Chapter 109

The tide lapped gently at the lake shore. Outside the window was the vast stretch of sky and water, as far as the eye could see. Although they were in the tiger’s cave, the room that the pale man had assigned them was unexpectedly not bad, and was possibly the best room in the inn. Jian Yao had given the room a thorough once over and, not finding any hidden cameras or other surveillance equipment, felt more at ease. They had arrived out of the blue, so it was possible that these criminals had not had time to prepare for it.

Bo Jinyan leaned back on the bed with his hands behind his head and his injured leg propped up with a pillow, looking entirely relaxed. Jian Yao stood by the window, shifting her gaze between the scene outside and him. Unable to restrain herself, she said, “Are you certain they will deliver your message to the higher-ups in the Buddha’s Hand organisation?”

Bo Jinyan replied, “Certain. Clearly, the person in control of Buddha’s Hand is very much interested in Zhu Tao’s notes. Once I mention this, they will definitely meet with me.”

“What happens if they kill us immediately and grab the notes?”

Bo Jinyan said, “If they really wanted to kill us, they would have done so earlier, on the boat. Not killing us means that we still have some value; if we are useful, then we have the opportunity to live. This thread of opportunity can extend to boundless possibilities.” He then smiled briefly before continuing, “We had originally intended to find the masked killer within Buddha’s Hand and wipe out the organisation at the same time. Now, we have the opportunity to penetrate to the very heart of the organisation. By a freakish combination of factors, we have achieved what Zhu Tao could not in so many years. This is really a blessing due to misfortune.”

Jian Yao was by now eager to take action, spurred on by his words. She laughed in spite of herself – he had such charisma, no matter how dangerous the situation, he would enable you to see through the haziness in front of you, to see the hope bounding long behind.

Dong-dong! – someone was knocking on the door. Jian Yao glanced at Bo Jinyan. It had not even been half an hour since they walked into the inn.

Jian Yao opened the door and the pale man walked in. He smiled faintly and said in a deep voice, “Smiling Snake, someone wants to meet you.”

——

A courtyard, a stone table, a chessboard, a man.

The afternoon light was just right. He sat next to the chessboard, wearing a black jacket and casual trousers. He was wearing high leather boots which had mud on them. From his profile, he looked to be deep in thought, and his appearance was handsome, seemingly upright and spirited*.

*T/N 剑眉星目 (jian mei xing mu) – lit. eyebrows like swords, eyes like stars. People with such eyebrows (straight and thick) are said to be upright and straightforward in character; while people with such eyes are supposedly bright and spirited. Generally, a handsome person.

Accompanying him, at the four corners of the courtyard, stood several men. All held guns and looked both calm and ruthless.

The pale man brought Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan here and signalled them to walk over with a faint smile. Jian Yao completely surveyed the surroundings and tiptoed to whisper in Bo Jinyan’s ear. His sunglasses obscured his eyes, so no one could see his expression. He displayed no reaction after listening to her speak. Leaning on the wooden stick that Jian Yao had found the day before, he walked towards that man.

Bo Jinyan sat down opposite him.

He dropped the white chess piece he was holding and his golden-tanned fingers seemed to emit light. After a moment of consideration, he looked up at Bo Jinyan and asked, “Blind?”

He was asking the pale man standing to one side, who bowed and replied, “Yes.”

The word was hardly out of his mouth when the pale man abruptly moved forward, a dagger in his hand which no one had seen him pull out, aiming straight for Bo Jinyan’s eyes. Thoroughly shocked, Jian Yao reached out her hand to block him. That man and Bo Jinyan sat still, unmoving. Because he had moved so quickly, Jian Yao could only grasp the pale man’s wrist, and had no way to arrest his forward movement.

With a soft sound, the sunglasses on Bo Jinyan’s nose were knocked off and the point of the dagger moved inexorably towards his eyelid. Bo Jinyan closed his eyes but made no move to evade it, until it stopped completely when it rested on his eyelid.

Jian Yao broke into a cold sweat and yelled, “What do you mean by this?”

Surprisingly, Bo Jinyan merely laughed and said, “Wife, they just want to run a little test. See, there is still another millimetre to go before the tip of the dagger penetrates my eye. Goodness . . . However, it’s only a pair of wasted eyes, if Buddha’s Hand wants them, then take them. Mind you, there is nothing given for free under the sun – what will you give me in exchange?”

He said this with unparalleled arrogance and insolent charm, for all the world like a madman who cared not a jot about whether he lived or died. Unexpectedly, that man laughed uproariously and said, “Qin Sheng, put the dagger down.” So, the pale man’s name was Qin Sheng.

Qin Sheng put down the dagger and retreated to stand at the side. That man then asked Bo Jinyan, “I heard you have something to pass to me?”

Bo Jinyan replied, “That’s right.”

That man asked again, “How did it fall into your hands?”

Bo Jinyan said, “My men have been watching Zhu Tao.”

“Then why did the two of you come here?”

“They were ambushed by the police. We ran very fast. A younger brother named ‘Ah Hong’ was the person who brought us here. However, we encountered a landslide on the mountainside near the riverbank. Ah Hong fell down the mountainside and died.”

That man turned to look at Qin Sheng who nodded once, confirming that there was indeed a gangster named ‘Ah Hong’. That man smiled once again and said, “Ah Hong died, how is it that you two didn’t?”

Bo Jinyan was silent for a heartbeat before he slowly answered, “Because I killed Ah Hong.”

As soon as these words were uttered, even Jian Yao was dumbfounded. That man exchanged glances with Qin Sheng before saying sharply, “What, you killed our brother?” The men at the side all brought out their guns and aimed them at Bo Jinyan.

However, Bo Jinyan scoffed and said, “When the landslide occurred, there was only one tree standing on the slope. If we all held on to it, it would have snapped and everyone would have died. Ah Hong’s movements were not as fast as my wife’s, so he could not hold on to the tree, and even wanted to drag us down with him. I kicked him – what’s wrong with that? If you were in my place, wouldn’t you have done the same?”

That man and Qin Sheng both remained silent. After a while, Qin Sheng asked, “Where did this take place?”

Bo Jinyan told him the location. Immediately, an underling left the courtyard, probably to investigate.

That man ordered tea to be brought up. Bo Jinyan drank the tea slowly, and neither of them spoke for some time. Jian Yao almost exclaimed aloud in admiration of Bo Jinyan’s quick-wittedness. Since both of them were well versed in criminal psychology, they would be able to see through other people’s lies, and, conversely, would also know how best to make lies seem like the truth. Ah Hong’s death would initially have seemed fishy to others. However, after Bo Jinyan’s words, it would seem entirely credible. At the same time, Bo Jinyan’s ‘flamboyantly malicious’ personality was clearly manifested.

That man took a big gulp of tea and finally said, “That thing, give it to me.”

But Bo Jinyan slowly sipped at his tea and said, “The person I want to give it to is not you.”

That man stiffened and Qin Sheng looked up.

Bo Jinyan smiled indifferently and said, “The person I want to meet is the boss of Buddha’s Hand. You are not the boss at all, at best, you are merely a competent subordinate. Why should I hand it to you? I am so sincere – I was almost caught by the police, I spent the night in the river – just to bring it here. You keep testing us over and over again, you bunch of f**king bullies. Since you can’t see it, wife, let’s go!”

“Wait a minute!” Qin Sheng held out his hand to stop them, then glanced at his ‘boss’. They exchanged glances, then Qin Sheng laughed and said, “Forget it, Kun ge, let’s not pretend any longer, he saw through everything anyway.” Kun ge stared at Bo Jinyan with an indecipherable smile. He lowered his head to light a cigarette and continued to look at them from half-lidded eyes.

Qin Sheng said, “Zhao Kun is, in fact, not our boss. How did you figure that out?”

Bo Jinyan sneered at them and said, “What’s my nickname?”

Qin Sheng said, “Smiling Snake.”

Bo Jinyan said, “Then, why are you still asking? How do you think I got this jianghu nickname? Being a snake, especially Smiling Snake whom no one can guard against, means to be more sharp-witted than the police, more vicious than others like me. You ask me how I can tell that Kun ge is not the boss? He is totally lacking from head to toe!”

Qin Sheng froze. Zhao Kun choked on a mouthful of smoke and coughed violently.

And Jian Yao, looking around the courtyard at the gangsters, saw that they had visibly relaxed their vigilance and that their guns were all lowered as they listened to Bo Jinyan. Jian Yao felt less tense, and also thought it was somewhat funny: Bo Jinyan had been right – he had taken hold of this thread of opportunity and extended it to boundless possibilities. It’s just . . . he didn’t have to overdo the play-acting, ‘being like a snake’ and all those words that had burst forth . . . A sudden thought, wholly irrelevant to their current situation, came to mind: at that time, when she, Ziyu, and An Yan had been watching a drama serial at home, they should not have let him sit and read his books next to them . . .