Great Wall scenic area car park.
Everyone got out of the car. Zhao Xiaodao and Zhang Weili put on baseball caps, sunglasses, and sun-protective scarves, covering themselves so thoroughly that no one could recognise them.
“Lu Zheng and I will go meet my colleagues first. Once the job is done, we’ll all sightsee together. You guys play by yourselves for now and stay in touch if anything comes up,” Lin Wan instructed Zhao Xiaodao and the others.
Zhao Xiaodao, Zhang Weili, and the little assistant all nodded repeatedly, promising they would never get in the way or cause trouble.
Lin Wan nodded, then took out her phone and dialled a number.
A moment later, she said, “Ten more minutes. Let’s queue for tickets first.”
So the group exchanged their vouchers for tickets, bought a few bottles of mineral water at the entrance, and waited for the people they were expecting.
One was a Chinese man in his thirties with long hair tied in a ponytail, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a drawing board on his back. He looked like an artist.
The other was a foreigner in full outdoor gear, carrying a large canvas travel pack, holding a trekking pole, and with a camera hanging from his neck. He looked exactly like a globetrotting backpacker.
“Professional!” Lu Zheng exclaimed under his breath. He turned to glance at Lin Wan and saw her instantly transform into an elegant city beauty. She looped her arm through his, suddenly the picture of a gentle girl in love.
“Hiss…”
Lin Wan smiled sweetly. “I’m still the ace of the operations team. Of course I can manage a little disguise and demeanour switch.”
“Impressive!” Lu Zheng gave her a thumbs-up. “I can’t act at all.”
Lin Wan nodded and laughed. “Then just be your usual lazy unemployed self.”
“That I’m good at.”
As they chatted, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan walked straight past the two men without stopping. Lin Wan smoothly took a wireless earpiece from the artist’s hand, slipped the bud into her ear, and clipped the microphone inside her collar.
Once they had walked away with Lin Wan still holding Lu Zheng’s arm, the artist’s voice sounded in her ear.
“That’s Lu Zheng?”
“Yep!”
The artist carefully sized Lu Zheng up from behind and nodded. “Not bad. He really looks the part. You wouldn’t guess he’s an expert.”
Everyone in the domestic circles knew about the battle when Lu Zheng and Lin Wan fought their way out of Old John’s manor. Lin Wan’s reputation was sky-high, and Lu Zheng had gained fame by association. At the very least, anyone paying attention knew he was a national-art master who had developed genuine qi sensation, basically a modern-day Sun Lutang.
If national arts were easier to spread, if the military didn’t already have detailed archives on them, and if this weren’t the age of firearms, Lu Zheng might have been invited to serve as an instructor long ago.
Since they knew who Lu Zheng was and that he wouldn’t drag them down, the artist said nothing about Lin Wan bringing him along.
The Lighthouse Country Interpol backpacker, however, frowned. “I was told only three people would carry out the arrest. Who is he?”
The artist glanced at him, then the commanding officer’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Lu Zheng is a national-art grandmaster with extraordinary skill. His presence only benefits the operation.”
The backpacker gave a cold snort but let it drop, though he still added, “The target is extremely cunning. If the operation fails because of him, I will file an official complaint.”
The commander replied, “We will naturally take full responsibility.”
The backpacker nodded and followed behind Lin Wan and Lu Zheng.
Lin Wan shot him a sideways look but said nothing. Arm still linked with Lu Zheng’s, the two shouldered their backpacks and casually passed through the ticket checkpoint into the scenic area.
Lu Zheng glanced back. “You only got an earpiece? No photo of the target?”
Lin Wan pulled out her phone, opened an unfamiliar encrypted app, and a picture of a middle-aged foreign man appeared.
Lu Zheng, “…”
Fine. He had watched too many movies where such intel came on special standalone devices for security. Turns out now it was just an encrypted app.
Lin Wan laughed silently. The two soon passed Zhao Xiaodao’s group.
They exchanged a quick look. Zhao Xiaodao and the others stayed far behind, chatting and sightseeing like normal tourists, giving no sign anything was amiss.
…
Catching the guy was just a side task; the real plan was tourism. The sooner they grabbed him and handed him off, the sooner they could enjoy the Wall.
So although they appeared leisurely, they moved quickly and soon entered the main Great Wall area.
“By the way, the target entered the country illegally, yet he comes to sightsee on the Great Wall? What’s that about?” Lu Zheng asked curiously.
Lin Wan shook her head. “No idea. He’s on our customs blacklist anyway, so legal entry was impossible. Interpol suspects he has other motives, but it doesn’t matter. Once we catch him, everything will be clear.”
Lu Zheng was speechless. That casual?
Lin Wan shrugged. She had only been roped in at the last minute and didn’t know the full details. Now that the operation had started, the commander had no time to brief her further.
It was a weekday, not the weekend, so there weren’t many tourists.
Lu Zheng looked around and thought: no wonder they couldn’t send a large team up the Wall; the target would spot them instantly. Whether he escaped or took hostages, it would be a huge embarrassment for Interpol.
After all, for this operation they had only notified Beidu police, not requested active support.
“If we weren’t here, how were they planning to find him?” Lu Zheng asked Lin Wan. The place was massive; how could three people search it?
Lin Wan shook her head and pointed at the sky.
Even with them here, the search method was the same.
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow and spotted a DJI drone circling high overhead.
Lu Zheng, “…”
“Attention! Attention! Target located. Approximately two kilometres ahead of Lin Wan, near a beacon tower!”
“Copy that!”
Lin Wan replied, then pulled Lu Zheng toward the target. The artist and the backpacker followed behind.
…
The drone stayed overhead, guiding them. Lu Zheng and Lin Wan walked at a tourist’s pace, pausing now and then, and soon reached the area.
They were now deep inside the scenic zone. Tourists were sparse, scattered in twos and threes along the battlements or inside beacon towers, each group separated by hundreds of metres, minding their own business.
“Target is ahead. He just entered the beacon tower in front of you,” the commander said.
“He’s highly alert. We surround him first, then move together!” the backpacker reminded.
The commander continued watching through the drone feed. “He’s gone up to the top platform. There’s a family of three up there. Be careful not to…”
“No!” Lu Zheng’s eyes sharpened.
He and Lin Wan were now very close to the tower and slightly above it. They could clearly see the family of three leaning against the wall taking photos.
That was how they instantly spotted the middle-aged foreigner pulling out a concealed dagger.
