15 Concern

Qi Lei frowned at Xiajun's unusual request.

"You want information on The Phantoms? What for?"

Xiajun raised his eyebrows. "I need to check something. Do you have it?"

Qi Lei nodded as he slowly stood up. "I do... But I'll have to find it. You can read the stuff on my computer screen right here because I was researching on them for our current case. If you want to look at past instances, I'll have to look for the folders."

With that, Qi Lei walked to the far end of the room towards a wall of cabinets and one by one started opening them, reading the tags on the folders piled inside while doing so.

Xiajun shifted from his chair to Qi Lei's wheeled one, and clicked the mouse a couple times to wake up the screen which had gone black. Suddenly, the screen sprang to life, casting a white glow on Xiajun's face and neck.

On the front was Qi Lei's desktop background which was a picture of himself with someone who was probably his wife, both arm in arm. Xiajun scoffed and left-clicked, going up to Personalize. He then changed the background to a jump-scare of a long-haired witch and smirked.

"Okay, back to business," Xiajun muttered silently to himself as he cast a glance at Qi Lei who still had his head inside one of the cabinets.

Turning back, Xiajun clicked open the minimized Chrome file and the bright heading 'The Phantoms have struck again!' appeared on top of the page. With a clearing of his throat, Xiajun started reading.

His eyes were transfixed at the screen and his eyes moved rapidly from left to right as he read sentence after sentence. It was a murder case, alright. And not just the murder of one person, many, in fact had become victim to The Phantoms' mischief.

Xiajun's eyebrows furrowed as he realized that the victims weren't some rich or wondrous personalities at all. In fact, they looked like regular people. So why had The Phantoms gone after them in the first place...?

"Ah, here we go," Qi Lei muttered from behind Xiajun. Xiajun turned around and saw he was carrying a large, black binder. Qi Lei came back and put the heavy binder on the desk. "This here is everything, I suppose," he said as he exhaled. Qi Lei's eyes moved from Xiajun's to his computer screen and they turned sad.

"Awful, isn't it," he muttered sadly. "So many people killed and we don't even know why. I asked some of my men to do a background check on the victims. I'll probably get the results in a couple days."

Xiajun nodded as his hands headed for the binder. "Thanks for this," he uttered.

Qi Lei smiled and tapped his fingers in a rhythm on his desk, producing a series of 'thuk, thik, thik' sounds. "So how long are you gonna be in Hong Kong?"

Xiajun shrugged as he fingered the escaping pages in the binder which seemed unorganized. It bothered him so. "I'll be here till I solve the case, most likely. Though it doesn't really matter; it's not like you'll be taking me out for a meal."

Qi Lei guffawed. "Fine. Tomorrow if it doesn't rain, I'll get you some good food, yeah? Even though I'm aware of your delicately refined taste buds, my friend."

Xiajun chuckled. "I've been surviving on cup noodles for the past month, I'm sure I'll be able to be on par with your unrefined tastes."

Qi Lei swatted at him and they both laughed.

"Where are you staying?" Qi Lei asked suddenly, his moustache twitching. "I'm sure you didn't make a long journey just to come see your old man. If you're having trouble finding a place to stay, I'll welcome you at my home anytime."

"Not really." Xiajun smiled. "I got a room at The Elysium, so you needn't fret so."

Qi Lei's eyes bulged out of their sockets. "But a one night stay at The Elysium is, what, 8000 yuan? Are you serious about spending that much money?"

Xiajun smirked, which made Qi Lei scoff.

"If you ever run short of money, come to my house okay? You know where it is. Now get out, you spendthrift, I need to work."

With a light chuckle, Xiajun stood up and saluted Qi Lei. Then he picked up the large, heavy binder and turned to leave.

As he reached the door, he heard Qi Lei click shut something on his computer and before he could hear Qi Lei scream, Xiajun quietly slipped outside. Haha, the new desktop background must've scared the living critters out of the old man!

From behind the door, Qi Lei cursed loudly at the mischievous detective, after which Xiajun laughed and exited the building, binder under his arms.