Chapter 69 – Tulip
TL: Milaryn
Edit: IlkonEbi
Late at night, Jianghai City, Huaheng Road.
This neighborhood had always been a mix-mash night city. Many pedestrians and shuttles passed by under the dazzling neon lights. It was, afterall, one of the most bustling roads in Jianghai City; the streets were full of low-end shops that sold pirated discs, old-fashioned hotels and hostels, random dressed-up women, escorts standing by the side of the road and he occasional drunk hoodlums. By a restaurant that was open overnight, a man in a blue blazer came out with two food boxes and then entered a small nondescript car on the side of the street.
“Senior, it’s meal time.”
“Ah, thank you,” Receiving the take-out box, Mu Qingqing placed down her binoculars and smiled calmly, “Have you eaten already?”
“Yeah, I ate. Senior, are there any movements?” The man took up the binoculars and pointed them towards an apartment on the second floor of an old building. Mu Qingqing shook her head, “Nothing, I’m guessing they’re sleeping now. However, these gangbangers are strong, don’t let your guard down.”
“Are they really that strong? Are they similar to the professional killers or mercenaries from the movies?”
“I don’t know if these specific gang members are strong or not, but two years ago, I have seen the strength of this type of people.” Mu Qingqing reminisced briefly with trepidation, “That incident with the municipal committee deputy secretary Tang Jingyao involved only one person with two guns, but he managed to kill more than thirty people, including Tang Jingyao, and then disappear. Afterwards, because of the turmoil caused by that incident, it caused an upheaval in the criminal underworld. The other incident was also caused by only one person with a knife. Many gangsters had their heads chopped off that day, leaving behind three children; then the child that had been connected to the criminal underworld also died mysteriously. Before those incidents, I did not believe that one person could be that powerful, but now…”
“This time, traces of them have been found. Does it mean that Mr. Tulip, the one that’s been giving information to the police, is that kind of person as well?”
“Most likely.” Mu Qingqing smiled, “I think he’s a rather righteous man. It’s a blessing for Jianghai City to have someone like him here.”
The ‘Mr. Tulip’ they had been talking about had not shown up until recent months. One afternoon in July, a letter mysteriously appeared on the desk of Jianghai City’s Chief of Police. No one knew how the letter had been delivered as nothing had shown up on the surveillance tapes, and no clues had been left behind. The piece of paper only contained a drawing of a tulip flower and the location of a wanted murderer in Jianghai City.
When they followed up on that lead, the case had been solved and caused everyone to guess the origin of the mysterious note. Then one day in August, another letter with the tulip drawn on it had appeared. This time, it referred to a medium-sized drug den, and the police followed up on that clue as well. When they cleared out the den, they gave a code name ‘Tulip’ to the mysterious person delivering the letters. In September, another letter appeared at the police station, and this time, it was about a group of assassins from Thailand. On the letter, it was noted that the target of these assassins was a honorary teacher at Sacred Heart Institute: Chen Guxia.
This middle-aged man, Chen Guxia, was unknown to ordinary people, but had some influence amongst the upper echelons of society. When the police investigated deeper, they discovered that this threat was related to the country’s security, and thus, the few most reliable teams of Jianghai City’s police force were mobilized. They were able to quickly find traces of that group of Thai assassins because they did not know someone was expecting them. Today, Mu Qingqing and her team of four, were part of the five squads that were stationed outside the assassins’ hideout and were observing them from afar.
“But there are also people saying that this Mr. Tulip is using the police to achieve something, aren’t there?” After a while, the man suddenly asked as Mu Qingqing rolled her eyes.
“Even if he wants to use us, we still investigate the information thoroughly before doing anything. We’re also doing everything in accordance to the rules and regulations, so we can’t be exploited. Those gang members though, they’re not… Wait a minute, someone’s coming down…”
As she pointed that out, a gorgeously dressed woman holding a small purse showed up at the head of the stairs. Mu Qingqing looked out her window, still holding her take-out box and spoke into a walkie, “Target no.3 is on the move towards Team 2 and Team 4. Please be advised.”
On the other hand, Jiaming and Kaoru had just turned around the corner onto this street, “Carefully observe your surroundings, every little detail needs to be taken into consideration. Now, in a hypothetical situation, if you were in that position, and you found out that the police had discovered you, you would need to decide which way to escape. Of course, you have to find out the hidden positions of all the police members first, ugh…”
As he said this, the apartment building came into view and Jiaming wrapped an arm around Kaoru’s waist and pressed her against the wall. There were not a lot of people on that street, but there were a few people blocking the sight of the female that was descending down the stairs.
“Wrap your arms around me; there is a person in one of the cars that could recognize me. Also, one of the targets is coming down…”
The two’s mouths were practically touching, and they could feel each other’s breaths. Listening to Jiaming, Kaoru subconsciously placed both hands on Jiaming’s waist and then twisted her face into a sinister smile. Jiaming asked, “My shoulders or my neck is fine too, why did you go for my waist?”
“Oh,” Kaoru obediently listened and changed her position, but shortly after, Jiaming protested again, “You’re still too stiff. If you want to break your boyfriend’s neck, then continue being like this.”
“B-but…”
“Ugh, forget it…” Jiaming’s left hand, the one that had been behind her back, shifted her. Kaoru’s waist, which had been pressed against the wall moved up, and the lower abdomen of the two pressed together tightly, their body temperatures scalding. Kaoru’s usually expressionless face flickered. At the same time, Jiaming’s right hand came up and cupped her cheek gently, blocking most of her face.
Panting shallowly, Kaoru’s arms softened around Jiaming’s neck.
“This time, it’s Peroka’s Asia division that is taking action. Your name is definitely on the hit list after Chen Guxia’s. Since you haven’t disguised yourself, if any one of them saw you, they might recognize you. Lower your eyes more and put on a softer expression. She’s about to come…”
The two’s foreheads touched, while Jiaming’s right hand continued caressing her gently. Just like magic, a pair of glasses appeared out of nowhere. He soundlessly placed them on Kaoru’s face, just before the gorgeously dressed woman walked sultrily past them, as if she was on a catwalk.
“Let me ask you a question, since you’re so stiff… you’re still a virgin, aren’t you?”
“I… um…”
With their foreheads and noses touching, the two were so close they were practically kissing. They were even swapping air when they were breathing and talking, and when Kaoru felt her heartbeat speed up, Jiaming sighed internally. It seemed that this so-called ninja training was for outer appearances only. This naive little girl was still pure and naive. In the glorious history of assassins, a lot of female assassins were trained to seduce their targets. Striking at the high point in bed, uh… actually, after the highest point in bed (both the male and the female needed their closure) was easy as they let their guard down…
Since Kaoru wanted to be an accomplished assassin, it would be a waste not to teach her how to use the assets she had since she had such a good base to work with. Another way of saying it would be that if she tried to seduce her target but ended up blushing and being nervous, it would be a terrible situation, but how could he educate her on that? Tie her up every day to teach her? If he did that and was successful… then he would feel he was a genius at teaching others.
As Jiaming’s thoughts got sidetracked, the woman finally passed by the two of them and disappeared as she turned around the corner at the end of the street. He figured that the surveillance team in the car had not looked towards them, so he whispered, “Hmm, still a virgin huh… so embarrassing.”
With that parting shot, Jiaming left his arm around her waist and used her to block the view of the people in the car Kaoru. The two of them crossed the road, and then entered the restaurant that was next to the small car. They took a seat on the second floor by the window and sat opposite each other as Jiaming ordered two plates of fried rice.
“Since you waited at that street lamp post for more than seven hours to now, are you hungry?”
Kaoru indifferently shook her head, “Not hungry.”
“That darn ninja training… Even if you were to starve to death, you’d still say you weren’t hungry. But I know you’re still in the middle of growing, and I still have a use for you… Hey, let’s talk about it later. You should eat first, then answer my question from earlier.”
Kaoru nodded and started eating. She finished eating at the same time as Jiaming who had been almost inhaling his plate of rice. Jiaming shook his head, “It seems that the ninja training on starving yourself isn’t very useful…”
“…That small black car downstairs should be one of the police’s surveillance teams. That woman we saw just now had likely left from a room on the second floor of the apartment building. The flowers on the balcony of the apartment on the first floor are well taken care of, so it should be the apartment of someone who’s been living there for a while. Thus, they most likely rented the apartment on the second floor. There are a total of five police surveillance teams, and the building’s back alley is blocked so you can’t escape from there…”
Listening to Kaoru’s speculation, Jiaming smiled calmly, “Hmm, based on your conjecture, the police surveillance teams are too stupid. They didn’t get discovered today, but tomorrow is another matter. Before Ancestral Awakening’s people arrive here, as soon as anything happens, the police are only able to mobilize in advance and capture them… but would not be able to detain them as they only had inconclusive evidence. That’s why student Kaoru, I have some homework for you: whether you’re using the police’s strength, or whether you’re acting on your own, of the five people in that apartment, three of them must die by tomorrow.”