Chapter 123: The Enigma of the House Number

When Pao Fanshan opened his eyes again, he found himself bound tightly to a chair in the study with nylon rope. The gentle, melancholic strains of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 spun repeatedly from a phonograph nearby.

The dim, amber light of the study cast a glow over the woman standing by the window, her silhouette as graceful and undulating as the peaks of distant mountains at sunset.

Hearing the soft groan Pao Fanshan let out as he regained consciousness, the woman slowly turned. Jin Yue’s delicate, alluring face came into view. She took a sip of the red wine in her hand, stared at the small ice cubes bobbing in the crimson liquid, and sighed. With a pout like an eighteen-year-old girl, she shot him a resentful glance and murmured, "Why are you so annoying? Always clinging to others—don't you get tired of it?"

Pao Fanshan twisted his body, unable to break free. He cursed under his breath, then plastered a smile on his face. "Not annoying at all! If you don't like it, just untie these ropes, and I promise I'll never bother you again."

Jin Yue chuckled softly, walked over to a vase, and blinked with feigned innocence. "Fine. Give me back what you took from me, and I’ll let you go immediately. I’ll even give you a large sum of money so you can spend your twilight years in comfort."

Pao Fanshan frowned, bewildered. "What things? I destroyed those photos from back then years ago—you saw me do it yourself..."

Jin Yue shook her head, pouting. "I'm not talking about the past; I'm talking about today." She twisted the vase, and the bookshelf automatically slid aside, revealing a square safe. Jin Yue swayed her hips as she approached, quickly dialed the combination, and opened the door. She pointed at the empty interior. "The things I kept here are gone. You took them, didn't you? Give them back, and you're free."

Pao Fanshan shook his head frantically. "No, it wasn't me! I didn't even know there was anything here..."

"Wasn't it?" Jin Yue tilted her head.

"It really wasn't," Pao Fanshan insisted. "Look at me—I'm tied up so tight you could count every hair on my body. How could I possibly be hiding your things?"

"I know it wasn't you," Jin Yue said, swirling her wine glass nonchalantly. "You're not capable of it. With your pig-headed brain, you never would have guessed there was a safe here, and even if you had, you wouldn't have the skill to open it."

Pao Fanshan let out a sigh of relief and chuckled. "Then let me go! I can help you investigate. I’ll find a way to get your things back. We’re all fellow townsfolk; we should love and help one another, right?"

Jin Yue raised her glass, watching the light fracture against the bottom of the cup through the red wine. A cold smile curled her lips. "Don't trouble yourself. It doesn't matter that the items were lost; I actually intended for them to be stolen. But there is one more thing. My relative used to live in the basement of this villa, but after you showed up, he vanished. Can you tell me... where he went?"

"How would I know? I want to know too!" Pao Fanshan’s eyes darted around, and he gritted his teeth. "Little Wang and I were just drinking tea, eating apples, and chatting—it was all perfectly fine. Then this person suddenly appeared and knocked me out..."

"Oh, is that so?" Jin Yue took another light sip, her tone flat. "And what about Wang Chao? Why is his phone always unreachable?"

"How should I know?" Pao Fanshan said, feigning helplessness. "I was already unconscious by then. Even if I wanted to help him pacify your relative, I couldn't."

"I see..." Jin Yue walked up to him with light, graceful steps. "Then can you tell me who took the contents of the safe?"

"I don't know that either," Pao Fanshan sighed. "Maybe it was your relative, or maybe another thief. Jin Yue, your house was broken into by two brutal, murderous thugs. It was terrifying! I nearly lost my life. You really should keep your doors and windows locked from now on."

"Thieves?" Jin Yue burst into a fit of giggles, her laughter ringing through the room. "And 'brutal, murderous thugs'? If they were really that dangerous, would you still be alive to talk to me now?"

"It's true!" Pao Fanshan stared at her curvaceous figure, swallowed hard, and swore on his life. "There were two of them! One tall, one short; one fat, one thin!"

Jin Yue lifted her chin. "You mean Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie?"

"You know them?" Pao Fanshan asked, shocked. "They were indeed wearing masks of Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie."

Jin Yue pulled out her phone, opened a security camera app, and held the screen toward him. "In a villa this large, wouldn't it be strange not to have a few cameras?" The footage showed the entire incident in the study. She withdrew the phone. "Actually, this isn't their first time visiting. They came once before my husband passed away. But they didn't make it into the study that time, which left me quite disappointed..."

"Disappointed?" Pao Fanshan blanked, staring at her blankly. "What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like." Jin Yue walked slowly behind him, narrowing her eyes. "I let them into my home on purpose. Let me tell you a secret..."

Pao Fanshan interrupted urgently, "No, no, I don't want to hear it! I know the rules—if you tell me, I'm a dead man. Better keep your secret to yourself."

"Just listen," Jin Yue pouted. "It's rare that I feel like opening up... Actually, I do know those two 'thugs' you mentioned. Well, I know of them, but they don't know me. A while back, I attended a real estate developer's opening ceremony and noticed them. They were there to cause trouble, claiming the company owed them wages..."

She paused, then continued, "It’s nothing unusual; which boss doesn't owe wages these days? As they were leaving, I heard the thin one say this wasn't over and that he would take what was owed to him himself. Because of that, I tracked them for a long time and discovered they were tailing someone else—the very real estate developer who lives at Villa No. 6. So, I deliberately swapped the house numbers in front of my villa."

Pao Fanshan’s jaw dropped. "Most people are afraid of thieves, but you invited them in..." He suddenly shivered and covered his mouth. "No, no, don't say another word. I didn't hear anything!"

Jin Yue sighed mournfully. "My life has been so suffocating. I went to such lengths to marry Yang Hai, only for him to treat me as a tool. If that were all, it would be fine, but the people from our hometown, Greenvine City—including you—are always haunting me like ghosts. It’s so annoying! I kept thinking, how could I make you all stop? I realized there was only one way. You know that big shot in Greenvine City? I have a piece of leverage on him, hidden in this safe. I’ve been praying for someone to steal it, so I intentionally set the combination to 696969..."

Pao Fanshan’s eyes widened, a bone-chilling cold creeping into his marrow. "You’re crazy. You’re truly insane!"

Jin Yue laughed, covering her mouth. "I just wanted to live a quiet life. Since he wouldn't let me have peace, I decided to give him something to worry about instead. Alas, those thieves were a bit slow—it took them two tries to get the goods. I hope they survive those people... they are poor souls, after all."

Pao Fanshan began to laugh maniacally. "Hahaha, they’re dead..." Then he broke into a frantic, hysterical sob. "Hahahaha, and I’m dead too!"

Jin Yue glanced at him with a pout, peeled off her right white glove, and inspected a scratch on her hand. "Just today, I learned a lesson: you don't have to do things yourself to get them done. I tried to punish that useless relative of mine today, and look—I ended up with a scratch. So... for you, I won't do it myself." She poured the remaining wine and ice from her glass onto Pao Fanshan’s head, leaned in, and whispered a few words into his ear: "As for your life, leave it to time!"

Pao Fanshan shuddered in terror as Jin Yue stuffed a wad of cotton into his mouth. She then dragged him toward the villa's cold storage, where she began to douse him with icy water, over and over again, as if she were watering flowers.