Chapter 153 - They Are Open

Qing Chen decided it would be best to not waste time and get right to it. Wuming had provided an address to the driver and they all quieted down while they wait to get there.

Qing Lok enjoyed the heater and sprawled against the other side of the limousine and slept. Wuming was just looking out the window as the familiar roads back to the city flashed by them. It was great for a little while to see how the trees thinned out as they went farther from the training grounds and got replaced by buildings and then skyscr.a.p.ers.

With his mind getting bored, he decided to entertain himself with annoying Qing Chen. His younger brother was not even surprised to find folders of updated office reports in the car and began reading them the moment they had a lead.

"Chen, I do not know how you do this," Wuming said as he examined a colorful bar graph. "How can you live like this?"

"What do you mean?" Qing Chen replied.

"This is so boring. Why do you subject yourself to this torture?"

"If I won't, who else would do it?" 

"Nobody should do it."

"Should I just let the this entire family's legacy crumble?"

"Who needs that much money anyway?" Wuming laughed. "You can feed a whole city till they die."

Qing Chen's lips smiled. "That's an exaggeration."

"You know it's not. Look at these numbers. I would've drowned just by looking at it."

Qing Chen closed a folder and took up another one. "It's not that plenty to be honest. We're mainly contributing in this city's progress and economy so we put all that money back on the land and properties."

"No," Wuming said and replaced the folder he had been looking at. "I don't want to talk about that. I'll fall asleep before you finish the next sentence."

"Well then, we should talk about how you knew of this Auntie's House. What were you doing in this part of town?"

It was as if Wuming's lips had been sewed shut. He only knew about this place because it was close to where Camille was living. He saw it when he was walking to her house one night.

"Nothing," he answered Qing Chen.

"Oh come on, don't tell me this is the part where you'll suddenly feel ashamed of such a thing. We've done worst things than going into a brothel."

"I did not go inside, Chen," he said. "Also, I do not think there's anything lacking in my life if I don't have a woman in my bed. I just happen to see it."

"It's so great that you remember it."

It was obvious from Qing Chen's voice that he was still probing around it. What Qing Chen was saying was: 'How do you remember something that you were just passing by?' Surely, he had seen that place more than one time to remember that it was there. For a moment, he thought about telling his brother about Camille…

But he decided against it at the last second. He had been thinking too much about it—about what Master said about having a family.

He knew he was just scared to face the hard fact that he was getting inclined in leaving this life and settling down. But he was not ready to admit that to himself. Not yet.

Instead, he smiled at Qing Chen. "When you see it, you'll know why I remembered it."

**

It took them around another half hour or so before they reached the street Wuming had mentioned. He was not sure where it was EXACTLY but he knew it was along this road.

The three of them got out. It was past lunch time and Qing Lok raised an important question. "Are they even open?"

"I am not sure about that," Wuming answered. "But I bet they are."

"It is a brothel. Don't they open around unholy hours?"

Wuming laughed. "Would you just stop talking and let us get there first? You'd be surprised with what you will see."

Qing Chen was quietly looking around the place, wondering what his brother was doing here and WHY was he there. It looked like a peaceful place. The streets were empty. The houses were mostly average. It was on a high road with sloping roads like loose sound waves. Trees were planted on empty lots and it was colder than the city.

Qing Lok didn't keep his mouth shut and complained about his grumbling stomach. They all felt hungry. They haven't had anything to eat today. Since this morning, it was as if everything was in a flurry.

He honestly just wanted to stay up in the mountains with Feng Xuan and escape this reality. Those nights were the best he had for a long time. He was finally sleeping peacefully and was not thinking of anything other than getting up and doing training.

If this was the kind of life Wuming had lived up north, then he finally understood why he never wanted to go back to the city. 

Wuming noticed the sign on the side of the road and finally stopped walking and looked at the old building which was a rundown motel—which did not look like a motel either. "Hey," he called his brothers who were still walking. "We're here."

"What do you mean?" Qing Lok asked and pointed to the old restaurant. "You mean that?!"

"Can't you read?"

Qing Chen looked up at the painted wooden sign. 'Auntie's House' it said. It was as if the building had a filter from way back the 1800s. It looked yellowish and somewhat gray and orange. The paint was faded and everything looked lifeless. "How did you even know it was a brothel house?"

"Because this at night. It was crowded and girls in almost non-existent clothing were displayed right there on their porch. Best believe, this parking lot was full." Wuming started walking towards the door. "We are going in. They are open."