About half an hour later, Lin Wan returned home.
“Ding Lunyin sent him,” Lu Zheng said.
Lin Wan nodded, then pinched the delivery rider’s neck to wake him, sealed his vocal cords so he could not make loud noises, and applied a full set of muscle-splitting and bone-dislocating techniques.
“Uh… mm… oh…”
“What is your name?”
“Wu Ting!”
“Who sent you?”
“Ding Lunyin!”
“What is your role under him?”
“I, I am responsible for protecting cargo transport between China and Myanmar.”
Lin Wan nodded. “That explains it. No wonder your Chinese is good and you know the country well.”
“How many people came to Haicheng? Did anyone go after Li Ying?”
“Just me. No one went after Li Ying. She, she is useless…”
Lin Wan breathed a sigh of relief.
She and Lu Zheng were not afraid, of course. No matter how many came, they would be easy prey. But Li Ying lacked their skills, and being targeted by a major drug lord would still be dangerous.
That was why police in Yunnan Province, bordering the south, kept low profiles. They dealt with desperados. No one expected these people to dare operate deep inside Haicheng.
Even old John had not had the nerve. He had lured them out first.
It only showed that Ding Lunyin was used to solving problems with violence.
Next, Lin Wan pressed for more details on Ding Lunyin’s operations.
Wu Ting was just a hired thug, not a fanatic or trained agent. Under Lin Wan’s techniques he had no resistance and revealed everything.
“I have told you all I know. Call an ambulance now,” Wu Ting said, sweating heavily and shaking.
“An ambulance?” Lu Zheng blinked.
Wu Ting glared at him, then glanced at Lin Wan, his tone softening. “You, you are police, aren’t you? I am injured. I have told you everything I should…”
Humanitarianism. That was the difference between criminals and police. Criminals could do as they pleased. Police had to follow rules. Once fighting stopped, they still had to treat criminals’ wounds and judge them by law.
However…
Lu Zheng rummaged through the backpack beside Wu Ting.
“You came on foot and changed into the delivery uniform in an unmonitored stairwell.”
“Yes, yes…”
Lu Zheng looked at Lin Wan. She frowned in thought for a moment, then said, “We should still hand him to the police. It will alert them. They need to stay vigilant. We are not afraid, but ordinary people are.”
“Alright,” Lu Zheng agreed.
They had not shown any supernatural abilities in front of him anyway, so there was no worry about loose talk.
However…
“Have you ever killed Chinese people?”
“No, no!”
“But you have blood on your hands.”
“I only killed people in Myanmar!” Wu Ting protested quickly.
Lu Zheng gave a cold snort, then casually patted his shoulder, planting a soft-bone curse. If Wu Ting lived another hundred days, Lu Zheng would spare him.
Lin Wan took out her phone and called Huang Xiumin.
…
When Li Jinglin and Huang Xiumin arrived with officers to take the assassin away, Lu Zheng and Lin Wan followed them to the neighbourhood entrance.
Lu Zheng asked, “Does the plan change?”
“No change. It does not matter. We still have other drug lords to deal with. They have enemies everywhere. Things coinciding like this is perfectly normal.”
Lin Wan said, “I am off to work. I will gather more information on the others. We will take them all out this weekend.”
“Fine,” Lu Zheng agreed.
They embraced briefly. Lin Wan hurried back to work. Lu Zheng returned home, half-reclined on the sofa, and continued watching television.
…
Two days passed. Lin Wan had prepared files on six drug lords of varying size. Besides Ding Lunyin, they all did business in China but were based abroad with armed protection. Under current international rules, the country had no effective means against them.
On Friday evening, Lin Wan came home from work, ate dinner with Lu Zheng, and changed into all black.
Black combat helmet and balaclava, close-fitting breathable combat suit with third-generation Kevlar bulletproof vest and tactical vest, plus black calf-leather combat boots. All genuine items Lu Zheng had sourced from military surplus sites.
This time they were raiding several drug lords’ residences or bases with civilians present. They could not kill indiscriminately, so Lu Zheng and Lin Wan could not show their faces or use supernatural abilities.
“Just standard tactical assault,” Lin Wan said, working the bolt on her HK416.
The rifles were trophies from their rampage through old John’s manor years ago. They had been gathering dust in Lu Zheng’s gourd and were finally seeing use again.
“Real-life CS:GO,” Lu Zheng said, checking the magazine and sight on his SCAR. “Good. It has been a while.”
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Then let’s go.”
The two fully armed figures, looking like special forces operatives, rose on clouds into the sky and headed southwest.
…
Northern Myanmar, a certain village, a certain manor.
Ding Lunyin was playing mahjong with three local armed faction leaders in a specially built card room.
Behind each man stood a beautiful woman pouring drinks and offering cigarettes.
Shuffling sounds filled the air.
One round ended. Eight hands shuffled tiles. A middle-aged man in military uniform asked casually, “Old Ding, I heard you lost a merchant ship in China?”
Ding Lunyin grinned, eyes turning vicious.
“Bad luck. The agent used an idiot for the shipment and got exposed,” Ding Lunyin said. “And somehow provoked Interpol.”
“Interpol? Aren’t they just desk-bound nobodies?” another burly man asked.
“To us, yes. But to those soft idiots inside China who have never seen blood, they still have a few tricks,” the last man, an older fellow in green fatigues, said.
The middle-aged man stacked his tiles and asked, “Heard your losses were heavy this time. Rebuilding channels will take at least half a year?”
The burly man was surprised. “That long? The agent got caught too?”
Ding Lunyin nodded. “Caught.”
The burly man asked, “Some Interpol team? Pretty capable?”
Ding Lunyin tossed the dice and gave a cold laugh. “Does not matter what Interpol. I sent Wu Ting.”
“Wu Ting? Then it’s settled,” the middle-aged man nodded.
He knew Wu Ting. Familiar with China, ruthless, cautious. He had eliminated several enemies for Ding Lunyin and was one of his most trusted men.
“To Haicheng?” the older man asked.
“Yes, to Haicheng,” Ding Lunyin confirmed.
The older man frowned. “Too bold.”
“Relax, Uncle Duan. Even if China finds out, what can they do?” Ding Lunyin laughed. “Would they dare cross-border action? As for Myanmar police and army…”
The burly man slapped down a tile. “However many come, we destroy them all!”
“Prosperity!”
Boom!
