Chapter 460: Fresh Meat Dumpling
The neighbourhood was split into 9 zones. Zones 1 to 4 were on the right side, 5 to 9, the left side. The right side was clearly livelier than the left.
Following the address, Han Fei arrived at the apartment building at the deepest corner of the neighbourhood. There was basically no one here. Carrying the delivery box, Han Fei walked up the stairs and pressed the electric bell at the door. The bell chimed but no one answered. ‘The exterior of the building looks similar to the other buildings, the lawn and garden are kept nicely but it doesn’t seem like the place is occupied.’
Han Fei called the number of the person who ordered the white rice. The dial tone was busy. ‘The door is locked so how did Wang Pingan enter it yesterday night? Someone opened the door for him?’ While Han Fei was pondering what to do, footsteps came from the corridor. He lifted his head with shock. A 60 plus old man was moving down the stairs holding his phone. ‘He is the one who ordered the rice? He’s still alive?’ It was noon but the stairwell was unnaturally dark.
The old man reached the first floor and spoke into the phone. “If you are really that busy, then it’s alright if you don’t come back during the holidays, I’m quite fine being on my own.”
Then he hung up. He walked towards the door and looked out. “Who are you looking for?”
“I’m here for delivery.” Han Fei’s call hadn’t gone through but the old man had already finished the call so he wasn’t the one who ordered the white rice.
“Delivery?” The old man stared at Han Fei for a long time before he opened the door. “Come on in.”
“Thank you, uncle.” Han Fei carried the delivery box and was about to enter the building when a chilling wind swept past him, causing him to shiver.
“Kid, the tenants here have almost all moved out. Who ordered the delivery?”
“The address given is River Head Neighbourhood Zone 9, 4th floor and Number 19.” Han Fei took out his phone to pretend to look at it.
“4th floor?” The old man was already turning to walk away but when he heard Han Fei, he stopped. “Are you sure? There isn’t anyone living on the 4th floor anymore.”
“But that’s the address I was given.”
The old man said nothing but only nodded.
Bang! When Han Fei reached the 3rd floor, there came the sound of door slamming from the 1st floor. It sounded like someone had locked the building. ‘It’s daylight so there shouldn’t be any problem.’ The landlord’s ring didn’t react and his mood point was normal. Han Fei adjusted his emotion and came to the 4th floor. The high-class apartments at River Head Neighbourhood were not that high. For example, this building only had 5 floors.
“Is anyone home?” Standing before Room 401, Han Fei’s voice echoed throughout the entire corridor. “Your delivery is here.” Han Fei looked around. The corridor was darker than before. The sun was bright outside the building but inside the building, it was dark. “Is anyone…” Before Han Fei finished, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He was spooked. “Wang Pingan? Why is he calling me now?”
Han Fei accepted the call worried that something had happened to Wang Pingan. However, on the other end of the phone, Wang Pingan didn’t say anything, he just continued to laugh that silly laugh of his. However, this only made Han Fei even more worried. “Pingan, are you okay? Hello? Hello!” The signal suddenly worsened. After some static, the call disconnected.
Holding the phone, Han Fei was pondering why Wang Pingan had called him when his phone vibrated again. The caller Id showed that it was the person who ordered the white rice. Holding his breath, Han Fei didn’t make any noise as he accepted the call. He focused on capturing all the details from the other end of the line.
There was the sound of rice being washed, vegetables being chopped, things being fried and so on… The person sounded like they were busy in the kitchen.
‘Something’s not right.’ Various sounds came from the phone but as Han Fei leaned against the door, he couldn’t hear any sounds coming from inside the room. ‘Am I in the wrong place?’
The person called Han Fei but he didn’t say a word so Han Fei didn’t dare hang up. This continued for about 20 seconds. Then a man’s voice said, “The dishes are all ready, go and set the table.”
“Second brother, father is not home yet, he has gone out to purchase some stuff.”
“We are not low on anything, what has he gone out to buy?”
“Meat perhaps.”
“We have more than enough meat. We still have a whole fridge of frozen meat to finish. Why buy so much meat? This is such a waste!”
“Father wants to have fresh meat dumplings.”
“Does it really matter? Go and set the table, I’ll go and find father.”
Footsteps came from the phone. The sound came closer and closer to Han Fei. Soon it approached the door, then the sound of the door opening came from the phone. As the doorknob twisted, the door before Han Fei also opened at the same time. Listening to the strange noises coming from the phone and watching the door behind him slowly open, Han Fei tightened his grip on the strap of the delivery box. The moment the door opened, the noises from the phone disappeared. Han Fei stood at the door with the phone, wondering if he should enter the room.
‘Why did I pick the time of the day when the Yin energy is the strongest to come here?’ River Head Neighbourhood was a high-end living location. The room was huge and the interior design was lavish. However the place was covered in dust, clearly it hadn’t been occupied for a long time already.
“Your delivery has arrived.” Han Fei slowly walked into the room. He noticed the living room table was placed with fruits that had gone dry. He turned to the dining table and saw that it was filled with rotten dishes. ‘So many dishes? Looks like they were preparing for a reunion dinner.’
Holding the delivery box with one hand, Han Fei walked to the dining table. As he studied the food on the table, he suddenly felt gazes upon him. He turned to the bedroom to his side and his spine tingled. The wooden table in the bedroom was arranged with a row of black and white portraits!
The pictures had both young and old, male and female. They were all staring at Han Fei. Sucking in a cold breath, Han Fei touched the landlord’s ring and his Adam Apple trembled. Resisting his fear, Han Fei walked towards the bedroom.
The bedroom’s windows were firmly shut so it was extremely dark. Stopping beside the table, Han Fei opened the delivery box. He placed the rucksack to the side and slowly arranged the bowls of white rice before the death portraits. “I mean no disrespect, I’m just here to deliver the white rice. If you like the rice from this restaurant, I can deliver them specifically for you in the future. I can even bring the chef to you.”
Perhaps he was too nervous, when Han Fei served the rice, he ‘accidentally’ knocked over the old lady’s rucksack. The love letter, the dumpling leaves and the letter for an old friend all tumbled out. “I’m sorry, this is my first day at work so I\'m quite nervous.” Han Fei talked to himself as he picked up the stuff. As he reached for the letter for an old friend, a pair of pale hands reached for it first. Han Fei looked up and a group of expressionless and bloodless people stood at the bedroom door. They all stared transfixed at Han Fei.
The door in the living room closed. The pale faces slowly approached Han Fei.
“Wait, wait a minute!” Han Fei unzipped the delivery man\'s uniform to show the 2nd hand shop’s uniform underneath. “You might not believe me but I am here to take revenge for you.”
However, once Han Fei showed his uniform, the temperature in the room dropped to freezing point. The frost from the landlord’s ring cut at Han Fei’s finger like a knife.
“I’ve brought out the letter and the dumpling leaves with me. I am the boss’ next target! I have no other choice. Since I am going to die anyway, I’ve decided to make my death more valuable!” Seeing the reaction of the people in Room 19, Han Fei knew what to do next. He prepared his emotions and was about to speak but an accident happened.
Han Fei’s phone vibrated. He lowered his head to look at the number. Han Fei had seen the number once before. When Han Fei borrowed Huang Li’s phone to call Wang Pingan’s father, he looked through her contact list. This number was among that list and Huang Li marked the number as ‘boss’.
‘The mall boss is calling at a time like this? Has he discovered the problem with the altar?’ Han Fei hesitated. It would not be a good idea to answer the call of the murderer before his victims.