087 Please Help

As usual, three pleas: for votes, for recommendations, for bookmarks!

Yang Tang, who had slipped away under the pretense of using the restroom, did not return. Instead, he mounted his little scooter and hummed toward the city police bureau.

But after only two intersections, he noticed a motorcycle following behind him. On this hot June day, both riders wore helmets, apparently not caring if they baked themselves to death. Since the motorcycle kept tailing the scooter, stopping and starting in step with it, Yang Tang could hardly fail to notice.

After a moment’s hesitation, he did not lead them on a merry chase. After all, broad daylight was broad daylight; with only two riders, it was not very likely they intended to kill him. Thinking it over, he simply brought the motorcycle along to the front of the city police bureau.

Wu Hao, who had received a text in advance, was already waiting at the gate. When he saw Yang Tang arrive, he took the initiative and helped push the scooter inside.

From a distance, the riders on the motorcycle saw this scene, and the man in front could not help cursing, “Damn it, what the hell is Bear doing? He actually made the two of us tail a cop?”

“No way, right?” The rider behind was not quite willing to believe his companion’s judgment. “That guy was already half drunk when he got on the road. He doesn’t look like a cop to me.”

“I mean the cop’s family. Didn’t you see the kid helping him push the bike? He’s a middle school student, but the policeman standing guard at the door didn’t even ask a question.”

“I saw it too. But isn’t Bear’s sister also a cop?”

“So what if she is? There are still big and small powers among cops, too. I heard Bear’s sister has already been transferred to some county out in the boonies. It’s basically exile to the frontier, you know.”

“Damn, how come I never heard about that? The guy we’ve been following today couldn’t be”

“Very likely. I’m just afraid they’ll take their anger out on us later!”

“Bear’s bastard, what do you think we should do? I’ll listen to you.”

“What else can we do? Split!”

With that, the two riders started the motorcycle and fled the parking spot at full speed.

Fortunately, the two of them had been quick on the uptake. Otherwise, by the time Yang Tang had entered the city bureau compound and seen that they had not followed him through the gate, he would have realized they were not police. If he had come back out then, he would probably have intended to kill them both.

After parking the scooter, on the way to Wu Lie’s office—

“Brother Tang, I’ve already found the person you asked me to look for,” Wu Hao suddenly said.

Yang Tang paused, then played dumb. “What person?”

“The one who was supposed to teach those guys who beat me a deep lesson.”

“What are you talking about?” Yang Tang continued to feign ignorance. “I don’t understand.”

Wu Hao also froze, then gave a wry smile. “Brother, you don’t need to be this cautious, do you? I already split the whole thing into separate steps the way you told me. The people carrying out each step don’t know one another. They just know the target, and they know when to lead him where. My father even praised the plan for being meticulous!”

Yang Tang still refused to admit anything. “Haozi, are you running a fever or something? You’re just spouting nonsense!”

At that, Wu Hao nearly lost his temper on the spot, but in the end he held it back and scratched his head. “Brother, keep pretending, then. Looks like my dad really wasn’t wrong about you!”

Yang Tang smiled without committing himself and was about to go upstairs when Wu Hao reminded him, “Brother, my dad is on this floor.”

Once they entered the office, Wu Lie took the initiative and extended his hand to Yang Tang.

Yang Tang, who had come precisely to test the purification of the celestial sound, was secretly delighted by this. He adjusted his grip and shook Wu Lie’s hand, activating the celestial sound purification at the same time. He held on for a full second before releasing Wu Lie’s hand.

Wu Lie felt somewhat puzzled, yet did not sense anything amiss with himself. On the contrary, he actually felt refreshed and clear-headed. Smiling, he sat down and said, “Xiao Yang, you really have a knack for things. Last time, if you hadn’t passed my message through Hao-er, I might still be stubbornly guarding that heaven-sent merit of mine!”

Yang Tang said, startled, “Uncle Wu, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Wu Lie was taken aback, then laughed again. “If you don’t understand, that’s best! Ha-ha-ha! Right, you came to see me today—what’s the matter?”

The celestial sound purification Yang Tang wanted to test had already been released, but now that Wu Lie had asked, he could not exactly say there was nothing. So he pointed toward the ceiling and around the room. “Uncle Wu, I’ll say something you may not like to hear, so don’t blame me.”

Wu Lie raised his brows. “Go on.”

“Does your bureau have a listening room? Can this office block wiretapping?”

Those two questions in a row left Wu Lie a little stunned, because as far as he knew, the city police bureau did have a listening division. But it was an independent unit attached to the security bureau at various levels—in other words, not under the city bureau’s direct control, though it had offices inside the city bureau. In ordinary times, not only Wu Lie, but even higher-ranking officers paid little attention to it.

“Xiao Yang, why are you asking this?”

Yang Tang gave a faint smile. “Actually, I was just curious. A couple of days ago I read a book that said that in some government office, the head of the listening department could hear whichever room he wanted inside their office building, except the director’s office. Since I’m here at Uncle Wu’s place today, I thought I’d ask.”

Wu Lie’s expression changed slightly at that. Putting himself in another’s shoes, he realized that such a thing was not impossible within the city bureau.

Wu Hao, sitting nearby, suddenly came to a realization. “Brother Tang, so that’s why you kept pretending to be dumb just now and wouldn’t give me a damned bit of response.”

Yang Tang smiled and said nothing more. He pulled over a memo pad and wrote: Today I actually came to ask Uncle Wu for help obtaining three special travel permits, preferably before July tenth.

In this world, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan still retained a certain special status, but travelers did not need a dual-entry permit or any other such document to visit. The special travel permit Yang Tang referred to was a temporary passport for traveling to Southeast Asian countries and Australia. It allowed visa-free entry locally, was valid for ninety days, and did not require anything as high-level as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A provincial police authority could issue it.

Wu Lie stuffed the note Yang Tang had written into the ashtray and burned it, then gave him a straightforward answer. “No problem. You’ve helped Hao-er so much, so I’ll help you this one time.”

Yang Tang did not dwell on what Wu Lie meant by “this one time.” He only said, “Thank you, Uncle Wu. Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry.” Wu Lie said politely, “Stay and have dinner with Hao-er and me before you go.”

“No need, Uncle Wu.” Yang Tang stood and pointed to the ceiling again. “I think you still have plenty to keep you busy.”

“All right then.” Wu Lie was not the least bit fussy about it, and nodded. “Hao-er, see your brother out.”

After pushing the scooter out of the city bureau gate, Yang Tang walked a few extra steps with Wu Hao before saying, “That plan—what matters most is surveillance. On the day it’s carried out, it would be best if your father found some excuse to shut off the hotel’s monitoring system, and you shouldn’t show your face from beginning to end. Just direct things remotely. Understand?”

“Ah? Oh, oh, I get it!”

“If the plan succeeds, what happens next—whether it’s exposure or how to handle the other side—Uncle Wu will know what he’s doing. Don’t stick your nose in blindly.”

“I understand, brother!”

On the way back, Yang Tang did not encounter the motorcycle that had been following him earlier, and he was somewhat disappointed.

Once home, Yang Tang asked when the Seventh Dream would open. The answer was the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Double Seventh Festival, which on the Gregorian calendar would be around August sixth. That made him breathe a long sigh of relief, because his merit had dwindled to just a little over two points, and his sins were only a little over three hundred—truly not much at all. He needed to gather as much as he could before the Seventh Dream opened!

But how exactly to gather it, he had not yet figured out. Meanwhile, the five thousand odd gold coins in the nameless ring on his finger still needed a way out. The stupidest method would be to rent a gold-smelting workshop, melt down all the coins, cast them into gold bars, and then sell those.

Two days later, Jiangbei Airport.

“Master, there’s still an hour before the flight, so we should head to security now.” A middle-aged man in a suit and tie leaned close to Bai Keqing’s ear and reminded her softly.

Bai Keqing raised a hand to stop the man’s persuasion. “Uncle Xing, wait a little longer. He said he would come.”

“What? Who’s coming?” Uncle Xing, the middle-aged man, could not help asking.

“My classmate. He said he would come see me off.”

“Your classmate? Male or female?” Uncle Xing’s thin, nearly straight brows—which were nonetheless quite dark—lifted slightly.

Bai Keqing turned and glanced at him. “Does whether they’re male or female matter?”

“Of course it matters, little master. Don’t forget that by this time next year, that young master ought to have returned from his studies. Between the two of you—”

Bai Keqing’s expression changed. She said sharply, “Uncle Xing, there’s nothing left for me to discuss with him. Besides, when I said those teasing words back then, there was no third person present to hear them. So long as I don’t admit it, he won’t be able to make a clap with one hand.”

“But as for the master—”

“Don’t mention him to me!” Bai Keqing’s voice suddenly turned cold.

“Uh—”

Who would have thought that Yang Tang’s voice would suddenly sound beside Bai Keqing and Uncle Xing’s ears? “Keqing, who’s making you angry again?”

At the sound of his voice, Bai Keqing was overjoyed. Looking toward it, she saw Yang Tang leaning lazily against a pillar several meters away, looking utterly carefree.

Uncle Xing’s expression, however, changed dramatically. He stepped forward at once, blocking the way between Yang Tang and Bai Keqing. “How did you get to this pillar without anyone noticing?” Though people moved to and fro around Bai Keqing, the nearest passerby was still more than ten meters away. That was precisely the merit of the security cordon Uncle Xing had arranged.

Of course Yang Tang knew why Uncle Xing was on high alert, but he did not bother answering. He walked straight toward Bai Keqing and, from the nameless ring on his little-finger pocket, took out a gold coin brought over from Diablo II, intending to give it as a gift.

“Kid, I’m talking to you,” Uncle Xing said, his gaze turning sharp as he formed a grappling hand and reached for Yang Tang.

Seeing this, Bai Keqing screamed, “Uncle Xing, don’t—”

Before she could finish, her vision blurred. Half of Uncle Xing’s body actually brushed straight through Yang Tang, and while Yang Tang’s elbow was still following through from the forward force, it struck Uncle Xing as well.

A ringing crash!

Uncle Xing felt as if struck by lightning. Staggering, he stumbled forward five or six great strides without being able to stop, and only after crashing into a trash bin did his momentum finally come to a halt.

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