Chapter 158: A food tour and cursed coin.
At the insistence of her husband, Liwu followed him on a speed train the following morning. They made their way to the Austrian countryside. She sat by the window, watching rolling hills and quaint villages blur past. Beside her, Weijun was in his own world, a world filled with food. Every station stop, every vendor cart, every passing delicacy seemed to call his name.
"Look, Liwu, baby sized smoked sausages!" he exclaimed, stuffing one into his mouth and three more into her bag.
Liwu groaned. The bag with an infinite storage was supposed to hold emergency meals, evidence, files, weapons and important supplies. Instead, her husband had turned it into a traveling pantry. She peeked inside, counting the things he had stuffed in: strudels [100] of them, pretzels, fruit pastries, candies, jars of pickled cabbage, jars of milk!
They had milk in their own country. Why buy from a foreign one?
"Do you plan to eat the entire country?" she asked dryly.
Weijun grinned, cheeks bulging. "Austria is famous for its cuisine. It would be disrespectful not to honor it."
"Honor it? Your mugging it?" She muttered.
When the train came to a stop in the next old town, Liwu was relieved to escape the buffet which rolled through their private room every five minutes.
The town itself was picturesque--cobblestone streets, timbered houses, flower boxes spilling with geraniums. Other tourists were wandering through with cameras, while locals with horse buggies shouted their prices and special tours. Others bustled about with baskets of bread and cheeses.
Weijun, the biggest sucker around, immediately started purchasing cheese and bread. "Look Liwu, she said this bread is a family recipe."
Liwu rolled her eyes. How many family recipe pastries had they encountered on this trip only to discover that 90% had the same taste! Some even tasted stale. At this rate, they would be competing for the toilet when they made it back to the hotel in the evening.
They got a local tour ride, who took them on a horse ride around the small town, before switching to foot because Weijun wanted to touch the buildings. While he argued architecture with the guide, she scanned the alleys, noting sketchy eyes, hands that moved too fast, shadows that were too long and doors too ajar.
Weijun, obvious to the signs of crime Liwu had noticed, darted to a bakery. "Liwu! Strawberry lemon strudel!" He bought ten, ate one and shoved the rest into her bag when she refused to partake.
Liwu pressed her temples. "If you keep this up, my bag will develop indigestion."
They toured the main square, admired the clock tower, and visited a local museum. Weijun’s mouth moved like a squirrel’s the whole time. He insisted on sampling every local delicacy--cheese wheels, candied nuts and a schnitzel sandwich that he declared divine. By the time, Liwu was claiming that her bag was burping.
"Weijun," she said sternly, "this is not a food tour. We came here because I wanted to investigate the old archives. Remember? The coin?"
He waved dismissively, mouth full of a local lemon based wine. "Dear, work later, food now."
She sighed. Her husband had a new partner in their marriage, and it was his stomach.
By afternoon, they reached the old quarter. Narrow streets twists like labyrinths, lines with shops selling antiques and curiosities. Liwu’s bad luck seemed to buzz loudly, for the first time that day. It was a feeling that she couldn’t ignore. She slowed her pace, eyes sharp.
Then it happened. She tripped and scratched her hands.
At the same time, commotion erupted near the fountain. People screamed, rushing towards a collapsed scaffolding. Wooden beams lay scattered, dust rising in clouds. A tragedy had struck--though the details were still unclear. Liwu’s instincts flared as Weijun helped her to her feet and then grasped her waist firmly.
"Dear, are you alright?" he asked. "There is a first aid kit somewhere under the first strudels I bought."
She shrugged off his hand, her instincts flared, pulling her toward the scene.
Weijun, of course, was distracted by a chestnut vendor.
Before he could yap about another family recipe, she dragged him towards the chaos. "Chestnuts later!"
As they approached, Liwu caught something glinting on the cobblestones. Her breath froze. It was a coin--an old, tarnished piece of copper with an eagle’s claw. It was slightly different, but she knew it instantly.
It was just like the other coin that had appeared at those two sights of mysterious deaths. Her mother-in-law had asked Butler Chen to get rid of the coin in her possession. It had been sent to the Bureau storage.
And yet, here was another.
She bent down, fingers trembling as she picked it up. The metal was cold, unnaturally so, as if it had been forged in ice. Liwu straightened, eyes narrowing. Around her, town folk wailed, dust swirled and cries echoed. But Liwu’s focus was on the coin.
Weijun finally noticed her expression. "I am sorry for suggesting the tour. I didn’t think we would witness a death. What is it?"
She showed him the coin. "It looks different but it is the same cursed coin from those two crime scenes. Or should I call them accident scenes."
His face paled. "Here? In this town?"
Liwu nodded grimly. "Yes. And wherever this coin appears, tragedy follows."
Weijun glanced at the collapsed structure and the body beneath, his face paling. "Then....this tragedy...."
Liwu clenched the coin in her fist, her heart pounding. "It has got to be connected. I don;t how yet, but it is." Her eyes swept the street. She couldn’t tell if the tragedy was still unfolding, but she knew that it was best for her to be as far away from this town as possible. With her bad luck, it was possible that she might be affected. And with the system still in slumber mode, it was hard to tell whether she would survive the disaster. She turned to her husband. "We should leave."
Weijun swallowed, abandoning his thoughts on buying some chestnuts. He plucked the coin out of Liwu’s hand and flung it as far away as he could. It fell into a fountain. "We are not taking any cursed things home with us." Then he grabbed her hand, and started running.
The crowd’s cries grew louder. Dust thickened. A horse trampled a stall, leading to the rise of more chaos. But the couple did not stop running--not until they reached the train platform.