Chapter 009
Jongharng Chioujen
After walking for a while, Chioujen didn't realize he had arrived in front of the building. It was quiet, but a sedan was parked a few dozen meters away. The windshield was dark, so Chioujen couldn't see if anyone was in the car. Actually, even though the car's windshield wasn't dark, it was most likely that Chioujen couldn't see clearly the inside of the vehicle either, because apart from it being night, he wasn't too close either.
The gate was closed but not locked. Chioujen immediately opened the gate and walked towards the entrance of the building. Near the gate, there was a security post. There should have been a night watchman there at this hour. But the security post was empty. Although this building was almost empty, they should still pay attention to security issues.
Actually, it was also strange to build a towering building in a quiet suburban area like this. If it was built in the city center, people would say this building is not a tall building, but in a suburb like this, many people would call it a skyscraper. The ground floor of this building was eight meters high so that people felt small when they were inside. The first to the twelfth floors were each four meters high. Then, on the roof of the building, there was a building that Chioujen didn't know the function of, but it was about six meters high. So the total height of this building was sixty-six meters. Of course, that didn't include the antennas and lightning rods installed on top of this building.
Chioujen entered through the front door of the building. There was no one at the reception. Chioujen immediately headed to the room where the custodian of the building was. Chioujen saw Hannrong, the building custodian, sitting alone in that room. As soon as he saw Chioujen, Hannrong immediately stood up and said hello.
"Good evening Mr. Jongharng."
"Good evening. Hannrong, you're not home yet?"
"Not yet, Sir. Now I want to go home. Do you want to go up to the tenth floor?"
"Right. I want to go up there. Mr. Gongyang told me to get something."
"Oh yes. Since about a week ago, Mr. Gongyang has been calling me. That time, he said his friend from the six dragons would come to get some of his stuff. Did you bring the key?"
Chioujen laughed. Songfei dubbed the six of them as six dragons. "Yes. Songfei gave me these keys." Chioujen showed the keys that Songfei had sent to him.
"Yes, then you just go upstairs. Later, when you come down and I'm home, please lock the door, Sir."
"Let's make it like this. It's already night. My house is also far from here. So I thought I'd just stay here tonight. So if you want to go home now, just lock the doors and fences."
"Okay then Sir," Hannrong replied.
"I didn't see the night watchman. Is he not coming tonight?"
Hannrong shook his head. "I don't know, Sir. Maybe he will coming soon. Even then, I think he's just standing guard outside."
Hannrong briefly tidied the table and chairs in the room. After that, he took his bag and walked out of the room. Chioujen followed behind him. Locking the door to the room, he asked. "Aren't you going to meet Mr. Duanmuh here?"
"Who told you we would meet here? Ah, is Mr. Duanmuh here now? What time did he get here?"
Hannrong was a bit confused in answering the series of questions that Chioujen asked in succession.
"Earlier, around dusk, he arrived here. Then he went straight up. I actually wanted to go home. Then, because I had some business, I went out. I went briefly to the shop near the intersection. I wasn't there long. The plan is to come back here and then go straight home because I have an appointment with my friend. It turned out that later I met my friend at the shop near the intersection. Then we discussed things that we would have discussed at home. So I was there for quite a while. When I came back here, I did not see Mr. Duanmuh. I don't know if he's still upstairs or gone home. Looks like he's still here., because when I got here, the doors and fences weren't locked. Previously I told him to lock the doors and fences if I wasn't here when he was going home."
"When you came back here, didn't you see anyone?"
"I didn't see Mr. Duanmuh, but I met other people."
"You mean the other tenants in this building?"
"No Sir! I've never met them before. I don't think they're either family or friends of the people who rented the space in this building. I don't know who they are. Please don't tell anyone. They don't seem like nice people. I'm afraid I'll be punished if I get caught letting bad people in here," said Hannrong.
"How long have they been gone?"
"Just a moment ago, Sir! After they left, I went straight to my room. About five minutes later you came."
Chioujen stared intently at Hannrong. His instincts told him that something strange had happened here.
Maybe the car parked outside was their car.
"When you entered the building, what were they doing?" asked Chioujen.
"Looks like they're looking for something. I don't know what they're looking for."
Chioujen frowned.
If they were still looking for something when Hannrong came in, it meant they hadn't found what they were looking for. Whatever that is!
"After that, you didn't go upstairs to check if Mr. Duanmuh was still upstairs?"
"No sir."
"Has it not occurred to you the possibility that they are thieves or bad people? After all, what if Mr. Duanmuh caught them red-handed while the bad guys were stealing? What if they injure Mr. Duanmuh?"
Hannrong looked terrified at Chioujen's words.
He must be panicking right now. If this is true, the building management will not hesitate to punish him.
"I wanted to go up to the tenth floor. But I'm afraid to disturb Mr. Duanmuh. I think he might have overslept upstairs."
Chioujen looked at Hannrong again. He remembered Hannrong was indeed a bit of an idiot, so it was only natural that he didn't think about many things.
"We'd better check upstairs now," said Chioujen.
The two of them then went up to the tenth floor to look at the unit that Songfei had rented. Chioujen opened the unit's door and, together with Hannrong, inspected all parts of the unit. Shannchyuan wasn't there.
Chioujen sat on a chair in the main room of the unit. He tried to understand what had happened.
It seems that Songfei also asked Beaushu for help to retrieve and store his things. Then did those people have anything to do with the party that threatened Songfei's safety?
After pondering for about two minutes, Chioujen then stood up. He didn't want to keep Hannrong there any longer. The young man had already said that he was going home.
Chioujen looked directly into Hannrong's eyes. "You go home now. You lock the front gate and the front door of this building. After that, you exit the building to the backyard. You left the complex through the door in the backyard. After locking the back door, you headed straight home through the small lane that paralleled the main road ahead. Doesn't that road also lead to the main road at the crossroads? If I remember correctly, the end of the alley was only about twenty meters from the entrance of the underground station. After exiting the street where the subway station entrance is, you go home as usual."
"Why should I do that, sir?" Even though Hannrong obeyed, he still asked Chioujen's reason.
"On the street in front of this building, there is a car parked there. I'm afraid they are in the same group as the people you barged into this building. Earlier, they most likely saw me go inside. Don't let them see you leave this building. So at least in their minds there are still two people guarding this building."
Chioujen had tried to keep his explanation as simple as possible. But Hannrong's face still looked confused at Chioujen's words. Luckily, Hannrong didn't raise any objections. He was really a good kid. He nodded as he listened to Chioujen's words.
"Okay, Sir. I'll be right back now." Hannrong bowed to pay respects to Chioujen.
Chioujen wasn't so sure that Hannrong would obey the instructions he gave. So he went downstairs to keep an eye on him. From inside the building, he saw Hannrong go outside and lock the gate. After that, he saw Hannrong enter the building again and lock the front door of the building. Chioujen escorted Hannrong out of the building through the back door of the building. About twenty meters from the back door of the building, there was a parapet that separated the building complex from other building complexes facing the opposite direction. On the back wall was a small door. Behind the door, which was in the area between the two complexes facing opposite directions, a small path led to the subway station near the intersection. After seeing Hannrong leave, Chioujen immediately returned to the building and went upstairs to the tenth floor to rest there.
"Today really is a strange day," Chioujen muttered to himself. Chioujen then looked around for the item that Songfei asked him to keep. But he did not find the big blue bag he was looking for.
"It might have been taken by Beaushu." Chioujen once again said to himself. He often did things like that when he was alone. This was another thing that he had subconsciously imitated from Shannchyuan.
Maybe it's because I haven't given an answer for too long, so Songfei asked Beaushu to pick up and store his things. But where should I give the answer? In his letter, he did not write about how I would contact him.
To be sure, then Chioujen searched all the rooms in the unit once again. He didn't find it. After a bit of deliberation, Chioujen intended to take a shower before resting. He really had to sleep to recover his strength. Tomorrow morning, he will just decide what steps he will take next.
Water still flows smoothly in this building. So Chioujen could bathe in peace. After bathing, he felt hungry. Remembered that he hadn't had dinner yet. This unit had a kitchen. Chioujen opened the cupboard that was there to see if there were any edible ingredients. It turned out that there were still several packets of instant noodles.
The kitchen was also equipped with an electric stove, microwave, and several other cooking utensils. He immediately cooked the instant noodles.
While eating, he kept thinking about Shannchyuan. Hannrong didn't see him coming home. Shannchyuan couldn't possibly just leave the building.
If he didn't see Hannrong below, there was no way Beaushu would just leave. He would definitely lock the building doors and gates. Was there a chance that Beaushu would still be here?
To Chioujen's knowledge, Songfei only rented one unit in this building. So it was improbable that Shannchyuan was in another unit inside this building. Shannchyuan couldn't possibly have the keys to any other unit in this building, so there was nowhere to hide.
Then who are those people? What are they looking for in this building? Was the sedan parked on the street in front of this building's yard their car?
Thousands of questions filled Chioujen's mind. He decided to just go to sleep. Although there were no beds in this unit, there were some sleeping bags inside one room. Chioujen and friends had also slept inside the unit using a sleeping bag. After finding the sleeping bag, he immediately took the sleeping bag to the main room and slept there.
Chioujen didn't know how many hours he had been asleep when he suddenly woke up. His throat felt dry. He went to the kitchen to get a drink of water. After that, he intended to go back to sleep. Suddenly Chioujen realized something. He quickly got up and sat on a chair in the main room. He remembered there was a place in the building that might become a temporary hiding place.
Why didn't I think of that?
Chioujen grabbed his bag and searched for something inside. He took a flashlight. After that, he entered a room inside the unit that functioned as a warehouse. After searching for a while, he picked up an iron rod that looked like a baseball stick. It turned out to be quite heavy. Then rushed out of the unit door and headed for the stairs. He chose to use the stairs to be more free to move. In fact, he could run if at any time there was a danger that threatened.
Chioujen descended to the ninth floor. He remembered Shannchyuan had said that there was a room on the ninth floor rented by a friend of Songfei's. Shannchyuan didn't tell himself which unit he was referring to. Chioujen also didn't know Shannchyuan knew exactly or had only heard of Songfei. It was possible that Songfei also held the key to the unit's door on the ninth floor and then sent it to Shannchyuan. Of course, the only way to be sure is to check one by one the units on the ninth floor.
Chioujen had already arrived on the ninth floor. Suddenly, he heard the sound of something falling.
There's something on this ninth floor!
He opened the stairwell door very carefully. After pausing for a while, he began to walk without making a sound. With short strides, he crept toward the front door of one unit on the floor.
It was dark because there were no lights in the corridor or in the units on the ninth floor that were lit. Chioujen aimed the flashlight he was carrying up to the ceiling to see if there was anything stuck above. Then he also pointed the flashlight down to check the surface of the tiles on the ninth floor. He couldn't find anything suspicious. When he passed through one of the unit doors on the ninth floor, he saw a streak of bright light coming out of a small gap under the unit's entrance.
Is there anyone inside?
Chioujen looked at the door in front of him. Then he put his left ear to the door leaf. Of course, Chioujen was aware that such efforts would not yield the results he wanted. Chioujen didn't have any superpowers, so he couldn't possibly hear any sound from behind the door. But somehow, he still did it. Sometimes Chioujen, like Shannchyuan, did things for no apparent reason.
The ray of light that had seemed to come out of the small gap under the door was now out of sight. Chioujen then grabbed the doorknob and tried to open it. Turned out it wasn't locked.
Maybe someone is in this unit!
Chioujen hesitated for a moment. He was undecided whether to continue or to return to the tenth floor. He had no right to barge into this ninth floor's unit.
But what about the sound of the falling object? What if someone is injured or unconscious?
Chioujen then made up his mind to step into the unit. He felt he had no bad intentions. Once inside, he closed the door again. After that, he looked around for the light switch. The layout of the rooms in this unit was almost the same as the layout of the rooms in the unit rented by Songfei on the tenth floor. It wasn't long before he found the switch in the main room.
After the lights came on, Chioujen immediately inspected the main room. He didn't find anything suspicious. Everything seems to be in its proper position.
What light did I see?
Chioujen then tried to open the rooms inside the unit. But the rooms were locked. He then knocked on each door of the rooms and asked if anyone was inside. It turned out that there was no answer. Chioujen then sat on the sofa in the main room. He was still undecided about what to do. He could not determine whether behind the locked doors there was someone behind or not. After sitting for about three minutes, he finally decided to check the other units on the ninth floor.
Chioujen then left the unit. When he passed the other units, he witnessed the same thing that had happened before. In the unit next to the one Chioujen had entered, he also saw a beam of light coming out of the gap under the unit's entrance. This time, without waiting for the light to go out, Chioujen immediately grabbed the door handle. He immediately opened the door.
When the door opened, Chioujen saw a dazzling light. Because it was so bright, Chioujen couldn't see anything except the bright light. Three seconds later, Chioujen's vision became blurry. The blurry vision quickly turned to darkness. Chioujen lost his sight!
Chioujen was surprised. He staggered. Unable to see, Chioujen hit the wall inside the unit. His head hit the wall hard. Chioujen then felt his head hurt a lot. Then he fell to the floor. Chioujen tried to get up, but the pain in his head made it difficult for him to concentrate. What's more, he couldn't see anything.
After much effort, Chioujen finally managed to stand up. He tried to walk. His hands were reaching forward, trying to find a grip. After walking three steps, he tripped over something. Maybe one of the furniture in the main room of the unit. Chioujen then fell to the ground. This time, his head hit the floor. Chioujen groaned in pain. Five seconds later, he was unconscious.
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