When Ansel arrived, he brought a cup of ginger tea for everyone. He carefully took them out of the plastic carrier one by one, folded the paper bag, tucked it into his backpack, and gave everyone a small smile.
"In this heat..." Kong Ping could barely hold the scalding cup. He wasn't sure if he should say what was on his mind.
Fei Zuohua, however, said nothing. He simply pried off the lid, took a sip of the steaming tea, and remarked, "A bit bitter."
Ansel nodded. "I don't like adding sugar. It’s too hot out."
Kong Ping couldn't handle the heat of the cup, and squeezed as they were into the car, there was nowhere to set it down. Beside him, Hou Qi’an reached out and took the hot tea from him.
"Doesn't that burn?" Kong Ping watched him hold it without the slightest reaction.
Hou Qi’an glanced at the tea. "No."
"Are your calluses that thick?"
Hou Qi’an: "...Perhaps."
Shi Yuanchen couldn't hold his either; he set it on the glove compartment and, while he was at it, took the two cups from Hou Qi’an’s hands as well.
Ansel squeezed into the back seat, flattening Kong Ping in the middle like a pressed specimen. He gripped the back of Fei Zuohua’s driver’s seat. "Are we leaving now?"
Fei Zuohua nodded. "We came back after an early dinner. Let’s get there as soon as possible; we don't know when they’ll start."
"It won't be before eight," Ansel said.
Shi Yuanchen turned back with a smile. "No one knows if Bai Shi will show up, or when."
Ansel held a peculiar respect for Shi Yuanchen. Hearing him say this, he simply nodded. "Then let’s go."
Shi Yuanchen, however, pulled the door handle, preparing to step out. "We’ve discussed it. I won't be going. I’ll stay and monitor the surveillance. You all go ahead."
Kong Ping, who had been squeezed into a paper-thin sliver, patted Hou Qi’an to signal him to make way. "I’m not going either. The two of us will stay here."
Ansel watched the two of them get out of the car. After a wave, they rounded the street and headed east. He turned to Hou Qi’an. "That’s not the way to the station."
Hou Qi’an told him, "They’re going back to the hotel to pick some things up."
***
As it turned out, they did arrive early.
Leveraging Ansel’s status, they were able to enter the community for the time being. However, the police presence near the house was strictly arranged, so Ansel couldn't get too close. They parked the car at a street corner.
The sky outside was still bright—it was barely past six. From a distance, they could see Professor’s house. Fei Zuohua and Hou Qi’an had excellent eyesight; if Bai Shi appeared, they wouldn't miss him. Ansel was somewhat nearsighted, but he had brought binoculars, which he pulled out now to adjust.
Hou Qi’an watched his clumsy movements and turned to Fei Zuohua. "Your training is usually a bit more rigorous than this, isn't it?"
Fei Zuohua was lighting a cigarette. He glanced at Ansel and chuckled, saying to Hou Qi’an, "He’s still young."
Ansel looked up, beads of sweat glistening on the tip of his nose. "What are you two talking about?"
"Nothing." Fei Zuohua turned back and lowered the air conditioning temperature.
Hou Qi’an found the angle from the back seat poor. He got out, walked to the passenger side, and sat down. The view here was unobstructed and perfect.
Fei Zuohua didn't say anything when he joined him. He gestured with his cigarette. "Want one?"
Hou Qi’an crossed his arms and shook his head.
Vehicles passed by on the roadside, each heading toward its own nest. Once parked, they were swallowed by the houses, and ordinary-looking residents emerged—husbands, wives, children in tow, dogs running ahead. The sky gradually darkened.
The lights inside the car remained off. Fei Zuohua had smoked an unknown number of cigarettes; the air around him was thick with haze.
Hou Qi’an glanced at him. "You should take a break."
Fei Zuohua raised an eyebrow noncommittally. "I’m not tired."
Hou Qi’an gave him a heavy look, then turned away.
They weren't particularly close friends to begin with, and this reunion wasn't for the sake of reminiscing. Fortunately, both were the type who didn't find silence awkward, so they didn't mind.
The only one suffering was the talkative Ansel. He tried to strike up a conversation with one, then the other, but received only cold, brief responses. After a while, he found it pointless and simply fell asleep.
They waited until nearly eight o'clock, watching more and more people enter the house. Once the peak arrival time passed, only a few stragglers remained. It seemed the event was about to begin.
Fei Zuohua and Hou Qi’an exchanged a look, both feeling a hint of disappointment. Fei Zuohua crushed out his cigarette, planning to leave by nine.
But before nine—at eight-twenty—Hou Qi’an suddenly sat bolt upright.
Fei Zuohua followed suit, looking in the direction Hou was staring. "What is it?"
Hou Qi’an was dead serious. "Look at ten o'clock."
Fei Zuohua looked over and saw a car parked near a thicket of trees. A man was walking back to the driver’s seat, looking as though he had just stepped out to move something.
Fei Zuohua’s heart jumped. Noting the man’s height, he turned and shook Ansel awake. "Binoculars!"
Ansel opened his eyes groggily. No sooner had he raised the binoculars than Fei Zuohua snatched them away. Fei Zuohua needed them because he had noticed the man had blonde hair.
Hou Qi’an said, "He’s getting in."
Through the binoculars, Fei Zuohua only caught the moment the window rolled up. The man was wearing sunglasses.
"Follow him." Fei Zuohua handed the binoculars to Hou Qi’an and stepped on the gas. Ansel sat up and leaned forward. "Did we find him?"
Hou Qi’an shook his head. "Hard to say, but it’s possible."
***
Meanwhile, Shi Yuanchen and Kong Ping were still talking as they rode the elevator. Four days ago, they had spotted the Infiniti Q45 that had entered the city, but the surveillance was far from sufficient to track its entire route. They had lost the trail at the second intersection after it entered the city. The good news, however, was that neither a car with that license plate nor that specific model had been seen on the outbound surveillance cameras. This meant that wherever Bai Shi was now, he was still here.
This was progress of a sort. Kong Ping felt like he was growing stronger by the day.
"Did you leave the door unlocked when you left?" Kong Ping asked, looking at the ajar hotel room door.
Shi Yuanchen pushed it open cautiously. Seeing someone huddled under the covers on the bed, he breathed a sigh of relief and told Kong Ping, "It’s Lu Mingyue."
As they walked in, they saw Lu Mingyue stir beneath the duvet and then lift his head. His hair was still damp. A black suit jacket had been tossed onto the floor; Kong Ping looked closely and saw a silver pin attached to the lapel. It was quite elegant.
"Why aren't you in your own room?" Shi Yuanchen asked as he set down his bag. "You were the one who wanted to move out."
Lu Mingyue struggled to sit up, his face bearing all the marks of a hangover. He sat in a daze for a moment before answering, "Isn't this my room?"
Kong Ping rolled his eyes. "No, you live next door. You insisted on moving, saying we were interfering with your business. Did you forget?"
Lu Mingyue’s face was pale, and he looked like he might vomit, but he only thumped his chest and used his foot to flip through the clothes on the floor. "Oh. Then I’ll go back."
He quite naturally threw off the covers and stood up to change. He wasn't wearing anything. Kong Ping instinctively turned away, while Shi Yuanchen didn't look in that direction at all.
Estimating that Lu Mingyue had finished dressing, Kong Ping turned back. He saw Lu Mingyue buttoning his shirt. His suit was crisp and sharp, though he wasn't wearing the jacket. He looked like a bartender, a restaurant host, or perhaps a professional pool player.
Lu Mingyue ran a hand through his messy hair, gave them a brief smile, and left the room. Kong Ping looked at the bed he had left in disarray. "Is this your bed or Fei Zuohua’s?"
Shi Yuanchen glanced over. "It was his original one."
Kong Ping let out a long, low sigh. "Is this what heartbreak looks like?"
Shi Yuanchen smiled slightly. "Hard to say."
"Is he following us just to see Bai Shi?"
"What do you think?"
"Probably." Kong Ping sat down in a chair. "My only impression of him is that he wrote love letters to Bai Shi."
***
Fei Zuohua drove very steadily, maintaining a perfect distance. This was made easier by the fact that the vehicle ahead was also driving smoothly, never accelerating at intersections. Nevertheless, Fei Zuohua remained tense, as did Hou Qi’an beside him. Hou turned to Ansel. "Are you carrying a gun?"
Ansel shook his head blankly, then immediately became nervous. "Is this going to turn into a shootout?"
Hou Qi’an said, "Hard to say."
"Then I’ll call for backup." Just as he reached for his radio, the car stopped.
Fei Zuohua stared at the car ahead, which had pulled up in front of a house. All three men in the car grew tense. The car ahead didn't move; no one got out, and no one approached it.
"Something’s wrong." Hou Qi’an frowned. "Bai Shi’s car should be an Infiniti."
Fei Zuohua didn't move. "He might have switched cars."
Ansel gripped the back of Fei Zuohua’s seat. "Why isn't he getting out?"
The eyes of all three were locked on that car. Ansel even forgot to look for his radio.
Hou Qi’an reached for the door handle. "I’ll go take a look."
"Don't," Fei Zuohua stopped him. "Bai Shi is dangerous. I’ll go."
Hou Qi’an glanced at him. "If it’s him, he’ll leave the moment he sees you."
Fei Zuohua realized this was true and fell silent.
After a moment of quiet, Hou Qi’an looked at Ansel.
Ansel blinked a few times.
"You can say he was speeding just now and you need to record his information..."
Ansel’s face went white. "You guys said he..."
Hou Qi’an interrupted him. "But you’re a stranger. He has no reason to act against you, and he doesn't know who you are. A regular traffic cop asking a routine question—he won't do anything to you."
Ansel looked at Hou Qi’an and realized that Hou was unmoved by his pitiful expression. He turned a pleading gaze toward Fei Zuohua, but Fei was staring fixedly at the car ahead, ready to react at any second.
He could only sigh and rummage through his backpack for his police jacket and hat. As he put them on, he muttered, "I think you two are too obsessed. If you chase someone for too long, you start going to extremes."
Neither of them paid him any mind.
As he stepped out of the car, Fei Zuohua finally shifted his gaze from the vehicle ahead to Ansel. He looked at him calmly. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen."
Ansel looked at him and nodded, then stepped out.
Hou Qi’an’s hand was already on the door handle, ready to jump out at any moment. The two of them watched Ansel slowly approach the car, taking a circuitous path like a child trying to set off a firecracker.
He leaned down, tapped on the car window, and said something.
A person leaned out from the car.
Hou Qi’an had already opened the door and stepped out.
The person in the front car was faster; as Ansel backed away slightly, the man stepped out of the vehicle.
Hou Qi’an and Fei Zuohua both froze simultaneously.
It wasn't Bai Shi.
It was a stranger.
Hou Qi’an walked over quickly and peered into the car. There was no one else inside.
Ansel asked about the car’s speed as they had agreed. The man cooperated and answered. The two parties shook hands amicably, and there was nothing left to say.
Ansel looked at Hou Qi’an, his eyes asking if there was anything else. Hou Qi’an scrutinized the man before him once more, confirming again that he did not recognize him. The man looked utterly ordinary—the kind of person who would vanish the moment he stepped into a crowd.
Hou Qi’an shook his head. The man got back into his car, waved to them, and drove away.
Ansel didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. He patted Hou Qi’an on the shoulder. "It’s okay."
Hou Qi’an, however, frowned and didn't answer.
He got back into the car and asked Fei Zuohua, "Did you notice?"
Fei Zuohua nodded slowly.
Ansel leaned forward from the back seat. "Notice what?"
Fei Zuohua narrowed his eyes. "He drove very steadily."
"So?"
"It made it easy for us to follow," Hou Qi’an added.
Ansel gasped. "You mean he did it on purpose?"
Fei Zuohua nodded, then asked, "Did you record his address?"
"Yes."
Fei Zuohua turned the car around. "I suspect as much. Bai Shi must have accomplices on the road."
Hou Qi’an crossed his arms. "More than that."
"What do you mean?"
"I think we were very close to him," Hou Qi’an said, looking out the window. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed this man to lead us away."
Fei Zuohua glanced at him, seemingly realizing something, and accelerated back toward Professor’s house.
Just then, Ansel’s radio chirped.
After a burst of static, a police dispatch and order came through.
Hou Qi’an’s expression shifted instantly. "The Mayor is dead?"
A cold sweat broke out on Fei Zuohua’s back. He blurted out, "Bai Shi."
Ansel’s eyes widened, unsure of how to react. Was this man... the Grim Reaper?
***
