Chapter 11 — The Fugitive 'Chu Tian'

"He smiled at you." Li Ran was startled.

"Yes. I don't know why, but I could feel it—this Flying Dagger Lone Wolf bears no ill will at all," Qin Hong said, puzzled. "In fact, I keep feeling there's something familiar about him, as if I've met him somewhere before. But try as I might, I can't place it."

"If you can't place it, stop trying," Li Ran said.

Barely a moment passed before a knock sounded at the door.

"That should be Brother Yang. I'll get it." Qin Hong went straight into the living room, glanced outside through the peephole, and only then opened the door. Beyond it stood a bespectacled, mild-mannered man of about one meter seventy-five. The moment he stepped inside, Qin Hong shut the door behind him.

At that point Li Ran came out of the bedroom.

"Brother Yang," Li Ran greeted him with a smile.

"Xiao Ran, with a child in you, you shouldn't be running about. Rest properly." This Brother Yang—whose real name was Yang Yun—was the chief in command of every member of the Special Action Team throughout Jiangsu, and a man of no small strength himself. This time, because the Flying Dagger Lone Wolf and two of the Divine Kingdom's giants were involved, nearly the whole of Jiangsu's Special Action Team had been concentrated in Yangzhou.

Yang Yun turned to Qin Hong. "Qin Hong, you say you saw that Flying Dagger Lone Wolf. Go and see whether he's still there."

Qin Hong nodded, walked to the living-room window, and took a brief look through the blinds.

"Brother Yang, he's still there." No sooner had Qin Hong spoken than Yang Yun went over to join him.

"Look, Brother Yang—there, on the second floor of the teahouse across the way, the biggest window. That man is the Flying Dagger Lone Wolf, and there's a woman sitting across from him." Qin Hong's brow furrowed. "Hm—it's her?"

"Her?" Yang Yun was a little surprised.

"Yes. I didn't look closely at the woman before; I never expected it to be her. Her name is Lin Qing—rather a well-known figure in Yangzhou." Yangzhou was neither small nor large, and Qin Hong naturally knew its notable characters inside and out.

Yang Yun nodded slightly, took out his phone, and made a call.

"Chen San, bring your whole team over—yes, gather at the White Cloud Cafe across from Qin Hong's place. I have an important assignment for you." With that, Yang Yun hung up.

"Qin Hong, stay here. Don't go anywhere." Having given his instructions, Yang Yun left Qin Hong's home at once.

In a private room of the White Cloud Cafe there were only Yang Yun and a middle-aged man who looked honest and simple.

Listening to the report coming through his earpiece, the seemingly honest middle-aged man nodded. "Chief Yang, the Flying Dagger Lone Wolf and that woman Lin Qing have already left the Willow Teahouse. One man from my squad is tailing Lin Qing; the other four are taking turns on the Flying Dagger Lone Wolf."

Yang Yun said nothing, only waited in silence.

After but a moment, the middle-aged man gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Chief Yang, the Flying Dagger Lone Wolf—he's vanished."

"Just as I expected." Yang Yun shook his head and smiled. "This Flying Dagger Lone Wolf may well be the peak of the world's masters, and he was once an assassin besides—hiding, tailing, counter-tailing, he'll be an absolute master of it all. Tailing him is extraordinarily difficult. Never mind, Chen San. Your team, keep your eyes fixed on that Lin Qing. Perhaps we can find a breakthrough through her."

"Yes, sir." Chen San answered at once.

In an old alley, Teng Xuanji walked as though out for a stroll.

"Those men tailing me just now must belong to the same organization as my brother." Teng Xuanji could guess that much. "Given my brother's position, he should have uncovered my identity as the Flying Dagger Lone Wolf." He did not care in the least; ordinary agents of that sort were, in his eyes, no different from anyone else.

Teng Xuanji's ear twitched slightly; at once he quickened his pace.

Reaching a corner, he saw a lean, wiry man in a hat ahead in the alley.

The reason Teng Xuanji had not lingered at the Willow Teahouse was precisely to tail this lean man. But with his strength, he needed no eyes—his ears alone were enough that he never feared losing his quarry.

"This morning that fellow passed my brother's residence three times, back and forth, changing his clothes each time. And each time he carefully studied the place. He means no good." Teng Xuanji's attention had been fixed on his brother's residence, and he had observed everyone who passed nearby.

With his specially trained memory, one look was enough; he never forgot.

Especially this man ahead—his powers of disguise were so wretched.

"And his eyes are wrong. He looks at everything around him as though on his guard." As a killer at the very summit, Teng Xuanji could pick out a man's weaknesses with ease. Clearly, the fellow's gift for disguise was pitiful.

Having judged that the man meant his brother harm, how could Teng Xuanji let him off lightly? Qinghe, his brother, was the only kin he had.

He followed all the way, and the lean man never once noticed Teng Xuanji behind him.

Before long the lean man came to a six-story residential building in a housing estate and went up the stairs. Teng Xuanji listened from the foot of the stairwell.

"Third floor, the flat on the left." From the sound alone Teng Xuanji easily fixed the man's position.

He went straight up to the third floor and pressed his ear to the solid wooden door.

The faint sounds inside the room came to him perfectly clear.

"Hey, Boss Li, I've already cased the place. You didn't tell me this Qin Hong had a pregnant wife. When I go to kill him, I'll have to kill her too while I'm at it. Otherwise, if she screams and the neighbors notice, I'm the one who's finished. You ought to raise the price—another hundred thousand. To a man like you, Boss Li, that's nothing."

Outside the door, killing intent rose in Teng Xuanji's heart.

To kill his brother—and his brother's wife as well.

In all this world his brother was his only kin; he would never permit such a thing.

"Haha, Boss Li, you're a straightforward man, as I thought. No problem—once it's done I'll be gone at once. Rest easy. This Qin Hong is Li Shuoheng's man, but I've had my plan ready all along; he's dead for certain. Good, then—just wait for my good news." The man inside hung up.

Teng Xuanji gripped the door lock and gave it a surge of inner force; then he pushed the door open with ease, as though it had never been locked at all.

On the sofa in the living room, the lean man lay at his leisure, humming a tuneless song, remote in hand, just switching on the television. Then his gaze swept to the doorway—a bespectacled young man had pushed his way in, and was calmly closing the door behind him.

"You—who are you?" The lean man jumped in fright, and wondered: had he failed to shut the door? Impossible—he was never that careless.

"Who am I?" Teng Xuanji walked toward him, smiling.

A savage light flashed in the lean man's eyes; lightning-swift, he drew a pistol from the small of his back.

But the young man who had stood at the doorway was somehow already in front of him, and had seized the gun in one hand.

With a screech of twisting metal, the barrel bent.

The lean man's face changed utterly.

The hardness of a pistol barrel admitted no doubt. For a man to bend one with the strength of his hand alone—this was not someone he could fight.

"Brother, you—which road are you from?" The lean man's heart trembled with fear. "Your brother here is Chu Tian; I've a bit of a name on the road. A while back I got into trouble back home and was wanted, so I came to your fine parts. If I've offended you in any way, brother—"

"Shut up," Teng Xuanji said flatly.

Chu Tian shut his mouth in terror.

"I ask a question, you answer it," said Teng Xuanji, his voice utterly level, yet the coldness in his eyes made Chu Tian's heart falter.