This was no legitimate dock, of course, but part of a smuggling route Limping Luo had established together with Harbor City's underworld.
When Song Ning and the others arrived, the people in charge on this end came forward to meet them.
Before long, however, a brilliant searchlight suddenly came on aboard a fishing boat in the distance.
Then it went out.
Then it came on again.
After flashing three times, it stopped.
But the people at the dock panicked.
A Qing, who had been with Limping Luo longer, turned and said:
"Ning! Looks like the cops are coming! We might have to hide!"
He had barely finished speaking when the man in charge of the dock ran over.
"Miss Song! Come with me, quickly! The cops are doing a night inspection! We need to get out of their way!"
Song Ning and the others hurried into the cars with the dock workers. Keeping their headlights off, the cars drove along the riverside road.
Within minutes, shrill police sirens sounded from both the sea and the land.
The piercing sirens grew louder and louder, tearing through the quiet night.
Xingjie had been developed relatively late and still retained the rustic appearance of a fishing village.
Song Ning and the others were put up in a farmhouse only a kilometer or two from the dock.
The man leading them gave A Qing a few instructions, then hurried away.
A Qing came back and said, "Old Shrimp said something's off tonight. He wants us to wait here for now. The midnight boat definitely won't be coming. We'll have to see whether we get a chance to leave later in the night!"
Song Ning asked, "Do these night inspections happen often?"
A Qing said, "We have someone on the inside with the cops. Whenever