Chapter 151: Master’s Firepower
Chapter 151: Master’s Firepower
Li Zian stepped out of the restaurant’s hallway but did not see Hank or Chen Mei.
Those two had left far too quickly.
All the signs pointed to that Hank being very suspicious.
“I will ask Kun Li to hire a few hackers from the Underground Network to check into Hank’s background. If she refuses, I will have her show me how to access the Underground Network myself, so I can hire people on my own.” Li Zian thought to himself.
Pan Renlong had driven over in a Cadillac with the license plate “Embassy 224-018”—black characters on a white background, very classy.
This was a vehicle from the Lighthouse Consulate, most likely a bulletproof version of the Cadillac.
The car stopped beside Li Zian and Xu Cheng.
Xu Cheng deliberately lowered his posture and opened the car door for Li Zian. “Master, please get in.”
Li Zian did not stand on ceremony and slipped into the car.
After Xu Cheng got in, Pan Renlong drove the Cadillac forward.
They said they were going to the dock, but when they reached the area near the Bund, the Cadillac turned onto a secluded road. After driving a bit further, the road became bumpy and there were no streetlights at all; it was completely like a village road.
“We’re almost there,” Xu Cheng, who was sitting next to Li Zian in the back seat, explained. “Dawson’s yacht is anchored not far offshore up ahead. He will send someone to pick us up on a speedboat to take us out to the ship.”
Li Zian smiled. “It’s fine; there’s no hurry.”
The light inside the car was dim.
Li Zian glanced out the window. On both sides of the road was a patch of woods, pitch black, with no houses around.
This place was perfect.
Li Zian pressed his right thumb against the ring finger of his right hand, then lightly pressed the hidden button. The ring face opened, and an alloy barb sprang out.
The road had potholes, and the Cadillac jolted.
Li Zian leaned toward Xu Cheng abruptly and, in that instant, slapped the back of his hand against Xu Cheng’s thigh. The alloy barb pierced into the muscle of Xu Cheng’s leg. Having succeeded, Li Zian withdrew his hand and straightened his posture.
The whole process took only about a second. Being stabbed by a five-millimeter barb would certainly hurt, but in the pitch-black car, Xu Cheng had no idea what had pricked him. He thought it was just one of those random nerve pains people sometimes get. Besides, the slight ache disappeared in a second, so he didn’t pay it much mind.
Li Zian took a small paper packet from his pocket. He didn’t open it but instead felt its shape with his fingers to confirm it was round. Then he pierced the alloy barb into the packet.
He had two paper packets in his pocket—one round, one square. The round packet contained Movement-Halting Ointment, while the square one contained Body-Poisoning Ointment. He had prepared them before coming. His plan was to slip a hand into his pocket, feel the shape of the packet with his fingers so he wouldn’t mix up the ointments. If he mistakenly applied Body-Poisoning Ointment instead and poisoned someone to death, that would have been a huge blunder.
He did not intend to use the Body-Poisoning Ointment unless absolutely necessary, so that packet was also much smaller than the one holding the Movement-Halting Ointment.
After applying the ointment to the alloy barb, Li Zian leaned forward. Before he could reach out to jab Pan Renlong, Xu Cheng beside him suddenly passed out—first leaning against the car door, then jolting forward in a bump and knocking against the back of the front passenger seat.
“Dad?” Hearing the noise, Pan Renlong glanced over at the rearview mirror.
It was at that moment that Li Zian slapped the back of his hand against Pan Renlong’s neck.
The alloy barb pierced the skin, and the Movement-Halting Ointment dissolved on contact with blood.
Pan Renlong was not like Xu Cheng. He was a trained soldier and noticed the prick immediately. He cried out angrily, “Master, what are you doing?”
Li Zian smiled and said, “I saw a mosquito on your neck, so I swatted it for you. No need to thank me—it’s nothing.”
“My father—” Before he could finish the sentence, Pan Renlong’s head suddenly drooped, and he slumped forward over the steering wheel.
The Cadillac went out of control, veered off the bumpy road, and crashed into a patch of trees on the roadside.
Bang, bang, bang…
After a few collisions, the car came to a stop.
Thankfully, it hadn’t been moving very fast, but the slope was steep. It broke through several smaller trees before a large tree finally stopped it.
Li Zian had been prepared. The moment the car left the road, he braced himself firmly against the driver’s seatback, keeping his balance and minimizing the impact.
There were seatbelts in the back seat too, but he definitely wouldn’t have worn one because he needed to use the needle. Wearing a seatbelt would have hindered his movements.
Li Zian got out of the car and walked to the driver’s side door. He grabbed the handle and pulled, but the door had warped and wouldn’t budge. He reached through the smashed window, pressed the door unlock button, and opened the door.
Pan Renlong had been wearing his seatbelt. The airbag on the steering wheel had deployed, and his head was buried in it. Probably not much of a problem.
Li Zian unfastened the seatbelt and dragged Pan Renlong out of the car. Then he pulled out Xu Cheng as well, dragging both of them deeper into the woods and tying them up using their own belts and pants.
Once that was done, Li Zian searched Pan Renlong and found a few items—a mobile phone, a wallet, some sort of consulate pass, and other miscellaneous things.
Li Zian turned on the phone’s screen, but it required a fingerprint to unlock. Since Pan Renlong was right there, that wasn’t an issue.
The phone unlocked.
Li Zian went into the call log to check both outgoing and incoming calls.
He hoped to see the name “Hank Baynes,” but after scrolling all the way down, he couldn’t find it. There was no “Huang Bo” either.
But thinking it over, it made sense. Huang Bo had contacted him via email; of course he wouldn’t call.
If Hank was Pan Renlong’s superior, he also wouldn’t use his own phone to call Pan Renlong.
So Li Zian simply used his own phone to take photos of the call history and the contact list in the phone. He could hire hackers via the Underground Network to investigate, or he could discuss the matter with Liu Jun and have him use police resources to look into it.
As for Xu Cheng, he couldn’t be bothered to search him. He was just a household servant after all.
Ding-ling-ling, ding-ling-ling…
Li Zian’s phone suddenly started ringing. The screen showed “Housekeeper.”
He couldn’t help but recall her meeting with Hank and the things she had said. A wave of guilt washed over him.
“Hello, Meilin,” he answered the call.
“Zian, where did you go?” Yu Meilin’s voice came through.
Li Zian said, “Earlier, Mr. Pan asked me to help a foreigner with a problem. He lives near the Bund; right now I’m in a little woods by the sea.”
“What are you doing in the woods?”
“Peeing.”
Yu Meilin chuckled. “You really are… Is Chuntao with you?”
He knew she would ask that.
And her question was tricky—if he was peeing and Mu Chuntao was with him, that would be a big problem.
Li Zian gave a wry smile. “No, I’m alone.”
There was no way he would bring Mu Chuntao along for tonight’s operation.
“I thought I heard the sound; I didn’t expect you to be…” Yu Meilin seemed a little embarrassed and couldn’t bring herself to say “peeing”.
Li Zian unzipped his pants and aimed a stream of warm water at Pan Renlong and Xu Cheng—splashing some on Pan Renlong’s face, then on Xu Cheng’s, before swinging back for another round.
“Oh my, I can hear it—so loud.” Yu Meilin’s voice carried a hint of complaint.
Li Zian said with a laugh, “I couldn’t hold it anymore. Anyway, I’ll hang up now. I’ll come back once I’m done.”
Yu Meilin replied, “We’re a couple; it’s no big deal for me to listen.”
Li Zian: “…”
He had deliberately urinated on them in hopes that Yu Meilin would hang up, but instead she said listening was fine.
Now he was at a loss.
“Aren’t you curious about who I had dinner with tonight?” Yu Meilin asked.
“I’m not that curious. You have so many friends and engagements—why should I manage all that? You handle the business outside; I take care of things at home. We have a clear division of labor, and that’s how it’s been for years, right?” As Li Zian spoke, he continued aiming his stream, the straight jet of water hitting Pan Renlong and Xu Cheng’s faces. The skin on their faces rippled with the impact, and the water made a sizzling sound.
The Master’s firepower was truly something ordinary people couldn’t match.
Yet, even after the watering, Pan Renlong and Xu Cheng still hadn’t woken up.
“Oh my…” Yu Meilin’s voice carried an exaggerated tone that seemed to embarrass her.
Li Zian zipped up his pants. He wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Instead, the guilt from lying grew stronger.
He hadn’t intended to follow her, but there was no way he could explain that to her.
“Your peeing takes this long and is so… lively. Is there something wrong with your body?” Despite her embarrassment, Yu Meilin still spoke her mind.
Li Zian gave an awkward laugh and brazenly said, “Well, heaven blessed me with exceptional talent. I can’t help it.”
“Boasting. When we conceived Xiaomei, it only took you two minutes.” Yu Meilin said.
Li Zian: “…”
He was drunk that time, so it was only two minutes.
If he had been sober, he might have surrendered before even reaching the city gates.
Was that what she meant?
He itched to say, “Try me now,” but swallowed the words before they came out.
The Master was truly in a difficult spot now.
When Housekeeper was cold and distant toward him, he could still feel at ease being with Taozi. But now that Yu Meilin wanted to reconcile and have a real married life with him, he had already strayed far down the wrong path.
Could he still turn back?
“Um… if you can’t get a ride back, do you want me to pick you up?” Yu Meilin seemed to feel awkward as well and changed the subject.
Li Zian snapped back to attention. “No need. It’s late, you should get some rest. You have work tomorrow. Mr. Pan will definitely drive me back; no need to trouble yourself.”
“Mm, I’ll hang up then.” Yu Meilin ended the call.
Li Zian stared blankly for a moment, then put away his phone.
He’d have to think about relationship matters later. Right now, it was time to deal with important business.
Li Zian crouched down and reached out to pat Pan Renlong’s face, but then he remembered he had just given Pan Renlong a warm facial wash. He withdrew his hand and instead pressed it against Pan Renlong’s chest.
Zhenqi flowed from his palm.
Soon, a soft moan escaped Pan Renlong’s lips. “Hmm…”