Lu Pei’s heart was pounding wildly.
The man who had intercepted him lay motionless behind Yuan Que; the one who had chased him all the way here lay collapsed in a pool of blood.
In just a moment, the situation had completely reversed.
He was safe.
Realizing this, as if to celebrate surviving the ordeal, Lu Pei’s heart pounded even harder, blood surging through his veins. He hadn’t even heard what Yuan Que had said.
The faint sneer at the corner of the other’s lips, however, somehow seemed pleasing to the eye.
Lu Pei had always liked the most dazzling things, the kind displayed right at the center of a showcase, meant only for display.
When he was a child choosing a balance bike, the first one he fell in love with had an incredibly cool design. It was the most expensive and eye catching of its kind.
That bike had been designed for teenagers, completely unsuitable for his height and age yet he insisted on having it and his family bought it for him. He used it again and again, fell again and again, refused to switch no matter how much he cried and in the end, he mastered it.
Perhaps Yuan Que was entangled in countless troubles and secrets. So what?
Blood surged through his vessels, his racing heart pressing against his stomach. As Lu Pei stared at Yuan Que, a familiar thrill welled up inside him.
Good, he thought. This is the one.
Yuan Que looked back at him, assuming the man was trying to come up with an excuse for Geno. His eyes were full of ridicule as he quietly waited for a response.
Lu Pei took a deep breath, sprang up from the ground in one smooth motion and planted his hands on his hips.
“I almost got beaten to death by those two! I ran until I was exhausted and I was really scared just now!” Lu Pei said in a loud, forceful voice. “Why did you only show up now? Were you deliberately late?”
His aggressive attitude came so naturally that Yuan Que felt a moment of confusion, as though it really had been his fault, though he had no idea what he had done wrong.
“I…” Yuan Que answered, puzzled. “I arrived ten minutes ago… not on purpose.”
“Alright.” Lu Pei seemed satisfied. “Since you saved me, I won’t be mad at you anymore. We’re reconciled.”
“……”
The tension in Yuan Que’s brows slowly eased. He understood now, over the past two days, the man had been angry at him, which was why he had been ignored. A faint, inexplicable sense of pleasure arose within him.
“Oh,” he said. “Let’s go. Don’t stand here, the sniper might not be dead.”
The two returned to the corridor, heading downstairs along the windowless side.
Following behind Yuan Que, Lu Pei could hear unsettling noises echoing through the passage. The enemy could be anywhere but now, he felt reassured.
Fortunately, Mammoth Brother had prepared a backup plan by sending Yuan Que here.
“I told Mammoth Brother I want to leave the mining site and be stationed in the east district,” Lu Pei said quietly. “You’ll come with me, right?”
As expected, the man from above was inviting him to work for him again. It seemed the neglect over the past few days really had been due to anger. His judgment wasn’t completely hopeless after all but there was still the possibility that the man had also invited Geno and others.
To avoid being grouped with vermin and out of distrust toward the man, Yuan Que remained aloof and reserved, choosing not to respond for the time being.
On their way downstairs, they encountered You Rulan, who was sneaking about.
“Yuan Que?!” You Rulan exclaimed, overjoyed. “Mammoth Brother sent you here?! That’s great! There are others too, right?”
“Just me,” Yuan Que replied.
“Then we need to get to the underground parking lot now,” You Rulan said urgently. “They killed the driver and took the truck keys! We have to stop them, we can’t let them take the goods.”
Lu Pei looked at You Rulan. “Mammoth Brother said this batch of Jinxing Stone is worth nine million.”
What kind of value did the true object of the transaction hold, to be concealed beneath such an expensive mineral?
“Yes.” You Rulan nodded solemnly, his expression revealing nothing out of the ordinary.
In the clubhouse’s underground parking lot, dozens of vehicles were parked. Among them, the most conspicuous large vehicle was their freight truck.
The empty parking lot still carried the sharp smell of fresh primer that hadn’t yet dissipated. All the vehicles lay silent, as if asleep, leaving only the faint echo of the three of their footsteps.
“They haven’t driven off yet?” You Rulan said with delight, then immediately grew cautious. “Could it be an ambush? Are they trying to lure us in?”
“Or maybe they simply can’t drive off and are still trying,” Lu Pei said.
You Rulan looked exasperated. “Aren’t you being a bit too optimistic?”
“A little, maybe but ”
Lu Pei withdrew the hand he had been keeping in his pocket. His pale wrist turned lightly and the silver black keyring looped around his slender index finger spun once, flashing past the eyes of both You Rulan and Yuan Que.
The tag was the yellow one that represented the pickup but the actual truck key itself had already been swapped earlier, during the time he distributed the fruit platter, he had quietly replaced it from Geno’s possession.
“Since the real truck key is with me,” he said.
“You…” You Rulan was stunned, his hair practically crackling with static as he struggled to control his expression. “How… is it with you?!”
“Because I’m bad.” Lu Pei closed his hand around the jingling keys and calmly issued an order. “Yuan Que, blow out the tires of every single car here.”
“Don’t leave a single one.”
…
Inside the truck, a young man searched carefully before speaking into his earpiece. “It’s not in the driver’s seat.”
“Then just drive it away. Don’t waste time,” came the reply.
The young man inserted the key into the ignition slot.
A calm, low female voice came through the earpiece, it was Jiang Gelei. “Someone’s coming from the other side. Very strong. Be careful.”
The young man paid it little mind. His task was to drive.
Perhaps due to wear on the lock mechanism, the key was difficult to insert. After some effort, he finally managed to force it in and twist.
Click.
Click.
Click…
“Why won’t it start?” He pressed his hand to his earpiece and asked in a low voice, “Did you guys grab the wrong key?”
“Tch, Velang, do you even know how to drive?”
“I’ve been driving since I was fourteen!” Velang snapped. “Are you sure you didn’t mess it up?!”
“We took it from Feng’s driver.”
Velang pulled the key out and tried inserting it the other way but there was still no response. His suspicion grew, along with a creeping sense of unease. “Hey… could it be that we’ve been ”
“Bang bang bang bang!!!”
A burst of submachine gun fire erupted!
The empty underground parking lot echoed with deafening gunshots.
“Damn it!” Velang cursed. “We’ve been set up! Retreat!”
The echoes bounced repeatedly, making it nearly impossible to pinpoint the source of the gunfire. Velang darted away from the truck, weaving through the hail of bullets with agility and mounting fear.
“Crazy bastard,” Velang muttered. “They’re trying to sweep every single car! Both of ours have blown tires too!”
A chorus of curses came through the earpiece.
Jiang Gelei asked, “How many people in the parking lot? That sounds like a submachine gun.”
“Just me. Yeah.” Velang said, “The other side seems to have just one person too…”
As he spoke, he saw a white haired young man leap onto a sports car.
The other stood atop the silver blue coupe, half crouched, appearing relaxed and elegant even amidst the storm of bullets. With the advantage of height, he spotted Velang instantly.
His eyes were a deep, springlike green.
He saw me!
Velang turned and ran.
…
“Don’t chase him,” Lu Pei said from atop the car. “His accomplices are waiting outside, there might be a lot of them. We can’t handle that. Let him go.”
Yuan Que halted his pursuit.
“Where’s Frank Feng?” Lu Pei asked.
“No need to worry. Neither the military police nor Wen Tiannan will touch him.”
You Rulan walked over to the truck, opened the rear compartment and checked the cargo inside.
Lu Pei asked, “Who do you think this group resembles more?”
“Wen Tiannan’s people,” You Rulan replied. “Their organization is called ‘Fengshan.’”
Shell casings littered the ground. Every single vehicle tire in the parking lot had been blown out without exception.
“Tsk, tsk. That’s going to cost us,” You Rulan said. “No idea if any of theirs are here but most of these belong to other guests.”
Lu Pei glanced toward the upper right corner. The surveillance camera was eerily still. He speculated, “They probably disabled the monitoring.”
“And if they didn’t? They’re not exactly subtle.”
Lu Pei said, “We’ll delete the footage. Then this whole thing becomes Fengshan’s doing. What does it have to do with us?”
You Rulan burst out laughing.
“Brother Ruby, how come I never realized you were this bad before?” You Rulan said with a sigh. “You’re starting to scare people.”
“Isn’t a sudden ambush scarier?” Lu Pei asked. “Is Fengshan that strong? Do they control a large territory? Why are they this bold?”
You Rulan nodded. “Yeah… their boss can definitely go head to head with Brother Zu and they really like targeting us.” Like any loyal subordinate, he quickly added, “But if Brother Zu gets serious, Wen Tiannan won’t stand a chance.”
Lu Pei let out an understanding “oh.”
After a moment of thought, he began to form a vague understanding of the cause, consequences and hidden details of this sudden incident. At the same time, an idea took shape.
Sooner or later, Zhou Zu and Mammoth Brother would expect him to repay their favor by using military resources but when that time came, he might not be able to deliver and failure would inevitably bring retaliation.
So, it would be best if he could secretly establish ties with Fengshan behind Mammoth Brother’s back.
A single chopstick snaps easily; two chopsticks make for a satisfying meal.
…….
Ten minutes later, reinforcements from Mammoth Brother arrived.
Including Frank Feng, only seven people remained completely uninjured between the two groups. The rest were wounded, though no one had died.
Once it was confirmed that the opposing side had retreated, the atmosphere finally relaxed.
Frank Feng returned to the private room and immediately sought out You Rulan.
“How are the goods?”
“No problem,” You Rulan said. “Ruby kept a backup plan.”
Lu Pei gave a neutral smile.
“That’s good.” Frank Feng let out a breath of relief, then asked somewhat uneasily, “…Really?”
“Mm…” You Rulan lowered his voice. He definitely knew something.
Catching the hint in his gaze, Lu Pei pretended to assist the injured lackeys while pricking up his ears to listen.
You Rulan continued reassuring Frank. From his tone and the fragments of words Lu Pei managed to catch, he made a bold deduction, perhaps the real object of the transaction had never been brought here at all.
So Mammoth Brother had a contingency plan? Or another scheme entirely?
As he listened, Lu Pei wrapped bandages around someone’s wounds. He had learned basic first aid and knew how to properly dress injuries but facing real wounded people for the first time, his movements were cautious and somewhat clumsy.
“Move.” Yuan Que took the bandage from his hands. “You’re clumsy. You’re in the way.”
Lu Pei kept listening but their voices grew even softer and he couldn’t hear anything anymore.
So he found something else to do, helping others carry the immobilized Geno onto a stretcher.
Yuan Que suddenly cast a cold glance at him, the corners of his lips turned downward.
Lu Pei: “?”
He came back to himself, recalling that Yuan Que had mentioned Geno earlier in a somewhat hostile tone… Did Yuan Que dislike him?
Looking around, Lu Pei picked up a bottle of iodine and some cotton swabs and said, “Your hand is scraped. Let me clean it for you.”
There was a thin cut on Yuan Que’s arm, about three centimeters long, probably from a shell casing. It was shallow, the bleeding long stopped and didn’t require any treatment at all.
But since Lu Pei had already opened the cotton swab bottle, Yuan Que gave a reluctant “Mm” and accepted the gesture.
“If you hadn’t come, I’d be lying on a stretcher right now.”
Though it was only a minor wound, Lu Pei treated it seriously.
The cotton brushed lightly across his arm, almost like a fleeting touch. The man’s lowered lashes fluttered gently and the faint itch on his skin made Yuan Que uncomfortable.
“Thank you,” Lu Pei said.
As soon as the iodine was applied, Yuan Que immediately withdrew his arm. The man would surely try to leverage this favor again but he had no intention of agreeing now. So he preemptively cut him off, remaining on guard.
“I just happened to pass by. I didn’t come for you.”