Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 131 The Broken Promise

When Miko finally finished grilling and returned inside, she was on the phone.

Why can't I get through?

Seeing the puzzled look on Miko's face, Masamoto asked, "What's wrong?"

“I just called Jiang Jin and Liu Yan, but…” Meizi said anxiously, “the calls won’t go through.”

Xu Yinqiu immediately pressed, "How could that be? We can't get in touch with them?"

"Yes, I called them earlier, and they clearly said they were already on their way."

"Could something have happened?" Zheng Yuan wondered. "Is this their first time here? Did they get lost?"

Xu Yinqiu said to Minghao, "Minghao, could you lend me your car keys? I want to drive your car to check out the neighborhood."

"No problem." Jin Minghao stood up, took out a set of car keys, and handed them to Xu Yinqiu. Then, she hurriedly ran out.

"Yinqiu, Jiang Jin, and Liu Yan seem to have a good relationship?" Zheng Yuan could hardly remember Xu Yinqiu and Jiang Jin anymore, since it was all back in elementary school.

“I hardly remember them either, except for Yinqiu, since she shares the same surname as me,” Dafeng said. “When Meizi first mentioned that three new people would be joining this year, my first thought was, did our elementary school have Jiang Jin and Liu Yan?”

“I remember a little bit,” said Soon-hee. “I remember that Jiang Jin and Liu Yan were close. They are married now, just like you and Eun-young, Se-ho.”

Perhaps because Jiang Jin and Liu Yan hadn't attended their birthday parties for the past three years, no one seemed to react to their absence.

Surrounded by the crowd, Ms. Park wore a rare smile. No matter how strange the rules were, at least today, Ms. Park was happy.

Miko clapped her hands: "Everyone, the food is ready. It's almost noon, shall we move to the yard? The weather is so nice today, the teacher would like to see the sea view."

The crowd escorted Teacher Park into the courtyard.

Zhengyuan helped push the wheelchair and noticed that the teacher's body was surprisingly light, as if it were just a layer of skin covering bones.

The long table in front of us was filled with various traditional Korean dishes: kimchi, pancakes, raw beef salad, and premium Korean beef brought by Seho.

Minghao then conjured up several bottles of expensive whiskey from who-knows-where, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

Zheng Yuan remembers that Minghao was the most popular person in the class, and almost all the students liked him.

"Let's wait until Jiang Jin and Liu Yan arrive before we start the meal," Zheng Yuan said, glancing at his watch. "This is their first time here this year. If they arrive and find that we've already started the meal, they might feel uncomfortable."

Miko said, "I'll make another call."

She took out her flip phone and dialed the number, and this time it was answered.

"Hey, Jiang Jin, where are you and Liu Yan?"

However, Jiang Jin did not respond on the other end of the phone. Only the sound of waves crashing against the shore could be heard in waves, accompanied by a faint breathing sound that seemed to be blown away by the wind.

Zheng Yuan stood beside her, vaguely hearing strange noises coming from the receiver, and a sense of unease inexplicably rose in his heart.

"Jiang Jin? Liu Yan? Where are you?" Meizi raised her voice and asked again, but there was still no response.

The call then abruptly ended.

Miko slowly put down her phone, puzzled: "They...are at the beach?"

Zheng Yuan nodded: "The sound of the waves is very clear, so it must be not far away."

"But why aren't they saying anything?" Miko looked at the distant coastline in confusion.

Zheng Yuan thought for a moment and said, "After all, it's my first time here, so I might have gone the wrong way."

Miko bit her lip, and finally made up her mind: "Let's go look for it."

"Sigh, those two are really unreliable," Shihao said, clearly annoyed. "We're making everyone wait for them."

"Excuse me, I'll go find them first." Miko then said to Masamoto, "Masamoto, you're familiar with this area, so let's take a look at the nearby coast first."

The two left Mr. Park's house and walked along the path toward the coast.

Teacher Park's house has a wide view, overlooking the entire sea.

The path to the beach was not easy to walk; it was overgrown with weeds and occasionally had steep slopes.

Meizi glanced down at her phone every now and then, seemingly hoping that Jiang Jin or Liu Yan would call back.

However, after walking around the beach, there was still no one there.

“Strange…” Miko looked around. “I could hear the sound of waves on the phone, they should be around here.”

Zheng Yuan's gaze swept across the beach, and suddenly, his eyes stopped on a certain spot—beside a huge reef, there seemed to be something on the sand.

"Miko, look over there."

Miko looked in the direction he was pointing, and her expression changed instantly.

That was a dead rooster!

The chicken's carcass was mostly rotten, its feathers clinging to its blackened flesh, its neck twisted at an unnatural angle as if it had been forcibly snapped off. Most disgustingly, its abdominal cavity had burst open, and countless maggots were wriggling among the decaying flesh, emitting a suffocating stench.

"Ugh—!" Miko suddenly covered her mouth, staggered back a few steps, and almost fell on the beach.

Zheng Yuan suppressed the churning in his stomach and stared intently at the dead chicken.

"Who...who did this?" Miko's voice trembled. Masamoto pinched his nose, squatted down and looked at it. The rooster's throat had been slit, and it looked like it had been dead for a long time.

Suddenly, he realized...

“Miko, this is... the place where Emin had his accident three years ago.”

Miko's body stiffened visibly for a moment, then she slowly nodded: "...Yes."

Three years ago, Ms. Park's son, Young-min, was found dead on this beach, his head smashed by a rock and mangled.

Because the incident occurred during high tide, almost no clues were left at the scene, and there were no surveillance cameras, so the police could not find any leads on the perpetrator.

Zheng Yuan was silent for a while, then said, "Who killed Yingmin? Although the child looks scary, he has never hurt anyone. He always wears a rabbit mask when he goes out to avoid frightening others."

“There’s not a single clue about the killer.” Miko’s voice was full of helplessness. “The footprints and bloodstains on the beach, the killer’s fingerprints on the rocks, have all been washed away by the tide. If it had been discovered any later, even Emin’s body might have been swept into the sea.”

Zhengyuan stared at the sand beneath his feet, as if he could see the tragic scene from back then.

“Teacher Park was really suffering back then, and now her health is deteriorating day by day. The doctor says they don’t know how much longer she has to live.” Meizi said this with tears in her eyes. Jung-won knew very well that Meizi regarded Teacher Park as her own mother.

After that, they searched again but still couldn't find Jiang Jin and the others.

The sound of an engine came from afar, and Xu Yinqiu's car stopped near the beach. She ran over quickly, her face grave: "I just went back over there and heard Minghao and the others talk about this. Have you found them?"

Miko shook her head and said, "But we found that."

Seeing the rooster covered in blood on the ground, Xu Yinqiu's expression grew increasingly grim.

Just then, Miko's phone rang.

She immediately answered the phone and asked, "Hello? Jiang Jin? What? You said something came up today and you and Liu Yan aren't coming? Oh, okay then."

Although the invitation stated that no cancellations would be accepted, what can you do if someone really doesn't come?

"What?" Xu Yinqiu rushed forward and snatched the flip phone, saying, "Hey, Jiang Jin, explain yourself clearly, hey, hey?"

Zheng Yuan asked, "Aren't they coming? Something came up and they said they'd talk about it later?"

Xu Yinqiu put down her phone and said, "It's off."

Then, she called Liu Yan, but her phone was switched off.

“Never mind,” Miko said. “In that case, it’s good that they’re alright.”

At this moment, Meizi suddenly noticed that Xu Yinqiu was glaring at her with cold eyes, as was Zhengyuan.

"What's wrong, Yinqiu?" Meizi took two steps back. "You look rather frightening."

"I saw the raspberry wine you made."

Xu Yinqiu spoke in an extremely cold tone.

"Yes, yes, doesn't Daoist Jiangyuan really like drinking raspberry wine?"

“Yes, that’s right…” Xu Yinqiu then looked at Liu Zhengyuan, “You really didn’t find the two of them?”

Zheng Yuan was extremely puzzled. Why did Xu Yinqiu speak in such a sarcastic and strange way?
Afterwards, they returned to Teacher Park's house.

Upon learning that Jiang Jin and the others weren't coming, the others were inevitably a little disappointed. However, since something came up at the last minute, there was nothing that could be done.

Only Ms. Park looked displeased upon hearing the news and said to Miko, "Did you clearly state the seven rules on the invitations you sent them?"

“Of course,” Miko replied, “I wrote every single invitation by hand.”

“The first rule is that we cannot accept any broken promises, especially since they didn’t even give a reason for breaking their promise.” Teacher Park looked quite displeased. “In that case, they will be punished.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yinqiu immediately squatted down and asked, "Teacher, punishment? What punishment?"

Judging from her appearance, Zheng Yuan felt that she had a very good relationship with Jiang Jin and Liu Yan.

However, Teacher Park did not answer, but said, "Alright, since that's the case, it will be twelve o'clock soon, let's start the meal!"

And so, the birthday party began.

"Come on, let's toast our beloved Teacher Park!" Minghao raised his glass, "Wishing Teacher Park good health and a long life!"

Everyone raised their glasses: "May you enjoy health and longevity!"

Ms. Park smiled and took a sip of tea—she couldn't drink alcohol for health reasons.

In the sunlight, her eyes sparkled: "With you children around, this old woman is truly blessed."

His expression was completely different from the gloomy look he had just had because Jiang Jin and Liu Yan couldn't come.

Zheng Yuan noticed that Xu Yinqiu wasn't drinking, but was instead intently observing Teacher Park's every move.

"Jungwon, what are you daydreaming about?" Minghao's voice came from outside. "Come and try this Korean beef. Seho specially air-freighted it from Jeju Island!"

Zheng Yuan smiled and took the plate.

At the same time, he looked at the other side of the long table in front of him, where Minghao had bought a birthday cake.

(End of this chapter)