Chapter 379: Bringing News

Whether or not it was a warning, the advance notice was more than fair.

Xiao Ya leaned back on the sofa. She lifted her hands from her knees and adjusted the shawl on her shoulders. “Relax,” she said, her tone a little languid. “You already destroyed the communicator. I’m tired tonight. I just want to get some rest.”

Wan Ze watched her without a word.

Without a communicator, she had no way to contact the outside world or send messages.

But Wan Ze knew. ‘If she really wanted to contact the outside world, she wouldn’t necessarily need a communicator.’

‘The question is, is it worth the risk for her?’

Xiao Ya was a smart woman.

‘And smart people don’t do stupid things like that.’

Wan Ze looked away and turned toward the door.

He had only taken two steps when Xiao Ya’s voice came from behind him. “By the way, Mr. Tan.”

Wan Ze stopped but didn’t turn around.

“No. 17 Anping Road, second basement level. There’s a private safe deposit box there. The password is zero-three-one-seven. The contents… consider them a small token of my sincerity…”

Wan Ze turned his head slightly, his profile facing Xiao Ya’s direction as he waited for her to continue.

“Those things were originally meant to be sent to An City. Not anymore. You can go pick them up tomorrow, Mr. Tan. There’s eight hundred thousand in cash, twenty gold bars, and some antiques. It should be enough to show Mr. Wan my sincerity. Of course, you could choose to take it all for yourself. I won’t tell Wan Ze.”

After she finished, Xiao Ya leaned back into the sofa and pulled the shawl up higher to cover her shoulders.

Wan Ze looked at her. “I’ll go and confirm.”

With that, he turned and continued toward the door.

His shoes creaked faintly on the wooden floor.

He paused in front of the three gunmen when he reached the door.

Wan Ze’s gaze swept over them. Without a word, he strode out.

The motion-activated lights in the hallway flickered on.

It was an old-fashioned incandescent bulb, covered by a milky-white glass shade. The light it cast was completely different from the ghastly white glare of the crystal chandelier in the living room.

The hallway wasn’t wide, maybe five feet across. The walls were covered in a light beige wallpaper with a fine, subtle pattern, difficult to see in the dim light but palpable to the touch.

The door closed behind him.

And then, everything was quiet.

Only Xiao Ya, Zhang Chong, and the three gunmen remained in the living room.

The silence lasted for about three seconds.

Everyone was waiting for some kind of signal.

None of the three gunmen moved. They just looked from the door back to Xiao Ya.

Xiao Ya let out a soft breath.

Zhang Chong stepped away from the wall.

He walked over to the armchair Wan Ze had just been sitting in and stopped about five feet from Xiao Ya. He didn’t sit, just stood there, looking down at her. He lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear. “Boss, this guy—”

“I know,” Xiao Ya cut him off.

She looked up at Zhang Chong. “But if this gamble pays off, the pros will far outweigh the cons for us.”

As she spoke, Xiao Ya rose from the sofa.

She adjusted her shawl, then took it off, folded it neatly, and placed it on the armrest. Then she bent down, picked up the Zisha teapot from the coffee table, and poured herself a cup of cold tea.

The tea was stone cold, but she didn’t seem to mind. She lifted the cup, took a sip, and swallowed, the column of her throat moving slightly. “Rest and recover for the next two days. There’s still a lot to be done.”

Zhang Chong watched her. His lips parted as if to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He just nodded, turned, and walked back to his position against the wall, resuming his post.

The living room fell quiet once more.

Xiao Ya turned to face the window.

There was a small gap in the curtains.

The night outside was deep. There were no stars, just a thick layer of clouds hanging low in the sky.

Xiao Ya stared out the window for a long time.

…

「It was now two in the morning.」

A Jeep was parked beside the gardens.

It was an army-green Jeep with a boxy, angular body. A deep scratch marred the bumper, but otherwise, it looked completely unremarkable.

The Jeep was parked in a clearing next to the gardens, its position perfectly obscured by the canopies of several large trees.

They were plane trees, with thick trunks and dense crowns. Their branches and leaves swayed gently in the night wind, making a soft RUSTLING sound.

From the building where Xiao Ya was, one could only see the treetops, not the exact location of the vehicle, and certainly not anyone inside it.

Zhai Jia was leaning against the hood of the Jeep, a cigarette pinched between his fingers.

He wore the same dark blue jacket, zipped to his chest. His eyes were narrowed, but his gaze was bright as he stared intently at the entrance to the gardens.

Wan Ze emerged from the entrance to the gardens.

He still had the mask on. As he walked out of the gardens, his body passed from the shadow of a plane tree into the light.

Under the streetlight, his shadow stretched out long behind him.

Zhai Jia spotted him.

He quickly flicked the half-smoked cigarette to the ground, pushed himself off the hood, and straightened up. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he took a couple of steps toward Wan Ze.

Wan Ze walked up to him, pulled off the mask, and rubbed his face.

“Ah Ze, hurry up, tell me what happened!” Zhai Jia urged, rubbing his hands together. “I’m telling you, that thing at Xianglong Pier wasn’t just an explosion. There was a gunfight… It was a major incident! You told me before it was just dog-eat-dog. The Secret Palace?”

Wan Ze glanced back at the lit-up building, making sure no one was watching from the windows. Then he grabbed Zhai Jia’s arm and pulled him a few more steps into the shadows of the trees.

The two of them came to a stop under the canopy of a plane tree.

The branches and leaves overhead blocked the streetlight, plunging the area around them into darkness.