"My younger brother isn't here. He's been away for days."
They had planned to surprise Fu Wenli, since they couldn't get through to him on the phone.
They hadn't expected him to be away.
Chatting with the elderly men did yield quite a bit of information.
For example, they learned about Fu Wenli's life here, and that the mansion he lived in was supposedly haunted.
In the elderly men's eyes, the paper offering shop's owner, Mr. Fu, was an eccentric, somewhat reclusive man who liked wearing sunglasses.
His Paper Effigies, however, really were the best of all the shops nearby. Whenever a family held a funeral, they liked to buy Paper Effigies from him.
Strangely, though, he only made Paper Effigies. The place was also so eerie at night that hardly anyone dared go there.
Politely declining the elderly men's and women's invitations to stay, Fu Wenzi took his younger brother and Qin Yan to his Fourth Younger Brother's paper offering shop.
"This is it."
It was an old house in a rather secluded spot, deep inside an alley.
But the old houses here were built like ancient mansions. Not only did this one have a large courtyard, it was an old residence with four successive courtyards.
"Kitten, wait here with Younger Uncle," Fu Wenzi said. "I'll go inside and find a way to open the door."
Naturally, his way in was over the wall.
Fubao and Jixiang had both come down from the sky.
As soon as Fubao arrived, it kept snuggling up to Qin Yan like a puppy, wagging its tail and nuzzling her.
Its body was cool, too. Although it looked like a fish, it didn't smell fishy at all, and snuggling against it felt wonderful.
Holding Fubao felt even better.
Fu Wenzi deftly scaled the wall