Lu Fei and Hu Zi suddenly left, leaving the people in the private room bewildered.
Especially Liu Fugui, who was enjoying his meal so much.
"Mr. Lu must have left in such a hurry due to something important," Su Liguo said with understanding, "Boss Liu, I have prepared a lot of gifts. Please take Mr. Lu's share back with you as well."
"Chairman Su is too kind," Liu Fugui was overjoyed and eagerly chatted with Su Liguo.
Su Liguo also chatted with him in a very graceful manner for a while.
However, because the main guest, Lu Fei, had left, the dinner ended early.
Liu Fugui sat amidst the car full of expensive gifts, humming a little tune on his way home.
On the road, his phone rang.
Seeing the number on the screen, Liu Fugui immediately broke into a smile.
"Xiaomei, miss your brother again? Haha, don't worry, I'm coming right now."
Saying this, he had the designated driver turn the car around and head for another address.
On the other side.
Following the address given by Xie Yao, Lu Fei and Hu Zi took a taxi to an old street.
"Manager Lu, over here."
Under the streetlight, Xie Yao stood gracefully in a white long dress.
Her eyes were fixed on the passing cars, and she waved happily as soon as she saw Lu Fei.
Lu Fei quickly crossed the road and asked anxiously, "Miss Xie, where is my grandfather?"
"I'm sorry, we only managed to find out where Old Master Lu had been before," Xie Yao, understanding Lu Fei's feelings, did not waste words and immediately led them to the second floor of a nearby building.
It was a small office with a sign hanging at the door that read 'Conscience Detective Agency'.
As soon as Lu Fei and Hu Zi entered, they were hit by a strong smell of tobacco.
The office was in disarray, with a sofa and coffee table for guests by the door, a large computer desk against the wall, and mountains of documents piled up behind the desk.
"Liang, Boss Lu is here."
Xie Yao walked over to the desk familiarly and called out.
A man with hair as messy as a bird's nest raised his head from behind the computer screen, glanced at Lu Fei, got up, grabbed a file folder, and came out.
"Hello, are you the owner of Sinisterium Pawnshop?"
"Yes, I'm Lu Fei. Are you the detective? Have you found any news about my grandfather?"
Lu Fei nodded, feeling that the other man was examining him with a strange look.
The man had a beard covering his chin, and his hair seemed not to have been cut in a long time. His eyes looked half-asleep, and he had a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Can someone so unkempt be reliable?
"Just call me Liang. Your grandfather, Lu Qingxuan, left the pawnshop three years ago." Fortunately, he quickly averted his gaze and handed the file folder to Lu Fei.
"His purpose should be to acquire... in your words, an evil object."
Obviously, he had investigated the background of Sinisterium Pawnshop and knew what Sinisterium Pawnshop was about.
"Manager Lu, take a seat and look carefully. He is my cousin. Don't let his disheveled appearance fool you; he used to be a police officer and is very professional in investigations."
Xie Yao smiled at Lu Fei and turned to pour some water.
Lu Fei nodded and sat down on the obviously second-hand old sofa, eagerly opening the file, which contained only a few thin pages.
They recorded the places where his grandfather had been.
Tiger stood behind him like a bodyguard.
Lu Fei carefully flipped through the documents.
"Three years ago, after your grandfather left the pawnshop, he first went to a place called Sanwei Teahouse," Liang Ge took a drag of his cigarette and began to explain.
"I have investigated this teahouse. It is a place where so-called Xuanmen Jianghu people gather and exchange information, and ordinary people can't even get in."
"Then, your grandfather went to the Tianlong Auction House."
"This was the last place he was seen. After leaving the auction house, no more clues could be found."
Lu Fei raised his head from the thin stack of documents, muttering the names of these two places to himself.
"Three Flavor Teahouse, Tianlong Auction House... Could you tell me what sort of evil object my grandfather was trying to collect?"
Although there were not many clues, they were very crucial.
Moreover, this had happened three years ago. Lu Fei had investigated on his own but hadn't even found a single trace.
Mr. Liang's capabilities were quite good.
"Based on the characteristics of these two places, I deduced that your grandfather first went to the Three Flavor Teahouse to gather information. After obtaining the clue, he then went to the Tianlong Auction House. However, it seems he did not manage to acquire the item he wanted."
Mr. Liang lit another cigarette and spoke in a deliberate manner.
"On the day your grandfather went to the auction house, one of the items up for auction went missing."
Lu Fei looked at him intently, "What is it?"
"An ancient goatskin map."
Brother Liang flicked his cigarette ash and squinted his eyes.
"But only the owner of the auction house knows exactly what is recorded on that map."
"And after the map was lost, he had all records related to the map deleted and forbade anyone from mentioning it. I put in quite some effort to uncover this information."
Lu Fei was silent for a while before saying, "Could it be that my grandfather got this map and went to the place marked on it?"
"That's not impossible." Brother Liang looked at Lu Fei, "But to be frank, the golden time for searching a missing person is 72 hours, and your grandfather has been missing for three years. The hope of his survival is very slim."
"I understand! But I believe my grandfather is still alive!" Lu Fei clenched his fists.
Xie Yao also said, "Grandpa Lu is no ordinary person. I also believe that a good person will always be protected by the heavens."
Brother Liang glanced at her, then turned his head and said, "There's another piece of information I think I should tell Manager Lu."
"Go ahead." Lu Fei adjusted his emotions and looked up.
"While investigating the clues about the parchment map, I accidentally discovered that this map had also appeared once twenty years ago. It was in the same year..."
At this point, Liang Ge paused, his tone slightly softening.
"Your parents died in an accident."
"What?" Lu Fei felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him, completely stunned: "Is my parents' accident also related to the parchment map?"
"There is no evidence, only a coincidence in time, so I cannot make irresponsible assumptions," Liang Ge said cautiously.
Lu Fei was dazed for a moment, clenching his teeth bit by bit.
"Nothing in the world can be such a coincidence! It must be true! That's why my grandfather suddenly left to look for this parchment map!"
Grandfather had always been a calm and composed old man, able to take everything in stride no matter what happened.
But in the two days before his disappearance, he was always frowning.
For him to be so nervous, to put down Sinisterium Pawnshop and hurriedly leave with Lu Fei, something of great importance must have happened.
When his parents passed away, Lu Fei was still very young. Afterward, his grandfather never mentioned the cause of his parents' death, so Lu Fei did not know what his grandfather's feelings were at that time.
But for a father, what could be more sorrowful than having to bury your own child?
Hu Zi looked at Lu Fei in surprise, feeling a bit uncomfortable inside.
He had always thought that Lu Fei was a pampered young master, but he never imagined that Lu Fei had lost his parents when he was very young. Now, even his grandfather was gone.
"Manager Lu." Xie Yao couldn't help but reach out her fair hand, wanting to comfort Lu Fei.
But hesitating for a moment, she withdrew it.
"I'm fine." Lu Fei took a deep breath, a chill in his eyes, "Brother Liang, who is the owner of Tianlong Auction House?"