Chapter 306 - Stupid Enough

"Can we please get a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's books or poems here?" Qing Chen said, looking over at their clues. It had been thirty minutes and they haven't figured out a new clue. "Possibly, some study guides too. I need theories drawn up by tomorrow morning."

"Mother's copy probably got burned in the old house," said Qing Lok.

"Of course," Wuming said. "How convenient. Send her sons on a wild goose chase." Wuming dropped down on a chair. "So we got a bunch of symbolisms but we do not know what it means."

Qing Chen took a deep breath. "Let's call it a night. We've got more than I thought we could." He tapped Feng Xuan's thigh. "Let's all get some rest."

Qing Lok turned to him. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I don't think we're in a rush of some sort. After all, we might be looking for someone who's already dead."

Wuming's head turn at that with a goofy smile. "Oh come, Chen, are you getting scared now? I am actually starting to think that Mother's alive."

Qing Chen shut his eyes for a couple of seconds. "I've had a really long day. I just want to rest my brain."

Feng Xuan whispered. "Are we going home?"

"No, not tonight," he answered. "It's better we stay here until we figure this out. Come on."

Feng Xuan and Qing Chen left the room and up to the bedroom. He quickly got into the shower and just let the water wash off today's stress. He felt Feng Xuan's arms wrapped around his torso.

"What's going on your mind?" she asked.

Qing Chen was thankful for the question. At least she was no longer asking if he was okay. Because he was definitely not. "Nothing's in my mind," he said to the shower head. "For once, I just want it to go blank."

Feng Xuan stood in front of him and ran her hands on his shoulders. Then he recognized something smooth with her hands and he realized that it was soap. She was washing his body. "What do you think we should do?"

"There's only one way we could go." He thought about the clues again. "We are going to found out if this would lead to anything. If it doesn't, it was a good try. If it does, then… we'll figure things out from there."

"Do you think we'll find El Dorado?" she asked. "What if it would be really a city of gold?"

"But what if it's not really gold that's there? What if there's something else?" He sighed and his whole breathed out with him. "Wife, let's not talk about it for a while. I honestly just don't want to think right now. Do you think we can do that?"

"Of course, husband," Feng Xuan said, her lips already on his cheeks and her hands were on his hair. "Of course."

**

"Are you sure you don't want to get up?" Wuming asked Qing Lok who was still in front of his computer like the rest of the team. 

"Just another thirty minutes," said Qing Lok, his eyes focused on the screen, his mouth munching on a bunch of biscuits. 

"You're not going to obsess about this, are you?"

Qing Lok cackled laughter. "I just want to find mom."

"What if we don't find her?"

"Then…" he shrugged. "Then that's it. We were all just a bunch of morons who believed an old crazy man. Then we're going to get over it." He spun in his seat. "But you got to admit, you're changing your mind about this."

Wuming rolled his eyes and got up from his chair. He was not going to take this teasing when he actually already changed his mind and was willing to help.

"You're going to be happy when we find her!" Qing Lok followed as he exited the room.

Wuming only shook his head. He was not going to be happy about it. Not even for a second.

He went to his bedroom. The room was neat because he was the kind of person who would like to come home to a clean bed. Maybe it was also good practice when he was leaving no traces of his DNA wherever he want. For safety measures, one of the first things he did when he ran away was sand his fingerprints off. You wouldn't imagine the amount of hassle it took away. He still had to sand them from time to time.

He decided not to drop on the bed like he usually do. He walked to his window and sat himself on the sill. It was getting warmer and warmer with each passing day. He fished his other phone from his pocket and scrolled through the messages. There was a list of all the open contracts and the prices.

He rubbed on his neck. Slicing a man's head off would be something nice. But he couldn't really kill someone like that nowadays. If you cut up someone too good, the police would be up your butt. They were going to relate you to the other unique killings.

His lips started to smile when he remembered The Mutilator. That was something that he had forgot to ask The Fox about. The Fox could've been The Mutilator. He had it in him.

Wuming scrolled more and found the number that he had been thinking about calling nowadays. The Mistress.

He tossed the phone to his bed. He was not going to succ.u.mb to the temptation. She was a seductress. He shivered just thinking about The Mistress wrapping him around her finger.

Wuming knew that he was avoiding her because he was scared of her. He knew that she was very much capable of making him fall to his knees. He would be stupid enough to fall for her traps.

Yeah, he thought. He was stupid enough.

So he walked to the bed, grabbed the phone, and dialed the number before he chickened out.