Muchuan And Xiang Wan

With the festive season happening in a few days time, everywhere in the Capital was filled with the Lunar New Year festive mood.

Night fell gradually and light snow started to fill the sky. This season was a snowfall season. It felt as if a century had pa.s.sed since winter began. Under a dim yellowish neon lightbox, Huang He and Tian Danyue got out of a store selling funeral items, pulled their hats down and hopped into a black Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) that stopped by the alley.

The car drove all the way to downtown.

Huang He sat upright and pulled his left glove slightly.

It was quiet inside the car.

The car drove over quite a distance but n.o.body spoke.

Tian Danyue took a look at Huang He"s left hand and put on a smiling face to break the cold, silent atmosphere inside the car.

"Brother Ying, where are we going?"

An Ying was donned in fully black-colored clothing. He moved a little then leaned back against the seat before letting out a laugh.

"You"ll know when we"re there."

"Orh." Tian Danyue then kept quiet.

Huang He cleared his throat lightly. "We should listen to Brother Ying"s arrangement. Aye, I told you not to come along but you refused to listen. A woman shouldn"t be involved in all these things…"

His tone was full of concern although he chided her not to come along.

An Ying interrupted with a smile. "I"m the one who wanted her to come along."

Huang He was dazed for a moment as though he just knew that and looked at Tian Danyue before showing a smile. "Brother Ying, it"s not that I looked down on women. I just feel that women won"t be of much help in what we"re going to do…"

"You"re wrong to think that way," An Ying snorted and laughed somewhat in a lewd manner. "A woman is so much more useful than you think…"

Huang He just laughed and did not answer him.

Whereas Tian Danyue lowered her head quietly.

The atmosphere fell silent again until the car stopped in a slum located in the city.

Places like that were the shame of the cosmopolitan city they were in. These were old residential buildings that had yet to be demolished. And they were as if a scroll of an old painting that was left untouched in history. These old, run-down houses were covered in snow and enshrouded in a thick white fog.

They entered the courtyard of a house. The empty branches of the trees were all covered in snow. It was so cold that one couldn"t help giving a s.h.i.+ver.

A few men were sitting in the dingy living room, eating heartily from a pot of food that was cooked on a table with the hot vapors rising into the air. There were cabbage, pork belly and ham sausage inside the pot… There were also a few beer bottles which were opened placed on the table as well. They quickly stood up when they saw An Ying entering the house.

"Brother Ying!"

"Brother Ying!"

The men came forward to greet him.

An Ying pointed at San"er then pointed at Huang He. "San"er, you"ll follow Brother Huang tomorrow morning and listen to his instructions if anything happened. Got it?"

San"er took a look at Huang He. "Yes."

An Ying waved his hand. "Go back to eat."

San"er went back to the table. While he pulled the stool, he turned for another look at Huang He.

His gaze was very complicated. One thing was for sure, his gaze was certainly not a good and friendly one.

Huang He was not bothered and looked around the place. "Brother Ying, this is…"

An Ying smiled and pointed at a room with an old door curtain. "Come in. I"ve something I wish to talk to you about."

It was a narrow, small and messy room. As soon as he stepped inside, there was a heavy smell of cigarette smoke and the stench of smelly feet.

An Ying didn"t really mind that. He sat down on a bamboo chair beside the bed and pointed at the side of the bed casually as he looked at Huang He.

He asked, "Do you know what I wanted to tell you?"

"I don"t know."

"I can agree with what you wanted that day."

Huang He"s eyes were wide opened with surprise. "Brother Ying, thank you so much. I"ll live up to Brother Ying"s trust in me."

Hmph! An Ying swept a cold glance at him. "I haven"t even said anything. You shouldn"t be so anxious."

Huang He answered, "I don"t mind whatever task that Brother Ying will a.s.sign me. Just feel free to tell me what you want."

"Very well, you"re a forthright person." An Ying touched his own face. "Trust not, doubt not. I do understand this principle. You"re forthright, I"m also forthright. You"ll help me make a delivery tomorrow morning…"

"Tomorrow early in the morning?"

"Yes."

Huang He didn"t ask any more after that.

Sure enough, An Ying was very satisfied with his behavior. "I"ll call you tomorrow morning on the details before you move out." After a pause, he pointed at Huang He"s hand. "How"s the new phone? Getting used to it already?"

Huang He touched his wounded finger and took his phone out from his trouser pocket. "Not bad. Thank you, Brother Ying."

An Ying smiled. "That"s right. When you start afresh, these things must be replaced as well."

That day after Huang He cut his own finger, An Ying took away his old mobile phone and gave him a new one along with a new number.

Huang He did not object to such an arrangement.

He knew very well what kind of treatment An Ying would do to his mobile phone.

Modern people nowadays couldn"t do without the mobile phone.

Numerous amount of secrets could be unfolded in a frequently used mobile phone.

Nevertheless, since he had decided to be an undercover cop, he wouldn"t be so careless.

An Ying came to fetch him and agree to what he wanted, it was evident that they didn"t find anything suspicious in his old phone.

"However, there are bound to be some of your personal stuff like photos and so on in your old phone. It might cause some inconvenience for you so I brought it back…" An Ying took out the old phone and gave it back to Huang He.

"Thanks, Brother Ying!" Huang He didn"t have much emotion or expression.

He directly told An Ying his thoughts.

"Brother Ying, you need not worry about this at all. Just tell me what are the things you want me to do. That will be fine for me."

"Hahaha!" An Ying touched his own cheek again and glanced toward Huang He"s left hand. "You don"t hate me?" He stopped laughing and seemed serious.

"I understand the rules. Why should I hate you?" Huang He smiled. "Brother Ying is someone who is loyal to his brothers. I"m not a hindrance that will hold you back."

An Ying nodded his head, looking all satisfied. "Hmm, that"s good. From now on, we are brothers and will work together…"

"Yes!" Huang He nodded his head heavily.

An Ying"s gaze chilled again. "So, the delivery this time is very important. It"s directly related to our survival. There"s no room for mistakes and…" He gave a pause. "Do you know about Operation Heaven"s Wrath?"

Huang He shook his head.

An Ying let out a laugh, his eyes narrowed for a moment. "The heavens are getting angry! There are too many people who deserve death in this world and we need the heavens to punish them."

After saying this creepily, he pursed his lips and smiled at Huang He. "You must remember this. We are the emissaries from the heavens and all that we do are good deeds. We have a clear conscience. All of my men have to work with this conviction in mind, okay?"