“Yes.” Zuo Qing easily said the name, “Chen Qiang.”
“The young man?” An Xuan frowned.
“Yes.” Zuo Qing nodded. “He’s too calm and extremely knowledgeable. He claimed to be a student of architecture, and that’s why he knew certain things, but he…” Zuo Qing thought about it and continued, “In any case, I get strange vibes from him. He appears calm, but at times, I could sense his anger bubbling when he was offended or interrupted…”
An Xuan narrowed his eyes. “It looks like he hides himself well.”
“That’s right.” Zuo Qing continued, “I’ve dropped the bait. It depends on him if he’ll take it or not. I’ll keep a close eye on him.”
“Bait?” An Xuan became agitated, “Did you… tell them about the three…”
Zuo Qing shook her head, “Don’t worry. I didn’t say everything. I only told him that the three of them were a team.”
“Idiot!” An Xuan’s face darkened.
“The reports are wrong. You know the consequences.” Zuo Qing stared at An Xuan’s eyes. She would not back off, “Either we find that person and kill him, or… we’ll all die. Both the bait and us.”
“You’ll be labelled as unstable and a risk. At least, you’ll be…” He paused. His tone thickened with worry. He was worried for himself.
“They will never know.” Zuo Qing smiled. Her beauty blossomed in An Xuan’s eyes. “Team Captain, you’ll help me, right?”
An Xuan sighed and turned his head away. “Just this once.”
“Thank you, captain!”
An Xuan returned to normal and became officious. “Have you figured out what is going on with Shi Liaozhi?”
“Not yet.” Zuo Qing answered, “He looks capable, but he’s lying. He’s not a thief. He has military experience.”
Zuo Qing thought about it and shook her head, “No. Should be an official soldier. His habits show that.”
“An official soldier masquerading as a thief…” An Xuan found this interesting.
“But I feel like it’s not him,” Zuo Qing said.
“His nose is bad, plus…” Zuo Qing analysed, “His disguise is too much. Chen Qiang is more likely our guy.”
“Your sixth sense is better than most. That’s why I chose you in the first place.” An Xuan nodded. “But don’t just follow your instinct. You should know how crazy the people we’re facing are. They are insane and also… extremely good at disguises. We have lost too many because of that.”
“Understood,” Zuo Qing nodded.
An Xuan looked at the sky and sighed, “It’s about time. Let’s compare our testimonies.”
“I followed you to keep an eye on you. In the process, you found something and used an excuse to shake me off. The last time I saw you, you were at the wall beside Young Master Huang’s yard. You were jumping out of the yard. Then, I followed you back quietly…”
“No.” An Xuan cut her off, “Two loopholes. First is the excuse. You need to come up with the excuse that I use now, or else your lie will be exposed.
“Second, do you think I wouldn’t know that you were following me if I were good enough to shake you off with an excuse?
“Even if you say I allowed you to follow me on purpose, the explanation is not good.” An Xuan said, “Those people are not dumb.”
“We’ll go back together,” An Xuan offered.
“Yes.” An Xuan nodded, “Not only that, but you also have to act like you’re scared of me.” He paused before turning to Young Master Huang’s yard. “No matter how they question you, you have to say I was perfectly normal, and they can trust me. We only took a quick look at Young Master Huang’s place and didn’t explore it deeply.”
“They might think we have made a trade then,” Zuo Qing argued.
“Not a trade.” An Xuan shook his head, “We have found something, and I got something on you… Just like Tang Shirou.”
Zuo Qing’s eyes shone.
“After all, they will not approach me before the new scapegoat is found,” An Xuan concluded.
“The sedan chair is gone.” It was Chen Qiang who spoke. He looked like a student and spoke politely.
“That’s nothing.” Shi Liaozhi messed with his hair. “These things are common in the missions. You’ll get used to it.”
“Do you mean corpses disappearing is normal?” Chen Qiang asked for pointers.
“Who among you remember where the sedan chair was yesterday?” You Qi asked, “I remember it was around here, right?”
“Is there no trace on the ground?” Shi Liaozhi lowered his head to look.
Chen Qiang pointed. Qin Jian walked over. Among the errand footsteps, he found a few orderly impressions. Even though they were smudged, they were still visible.
“Hmm?” You Qi discovered something. He knelt down and used his hands to dig for something.
Shi Liaozhi saw this and walked over, “What did you find.”
You Qi moved slightly back to give him a better view, “Look. What could have left these behind?”
“The sedan chair.” Shi Liaozhi looked around, “I remember you guys dropping the sedan chair here yesterday night.” Then, he swallowed nervously. The female paper doll in the sedan chair was scary. He almost lost his breath when he first saw it.
The strangest thing was wherever he turned, the paper doll would smile at him.