Go back? There's no going back.

"Heh - slums, your emperor...is back!"

With this in his mouth, Su Wei quickly walked to the door of his bedroom.

Staring at the tightly closed door with an arrogant look in his eyes, he waved his hand in an extremely domineering manner and pushed open the door whose keyhole had been damaged for many years.

Then, he was completely stunned.

“…Huh?”

Most of the scenery in the bedroom remained exactly the same as Su Wei remembered.

However, he was met with another unexpected gaze.

Looking at each other.

Looking at the strange woman who was sitting on her bed in her room and undressing, Su Wei was a little at a loss for what to do.

……no.

Which one are you?

On the other side, a woman with bandages wrapped around many parts of her body, long snow-white hair flowing over her waist, and blood-colored eyes also opened her eyes wide in shock.

This strange woman, whose facial features were as flawless as a princess, seemed to be also frightened by the monkey that suddenly returned to the house and frolicked. Even the several snow-white fluffy tails behind her were completely frozen in mid-air.

Chapter 13: Dilemma

"...My mom doesn't look like this, does she?"

Staring at the strange woman, after a few seconds, Su Wei came back to his senses from his confusion.

When this doubt arose in his mind, his eyes suddenly blurred.

By the time he rubbed his eyes again, the whole bedroom had returned to peace.

There was no longer any figure on the empty bed, as if the woman seen a few seconds ago was just an illusion of a virgin who had been solo in the womb for thirty years.

——If it was Su Wei a day ago, he would probably have had such a thought.

But now, feeling the residual fluctuations of magical elements in the bedroom, he was sure that everything he had just seen was not an illusion.

"..."

Although Su Wei had mastered the skill of reading people's expressions to perfection in recent years, he did not detect any malice from the strange woman just now.

However, after realizing that his attack had been seen by strangers, he was silent for a moment, staggered back a few steps, leaned against the door, and looked embarrassed.

The red color called shame slowly climbed up Su Wei's cheeks.

Even though he had decided to be himself, he was not ready to let others see him acting like he was letting himself go.

After all, why is there a... uh, a woman living in my bedroom?

Could it be that a house that has been idle for a long time will not only breed burglars, but also vixens?

"… Never mind. It doesn't matter."

After struggling helplessly for a while, Su Wei completely gave up on treatment.

It's just seen by a stranger, so let him see it.

What else can others say?

"Okay, enough of the indulgence, it's time to get down to business."

With a long sigh, Su Wei suppressed the impetuous thoughts in his mind, left the bedroom, and politely closed the bedroom door again.

Then, in the hall, he fished out the notebook he was carrying from his coat pocket.

On it, various information about my mother is recorded.

The source is the investigators hired by Princess Gao Xin, known as the "No. 1 Investigation Office in the Royal City."

"Name: Jenny White"

"After investigation, it was found that Jenny White was not a native of the Empire. She was a refugee who came here in the 9th year of the Queen's New Calendar. We have not yet been able to find out what she did before she moved into the slums."

"Based on his facial features, it is speculated that he is from the north of the empire and is a refugee from the country of Sharan that was destroyed by the Witch of National Trouble in the 9th year of the Queen's New Calendar."

"He lived in the slums for nearly eight years. After he left home on October 17, the 10th year of the Queen's New Calendar, he completely lost contact and disappeared from the face of the earth—"

Holding the notebook, Su Wei said nothing as he flipped through the pages of the investigation records that he had almost memorized.

Although there is a routine report update every month, in reality, there has been almost no new progress in the update information since six or seven years ago.

But even so, there are still other entry points for Su Wei to investigate now.

For example, since it was impossible to find new clues from the missing adoptive mother, the detectives of the investigation agency simply investigated and listed all the subtle changes in the entire slum before the adoptive mother lost contact.

"Jenny White seems to be one of the few women who can resist the invisible curse against women in the slums and live in the slums for a long time."

To be honest, when Su Wei saw this message several years ago, he had a rather ridiculous guess.

Maybe, my mother is not my mother, but my father who is dressed as a woman...

After all, it is abnormal no matter how you think about it, for an ordinary person to ignore the curse that has plagued the slums for so long.

At that time, Su Wei was quite distressed and thought about whether to call her mom or dad if he could see her again.

But in the end, he found that this entanglement was meaningless.

Whether it is mom or dad, they are your most precious family members.

As long as he could see the other person and have the opportunity to repay the filial piety, Su Wei would be satisfied.

"On October 9, the 10th year of the Queen's New Calendar, Jenny White officially moved into the slums as a refugee."

"Half a month later, Jenny White took in a baby."

"In the same year, rumors of ghosts appeared in the slums, and neighbors said they had seen dead people wandering on the streets."

"In the same year, the overall number of violent incidents in the favelas decreased."

"In the same year, the disappearance rate of refugees in the slums increased significantly."

"..."

Compared with the previous few items, the following slum investigation records, big or small, have almost no direct connection with the adoptive mother.

It's not an exaggeration to say that I really can't do anything else, so I just record it down to make up the number.

"Anyway, let's go ask the neighbors about the haunting."

Su Wei flipped through the notes to the latest page, was silent for a moment, put the notebook away again, and stood up.

In fact, to be honest, after eight years of nothing, Su Wei didn't have any confidence that he could find his mother.

Even the most professional detective in the royal city had failed. As an amateur, he knew how far he could go in the end even if he tried his best.

But, he still had to do it.

Don't cry until you see the coffin. From today on, this will be Su Wei's motto.

Now, Su Wei has set the first purpose of this trip on the neighbor who once claimed to have seen a "ghost".

"They probably haven't moved yet. At least, there is no mention of this in the investigation records updated last month."

Su Wei understood why his neighbor had been able to stand in this slum for nearly twenty years.

After all, unlike his simple family consisting of a mother and a child, his neighbor's house has six people living in it.

There were six young and middle-aged men who were united as one. Such a force was extremely rare even in the entire slum.

After tidying up his clothes and preparing some consulting fees that might be useful later, Su Wei walked out of the house and went straight to his neighbor's door.

dong dong.

Raising his hand, Su Wei first knocked on the door tentatively.

But, after dozens of seconds, there was no response.

"Huh? No one's home? Or did I knock too softly?"

Seeing this, Su Wei pondered for a moment, then knocked on the door again with a little more force.

dong dong dong——!

squeak-

However, the next second, Su Wei was stunned when he saw the door opening backwards after he knocked on it.

This door... is not locked?

No one is home and the door is not locked.

After not seeing each other for eight years, have these brothers become so arrogant in the slums?

Just as Su Wei was looking surprised and hesitating whether to go back and wait, his nose suddenly moved and he smelled a faint smell of blood.

At this moment, his eyebrows suddenly frowned.

Something happened… ?

Could it be that I had just come back to look for clues, and the clues of this family were silenced?

…What kind of clichéd eight o’clock TV drama is this?

After a moment's silence, without hesitation, Su Wei pushed the door open and walked in.

Looking past the courtyard in front of him, whose structure was almost identical to his own, Su Wei quickly looked towards the entrance.

The faint smell of blood that permeated the courtyard came from the house.

His nerves quickly tensed up, and Su Wei held the m1996 on his waist with his right hand. He recalled the feeling of being entrusted last night, and walked quietly to the door with his footsteps suppressed.

However, before he could capture the murderer who destroyed the clues, he heard a heavy... breathing sound in his ear?

Su Wei, who was hiding by the door, felt something strange. He pondered for a moment, then quietly stuck half of his head out and looked into the room.

Then, he took a look... and saw a basin full of blood and several dead animals that had just been bled on the floor of the room.

……ah?

Looking at this scene, a question mark slowly appeared above Su Wei's head.

Could it be that the bloody smell he smelled just now was only from these ingredients?

He subconsciously leaned his head forward further to take in the entire view of the room.

then.

He saw two people kissing passionately.

Almost at the same time, the men in the room whose hairstyles had the numbers "five" and "six" faintly on them also noticed something at this moment. They all stopped what they were doing and separated, looking at Su Wei at the door at the same time.

"..."

Eight eyes facing each other.

The two men were shocked when their good thing was interrupted. After discovering Su Wei, their eyes suddenly became unfriendly.

The expression on Su Wei's face was completely frozen.

"Excuse me, I just thought you were in some danger... Goodbye."

After a moment, Su Wei tried hard to force an awkward but polite smile and stepped back silently.

But the next second, the sound of a door being pushed open came from the gate of the courtyard.

Two more men who looked very similar, with "one" and "two" on their heads, returned to the house hand in hand.

For a moment, Su Weidun stood there, feeling torn.

The situation, which was already bad, froze in an instant.

Chapter 14: Heartache

noon.

The sun is shining and the sunflowers are growing towards the sky.

"Please... calm down. I totally understand you."

Surrounded by four people in front and behind, Su Wei silently retreated little by little, and was finally forced to the courtyard.