Futile Devices Scans

A neighboring country, the borderlands.

This city was notorious for its extremely high crime rate and chaotic social management.

Abandoned hotels, deserted schools, and dilapidated factories could be seen everywhere. Once night fell, they were like hideous monsters, propping up jagged bones in the darkness, as if they meant to devour people whole!

Xue Bao Tian looked at the monster before him and felt pain all over his body, as though it were kneading his flesh and blood to pulp, slowly and selectively, swallowing him down bite by bite.

This was an abandoned warehouse. Yan Ye had already been locked inside for eighteen hours.

Xue Bao Tian had come from Yancheng, transferring all the way by plane, train, and coach bus. After finally arriving at Yan Ye’s temporary base, travel-worn and covered in dust, what he saw was Zhou Yi Ming’s bloodshot eyes.

“Yan Ye was taken.” A broken piece of black jade was delivered in front of Xue Bao Tian. “This was found in the back alley.”

The sharp-edged shard had once been a corner of the black-jade wushi pendant. Xue Bao Tian suddenly remembered, from very, very long ago, the swaying lamplight in that private room.

“I don’t want money. Give me this.”

“Fuck, you sure know what to ask for. My mother requested this for me at a temple. You really want it?”

“Mm.”

“Can you treasure it?”

Yan Ye had slowly answered, the tender feeling in his eyes something neither of them had understood at the time.

“I can,” he had replied.

Xue Bao Tian took that shard of jade and clenched it in his palm. The sharp broken edge pierced into his flesh, yet he seemed not to feel pain as he asked coldly, “Have you found out where he is now?”

Zhou Yi Ming’s tone grew even heavier. “We found him through Yan Ye’s phone location… in the neighboring country.”

“He’s crossed the border?!” Blood dripped from his palm along his fingertips. Xue Bao Tian heard his own trembling, hollow voice. “Is… is he alive?”

“…I don’t know.”

Xue Bao Tian placed the broken jade into the pocket closest to his heart. Murderous intent surged through his icy words. “Call the police first. How many people can Yanyue currently bring to the neighboring country?”

Zhou Yi Ming said, “Including me, three.”

“Tell them, whoever can go save their boss, Master Xue will reward them with a house.” Xue Bao Tian held a cigarette in his mouth and looked at the familiar mountains. “We can get the border-crossing paperwork handled within twenty-four hours here, right?” He lit the cigarette and exhaled white smoke, cutting through the layers of night as he said coldly, “According to Yan Ye’s phone location, we leave now.”

Xue Bao Tian crouched in a corner of that infamous city, looking at the abandoned warehouse before him, and asked Zhou Yi Ming, “Roughly how many people are inside?”

Before Zhou Yi Ming could answer, Zhao Xiao Quan came over and said, “I had the guys make a round. It’s estimated there are about seven or eight people inside.”

Zhao Xiao Quan was the boss of Dianquan Security. When Xue Bao Tian had crouched in Yunnan to catch Wei Hua, he had dealt with him before. This man looked like an enormous iron tower, but his mind was narrow; he was not someone purely honest and simple. For some reason, after hearing this time that Xue Bao Tian was crossing the border to rescue Yan Ye, he had actually brought a few subordinates along too, and even looked as though he was putting in quite a lot of effort.

Xue Bao Tian offered him a cigarette. “General Manager Zhao is righteous. The guys came here for my matter, and I won’t let everyone work hard for nothing. Once Yan Ye is rescued, I will definitely present General Manager Zhao and the others with generous gifts.”

Zhao Xiao Quan, who normally had money signs in his eyes, waved a large hand. “Aye, no need to talk about that. We’re all in the same trade and also friends. When someone is in trouble, we ought to help each other.”

Biting his cigarette, Xue Bao Tian looked at the pitch-black warehouse. Faced with such a thorny matter, he maintained restraint and calm. “General Manager Zhao, I don’t know whether what I’m about to say is right or not, so analyze it for me. When people kidnap a hostage, if there isn’t some deep hatred, it’s nothing more than for money. I have money. Let the people inside name a price. I’ll pay, they release him, and we’re even.”

Zhao Xiao Quan nodded. “That’s the logic.”

“Then fine.” Xue Bao Tian stood up. Holding a cigarette in one hand and taking the loudspeaker with the other, he walked to the warehouse door and said loudly, “Everyone inside, this is hard work. If you can end it early, don’t drag it out. You want money, right? No problem. I don’t know how many people are inside the warehouse, but as long as one person comes out, he can collect a sum of money from me.”

He named an amount so large that even the translator beside him clicked his tongue in amazement.

Handing the microphone to the translator, Xue Bao Tian’s gaze, reflected by the moonlight, appeared sharp and imposing. “Translate it for the people inside. Not one word can be wrong.”

The translator stretched his neck and shouted for a while. Xue Bao Tian finally heard a few noisy voices come from inside the warehouse.

“What are they saying?” he asked the translator.

“They… some of them are tempted, but… Akun said whoever dares to go out won’t receive his protection anymore.”

Xue Bao Tian bit his cigarette, his pupils darkening slightly. “Akun? Who is he?”

“A local kingpin around here. It’s said he killed people in the Golden Triangle, and he has a lot of little followers under him. Even the police here fear him somewhat.”

Zhou Yi Ming suddenly remembered the young man in the rain he had seen at the border gate that day. He asked the translator, “Does Akun know Zhang Shan?”

“Zhang Shan?” The translator shook his head. “I don’t know. Many people here have many identities and many names. Akun does have an uncle, a Chinese man called Zhang Zi Qing.”

“Bald?” Zhou Yi Ming asked.

The translator nodded. “Yes, with only a few strands of hair.”

Xue Bao Tian roughly sorted out the chain of events and asked Zhou Yi Ming, “So that means you arrested his uncle? And now his uncle is in custody on our side?”

Seeing Zhou Yi Ming nod, Xue Bao Tian’s brows pressed down, and the look between his brows instantly grew even darker and more ruthless. “If it isn’t a matter of money, then this is troublesome.” He took a heavy drag on his cigarette and said to the translator, “Double the reward money. See if anyone is tempted.”

The translator shouted until his voice went hoarse, but inside the warehouse, things grew even quieter. Only a note was shoved out from beneath the large iron door, with a few foreign words written on it.

“They want money, and they want the man too.” The translator drank a mouthful of water. “The note says that whenever Akun’s uncle comes back, that’s when they’ll release him. If he doesn’t come back in three days, then… they’ll silence him.”

Zhou Yi Ming cursed viciously, “Fuck.” Zhao Xiao Quan’s face turned pale, and it seemed as though cold sweat had broken out on him. Only Xue Bao Tian’s expression remained unmoving, like rock on a cliff that had endured frost and snow year after year, hard and cold.

Only the cigarette butt he took from his mouth seemed to be stained with blood. A faint taste of blood was wrapped in the acrid flavor.

He told the translator, “Go tell Akun that I’ll return to China now and withdraw the case, and I’ll try to bring his uncle back within three days. But before I leave, I need to see Yan Ye once and know that he’s still alive. Otherwise, there’s no deal.”

The translator passed the message into the warehouse. Only after a long time did a ventilation opening appear on the iron door. Someone inside beckoned once. Xue Bao Tian let out a long breath of smoke, flicked away the cigarette butt, and then walked over steadily.

He pressed close to the air vent, which was not even the size of a palm, and looked deep into the warehouse.

The stiff joints of his fingers abruptly clenched into fists. The taste of iron in his mouth grew even heavier. The warehouse’s only source of light shone on Yan Ye. The tall man was hanging in the center of the space, with some external injuries on his body but no obvious open wounds. His head drooped, he was unconscious, and his chest rose and fell faintly, his breathing shallow.

“Why is he unconscious?” Xue Bao Tian’s tone was even and calm, neither hysterical nor aggressive.

“Sleeping pills.” The thin young man inside the door could actually speak Chinese. “He was too hard to deal with. Even tied up, he still injured several of my brothers.”

Xue Bao Tian smiled once. His gaze did not linger too much on Yan Ye, but instead looked toward the young man inside the door.

“Akun?” he asked tentatively. Then he shook a cigarette from the pack and sent it through the ventilation opening. Seeing that the other party did not take it, he turned his hand back and put it into his own mouth.

He lowered his eyes and lit the cigarette, seeming to chat idly. “You’re young. Take some advice from your brother: don’t turn down good money.” Turning his head, he exhaled smoke and continued, “Your uncle didn’t commit some major crime. At most, he’ll stay inside for a year or two. The prison meals in China are fucking delicious, a hundred times better than what you have here. Brother will give you more money. With money in your hands, you can call the shots. When your uncle comes out later, you can properly show filial respect to him, right?”

“Finished?” Akun pressed his eye against the ventilation opening. “If you’re finished, hurry back and bring my uncle here. You only have three days!”

Bang! The ventilation opening was forcefully shut. The hostility at the bottom of Xue Bao Tian’s heart instantly surged out. He threw down the cigarette, raised his foot, and kicked the iron door heavily. “You motherfucker! You dare touch my man? I’ll fucking kill you!”

The sound of the iron door shaking had not yet stopped when Akun’s voice came through the door. “If you kick the door once, I’ll kick your man once. If you curse me once, I’ll punch the man hanging inside once!”

“Brother Kun, I was wrong, I was fucking wrong.” Xue Bao Tian immediately admitted defeat. He pressed his palms together and squeezed out an ugly smile. “I shouldn’t have run my mouth. If I ever act prickly toward Brother Kun again, I’ll slap myself.”

He turned his back, the smile falling from his face until it was filled entirely with gloom. Yet in his words, he still compromised and softened. “I’ll go back right now and bring our uncle back!”

He walked to Zhou Yi Ming and Zhao Xiao Quan’s side. “Soft methods won’t work. Can we storm it?”

Zhao Xiao Quan shook his head. “Look at the warehouse Akun chose. There’s a river on the left and a mountain on the right. Only the front can be attacked. This kind of frontal assault is the most disadvantageous for rescuing a hostage.”

Xue Bao Tian looked toward Zhou Yi Ming again, and Zhou Yi Ming also nodded, agreeing with Zhao Xiao Quan’s assessment.

“Why don’t I go try to persuade them?” Zhao Xiao Quan suddenly volunteered.

“You?” Xue Bao Tian once again looked directly at “Iron-Tower Zhao,” who was being excessively righteous today. “General Manager Zhao seems very worried about Yan Ye’s safety today. What, do you and he have something going on too?”

Zhao Xiao Quan froze, then grew angry. “What time is it already, and you’re still in the mood to joke!”

Xue Bao Tian smiled once. “General Manager Zhao, did you know Akun before?”

Zhao Xiao Quan hurriedly denied it. “No.”

“Even if you knew each other, it wouldn’t be strange. General Manager Zhao has been operating in Yunnan for so long. If you didn’t know a few neighboring-country gangsters, that would be abnormal.”

Zhao Xiao Quan’s Li Kui-like face had now gone as pale as Cao Cao. He waved a hand. “Believe it or not, I’m doing this for a friend. I’ll go try to persuade them now and see whether it works.”

Elio’s Notes: Li Kui is a fierce, dark-faced hero from Water Margin, while Cao Cao is traditionally represented with a white face in Chinese opera. The joke is that Zhao Xiao Quan’s normally rough, dark face has gone deathly pale.

When Xue Bao Tian made way for him, there was already a cold gleam in his eyes.

Zhao Xiao Quan’s persuasion was halting and hesitant, and inside, there was still no response. Xue Bao Tian looked at his back and asked Zhou Yi Ming, “The front, back, and sides can’t be attacked. What about from above?”

“From above?”

Xue Bao Tian looked at the abandoned warehouse. “When I looked inside through the vent just now, I noticed there seemed to be piles of rocks in the back-right corner of the warehouse. Could a small mudslide have broken into the warehouse?”

“If that’s the case, then it means there’s a breach there?”

Xue Bao Tian looked at Zhou Yi Ming and nodded, his eyes carrying hope.

At this moment, Zhao Xiao Quan returned in defeat. His complexion was even worse, and in the late-summer night, cold sweat kept flowing down his face.

Xue Bao Tian suddenly patted his shoulder. “General Manager Zhao, last time Yan Ye was in Yunnan, he took down Lin Zhi Yi’s order, and you were displeased. This time, after learning that Yan Ye had come to your territory again, you secretly found someone to teach him a lesson. Unexpectedly, this person went too far, kidnapped Yan Ye across the border, and even threatened to kill him. So you got scared, afraid that once the matter was exposed, you’d end up in prison. That’s why you followed along to assist us. Unfortunately, the thug you hired doesn’t seem to be buying your face.”

His narrow, thin eyelids slowly lifted. “Did I guess right, General Manager Zhao?”

Zhao Xiao Quan was speechless for a moment. Several times, he nearly opened his mouth to refute him, then swallowed the words back down. In the end, he stomped his foot and told the truth. “This morning, I ran into Akun on the road and chatted with him briefly. At the time, I don’t know what came over me. It was like my head was clogged with pig fat. I just wanted him to teach Yan Ye a lesson. I pointed him toward the guesthouse where Yan Ye was staying, and… and I told him that if he couldn’t beat Yan Ye, he should call your name.”

“What? Call my name?!” Xue Bao Tian punched Zhao Xiao Quan, who was built like a giant tower, in the face. “Your head wasn’t clogged with pig fat. You’ve got a fucking pig’s heart.”

Elio’s Notes: The Chinese idiom zhūyóu méngxīn literally describes one’s heart or mind as being “clouded by pig fat,” meaning someone was blinded into doing something foolish or selfish. Xue Bao Tian twists the idiom into accusing Zhao Xiao Quan of having a pig’s heart altogether.

Zhao Xiao Quan let Xue Bao Tian hit and curse him. “I only wanted to teach Yan Ye a lesson. I really didn’t want his life. Who knew Akun and he were enemies?”

Xue Bao Tian panted a few rough breaths and quickly calmed himself. Lifting his eyes, he looked at Zhao Xiao Quan again. “General Manager Zhao, I can let today’s matter go. I can also keep helping you hide it. The premise is that you help me rescue Yan Ye. As long as he’s fine, everything else won’t be a problem.” He paused, then continued, “But if he…”

Zhao Xiao Quan immediately swore, “I’ll definitely do everything I can to help you rescue him. It’s just, how do we rescue him?”

Xue Bao Tian’s gaze passed over Zhao Xiao Quan and looked toward the warehouse roof as he said faintly, “There might be a way now.”

When the roof in the northwest corner of the warehouse was quietly broken open, Zhou Yi Ming was leading several people in pretending to fiercely attack the warehouse’s main door.

Xue Bao Tian stepped on the sand and rocks that had slid down from the mountain and entered the warehouse. Walking in front of him was the infuriating Song Eight Hundred.

Xue Bao Tian had not had time to fire him, so he could only allow him to follow him all the way to Yunnan.

Song Eight Hundred was the kind of person who was big in build and often silent, so quiet that on ordinary days, one could hardly sense his presence. But whenever it involved his actual duty, there was no stopping him.

Entering the warehouse to rescue someone was an extremely dangerous matter, yet Song Eight Hundred was the first to respond and sign up.

Xue Bao Tian could not resist running his mouth. “Are you afraid I’ll obstruct the matter between you and my sister, so you want to perform well in front of me?”

Song Eight Hundred handed one of his daggers to Xue Bao Tian. “Yan Ye is my boss, and you are my employer. It’s only right that I go rescue him. This is work. Don’t drag in anything else.”

“Fuck.” Xue Bao Tian got shut down and could only obediently follow behind him into the warehouse.

Most of the bandits in the warehouse had run to the front door to fight. Only two people remained around Yan Ye, and one of them was Akun.

Crack! Behind Xue Bao Tian came the sound of loose sand and stone scraping. It came from under Zhao Xiao Quan’s foot. Because he was too tall and sturdy, the somewhat weathered sand and stones could not withstand his weight.

“Who’s there?!” Akun abruptly turned his head toward this corner of the warehouse.

At the same time Akun spoke, Xue Bao Tian’s gaze was fixed on Yan Ye. He and Yan Ye had shared a bed and stuck together intimately for so long that he even knew how many times the other would shiver after taking a piss, so how could he not see that something was different?

Under the dim light of the warehouse, the man hanging there with both hands tied had his ears move slightly after Zhao Xiao Quan made a sound. With one glance, Xue Bao Tian knew that he actually had never been unconscious at all!

“Move!”

“Do it!”

Seeing that they had already been exposed, Song Eight Hundred and Zhao Xiao Quan gave the order to attack at the same time!

They instantly tangled together with the vicious bandits in the warehouse, while Akun stayed by Yan Ye’s side the entire time, pressing a knife against his neck.

Xue Bao Tian did not know martial arts. According to the plan, he should have slipped along the side to open the main door and let Zhou Yi Ming and the others in. But halfway through, he suddenly met a pair of vicious eyes!

“You lied to me!” Akun roared at Xue Bao Tian.

Xue Bao Tian piled a smile onto his face. “That doesn’t really count as lying, does it? It’s tactics.”

“You’re not afraid I’ll kill him?” Akun pressed the knife even closer to Yan Ye.

“I am.” Xue Bao Tian said it lightly. “His company gives out a lot in bonuses. If I save him, I won’t lack food or clothes anymore.”

“That’s not right. You two are in that kind of relationship.”

“What kind?” Seeing Akun’s suddenly awkward expression, Xue Bao Tian raised a brow and smiled. “Right, you guessed correctly. We’re in that kind of relationship. But I think you’re not bad either. Solid. Can take a pounding.”

“You fucking!” Akun flew into a rage. Holding the dagger, he charged toward Xue Bao Tian. “I’ll kill you right now!”

The moment that sharp dagger had just left Yan Ye’s neck, the man hanging there suddenly opened his piercing eyes. His waist abruptly exerted force, and he raised both legs to kick Akun!

The young man suddenly lunged forward, and the cold gleam from the dagger brushed past the corner of Xue Bao Tian’s clothes. Yan Ye called out loudly, “Two Hundred, hurry and help me cut the rope!”

“Oh!”

Holding the dagger Song Eight Hundred had given him, Xue Bao Tian ran toward Yan Ye. Behind him came the sound of footsteps and wind, but he did not dare turn back. Using all his strength, he rushed to Yan Ye’s side and sliced through the thumb-thick rope in midair!

Yan Ye landed on the ground. After only staggering twice, he shielded Xue Bao Tian in his arms, then sent Akun flying more than two meters away with a side kick.

Xue Bao Tian cut open the rope around Yan Ye’s hands and hugged him hard. Heat slowly spread at the corners of his eyes.

Yan Ye roughly pulled him over, bit him fiercely on the lips, then pushed him into the corner. “Stay there. Don’t move.”

Yan Ye walked step by step toward Akun in the dim light, his shadow slowly covering the man’s panicked face…

The main door was broken open from the outside, and Zhou Yi Ming rushed in. Blades clashed, and the fight turned into vicious hand-to-hand combat. Xue Bao Tian sat in the corner and, amid the sound of fists and feet, slowly lit a cigarette…

When the night finally came to an end, this large-scale armed fight at last alarmed the city’s police department. The police swarmed over like a hive, stirring the hard-won quiet into chaos once more.

The flashing police lights reflected on Xue Bao Tian’s face. Draped in a large towel, he held the hot coffee he had begged from a cute policewoman.

“Xue Bao Tian.” Yan Ye walked over from the clamor, entering this patch of quiet.

“Mm?” The cold-looking man turned to look at him. “Calling me so formally. Something wrong?”

“I do.” Yan Ye did not come closer. From two or three meters away, he kept gazing at Xue Bao Tian.

Wreathed in the rich aroma of coffee, Xue Bao Tian leaned lazily against the police car, looking back at Yan Ye without urging him.

At dawn, the pale brightness at the edge of the sky slowly spread. When that dazzling beam of sunlight leapt out from the horizon, Yan Ye said, formally, solemnly, and with incomparable devotion, “Xue Bao Tian, I love you.”

Ripples in the coffee cup swayed slowly. The morning breeze faintly stirred his hair. Not far away, a rooster began to crow, and Yan Ye walked toward Xue Bao Tian step by step.

He stood before the man who had not given any response and asked uneasily, “What about you?”

“What?”

“Do you love me?”

The warm coffee was drunk again. Xue Bao Tian lifted his eyes and revealed his usual wicked smile.

“Who the fuck would like a little idiot?” He lifted his head and kissed Yan Ye. “Unless Master Xue plans to save all humanity.”

The End

Author’s Note:

The main story is complete. I’m so moved by what I wrote myself.

There are still many, many extras. Master Xue still hasn’t confessed yet. Also, if there’s anything you want to see, you can bring it up. Thank you to every little cutie for your company. Bowing in thanks. See you in the extras.