Volume 1, Chapter 379 – Hidden Worries

No. 45, Longdu Road, Fenglin District, Yunhai City.

This was the address listed in Shi Lan’s identity documents. It was Qi Pingxia’s home address.

Shi Lan put away the documents in her hand, found a hotel to stay in, and early the next morning took a taxi straight to the bank.

She did not stand on ceremony with the check Hao Fei had given her; she filled in 6.2 million.

After opening an account at the bank, Shi Lan directly transferred 2 million into Zhang Guang’s account, then withdrew 200,000 in cash, and deposited the remaining 4 million onto a card.

…

Fenglin District was close to the outskirts. With a small bag on her back, Shi Lan rode for more than half an hour before finally reaching the vicinity of Longdu Road.

Walking along the roadside, Shi Lan stopped in front of a two-story house and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock…

Creak—

After a while, the door slowly opened. The one who answered it was a middle-aged man with half-white hair and very bright eyes.

“And you are…?”

“I’m… Sister Qi’s friend.”

“Come inside and talk.”

Shi Lan stepped through the door. The moment she entered the living room, she saw a black-and-white photograph set on a cabinet altar.

In the photo, Qi Pingxia was wearing a police uniform. Her expression was stern, but there seemed to be light in her eyes. In the incense burner before the photo, half a stick of incense still remained unburned, sending up wisps of thin smoke.

On the sofa not far away sat a haggard-looking woman. Her expression was dazed, as if all her spirit had been drained away, her eyes dim.

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Hearing the sound, she looked up at Shi Lan, forced out a faint smile, and stood up.

“We have a visitor…”

The middle-aged man poured Shi Lan a cup of water and invited her to sit down.

“How should I address you?”

“Shi Lan.”

“Shi Lan… I’ve heard Pingxia mention you. She said you were a good child. I’m her father, and this is her mother.”

At the sound of Qi Pingxia’s name, a trace of absent-mindedness appeared once more in Mother Qi’s expression, as though her soul were no longer fully present.

Seeing that, Qi Yuanjun sat on the sofa, smoking one cigarette after another, rubbing the calluses at the web of his thumb in silence.

The faint scent of burning incense mixed with the smell of tobacco in the air, making it hard to breathe.

“May I offer a stick of incense to Sister Qi?”

Qi Yuanjun did not answer. He silently rose and lit three sticks of incense for Shi Lan.

Holding the incense over her head, Shi Lan bowed three times.

Incense was lit in name for the dead, but in truth, it was burned for the living.

Within those drifting wisps of smoke was borne the grief of those left behind.

“Xiaxia always did very well in school. She was tall, pretty, strong-willed, and very sensible…”

Looking at Qi Pingxia’s photo, Mother Qi’s eyes reddened at the corners, and she could not stop lifting a hand to rub at them.

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Qi Yuanjun’s face remained calm, but the cigarette between his fingers slipped to the floor, and when he crouched down to pick it up, his fingertips were trembling slightly.

Watching the scene before her, the words please accept my condolences stuck in Shi Lan’s throat. No matter what, she could not say them aloud.

The pain of losing a child in middle age, of white-haired parents sending off their black-haired child, was beyond words.

“Sit for a while. Eat before you go.”

With that, Qi Yuanjun quickly headed into the kitchen.

Shi Lan helped Mother Qi sit down and, without drawing attention, quietly slipped the bank card into her pocket.

Soon, the dishes were all set on the table. Mother Qi stood up, took a portion into a small bowl by itself, and offered it before the photograph, whispering something softly as she set it down.

During the entire meal, Shi Lan did not know what she was eating. She could not even remember what dishes there had been. The only thing that left an impression was the two faces that looked more and more haggard.

After the meal, Qi Yuanjun walked Shi Lan to the door.

“Wait a moment.”

Just as Shi Lan was about to leave, Qi Yuanjun stopped her, took out the bank card, and pressed it back into her hand.

“Take the card back. The state has already given us survivor benefits. No matter how much money there is, we won’t be able to spend it.”

“Pingxia died in the line of duty. She died where she belonged. She is the greatest pride of my life.”

“You’re still young, and being on your own isn’t easy. There will be many places you’ll need money in the future. You can come by the house anytime from now on.”

Shi Lan silently took back the card, tipped her head up to look at the sky, then turned and left, her steps growing faster and faster.

…

There was a great deal Shi Lan needed to prepare for what came next. At the very least, she needed some equipment.

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She had no connections, but as long as she had money, the underworld was not nearly as hard to find as people imagined.

She could not get firearms, and even if she did, she would not know how to use them. Some cold weapons suited her best.

Money flowed out like water, and the things she wanted were soon gathered together.

…

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed, and Shi Lan came to the bar again.

“Here’s what you wanted.”

The moment they met, Hao Fei tossed over a thick stack of documents.

“The information I could dig up isn’t much either. At the time, Qi Pingxia was chasing a group called Night Owl. They specialized in selling drugs, and they’d spread their business pretty wide. Most of the core people are overseas.”

“The ones who exchanged fire with the police were only a small part of Night Owl’s manpower. Night Owl’s boss goes by the nickname Old Glutton, but I couldn’t find out what he actually looks like.”

“In fact, by the time the police moved in, they’d already identified most of the suspects. The ones they didn’t catch are basically all in these files.”

“There’s no real use in taking these documents, either. Those people all fled into the deep mountains and old forests out in the outskirts. After the police sealed off the mountain, they searched it for months and still didn’t catch them.”

“And even if you get absurdly lucky and do find them, these people have submachine guns and that kind of light firepower in their hands. What can you do?”

By the time Hao Fei finished speaking, Shi Lan had already read through all the materials in her hand. She stood up and tossed the documents back.

“What, willing to give up now?” Hao Fei stopped talking and asked with interest.

“I’ve memorized it.”

Shi Lan had long expected the situation Hao Fei described. After replying offhandedly, she turned and left.

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“Interesting…”

Hao Fei lay back in his chair, idly playing with a statement for 6.2 million in his hand.

He did not care in the slightest how much Shi Lan had taken. He had never planned to pay that sum out of his own pocket anyway. Half of the bill was going onto Xiao Teng’s tab.

When Shi Lan had asked him to investigate, he naturally had taken it seriously, but he had also treated it as a bit of a joke.

A child acting on a burst of temper would behave herself once she had tasted enough hardship.

…

Shi Lan returned to the hotel, changed into a black skintight combat suit, tied back her ear-length short hair, and began checking her gear.

Fortunately, quite a few of her fellow inmates had once been fugitives, so while they might not have been masters of wilderness survival, they at least knew enough to be useful.

At the very least, she had not missed anything that ought to be prepared.

From fire-starting tools and a compass to compressed rations and a small amount of fresh water, she had everything she needed.

Last came the weapons.

A compound crossbow, fitted with matching precision steel arrowheads that could punch through steel plate within fifty meters, and besides that, a mountain-cleaving blade and two matching daggers.

Even armed to the teeth, Shi Lan still felt somewhat uncertain inside.

Around Yunhai City was a vast stretch of forest, and farther out it bordered a tract of primeval woodland where the environment was extremely dangerous.

Leaving aside wild boars and wolves for the moment, it was said that a few years ago, someone had even seen in those mountains a fierce, hanging-eyed striped tiger nearly five meters long.

Its danger needed no explanation.