บท 2: Geylang's red-light

I took a few deep breaths and tried to compose myself.

After a while, I lit up a cigarette and tried to figure out my next step of action.

I didn't know exactly what my Shifu did when he went on these business trips.

The only thing was that he always came back with antiques that fetched a good price.

I always thought his nickname meant he was great at finding good deals like a groundhog.

And, oh boy, how wrong I was with that.

It literally meant that he was good at digging tombs and uncovering whatever treasures were in them.

Having composed myself, I went into the back of the shop.

I downloaded the surveillance camera footage of Amy Lee, then opened the safe.

Shifu had instructed me to open the safe if anything happened.

Inside the safe were bundles of cash and a note addressed to me.

Long story short, he wanted me to make a choice.

If I wanted to, I could take the cash, have a good rest, go for a long holiday, and find a new job.

Take it as if I'd never ever worked in this shop.

The other choice would be to wait for his return, meanwhile taking his place and doing what they asked of me.

He trusted that I could do the job.

There would be help along the way.

It has always bothered me: was this a setup all along to lure me into the line of tomb raiding, or just coincidence?

Shifu had always seemed one step ahead of me.

"Damn it!"

I cursed, grabbed a few bundles of cash from the safe, and with the surveillance camera footage, I went to Geylang.

Geylang is famous as the legal red-light district and is full of delicacies in Singapore.

With it, you have people with questionable backgrounds and contacts.

To decide my future, I needed to know who Amy Lee was.

"Come sir, you want these. Pop in a few and you can last all night long."

"Rub this onto her and you will have the best time in your life."

At the busy traffic junction after Aljunied MRT station, you have illegal peddlers with upside-down boxes with an assortment of sex enhancement drugs placed on top.

Never ever purchase from them; you wouldn't want to know what goes into the ingredients.

"Bobby, I'm not here for these."

The drug peddler in front of me heard my voice, looked up, and his face brightened.

"Hey, Sam. Long time no see. You came here for some kinky fun?"

"No, I need some help. It's urgent."

Bobby Deng was my secondary school classmate.

We'd always been the teacher's headache, playing truant and disturbing the girls.

Somehow, the only class I paid attention to was history class.

After secondary school, we went our own ways.

He had been involved in the underbelly of Singapore.

"Come, let's talk at my place."

Bobby packed up his store and took me to an old, dilapidated shophouse.

When he opened the door, the odor was overpowering.

There were smelly clothes and old newspapers lying all around the place.

He gave me a look of "bachelor living alone, what do you expect", then poured me a glass of water.

I passed him the thumb drive with the surveillance camera footage.

"I need you to find out who they are."

"Let's see what you have here."

He started his computer and Windows 7 booted on.

Bobby plugged in the thumb drive and watched the footage.

"She looks gorgeous, but I don't know her. I can hook you up with someone, but it'll cost you."

"How much?"

"$200 bucks."

That was cool to me; my philosophy was always that if money can solve it, it isn't a problem.

I took out the cash and gave it to Bobby.

His eyes opened wide when he saw the bundle of cash.

"Wow, Sam, where did you get all the money?"

"It's not mine, I will explain later."

"All right, Sam. Make yourself at home, give me 30 minutes."

Bobby went off and I sighed out in relief.

He was always dependable whenever we got into trouble.

This time should be the same, I was confident of it.

I tried to sit down, but all the mess made me uncomfortable.

So, I stood and chain-smoked in the hot and stuffy room, waiting for Bobby to return.

The smoke helped with the smell.

Before my packet of cigarettes ran out, Bobby came back.

"Well?"

"Sam, what have you done?"

"Me? Nothing."

Bobby frowned at my reply.

He walked over to the Guanyin altar, lit some incense, and prayed.

"Come Sam. Join me and pray."

I obliged and joined him to offer incense to Guanyin.

After that, he took out a cigar from his drawer and lit it.

Bobby was always into looking cool to woo the girls.

But he was never successful.

My guess was that Bobby at that point was like me, a virgin.

Of course, I only thought of it in my mind and didn't ever mention it to him.

I briefed him on what had happened.

How Amy Lee appeared and what my Shifu wrote in his note to me.

"Look Sam, I don't know why you crossed paths with them, but listen carefully."

"Go on and stop the suspense."

"All right, I don't get to do this every day, you know."

Bobby laughed sheepishly, took a puff off his cigar, and then continued.

"That woman is Amy Lee, rumored to be the mistress of Huang Bao Kun, owner of the Huang Enterprise from Guangzhou.

"Calling themselves an enterprise is just a cover for their actual business. They deal with antique smuggling, scams, and kidnapping. Or whatever makes money; you name it, they do it.

"I'm not sure what they want from your Shifu, but my advice is to lie low and be out of sight."

After hearing who Amy Lee was and what she was involved in, I gulped down a mouthful of saliva.

Luckily, I controlled myself and didn't touch her.

I agreed with Bobby and decided to hide in his place.

That is, until Bobby's phone rang.

We looked at each other warily and he picked up the phone.