The next afternoon, Qi Yun and Chen Wei arrived at Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Lawyer Yamamoto Ichiro, who was handling the property transfer, was waiting at the exit with a reception card.
Seeing him, Qi Yun approached and asked, "Are you Lawyer Yamamoto? I’m Qi Yun."
"Yes, Mr. Qi, hello." Yamamoto Ichiro bowed slightly, a professional smile on his face, "I hope the journey wasn’t too tiring. The car is ready outside."
"You’re too kind, Mr. Yamamoto. Let’s head out then," Qi Yun said with a smile.
"Alright, please follow me." With that, Yamamoto Ichiro led the way, taking the two to the parking lot.
Once inside a business car, Yamamoto Ichiro took out a file folder from his bag and handed it over: "Mr. Qi, the house transfer documents are all here. The house now belongs entirely to you."
Qi Yun took the folder, skimmed the papers inside. Despite Japanese and Chinese having many similarities, he only understood parts, mostly confirming the land and house owner’s name was his own.
The lawyer was recommended by Brother Hui from Hong Kong Island, reputed to be quite trustworthy there, so Qi Yun felt relatively secure with him.
He packed the documents back and returned them, saying, "Keep the documents for now; I’ll probably have other matters to entrust to you later."
Yamamoto Ichiro was a bit surprised but discerningly didn’t ask more, bowed slightly, and silently placed the folder back in his bag.
"Take me to the house first," Qi Yun said.
"Certainly, Mr. Qi," Yamamoto Ichiro replied, then instructed the driver.
The car gradually started, leaving the airport parking lot, merging into the bustling streets of Tokyo.
On the way, Yamamoto Ichiro turned from the passenger seat and said to Qi Yun, "Mr. Qi, the property you purchased is located in Anping Village in Chiba Prefecture. It’s very quiet there, and the environment is good."
"It’ll take us about an hour and a half to get there from here."
Qi Yun didn’t focus on this, instead asking, "Was everything smooth when processing the transfer documents?"
Yamamoto Ichiro maintained his polite smile, bowed slightly, and responded, "Yes, Mr. Qi, the transfer went very smoothly."
From the first moment he saw the lawyer, Qi Yun lost count of how many times the man had bowed. Whether this Japanese man was genuinely polite or merely putting on an act, at least he appeared very courteous...
Qi Yun nodded slightly, not saying more, gazing out the car window at Tokyo’s street scene.
Chen Wei sat quietly beside him, almost as if he wasn’t there.
An hour later, the car gradually exited Tokyo’s city bounds.
The road broadened, the buildings on either side became sparse, replaced by fields and scattered rural houses.
Finally, the car turned onto a narrow village path, stopping before a courtyard gate.
"Mr. Qi, we’ve arrived," Yamamoto Ichiro turned and said politely.
Qi Yun nodded, opened the car door and got out.
He was greeted by a two-story wooden building; its paint had peeled in large patches, revealing somewhat decayed wooden panels beneath, some parts even showed obvious holes, looking quite dilapidated overall.
Yamamoto Ichiro reached the courtyard’s wooden gate, took out a key from his bag, ready to unlock it, only to find the door wasn’t locked at all.
His raised hand froze in mid-air, his expression somewhat bewildered.
Noticing his odd demeanor, Qi Yun asked suspiciously, "What’s the matter?"
Yamamoto Ichiro snapped out of it, a slight embarrassment on his face, hurriedly explained, "Mr. Qi, when I came the day before yesterday, I distinctly recall locking the door, but now it’s unlocked." With that, he gently pushed the door open, the hinge let out a dry creak.
Chen Wei frowned upon hearing, shielding Qi Yun behind him, stepped inside first.
Entering the yard, it was overgrown with weeds, almost ankle-high, scattered with newspapers and debris.
"Something’s off, someone has been here," Yamamoto Ichiro looked at the scene before him, surprised, "When I came the day before yesterday, these things weren’t here!"
Qi Yun frowned, quickly walked to the house door, pushed it open.
Chen Wei closely followed, wielding a folding short stick in his hand without knowing when.
The interior was in a worse state, more chaotic than when some little fairies vacate a premise, as if it had been looted.
Besides the mess everywhere, things had been essentially emptied out.
Qi Yun frowned deeper, turned to Yamamoto Ichiro and asked, "Which room is the study, take me there."
Yamamoto Ichiro appeared a bit panicked, hastily stuttered in response, "Alright, Mr... Mr. Qi, please follow me."
With that, he led the way, taking Qi Yun to a room on the second floor.
This room was similarly chaotic, not to mention books, even the outdated bookshelves had collapsed, only a few wrinkled papers scattered on the floor.
"Were there books in this study when you came the day before yesterday?" Qi Yun asked.
Yamamoto Ichiro was somewhat clueless, puzzled why his employer focused so much on the study.
He nodded in a daze, answered, "Yes, there were lots of books."
"Mr. Qi, I don’t know why it’s become like this either..."
Qi Yun’s face turned even darker, damn it, even the books were moved away completely, it was like locusts had swarmed.
He walked to the window, looked out at the dimming sky, spoke, "Is there surveillance around here?"
Yamamoto Ichiro shook his head: "This place has been abandoned for too long, and there’s only this household nearby, so there aren’t any cameras."
"The nearest camera should be at that junction of the rural path we just passed."
Qi Yun listened, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep draw, then instructed Chen Wei, "Brother Wei, go take a look."
Chen Wei nodded, quickly walked downstairs.
"Mr. Qi, should we call the police?" Yamamoto Ichiro came closer, with a face full of guilt.
Though this matter wasn’t directly his fault, aside from handling the transfer, his task also included handing the house to Qi Yun intact, which was why he had the key.
Qi Yun slowly exhaled a smoke ring, frowned, pondered a moment then said, "We should report to the police, but wait for my assistant to return first."
Yamamoto Ichiro heard this, said no more, silently stepped aside to wait.
After a while, Chen Wei returned, came to Qi Yun’s side and spoke gravely, "There’s no surveillance around, judging from the tracks on the ground, it probably happened within the last one or two days."
Qi Yun nodded, at least now he could confirm it wasn’t a trick played by Yamamoto Ichiro.
He walked to the window, took out his phone, dialed a number.