Futile Devices Scans

On the winding road leading toward the hillside villa, the speeding car suddenly braked hard and stopped by the roadside.

“Get out,” Cui Dong Dong said from behind the wheel. “Go to the docks and wait for me. I’ll come find you when I’m finished.”

Xiao Luo remained motionless in the passenger seat.

“Did you hear me?!” Cui Dong Dong snapped, turning toward her.

Xiao Luo suddenly lunged over, grabbed her by the hair, and kissed her hard. Cui Dong Dong broke free with a gasp and shoved her far away. “Crazy woman! Is this really the time to get horny? Hurry up and get out!”

“I’m not getting out.”

Cui Dong Dong had no time to waste arguing with her, so she simply unfastened her seat belt, leaned over, shoved open the passenger-side door, and tried to force Xiao Luo out. Xiao Luo screamed and struggled as the two of them grappled, until Xiao Luo suddenly pulled out a gun and pressed it against Cui Dong Dong’s chest.

Cui Dong Dong glared fiercely at her. Xiao Luo glared right back, then abruptly turned the barrel toward her own throat.

“I’ll die with you before I let you leave me! Try throwing me out again!” she shouted furiously.

“Are you insane?! Put the gun down!”

“You’re the insane one! All you ever think about is sending me away!” Xiao Luo shouted back, then suddenly began crying. “Every time it’s like this! Last time Sammy Boy even said you were dead. If you really die, I’m not living either… waaah…”

Seeing how earnestly she was crying, Cui Dong Dong tried to use the opportunity to snatch the gun, but Xiao Luo immediately racked the slide, clicked off the safety, and shoved the barrel straight into her own mouth.

“Hey! Hey! Crazy woman! Don’t do anything stupid! Keep your hand steady!” Cui Dong Dong was so frightened that even her voice started shaking.

Xiao Luo’s eyes flicked meaningfully toward the steering wheel.

“Damn it, fine! You win!” Cui Dong Dong cursed furiously, turned back around, and started the car again, still remembering to shout at her, “Put the gun down! I’m driving, aren’t I?!”

She cursed all the way up the mountain, then parked outside Azure Dragon’s villa. When Xiao Luo tried to get out after her, Cui Dong Dong shoved her back into the car and snatched the gun away. “Stay here! Keep watch.”

“Be careful. Come back quickly.”

Cui Dong Dong waved, tucked the gun behind her waist, and hurried away. She jogged to the iron gate, grabbed the bars, planted one foot against them, and nimbly climbed the two-meter-high gate. She dropped easily into the courtyard and quickly disappeared among the overgrown weeds.

Xiao Luo stared fixedly toward the direction in which Cui Dong Dong had vanished, then lowered her eyes toward the brick phone Cui Dong Dong had left on the driver’s seat.

…

“Damn it, where did it go?” Cui Dong Dong muttered anxiously to herself.

She had already spent nearly half an hour inside the villa. She had torn the living room apart, dismantled the sofa into two halves, even toppled and taken apart the altar table and memorial shrine for Azure Dragon and Xiao Man. Then she had run upstairs and searched every corner of every room, including the old safe hidden inside the wall, yet found nothing.

She checked her watch, anxiety surging inside her. She knew this villa extremely well and had always assumed there were no other hiding places. Had Xia Liu Yi built some new hidden compartment or secret passage? She simply returned downstairs and began stepping on the tiles one by one from the corner, testing them for hollow spaces underneath. She had only taken a few steps when Xiao Luo’s voice came from outside the living room. “Sister Dong Dong?”

“Why did you come in?!” Cui Dong Dong turned around sharply.

“You were taking forever, and you left your brick phone behind.” Xiao Luo held up the enormous handset.

“Call the Boss! Ask whether he ever moved the ledger!”

Xiao Luo fiddled with the phone for a while, then said suspiciously, “He isn’t answering.”

“Call A’Nan!”

“I am calling A’Nan.”

“What about A’Mao?”

“He isn’t answering either.”

Cui Dong Dong took the phone and dialed herself, suspicion rising inside her.

“Something’s wrong!” She grabbed Xiao Luo. “Move!”

Xiao Luo had only been dragged a few steps toward the door when her eyes suddenly widened and she let out a low cry. The roar of approaching engines grew rapidly louder, and when Cui Dong Dong followed Xiao Luo’s gaze toward the outside, she saw several police vans racing toward them along the mountain road.

Cui Dong Dong’s expression instantly turned cold. She drew the gun, rushed to the entrance, and locked the door firmly. Xiao Luo closed the nearest window and drew the curtains. The two crouched behind the window and peered through a narrow gap, watching several plainclothes officers and dozens of uniformed police gradually climb out and surround the entire villa.

The officers rapidly erected barricades around the perimeter and took up armed positions. Another police car sped in shortly afterward, and Xie Jia Hua climbed out with two subordinates, hurried to the colleagues standing outside the cordon, and exchanged a few quiet words. One of them immediately produced a megaphone and, at Xie Jia Hua’s signal, began shouting.

“People inside! You are surrounded…”

…

The megaphone continued blaring outside. Inside the villa, Cui Dong Dong’s face had gone deathly pale as she lowered her eyes and thought rapidly. How did the cops find this place? Were they following us? But if their goal was to arrest me, why didn’t they do it at headquarters or the Finance Room? Why didn’t they stop me from burning the Finance Room just now? If they deliberately followed me so I would lead them to the ledger, then where did the ledger go? Other than the Boss and me, who knew where it was? Who took the photograph of Qin Hao and Xie Jia Hua and left it outside my home? Why isn’t the Boss answering his phone? Why did Sammy Boy just happen to get sick and faint at exactly this time…

He Chu San’s warm, springlike smile suddenly flashed across her mind. An icy chill pierced straight through her body, and when she lowered her eyes, she saw goosebumps rising over her forearms.

“Sister Dong Dong! What do we do?” Xiao Luo’s anxious voice broke into her thoughts.

Cui Dong Dong looked around. The villa was almost completely empty, without even proper cover. She had just seen large numbers of police moving toward the rear of the grounds, so the back entrance was undoubtedly surrounded as well. There was no way out, and the two of them had only one gun. How were they supposed to escape from this?

Cui Dong Dong sighed and tucked the gun back into her waistband. “I’m going out to surrender. Remember, you’re only my girlfriend. You don’t know anything.”

She turned toward the door. Xiao Luo followed behind her with a complicated expression and slowly raised one hand, just about to chop the back of Cui Dong Dong’s neck, when Cui Dong Dong suddenly turned around, pinned her against the wall, and kissed her hard.

With her lips beside Xiao Luo’s ear, she whispered, “The ledger may already be in their hands. If I go in and never come back out, take the money we hid and go to Australia by yourself.”

Xiao Luo let out an angry gasp and raised her fist to hit her, but Cui Dong Dong easily caught her wrist and pinned it firmly against the wall. “Crazy woman, don’t make trouble.”

“Don’t go!” Xiao Luo screamed. “You—mmph!” Cui Dong Dong covered her mouth and forcibly pushed her farther into the room.

“I surrender! Don’t shoot!” Cui Dong Dong shouted outside as she opened the door and stepped out with both hands raised in surrender. At that exact moment, Xiao Luo rushed from inside and grabbed her, desperately trying to pull her back.

Xiao Luo tugged at her and cried anxiously, “Listen to me, I—”

Bang!

A spray of blood suddenly splashed across half of Cui Dong Dong’s face. She froze where she stood as Xiao Luo’s blood-soaked body collapsed into her arms.

Cui Dong Dong began trembling all over and could not make a sound. One arm wrapped around Xiao Luo while the other drew her gun, and she turned and fired across the courtyard. A police officer immediately fell. A storm of bullets answered them at once, striking Cui Dong Dong repeatedly in the arm and leg. Still firing, she dragged Xiao Luo backward toward the house, forced the door shut with all her strength, and a row of bullets immediately punched through it.

She no longer cared about returning fire. Cui Dong Dong dropped to her knees beside Xiao Luo, frantically pressing both hands over the blood on her chest and stroking her face. Blood from Cui Dong Dong’s own arm dripped onto Xiao Luo’s body and face until both of them looked equally battered and weak.

“Sister Dong Dong…” Xiao Luo managed with difficulty.

“Don’t talk! I’m not listening!” Tears burst instantly from Cui Dong Dong’s eyes. Endless terror swallowed her, leaving her lost, panicked, and desperate. “You’re not allowed to say any stupid last words! You’re not allowed to die! Crazy woman! Do you hear me?!”

Xiao Luo swallowed a mouthful of blood and continued anyway. “I… I know you liked Xiao Man… You got together with me because my singing voice sounded like hers… I’m not as pretty as she was, I have a bad temper, and I never listen…”

“Stop talking, stop.” Cui Dong Dong sobbed. “Stupid girl, I like you. The one I like is you!”

“Just now… I recognized the man who shot me. It was the cop I tricked before. This is… this is my retribution. Don’t blame him, don’t take revenge on him… And don’t blame Mr. He either. I… I had selfish thoughts. I wanted to take you away and disappear with you. I helped him willingly. You mustn’t… mustn’t blame him…”

Cui Dong Dong’s entire face was covered in tears. She did not understand what Xiao Luo was talking about at all. Xiao Luo struggled to raise her hand, stroked Cui Dong Dong’s face, whispered a few more words, and then her hand fell.

A moment later, Cui Dong Dong’s hoarse, agonized scream echoed through the entire villa.

…

Outside, Xie Jia Hua ran forward waving his arms, shouting himself hoarse for everyone to cease fire. As the gunfire gradually stopped, he rushed toward the officer who had been shot. “Jia Bao! Jia Bao!”

The wounded officer was Xie Jia Bao, his younger cousin, who had only recently been transferred back to O Division from a field unit. At Xie Jia Hua’s frantic calls, he opened his eyes dazedly, his face filled with the confusion of someone who had narrowly escaped death. Xie Jia Hua tore open his coat and saw a deep indentation in the body armor covering his chest.

Xie Jia Hua released a breath of relief, then immediately snapped in anger, “Why did you fire just now?!”

“I-I didn’t mean to,” Xie Jia Bao said, almost crying. “I saw Fang Xiao Luo, my hand started shaking, and the gun went off…”

Xie Jia Hua glared at him in furious disappointment, then stood up.

He summoned the operation’s deputy commander and whispered into his ear, “There is a man named Qin Hao, police number PC54358, file number TX10421. He is an undercover officer I placed inside Xiao Qi Hall. If anything happens to me, you must make sure his identity is verified and restored.”

The deputy commander nodded nervously. Xie Jia Hua then pulled down the radio at his shoulder. “Team B, hold position! Team A, follow me in through the rear!”

He led a team of officers around to the back of the grounds and carefully surveyed the situation through binoculars. The corridor at the rear of the house was completely empty, while Cui Dong Dong’s crying could faintly be heard from the living room. Xie Jia Hua signaled to the others, and the officers followed him low to the ground as they approached the rear of the house.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted without warning, and in an instant it seemed as though heaven and earth had split apart. Xie Jia Hua, walking at the very front, was hurled to the ground by the sudden shock wave, while fire and black smoke swallowed both him and the entire villa. High walls and stonework collapsed violently amid the thunderous roar, and the ground shook beneath them.

BOOM! RUMBLE—!

…

Lu Guang Ming slammed on the brakes and stopped by the side of the mountain road. The ground was still trembling faintly, while enormous rumbling echoed continuously in the distance. He hurried out of the car, climbed onto the roof with great effort, and looked toward the villa on the mountainside. Thick black smoke towered into the sky, and the three-story house had been completely flattened.

He immediately jumped down from the roof, climbed back into the driver’s seat, floored the accelerator, and sped uphill.

…

Xie Jia Hua woke from unconsciousness to the white ceiling of a hospital room.

His consciousness was still trapped in the events immediately before he blacked out.

He had received information that Xiao Qi Hall’s Deputy Hall Master, Cui Dong Dong, had fled to the former residence of Hao Cheng Qing. He had led officers to surround the villa and discovered that Cui Dong Dong’s girlfriend, Fang Xiao Luo, was inside with her. Another officer present—his cousin Xie Jia Bao—had once refused to accept bribes and had subsequently been framed by Cui Dong Dong and Xia Liu Yi. Fang Xiao Luo had deceived him romantically and had compromising photographs of him publicly circulated, causing him to be demoted and transferred and ridiculed by others for years. He had only recently managed to return to O Division. When he saw Fang Xiao Luo again, he lost emotional control, his gun accidentally discharged and struck her, and Cui Dong Dong immediately fired back, plunging both sides into a gunfight. Later, when the shooting inside stopped, Xie Jia Hua cautiously led officers toward the villa, but the moment he stepped into the back courtyard, the small building exploded. As the team leader, he had borne the brunt of the blast and was hurled to the ground by the shock wave…

Someone sitting beside the bed saw him wake and hurried closer. “Hey, hey? Can you hear me?”

Xie Jia Hua’s ears were still ringing and he could barely hear, while his mind remained confused. He only sensed commotion around him, as though someone had pressed the call button for a doctor. Before long, white coats filled his vision beneath glaring lights. After the doctors left, his surroundings gradually came into focus. He turned his head and discovered three people standing beside the bed—his cousin Xie Jia Bao, Qin Hao, and Lu Guang Ming.

His first instinct was to glare at Lu Guang Ming.

Seeing that his expression seemed wrong, Xie Jia Bao anxiously explained, “Brother Jia Hua, you—you don’t recognize him? He’s from the ICAC. He said he’s your friend and has been here looking after you all afternoon. And this one—Officer Gu told us he’s an undercover officer working for you. His name is Qin Hao. Do you remember him? Do you still recognize me?”

Xie Jia Hua closed his eyes against the headache and rested for a moment before rasping, “A’Hao.”

“I’m here, Brother Jia Hua.”

“Throw both of them outside.”

“Yes.”

Qin Hao turned toward the other two with professional detachment. Xie Jia Bao’s mouth drooped, and he obediently went outside to stand in the corridor. Lu Guang Ming raised both hands in a smiling gesture of surrender and followed him out, and before long his enthusiastic, friendly voice could already be heard outside trying to coax information from Xie Jia Bao.

Xie Jia Hua motioned for Qin Hao to lock the door and sit closer. “Officer Gu verified your identity? What’s the situation with the case?”

Qin Hao lowered his head without speaking. Xie Jia Hua heard the faint voices coming through the wall and suddenly roared, “Xie Jia Bao, shut your mouth! Idiot! Make him get lost!”

…

Outside, Lu Guang Ming smiled pleasantly. “Hear that? Your cousin told you to get lost.”

“Wasn’t he talking about you?” Xie Jia Bao asked uncertainly.

“I heard you fired the first shot. Was it because you fired first that the suspects retaliated?” Lu Guang Ming continued smoothly. “Your cousin’s angry at you, so he told you to get lost, right?”

“I’m stupid! I was impulsive! I got everyone hurt!” Xie Jia Bao already felt horribly guilty, and after being prodded by Lu Guang Ming, he almost burst into tears as he repeatedly cursed himself.

“Lu Guang Ming!” came another furious roar through the wall.

Lu Guang Ming shrugged at the horrified, guilty Xie Jia Bao and cheerfully made a zipping motion across his lips.

…

At last, the corridor outside fell quiet. Xie Jia Hua turned back toward Qin Hao, who was still staring down in silence.

He lifted Qin Hao’s face and examined him carefully. Qin Hao’s eyes were dark and deeply self-reproachful.

“Where am I hurt?”

“Some superficial injuries and a mild concussion,” Qin Hao replied quietly. “The doctor says you need to stay under observation for two days.”

“What about the others?”

“They’re all fine. They were discharged after routine examinations. Jia Bao took a bullet to his body armor and has bruising to the soft tissue around his ribs.”

Xie Jia Hua sighed. “That idiot caused a disaster this time.”

Qin Hao’s eyes reddened slightly, while the fists hanging at his sides clenched until the joints creaked.

“Brother Jia Hua, I’m sorry. I’m the one who caused the disaster,” he rasped. “The operation completely failed. All the documents were fabricated. There isn’t a single piece of evidence in them that can convict Xiao Qi Hall. Someone used me.”

Xie Jia Hua stared at him in surprise, then grabbed Qin Hao’s bleeding hand before his nails could dig any deeper into his palm. “Take your time. Tell me exactly what happened.”

Qin Hao lowered his eyes and slowly began.

“Yesterday, Cui Dong Dong came back from Thailand with two Thai men and told me she was making a deal with them today. I suspected that it might be a trap—that she had deliberately set up a game to test my identity—so I didn’t immediately notify you. This morning, while I was waiting for her instructions, a stranger called me and said Xia Liu Yi and Cui Dong Dong had already discovered I was undercover and that I had to escape immediately. I didn’t believe him, so he told me to check the mailbox outside my door, and that was where I found this.”

He pulled a photograph from his coat pocket. It showed him and Xie Jia Hua sitting together in a disco, drinking and talking.

“I still thought it might be Cui Dong Dong testing me, but the man said this photograph itself was ironclad proof that I was undercover. If Xia Liu Yi and Cui Dong Dong saw it, they would immediately ‘clean me up,’ so why would they still need to test me? He said he was also undercover and worked for Interpol, told me to get out immediately and close the net, and then gave me the exact address of the Finance Room.”

“That address really was somewhere Cui Dong Dong had visited recently and was one of the locations I suspected. When I arrived there, I found enormous quantities of account records and several computers. Some of the account categories matched things I had already uncovered in my investigation and appeared to be evidence of Xiao Qi Hall’s illegal income and money laundering over the years. I believed him and immediately notified you to close the net…”

Xie Jia Hua listened with a grave expression. After receiving Qin Hao’s report, he had used the information to apply for search and arrest warrants. Then, while the operation was already underway, he received another call from Qin Hao.

“The man called me again and said Cui Dong Dong had fled to Azure Dragon’s villa. I immediately notified you and rushed there to meet up with you, but by the time I arrived, the villa had already exploded…”

“While you were unconscious, I worked with colleagues from the Commercial Crime Bureau to verify the Finance Room accounts. We discovered that only the account categories were genuine; every figure beneath them had been fabricated. Even the Finance Room itself had been rented under a false identity only a week earlier. It was a trap built specifically for me! We investigated the number that called me and found nothing useful either. There is no evidence at all capable of convicting any member of Xiao Qi Hall!”

As Qin Hao continued speaking, he finally raised his head toward Xie Jia Hua, his face full of regret. “Everything that happened today was a colossal fiasco, deliberately engineered by the man who called me! If I hadn’t been so impulsive and so desperate for results, if I had taken the time to examine the false evidence more carefully…”

He had ruined the undercover operation for which he had risked his life. He had ruined more than a year of Xie Jia Hua’s secret support and painstaking preparation, ruined everything. The massive, spectacular raids and searches that day had produced nothing, while the operation to capture Cui Dong Dong had yielded only a pile of rubble and two charred bodies. Everyone’s hard work had gone to waste. The operation had become a laughingstock within the police, and they did not even know how to explain it to the media or to the civilians frightened by the explosion.

Xie Jia Hua held Qin Hao’s trembling hand. “This isn’t your fault. Your identity had been exposed. In an emergency, nobody can guarantee perfectly calm judgment. That person deliberately exploited that. What I don’t understand is who he is, why he went to such lengths to arrange all this, and what benefit he gets from it…”

Something suddenly occurred to him, and he asked urgently, “What about Cui Dong Dong?”

“After the explosion, we found two bodies in the ruins. We believe they are hers and Fang Xiao Luo’s.”

“Xia Liu Yi?”

“He’s missing. His whereabouts are currently unknown.”

“Then who is calling the shots in Xiao Qi Hall now?”

Qin Hao’s face went pale. During the time he had spent waiting for Xie Jia Hua to wake, he had already understood who the mastermind was—the only person who had benefited from this enormous farce that had played both the police and Xia Liu Yi in circles.

“He Chu San.”