21 Three Brothers

 

Han Fei did not accept the mission immediately for it was still not the time. He just logged in and had not achieved the requirement necessary for a quick exit from the game. If he was captured by Weep, death would probably become a luxury.

Han Fei had already planned everything. Before he accepted the mission to find Chen Chen, he’d finish a simpler mission and stay in the game for 3 hours first. He would need the get-out-of-jail-free card to deal with Weep.

Ignoring the notification in his mind, Han Fei helped Meng Si back to the living room couch. “Granny, don’t worry. I promise to figure out a way to save Chen Chen.”

“I am also worried about you. I really do not want to repeat the mistake of sacrificing other people’s happiness to save my own family again!” The old woman was under great distress. Her face scrunched up in duress. Han Fei heard the hint in the old woman’s words but pretended not to understand any of it. “You have just saved my life. This is the least I can do for you, granny.” Seeing the sincerity on Han Fei’s face, the old woman slowly lowered her head. She seemed to be taking a trail down memory lane. Her eyes watered with guilt. “You are a good kid. Wait here a moment. Granny has something to give you.”

The old woman headed into the locked bedroom. She rummaged inside it for a while before coming out with a mottled jade pendant. “Granny does not have anything precious. This small pendant was given to me by my mother when I was young. When I used to travel alone at night, having this pendant around would make me feel much safer.” The old lady handed it to Han Fei. “If you do not accept this, I will never agree for you to take on such a dangerous task.”

Realizing how adamant the old woman was, Han Fei had no choice but to accept it. Once his hands touched the pendant, the robotic voice returned. “Notification for Player 0000! You have just obtained a Grade G Item—Meng Si’s Protective Talisman.

“Meng Si’s Protective Talisman (Grade G Normal Item): A protective talisman given to Meng Si by her mom.”

The item description was short and Han Fei did not really understand the function of the jade pendant but to his knowledge, jades were mostly used to ward off evil spirits. Han Fei felt quite undeserving to get such a precious item from Meng Si. “Granny, thank you so much. Is there anything else that I can do for you? I feel like I need to do more to deserve a present as treasured as this.”

“It’s okay. There’s really nothing else.”

“But I feel so bad for taking such a cherished gift without doing anything. Just try to think of something. I’ll help if I can.” Han Fei wished to get another mission from Meng Si. “I notice that the lights are off again, is it because the fuse is burnt? I can help you fix it!”

“No, it’s not broken. I purposely kept the lights off because only candlelight can show Weep’s shadow.”

“Then how about I help you clean up the room! Sweeping, mopping, I don’t mind the chores!” Han Fei used action to prove his words. He helped the old woman clean places that she’d normally had a hard time to reach. He gave off the presence of a kind, hardworking, friendly young man. Meng Si’s affection towards Han Fei increased. The old lady’s eyes softened as she watched Han Fei bustle around the house. She smiled like she was looking at her own grandson. “Stop stressing over the chores. Why don’t you come and sit with me? All of my children have left home for work. They haven’t returned in a long time already. This house has been quiet for so long.”

“Notification for Player 0000! Friendliness level with Meng Si has reached Amicable! Grade G Normal Mission, Accompany and Listen has been triggered! Will you accept it?” Han Fei was waiting for this moment so naturally he accepted it. He pulled over the chair and sat next to the old lady. Meng Si started with everyday complaints but eventually her story trailed back into the past.

“There used to be a young woman who adopted three kids. The eldest was the most honest but quite unexceptional. Everything about him was mediocre. She picked up the second child from the hospital. He was an abandoned baby. His face was slightly disfigured but his mind was especially clever. He was the gentlest and kindest among the three brothers. The youngest was the naughtiest and had the complete opposite personality from his elder brothers. Whenever he was bullied, he would punish his bullies right back. Because of that, he got into many fights. The woman always lectured him and the child never once answered back but the woman knew her child never heed her lesson because in his mind, he did nothing wrong.

“Every time after he was lectured, the youngest would run out the door. During his runaways, he’d go to vent his frustration by burning ants and dismembering earthworms. He’d sit and watch them suffer. Actually, whenever her youngest child ran away, the woman would quietly follow behind him. Out of the 3 brothers, she loved her youngest the most and was naturally the most worried about him.

“Her second child was the cleverest but he was not a show-off. The woman knew he could easily score the highest in his class, but he’d purposely lower his marks to reach the median. The youngest child though was completely different. He would always fight for number one. He was a natural born fighter. He was tough on others but toughest on himself.

“The days passed by and the 3 children eventually grew up. The woman thought she could retire and let her children off into the work but something unexpected happened. Her second and youngest sons fell in love with the same woman. Of the 2, it was the second child who got the woman’s hand. Until now, the woman cannot understand how it was the second child with the face disfigurement who would get married first. She had nothing against it, she just thought his facial disfigurement would delay him in the love department. Clearly, she was wrong. In any case, the woman was happy for her son.

“When her second child returned to his maternal home to prepare for the wedding, her youngest kept himself busy in the kitchen. He single-handedly slaughtered all the chickens, ducks and fish needed for the wedding feast. He locked himself up in the kitchen and refused to come out to greet the guest or even his elder brother.

“After the wedding, everything appeared to return to normal. Her youngest son’s temper softened but the woman could sense that something was wrong. Soon after that, the woman found the dead body of a crow inside the cargo of the cold transport truck her eldest used to transport the ingredients for her dessert shop. Her eldest son did not think much of it but the woman knew something was off. Someone else had used the truck behind her eldest son’s knowledge. The dead crow was in all sense of the word, a bad omen.

“The woman started to pay attention to the little details. She would notice bird feathers, animal fur and even blood stains inside the truck. Every time she would clean them up but soon after, these things would reappear inside the cargo. She checked the GPS location taken by the truck and realized the system had been tempered with. The records had all been wiped clean. To figure out the truth, she asked a friend for help to install a small tracking device under the truck cabin.

“The woman realized the truck would always make a detour to a specific location after making each round. On one night when the three brothers were not home, the woman decided to trail the truck. She followed the direction and arrived outside the city. At an abandoned bungalow, she saw her three sons wrestling on the ground.” At that point, the old woman’s voice caught. “She also saw, there was a dead body not far away from her three sons.”

The old woman gripped her chest as if she was in pain. Her story ended then.

Han Fei was truly shocked. He thought that out of the 3 brothers, there was only one killer, but turns out all 3 of them knew about the murder! They were all accomplices!

When Han Fei and Li Xue visited the eldest son, this seemingly innocent, harmless man had perfectly swindled both of them.