"Brother Le..." Soan Jingor grew ever more confused as he listened to Le Xaan's inquiries, which seemed senseless to him. From Soan Jingor's perspective, Le Xaan must have come aboard another ship. But Soan Jingor still patiently held back from interrupting Le Xaan.
"Is there an pleasure-cruiser where red lanterns were hung all over the place at midnight around here? And it looks almost identical to yours." Le Xaan pressed further, unsatisfied with Dierr's answers.
Dierr's eyes blinked as she said,
"This young master, who tells you about a ship with red lanterns? Do you really know when we would hang red lanterns on the ship?
When a girl has died, we would hang red lanterns at the door and inside the room.
One above the door and two inside the room for condolences."
Upon hearing this, Le Xaan was stunned.
He recalled the eerie big vessel that was decorated with red lanterns all over it.
The pattern was exactly as Dierr described: two lanterns were hung inside the room while one was above the door!
"Oops! So horrifying! This Young Master, are you recounting a horror story that you heard from others and want to scare Dierr with it?"
Dierr was currently a little frightened by Le Xaan's description, having goosebumps all over her body.
"Xaan... are you sure what you are saying is not your daydream?" Soan Jingor looked at Le Xaan with concern.
"No... not at all..." Le Xaan replied. He was currently dithering over whether to give more details about his personal experiences that night. For example, back then, the door was locked. Nevertheless, even if he told the truth, Soan Jingor might not believe him.
"But if Wein Zikua had not come to this pleasure cruiser, where did he go?" Soan Jingor wondered. "Soon the Examination will start. If he breaks the School's rules, he will not get recommended and his future will be ruined!"
"These two young masters, if you don't have other things, Dierr has to go on performing for other customers."Dierr said in a low voice.
"Alright. Thank you for your trouble, Dierr. Here is your tip." Soan gave her a few silver coins.
Dierr immediately cheered up because she could pocket all of it without sharing it with the pleasure cruiser. She carefully stuffed the silver coins into her pouch. Then, she trod toward the door. Halfway to the door, she paused in her steps and looked over her shoulder, saying,
"Oh, I recall something. This young master, Dierr once heard a horror story that circulates among us.
It's rumored that on Pine River, there once was a red-colored ship, namely Red Mansion. There came a day when the ship was on fire, and the fire consumed all the people on it, whether the girls or the customers. After that, the legend about the Red Mansion began to spread through the river. The legend states that the ship has red lanterns hanging all over it. And whoever boards the ship will never return ashore."
Le Xaan was taken aback and hurriedly called out,
"Miss Dierr, wait a minute, please. Can you tell us more about the red ship?"
"Eh... Dierr has joined the pleasure cruiser just not long ago. So, I don't know much about it. But, isn't Young Master Soan intimate with Kunny? Kunny has been missing Young Master Soan everyday. And she has worked in the ship for a long time. You can ask her about this legend. I bet she knows a lot about it." Dierr replied in a low voice.
"Well." Le Xaan nodded, "Go ahead."
Dierr walked out of the private room. After that, Le Xaan and Soan Jingor kept silent, lost in their own thoughts.
A while later, Kunny, attired in a pure white bandeau dress, trod in. Once she laid eyes on Soan Jingor, her eyes sparkled brilliantly.
"Young Master Soan!" she called out as she showed an affectionate look on her face.
"Kunny!" Soan walked up and gently hugged Kunny into his arms. " We haven't met for a few days. Are you still fine? I have given the head of the pleasure cruiser enough money that, apart from me, no one else can request your service."
Kunny nodded her head lightly, a hint of contentment on her face. "Kunny knows that Young Master Soan takes good care of her."
"I have always been waiting for you to agree to leave with me." Soan Jingor said in a tender voice. "Alright. Today, I am here to ask about Wein Zikua, the man who came here with us that night.
Kunny, do you know whether Wein Zikua returned to the ship after we left together back then? "
"Young Master Wein Zikua?" Kunny pondered for a moment before saying, "That night when you left, it was already late at night. Hadn't Young Master Wein left along with you? Why would he return?"
"Are you sure that he didn't return?" Le Xaan inquired.
Kunny nodded. "Yes, I am sure. Because back then I still stayed a while on the ship after all of you left. Only half an hour after you left did I leave the ship."
"Is that so....So strange..." Le Xaan said while pondering.
Soan Jingor then asked a few more questions, all of which Kunny answered well. And her replies corresponded with Dierr's.
After Le Xaan and Soan Jingor were certain that they couldn't find more clues on the vessel, they disembarked from it with resignation.
"From the looks of it, we have to alert the authorities." Soan Jingor said with a sigh.
Le Xaan shook his head. "I'm afraid that even if we do so, it would be useless..."
Soan Jingor cast a glance at Le Xaan and couldn't get his head around Le Xaan's words.
"Brother Soan, go back home. Let's stop here for today. It's already very late." Le Xaan reminded him, "Tomorrow we have a test, after all."
"Alright. I will go back first. Xaan, if you have any clue, remember to tell me about it." Soan Jingor heaved a sigh before parting ways with Le Xaan.
Soan Jingor got into a horse carriage. It moved off and gradually disappeared from Le Xaan's sight. Le Xaan was now turning over their conversations with Dierr and Kunny in his mind but smelled nothing fishy. The two girls' reactions were natural, betraying nothing suspicious.
"It seems that they haven't told any lies at all. But if the red ship was not the one I once stayed in, why would my waist pouch have been left on it?"Le Xaan was puzzled.
He had an ominous feeling that he probably got involved in another trouble.
...........
Seated in the horse carriage, Soan Jingor was in a somber mood, letting out one sigh after another.
He attached great importance to his friends. Wein Zikua had gone missing after spending some time with him. No matter what, he had to do a search for Wein Zikua all through and give his family an explanation.
What's more, Wein Zikua was closely bound with him. Soan Jingor couldn't allow his friend to evaporate under his nose.
"Could it be that..." A guess sprang up in his mind, "He lost his footing and fell into the river?" With this in mind, Soan Jingor felt a chill creep up his spine.
"Whatever! Even if he is dead, I have to retrieve his corpse! It's me who took him to the pleasure cruiser that night. If something has happened to him, I have to account for it!"
Soan Jingor made up his mind and was now determined.
"If it is other types of things, I will go and alert the authorities!"
"But how about Kunny?"
As his mind raced, he thought of Kunny, who he loved deeply for a long period. He had spent more than a thousand silver coins in this single month just to keep Kunny from offering services to other patrons. He and his father had argued a lot over this expense.