The tide lapped gently at the lake shore. Outside the window was the vast stretch of sky and water, as far as the eye could see. Although they were in the tigers cave, the room that the pale man had assigned them was unexpectedly not bad, and was possibly the best room in the inn. Jian Yao had given the room a thorough once over and, not finding any hidden caras or other surveillance equipnt, felt more at ease. They had arrived out of the blue, so it was possible that these criminals had not had ti to prepare for it.
Bo Jinyan leaned back on the bed with his hands behind his head and his injured leg propped up with a pillow, looking entirely relaxed. Jian Yao stood by the window, shifting her gaze between the scene outside and him. Unable to restrain herself, she said, Are you certain they will deliver your ssage to the higher-ups in the Buddhas Hand organisation?
Bo Jinyan replied, Certain. Clearly, the person in control of Buddhas Hand is very much interested in Zhu Taos notes. Once I ntion this, they will definitely et with .
What happens if they kill us imdiately and grab the notes?
Bo Jinyan said, If they really wanted to kill us, they would have done so earlier, on the boat. Not killing us ans that we still have so value; if we are useful, then we have the opportunity to live. This thread of opportunity can extend to boundless possibilities. He then smiled briefly before continuing, We had originally intended to find the masked killer within Buddhas Hand and wipe out the organisation at the sa ti. Now, we have the opportunity to penetrate to the very heart of the organisation. By a freakish combination of factors, we have achieved what Zhu Tao could not in so many years. This is really a blessing due to misfortune.
Jian Yao was by now eager to take action, spurred on by his words. She laughed in spite of herself he had such charisma, no matter how dangerous the situation, he would enable you to see through the haziness in front of you, to see the hope bounding long behind.
Dong-dong! soone was knocking on the door. Jian Yao glanced at Bo Jinyan. It had not even been half an hour since they walked into the inn.
Jian Yao opened the door and the pale man walked in. He smiled faintly and said in a deep voice, Smiling Snake, soone wants to et you.
A courtyard, a stone table, a chessboard, a man.
The afternoon light was just right. He sat next to the chessboard, wearing a black jacket and casual trousers. He was wearing high leather boots which had mud on them. From his profile, he looked to be deep in thought, and his appearance was handso, seemingly upright and spirited*.
*T/N (jian i xing mu) lit. eyebrows like swords, eyes like stars. People with such eyebrows (straight and thick) are said to be upright and straightforward in character; while people with such eyes are supposedly bright and spirited. Generally, a handso person.
Accompanying him, at the four corners of the courtyard, stood several n. All held guns and looked both calm and ruthless.
The pale man brought Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan here and signalled them to walk over with a faint smile. Jian Yao completely surveyed the surroundings and tiptoed to whisper in Bo Jinyans ear. His sunglasses obscured his eyes, so no one could see his expression. He displayed no reaction after listening to her speak. Leaning on the wooden stick that Jian Yao had found the day before, he walked towards that man.
Bo Jinyan sat down opposite him.
He dropped the white chess piece he was holding and his golden-tanned fingers seed to emit light. After a mont of consideration, he looked up at Bo Jinyan and asked, Blind?
He was asking the pale man standing to one side, who bowed and replied, Yes.
The word was hardly out of his mouth when the pale man abruptly moved forward, a dagger in his hand which no one had seen him pull out, aiming straight for Bo Jinyans eyes. Thoroughly shocked, Jian Yao reached out her hand to block him. That man and Bo Jinyan sat still, unmoving. Because he had moved so quickly, Jian Yao could only grasp the pale mans wrist, and had no way to arrest his forward movent.
With a soft sound, the sunglasses on Bo Jinyans nose were knocked off and the point of the dagger moved inexorably towards his eyelid. Bo Jinyan closed his eyes but made no move to evade it, until it stopped completely when it rested on his eyelid.
Jian Yao broke into a cold sweat and yelled, What do you an by this?
Surprisingly, Bo Jinyan rely laughed and said, Wife, they just want to run a little test. See, there is still another millitre to go before the tip of the dagger penetrates my eye. Goodness . . . However, its only a pair of wasted eyes, if Buddhas Hand wants them, then take them. Mind you, there is nothing given for free under the sun what will you give in exchange?
He said this with unparalleled arrogance and insolent charm, for all the world like a madman who cared not a jot about whether he lived or died. Unexpectedly, that man laughed uproariously and said, Qin Sheng, put the dagger down. So, the pale mans na was Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng put down the dagger and retreated to stand at the side. That man then asked Bo Jinyan, I heard you have sothing to pass to ?
Bo Jinyan replied, Thats right.
That man asked again, How did it fall into your hands?
Bo Jinyan said, My n have been watching Zhu Tao.
Then why did the two of you co here?
They were ambushed by the police. We ran very fast. A younger brother nad Ah Hong was the person who brought us here. However, we encountered a landslide on the mountainside near the riverbank. Ah Hong fell down the mountainside and died.
That man turned to look at Qin Sheng who nodded once, confirming that there was indeed a gangster nad Ah Hong. That man smiled once again and said, Ah Hong died, how is it that you two didnt?
Bo Jinyan was silent for a heartbeat before he slowly answered, Because I killed Ah Hong.
As soon as these words were uttered, even Jian Yao was dumbfounded. That man exchanged glances with Qin Sheng before saying sharply, What, you killed our brother? The n at the side all brought out their guns and aid them at Bo Jinyan.
However, Bo Jinyan scoffed and said, When the landslide occurred, there was only one tree standing on the slope. If we all held on to it, it would have snapped and everyone would have died. Ah Hongs movents were not as fast as my wifes, so he could not hold on to the tree, and even wanted to drag us down with him. I kicked him whats wrong with that? If you were in my place, wouldnt you have done the sa?
That man and Qin Sheng both remained silent. After a while, Qin Sheng asked, Where did this take place?
Bo Jinyan told him the location. Imdiately, an underling left the courtyard, probably to investigate.
That man ordered tea to be brought up. Bo Jinyan drank the tea slowly, and neither of them spoke for so ti. Jian Yao almost exclaid aloud in admiration of Bo Jinyans quick-wittedness. Since both of them were well versed in criminal psychology, they would be able to see through other peoples lies, and, conversely, would also know how best to make lies seem like the truth. Ah Hongs death would initially have seed fishy to others. However, after Bo Jinyans words, it would seem entirely credible. At the sa ti, Bo Jinyans flamboyantly malicious personality was clearly manifested.
That man took a big gulp of tea and finally said, That thing, give it to .
But Bo Jinyan slowly sipped at his tea and said, The person I want to give it to is not you.
That man stiffened and Qin Sheng looked up.
Bo Jinyan smiled indifferently and said, The person I want to et is the boss of Buddhas Hand. You are not the boss at all, at best, you are rely a competent subordinate. Why should I hand it to you? I am so sincere I was almost caught by the police, I spent the night in the river just to bring it here. You keep testing us over and over again, you bunch of f**king bullies. Since you cant see it, wife, lets go!
Wait a minute! Qin Sheng held out his hand to stop them, then glanced at his boss. They exchanged glances, then Qin Sheng laughed and said, Forget it, Kun ge, lets not pretend any longer, he saw through everything anyway. Kun ge stared at Bo Jinyan with an indecipherable smile. He lowered his head to light a cigarette and continued to look at them from half-lidded eyes.
Qin Sheng said, Zhao Kun is, in fact, not our boss. How did you figure that out?
Bo Jinyan sneered at them and said, Whats my nickna?
Qin Sheng said, Smiling Snake.
Bo Jinyan said, Then, why are you still asking? How do you think I got this jianghu nickna? Being a snake, especially Smiling Snake whom no one can guard against, ans to be more sharp-witted than the police, more vicious than others like . You ask how I can tell that Kun ge is not the boss? He is totally lacking from head to toe!
Qin Sheng froze. Zhao Kun choked on a mouthful of smoke and coughed violently.
And Jian Yao, looking around the courtyard at the gangsters, saw that they had visibly relaxed their vigilance and that their guns were all lowered as they listened to Bo Jinyan. Jian Yao felt less tense, and also thought it was sowhat funny: Bo Jinyan had been right he had taken hold of this thread of opportunity and extended it to boundless possibilities. Its just . . . he didnt have to overdo the play-acting, being like a snake and all those words that had burst forth . . . A sudden thought, wholly irrelevant to their current situation, ca to mind: at that ti, when she, Ziyu, and An Yan had been watching a drama serial at ho, they should not have let him sit and read his books next to them . . .
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