Chapter 253 - Your First Clue

It has been a while my dear Qings. Thank you so much for not asking how I'm doing. Terrible news it would be. But I am fine now. Thank you for your letter. It really brought a smile to my face.

Hello, Feng Xuan. Are you that eager to meet your mother that you're the one looking for danger now? You know, I can take you anytime of the day from this precious little family that you have.

But since we're in a game, if you were ever taken, know that it was my last resort. I plan no easy death for you. You have to pay for the death of my brother. Your blood will spill… s l o w l y.

Hello, Qing Zihao's heirs. Aren't you beautiful boys? Two looked like your mother, and the other looked just like your father in his mighty days. But sadly, there was no mother anymore and daddy and grandmother dearest are currently… away on vacation.

I understand that you want to look for me. Wouldn't that be fun? You are my prey and you're going to hunt the hunter! Two of you like mind games, two likes to get physical.

Alright, I can play that game. 

For the mind games, I'll give you riddles so you can try to find me so that the people who likes the physical could get some action.

How does that sound? Good, isn't it?

I didn't have much time to prepare so this would be ugly, but this is going to be easy. I can't wait to get my hands on the four of you. I will watch as the life leave your eyes.

Here is your first clue:

If you havent found me by three-twenty, 

Daddy will be dead by the sea

If you haven't found me by three-thirty,

The Mafia's Rose will suffer greatly.

You can try to come for me 

I am where the sun rises from the west

I will meet you every four-thirty 

Are you really ready for this quest?

Don't think too hard,

Or you're going to miss the mark.

When you find the answer, you'll realize how easy this is. Don't worry, I'll send more help if you're not making progress. But I trust that you would figure it out.

I can't wait to meet you all finally.

See you soon.

The Zookeeper

**

Something else suddenly came out of the printer just as the message reading was finally finished.

There was a blurry picture of Qing Zihao from the beach house that he was currently staying in. Their grandmother was clearly in the picture pouring what looked like orange juice.

It was clearly a message of "I can kill him right here, right now".

"Find me my father," Qing Chen said to Clown. He had asked around and unfortunately, his father had not told anyone where he was in the world. Not even Xie Changying could be persuaded.

There was about half a minute of silence in the Qing's living room. Everyone's gears were already turning. But Wuming's mind was somewhere else.

"Did he just called me dumb?"

"What?" Feng Xuan frowned at him. Of all the things he could be thinking about, he was thinking that?!

"Well, clearly, I am not one of the people who liked mind games. That's Chen and Lok. So you're the only left on physical team and he's calling you dumb too."

"He did not!"

He shrugged. "Then why did he has to group us like that?"

"Instead of thinking of that," Qing Chen broke the banter. "Why don't the two of you think about this so-called riddle?"

"It's nuts, Chen!" exclaimed Wuming. "Even a first grader would know that the sun rises from the east."

"We know," he replied exasperatedly, "but it's a riddle. Of course he didn't mean it literally."

Wuming put a pillow above his face. "Well, you're the smart ones as The Zookeeper said. So I'll leave that in your hands. Let me know if you've made progress."

Feng Xuan left Wuming on the couch. "Do you think he was really offended by that?"

"Well, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed," Qing Chen bluntly said. "But Wuming does not really have that much of a collection of emotions. I think he just wants to sleep. Don't mind him. We'll figure this out."

Qing Chen smiled at his wife. He was excited! They were given a clue. That cut the workload in more than half. Now they did not have to scour every corner of the world. 

"Do you think he's in an abandoned zoo again?" Qing Lok asked, both his hands on his temples. Breaking that code was tough work and his brain was more or less on a thirty percent capacity right now. So that was why the letter was so long, because he put the picture in code—probably hex color per pixel.

"That's a huge possibility. As much as I don't want our men wasting time flipping every abandoned zoo in the world upside down, I am not going to cease their search. Now, let's figure this out."

"If we don't get it… we'll be dumb," whispered Qing Lok. He was honestly under pressure to crack the riddle. The Zookeeper said it would be easy. If they would not be able to figure it out, just think about the amount of shame it would put them in.

No, he had think about this. They would no longer wait for the next letter. They would find The Zookeeper. Qing Lok might even take part with the execution just because he left Liu Meilien on a bad note earlier to rush home.

"What's going on your mind?" Qing Lok asked as he examined the paper. It would not be a stretch to think that the answers would already be there in plain sight.

"That this is stupid." Qing Chen waved over a maid. "Coffees for everyone and the biggest world map that you can find."