story_hmau_2_1

No, you don't understand. If this goes on...

I-I could very well find myself killed!

Wha?

Have you tried the cops?

*sigh* Of course I have. They said I'm just overthinking it. I asked around and someone told me about you guys. You're a detective agency, right? Figuring out who wants to kill me and making sure I'm safe should be right up your alley!

Besides, I'm pretty sure... the L.G.D. are actually working with those guys.

That's gotta be why they're ignoring me!

Oh? The L.G.D.'s in on it, you say?

Alright, interesting. We'll take the case!

Normally, we charge a thousand LMD per billable hour, but I'll give you a discount. 30 thousand for the whole job. How's that?

Wait, slow down there, Aak.

(Whispers) Look, I'm sick of eating nothing but cup noodles every single day. Which of the gigs you picked up lately even got us paid, anyway? At this rate, we'll be dead before Lee's back.

And please calm down a little, Mr... uh...

Hung looks down at the business card he got from the man earlier. He works for a famous corporation in Lungmen, with a fairly impressive title next to his name to boot.

Hung thinks to himself, the client probably has much more lavish meals than cup noodles every day.

Mr. Lau.

You said earlier that you think you're being followed. Are you sure you are not imagining things?

For example, a few days ago I was at the wet markets picking up groceries, and I was certain someone was following me... until I realized it was just a cloudbeast cub.

I'm telling you, it's not like that! Look...

Mr. Lau cautiously looks around.

Lately, there've been all these strange marks on the walls outside my front door. I looked it up on the intercity net! They all say it means somebody's out to get me!

And I actually felt some strange glances! Both during my commute and even at the office! It always feels like there's somebody observing me.

Ugh... Just thinking about it gives me chills.

Look, maybe it's just a stray cloudbeast...

Why would there be a stray cloudbeast in an office building?!

And scariest of all is that I keep hearing someone whispering at night...

Mr. Lau, at the end of the street, you'll find a store that sells essential oils. There's this oil with a calming effect that I've tried out. It really helps give you sleep better.

Maybe you're just a little tense lately. Try massaging yourself with some of that oil. It'll calm you down.

*sigh* Not you too...

But you know, it does sound like somebody might be following him.

You don't just constantly feel like somebody's watching you for no reason.

And speaking from experience, if you can notice them at all, it just shows how fearless they are. They aren't afraid of being seen, much less what you'd do after you find out.

Right?!

Hey now, stop scaring the client. This is nothing like that. Your situation's... a lot more unique.

By the way, Mr. Lau, are the marks still there?

Yeah, you bet they are! I wiped them off once, but then they showed up again, and I didn't dare wipe them off again... On top of that, they keep multiplying every few days.

Then let's go have a look right now.

Now?

When else? If I were the mastermind behind this, I'd definitely be watching him in the dead of night.

Hung looks at the time displayed on his terminal and scratches his head.

We don't even know if there's actually a mastermind per se...

But alright. Mr. Lau, would you mind if we go have a look now? Maybe it could offer you some peace of mind.

N-Not at all!

Hold up, let me bring my camera!

As the sparse traffic speeds down the road, the streetlights lining the sidewalks light up one after another. Mr. Lau is walking in front of the two investigators, looking back from time to time.

What? You think someone's following you again?

I don't feel them now. Weird... I was sure somebody was watching me on my way to your office...

Maybe you're just a little too nervous. The old man at the canteen downstairs loves to watch people come and go when he's got nothing to do. He probably just thought you looked a little strange.

I-Is that so...

Oh, here we are. My flat is here, up on the second floor.

Mr. Lau's home is in an old shopping district. The mottled coating on the outer wall is starting to peel off, and there is a damp stench in the staircase.

Fearfully, he points at the walls by his front door. There are indeed multiple strange marks. One is particularly evident, with three more slender traces criss-crossing each other and leading toward the door.

Look, right here! I wiped them off before, then a couple days later, they showed up again. The same pattern, too. Always the same pattern...

The spacing's consistent, but the depth's different... Doesn't look manmade—

Is it a ghost, then?!

More like they were made by machines.

Mr. Lau, whoever's behind this, looks like they brought a machine to spook you.

Wh-What...

Hung crouches down and observes the wall. He lightly touches the dust on the ground and rubs it between his fingers, revealing a faint light-blue gleam.

Aak starts to take pictures of the wall, as Hung turns around toward the staircase.

It's a false alarm, Mr. Lau. This wasn't drawn deliberately. The faint light-blue powder here is just dried soap.

And considering the pattern in the spacing... this is probably from a cleaning robot.

How can you be so sure?

There are tread marks. Look.

Aak and Mr. Lau look toward where Hung is pointing, and see faint tread marks on the floor beneath the marks on the wall.

Uh, you sure? Maybe the culprit rode one of those little scooters here to mark his walls.

H-Huh?

It's okay, Mr. Lau. The marks are likely just a misunderstanding. Now how about we figure out what the whispers you heard at night were? Do you mind if we go inside?

P-Please, by all means!

(Whispers) But I heard somebody running away when I opened the door yesterday... Was that the janitor?

The night is deep. Mr. Lau's home is lit by only a few small lights. Through the window blinds, the red light of the neon signs outside can be seen flashing.

Hung stays at the door to check if there is any moment outside as Aak looks out the window, pointing a flashlight at the building across the street and occasionally taking pictures with his camera.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lau has wrapped himself up in a blanket, with a flashlight clenched tightly in his hand. The only thing that can be heard inside the room is the faint sound of the breeze, interrupted intermittently by the shutter of Aak's camera.

Doesn't look like anyone passed outside. I can just barely hear cars speeding past and nothing else. Aak, what are you looking at over there?

You know, the folks in this neighborhood all seem pretty nice. There's even somebody downstairs feeding a stray cloudbeast at this hour.

Say, do you think anyone'd come feed <i>us</i> if we went downstairs and lied down on the ground at night?

Looks like he's done feeding it. The cloudbeast cub is coming this way now... Oh, look at it hop. What a lively one.

Let me take a picture...

No, that can't be a stray. Look, it's got a collar.

Oh, that's Siumi. Probably a pet that got lost. You can always find someone feeding it these days.

It's pretty friendly, too. Every night, it comes up to my window for a walk. Wait, why are we talking about cloudbeasts?

Just wait a little longer. Every night around this time, you can hear these strange whispers coming from the wall...

Bzz—zzz—

Right after he finishes his sentence, the room falls silent for a brief moment, before the gang actually hears a strange noise.

Th-That's the sound!

It sounds like some kinda current to me...

Mr. Lau is so anxious that he begins to sweat. Aak finds himself bewildered, too. On the other hand, Hung's usual cool composure remains unchanged. He stands up slowly, and presses his ear against the wall for a few seconds. Then, he heads toward the kitchen.

After a few minutes, the sound dissipates.

Huh? The sound of the current stopped. What did you just do?

That was the air purifier. There was something stuck inside, and I pulled it out.

The fan's a little loose, and it got stuck inside the machine when it was turning. That's why it was making all that noise. Maybe it only sounded like voices because it's in the other room.

That's it? What was stuck inside anyway?

Looks like some kind of component.

It's been some time since I used it, actually. But since the air quality in town's been pretty bad lately, I've been keeping it on to at least get some fresher air inside the place, and it hasn't been turned off the entire time. Never thought something could be stuck inside...

Oh, maybe it fell inside when that plumber came to fix the pipes last week? I knew it... The plumbers on the intercity net are all unreliable... That's what I get for being cheap.

This part...

*sigh* Good thing I had you two come check this out for me. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be able to live here anymore.

You're just too on edge. Calm down. Lungmen isn't full of conspiracies, and there's no such thing as ghosts.

You've been imagining things because of all these strange marks and sounds, and I can sympathize with that, but you seem overly nervous. I hope you don't mind me asking, but did something happen recently?

If you ask me, given that you think someone's been following you, and that you're even worried about threats to your life... there has to be something more than the marks on the wall and the air purifier's sounds that got you so worried in the first place.

Uhh...

To tell you the truth, I actually... reported a coworker from my company last week... for smuggling and embezzlement.

I've always known that the company deals in some pretty shady business, and that coworker of mine keeps getting promoted pretty quickly, so I suspected him... No, I guess I just envied him...

But I got so hotheaded that I went and reported him! Ever since, I've been scared he'll come and get me.

And I haven't seen him in the office all week, either... Maybe... Maybe he's making preparations to off me.

Why didn't you tell us sooner?!

Misunderstandings between people ought to be resolved as soon as possible. Otherwise, they'll start piling up, and things are bound to get out of hand from there.

It's pretty late already, so we'll head back for the day. Calm down. Everything will be resolved by the time you visit our office tomorrow.

Oh, thank you so much, you two! As for your payment—

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll talk about that tomorrow. Try to get some rest now.

Interesting. Someone's out to get revenge, huh?

And how can you be so sure that you'll have this taken care of by tomorrow?

Well, it's just a little misunderstanding. I can handle that.

Once we get paid tomorrow, we'll finally be able to get ourselves some fresh vegetables. Stir-fried meat with corn, braised ribs with pumpkin, and how about some cucumber salad with cloud ears? Anything you want to eat, Aak?

Come on, I'm just asking you to come up with a dish for dinner tomorrow. No need to look all serious.

You know, I'm really not sure about this. There's no way that Siumi just so happens to take leisurely walks on his windowsill every single night, and there just so happen to be strange sounds that start as soon as it makes its way up.

Check out the tag on its collar! It glows! Look, I got a picture here. Just think about it. Why would anyone give a cloudbeast that kinda bling? This is way, waaay too shady.

Maybe that's just what's trendy these days. Having a glowing collar helps those who comes feed it at night, too. Look at how dark its fur is. You gotta look really carefully to even spot it.

A dark-furred cloudbeast with a glowing collar and a fixed routine... Someone feeds it every night... Strange marks, strange sounds, and a component stuck inside the guy's air purifier...

Hah, what did I just say? I found the guy who's been tailing Mr. Lau!

Oh?

Take a look at the picture. That guy downstairs is holding something in his hand, looking up!

He's probably just looking at Siumi.

But Siumi's hanging out on Mr. Lau's windowsill?

Which means... that guy downstairs is using Siumi to eavesdrop on, no, to monitor Mr. Lau! That flashy collar? That might just be a camera!

Good thing you didn't mention this theory in Mr. Lau's place. He'd be scared out of his wits.

Did you see the bags under his eyes? He probably hasn't had a good night's sleep for a week. At this rate, he'll end up with neurasthenia.

Life in Lungmen's not really all that hard. I mean, Lee often gets himself dragged into some pretty hot messes... and there are things you can't talk over.

But the way I see it, if everyone just treated each other with sincerity and respect right from the start, things wouldn't be nearly as troublesome. If it's all a misunderstanding, then there's still room to talk things out, and it's always worth a shot.

After all, all this boils down to interpersonal problems. You don't like me, I don't like you. You envy me, I envy you back. It's a vicious cycle.

In any case, once we take care of the problem at its source tomorrow, Mr. Lau's worries will be a thing of the past.

Not every day we actually agree with each other...

Yeah, let's take care of the problem at its source. Heh, tomorrow, I'm gonna hit up the mastermind's crib and see exactly what it is they're up to.

Crib? What crib?

Phew… Let's head on home already. Gotta get up early tomorrow for work.

Where's Aak? I thought we were going to take care of this problem first thing in the morning.

Eh, whatever. I can probably handle this alone. I should be able to keep up appearances by myself.

Hello? Oh, Mr. Lau. I'm at the store.

Thanks for doing all of this. I'm almost done picking out everything I'll need.

Oh, right... Would it be okay if we got a small advance payment?

Hey, hey... Siumi, come on out.

You see this piece of meat? It's from my cup noodles this morning. If you want it, you gotta give me something in exchange—

Got it!

Hah, just as I thought. There's a camera on the collar's tag.

That's way too roundabout for gangs these days, using stray animals... If not them, then maybe some corporation? Or maybe it's a personal grudge thing?

Mr. Lau said he offended somebody... Maybe this is—

Hold up, is that the guy who was feeding Siumi downstairs last night? He's knocking on Mr. Lau's door.

Nobody's here. Hm, guess Hung stopped by and lured him away. Good one.

He's talking to somebody... Oh, is he leaving already? Not good. Gotta follow him. He might be trying to look for Mr. Lau.

Hey, outta the way, Siumi! I'm all outta meat!

Phew... He sure runs quick...

The shopping district? Shit, maybe he noticed I've been tailing him. It's the weekend. There's way too many people here! This isn't gonna be easy...

Huh? Is that... Hung and Mr. Lau? Why are they both holding all those bags? Those aren't their weapons or whatever, right?

Agh, what to do... Should I call the cops? But what if the L.G.D. takes Hung away too?

Whatever... Following that guy's more important.

Hey, coming through! Make way!

A residential building? That's pretty spartan for a crib...

Now he's got a huge bag in his hand. Most likely handed to him by one of his buddies from the shopping street... What's inside... Weapons? Stolen cash?

Argh, should I get in touch with Hung or call the cops first? He looks pretty thin, though. Bet Hung could take him down no problem.

Wait... Is he looking at me? Crap! He noticed me!

Ahhh!!! He's coming this way! And his hand is in the bag—

Uh, oh my, Wong... What happened to you?

Well, haha... I had a little fall last week and ended up in the hospital.

Goodness... That's pretty serious... Uh...

Mr. Lau and Mr. Wong simply look at each other quietly in embarrassment, as though the air in the staircase has frozen over.

Next to them, with a bright smile on his face and two plastic bags full of fruits in his hands, Hung looks toward Mr. Lau with expectant eyes.

(Whispering) You asked me where the coworker I reported lives, and <i>this</i> is why?!

(Whispering) Yeah!

(Whispering) You... You could've at least told me and let me prepare myself, mentally!

(Whispering) What? Didn't I say last night that misunderstandings between people ought to be resolved as soon as possible?

(Whispering) I didn't know you meant this—

May I ask what you two are here for? If you don't need anything, I'll head inside now.

Hold on, Mr. Wong! Mr. Lau has something important to tell you!

What do you mean?

It's really, really important!

(Whispering) Go on, Mr. Lau! We're here already. Might as well!

(Whispering) A-Alright...

Well, uh, remember how I got a little hotheaded last week and reported you? You see, for the last six months, work hasn't been going very smoothly, but you got promoted so easily... and I got a little jealous.

I really should've talked to you about this ahead of time! I mean, the company dealing in shady business doesn't have anything to do with me personally. I didn't have to stick my nose into this...

So, what I'm saying is, I'm here to apologize today, Wong. Please, take these!

Lau finishes getting everything off his chest, and hands the two big bags of fruit to Wong.

Wong's mouth is half agape, as though he just heard the most shocking news of the century. He already has one hand busy holding a crutch, and is unsure how to take the two bags of fruit with his free hand.

Hung takes Mr. Wong's free hand, and pulls it toward Mr. Lau's hand. At the same time, he also hands the fruit directly to Mr. Wong.

That's the gist of it. For the past week, my client has been losing sleep over this, thinking he had acted too rashly. That's why he's here to apologize.

As they say, friendship is wealth! Let's not dwell over matters past.

What do you say, Mr. Wong?

You're far too kind, Lau... I actually didn't even know the company was dealing in gray area business. I was just doing what the higher-ups told me to, and had no idea what they were up to.

The company reassigned me to another department, and truth be told, you were a lifesaver. If you hadn't reported that in time, the company might've set me up as a fall guy!

Oh, so that's why!

Oh, this is all my fault! If I'd only talked to you about this back then...

No, no, no. Don't say that, Lau.

Great, that takes care of everything. In the end, nothing's more important than actually talking to each other.

Now you don't need to worry about getting followed anymore, Mr. Lau!

Followed...?

Right, now that the misunderstanding between you has been cleared, to celebrate, how would you two like to come to my place for a meal?

Uh, hold on...

Before the two of them could answer, Hung suddenly shakes his head. Then, he clasps his hands.

Let's head out for a meal. I know a pretty decent place. What do you two think? It's a little early for lunch, so if we head there now, there likely won't be much of a wait.

Oh right, Mr. Lau, I may need a little advance payment after all.

Haha, not a problem! I'm hungry too. Come on, we'll call a taxi. This meal's on me!

Gragh, how could this all just be a misunderstanding?! What a freaking letdown.

Can you believe it? I tailed that guy for the better part of the day, and it turns out he was a part-time water fitness salesman!

I asked him what kind of business he had with Mr. Lau, and you know what he said?

*cough* 'Lau promised me to come to the pool to try out our fitness program, but he never picked up when I called, nor did he answer when I knocked on his door. What the hell?'

What the hell?' I could've asked him the same thing!

Calm down. It's nighttime already. Why are you still mad about that? What's wrong with it all being a misunderstanding?

When Mr. Lau left, he even told me that now that he's talked to Mr. Wong, he didn't feel like he was being followed anymore. He even bought the essential oil I recommended. I'm sure he'll have a good night's sleep tonight.

And I feel kinda bad about this. We didn't really do much, but he paid us such a huge sum of money.

Hey, I put a lot of work into this case... I mean, I approached it in the wrong direction, but still.

Weird, though... If this was all a misunderstanding, then what was up with those sneaky guys whispering to the part-timer dude?

Maybe they were just going about their business.

I mean, most folks in this city are still law-abiding citizens going about their normal, everyday lives.

And come on, don't just eat the meat. The veggies and shrooms are all fresh, too. The braised bamboo shoots aren't bad either. Give 'em a try.

You're way too optimistic about people, you know?! Yeah, things turned out fine this time, but what if the next time you bring the client to a meeting a hundred mafia hitmen come running out?

At least Lee has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve, and I'd be more worried about anyone <i>he</i> flimflams. But you? You trust others way too easily!

I'm telling you, this client, no, that guy who tailed him, and that company! All of them have got some shady business going on, I know it!

*sigh* For real, what would you do without me? I really gotta keep an eye peeled and look out for the both of us.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I couldn't do it without you. Now eat.

Anyway, thanks for your cooperation.

We're here for a midnight snack, and you still want to talk work?

...Do the two of us even have anything to talk about but work?

That was a close one, though. Those guys were gonna settle the score today. If that 'concerned citizen' hadn't gone and apologized, he'd have died for sure.

<i>They</i> would've died.

Huh?

The guy they apologized to is an informant of mine. He went straight home as soon as he was discharged from the hospital, not even realizing he was being watched.

*sigh...* What a coincidence, then.

You call that a coincidence? If you ask me, that big fella from the detective agency may look like an honest guy, but he's actually pretty sharp. He even knew to bring his client to a place with lots of people around.

Gotta say, a certain somebody's really not handling these things up to snuff. I mean, there were terrorists hiding in the residential buildings. Can you believe it?

Well, I'd say a certain somebody should take better care that the personal information of her sources doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Mind your own business! I was just going to look into that!

You're wide open.

(Om nom nom)

Huh?! That was the last finball! How dare you, you stinky rat—