They Were Coming for Me

Chen Ying and Hua Shanrong headed toward the docks.

The reason the foreign devils had taken an interest in Hong Kong and Kowloon was that it was a rare natural deepwater harbor, with numerous inlets. Its natural advantages ranked among the best in all of Zhongzhou.

On their very first day after occupying the place, the foreigners had declared Hong Kong and Kowloon a permanent free-trade port, lowering customs duties to almost zero while placing virtually no restrictions on the circulation of finance and goods.

With its excellent harbor conditions, Hong Kong and Kowloon had rapidly developed from an obscure fishing village into a prosperous modern city.

Rapid development generally meant chaotic planning.

The Hong Kong and Kowloon docks were no exception. Although the naval harbor and deepwater port planned by the foreign devils themselves were orderly, the docks in the broader sense were quite chaotic.

Chaotic, but full of life.

Chen Ying's family rice shop had three warehouses here, mainly for storing its own grain and rice shipped in from various places. Lingnan, Siam, Jiaozhi, Luzon... all kinds of rice from Southeast Asia arrived in Hong Kong and Kowloon through middlemen before being taken into the Chen family's warehouses.

Uncle Qing normally handled things here.

He was a member of the household whom Granny Chen had brought down from the north.

"Brother Ying, what are we doing here? Aren't we supposed to go to Dragon City?"

Hua Shanrong looked uncomprehendingly at the bustling docklands. The streets were full of laborers who had just finished a shift, standing by the roadside eating cart noodles and rice noodle rolls as they waited to start the next round of work.

"Something's wrong."

Chen Ying shook his head.

Something about this whole affair had felt strange from the start, making Chen Ying give it more thought.

However foolish Wo On Sing's Uncle Generation might be, they would not direct their anger at him. As long as Wo On Sing remained a gang, they would not let their relationship with Dragon City turn too sour.

Looking back over the whole day:

First, he had heard in the car that Yisheng was spreading word that he had killed their Red Pole.

Ren Gang was indeed dead, but that had nothing to do with him. He had died after encountering something supernatural. If they wanted trouble, they should go looking for the Flower Princess.

Then there had been the inexplicable hostility from Mah Yau Wu, one of Wo On Sing's Uncle Generation, who had aimed his remarks straight at him.

Hua Shanrong belonged to their gang, so they could discipline him however they liked. But Chen Ying was an outsider and a guest. Mah Yau Wu had no business pulling rank on him.

On top of that, rumors outside claimed he was a disciple of Dragon City, and Mr. Wen had even told him to simply admit it...

It all gave Chen Ying a whiff of conspiracy.

Perhaps he was being overly suspicious, but someone was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

If that really was the case, he had to take a look at the docks.

Because if he were laying out a plot against someone, he would hold nothing back, casting an inescapable net to force his target into the trap.

The warehouses at the docks could very well be a weak point.

Chen Ying did not pause at all, striding toward the warehouses. He had come here twice before with Wu Jie, who had wanted to familiarize his "amnesiac" self with the Chen family's business.

Following the address, Chen Ying found three red-brick warehouses, with several seabirds perched on their white roofs.

An old man in a black long gown stood outside a warehouse, gazing blankly at the distant sea.

"Uncle Qing."

Chen Ying greeted the old man. He lived at the warehouses and also served as the Chen family's bodyguard. His face always wore a solemn air.

"Young master, what brings you to the warehouses today?"

Uncle Qing regarded Hua Shanrong behind Chen Ying warily. "And this is...?"

"Uncle, I'm Brother Ying's classmate. My name's Deng Rong."

Uncle Qing nodded slowly.

"Uncle Qing, I'd like to inspect the warehouses. Please open them up for me. Thank you."

"Did the young mistress give instructions?"

Uncle Qing forced a smile onto his face, but Chen Ying could plainly sense how exaggerated his acting was, like an adult humoring a child.

"No, A-Jie doesn't know about this. I'm worried someone might have tampered with the warehouses."

"I'm normally the only one here. When goods come in or go out, we always hire laborers we know. The last time we opened up was three days ago."

Uncle Qing took a key from his sleeve. "Since you want to look, young master, let's take a look."

The warehouses' iron doors opened one after another. All three were filled with mountainous stacks of rice sacks, numbering at least several thousand.

A-Jie really did listen to me and buy plenty of rice. But with this many sacks, where do I even start?

Chen Ying thought for a moment. Perhaps he was worrying too much.

Whoever was targeting him might not have thought this far and chosen the warehouses as the place to strike.

"Brother Ying, you really are a rich young master. All this rice..."

Hua Shanrong stared at the three warehouses in shock. Land was the most expensive thing in Hong Kong-Kowloon City right now. Even without the rice, these three warehouses alone were worth a considerable sum.

"Maybe I'm worrying too much..."

Chen Ying shook his head. With so much rice, even if he really wanted to inspect it, he had no idea how long it would take. Besides, they might not choose to strike here.

Uncle Qing stepped slowly forward, sniffing the air repeatedly. A hint of blue tinged his pale face.

"You guessed right, young master. Someone's brought us money."

Uncle Qing moved. Using both hands and feet, he scrambled rapidly over the rice piles like some hungry beast hunting prey, soon retrieving three small packages from the warehouse.

Each package was roughly the size of a brick, wrapped in layers of white paper bearing a red Two Lions Holding the Globe design.

"Siamese goods. Very pure."

Uncle Qing thought for a moment.

"Whenever the warehouses are opened or closed and laborers are hired, I'm always present. They must have hidden these here while I was away."

Uncle Qing looked gravely at Chen Ying. "If you hadn't come personally to warn me, young master, they would have slipped this past me. I must beg your forgiveness."

"Please, there's no need to say that. They planned this carefully and caught us unprepared."

Chen Ying looked at Hua Shanrong beside him.

"How much would these three packages be worth?"

"Brother Ying, I... I'm a Blue Lantern. I just make up the numbers in a fight. Besides, my boss doesn't deal in this stuff. I don't know how much it costs..."

Hua Shanrong looked troubled.

Most of the gangs in Hong Kong and Kowloon made enough to live on through gambling dens, brothels, valet parking, and loansharking.

Only a handful of ruthless men played the Two Lions Holding the Globe game.

"This much merchandise isn't a small sum. They must be using both the underworld and the law this time. Uncle Qing, please take these to the clinic and hand them all to Mr. Wen. Thank you."

Chen Ying thought for a moment. Since the other party had laid things out to this extent, each step was bound to lead into the next.

With Granny Chen holding the fort at the small building, nothing would go wrong there.

People constantly came and went at the shops. Any trouble there would only involve money, and problems involving money would never be major problems.

The warehouses should be where they had planted their mine. And since it was a mine, it was bound to explode.

If he were the one doing this, he would certainly have someone watching the target throughout. Since he had headed for the docks, they would notice something was wrong too.

Hua Shanrong stood out too much. And frankly, it was not that Chen Ying distrusted him, but that his abilities could not be relied upon.

The only person he could count on was Uncle Qing, who could locate high-grade drugs with a sniff.

And Mr. Wen, like Granny Chen, was one of his strongest trump cards and sources of support at present.

"All right. I'll take them over right away."

The good thing about Uncle Qing was that he never asked unnecessary questions. Once given a task, he would immediately carry it out.

Uncle Qing turned to leave, and Chen Ying hurriedly added instructions.

"Once you've handed them to Mr. Wen, find A-Jie and tell her to be extra careful."

"Brother Rong, I'll have to trouble you to make another trip. Run to the nearest police station, tell them you found contraband in this warehouse, and bring them here quickly..."

Chen Ying felt somewhat anxious. Things had reached this point, yet he still did not know who was targeting him from behind the scenes.

Wo On Sing? That made no sense.

Dragon City? Even if they wanted to win my gratitude and make me owe them a favor, why make such a huge affair of it?

The only possibility was Yisheng, but would they invest this much over a single Red Pole? A few gunmen could have done the job. Why arrange so many details?

As Chen Ying was thinking, a large group appeared ahead.

Their leader wore plain clothes, his pomaded hair slicked back. He looked to be in his forties and accustomed to a pampered life. He wore a white shirt and trousers with suspenders, with a revolver clipped to his side.

Five or six plainclothes officers accompanied him, followed by a large crowd of green-uniformed policemen. They all moved in to surround the warehouses.

Here they came, just as expected.

Chen Ying was about to approach when their leader waved a hand.

"Cuff him."

Several plainclothes officers immediately rushed forward with handcuffs.

Chen Ying frowned, held out both hands, and put on a handsome pair of silver bracelets.

"Officer, what is the meaning of this?"

"Chen Ying, right?"

The plainclothes officer leading them smiled.

"Hello, Young Master Chen. I'm Yan Ren, senior detective from Eastern District Three. Just call me A-Ren. We received a tip that someone's selling drugs here. Routine procedure. Please come back with us for questioning."

Chen Ying smiled at that.

"Of course. There's nothing I like more than cooperation between the police and the public. Investigate thoroughly, Inspector Yan. I'll cooperate fully."

"Good to hear."

Yan Ren waved his hand in satisfaction.

"Search the place."

The group immediately charged into the warehouse with their implements, using sabers and similar tools to slash open the rice sacks. They tossed the torn sacks down carelessly, sending white rice spilling everywhere.

Chen Ying watched the rice flying about like heaps of snow without saying a word.

"Young Master Chen, we received a very precise tip that someone is using your family's warehouses for illegal activities. Here's the search warrant."

Yan Ren walked forward in satisfaction and planted a foot on a sack of rice.

"Be thorough. Search carefully."

He waved a hand, then turned back with a chuckle.

"Sorry, Young Master Chen. My men are rather clumsy."

Chen Ying said nothing.

After more than ten minutes of activity, the entire warehouse was a wreck, but they still had not found what they were supposed to find.

Yan Ren frowned deeply at Chen Ying. Had he come too late after all?

"Inspector Yan, thank you."

Chen Ying spoke quietly.

"Young Master Ying, you're not threatening me, are you?"

Yan Ren chuckled.

"How would I dare threaten a senior police officer like you? I'm merely thanking you for pointing me in the right direction."

"What direction did I point you in?"

"I don't know who's setting me up. Thanks to that Immortal Pointing the Way move of yours, I finally know whom to ask."

"Still talking tough. Once we take you back, Young Master Ying, we'll have a nice long chat."

Chen Ying did not answer him, merely closing his eyes to rest.

Before long, Hua Shanrong appeared in the distance with a group of people.