Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 29 The Girl's Anxiety

At 1:30 p.m., Ai Liang took a taxi to Qiushui Manor.

I was stopped by security guards at the entrance, and everyone who approached was routinely questioned.

Seeing the pistol tucked into the security guard's waistband, the driver wisely turned the car around and drove away.

Ai Liang arrived at the service center accompanied by security guards.

No. 6, Ginkgo Road.

The receptionist smiled and nodded politely when Ai Liang gave the address, and then contacted the homeowner.

"Sir, please face the camera so we can contact the homeowner for confirmation."

Security checks at Qiushui Manor are extremely strict; it's like a prison visit for outsiders to get in.

Ai Liang walked to the display screen, and Yue Qihua's voice came through: "Later, take your ticket and go directly to a sightseeing bus. Just give them the address and they will take you straight to the door."

After I finished speaking, the receptionist handed me a ticket.

"This is the ticket the owner prepared for you. Turn left after you go out and you'll find the sightseeing bus, which will take you to your destination."

After thanking him, Ai Liang took the ticket and boarded a sightseeing bus.

This was his first time visiting Qiushui Manor during the day as a guest. The sightseeing bus traveled along the road by the artificial lake, with ginkgo trees and flowers planted along the lakeside. It must be said that the scenery during the day was really beautiful.

The sightseeing bus stopped in front of Room 6, and Yue Qihua and Yang Xingyue, accompanied by bodyguards, came to greet them.

"Ai Liang".

Yue Qihua's voice was weak and listless when she greeted him, lacking even half of her usual energy.

Yang Xingyue, on the other hand, seemed quite excited: "Where have you been these past few days? You promised to tutor me!"

"I went out for a walk and broke my phone." After making up a random excuse, Ai Liang followed the three into the villa.

Ai Liang frowned upon entering the villa.

Not only at the entrance, but also in the backyard and inside the house, there were bodyguards. This isn't an embassy; is security really necessary to be this tight?
Let alone the naturally sensitive Ai Liang, anyone else would have noticed that the atmosphere in the room was very strange. Only someone as naive and innocent as Yang Xingyue would be so carefree and laugh as if nothing was wrong.

It seems that something happened at Yue Qihua's house during the few days I was away, otherwise that energetic young woman wouldn't be so listless now.

However, these are other people's family matters, and Ai Liang, as an outsider, shouldn't interfere.

I'd better grab my backpack and run.

Ai Liang thought to herself.

"Haha, are you Xiaohua and Yueyue's friend?"

Just as Ai Liang was about to slip away, a slightly hoarse but powerful voice came from the stairwell.

An elderly man wearing a traditional Chinese shirt walked up to Ai Liang. As he got closer, the muscles on his arms and the bulging abdominal muscles under his shirt were clearly visible. He exuded a fierce aura that was inconsistent with his age.

“Yes, this is Ai Liang.” Yang Xingyue said to the old man with a smile, then turned to introduce the old man to Ai Liang: “Ai Liang is my and Hua Hua’s grandfather.”

Yes, I know, Yue Chongshan, currently the underground leader in Nevada City.

Although she knew Yue Chongshan's identity very well, Ai Liang still pretended it was their first meeting and greeted him politely.

"Hello, I'm Ai Liang, I'm just here to pick up a book."

"Since you're here, sit down and rest for a while. This old man won't bother you young people." Yue Chongshan smiled and patted Ai Liang's shoulder, then instructed the housekeeper to prepare drinks and fruit.

Seeing the large hand gripping her shoulder tightly, Ai Liang had no choice but to agree to stay for the time being.

It was obvious that the old man didn't want to let him leave directly.

"Don't block the stairwell, Ai Liang, Xing Yue, let's go up first," Yue Qihua said, slapping down Yue Chongshan's large hand.

Logically, Yue Qihua should be the one to take the lead in the conversation at times like this, but today she did something unusual. She grabbed the two of them by the hand, walked past Yue Chongshan, and headed straight for the room on the second floor, as if she was running away from something.

Yue Chongshan didn't pay attention to his granddaughter's attitude, assuming that she was just a little reserved because there were too many bodyguards in the house.

"Is it Ai Liang, Ai Zhe, and Feng Yue's child?"

Yue Chongshan smiled as he recalled the investigation data, "It doesn't seem as gloomy as others have described."

Yue Qihua led the two of them to the bedroom and then slammed the door shut.

"Huahua, why have you been so down all day? Did something upset you?"

Although Yang Xingyue couldn't tell the atmosphere at home, she could still sense her sister's feelings, after all, the two had been together for fifteen years and had never been apart.

"Or do you not like those bodyguards?"

"It's nothing, I just didn't sleep well last night because I was too tired from playing games," Yue Qihua shook her head and denied, yawning as she spoke.

"That's why you shouldn't stay up late, it's bad for your skin." Yang Xingyue didn't doubt Yue Qihua's words at all and turned to ask Ai Liang, "By the way, Ai Liang, where have you been these past few days?"

One second Yang Xingyue was asking her best friend about her feelings, and the next second the topic shifted to Ai Liang, making Yue Qihua roll her eyes.

She's always been like this, never daring to speak first to the people she cares about. She has to talk to everyone around her first before focusing on the people she cares about, thus hiding her true intentions.

Little did she know that her methods could only deceive herself.

"I went out for a walk to clear my head, but my phone suddenly wouldn't charge, so I didn't answer the phone." Ai Liang shrugged and gave a helpless smile. "These past few days, I've had to look for restaurants that accept fingerprint or prepaid cards when I eat out."

"Eh?"

"Any questions?"

Ai Liang waved to Yang Xingyue, who was stunned.

No. This is the first time I've ever seen you smile.

Yang Xingyue blushed and stammered, "I haven't seen you for a few days, and you seem to have changed a lot."

huge change?
Ai Liang then realized that she rarely controlled her facial expressions and always had a cold face. Now, in Yang Xingyue's eyes, this was the legendary collapse of her persona.
"It's just that I suddenly figured out something that's been bothering me for the past few days." Ai Liang casually changed the subject: "I didn't expect you and Sister Hua to be genuine heiresses, with so many bodyguards in your home."

As expected, Yang Xingyue would become nervous whenever the topic came up, and would have no interest in asking about the events of the past few days. Ai Liang had her completely under her thumb.

She hurriedly explained, "No, there's only one nanny usually in charge of the housework. These bodyguards only arrived yesterday."

"The security here is pretty comprehensive, isn't it? Why would you need a bunch of bodyguards at home? Do you think someone's going to rob you here?" Ai Liang joked, but she keenly noticed that Yue Qihua next to her was secretly clenching her fists.

“It was my dad who asked my grandpa to find it. Apparently, there was a fugitive serial killer in Nevada. My dad was worried about me and Hua Hua, so he arranged for us to move here with my grandpa.”

Yang Xingyue looked frightened: "I don't know the specifics either, but Ai Liang, you'd better not go out recently. I haven't been able to contact you for the past two days. When I heard this news yesterday, I almost thought you had been kidnapped."

A serial killer? If there really were a fugitive serial killer, the news would have posted his photo to alert the public; there would be no news at all.

Could they be criminals who have just committed crimes and haven't been caught yet? If so, then why wasn't the news released to the media? It would be reasonable to explain why Yang Xingguo arranged for the two to move.

But not before that.

Ai Liang squinted at Yue Qihua.

Her shoulders swayed unsteadily, and her fingers kept tracing lines on the coffee table unconsciously. Why was Yue Qihua so hesitant?
"Why isn't Hua Hua saying anything? Don't you love analyzing these things the most?"

Yang Xingyue suddenly raised her hand and poked Yue Qihua's arm, startling her.

"Oh no, I'm just a little sleepy and can't muster any energy."

Her eyes darted around, and her fingers twitched uncontrollably; it seemed she knew something.

Ai Liang stared at Yue Qihua's profile and drew a conclusion.

However, he quickly chuckled and dismissed these conclusions.

What does all this have to do with me? Even if a serial killer appears, that's the police's job. The Hermit is tired and needs to rest. Right now, only Ai Liang is in Nevada City.

Having suffered from malice for nearly ten years, he now only wants to live a peaceful life.

Of course, that's assuming that guy doesn't walk right into my door. Otherwise, Ai Liang wouldn't mind killing a pervert to warm herself up.

"You've never had this happen before when you stayed up all night playing games. Are you sick?"

Yang Xingyue pulled Yue Qihua over and pressed their foreheads together.

"Your temperature isn't high. Do you feel unwell anywhere else? If so, please tell me."

"Honestly, I already told you I was just sleepy."

Yue Qihua broke free from Yang Xingyue's restraints, waved her hand impatiently, and lay down on the bed with her back to the two of them.

Seeing this, Yang Xingyue stopped bothering her and handed a stack of test papers to Ai Liang.

Three hours later.

"Well done, full marks."

Ai Liang put down the red pen and said.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to your excellent teaching." Yang Xingyue smiled shyly, crossing her arms and fiddling with her two thumbs up and down, like a dog wagging its tail while catching a frisbee thrown by its owner.

He smiled calmly on the surface, but was secretly overjoyed.

"Hehe, hehehe, this is the first time Ai Liang has praised me. My effort on that last question wasn't in vain."

"You've scored close to perfect in the last few tests. If you maintain this level, getting into the top class will definitely not be a problem."

Ai Liang smiled with satisfaction, put the test paper away, and pushed it to the other side.

"Thank you, Ai Liang, if it weren't for you."

"So you don't need me to explain the difficult points anymore. You can just stay home and read more books for the last half month or so."

Eh?
Yang Xingyue instantly turned into a stone statue, her originally bright smile gradually turning grayish-white and freezing on her pretty face.

"Why!"

"With your current level, getting into the top class is a sure thing. There's no point in me coming over to talk about some difficult questions. After all, the test questions have to take other students into account and can't be more difficult than the ones I set."

Ai Liang calmly began tidying up the books.

Yang Xingyue, sitting opposite her, was nearly driven to madness.

Knowing Ai Liang's personality, if I met the standard, she would definitely let me study on my own! Why didn't I think of that! Idiot! Idiot! Yang Xingyue, you idiot! You lost half a month of time together for a moment of praise!

With things having come to this, Yang Xingyue could only suppress her frustration and pack up the reference books with Ai Liang. Then she noticed the sunset outside the window.

"It's already this late, why don't we..."

"I don't want to cook."

Ai Liang immediately refused. Even without being able to read minds or even looking at Yang Xingyue's expression, Ai Liang knew what she wanted to say.

"I just thought it was getting late and wanted to invite you to stay for dinner."

Yang Xingyue puffed out her cheeks and made an angry expression: "I didn't ask you to cook!"

"I'm an outsider, so I won't interfere with your family dinner."

Ai Liang slung her backpack over her shoulder and said, "Goodbye."

"Hey, wait a minute, at least tell Hua Hua first."

Yang Xingyue hurriedly caught up with her, and when they saw her off at the door, they found Yue Qihua sitting on a bench by the lake, lost in thought.

"Hey, Ai Liang."

Yang Xingyue tugged at Ai Liang's sleeve and said, "Could you go and comfort Hua Hua?"

"Why?" Ai Liang asked, "Your relationship should be better than mine, right?"

"Because there are some things that are inconvenient to say when you're too close to someone," Yang Xingyue said with a smile.

"Actually, I sensed that Hua Hua's mood was off since last night, but since she didn't tell me, it means she didn't want me to know."

"Aren't you angry?"

“We’ve been sisters since birth, we won’t get angry over something so trivial.”

Yang Xingyue pushed Ai Liang forward, saying, "Although Hua Hua is very popular at school, she doesn't have many real friends. This is the time for you to step in."

Ai Liang watched Yang Xingyue's retreating figure and couldn't help but think to herself: What do you take me for, some kind of caring older brother?

Even so, Ai Liang still gradually approached Yue Qihua, as a way of repaying her for being her "backer" for the past three years.

(End of this chapter)