Chapter 137
Chapter 137
“Old Man…”
Upstairs, the Old Man shot upright when he heard Liu Ye calling for him like a wandering spirit. Before he could get out of bed, Liu Ye pushed open the door.
“Old Man, how are you feeling? I heard you were sick. Luckily, I made some medicinal wine during my trip.”
Liu Ye produced the wine he had brewed during the contest.
The Old Man stared at the dead Fiends floating inside-several former colleagues whose eyes remained wide open in death-and sucked in a sharp breath.
Then he smiled kindly.
“Liu, it’s thoughtful of you. But this is a chronic illness, and I can’t consume things carelessly. I appreciate the gesture. You should give the wine to your big brother and his friends. They’ve been weak lately and could use something nourishing.”
The Driver and the other Fiends stared at him.
That wretched old bastard was truly rotten.
“Don’t worry. I saved their portions.”
Liu Ye brought out several more bottles.
The Driver and the others nearly died of fright when they saw the strange creatures drifting around inside. What exactly had Liu Ye been doing all this time? Was this his way of expressing dissatisfaction with them?
“Big Brother!”
“Aaaah!”
The Driver jolted so violently that he nearly jumped off the floor.
“Wh-what do you want?”
“I just wanted to borrow your phone. I’ve been away for so long that my family must be worried. I should call and let them know I’m safe.”
The Fiends immediately perked up. They desperately wanted to know what sort of miraculous place could have produced someone as bizarre as Liu Ye.
“Borrow the phone at the supermarket across the street. We don’t have one here.”
“Huh? I remember you having a phone.”
The other Fiends turned slow, accusing gazes toward the Driver.
He fell silent.
They had owned one once.
“Enough questions. Use the one outside. Mine ran out of credit.”
He shoved Liu Ye through the door. The others followed, eager to learn more about his family.
At the supermarket, Liu Ye picked up an old-fashioned landline and dialed a string of numbers.
Beep… beep… beep…
…
In Black Cow Village, the village chief lounged in his house, smoking contentedly. Liu Ye had taken away several objects, but as long as Liu Ye himself remained gone, nothing else mattered.
Ring! Ring!
The telephone startled him. Who would call at this hour?
“Hello?”
“Village Chief Grandpa!”
Crash!
Liu Ye heard a tremendous clatter from the other end, followed by the busy signal.
He stared at the receiver.
His next call rang for a long time without an answer. Worry crept over him. Had something happened to Village Chief Grandpa?
Just as he wondered, the village chief felt a familiar agony descend upon him. He knew there was no escape. It had always been this way: whenever they upset Liu Ye, they suffered torment straight from hell.
He hurriedly picked up.
“Hello? Is that Little Ye?”
“It’s me, Village Chief Grandpa. Have you been well?”
“Very well! Extremely well!”
As long as you stay away.
“Village Chief Grandpa, I miss all of you. I miss Black Cow Village.” Liu Ye’s eyes reddened. This was the longest he had ever been away from home. Of course he was homesick.
“You’re not coming back, are you?” the village chief cried in horror.
“No. I haven’t earned any money yet.”
“Oh, heavens. You scared me to death.”
“What?”
“I said… what a terrible shame. Is there anything else? If not, I’ll hang up.”
“Village Chief, where are my parents and Brother Guiwa? I want to hear their voices.”
The village chief turned. All three were waving frantically at him.
“They’re right here. They miss you too. I’ll put them on.”
The three Fiends stared at him.
Damn you, Old Man!
With no way out, they took the receiver and forced smiles into their voices.
“Son! It’s your mother!”
“It’s your father!”
“It’s your grandfather!”
Silence followed.
The other two Fiends looked at Guiwa. He scratched his head awkwardly.
“Sorry. Force of habit.”
Crash! Bang! Thud!
Hearing the familiar commotion through the receiver, Liu Ye sighed fondly. The village was as lively as ever.
After a moment, his mother’s voice returned.
“Son, remember to eat properly and work hard. Don’t worry about home. We’re all doing well.”
“That’s right,” his father added. “Don’t deprive yourself while you’re away. Spend money when you need to.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
Guiwa contributed something incomprehensible at the end.
Liu Ye nearly burst into tears.
“All right, son. The call is expensive, so we’ll stop here. We’ll talk again when we have time.”
They hung up. Liu Ye sniffled and vowed to earn enough money to return home and repay his parents as soon as possible.
The Driver and his companions noticed nothing unusual. Liu Ye’s parents sounded perfectly normal. How had they raised someone like him? Where had everything gone wrong?
“Big Brother, can you find me a job? I’m ready to work!” Liu Ye declared with renewed determination.
“Of course!” the Driver agreed immediately.
The Shadow Fiend and the others looked at him in surprise. Why had he answered so quickly?
The Driver took out a telephone directory.
“You’ll need to wait, though. I have to buy a new phone first.”
The Fiends fell silent.
It seemed he had finally discovered how to handle Liu Ye.
After they left, a man emerged from the supermarket and sprinted away. He soon reached a company that served as one of the Illuminati’s bases.
Inside a hidden room stood forty-nine monitors. He pressed a button, and a few minutes later every screen lit up. Shadow-shrouded figures appeared, their faces impossible to discern.
They were all the Illuminati members remaining in Xia Kingdom.
There had once been 108. Liu Ye had personally removed more than fifty of them.
To prevent him from causing further trouble, the organization had assigned an agent to monitor Liu Ye and report his every move.
“Why summon us so urgently? Has Liu Ye done something again?”
The agent could barely contain his excitement.
“Everyone, I found Liu Ye’s family!”
“What? Are you certain?”
Every figure on the screens leaned forward.
“Absolutely. They have to be his family. You should have seen him-he was almost crying.”
The Illuminati members erupted in delighted laughter. At last, they had found his weakness.
Liu Ye had humiliated their Xia Kingdom branch and even allowed the Fiend Investigation Bureau to surpass them. Now that they knew his weakness, how could they fail to exploit it?
“Where does his family live?”
“Black Cow Village.”