Chapter 327 — Running Into a Thief

Of course, Wei Zhao did not take the little underling's word at face value — who knew what designs the man was hiding? He did not go straight into the building the man had named to scout it out; what if it was a trap? Wei Zhao was not that careless.

Wei Zhao circled the building the underling had spoken of once, then quietly hunkered down by the entrance, just like any ordinary member of the Water Blue Gang.

After a while, a Water Blue Gang member came out of the building. Wei Zhao followed him directly, and once the man had walked a stretch of road, the sharp knife was at his throat again.

This time, though, before Wei Zhao could speak, the man beat him to it: "Brother, don't... don't kill me. I only slipped in to see if I could skim a little something off the top. How was I to know I took a wrong turn and ended up where you keep the hostages? I hadn't even made a move yet, I didn't steal a thing, search me if you don't believe me, I swear I didn't touch anything, please, just let me go..."

Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, then nearly laughed aloud — this fellow had sneaked in the same way he had? And from what he said, he was a thief who had come to fish in troubled waters?

"Where did you get that cap?" Wei Zhao asked, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

"Stole it..." The thief made no attempt to hide it. "I saw someone leave it in their car. The window was open, so I just took it. I heard this is where the Water Blue Gang makes its money, so I figured I'd try my luck. Brother, I swear this is my first time here..."

"Oh? Then what did you see when you went in just now?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I... I didn't see anything, really, I won't breathe a word..." The thief was on the verge of tears.

"Tell me the truth! What exactly did you see?" Wei Zhao demanded in exasperation. He had not expected the thief to misread him and think he was being told to keep his mouth shut.

"Brother, you're a man who understands these things. You know that's where you keep the hostages. But even though I saw it, I won't tell a soul, really, rest easy, this will rot in my belly forever!" the thief said honestly. "I'm no respectable working man myself — there's no way I'd report you!"

From the thief's words, Wei Zhao knew the man had misunderstood, but he did not bother to explain. It was enough that he had now confirmed the building really was where the hostages were held.

"You went in and nobody spotted you? You mean there's none of our people in there?" Wei Zhao asked.

"No... there's none of your people in there... just the hostages locked up behind the iron bars." The thief assumed Wei Zhao was merely asking routine questions, and answered truthfully. He had no time to wonder what Wei Zhao was really after — he was already drenched in a cold sweat of terror.

"If I just let you go like this and the higher-ups find out, I'm the one taking the risk!" Wei Zhao no longer wanted to kill the thief; killing him would only make disposing of the body more trouble. Better to simply let him walk.

But the act had to be put on, so that letting him go too easily would not rouse the thief's suspicions.

"Brother," the thief said, pulling a wad of bills from his pocket. "This is today's take. Buy yourself some cigarettes with it..."

"Mm, you know how to play it smart. Get lost!" Wei Zhao took the money, stuffed it into his pocket with satisfaction, and put the knife away.

The thief fled in a paroxysm of gratitude, not once looking back, hurrying away from the place. No doubt he dared not linger; he would probably run straight out of the repair yard.

Now that he had confirmed from the thief that there were no Water Blue Gang men in the building where the hostages were held, Wei Zhao swaggered in.

The ground floor was a large hall with nothing in it. The second floor was sealed off, clearly used as a warehouse.

Wei Zhao went straight down to the basement. Once inside, he saw row upon row of cells fenced off with iron bars, like a prison. Some cells had people sitting in them, some did not, but as Wei Zhao passed, hardly any of them looked up at him; each wore the same dejected, hollowed-out look.

These, presumably, were all people the Water Blue Gang had seized under various pretexts, waiting for their families and friends to pay ransom and buy them back.

Still, the Water Blue Gang was brazen enough — running an extortion racket like this in broad daylight. The public order here had evidently sunk to a certain depth of chaos.

"Xie Jinbiao?" Wei Zhao could not be bothered to search cell by cell. He simply called out Xie Jinbiao's name.

"Here, here!" A man in one of the cages scrambled eagerly to his feet, walked to the edge of the cage, and waved at Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao nodded and walked over quickly. The other hostages were plainly used to such scenes by now; not one of them raised his head.

Whoever's family sent the money, that person would be called by name and released; everyone else, no matter what, could not get out. So they treated Wei Zhao's arrival with complete indifference.

"You're Xie Jinbiao?" Wei Zhao looked him over and found him very different from the photo Xie Guangbo had given him. In the photo, Xie Jinbiao was strong and upright; the man before him looked like a walking invalid, thin as a monkey. Still, on close inspection one could tell it was the same person.

"Yes, that's me. Has my father wired the money?" Xie Jinbiao was a little excited. He had thought this time he was as good as dead; he had not expected his father to find a way after all.

Xie Jinbiao had a rough idea of how much his family was worth, but this time the debt was simply too great. He reckoned that even if his father borrowed, he could not borrow that much money, and so he had already half given up hope...

Wei Zhao picked the lock of the iron cage open with a piece of wire, and let Xie Jinbiao out. "Come with me."

Xie Jinbiao hurried to follow cautiously behind Wei Zhao. He was so beside himself with excitement that he had not caught the motion of Wei Zhao opening the door with a wire, and still assumed Wei Zhao was a genuine member of the Water Blue Gang.

Only once they were out the building's main door did Xie Jinbiao, seeing that Wei Zhao said nothing, ask again: "Where's my father? Can I go now?"

"Put this on. Don't say anything foolish. Just follow me!" Wei Zhao set the baseball cap he had taken from the underling onto Xie Jinbiao's head. "If you don't want to die, don't ask so many questions!"

"Huh? You... who are you?" Xie Jinbiao was no fool. Seeing Wei Zhao put the cap on him, he now had a vague sense that something was wrong.

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