But what he didn’t realise was that Xu Fei, upon hearing this, had his own calculations brewing.
The biggest threat was that ordinary hostage anyway, so why not seize this chance to get them to release him!
If they fell for it, Xu Fei and his master wouldn’t have to tiptoe around anymore!
So Xu Fei didn’t refuse, pointing straight at the ordinary man and saying, “No problem, then release that one first!”
Seeing Xu Fei agree, Huang Jingming felt a flicker of doubt at first.
By his reckoning, shouldn’t Xu Fei be itching to free his master instead?
But then again, it didn’t matter to Huang Jingming, as long as letting a hostage go gave him an opening, that’s all he needed.
So he nodded cheerfully, waving a hand.
The lackey guarding them immediately untied the ropes on the ordinary hostage, and sure enough, just as Huang Jingming predicted, Xu Fei dashed over to check on him.
Xu Fei wasn’t playing along on purpose, it was genuinely necessary.
This captive was just a regular bloke, stuck with Master Mo Wentian in the Miyun Reservoir for ages, his health was a real worry.
Seeing them actually release someone, Xu Fei rushed over first, placing a hand on the man’s wrist to check his condition.
Meanwhile, Huang Jingming, with his plan in motion, signalled his crew to drop from above and nab the jade arhat.
To Huang Jingming and the lackey on the job, it seemed like a piece of cake.
Once that lackey got his hands on the jade arhat, even if Xu Fei twigged to it, it’d be too late to matter.
Huang Jingming watched his man rappel down from the ceiling, inching closer to snagging the jade arhat.
Then, out of nowhere, things went pear-shaped.
The lackey reached out, grabbed the jade arhat, but couldn’t lift it.
Switching to both hands, he yanked hard and got it up.
But for some reason, the jade arhat suddenly weighed a ton, yanking the wannabe Spider-Man right out of the air!
The rope tied to the ceiling ripped a gaping hole through the rickety old roof, letting harsh sunlight spill in.
“What the hell?”
Huang Jingming, fuming, was about to chew someone out when the lackey, face twisted in misery, pointed at the jade arhat, “I… I don’t know, boss, ain’t this just a jade statue? Why’d it get so bloody heavy all of a sudden! It’s crushing me, I can hardly breathe!”
Hearing the commotion, Xu Fei turned around.
Spotting Huang Jingming and his botched theft crew, he flashed a smirk dripping with contempt.
“Hmph! You lot reckon you can sneak off with that jade arhat? Pure fantasy!”
With that, Xu Fei finished channelling a bit of true qi into the hostage, easing his weakness.
