Chapter 1282: I Want to Make You Stay (160)
“Wasn’t there anyone to look after the tomb?”
“No.”
“Did you tell anyone about this? Your mother?”
“My mother is the only one who knows about this. However, I found out a few days later that He Yi had trespassed on my family’s ancestral burial ground. If he hadn’t mentioned that he was friends with you and Jin Qingyan, I wouldn’t have guessed that you guys were associated with him. Hence, I decided to use him to my advantage. However, I was afraid that you guys will hold it against me if my plan were to backfire. Should that happen, I would be punished by the law. Hence, I decided to tell him that the owner of the tomb was a member of the Pei family.”
Everything seemed to be starting to make sense.
An Xiaoning did not expect him to be so honest with her. If what he had said was true, he would have proven himself to be sincere enough. However, she was afraid that he was lying.
She knew that she had to keep her guard up against strangers and never trust them easily.
“According to your description, you don’t seem to have seen me before. However, the truth is you must have met me prior to this and you strongly believe that I have some recollection of you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have said ‘Long time no see.’ Mr. Donggong, can you clear my confusion?”
“Would you believe me if I said that I too was appalled after sending that text message? I don’t remember ever seeing you before, but I just had a feeling that we know each other. I found you very familiar-looking too. In fact, I still feel that I had made the correct decision to invite you here,” said Donggong Lianzhi, who did not sound like he was lying at all.
“Why did you want a sample of my hair?”
He gasped in shock and lost his composure for the very first time. An Xiaoning kept her eyes fixed on him and waited to hear his answer.
“Please pardon me for being unable to answer that question of yours.”
“Alright, I’ll find out myself,” she said, finding that the situation was starting to get interesting.
….
Donggong Lianzhi was surprised to see Fan Shixin and Xiao Bai. He asked, “Did you only bring two bodyguards?”
An Xiaoning smiled and said, “What’s wrong with that? What’s the point of bringing so many bodyguards with me when I go out? I don’t need that many people to protect me. Let’s have lunch before heading there.”
He was shocked to hear how confident she was.
Staring at An Xiaoning, Donggong Lianzhi could not help but find that her aura was too domineering for someone so gorgeous and petite.
Just like she had intended, they had a meal together before heading to Donggong Lianzhi’s car.
The airport was rather near the city, and they decided to go to his private residence first.
“Ms. An, I have a suggestion.”
“Feel free to speak.”
“What do you say the two of us head there alone while our bodyguards stay behind?”
Fan Shixin objected immediately, “No way, we’re not here for fun. We can’t let Young Madam follow you there alone.”
“You may come along, then. Your colleague shall stay.”
An Xiaoning agreed, “We’ll do just that, then. Shixin, pack the luggage and hand the rest over to Xiao Bai.”
“Sure.”
Although her bag was stuffed with lots of items, it was not heavy at all. Donggong Lianzhi offered, “Let me carry it for you.”
“No, thank you. I can manage on my own.”
He did not insist further because he knew that she did not trust him yet.
The three of them got inside the car and set off to Donggong Lianzhi’s residence together.
It would take a short amount of time to arrive if they were to take the route along the Donggong family ancestral burial ground. However, Donggong Lianzhi chose a different route instead.
He parked the car in the woods, after which they alighted together and walked toward a house nearby.
After scanning his surroundings, Donggong Lianzhi took out his keys and said, “This is a newly-replaced lock that’s identical to the one before.”
He unlocked the door and pushed it open before entering.
An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin followed closely behind.
After entering, Donggong Lianzhi closed the door and pointed at the photo frame on the wall behind the door. “This is the photo frame that I was talking about.”
“Okay.”
He took a few steps back and moved the photo frame with his hands, after which a hole formed in the ground immediately.
He took out his torchlight and plunged in, followed by An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin.
The hole was not too deep and was much shallower than the one in Shen Jia lake.
It had a depth of about four meters.
The tunnel wasn’t long either, and they reached the mural within minutes. “There, it’s this one.”
An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin shone their torchlights at the wall to see that it was an extremely vivid and realistic-looking mural of her.
She leaned closer toward the wall to scrutinize the mural, only to discover that it did seem a little aged. There was some slight discoloration, and the paint was no longer vibrant.
“Can you tell if this is you or someone else?” Donggong Lianzhi asked.
She looked at him and answered, “I can’t. Where’s the coffin?”
“Up there.”
An Xiaoning looked up to see that the coffin was covered in cement. “Is it empty?” she asked.
“Yes, it should be a coffin, but it’s already been covered in cement. I can’t be sure if there’s a corpse inside or not. I suppose someone must have entered within the past year.”
“Can we open this up?”
“Do you really want to?” Donggong Lianzhi asked hesitantly.
“Yes, since we’re already here, we must open it up to take a look.”
“But we don’t have tools.”
“I’ve brought the necessary tools with me. However, you must close your eyes because I can’t let you see them.”
He agreed with a nod, “Alright.”
He turned around and closed his eyes.
Less than a minute later, he heard the sound of an explosion. Just as he was about to turn around, Fan Shixin pressed his shoulder and said, “Wait a moment.”
Donggong Lianzhi paused in his actions and only turned around after Fan Shixin let go of him. The cement had already shattered, and An Xiaoning was standing a meter away from him with nothing in her hand.
Bewildered, he wondered to himself, Just how did she break the cement with her bare hands?
“What is that?” Donggong Lianzhi asked while trying to move the cement away.
“Move the cement pieces away and we’ll find out.”
An Xiaoning then bent forward to move the pieces away while the two of them followed suit.
Given her immense strength, she was undoubtedly a whole lot faster than them. They moved the cement pieces away to reveal the true appearance of the corpse inside the coffin.
It was a corpse that was bandaged in white fabric. She could tell from the shape and size of the corpse that it belonged to a man. However, she could not see its features because of the bandages.