244 – Midnight Sky

Wing Bo's next mission, codename Horsemen, involved a lot of legwork on the group of corrupted lawyers that operated in Yide and Qinbei. He had the information on them, but the problem was getting information on Governor Ning. The only person with the opportunity to collect evidence from Governor Ning was the elusive owner of the Midnight Sky Bar, Mr. Bai.

In Wing Bo's office, he scrolled through the ten-page document on Mr. Bai, the retired judge currently living in a gated community. The information came from public files and news reports of the various cases Mr. Bai had overseen. There were also some reports from Fenki who had been working part-time as a mail carrier.

"Is this all?" Li Yun's voice came through from the speakerphone.

“Did you expect more information?” Asked Wing Bo into his speakerphone.

“Well, a bit,” Li Yun said as he reviewed the exterior photos of the villa and surrounding areas. “But then again. It just shows how tight security is around Mr. Bai.”

“Fenki started the efforts last month, but after the first three days, he thought it would be difficult to pull more people in to investigate.”

Li Yun’s friend Nimbo was good at managing, but asking him to assist with reconnaissance was a bit too much. Wing Bo, even under disguise, was a risky move to infiltrate a villa with hidden security cameras. So besides Fenki, only Wing Bo’s personal assistance could assist. They couldn't rely on anyone in Shudi's gang, who wasn't aware they were a part of Li Yun's made-up underground group, Abyss. So for two people to gather a ten-page dossier, it was the best Wing Bo could do.

“Is it going to be enough?” asked Wing Bo.

“It should be, I'll need you to send me a few items,” Li Yun requested.

Mr. Bai had likely run a security check on his own profile and removed any posts about him on the public web. Wing Bo wasn’t even able to access any medical information on the man. The only information he could find was an article about Mr. Bai’s heart attack during a trial six years ago.

“It’s also good that there isn't a lot of information,” Li Yun replied, looking at the most recent picture of Mr. Bai, an elderly man close to his eighties.

Everything about Mr. Bai was very difficult to access, as though he had hired a consultant to screen any potential security leaks. A man this careful meant he had many things to hide. Wing Bo wondered what method Li Yun possessed to collect information that he himself wouldn’t be able to gather. 

From his own experience, it was best to capture a target and interrogate them. Unfortunately, a target such as Mr. Bai was difficult. First, was his age. No matter what interrogation method, it was tougher to interrogate a dying man. It was only a matter of time before he passed away, carrying all the secrets to his grave. 

Second, there were other people watching Mr. Bai, such as Governor Ning’s people. The evidence in Mr. Bai’s hand could destroy Governor Ning and his own legacy. He wouldn’t reveal the evidence unless Governor Ning sought to destroy him first. They either thrived together or burned together, it was the type of relationship they had.

Governor Ning was aware of this and had instructed his men to protect Mr. Bai. Once they sense Mr. Bai’s disappearance, they would likely resort to extreme methods, like burning down the villa. After the discussion with Li Yun, Wing Bo looked at the outline of Mr. Bai’s villa. It wasn’t likely Mr. Bai had hidden evidence in the villa and another location, possibly the temple where he regularly visited in the morning.

****

A chubby faced gardener pulled up his small box truck next to the gate that guarded the gated community. Beyond the gates, there were paved roads, wide sidewalks, and luxurious bushes shielding the villas owned by the wealthy citizens of Yide.

"Hey, Green Green Landscape here," the gardener said as he showed the guard his paperwork.

The guard looked at the ID and work badge. He turned to the box truck with a large Green Green Landscape logo on the side with their address and contact information. The guard wanted to check the inside, and the gardener complied. After inspecting the interior of the box truck filled with gardening equipment, the guard pushed the button to open the gate.

“Thanks man, you have worked hard,” the gardener said as he tucked away the ID.

The gardener was hired by the gated community to trim the plants in the open area as most of the villas had their own separate caretaker. The box truck drove up inside and reached its first destination. It pulled in front of a villa guarded by a stone gate, tall square hedgings, and iron gate.  The gardener took out his supplies from the truck, and approached the finely shaped hedge.

"What's wrong with these people," the gardener thought, the plants looked fine, they didn't really need to trim the plants every single day. 

Nevertheless, rich people seemed to have an endless supply of money. Not to mention the gardener himself was a very wealthy man. But instead of landscaping and expensive homes, he spent his money on laboratory equipment and maybe an expensive inkstone.

Li Yun mindlessly trimmed the plants as his ears stretched out to listen in on whatever his ears could pick up. His main focus was Mr. Bai’s villa, which had many guards hidden within the property. Mr. Bai had four live-in maids and servants who were in charge of maintaining the villa. From the outer edge of the property, Li Yun could hear them talking, but they were very discrete even when talking amongst themselves. 

“Mr. Bai is requesting late night meals,” said one of the maids.

“Again? Is eating at night healthy?” complained the cook. He had to wake up at midnight to cook, which was annoying. 

“Sh!! Don’t say that with an attitude. You will not last long.”

It was likely there were cameras within the villas, and they were afraid of talking about their employers. Occasionally, Li Yun talked to the chatty neighbors exercising in the morning. Mr. Bai also regularly exercised with the neighbors but didn’t talk much about himself. His route was always the same, from his villa to the Buddhist temple.

The Buddhist temple was built within the community using various donations, and Mr. Bai was the main donor. He regularly devoted his time to prayers. Later in life, many people clung to religion because they feared what would happen to them after they passed away. While young, it was easy for people to ignore religious doctrine and trust science as it was more visible and concrete. However, even atheists feared the afterlife because there was no way to determine whether it existed or not. And for Mr. Bai, the world beyond may not be kind to a person like him. People will hold onto whatever could ease their minds. 

Before he left the world, Mr. Bai attempted to collect karma to balance out all the negative karma he had accumulated. Seeing how devoted he was, faith was the best angle to approach Mr. Bai and gain his trust. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an easy task. Everything Wing Bo had collected on Mr. Bai indicated that the man distrusted everyone, including his own families and children. He only believed in Buddha.

After three days of gathering information, Li Yun still couldn’t pick up specific information about where Mr. Bai would hide damaging evidence against Governor Ning. He needed to come up with another plan.