Das Grab von Qin Shi Huang

Kapitel 41

They stepped into the elevator together, the stuffy air making it hard to breathe. Dolly secretly peeked at Baihu's profile from under his hat. What an incredible man, she thought. At first, he acted like a complete idiot, but in a moment of crisis, he suddenly seemed reliable and reassuring. The elevator was eerily quiet; there was no hum of the motor, and even Baihu's breathing was clearly audible. Dolly's face suddenly flushed for no reason. She remembered the scene in the room earlier—Baihu's breath lingering in her ear, the two of them so close, like…like they were about to kiss…

What if he really does kiss her? Should she close her eyes in a daze and pull away, or just let things happen naturally?

The elevator dinged, shattering her reverie. She hurriedly followed Baihu. The atmosphere had been so pleasant, but she had carelessly ruined it. Would Baihu be angry? She anxiously followed him, hoping he would turn around and glance at her. A couple who looked like students brushed past them in the lobby, the male student suddenly letting out a surprised "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" his girlfriend asked.

"That woman who just walked by..." The male student couldn't help but turn around, "I feel like I've seen her somewhere before, she looks so familiar..."

"Really?" His girlfriend scoffed jealously. "Is she your dream girl?"

This conversation between passersby was just a minor episode in daily life; even if Dolly heard it, she would only take it as commonplace. Her heart was already filled with her future destiny and the White Tiger, leaving no room for anything else.

As planned, they visited Ms. Wang, a staff member at the welfare home. Ms. Wang adjusted her reading glasses and scrutinized Dolly's face for a long time, which made her feel quite uneasy.

"I..." Ms. Wang's first question was, "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

Dolly's heart clenched, and she instinctively took a step back, feeling something solid block her way. It was White Tiger, who, though expressionless, silently supported her as she was about to fall. Dolly was extremely grateful, and a surge of courage welled up within her.

So she calmly shook her head, with a seductive smile, "Auntie, this is the first time we've met. You must have mistaken me for someone else."

Ms. Wang turned her gaze to Baihu without commenting, and calmly asked, "So, what do you want from me?"

“We are Chen Aili’s friends,” Baihu quickly interjected, “and came to pay our respects after hearing the tragic news of her passing.”

Ms. Wang slowly took off her glasses and carefully wiped them. "Poor child," she said, "she was doing just fine in the orphanage, why did she have to move out..."

"She asked to go out herself, didn't she?" Baihu seized the opportunity. "Do you know why she wanted to go out?"

"She said she was applying to film school, but who knows?" Ms. Wang blew on her glasses and started wiping them again. "This child has never been academically inclined; all he thinks about is playing all day long."

"Does she go out to play often?" The white tiger's eyes flashed, as if it had caught the tail of a fleeting shooting star. "Do you know who she likes to play with?"

A sigh escaped Ms. Wang's lips, a sigh that made Baihu and Dolly's hearts sink. Unable to obtain any further clues, they could only offer Ms. Wang a bouquet of flowers.

"She has never liked chrysanthemums, finding them too plain and unappealing," Ms. Wang murmured to herself. "All she knows is how to play."

Two streams of tears flowed from under Ms. Wang's glasses.

"Oh, by the way," Ms. Wang called out to them just as they were about to leave, "Were those people who came this afternoon also your friends?"

An ominous premonition slowly crept up Dolly's feet, and she stopped involuntarily.

"Just like you, I came to pay my respects to Chen Aili, and I asked the same question as you... Don't you really recognize those people?" Ms. Wang asked doubtfully.

Volume 3: The Sheep's Song from Hell Records (Part 12)

As soon as they left the welfare home, Ms. Wang's expression completely changed. She was no longer the frail old woman overwhelmed by grief, but instead strode energetically to her office, her trembling fingers dialing a phone number she knew by heart:

“It’s me…she’s here, with a man…no, I can’t see his face, but I’m sure it’s her. I was startled.” She paused abruptly, then sighed with emotion.

"They really look alike... No wonder they're related by blood..."

Behind her, an entertainment news report was flashing on the television screen, with a woman's slender figure occupying the center of the screen.

"What do we do? They're coming!" Dolly grabbed White Tiger's arm, her voice trembling with tears, and cried out in distress, "What should we do?"

"Don't panic," Baihu calmly replied. "I think these people aren't on the same side as those who are chasing you."

“For the assassin, Chen Aili is a thing of the past. What needed to be burned has been burned, what needed to be destroyed has been destroyed. Unless there are special circumstances, he has no reason to turn back. In my opinion,” he said, resting his chin on his hand thoughtfully, “these people seem to be investigating Chen Aili’s situation just like us.”

“Private investigators?” Dolly asked. “Then who hires them?”

Actually, she already knew the answer to this question. If she wasn't mistaken, it should be her uncle and aunt, right? Since they were able to hire the White Tiger to protect them, the appearance of a private investigator was only natural. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's call it a day." The White Tiger stretched lazily. "The harvest has been great—we'll continue our investigation tomorrow."

They returned to the hotel around 10 p.m. When Baihu went to the front desk to retrieve his stored bag, the clerk was engrossed in watching television. It wasn't until he impatiently tapped the table that the clerk slowly pulled his gaze away from the television. At that moment, he suddenly stared at Dolly in disbelief, as if he had been electrocuted, and then abruptly turned his head back.

"Hey! Get your stuff!" White Tiger almost lost his patience and yelled at him, "I told you not to watch TV!"

The waiter stammered, "So alike, so very alike..." He suddenly lunged at Dolly, stammering, "Could you sign your name for me? It's such an honor to have you staying at our hotel under an assumed name!"

What's going on? Dolly was completely baffled and at a loss. Suddenly, the white tiger understood something and leaned over.

An awards ceremony was playing on television, and the focus of the flashbulbs was a female star in a black evening gown. She was tall and slender, her full breasts almost spilling out, and every gesture exuded an otherworldly allure. She possessed both the vibrant beauty of a southern rose and the serene elegance of a valley lily—this was Baihu's first impression of her.

Although Dolly was far inferior in both looks and temperament, an unseen force seemed to connect them. Dolly gazed at the actress on television, and the actress seemed to be looking back at her through the camera; in an instant, their eyes met through the airwaves.

Baihu felt her arm being gripped tightly, sending waves of trembling through him. "Baihu..." her voice rose slightly, a clear indication of her unease, "Who...is she?"

"No way? You're not Miss Pan?" The waiter was momentarily dejected. "I'm a big fan of hers."

The female lead in the art film "Fragrance of Rice Flowers" won the Best Newcomer Award at the Sebastián International Film Festival right after her debut, becoming a rising star who began to attract worldwide attention. It is said that she has been spotted by several well-known directors in China and will soon star in many films—she was only nineteen years old when she received these accolades.

"She's only a year older than me," Dolly thought to herself. She stared intently at the elegant actress on television, completely captivated by her beauty. She always considered herself quite pretty, but compared to this woman on TV, she felt inferior in both depth and breadth of beauty. "Such a great figure..." she enviously gazed at every curve of the actress's body. Because her own breasts were too small, Dolly often noticed other women's breasts. Even by the most critical eye, the actress's breasts were flawless—firm, full, and elastic—plus the delicate, fair skin beneath... Ah! I can't take it! Dolly silently exclaimed to herself, "How could someone have such a perfect figure? The only thing I resemble about her is her face!"

With extremely mixed feelings, she lay on the hotel bed, listening to Baihu's even breathing. Even though they were in the same room, Baihu had remained true to his bodyguard duties and hadn't done anything improper, for which she secretly admired him. She stared at the dark ceiling, her mind still replaying the image of that actress.

She felt like she had seen her somewhere before.

Aside from her reflection in the mirror, she seemed to have a vague recollection of meeting a woman who looked remarkably like her a long, long time ago. However, her memory of that time was so hazy that she couldn't be sure—

The waiter told her that the actress's name was Pandora.

Pandora? No, no memory of her. A completely unfamiliar name. She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and began to silently recite what Baihu had told her—including Chen Aili's burning to death, Li Fuli's disappearance, and Wen Jiali's fall off the cliff. She vaguely sensed that there was a faint thread connecting these cases into a single, coherent crime. Her head throbbed; she couldn't sleep. In her insomnia, she thought of that song again:

"One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, leaping over the hill..."

Is that how it's sung? Her mind was a mess; the names Ellie, Fuli, and Jiali kept swirling around in her head. What was my name again? she asked herself.

Dolly, Don Dolly. That's the answer from another part of my mind.

“ABCDEFG…” she hummed the alphabet song softly, singing it over and over, “ABCDEFG…” Suddenly, sunlight shone into the gaps in her memory, and in the dark depths of her subconscious, a long-lost name slowly floated up.

“Selly…” her last remaining consciousness told herself, “Remember her name… Pancelly…”

Volume 3: The Sheep's Song from Hell's Record (Part 13)

In a daze, she felt a tightness in her throat, as if an overly sweet fragrance was intentionally or unintentionally stimulating her nasal cavity. It was so uncomfortable, she couldn't breathe... Dolly's consciousness seemed to be sinking into this sweet scent, unable to cry out, and her body unable to move freely. She used all her strength to wriggle forward with all her might.

With a thud, she rolled off the bed onto the floor.

The pain cleared her head a little, but her limbs were still numb and weak. She struggled to lift her head, and an arm came into view. The white tiger was sleeping soundly, and the arm that had been stretched out from under the sheet happened to fall in front of Dolly.

Without thinking, she opened her mouth and bit down hard. Then everything went black, and she fainted.

When she woke up, she was lying in a hard seat on an express train, wrapped in a thick coat. Her head was still buzzing, and even lifting her eyelids was extremely difficult. Baihu was sitting opposite her, happily drinking a cup of yogurt.

"Oh, you're awake?" He didn't even look up.

Dolly looked out the window at the sky; the pitch-black night was devoid of any stars. Her head still throbbed. "What time is it?" he asked. "What's the date? Where are we going?"

“I guess the people at the orphanage recognized you,” Baihu put down his yogurt cup and answered seriously, “so our guest came to visit us tonight.”

No wonder she felt drowsy as soon as she smelled that fragrance...

"But thanks to you!" White Tiger laughed heartily, raising his arm in front of her, revealing a bright red tooth mark. "You bit me awake."

"Then... what about the bad guys?" she asked with concern.

White Tiger casually waved his strong wrist, "Of course I chased you away. I was afraid there would be reinforcements, so I quickly jumped onto the train with you without wasting a minute."

“Oh…” Dolly slowly rolled her eyes. “Where are we going now?”

The white tiger didn't answer, but simply patted her head with a smile, "Rest first. You'll know when you wake up tomorrow morning."

The train's final stop was W City, which was also the end of their journey. Since it was still early, Baihu took her to a 24-hour internet cafe, where they used their morning tea to surf the internet.

Dolly still vaguely remembered the dream from last night, Pan Saili… Why did she know that name? Baihu searched online and found only reports of "Pan Saili" receiving a scholarship from a university in Zhejiang. A further search for Pandora—wow, over 700,000 related web pages! They had to look them up one by one. Dolly suggested going to Baidu Tieba, where celebrity information was usually more complete.

Sure enough, the pinned post in the "Pandora" forum contained a lot of information about her.

Name: Pandora

English name: Pandora

Age: 19

Blood type: A

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Height: 168cm

Weight: 48 kg

Measurements: 34D, 23.5, 35

The document did not contain the name "Pan Saili".

"Quite an impressive figure!" White Tiger stared at Pandora's measurements for a long time, then chuckled, "A D-cup..."

"Men are just lustful and shallow, huh," Dolly replied sourly.

Baihu narrowed his eyes, a malicious smile on his face. "If I remember correctly, Miss Tang should be an A-cup, right?"

"You!" Dolly blushed crimson with embarrassment and anger, unable to speak, only pointing a finger at the white tiger. The latter chuckled easily, completely disregarding the joke, and resumed studying Pandora's information.

“No,” he concluded finally, “there’s absolutely no connection between her and this Pancely. Are you mistaken?”

Hmph, I can't be bothered with you, you unreasonable lecher! Her lips were pouting high, still angry about what had just happened, when suddenly Baihu coughed:

"Actually, many female celebrities have had their breasts done..."

When he spoke, he deliberately turned his head away, not daring to look Dolly in the eye. Was this his way of apologizing? Dolly perked up her ears slightly.

“Compared to those squeaky saline bags,” he frowned, seemingly already immersed in the imagined scene, “the feel of a natural airport is much better…”

Should someone receiving such lecherous praise from him cry or laugh? Dolly, for one, was momentarily speechless before replying expressionlessly with an "Oh."

But in her heart burned a raging fire of anger—you big, stupid tiger! Is that how you apologize?! Ugh, why did you have to bring that up?! One day I'll kill you!!!

She suddenly received a gentle flick on the forehead.

"I said, I'm sorry." The white tiger's smiling face was above her head. "This is an apology."

Suddenly, his lips pressed forcefully against hers, leaving her no room for resistance or even a moment's breath. She flinched like a startled bird, her weak, instinctive resistance extinguished one by one. He kissed her delicate, petal-like lips tenderly, as if sucking nectar from a budding flower. At that moment, she felt dizzy; she couldn't see the face of the man who had stolen her first kiss. What met her eyes was a sapphire blue, as crystalline as Antarctic ice and as vibrant as a shooting star.

When Baihu released her, she collapsed limply into his arms, her chest heaving, unable to calm down for a long time. "You bad guy! You scoundrel!" Words like these swirled in her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to utter them out of shyness. Suddenly, she realized that this handsome aggressor had stolen far more than just a kiss from her.

And her heart.

He pulled her into his arms and whispered to her, "Dolly, Dolly..." Every time she heard White Tiger call her name like that, her heart swelled with joy. His voice had a lazy, magnetic quality that sent shivers down her spine. "Tell me about Pancelie, okay?"

“ABCDEFG…” she muttered to herself, “and then, put our names together.”

Tang Duoli. Chen Aili. Li Fuli. Wen Jiali.