After venturing across the little bamboo forest and entering the garden at the backyard, they arrived at several crisscrossed pathways under the spreading branches. The terrain was complex and the shadow had already disappeared from the fork of the path. Ewan stopped at the middle. The path was darker at night and he could not determine the spot where the shadow disappeared.
Rachel chased after him while puffing hard. She asked, “Did you get him?” Ewan turned when he heard her voice. His eyebrows wrinkled with little rage. “Why did you come out?” Rachel stooped and puffed while putting her hands on her waist. She glanced through the surrounding and blurted out nervously. “I’m worried about you.” Worried about him? Ewan’s anger which had just risen up vanished at once.
He was an experienced soldier that had experienced countless wars and had witnessed every scene. He needed not be worried at all as it was just a furtive unknown person. “Listen to me next time.” He could not get angry anymore and he held her hand upon finished his words. He randomly chose a path and walked along it.
Care was hidden in his imperative tone of voice. Rachel was dumfounded when she looked at her hand which was being held tightly by him. She then peered at the man’s lofty back. Her palm was warm and her heart shuddered. Their interaction was as sweet as honey. She could not help but secretly let out a sweet smile. Although they were going to catch the thief, she felt like she was in a date and excitement sprawled across her. She felt lighthearted and her fear vanished.
Ewan held her hand tightly and continued walking. He finally arrived at a pitch dark, wide and desolate golf field. Feeling unusual, he immediately turned and headed back. Rachel asked with a soft voice, “Why aren’t we going there anymore?”
“It’s the golf field. He won’t go there.”
“I suppose you know who he is?” Rachel chased after him and raised her head, staring at his handsome side face. Ewan fell into silence and did not answer her question. The manor of the Hill family was too huge that normal people could not perceive. The manor was located at the mountainside with eight thousand meter square greenery and several buildings of few hundreds meter square. Even Rachel who grew up here had not been to every corner of the place.
After walking for ten minutes, both of them reached the guard house located beside the metal gate, and Ewan did not release her hand all the time. Rachel felt that they had travelled back in time, the time when Ewan still brought her to school and enjoy fun while holding her hand, and he was still the Ewan without aloofness and distance, the Ewan she was familiar with back then.
The guard house was bright with light. Ewan pushed the door open and saw a small yet well-equipped monitoring room. Since the murder broke out last time, the guard was 24 hours on duty. Yet now the guard house was all empty, the monitoring screens were all snowy and nothing could be seen. “What happened here?” Rachel was startled and she panicked when she saw all the machines had malfunctioned. The machines had also gone faulty the day her aunt was killed.
Ewan released her hand and glanced through the surrounding with alert. He lowered his head and examined the place while heading towards the monitoring panel. With a round of careful observations, he took the log book at the side and flipped it open calmly. He then said levelly, “The machine has broken since morning.”
“Then why was it not fixed?” Rachel approached Ewan and tipped her toes. She clung to him and glimpsed at the book in his hand. She read the book carefully out of curiosity and had forgotten her action. Ewan sensed that her soft body had pressed against his arm and he slowly turned his head, looking down and noticed her large breasts were clinging to his arm carelessly. He was a normal man; even a man of virtue would still be excited.
Rachel noticed his eyes had become profound and were locked on her chest, enthusiastic and misty. She met his eyes and followed them down. Her face burnt the moment she noticed she was clinging to him and she quickly backed up. She stammered. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t do that on purpose.” Ewan glanced at her red face and his handsome and cool feature let out a false smile. He did hope she did that on purpose. Rachel was too embarrassed and she was slightly uncomfortable that she squeezed the corner of her shirt and did not dare to meet his eyes.
To relieve her embarrassment, Ewan cleared his throat and spoke gently. “The remarks say the technician is going to come over tomorrow morning, and there’s currently one guard left on duty because another guard has resigned recently.” Curiosity sparked within Rachel once again. She spoke and had forgotten the awkwardness she felt just now. “What a coincidence.”
Ewan tossed the book down and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. He stared at the screen which was out of pictures and his eyes became profound. “You think this is a coincidence?”
His question shocked her. It was obvious that the trick used was the same as the one when her aunt was murdered and the surveillance cameras had malfunctioned inexplicably. Ewan then noticed a square display at the bottom right corner of the screen. He picked up the mouse and clicked the screen from the only surveillance camera that still functioned. The picture from the camera zoomed and filled the whole screen. Rachel slowly approached in confusion and muttered. “Why does the camera at this place still function?”
“This camera was installed afterwards. It doesn’t belong to the system.” Ewan examined the picture and noticed the camera was pointed towards a small path, yet he was unfamiliar with the location of the path.
“Where is this place?” Rachel also pointed at the screen. “No idea.” Ewan shook his head and continued switching the location.
Rachel could not help but sigh. “The Hill house is really too big. Although I’ve lived here for fifteen years, I’ve not been to many places here. I don’t dare to go to some places alone as they’re creepy and desolate, whereas the other places are forbidden to come close…”
“Forbidden?” Ewan interrupted and stared at her incredulously. He had never heard such a thing before. He then frowned and quickly asked, “Which place are you forbidden to come close?”
“There’s an ancestral hall after passing through the north garden, the place to appreciate the ancestors of the Hill family…”
“You’re forbidden to approach the ancestral hall?” He then asked in disbelief, after all he knew Rachel would basically attend the ceremony to appreciate the ancestors every year. Rachel shook her head and replied. “Not the ancestral hall, but the yard behind the ancestral hall, the yard which a lot of maple trees are planted. An old butler used to guard there in the past.”
Ewan seized her hand and dragged her to the outside. He was anxious in his footsteps and he was feeling excited. “Take me there.” He had been in the Hill family for almost thirty years and did not even once discover the mysterious yard behind the ancestral hall. That was because he did not like to linger around during his childhood and was not interested of desolate places.
“Now?” Rachel swallowed her saliva in panic. She was scared whenever she thought of that place during the day, not to mention going there at night.