The room was temporarily quiet. Leah King clutched her mouth, reddened from my grip, glaring at me with anger. The man who had come with Leah had already left; Leah found some excuse to send him away, repeatedly reminding him that this was her personal matter and strictly forbidding him from spreading it.
I sat on the sofa, arms crossed. At this point, I no longer intended to rely on this woman. After that failed attempt, it seemed she had reverted to her old ways.
"Where's your father?"
I asked, and Leah King looked at me, confused.
"Who are you talking about?"
For a moment, I was a bit surprised.
"Rachel Lan, what is it this time? Previously, Mark Zhang came with you to see me because of a drug-related case, but I'm innocent. No matter how far I've fallen, I wouldn't touch that stuff. I still remember how you helped me before, but Rachel Lan, if you don't give me a reason for tonight, this won't make sense."
My mind was a bit muddled.
"Where's Basil Bertram?"
I asked, and Leah King stared at me in confusion, then started laughing.
"That name sounds so strange, I don't know him. Don't tell me this is another big case, right?"
I racked my brain, trying to figure out what was going on. Why couldn't Leah King remember Basil Bertram? Most importantly, the Leah I'd seen in that darkness was so perceptive, so gentle—nothing like this. She really had changed a lot after that, but why was she suddenly back to her old self again?
I glanced around at the clothes scattered in the room, and Leah King seemed to realize something.
"I'm working all day, so I don't have time to tidy up the place. My agent comes by once a week to help me clean. Anyway, Miss Rachel Lan, if you don't have anything else, could you please leave? I'm going to bed. If you have questions, ask me tomorrow morning. I've worked all day and I'm exhausted. As for what I said in the interview, it's true. I was a bit harsh that day, but you really didn't have to kick me so hard. Do you know how much psychological trauma that caused me?"
I swallowed hard and immediately jumped to my feet.
"If you hadn't mocked me that day, why would I have kicked you?"
I shot back, but Leah King just shrugged off her coat and quickly disappeared into the bathroom, clearly not interested in talking to me anymore.
"There's food in the fridge. If you're hungry, help yourself—don't be shy. After all, you and Mark Zhang helped me before. I'm going to shower and then sleep. If you need anything, ask in the morning. You can sleep in the room next to mine. Oh, and the guy who brought me home tonight is my boyfriend. I'm not the same as I used to be."
Leah King quickly dried herself off, blew her hair dry, and stomped past me into the bedroom, sprawling out and falling asleep without a care.
I was restless and completely baffled. Why couldn't Leah King remember Basil Bertram? Had her memories of him been tampered with or stolen?
That seemed like the only explanation, but I couldn't understand why those memories would be taken away. I sighed—clearly, I couldn't rely on Leah King for help anymore. It was late, so I decided to stay the night. Driving home at this hour would take more than an hour, and my body was still tired.
I showered at Leah King's place, grabbed a tub of ice cream from the fridge, and felt much better. But when I got to the guest room next to her bedroom, I was stunned—clothes were scattered everywhere. There was no way I could sleep like that. Helpless, I gathered up Leah's clothes and piled them beside the bed before lying down.
Swish.
I woke abruptly from my dream, only to have my blanket yanked away. Leah King was already up. Through my groggy eyes, I saw it was just past 7 a.m.
"Get up, Rachel Lan. You people in your line of work really do keep odd hours. Here, this is a new towel. There are fresh toothbrushes in the bathroom. Wash up and have some breakfast."
I grunted in reply and got up, looking at Leah King. Honestly, after seeing her last night, I thought she'd gone back to her old life, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. Still, the mess in the house was a bit much.
"You really don't remember Basil Bertram?"
I asked, and Leah King looked at me suspiciously. Breakfast was homemade—millet porridge and fresh vegetables tossed in sauce. It tasted pretty good.
Leah King bit into a cucumber and shook her head.
"I've really never heard of this person. What's going on? Can you tell me?"
I let out a sigh.
"I can't reveal that for now. Thank you, Miss Leah King. Breakfast was delicious."
For a moment, both Leah King and I laughed. Her face lit up with a sweet smile. Starting today, she could rest for two weeks before filming the sequel.
"By the way, Leah, your company's boss, Mr. Mao..."
"Which Mr. Mao?"
I blinked, a bit stunned, and replied directly to Leah King.
"The boss of Redmane Entertainment, Mason Autumn?"
Leah King laughed.
"Never heard of him. I don't know who you're talking about. Our boss is Leon Lin. He's quite old—aside from showing up at the annual meeting, we hardly ever see him."
I felt confused. Even the situation with Redmane Entertainment had changed.
After breakfast, I said I needed to use the bathroom and called my dad to tell him what had happened.
"It was probably Redmane's people. As for why Leah King doesn't remember Basil Bertram, I think it's best not to dig too deeply into that. Understand, daughter?"
I murmured my assent. I was about to leave, but Leah King insisted I stay another day. She really didn't seem to have any friends, so I stayed—after all, I needed to get to the bottom of things. After chatting for a while, I watched some of Leah's past concerts, hoping to catch a glimpse of Basil Bertram.
"What's so interesting about that?"
Leah King grabbed my phone, and I looked at her in confusion.
"I've got a small home theater here. It's soundproof, so we can sing karaoke at night. What do you say?"
I had planned to leave today and go find Basil Bertram, but putting it off any longer wouldn't help. Still, I decided to wait until tomorrow. The Tree Sea to the west—Basil Bertram should be there.
I ended up spending the whole day with Leah King. At night, she ordered takeout from a nearby hotel and brought out good wine. After dinner, we sang together. It was obvious Leah was lonely. We kept at it until after midnight, then finally went to bed.
"You're really leaving? Come over and visit whenever you have time."
I smiled and nodded.
"If you ever get bored, maybe you could help tidy up the place."
As I was leaving, Leah King called out to me.
"What's up?"
"Tell Mark Zhang thank you for me."
I nodded and left Leah King's place, driving toward the Tree Sea in the west. With traffic, it would take three hours. Sure enough, I was stuck the whole way, so I just watched the city pass by in silence.
I finally reached the highway out of town after midnight. I grabbed a quick meal at a small restaurant and then hit the road again. At a junction, I turned right. Instead of heading to a small town on the outskirts of H City, I took an old road toward the Tree Sea. The road was blocked by warning signs, so I got out, moved the signs, and kept driving.
But after a while, I slammed on the brakes and stopped, staring at the Tree Sea on my right. There wasn't a trace of ghostly energy. I looked around, pulled out my phone—no signal here.
"What on earth is going on?"
I looked around—everywhere looked the same, like a maze. No matter where you entered, if you didn't remember the way, you'd have to fly out.
I had no choice. I unfurled my flaming wings and flew over the Tree Sea. But after more than ten minutes, I'd circled so many places and still hadn't sensed even a hint of ghostly energy. That was impossible—Basil Bertram had so many ghosts under him. Even if they wanted to hide, they wouldn't use such tricks. Then it hit me: maybe they weren't here anymore.
So I bounced back to where I had a signal and called my dad.
"Probably not. Basil Bertram and his people aren't in the Underworld, either. As for Redmane's side, I've already checked for you—they really did use Black Moon's power to have the Celestial Dog alter most people's memories at Redmane Entertainment. After the war, they're all planning to move to the Underworld anyway."
"So where's Basil Bertram?"
I exclaimed, but my dad just sighed helplessly.
"They haven't gone to the Underworld, either. If you can't find them there, they must've gone somewhere else. But lately, I haven't sensed any large-scale ghost movements—it's strange. Why don't you investigate locally while you're there?"
I refused immediately. The Tree Sea was huge—how could I investigate all of it?
"If you want an investigation, get someone else from the Yellow Springs to do it. I'm heading back."
I drove off, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Earlier, I'd sensed no ghostly energy, but now I felt a faint trace. Soon, I realized it was a Yellowpage Ghost, sitting right outside a shop.
As soon as I looked at it, the Yellowpage Ghost panicked and tried to leave. I quickly got out and followed.
"If you run again, I'll destroy you completely—believe it or not."
In a narrow alley, the Yellowpage Ghost whimpered, turned around, and raised its hands.
"Spare me! I won't do it again—I just don't want to go down there. Please, miss, have mercy. Don't drag me to the Underworld!"