[Cloud City · Starry Night Detective Agency · Morning]
Morning sun filtered through the windows into the detective agency, casting a warm patch on the coffee table.
Xie Qingyan walked over carrying two cups of hot tea and handed one to Yin Wuwang. As Yin Wuwang took the cup, his fingertips accidentally brushed against Xie Qingyan's hand. His fingers stiffened.
Xie Qingyan noticed. That thing was still bothering him.
He didn't call it out, just settled onto the sofa.
Taking a sip of tea, Yin Wuwang suddenly spoke: "I've been thinking—why did Chen Wan work so desperately? The employees said he stayed late every day. For a bar manager, is that really necessary?"
Xie Qingyan glanced at him and picked up a stack of documents from the coffee table. "You've hit on the key point."
"Meaning?"
"He was a bar manager. Should've had a decent life—stable income, respectable job, middle class by this city's standards. By all accounts, he should have had it relatively easy."
"But he didn't." Yin Wuwang set down his cup. "He was pushing himself every day, like something was chasing him."
"Unless he had a reason he couldn't avoid." Xie Qingyan spread the documents out on the coffee table. "That's why I had Captain Lin pull the bar's business registration records yesterday."
[Cloud City · Starry Night Detective Agency · Afternoon]
Lin Zhiyuan was efficient.
In less than half a day, detailed information had been delivered to the detective agency. Not just the business registration, but some related background investigation as well—Captain Lin had clearly taken this case to heart, looking into more than they'd requested.
Xie Qingyan opened the stack of documents, reading through page by page. Yin Wuwang sat beside him. Though he couldn't quite understand all those mortal words and numbers, he could read some clues from the changes in Xie Qingyan's expression.
At first, Xie Qingyan's expression was calm, as if he were processing information.
Then his gaze stopped on a particular line, his pupils contracting slightly.
"Found it." Xie Qingyan's voice sharpened.
"What?"
"The bar changed hands five years ago." He pointed to a line on the document, a hint of suppressed emotion in his voice. "It was originally Chen Wan's own place—he built it from the ground up."
"His own place?" Yin Wuwang frowned. "Then who owns it now?"
"It was mortgaged. Five years ago, Chen Wan mortgaged the bar to someone called 'Liu Long.'"
Xie Qingyan's mind raced. Mortgaged—that word meant the same thing in any world: debt. A young man builds a bar with his own hands, pours his heart into it, yet five years ago suddenly falls into massive debt and has to mortgage everything he'd worked for.
What happened in between?
Little Deer Assistant 9528's voice echoed in Xie Qingyan's mind: "Business registration is... um, seems to be where they record store information? Who opened the shop, when it opened, whether it changed hands, that sort of thing. This spirit tool isn't too sure either."
Xie Qingyan ignored the spirit tool that wasn't sure about anything and continued looking through the documents.
"Liu Long?" Yin Wuwang asked. "Who's that?"
Little Deer Assistant 9527's voice echoed in his mind: "Liu Long, known as Brother Long, is this area's..." A pause. "Um, this area's restaurant owner?"
Yin Wuwang frowned: "Restaurant owner?"
"No, no, I read it wrong." Little Deer Assistant quickly corrected itself. "He's a gambling den owner. The biggest gambling den owner in this area."
Gambling den owner—those four words were like a key, suddenly unlocking a door in Yin Wuwang's mind. He was all too familiar with gambling dens. The cultivation world had them too, gathering all sorts of people: rogue cultivators hoping to strike it rich overnight, clan heirs who'd gambled until their eyes were red, overlords who'd built their fortunes through gambling, and even more commonly, poor souls who took one wrong step and fell into eternal ruin.
He knew exactly what gambling dens were. They were gathering places for greed and desire, abysses that drove people to bankruptcy, and springboards for some to build their fortunes. In the Demon Abyss, he'd seen too many examples of families destroyed by gambling—some lost their spirit stones, some lost their magical artifacts, some lost their lives, and some lost their entire clans. Once you fell in, getting out was nearly impossible. Mortal casinos and cultivation world ones were essentially the same—places designed to ruin you.
"Chen Wan owed money to a gambling den boss." Xie Qingyan's voice pulled him back to reality. "He mortgaged the bar. But he's still the bar manager, which means he's working to pay off the debt."
Yin Wuwang finally understood. Chen Wan wasn't cold—he was hollowed out. Carrying debt that could never be fully repaid, he could only exchange smiles for money every day; even genuine emotions were a luxury. Living like this for five years, paying off debt every day, never seeing an end in sight. How could anyone be happy living like that?
"So Chen Wan's death might be related to gambling debts?" Yin Wuwang asked.
"Not necessarily." Xie Qingyan shook his head. "But this is a new lead. And I have a question."
"What question?"
"Chen Wan doesn't seem like the type to gamble. From the employees' descriptions, he was diligent, serious, meticulous about his work. That kind of person usually doesn't get addicted to gambling."
Yin Wuwang's eyes lit up. "You're saying this debt might not have been his own?"
"Possible. He might have been taking the fall for someone else."
"So we need to go ask this Brother Long."
"Exactly. Creditors usually keep close tabs on their debtors. If we're lucky, we might get some useful information from him."
Yin Wuwang thought for a moment, then nodded. "This sovereign will accompany you."
Xie Qingyan glanced at him, a hint of teasing in his eyes. "Afraid I can't handle it?"
"No." Yin Wuwang unconsciously looked away. "This sovereign is just curious what mortal gambling dens look like."
Xie Qingyan didn't expose his excuse, just let out a soft laugh—gentle, like a feather brushing across the heart, like spring wind skimming over a lake's surface.
[End of V2_Chapter 22]
Next: A night of reflection—and a visit to Brother Long awaits...