The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

179 A Safe

Emma should have known that exams would be more difficult than daily practice. Again, she let out a long sigh with both hands still busy with the door lock and the breaker. Even though it was cold outside, sweat was running down her temples and neck due to the tension she felt. It was because Emma was being chased by time. She had to focus on the keyhole while being wary of her surroundings.

“Looking for an opportunity to steal?”

The deep voice made Emma jump in surprise. She quickly turned her head towards the voice behind her. But when she turned around while still in a crouched position, she was shocked again when she saw the standing man who was about to kick her was quickly hit by a flying kick from someone.

Emma covered her mouth with one hand while looking at the man who had fallen unconscious with his nose slowly bleeding. She could see that his left cheek had a reddish mark with the shape of a shoe sole.

Emma immediately turned her gaze to the person who kicked the man, “Ah.. Thank you, Rachel,” she said with a sigh of relief.

Rachel smiled and shook her head, “No problem. You’d better be more careful, Emma,”

Emma immediately stood up from her squatting position with a confused face when she saw two people following Rachel. She recognized the faces of the two people. They were a male and female couple who worked as receptionists downstairs.

“I found them hiding in the third-floor room,” Rachel explained before Emma yet opened her mouth.

Earlier, when Rachel was removing a collection of uniforms hanging in the wardrobe, a man suddenly jumped out of it and attacked her straight away. The man was the receptionist who at that time helped Emma to carry Rachel who was faking unconscious into a taxi.

.....

It was true that the man had made Rachel fall and attacked her with several blows. It was because he was trying to protect himself and his girlfriend. He thought that the masked man who had entered the dressing room was a criminal, so he had to punch him.

But of course, those were amateur punches that Rachel could easily parry. In an instant, Rachel had turned their position from the man who was on top of her to Rachel who was wrapping him up and locked all his movements.

At first, Rachel did not realize that the man was the receptionist who had helped her and Emma. But a scream from a girl who came out from inside the wardrobe caught Rachel’s attention. Then she realized that the two people were innocent and were trying to hide from the chaos that was happening outside.

“They are the receptionists downstairs.” Rachel said.

“Oh, okay,” Emma answered. She knew Rachel said that as a formality because they were currently disguised as Black, who was known to be a man the two receptionists had never seen before.

“We.. we won’t bother you guys. We just want to get home safely,” Said the female receptionist whose face looked like she had been crying.

Emma nodded, “Don’t be afraid. We’re not bad people.” she answered before turning to look at Rachel, “I still haven’t managed to unlock it. It’s been really hard to do,”

“Can I try?” Rachel asked.

“Please,” Emma gave the tool to Rachel. Then in less than a minute, the door opened.

Emma gaped at the door her best friend had opened, “Marvelous! You’re amazing,” she muttered in disbelief.

“Let’s talk about it later. Now, we need to continue our search,” Rachel said.

Emma and the two receptionists flinched as they dragged the man Rachel had beaten unconscious into a room. Rachel closed the door to the room once everyone was inside.

It was a room that did not have much decoration. It had only a work desk, two high cabinets, and a set of guest sofas. It could be seen that the owner of the room was a very simple and tidy person.

“This is commander Lee Mu Fei’s study,” The male receptionist said.

“Oh.. So this is real,” Emma nodded. “Do you know where he keeps his treasured heart?” she asked directly.

But the two receptionists shook their heads and seemed somewhat surprised that their commander had treasures hidden in this building.

“If it wasn’t anywhere, it should be here,” Rachel said.

“You’re right. Usually, rich people would build a secret door to their ‘panic room’ or treasure vault.” Emma said. It was because her father had a safe kept in a secret cellar whose main door was hidden behind a fireplace. Even Emma herself had only seen her father open the secret door twice in her life.

Indeed, this room had no other door besides the exit, but Emma was sure that there actually was a hidden door. Then she pointed at the female receptionist, “You. Help us stand guard at the door. Listen for any noise coming from outside.”

The girl immediately nodded, “Okay.” Then she jogged to the door and put her ear on it.

Then the three of them rushed to find the secret door that Emma had been expecting to be in the room. Emma tapped lightly on the wall for a hollow voice, while Rachel and the male receptionist looked through every cupboard that might be a way to the secret door inside.

“Ding Dong!” Emma exclaimed when she found a part of the wall that when tapped had a different sound from the rest of the wall, “It’s here,”

Rachel went straight to Emma and tried to knock on the wall. Then she nodded when she found what Emma said was true.

“We have to find a way to open it,” Emma said while feeling the entire wall covered in wallpaper with her fingers.

Rachel and the receptionist man helped Emma check the wall and they found a line of gaps in the wall. It was impossible to open manually. There must be a button or handle to open the door.

“Find the button. Check everything in here,” Emma said.

They all nodded and did as Emma asked. They felt like a group of detectives looking for a clue.

The receptionist man opened a desk drawer and found a small black box about the size of a pencil case under a stack of books. As he was about to move the box, he noticed that the box was stuck to the inside of a drawer. He immediately straightened his back and turned to the two strange masked men, “I think I found it,”

Emma and Rachel turned to the man and walked over to him.

“This box cannot be moved,” He said by trying to move it. Then accidentally, he pulled the side of the box up and made it open. “Oh... It’s opened,” he muttered.

“Good work!” Emma said straight away. Then she looked inside the drawer. It was a black button that was hard to be seen in the dark interior of the drawer. Then Emma pressed the button.

CRACK!

It was true. The wall immediately opened like a door. Rachel quickly walked over to the door and opened it wider with excitement. But her smile soon faded when she found another door behind it.

“Ah..” Emma groaned when she saw what was behind the wall.

It seemed that the room certainly contained all of Lee Mu Fei’s precious treasures because apart from being hidden in a wall with a hidden unlock button, it was also closed by a door that was impossible to open with an ordinary door breaker. Yes, that was because the door was a safe door that required a special key and fingerprint.

“That man really.. Ugh!” Rachel touched her ached head. It was only one more step before she could save her grandfather and every one the Creeper had tricked. But now, everything seemed impossible.

Emma approached Rachel with a sorry face. She understood Rachel must be feeling very desperate, “Calm down, Rachel. We’ll find a way to open this.” Emma whispered as she rubbed the girl’s shoulder.

The receptionist girl, who had been standing at the door, also witnessed the incident. She frowned when she saw something on the big steel door, “Hey!! Tammy!” She called her male friend and signals him to come.

The man looked a little confused but he complied to approach the girl.

“Please replace me for a moment here.” She asked before stepping closer to the steel door which was making the two masked men desperate.

It was Emma and Rachel who noticed that the receptionist girl was approaching and checking the side of the keyhole. They looked at the girl with confused looks but didn’t stop her. From the start, Emma and Rachel did know that the two receptionists were good people who might be stuck working under a gang of jerks like the Creeper. Because the two of them had indeed helped them both, they agreed to return the favour by helping the receptionists to escape the Creeper’s trap.

“I.. seem to know where the key is,” The receptionist girl said.

Emma and Rachel’s eyes got widened, “What do you know?” Emma repeated.

The girl nodded, “One day when I was going to the toilet, I accidentally saw Commander Lee Mu Fei receive a strangely shaped key from his assistant. At that time, he called it a room key. But I clearly remember how the larger that key was compared to the usual key. It had a pretty odd shape and I think it fits the hexagon keyhole in this door.”

“So, the key is held by Lee Mu Fei himself?” Rachel muttered.

“I guess so. At that time, he kept the key in the pocket of his coat. He had always worn a coat. Maybe, he always kept it there.” She explained.