Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Said a 12 million yuan watch was stolen from him. Naturally, I’m here to arrest the perpetrator.”
Han Feng stared back at Qiao Nanchu coldly. “We have nothing to do with that.” He replied with a slight hint of anger in his voice.
Qiao Nanchu lit up a cigarette as he said, “Who knows if what you’re saying is true?”
Ten minutes later, Sir Cheng, the leader of a crime investigation team arrived at the scene and proceeded to detain Han Feng as well as the rest of his underlings.
Qiao Nanchu wasn’t from the said team so he stood quietly nearby, smoking two cigarettes consecutively. His mood tonight was pretty good!
“Sir, I suspect that they’ve hidden the stolen item in their car,” Nanchu added.
Sir Cheng’s boss was also the husband of Qiao Nanchu’s cousin.
To be honest, Sir Cheng had no idea what plans this young master had in mind. Still, he didn’t want to risk making Qiao Nanchu lose face, hence, he immediately barked out the order. “Take away their cars as well.”
Hence, both the men and their cars were taken away and would remain under police custody for the time being. Additionally, Sir Cheng even ordered for a team of investigators to remain on-site to continue sniffing around for potential evidence to be used against the suspects.
Qiao Nanchu stubbed his cigarette and began walking toward the other side of the road. Knocking on the window of Jiang Zhi’s car, he said, “The stolen item, pass it to me.”
Jiang Zhi removed the watch on his wrist and tossed it to him.
Qiao Nanchu caught the item and played with it between his fingers. “It’s impossible that the Luo family would make a personal appearance here. They sent Han Feng to carry out the dirty deed but Sir Cheng has already dispatched a team into the residential area to make sure everything’s alright. Even if the item has fallen into Han Feng’s hands, our guys will make sure that he hands it over. If they don’t find it though, it’s probably still with Zhou Qingrang.”
Either way, as long as it didn’t fall into the hands of the Luo family, their goal here was already accomplished.
Jiang Zhi had always locked horns with the Luo family, throwing obstacles in their way every time a chance presented itself. This explained why he was here tonight, needlessly involving himself in a matter that did not concern him. He was here to create a mess just for the sake of it. In fact, the bigger the chaos the better.
Qiao Nanchu stole a glance at Jiang Zhi. “Are you not gonna head home?”
“Both of Zhou Qingrang’s legs are no good, are they?” He replied with something completely off-topic.
“You’re not too far off. One’s amputated and the other is pretty much useless.” To move on his own, he would have to rely on either a wheelchair or a pair of crutches, making him no different from any other cripple.
Jiang Zhi got out of the car.
“What are you doing?”
“That weakling will never be able to fend against the Luo scumbags.”
If the evidence of Cheng Feiran’s abuse remained in Zhou Qingrang’s hands, as long as it wasn’t made public yet, there was no doubt that the Luo family would somehow find a way to get their hands on the item.
Qiao Nanchu chuckled. “Aren’t you a weakling too?”
Jiang Zhi went back into the car to retrieve a black cashmere coat. “Yep. I’m just heading in to visit my fellow weakling.”
“…”
Visit, my ass!
Luo Qinghe, after a painstaking amount of effort investigating Cheng Feiran, had finally located Zhou Qingrang, only for Jiang Zhi to come waltzing right in to destroy her plans. This was a golden opportunity for him to get back at the Luos, making them feel a painful sting in their butts.
Come hell or high water, he was not going to allow the evidence in Zhou Qingrang’s hands to slip through and plop right into the Luo family’s grubby hands.
Qiao Nanchu had originally planned to accompany Jiang Zhi, but an important sitrep1 call came ringing right at that moment. As it involved extremely sensitive information, he had to answer the call in a secluded area outside, leaving Jiang Zhi alone to proceed with his operation.
The elevator had been blocked off by the police who were guarding every other escape route.
Ah Wan was walking a few meters in front of the young master because the voice-activated lighting above their heads had been busted, turning the entire place pitch-dark. Just as he arrived on the first floor, he discovered a man lying unconscious on the floor. “Boss, don’t come up here. Something’s fishy.”
It was one of the Luo family’s scoundrels. The question was, who had knocked him out like that? Zhou Qingrang was just like his young master, a sick man weakened by his disability.
Oh, speaking of bosses, Ah Wan had recently started referring to Jiang Zhi as “boss”. Because his IQ point wasn’t something you’d call home about, the young master had started showing signs of despise toward him. Because of that, he genuinely thought that switching up the way he did things, such as how he addressed Jiang Zhi, would allow him to earn back some respect.
Jiang Zhi eyed the man on the ground.
In an attempt to show off his bravery, Ah Wan rushed forward, and in a steady voice, he said, “Boss, stay behind me. I’ll clear the way for you.” Other than Jiang Zhi’s ultimate nemesis, the Luo family, he had to unveil just who else was at the scene!
Ah Wan had just finished his sentence when a phantom streaked past the corner of his eye, moving behind him. Instinctively, he turned around, but with not enough time to even react, a leg came smashing into his waist.
A dull thud echoed through the stairwell followed by Ah Wan collapsing onto the ground.
“…”
His heroic invincibility…
“Ugh!”
Propping himself up, he forcefully tried to crawl back onto his feet. However, the pain in his side was overwhelming, and with another thud, he fell completely flat on the ground.
“…”
Which art did this person practice to be able to muster up such strength!?
Ah Wan, who usually had a non-existent temper, yelled out in fury, “Who are you!? Sneaky coward!”
This godd*mned coward!
This voice…
Zhou Xufang stopped in her tracks.
Suddenly, a beam of light shone, lighting up her face.
The light came from Jiang Zhi’s phone. The beam moved around systematically, scanning her face, her arms, as well as the single alphabet stitched onto the sleeve of her coat.
“It’s you again.”
He grinned. Oh, what a small world they lived in.
Zhou Xufang raised her arms in an attempt to block the light from Jiang Zhi’s phone.
Taking advantage of his enemy getting caught off-guard, Ah Wan jumped onto his feet and started throwing his fists at her. As if it was a conditioned reflex, she grabbed Ah Wan’s wrist, and with an unstable control over her powers, her grip clamped down hard on the bodyguard. The sound of bones snapping rang out as Ah Wan inhaled in sheer pain.
Seeing this, she immediately let go of his wrists.
Taking advantage of the sudden opening, Ah Wan sent a single fist to her shoulder.
Fang Lixiang had once told her that Ah Wan was raised to be a boxing athlete. In his earlier years, he had once won the national boxing championship for teenagers. If it were not for his crime against Jiang Zhi during that time, he could very possibly have become a world champion now. He was as strong as an ox which was presumably why even Zhou Xufang backed off a few steps after receiving the blow from Ah Wan.
What should she do right now? Should she fight him? Zhou Xufang’s brows furrowed.
“Ah Wan.” Jiang Zhi called out to him while waving his light over his face.
Understanding his master’s order, he stood down.
“There are policemen around every corner outside.” Jiang Zhi stepped forward, shining the light from his phone directly in her face. “Take off your mask, then we’ll tell them to let you go.”
She remained silent.
He stopped in front of Zhou Xufang and raised his hand in order to remove her mask.
“Boss–”
She dragged his arm and pushed him against the wall.
From the sudden jerk, Jiang Zhi’s phone fell out of his hands toward the concrete floor. The distinct sound of glass cracking could be heard—the “bling bling” screen-protector which Xue Baoyi had applied to his phone had shattered from the impact.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough…”
His breathing had grown noticeably heavier. His lips were colorless and his face was more flushed than before.
Ah Wan yelled out, “Scoundrel! Let go of my boss!”
“…”
“…”
Both Jiang Zhi and Xufang went silent at hearing Ah Wan yell out the word “scoundrel”. This, however, also successfully shifted her focus away temporarily, allowing Ah Wan to strike at the neck of the “scoundrel”. This was his killing blow, an ultimate move that never failed him. This was the fina–
The “scoundrel” did not even flinch after being struck, and her legs came swinging toward him at such speed that it was barely visible. The kick landed squarely on his side with enough force for him to feel his organs quaking within his torso.
Couldn’t she have picked another place to kick at!?
Ah Wan felt his waist go numb as he stumbled around, struggling to maintain his balance. This “scoundrel” was a martial arts master and he was no match for her… His head tilted toward one side as he slowly collapsed onto the floor. She had successfully knocked the wind out of Ah Wan.
Did she kill him? She had only used a tenth of her total strength which frustrated Zhou Xufang even more.
“Are you going to abduct me again?” Jiang Zhi stared into her eyes.
The place was dimly lit but his gaze was bright, like a burning torch.
Afraid that he would see through her plans, she used her palms to cover up his eyes. With her elbows pressed against his shoulder, she replied in a deepened voice, “I’ll be more gentle this time.”
“I’ll be more gentle this time”— a quote from the scoundrel who had completely decimated his bodyguard.
“…” Jiang Zhi was so infuriated that his ears glowed bright red. “You f*cking touch me again. I dare yo–”
She raised her hands and chopped it into his neck.
He went limp almost immediately, nearly sliding from her grip.
Out of pure reflex, Zhou Xufang grabbed his waist and leaned him gently against the wall. She then muttered something under her breath.
“I’m not a scoundrel.”
She was slightly saddened for being misunderstood.
She placed the man down onto the floor and remained crouching by his side for a while before standing up to head upstairs. Just as she lifted her foot on the first step, she halted abruptly in her tracks. Turning around, she removed Ah Wan’s coat and placed it over Jiang Zhi’s motionless body.
His body was weak after all, he couldn’t afford to catch a simple cold.
She crouched beside him, observing his face for quite a while before leaving after hearing someone else’s footsteps on the floor below. She headed right for the rooftop where she arrived right at the moment the police cars’ sirens started blaring noisily. With a single leap, she made it across and landed on the rooftop of the opposite building.
Ten minutes later, knocks sounded in room 904 of Block 9.
Knock knock knock.
The door opened up halfway, and from within, a man’s voice asked, “You are?”
Sir Cheng produced his officer’s badge. “We are the police.”
As Zhou Qingrang had to exert a significant amount of force to support himself on his crutches, he lessened the load on his arms by leaning against the wall near the room’s entrance. “Is there a problem?”
“There was a robbery and assault that happened around this residential area. Mister Zhou, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary around here?” This was what Qiao Nanchu had said to do before leaving. Zhou Qingrang’s eyes were focused—he could not let even a single fly into his room no matter what.
Thus, he denied that he had seen “anything out of the ordinary”.
His facial expression appeared natural, it was obvious that he was oblivious to the number of incidents that had occurred just on the other side of the door.
“Our men will continue standing guard outside. If anything happens, just yell and we’ll come for you.”
“Thank you.”
Sir Cheng briefly apologized for interrupting his night before leaving.
Zhou Qingrang shut his door and sat back on his wheelchair, rolling into his bedroom. Pulling the USB stick out of his computer, he grabbed it tightly within his fists. Who had sent this to him? Who had helped him out?
It was almost midnight. Xue Baoyi was in the middle of partying hard at a nightclub when a call came from Qiao Nanchu saying that Jiang Zhi had fainted again and that he needed to see him over at the hospital.
“Brother Zhi.”
“Brother Zhi.”
Jiang Zhi’s eyelashes fluttered before his eyes peeled open.
Xue Baoyi sat beside his bed, peeling a banana before eating it. “Hey, you’re finally awake.” He grinned. “You Sleeping Beauty, coming here every two to three days. I’m gonna get scared to death by these phone calls about you before your disease kills you.”
Jiang Zhi tried to sit up from his bed. Xue Baoyi hurriedly supported his back as he did so.
“How’s the situation with Zhou Qingrang?”
Xue Baoyi had already heard about the matter from Qiao Nanchu’s own mouth. “Nothing much has happened. Nanchu’s got men down there guarding the place. Relax, the item won’t be snatched away from his hands so easily.” Hearing Jiang Zhi’s coughing, he threw the half-eaten banana into the trash can before rubbing the former’s back to soothe him. “What’s up with you? Seems like that professional runner is your new archnemesis. Once again, she has sent you into this hospital.”
Jiang Zhi’s face remained stoic and he said nothing.
Soon, Qiao Nanchu came over. Trailing behind him was Ah Wan, whose abdomen was wrapped with a roll of bandage. His breathing appeared inconsistent, presumably due to the pain. The man was almost 1.9 meters tall and weighed over 200 pounds, built to the top with pure muscle, and yet, he appeared as weak as Jiang Zhi right now.
“Are you awake?”
Jiang Zhi leaned back into his bed. His body was in an extremely poor condition following the attack.
“Did you make any new discoveries this time? Is there anything special about that alphabet Z on her sleeve?” Qiao Nanchu asked. This was their second time coming face-to-face. They had failed to make out any clues the last time no matter how hard they tried. Perhaps a clue had revealed itself this time.
Jiang Zhi shut his eyes and searched through his memories for quite a while. “It was too dark for me to see anything clearly. Her voice was also deliberately changed. However…”
“However what?”
He paused for a moment. “There was a distinct smell on her.” He had caught a whiff when she had pressed him against the wall.
“What smell?” Qiao Nanchu couldn’t believe his ears at what Jiang Zhi was saying.
“The smell of milk.” Jiang Zhi replied confidently.
“…”
For a ghost that had been evading police investigation for so many years and who, a number of professional hitmen couldn’t even take down, the first clue she had left was…the smell of milk?
Jiang Zhi coughed. “It’s the milk that I drink regularly, I know what I smelled.”
“…”
Qiao Nanchu was at a loss for words.