Hong Pei Lou (I)

The waiter took Lin Xiaofei to a room upstairs. The restaurant has three floors and each was styled differently.

The first and lower floor where the lobby was located, the style was flashy and the colors of the curtains hanging on the high beams were all gold and bright. On the other hand, the second floor wasn't as flashy but the theme of the second floor was more mellow and warm that made one feel relax when eating and talking.

However, Lin Xiaofei was surprised at the interior of the third floor. There were no windows that were opened even though it was morning and everything was red.

The cabinets, the tables and chairs, the curtains, the walls, and the carpet on the floor was all dyed with red that even Lin Xiaofei who liked the color red couldn't stop frowning from seeing too much red in one place.

Thankfully, the lamps on the wall weren't made with red material or else, Lin Xiaofei would have blind herself from seeing red.

Unfortunately, the manager that was supposed to be staying upstairs wasn't there.

"Why is there no one here?" Lin Xiaofei asked the waiter.

The waiter put some tea on the teacup near her hand and said, "The master will be here shortly. I already notified him that a guest is looking for him."

"Does the guest want the dish she ordered be delivered here?" The waiter asked just as he was about to leave.

Lin Xiaofei nodded her head to the waiter who left soon after.

Once she was alone, Lin Xiaofei took a moment to look around once again. Aside from the red furnishings, she noticed a large painting that was erected on the wall.

There was a monster in the painting with huge fangs and horns on his forehead. Beneath the monster's feet was a burning fire and it looked like he was dancing as he held a huge spiked sword in his hand.

And around him was skulls piled up on each side of the monster.

The painting was horrendous and terrifying to anyone who laid his eyes on it, but Lin Xiaofei found the painting extremely beautiful that she even stood up from her seat and walked closer to touch the painting.

She raised her hands and touched the surface of the painting. It was rough and cold to the touch. However, Lin Xiaofei was fascinated by it that she didn't notice that someone was already behind her and was curiously watching her actions.

For Lin Xiaofei, paintings never caught her attention if the painting was only about the scenery and how beautiful a woman or a man was since it was useless to look on things that will rot and die in the first place.

She liked paintings that brought fear to others as they look upon it. Usually, a painting such as the one on the wall and in front of Lin Xiaofei was banned and burned to never be seen by one's eyes since it was believed that an ominous painting was doomed to make everyone who laid thier eyes upon it will end up having a terrible fate.

However, because the painting was extremely rare, Lin Xiaofei was unable to possess one or even touch it.

She caressed the terrifying painting with care and as if it was the most fragile thing she had ever seen in her life. Her fingers trailed over each stroke of the brush and landed on a skull.

The entire time, Lin Xiaofei had a smile on her face, but it didn't stay for long as a demon mask was suddenly shoved to her vision.

From the corner of her eyes, a figure appeared beside her and as if the monster on the painting came alive, the figure beside her was wearing the same mask as the monster.

Slightly startled at the presence of another person, Lin Xiaofei took a few steps back as she put her hand inside her sleeve where a small dagger was hidden.

The person who appeared was towering her even though Lin Xiaofei was taller than the average height of the young ladies of her age because of the blood from the Lin family coursing through her veins.

And wearing black robes with gold intricate designs, the man looked imposing and intimidating.

Lin Xiaofei slightly scolded herself for being startled over something like this. She was too caught up with the beauty of the painting that she didn't even take notice of her surroundings and touched other people's things as if she owned it.

And with her abrupt actions and with her hand in her sleeve, the tension in the room became thicker.

Staring at the eyes of the man, Lin Xiaofei didn't break their eye contact as she relaxed her body before saying sarcastically, "The manager of this place sure has a very interesting hobby of scaring his guests."

"Were you scared?" The man said, but his voice was slightly distorted with the interjection of the mask on his face, however, Lin Xiaofei heard the hint of a deep and smooth voice belonging to this man in front of her.

Sneaking behind her and wearing the same mask as the monster in the painting, who wouldn't be startled and get scared?

"No. I wasn't." She replied and turned to seat on the chair.

Truth be told, Lin Xiaofei wasn't scared but it did startle her. If the monster really came out alive, Lin Xiaofei would probably the first person who will jump in joy and ask a wish from it.

She wanted to wish for her enemies to disappear and suffer for a lifetime then, that would be really great since she didn't have to raise a hand to make her enemies pay for the blood debt they owed her.

But Lin Xiaofei was also not quite enthusiastic to ask for that wish since if her wish was truly granted, she won't be able to feel the satisfaction of doing something and killing her enemies with her own hands.