Chapter 564: Tricked

“Arriving in Bucharest airspace in around two minutes, now finding a suitable landing spot.”

Roddy sat on the pilot’s seat within the Tidal Fighter. After saying that, he flipped a switch. “Entering stealth mode.”

Chen Xiaolian and Soo Soo sat side by side within the aircraft’s cabin.

Chen Xiaolian, Roddy and Soo Soo. They were the only ones involved in this trip to Bucharest.

Lun Tai and Bei Tai were in charge of looking after home-related matters. At the same time, there was also a need to set aside an extra person to keep an eye on their captive, Nightmare. Xia Xiaolei and Qimu Xi were in charge of looking after the base.

As mentioned earlier, their destination this time was Bucharest, the capital of Romania.

According to the note provided by Nightmare, Phoenix from Coffeehouse Guild would be appearing at a certain location within the city sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Chen Xiaolian’s reasoning for this trip was very simple. It would appear that Mr San wants to bring us all together. If so, I will take action to gather us up and see what happens.

Bringing Soo Soo out was Chen Xiaolian’s decision. The objective of this trip was to look for Phoenix – considering the relationship between their two parties, a fight was unlikely to erupt. Additionally, Soo Soo’s recent state left Chen Xiaolian worried. He could not rest easy leaving her alone back at home. Thus, he decided to bring her along to take matters off her mind.

It was presently 10 o’clock in the evening, local time. Roddy however, decided on a most heinous landing spot, the country’s parliamentary building, the infamous Palace of the Parliament.

The building exuded an Eastern European Soviet atmosphere and was known as the world’s second largest building, losing out only to the Pentagon in America. The building’s rooftop was very spacious.

During the night, the invisible Tidal Fighter descended and hovered above the rooftop of the building. Next, Chen Xiaolian, Roddy and Soo Soo jumped down the aircraft before keeping the Tidal Fighter back into the storage equipment.

Given their abilities, the security of the parliamentary building was naturally not an issue for them. The three of them casually made their way out of the parliamentary building and arrived upon the famed Unification Avenue outside.

Karsters Brothers Hotel.

According to the note, that was the place where Phoenix would appear.

Chen Xiaolian waited beside the street with Soo Soo while Roddy went looking for a car. A few minutes later, Roddy ran back.

“We have a bit of an issue,” said Roddy with a wry smile.

“What happened?”

“I had asked the cab drivers here. The Karsters Brothers Hotel that you mentioned, there are a total of six of them.”

Chen Xiaolian was stunned.

“The bosses of the place are two brothers. Originally, they had only opened up one hotel. However, business has been booming for the past few years, so they opened up several more chains.” Roddy shrugged and continued, “Do you have the exact address in the note?”

Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “This will be problematic. We will have to look through them one by one.”

Roddy pulled out his mobile phone and accessed its GPS function for a moment. It did not take long for him to obtain the addresses for the six hotels.

“Let’s split up,” said Chen Xiaolian. “You go one way while I take Soo Soo on the other.”

Roddy considered the proposal and said, “I did not participate in the London instance dungeon. If I end up meeting Phoenix, I fear she would not trust me.”

After thinking about it, Chen Xiaolian pulled out a bullet and handed it to Roddy.

That was a special spirit-force bullet. Phoenix had given him the bullet during the London instance dungeon, along with the spirit-force revolver.

“After seeing this bullet, she will probably believe you. While spirit-force bullets are not rare, the two of us are the only ones who know about her giving me her spirit-force revolver.”

There was a strange smile on Roddy’s face. After accepting the bullet, he gave a whistle before leaving.

Having done that, Chen Xiaolian turned around to look at Soo Soo, who remained beside him. She maintained the same frosty demeanour as she stood beside him, a rabbit shaped headset on her head. She had her eyes closed as she listened to the music.

Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows and reached out with his hand to lift up the headset. He listened to the music coming from the headset and was unable to refrain from frowning.

“You are listening to this?” Chen Xiaolian looked at Soo Soo and said, “Death metal?”

Soo Soo cast a calm look at Chen Xiaolian and said, “I feel very calm when I listen to it.”

Oh well, this gloomy loli cannot be measured using common sense.

Chen Xiaolian decided to confiscate the headset. “Don’t listen to this kind of music so much. It is not good for you.”

“So, oppa prefers the other me, is that it?”

Chen Xiaolian felt his scalp tingle and he was at a loss on how to answer her. He looked at the emotionless expression on her face and finally made up his mind. He exercised his authority as an adult. Pinching Soo Soo by the ear, he pulled her with him until they were beside the street. There, they flagged down a cab.

The search efforts proved harder than expected.

Although they had a target objective in mind, finding one person within a city with over two million people was nowhere near as easy as he had imagined.

In one of the Karsters Brothers’ chain of hotels, Chen Xiaolian used one hundred US dollars to bribe one of the staff members in charge of reception.

The results of his inquiry disappointed him.

The hotel was not playing host to a ‘young and beautiful woman with an Asian face’. There was also no ‘thickset man with a face of someone who should not be provoked’.

He received the same result in the second hotel he visited.

The same was true on Roddy’s end. He had visited two hotels, but failed to find anything. According to Roddy, he was heading toward the third hotel. “It is a bit far. Looks like it is at a tourist spot somewhere in the outskirts of the city.”

All Chen Xiaolian could do was to remind him to be careful and to keep in touch. As for him, he brought Soo Soo with him to the third hotel on his list.

There were only a few minutes left until midnight when Chen Xiaolian and Soo Soo arrived.

However, what they saw left Chen Xiaolian speechless.

A considerable portion of the ‘Karsters Brothers Hotel’ signboard was blocked from view.

Reinforced concrete and scaffolding rose up, completely blocking the four-storey building standing before them from view.

As it was night, he could see no workers around.

Chen Xiaolian stood beside the street for a minute before making his way into the building, which appeared mostly demolished.

The structure of the building remained. However, the interior had been stripped bare. Even so, it was still possible to make out the original shape of the hotel lobby, restaurant and a few of the rooms upstairs.

Demolished?

Chen Xiaolian was somewhat disappointed with this discovery. He then contacted Roddy, who informed Chen Xiaolian that he was still on his way to his third hotel. He estimated that it would take him another half an hour to reach his destination.

Hearing about Chen Xiaolian’s discovery, Roddy pondered for a moment before replying, “Since none of the hotels on your end checks out, this one I am heading to might be the one where Phoenix is at. How about you come over and meet up with me?”

Chen Xiaolian considered his suggestion and said, “No hurry. I keep getting the feeling that the place you are headed to may not be the right one. It is too far away from the city. After all, the location specified by Mr San is Bucharest.”

“Very well. I will first head to my destination and make an inquiry. Let us contact each other again once that is done.”

After finishing his conversation with Roddy, Chen Xiaolian turned to look at Soo Soo.

“Let us find a place to rest for a bit.” Chen Xiaolian brought Soo Soo along as he made his way along the street.

The street was, relatively speaking, one of the more prosperous areas there.  It was wider and cleaner; and there were numerous stores on either side of the street. Although it was already midnight where businesses would call it a day, they could still see one or two 24-hour convenience shops, which remained open.

It did not take Chen Xiaolian much effort to inquire about an all-night bar located at a nearby junction.

The two of them walked forward and found the said bar. What greeted them when they opened the door to the bar was a thick scent of tobacco and alcohol.

However, it was not too noisy inside.

The bar was not very big and it only had four to five tables. Beside the bar counter was a small performing stage, where a middle-aged man was singing softly. Hearing the Romanian song, Chen Xiaolian felt nothing.

Only two of the bar’s tables were occupied. There was also one guest at the bar counter; he appeared to be drunk and was sleeping.

Chen Xiaolian found a place by the window and sat down. When the waitress in apron approached, he turned toward her and said, “Beer.”

“Same as him.” Soo Soo said coolly.

Chen Xiaolian smacked Soo Soo on the head, causing her to raise her head at Chen Xiaolian, a frown on her face.

“A little child drinking beer? Nonsense! Give her fruit juice.”

The waitress on the other hand, did not seem to mind. “Little children also should not be visiting a bar, but… … who cares.”

After that, Chen Xiaolian accepted a bottle of the locally produced Romanian beer. After drinking two mouthfuls of the beer, he began surveying his surroundings. The waitress appeared intrigued by Chen Xiaolian and Soo Soo. After glancing at them a few times, she walked over.

“Tourists?”

Chen Xiaolian did not reply.

“Bringing her to a bar is not a good thing. If the police see her, they will cause problems for you.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Are you afraid they will cause problems for you?”

“No.” The waitress smiled and said, “Since we can open up a bar here, the police would not trouble us.”

Chen Xiaolian regarded the waitress. She was neither too old nor too young. Although she had yet to lose her body shape, there were already wrinkles on her face. She did however, put on a thick layer of makeup.

Chen Xiaolian placed a hundred US dollars on the table and said, “I would like to ask some questions.”

The waitress smiled and gave Soo Soo a glance. “If you need a woman, I can give you a number.”

“No, not that kind of question.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head and continued, “Just some simple questions.”

The waitress’ face flickered. “Are you a cop?”

“A yellow-skinned, black-haired cop?” Chen Xiaolian smiled.

The waitress thought about it and relaxed. “You are part of the mafia?”

“At my age, really? Would the mafia conduct its business while bringing a little girl along with them?”

“All right, what do you want to ask?” The waitress smiled. She deftly extended one hand out to the table and the hundred-dollar bill disappeared.

“That Karsters Brothers Hotel by the street. Why is it closed?”

The waitress smiled and said, “Renovation. I hear the bosses are preparing to renovate this hotel and turn it into their flagship hotel. The renovation works have been going on for a good half year now.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded. “So, did you recently see any strange guests? For example, someone like me, someone with an Asian face.”

“We have had quite a number of guests from Asia here. While the number of people with Asian faces is limited, there had been quite a few. I don’t get what you are asking.”

“A young woman, around my age, she is very… … very beautiful,” said Chen Xiaolian slowly. “She has companions. One of them should be a thickset fellow with a rather terrifying face. Ah right, he may also have a monkey on his shoulder.”

“No.” The waitress shook her head frankly. “If I did meet those people before, I would have remembered.”

Chen Xiaolian felt somewhat disappointed. At that very moment though, his eyes subconsciously swept around and his gaze fell upon a wall within the bar. There was a painting there.

Chen Xiaolian’s eyes lit up.

It was on oil painting. Judging by its appearance, it was probably not some antique oil painting.

The painting depicted the back of a young girl who sat before a canvas. There before the young girl was a field of sunflowers.

The back of the young girl revealed a very slim figure and her hair was black in colour.

Chen Xiaolian’s eye power was exceptionally good and he was able to quickly notice the charcoal pen signature at the bottom left side of the painting.

It was in English: {Phoenix}.

In other words…

Phoenix! [1]

He abruptly revealed a smile. Next, he turned to face the waitress and said with a serious expression, “You sure know how to talk.”

“I don’t get your meaning.” The waitress shook her head.

“That painting.” Chen Xiaolian pointed at the oil painting and said, “Where did that painting come from?”

The waitress maintained a calm demeanour, showing no trace of panic at all. “Our boss here is someone who likes art. He knows many of the artists here, be they famous or not, rich or poor. Of course, considering our boss’ level of wealth, he is simply incapable of buying up some infamous artwork. So, he bought some of the artworks by some unknown artists and hung them up here. If you ask me, he simply does not understand art.”

“Why do you say that?”

“This is Bucharest.” The waitress smiled and said, “There are so many buildings with various types of architectures here. So, many artists would come here to paint the scenery here. There are at least 20 art galleries in this neighbourhood. During daytime, any one of the guests in one of the cafes by the street could be a poor artist.”

Chen Xiaolian pondered and said, “I am interested in that painting. Is it possible for you to find the one who painted it?”

“I am sorry, only the boss would know that. I am just a worker here.” The waitress shook her head. She seemingly knew what Chen Xiaolian would ask next and said, “The boss is not here today. He went to Budapest last week, so it may take a few more days before he returns.”

After saying that, the waitress smiled and said, “All right, your 100 dollars’ worth of service time is over. I still have other matters to deal with. If you have anything else, just call for me.”

After that, she turned to leave. Before leaving, she also sent a flirtatious wink at Chen Xiaolian.

“She is lying.” Soo Soo, who had been sipping her fruit juice with a straw, suddenly spoke up.

“How do you know that?”

“A woman’s intuition.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and patted her on the head. “How old are you? A woman? You are just a little kiddo.”

Next, Chen Xiaolian turned around to look at the waitress. He furrowed his brows and said, “I also think she is lying. However, why did she lie… …”

A few minutes later, the waitress took off the apron on her person, pulled an overcoat from the wall and wore it. Then, she sent a flying kiss at Chen Xiaolian and said, “I am getting off work. If there is anything else, you can ask the waiters here. Goodbye, dear.”

Chen Xiaolian watched as the waitress walked out the door and his mind raced. He kept getting the feeling that there was something wrong. He made his way to the bar counter and asked the bartender there. “Is your boss here?”

The bartender appeared stunned. “The boss? Didn’t she just left? I saw her send a flying kiss your way. Aren’t you her friend?”

Chen Xiaolian swiftly turned around to charge out of the pub.

…

1 Phoenix in Chinese is ‘凤凰’, pinyin: ‘Fèng huáng’.↩