Dragon's Den🐉(DDen)

|Murder In The House|

       They carefully inspected the first five pages. On the sixth page, the Chinese man stood next to Dennis in a neglected building. "Bloody hell!" Ronald hissed. Yuuka covered her mouth in shock. Evil energy wafted out of the book. Peters was about to turn the page when Ross stopped his hand. Peters glanced down, and he saw the people in the picture moving like puppets. The Chinese man waved Dennis and Patrick around in a taunting manner. Seeing himself flung around like a ragdoll, Dennis became uneasy. Ross sensed the growing tension in the room, and it was too much for him to bear. "We need to leave. We should all relax and come back to this later." Everyone agreed. Peters closed the book and locked it in one of his drawers. The others packed their things and walked out. As they left the office, one question lingered in their heads:

Who is that Chinese man?

A mile away from the police station, a man and his mother ate boiled carrots and fried onion slices together. He stuck a long carrot into his nose and sang a nursery rhyme. His mother was not having any of it. "Be serious at the table, Stanley! Is this how you act in public?" They were going broke after she bought a fake deed to a large plot of land. The crooks already fled the country, and the police were unable to find them. Stanley frowned, annoyed at his mother's stuck-up nature. "Marian, you need to loosen up a little." When he tried to be funny, he called his mother by her name. 

Suddenly, a strong wind blasted the front door. Marian's fork slipped out of her hand and rattled on the floor. "Stanley, what's all that about?" She whispered, trying to hear any other sounds. A bad feeling began to grow in her gut. "Ma, it's just the wind. Today's been cloudy, and I've been waiting for the rains." Stanley stuffed a carrot into his mouth. Marian stared absently at the wooden plank floor, feeling uneasy. Without warning, she saw a tattoo flash past her eyes. Her chest squeezed, and her knees began to ache. Stanley noticed her pale face. "Ma, what's wrong?" the man asked worriedly. The last time she behaved like this, she had a heart attack.

Before she could answer, someone walked into the room. The Chinese man stood behind Marian's chair, pressing down on her shoulders. Stanley jumped up and pointed his knife at the Chinese man's face. "Get out of here, bastard!" "How are you today, Stanley? Marian, old age has really...how I should say, brought you down a bit...Anyways, I can fix you up. " The Chinese man slid his fingers to Marian's cheek. Stanley had enough. He grabbed an ax from the wall and swung it at the Chinese man's head. Marian screamed and fell as the axe slammed into Stanley's arm. Blood splashed everywhere. 

The Chinese man held Marian's chin and made her face him. "Betty dear, the name Marian doesn't fit you at all!" He mocked her in a sing-song voice. In an instant, Marian stood straight, dressed in a long blue gown and diamond jewelry. Her gloved hands held a microphone near her red lips. The Chinese man smirked, and she turned into the old woman she was. She tried to speak, but a sharp pain ripped her heart open. Marian died immediately, blood welling up in her chest. "I'm done here." The Chinese man slammed his foot into Stanley's neck. He didn't stop until Stanley's head rolled off his shoulders.

Two hours later, a woodcutter in his white truck arrived at a toy store near Marian's house. He and Marian were friends for ten years, and he would always visit her when he could. As he stepped out of the car, he felt something was off. The toy store was very close to Marian's house, and the woodcutter arrived in under three minutes. While knocking on the door, it creaked open. The stench of fresh blood filled his nostrils and made him dizzy. He tiptoed into the dining room, expecting to see his friend eating with her son. 

The scene he saw instead chilled his heart. Marian bled from her mouth and nostrils, while Stanley lay in a pool of blood with his arm slightly butchered with an ax. He quickly jumped to Marian's side. She was gone long ago. He opened up her dress, and he found blood pooled in her chest. Her chest looked like blood was about to burst out of it. He pulled out two napkins from his pocket and dabbed them with their blood before rushing to the police station. In his car, he kissed a voodoo doll on the steering wheel before speeding off.

'BAM! BAM! BAM!' The woodcutter banged the iron doors of the police station entrance. "HELLO!? IS THERE ANYONE, IN HERE?! THERE IS AN EMERGENCY!" An officer on duty rushed to the door. "What is it, lad? The station is still booked for the next hour!" He banged the door with his baton. "There's been a murder!" The officer's face paled. "Where are the victims!? The crime scene?" "Come with me! I know exactly where the house is!" The woodcutter pleaded with the officer, who still refused to open the doors. The police officer left, then he opened the door a while later. Five other officers accompanied him to their cars while the woodcutter jumped into his.

Ten minutes later, the policemen and the woodcutter arrived at the house. "I found them like this, I swear! My friend here, Marian, died together with her son not long ago! I don't own the ax in her son's arm." The woodcutter needed to convince them of his innocence. The policemen finished their work and left the house. Outside, the woodcutter gave his witness report to the police. The policeman scribbled into a small yellow book. "Thank you. I'll call reinforcements immediately. You can go home now, and be safe!" The woodcutter went home, while the police returned to their station to start their latest investigation. While they searched the house, one policeman nearly uncovered something in the floorboards. A biography of a great martial artist and scientist lay under Stanley's body. No one would find it until a month later.

In a forest far from the city, the Chinese man discussed with a cloaked man. The cloaked man wore a black suede cloak over white gloves and a small black satchel. He held a Bible in his hands. "Have you killed the old woman and her son?" The cloaked man asked excitedly. The Chinese man said nothing. The cloaked man frowned. "According to our contract, you have to reply to all my questions. That's one of the rules, Chu." Chu, the Chinese man, forcefully retracted his claws. While he served this vile old man, he couldn't torture him like his other masters. "I killed them, especially the woman." The cloaked man smirked. "Here's your next mission: Go and kill the Duchess of Madeline's Creek near the Peace Garden. The old hag is blocking my success! Don't disappoint me." The cloaked man dashed into the woods, leaving no trails. Chu vanished, excited to kill again.

Ross was in his house, preparing to cook his dinner. Ross stood in his kitchen, slicing the last parts of his steak before tossing them into a hot pan. His colleague's wife gifted him the steak for finding her brother's murderer. A friend helped him buy some tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. He diced the vegetables and tossed them into the pan with the meat, stirring them every few seconds. While the food sizzled in the pan, he reduced the heat on his kettle. He always drank tea every evening, especially after a long day of work. He pulled out an old white plate from his dish cupboard and placed it on the counter. A thick puff of steam wafted out of the pan as he poured the food into his plate. As soon as all the food emptied from the pot, he cleaned up. He poured the boiling water into a cup of tea, set his tea and dinner on a tray, and went to eat. Dinner was quick, and he was back at his study in no time. He pulled out his favorite book and turned to the page he stopped at.

While Ross enjoyed his book, Chu stealthily approached his house from a rooftop.