Were you the ones who snatched our haul?

After finishing his talk with Yu Mingyuan, Tang Baiqing drove away alone.

Su Tianyu returned to the car and asked Yu Mingyuan with a frown, "Mingyuan, what did he say?"

"Tang Baiqing said the Dock Gang didn't send anyone to do it, but he'll push them to help investigate." Yu Mingyuan folded his hands and asked, "Tianyu, if this had nothing to do with the people at the docks, who else could it have been?"

"The question is, can we trust what Tang Baiqing says?" Su Tianyu pressed.

"Forget what Tang Baiqing said. Just think about whether another group could have done this. If so, we need to check it out. Understand?" Yu Mingyuan replied, his reasoning clear.

Su Tianyu considered it for a long while. "Apart from the people at the port, the only ones who've had trouble with us and might be jealous of this business or want revenge are Lu Feng and his people at Changqing Company."

Yu Mingyuan thought it over for a while. "Go talk to Lu Feng. Lay it straight out and ask whether he did it."

Su Tianyu nearly lost it when he heard that. "If I go see Lu Feng, we might start stabbing each other before we even get a word out."

Yu Mingyuan turned toward the window. "Tomorrow I'll send someone with you to keep things under control. We'll work both angles and figure out where the problem lies first."

"Okay." Su Tianyu nodded and started the car. "Mingyuan, did Tang Baiqing say anything else besides that?"

Yu Mingyuan looked at him with some surprise. "He just said the Dock Gang was a little jealous of our business and might want a stake."

"Oh." Su Tianyu nodded without discussing the subject any further.

About an hour later.

Su Tianyu returned to the dump and sat down with Su Tiannan, Su Tianbei, Bai Hongbo, Kong Zhenghui, and the others to discuss what had happened. But none of them knew much yet, and they had no idea who had taken the men and the cargo. All they could do for now was wait for the people above them to use their connections and get to the bottom of it.

In the early hours, everyone was too upset over the missing cargo and men to sleep, so they sat together in the dump and waited for dawn.

During that time, Zhang Hao's mother came too, tearfully asking Su Tianyu where her son had gone. But he had no answers for her. He could only join Su Tiannan and the others in reassuring her that her son would be fine, that he would be back as soon as they reached the right contacts, and that the Yu Family would definitely handle it.

They waited like that until after eight the next morning, when Su Tiannan finally tracked down Lu Feng's whereabouts.

After the battle at Fortune House, Lu Feng had spent more than two months recovering from his injuries. Following his discharge, he had been deeply depressed. The company's affairs didn't require much attention from him, either, so lately he had been "healing" at a temple on Qiu Mountain, trying to get his head straight.

Apparently, Lu Feng believed in Buddhism. On the first and fifteenth of every lunar month, he used to spend two days up the mountain, eating vegetarian meals and fingering prayer beads.

A man who made his living through shady dealings and ran a criminal outfit was actually a lay Buddhist disciple. How ironic was that?

At ten that morning.

Yu Mingyuan sent a friend to the dump to meet Su Tianyu.

After a brief conversation, Su Tianyu took Bai Hongbo and Kong Zhenghui along, and the three of them headed to Qiu Mountain Temple with the man to have a little talk with Master Lu Feng.

On the way to Qiu Mountain Temple, Su Tianyu noticed that the friend Yu Mingyuan had sent sat ramrod straight as he drove. There were also several passes bearing military insignia in the lower-left corner of the windshield.

"Buddy, you're military?" Su Tianyu asked with a smile.

"Yeah," the man replied, clearly having no intention of elaborating.

Seeing that he didn't want to discuss it, Su Tianyu didn't press. He spent the rest of the drive talking to Bai Hongbo and Kong Zhenghui.

With the mountain behind it and the sea before it, Qiu Mountain Temple commanded a magnificent view.

It was Sunday, and plenty of people had come up the mountain to pray and offer incense. After arriving, Su Tianyu and the others parked in the visitors' parking lot.

With the sun blazing overhead, Su Tianyu followed the others a few steps before suddenly telling Bai Hongbo, "Go up with this guy. I'll stay here so Lu Feng and I don't get into another fight."

"And I don't have to worry about getting my ass kicked?!" Bai Hongbo demanded indignantly.

"You can take a beating. Go on," Kong Zhenghui added.

Yu Mingyuan's friend smiled at that and turned to Su Tianyu. "It's fine. With me there, he won't dare start anything."

"You go. We'll wait here," Su Tianyu added.

Left with no choice, Bai Hongbo went up the mountain with Yu Mingyuan's friend.

In the parking lot, Kong Zhenghui smoked and asked with a frown, "Do you think Changqing Company could have done it?"

"Hard to say." Su Tianyu shook his head.

"I thought about it, and it really might not have been the Dock Gang," Kong Zhenghui said quietly. "If they were jealous, why not just put their cards on the table? Why bother wearing masks and hiding themselves?"

Su Tianyu sank into thought. "I haven't figured it out yet, either."

While the two talked in the parking lot, Big Bai and Yu Mingyuan's friend had already reached the dining hall at Qiu Mountain Temple. The people staying there were all visitors on temple vacations, and the place was bustling.

They entered the courtyard where the temple accommodated visitors and found Lu Feng after asking around briefly.

About ten minutes later, a young monk led Bai Hongbo and his companion to a pavilion in the courtyard. Lu Feng looked a little bewildered when he saw Bai Hongbo and Yu Mingyuan's friend.

"What do you want with me?" Lu Feng asked, fixing Bai Hongbo with a burning stare.

Bai Hongbo was actually a little scared of Lu Feng, but he steeled himself and replied, "I came to ask you something. Su Tiannan sent you a message through someone, right?"

The corner of Lu Feng's mouth twitched. His hair stirred in the breeze, but he said nothing.

"Someone snatched the haul we had out on the water last night. We've had our differences, so I won't waste your time. I came to ask whether you were the ones who snatched it." The underworld jargon rolled smoothly off Bai Hongbo's tongue.

Lu Feng narrowed his eyes at Bai Hongbo and still said nothing.

"If you took it, let's talk openly. None of this under-the-table maneuvering." Feeling that something was off about the way Lu Feng was looking at him, Bai Hongbo continued with growing uncertainty, "You know our three families aren't the ones leading this business. There are bosses behind it. Understand?"

By now, Lu Feng was ready to explode with frustration. Ever since the infighting within Zhannan's sanitation business began, he had not only been beaten and lost face, but also lost the territory that had practically been his. Floral Shirt and his other men had been locked up, too. After he left the hospital, Li Hongze and the others had repeatedly complained about him. With too many people competing for too little money, conflicts had also broken out inside Changqing Company. That was why he had escaped to the mountain for a few days of peace. Yet these people had tracked him down here and were even fucking talking underworld slang at him?

After holding it in for a long while, Lu Feng told Bai Hongbo in a trembling voice, "Get the hell as far away from me as you can. I don't want to beat your ass in a temple!"

Bai Hongbo eyed him sideways. "Then... then you have to tell me. Were you the ones who snatched our haul or not?!"

"Fuck your mother! If you don't leave now, I'll beat you to death!" Lu Feng was close to losing control.

"Cut the crap. I'm asking you whether you snatched our haul."

"I'll fucking snatch your head off!" Lu Feng reached for Bai Hongbo's collar.

"Hold on."

Just then, Yu Mingyuan's friend reached out to stop Lu Feng.

"Get the fuck out of my way!"

"My name is Li Tao. I'm a friend of Yu Mingyuan's." Standing straight-backed in front of Lu Feng, the man said, "The business at sea has some military connections. We're not here to cause trouble. Understand?"

Lu Feng froze at those words.

"I'm just asking whether you snatched our haul!" Hiding behind the man, Bai Hongbo pointed at Lu Feng and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Veins bulging on his forehead, Lu Feng glanced at the man in front of him. After holding back for a long while, he cursed at Bai Hongbo, "I snatched your mother's fucking cunt! I came straight up the mountain after leaving the hospital. Where the hell would I have gone to snatch anything?"

The man named Li Tao paused. "So it really wasn't Changqing?"

"No. We don't feed off business outside our own turf," Lu Feng replied. "Besides, even if we'd gone, we'd only have taken the cargo. We wouldn't have touched the men, much less gone out on the water."

Li Tao was taken aback. "You know the details? So you've heard about this?"

Lu Feng held back for a while. "That idiot Li Xing called me last night too, asking if I'd done it. I don't get it. This is your three families' business. Why the fuck does everyone keep asking me?"

Li Tao fell silent.

"Other than some reckless newcomers to Dragon City who might try to intercept a shipment, who would touch a business on the water? Five or six speedboats went out there to do a job and came and went freely. Could the people who make their living at sea really know nothing about it?" With that, Lu Feng turned and left.

Li Tao paused, then said, "Let's go."

"A pretty ruthless guy, and now he's found Buddhism," Bai Hongbo remarked as he followed the man. "What a waste."

"Fuck you!" Lu Feng cursed at Bai Hongbo without turning around. He left the mountain that very day.

Twenty minutes later, at the foot of the mountain.

"Lu Feng didn't do it, and Changqing probably didn't either," Bai Hongbo told Su Tianyu. "He got really worked up when we talked just now. He even looked kind of depressed."

Su Tianyu nodded without saying anything more.

Back at the dump, Yu Mingyuan's friend left. Su Tianyu called Kong Zhenghui aside and asked, "Forget who did it for now. Let me ask you this: they took the cargo and held the men, but they still haven't shown themselves. What's that supposed to mean?"

"They want to make you sweat before they negotiate."

"What are they after?" Su Tianyu asked again.

"Even a complete idiot could figure out they're after the business! If they only wanted money, they'd have contacted you already."

"Zhenghui, the current split is thirty percent for our three families, thirty for Tang Baiqing, and forty for the Yu Family." Su Tianyu glanced around and lowered his voice. "If they're after the business, whose share would get diluted?"

Kong Zhenghui froze when he heard that.

"The Yu Family supplies the goods, and Tang Baiqing supplies the connections. In this business, only the labor can be replaced." Su Tianyu stared at Kong Zhenghui. "You understand what I mean, right?"

After that, the two stared at each other for a long while.

"Do you have any contacts at the docks?" Su Tianyu suddenly asked.

Kong Zhenghui caught on immediately. "Fuck. Now that you mention it, I just remembered the question you asked me last time the Dock Gang robbed us."

After eight that evening.

Sitting in the company office, Yu Mingyuan answered a call from Tang Baiqing. "Hello?"

"The Dock Gang got back to us. Apparently, the ones who took the cargo are armed criminals from outside Dragon City. They're after a big payout," Tang Baiqing said.

"Armed criminals from outside Dragon City? Then can you get the Dock Gang to mediate and talk to them?" Yu Mingyuan asked.

Tang Baiqing immediately replied, "I already asked. But Xu Hu asked me why the Dock Gang should help put us in touch."