Chapter 765: Juliet in the Basement?
Smith was speechless. "Then what do we do?"
Daniel sat down on the other sofa, remaining there in deep thought for a very, very long time.
Then, he jolted.
Abruptly standing up.
Smith was startled by him and quickly asked, "What are you doing?"
Daniel didn't say a word, simply walking on his own toward the back garden area of the small Western-style house.
Smith followed him.
The two of them now arrived at the back garden of this small Western-style house. This back garden was quite spacious. If viewed during the day, it would probably look quite beautiful, with fresh flowers and green grass.
But it was nighttime now, pitch black, with nothing visible.
Then Smith stood in place, watching Daniel wander aimlessly all around the back garden, as if searching for something.
Smith was very puzzled. Could Daniel have lost his phone, money, or keys here? But that didn't make sense—they had never even come to the back garden!
Could Daniel think that Juliet was hiding in the back garden?
It was possible she was hiding here. The most likely scenario was that Juliet had discovered the two intruders and had hidden here.
But it was only a possibility. Smith didn't think so.
He adopted a completely indifferent attitude, hands on his hips, waiting right there.
Finally, Daniel, appearing to have found nothing, walked toward him.
But the next words he spoke left Smith very confused.
"Follow me."
Smith followed Daniel to the edge of a large thicket of bushes in the back garden.
Smith swore he looked very carefully, very clearly. He thought there might be some secret in this thicket, or that Juliet was hidden inside. But he stared, eyes straining to the point of soreness, for a very, very long time. He couldn't see anything wrong with it. Bushes were just bushes!
Smith: "What's here?"
Smith genuinely had no idea what was here.
Daniel adjusted his glasses—probably a common annoyance for people who wear glasses, as they kept sliding down due to sweat.
He said, "I didn't ask you to look at the bushes! I asked you to look at what's under our feet."
"Under our feet? What's under our feet?"
Smith quickly stepped back and looked at the spot where he had been standing.
But no matter how he looked, it was just an ordinary patch of dirt ground.
Daniel grinned at him. "Get ready to be comfortable in a bit!"
Then, Smith watched as Daniel also took a step back.
After that, he thrust his hand into the ground, and with a forceful pull upward.
A square piece of grassy earth was actually pulled up by him, perfectly intact!!!
Even stranger, after this piece of ground was lifted, Smith discovered there was a space beneath it.
With the help of the moonlight, a stone staircase stretched downward, extending into the space below.
"Kao! It's a disguised basement?!"
Smith then examined the square piece of grassy earth Daniel had pulled up.
He realized it was a basement hatch cover.
On the cover, there was a perfectly fitted layer of soil and grass as camouflage.
So, when the basement hatch was put down.
The basement entrance was completely hidden!!!
"My god, how did you find it?"
Smith was utterly amazed.
Daniel said smugly, "If you're asking how I figured out this was a basement hatch, that's thanks to my college days. I specialized in landscape architecture back then and dealt with this kind of stuff."
Smith admired Daniel even more.
Not only for being able to discover such a well-hidden basement hatch.
But also amazed that he had thought to search the back garden for a basement, and was certain it was here!
So he asked Daniel.
Daniel said, "Empathy. I put myself in Juliet's shoes. If I were Juliet and had to stay here, where would I hide? I definitely wouldn't stay in an ordinary room. It'd be better to be in some hidden space, like a broom closet or a basement. But we just checked the broom closet in that house—no one there. As for a basement, there wasn't one visible inside the house."
"I figured a place like this usually has a basement or cellar. If it wasn't inside the house, it would be outside. So I came out to look."
Smith gave him a thumbs up.
Not to mention it was nighttime—even if it were daytime, Smith probably couldn't find this basement.
After all, he had just carefully looked at that hatch cover. The camouflage was way too good.
"So... is Juliet here?"
Even though hope was right in front of him, Smith didn't dare go down.
He was afraid of having his hopes crushed.
Daniel pondered, "I think it's very likely she's here. After all, if I were Juliet and had to stay here, I'd definitely hide here. Especially since this basement hatch is concealed like some spy hideout. How many normal families would do something like that? Juliet might have set it up herself."
"Alright! Anyway, let's just go down and check it out first!"
Smith went down into the basement first.
Daniel followed, and after entering, he closed the basement hatch.
The two of them then continued down the stone steps.
They groped their way down in the darkness along the dark stairs.
After rounding two turns.
Smith was pleasantly surprised to find some light up ahead!!!
He tugged at Daniel behind him, and Daniel also felt a surge of joy.
They hadn't seen any light all night, and finally, here it was.
And generally, if there was light in a basement, it meant someone was there.
So the two of them crept even more quietly, making no sound at all.
The further they went, the brighter the light ahead became.
At the same time, a woman's voice came through intermittently.
"Mmm, everyone can remember this word like this..."
The two of them finally reached the end of the stone stairs.
All they had to do was turn and enter, and they'd be in the basement.
As such, they could clearly hear the woman's voice inside.
They didn't rush in immediately but waited instead.
Meanwhile, they listened to what the woman was saying.
After listening for a while, they realized the woman inside seemed to be giving an online lesson to someone.
It appeared to be teaching English to foreigners who couldn't speak it.
This kind of online lesson was quite common.
Smith used his eyes to ask Daniel if they should go in.
Daniel shook his head and whispered, "Wait until she finishes her online lesson."
Daniel was worried that if they barged in, the person on the other end of the internet connection might cause trouble remotely.
Like seeing their faces.
So they sat on the stairs for five minutes.
Their ears were filled with nothing but words and grammar lessons.
This time, Smith couldn't take it anymore.
He pulled two black stockings out of his pocket and handed one to Daniel.
When Daniel saw them, he asked with great confusion, "Why didn't you take these out earlier?"
Smith replied, "Did you ask me?"