Futile Devices Scans

Inspector Zheng waved a hand. “Never mind. I’m not here for them. Where’s your Boss, Xia Liu Yi?”

“The Boss is waiting for you inside,” Xiao Ma said respectfully. “My apologies, Inspector Zheng. That traitorous bastard He Chu San colluded with Master Qiao and took advantage of the chaos inside our society to kidnap the Boss and attempt a coup. Just when he was about to receive three knives and six holes, you rescued him. The Boss simply hasn’t been able to make sense of it. He’s been in a bad state these past few days and has been sick the entire time. He has always respected you, which is why he agreed to meet you tonight. Unfortunately, he isn’t well enough to come out and greet you personally, so I’ll apologize on his behalf. You’ve supported Xiao Qi Hall for so many years. I’m sure rescuing He Chu San that day must have been the result of some misunderstanding. Please explain things properly to our Boss tonight so he won’t continue misunderstanding you.”

Inspector Zheng kept his face expressionless while cursing inwardly. He knew perfectly well that the brat’s polite but barbed speech was a warning Xia Liu Yi had sent to put him in his place. Truthfully, he had no desire to provoke the infamous Blood Asura. Three knives and six holes was an underworld punishment recognized for dealing with traitors, and in the old days the “inspectors” would never have interfered in this kind of jianghu business. If the Old Shopkeeper himself had not personally ordered him to step in that day, why would he ever have waded into this mess?

He said nothing. Xiao Ma knew when to stop and did not continue. He led Inspector Zheng to the general manager’s office on the third floor, then withdrew. Two bodyguards at the door searched Inspector Zheng thoroughly and took away both his service weapon and his brick phone. Inspector Zheng rolled his eyes but did not argue.

He pushed open the door and found the “sick” Boss Xia. Boss Xia really was wrapped in a blanket and reclining weakly on the sofa. Not only was his face completely drained of color, the stubble covering his jaw looked as though it had not been shaved in two or three days. He looked exhausted, defeated, and darkly brooding.

When Xia Liu Yi saw him enter, he slowly sat up, placed a pillow behind his waist, and lit himself a cigarette.

“Brother Zheng, sit,” he said hoarsely, with little courtesy.

Inspector Zheng sat opposite him. He had intended to begin with a few perfunctory pleasantries, but Xia Liu Yi’s complexion was terrible and his movements listless. This was clearly not some deliberate show of icy arrogance meant to humiliate him. The man had genuinely suffered a severe blow and was in an extremely poor state of mind.

Inspector Zheng did not dare push him too hard. He sighed and simply got straight to the point. “Boss Xia, you were wronged in what happened a few days ago. I owe you an apology. We’ve been old friends for years. My friendship with Qiao the Second isn’t any deeper than mine with you. I truly had no choice that day. My hands were tied.”

Xia Liu Yi smoked with his eyes lowered, apparently thinking about something else entirely, his mind wandering far away. After quite a while, he finally came back to himself and glanced at Inspector Zheng without expression. “Oh. I understand. Brother Zheng has always known where the line is. If you stepped forward to protect He Chu San this time, I assume it was the Old Shopkeeper’s order.”

“It’s good that you understand…” Inspector Zheng was about to offer a few more words of reassurance, but Xia Liu Yi seemed to have no patience whatsoever for courtesies and interrupted him. “Then what does the Shopkeeper mean by sending Brother Zheng here today?”

Inspector Zheng sighed again. “You and Qiao the Second turned the whole city upside down today. Every police station is packed with men from both sides. O Division is holding meetings through the night to discuss your case. What do you think the Shopkeeper means? He wants the two of you to settle down.”

Xia Liu Yi flicked ash from his cigarette. “The He-affiliated societies have dominated for years. I’ve never dared object. If the Shopkeeper wants to protect He Chu San, I don’t dare object to that either. But Brother Zheng, you saw how much face I lost this time. If I don’t get some of it back from that bastard Qiao, how am I supposed to keep standing in the jianghu? I have all these brothers in Xiao Qi Hall. What are they supposed to think of me as their Boss?”

“The Shopkeeper understands all of that. You’ll be compensated,” Inspector Zheng soothed. “Boss Xia, to be fair, you shouldn’t feel as though you’ve suffered some enormous injustice either. Ever since you came out of Kau Lung Walled City, things have gone smoothly for you in Kowloon these past several years. How many bosses in all of Hong Kong dare challenge you? You honestly think you got this far just because you know how to fight and kill? The Old Shopkeeper has been taking care of you from behind the scenes all these years. Fat Seven’s Mid-Levels villa case, Qiao the Second’s North Point Pier case—which one of those messes wasn’t cleaned up for you by the Shopkeeper? You’re a smart man. You should know that yourself.”

Xia Liu Yi lowered his head and smoked without answering.

Inspector Zheng pressed on. “The Shopkeeper sent someone to give me a message. As long as you’re willing to stop, Xiao Qi Hall and He Yi Society make peace, and you don’t stir up any more trouble, he’ll allow your business to expand out of Kowloon and onto Hong Kong Island. As for Qiao the Second, the Shopkeeper will deal with him. He won’t dare make trouble for you.”

Xia Liu Yi listlessly raised his eyes. “And He Chu San?”

Inspector Zheng slapped his thigh. “Boss Xia, how do you still not understand? This Little Fortune-Bringer isn’t merely Qiao the Second’s man. He’s someone the Old Shopkeeper himself wants! No matter how deep your blood feud is, you’ll have to swallow it.”

Xia Liu Yi lowered his eyes again and drifted back into that absent, faraway state. He did not speak for so long that Inspector Zheng nearly thought he was deliberately giving him the cold shoulder. Then Xia Liu Yi suddenly stubbed out his cigarette and dismissed him with blunt simplicity. “Fine. I understand. Brother Zheng, thank the Shopkeeper for me. You can go.”

Inspector Zheng could not tell what was wrong with him tonight. From beginning to end, Xia Liu Yi had seemed distracted and restless, his thoughts somewhere else entirely. Nor could Zheng tell whether his agreement was sincere. Either way, he somehow found himself dismissed without ceremony. After collecting his service weapon and brick phone at the door, the old inspector stood in the corridor for a moment and thought it over. Xia Liu Yi did not have the nerve to openly defy the Old Shopkeeper, so tonight’s assignment should count as successfully completed. Relieved, he let out a breath and slowly waddled away.

…

Left alone in the office, Xia Liu Yi collapsed back onto the sofa, still staring into space. His mind kept replaying what Xiao Ma had reported to him an hour earlier: “Boss, Mr. He says it isn’t convenient for him to meet you right now. He asked you to wait a while before going to see him. He also said he’s fine and the injury isn’t serious.” Then Inspector Zheng’s words began echoing beside them: “This Little Fortune-Bringer isn’t merely Qiao the Second’s man. He’s someone the Old Shopkeeper himself wants!”

—It seemed A’San had not merely gained Qiao the Second’s trust. He had gone deeper into the tiger’s den and actually reached the Old Shopkeeper. He was getting in deeper and deeper.

The thought made Xia Liu Yi bury both hands in his hair and rake through it violently. He felt hot and restless, his heart pounding. He could not remain there for another second.

…

After seeing Inspector Zheng leave, Xiao Ma carefully returned to the general manager’s office. The Boss had spent the past few days like a man who had lost his soul, stumbling through each day in a daze. Xiao Ma did not dare stay too close to him, yet he also did not dare leave him alone, afraid he might do something reckless.

He knocked on the door. No answer came for a long time, so he pushed it open himself—and froze.

The room was completely empty.

There was no one inside.

Only a wide-open window.

He spun around, charged back into the corridor, and grabbed A’Nan by the collar. “Where’s the Boss?! Where did the Boss go?!”

A’Nan looked even more stunned than he did. “What?! The Boss disappeared?!”

…

Near midnight, inside the hospital room, the lights had already been turned off, but the computer screens on both sides of the bed were still glowing. He Chu San had slept a great deal during the day, and waves of pain were still pulsing through his wound, making sleep impossible, so he continued running calculations in the darkness.

That evening, Kevin had brought over a basin of hot water and washed his hair beside the bed. He Chu San noticed that Kevin’s movements were unusually stiff and, after relentlessly questioning him, discovered the injury on his back. He gave the brat a thorough scolding for copying him and deciding that self-inflicted injuries were something worth learning, then sent him home to rest and visit his mother while he was at it. In any case, Master Qiao’s surveillance had temporarily disappeared, and all the bodyguards outside the room were their own people.

Now He Chu San was the only person inside the hospital room. He was normally capable of concentrating completely on whatever he was doing, but perhaps the depth of the night had magnified his emotions. As his fingers moved over the keyboard, his thoughts gradually began to wander.

Lost in a daze, he unconsciously touched his bare chest. For fear that Master Qiao might discover it, he had not been wearing the diamond ring necklace the Boss had given him. A sudden, almost unbearable longing for Xia Liu Yi welled up inside him. With some difficulty, he dragged a pillow over and hugged it against his chest. There was no one around, so he could not be bothered maintaining the dignity of Elite He, Consultant He, or Hall Master He anymore. He rubbed his cheek against the pillow like a cat, imagined it was Boss Xia, closed his eyes, and let out a soft, shamelessly clingy murmur.

“Brother Liu Yi…”

As though something were answering him, a strange click suddenly came from outside the window.

He Chu San jolted and opened his eyes.

This was the third floor. A rat climbing up along the pipes and scaffolding would hardly be impossible. But as the faint, continuous sounds drew closer and closer, a wild possibility suddenly burst into his mind. In an instant, it felt as though all the blood in his body had turned to gasoline and caught fire.

His heart began pounding like a drum.

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