So many bizarre elements piling up together—even someone as weathered and full of ups and downs as Henry Parker found it hard to process.

But one thing was certain: this was absolutely not normal!

Thinking back to the explosion at the port just now, maybe it was an internal fight among drug dealers!

What if there was a couple of taels of pure, snow-white powder in the box? If the police caught him with that, it would be quite a show.

Sure, he was so poor he could barely afford to eat, but there was no need to go to jail for a free meal, right?

In this situation, as a citizen of the Eastern Xia Republic—no, as someone with even a bit of common sense—he should call the police, right?

"That's right, you did well. In this kind of situation, seeking help from the police immediately is the most rational thing to do."

In the evidence room, the officer who returned his belongings nodded in approval. "If it wasn't drugs but a bomb in there, things would be even worse..."

"But what exactly was in that box?"

Henry Parker asked curiously.

"No idea. We checked it with X-rays and did explosive detection. There shouldn't be anything dangerous inside, but it looks like some kind of antique. As for what it actually is, we'll wait for the experts to open it tomorrow. Anyway, you're done here—go home for now."

As he spoke, he placed the basket in front of Henry Parker.

Because the case involved a death, all of Henry Parker's personal items had been taken apart and inspected. Once he got them back, the first thing Henry Parker did was take out the thick notebook he'd carried for years and check it over.

No one had messed with it.

His nervousness didn't escape the officer in the evidence room, who couldn't help but laugh. "What? Afraid we'd read your diary? Young people still keep diaries these days, huh? Don't worry, we didn't look, we didn't look..."

Henry Parker gave an awkward smile, stuffed the notebook into his pocket, and when he picked up his phone, he accidentally saw the bank balance notification again, and his heart ached all over.

After repeatedly confirming with the police station that there was no reward for this kind of report, he walked out the door in grief, feeling the world was bleak.

As he walked down the street with his head hanging, the streetlights behind him cast a long shadow.

Within the swaying shadow, it seemed as if a crow took flight.

Boom!

A clap of thunder flashed across the night sky.

Almost as if it had been waiting for Henry Parker to step outside, after a brief pause at dusk, a torrential downpour came roaring in with lightning and thunder.

By the time Henry Parker got home, he was soaked to the bone.

Standing before the big iron gate, he sighed, took out his key, unlocked the iron chain on the door, and, straining against the sharp noise that even the pouring rain couldn't drown out, pushed the door open.

"I'm back..."

In the darkness, no one replied.

Under the phone's flashlight, the old mansion, covered in fallen leaves, revealed its dilapidated and crumbling face.

Beneath layers of creeping ivy and vines, the wall's plaster had long since peeled away. The courtyard behind the iron gate was littered with dead leaves and debris. The old, neglected fountain had long since dried up, and the stone sculptures on either side were broken and incomplete, looking strange and cold.

A sudden flash of lightning split the cloud-covered sky, illuminating the menacing outline of the old house stretching into the courtyard.

.

At the foot of Qingshou Mountain, near the outskirts of Xinhai City, was Henry Parker's home.

Long ago, it was called the 'Yuyuan Stone Marrow Hall.' Back then, this garden, which took five years and a fortune to build, was the height of luxury. Flowers bloomed year-round, green pines and cypresses stood tall at the gate, the interior was lavish beyond words, and its owner was the wealthiest merchant in East China. Every day, carriages and crowds bustled at the entrance...

But that was ninety years ago.

The world changes too quickly. In just ninety years, it moved from the old steam era to the electronic age, and from the electronic age to a new electronic age; the world went from peace to chaos, then from chaos back to peace... So much has happened, so much needs to be remembered, that many things, by comparison, no longer seem so important to recall.

Now, after a brief period of glory, Yuyuan has endured a long silence and decline, forgotten by most people.

Weeds overran the grounds, the former luxury was gone, spreading ivy covered the cracks in the mottled walls, and most of the courtyard's sculptures were broken beyond recognition. After being squandered and ravaged by wastrel descendants, the once-grand mansion was now empty, bare, and had almost—no, had already—become a haunted house not even famous for being haunted.

For Henry Parker, this broken house, an old cello barely holding together, and his bleak life were all he had left.

But as the old house decayed and the cello began to crack, Henry Parker felt even his own life was about to say goodbye.

"Savings account ending in 8193, current balance: 144.444 yuan..."

Amid the howling wind and rain outside the window, Henry Parker finally checked his bank balance.

"Oh, mother... How am I supposed to keep living like this!"