Wen Bai lifted his slightly fuzzy head from the sofa.
Huh? Is that dog here again?
He unhappily covered his head with a cushion.
But the sound didn't stop.
"Thump... thump-thump..." The increasingly loud and erratic sound echoed around the quiet house.
Wen Bai impatiently took down the cushion, revealing his eyes filled with annoyance.
He walked to the door. Before he could say anything, System 001 sensed Wen Bai's low mood and immediately opened the door.
With a "click," the door swung open.
However, a glance revealed that the other door connecting to the backyard was tightly shut.
There was also no sign of that big dog inside.
Wen Bai stared blankly at the empty room.
System 001 reminded him, "The sound seems to be coming from beneath the floor."
It was as if someone was knocking upwards from below, trying to break through the floorboards.
Wen Bai walked to the spot in the room where the sound was coming from.
Indeed, the sound paused for a moment, then continued.
Wen Bai stood above it and stomped his foot hard on the spot.
The sound suddenly stopped.
Without even System 001's help, Wen Bai found the entrance.
System 001's voice boomed in Wen Bai's ear: "Su Ying actually has such a large basement! He's not using it for something shady, is he?"
Then, without any warning, Wen Bai's gaze met another pair of eyes.
Quick as lightning, by instinct, Wen Bai swiftly took down the person, pulling their arm behind their back to lock it, and drove a knee into their back, completely subduing them.
The person didn't seem very strong.
"Are you here to steal something?" Wen Bai asked coldly.
Wen Bai couldn't think of a second reason for a stranger to be in Su Ying's basement.
The other party remained silent upon hearing Wen Bai's voice.
Using the dim light of the basement, Wen Bai finally saw that it was a middle-aged man.
Wen Bai always believed in solving trouble with his own hands.
If the trouble didn't answer, he naturally had ways to make them answer.
He pried open one of the man's fingers and twisted it slightly, intending to break one to see if his resolve was as strong as his mouth.
Before it even broke, not even bending 90 degrees, the man, as if sensing Wen Bai's intention, cried out in surrender, unable to bear it any longer: "I'm not here to steal!"
Wen Bai turned the man around. Upon seeing Wen Bai's face, the man appeared a bit guilty.
Looking at his demeanor, Wen Bai felt something was off. Although the man looked quite sturdy, he seemed to be ill? He looked weak no matter how he looked at it.
Thinking back, he hadn't used much force to control the man, and the man hadn't put up much of a struggle.
To confirm his suspicion, he slightly loosened his grip.
Although the man struggled a little, and it seemed like he was trying his best, the strength he exerted was incongruous for a grown man of his build.
It was as if he was powerless to resist.
"I really didn't steal anything, please, I beg you... let me leave first, he's coming back..."
Who?
Was he talking about Su Ying?
Yes, in this house, the only other person could be Su Ying.
This man seemed to be very afraid of Su Ying, so why was he here?
Wen Bai noticed some rope nearby, which looked quite sturdy.
Without a word, he tied the man up.
He had a feeling the man's voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Wen Bai looked at the man expressionlessly. After being tied up, the man leaned against the wall.
Wen Bai examined him closely and indeed, he didn't recognize him.
The man, seeing Wen Bai staring at him without speaking, changed his expression and said resentfully, "I just wanted to teach you a lesson. Besides, you're fine now, nothing really happened. If I committed a crime, the law would punish me. You know what you're doing is illegal!"
Wen Bai tilted his head, "Teach me a lesson?"
Wen Bai had suffered very few setbacks since arriving in this world.
Oh.
He immediately remembered, "That box of mango pastries, was that from you? Are you that taxi driver?"
The man gritted his teeth, "You know it all, why are you pretending? Damn it! You probably had him bring me here. Spit!"
"But why? I don't know you."
The man initially thought Wen Bai was threatening him, but now he realized the kid seemed to be genuinely asking out of curiosity.
He stiffened his neck, "My lover, my lover said you complained and got her job taken away. I just wanted to give you a little trouble, I didn't mean to do anything to you, really!"
System 001 immediately chimed in: "That Aunt Wang! Su Ying fired that hourly worker!"
As if considering itself highly perceptive, System 001 concluded, "I saw through her true nature long ago! She's no good."
Then everything made sense.
"So the text messages were from you too?"
The man was taken aback, "I'm a grown man, if I wanted to do something, I'd do it myself. Why would I send a text?"
After his bravado, his tone softened, "My lover sent them. It was her idea for me to deal with you, otherwise, how would I know what you're allergic to?"
That was right. Su Ying had asked Aunt Wang to take care of Wen Bai, so he would have specifically instructed her on what Wen Bai could and couldn't eat.
"So, can you let me go? I'll turn myself in to the police, pay for damages, go to detention, whatever. How much do you want? Or you name a price. I'm old enough to have saved some money, I'll give it all to you, can you let me go?"
Wen Bai didn't reply to the man anymore.
In fact, he was more curious as to why the man was so eager to leave and why he was afraid of Su Ying's return.
Wen Bai looked further inside.
There should be a lot of space inside, as he could hear echoes.
Wen Bai ignored the man and walked inside.
It was indeed quite large, spacious enough to be divided into many rooms, though none of the rooms had doors.
The style here was indeed Su Ying's preferred style, seamlessly blending minimalism with luxury.
Many things were displayed on the walls. One entire wall was filled with various strange and peculiar items.
As he moved deeper, Wen Bai saw vibrant bird feathers in bottles, colorful butterfly wings preserved as specimens, and jars with something floating in water... What is this?
System 001 exclaimed in shock, "There are eyeballs here!"
Yes, eyeballs, from an unknown animal.
And various other peculiar objects.
Further inside.
Wen Bai: "..."
System: "..."
He saw a woman lying on a bed resembling an operating table.
In the next room, a man was sitting in a chair, his hands bound to the sides, his head fixed in place.
In the room after that, Wen Bai saw a familiar face, the blonde guy?
No wonder he couldn't find him later, he thought the blonde guy was hiding from him.
However, the blonde guy was casually lying on the floor, curled up.
The previous few people were at least carefully posed, but this blonde guy was too casually arranged, clearly not favored by Su Ying.
All these people were in a deep sleep.
Wen Bai even approached to check their breathing and heartbeats; they were all breathing and had heartbeats.
System 001 sounded a bit panicked, "Host, should we leave now?"
Actually, it wanted to say, should we run for our lives?
Wen Bai didn't go further into the subsequent rooms because, at some point, he no longer heard the man's cries.
From the end of the entrance, clear footsteps could be heard.
System 001: "It seems... we don't need to run anymore."