairs. Apart from dust, there was no messy clutter on the stairs. The previous owner had used them very little over the years and perhaps had never opened them many times.

The cabinet pressing down the sliding door seems to be placed there intentionally.

"Could it be that there are some incredible monsters imprisoned down there?"

Feng Qingyu tried to imagine pushing open the door at the end of the stairs, and a huge three-headed dog blocked the way, showing its saliva-covered fangs to the visitor, its blood-red eyes filled with anger.

Hearing the footsteps, six scarlet eyes stared at her at the same time, let out a deafening roar, and raised their clawed forelimbs, ready to tear her to pieces.

If that were the case, we would have to fight the monster.

No matter what is hidden underneath, people have already come to that mysterious gray door and there is no reason to turn back.

Feng Qingyu pushed forward and found that the basement door was locked. The door lock was intact and it was a new lock, which had been used for no more than three months, and the door was also new.

Suddenly finding a brand new item among a pile of broken items makes one wonder if there is a secret hidden in it.

She took out the Rhodes Island universal lock picking set.