Old Hand

Whew! Whew! Whew!

Li Guangzong had been in a daze for the past few days, and in his intermittent state, he couldn't distinguish whether it was light or dark outside the window.

The sound of the wind may not reach my ears, but only my own breathing remains clear.

He was locked in a classroom in the laboratory building.

Each class at the martial arts school only has one or two lab sessions per week, and some classrooms are never used, with the desks and chairs inside covered in dust.

Li Guangzong, with his acupoints sealed, lay on a platform made of eight tables pushed together, without a drop of water or a grain of rice, both hungry and exhausted.

But what terrified him most was not hunger or cold, but rather a faint, lingering warmth deep within his bones.

Click!

The classroom door opened again, and Yuan Chongxiao walked in, casually placing the large brown teacup filled with strong tea on a corner of the platform.

Li Guangzong's sensitive skin seemed to sense the heat emanating from the teacup; his body hair turned slightly white, and his eyes stared blankly.

"Why are you always so afraid of me? Did the principal say something bad about you when he arrested you? He must have mentioned that I had other jobs before."

Yuan Chongxiao said slowly, "Actually, I used to be just a monk."

"Back then, I wasn't good at interrogation; what I was good at was making people feel at ease and comfortable."

He placed both hands on Li Guangzong's body, one hand on his lower abdomen and the other on his chest.

"Your practice has gone astray, and there are too many impurities in your body, which is why the cold poison has seeped into your bones."

"Others wouldn't know the truth, and even if they crippled your martial arts, they wouldn't be able to dispel your cold poison. But fortunately, I know the Snow Grain Art inside and out."

"Over the past few days, while I've been helping you gradually dissipate your internal energy, I've also been removing the cold poison. You should be able to clearly feel your body improving."

Li Guangzong was held down by his palms, and his cheeks gradually regained some color, but his lips were trembling.

Originally, this person was eager to sell goods and buy medicine at the Ghost Market because he realized that the cold poison was too deep and wanted to take medicine to stop it as soon as possible.

However, after being captured, the cold poison actually became something Li Guangzong relied on.

Interrogation techniques that delve to a certain level all touch upon the level of the lingering cold poison.

That kind of numbness would make him sneer fearlessly.

But Yuan Chongxiao was able to efficiently dissolve even the drug impurities and turbid cold toxins that had accumulated over decades and penetrated deep into his bones.

Although Li Guangzong couldn't say for sure whether he had been lying there for three or four days, he felt that the cold poison and his internal energy would be completely eliminated within the day.

What happens after everything is completely destroyed?

A dead pig isn't afraid of boiling water, but is a live pig?

In front of these people, he didn't even have the chance to commit suicide.

I should have confessed back then.

Feeling your strength slipping away, layer by layer, collapsing, and being powerless to stop it—that was incredibly painful.

I should have stopped a few years ago. Back then, the cold poison wasn't so severe, and I had more money on hand. If I had invested in a legitimate business, my life would have been more secure.

Yuan Chongxiao noticed the regret in his expression and spoke again calmly.

"Oh, because he's a monk, he's also good at making people regret things."

"Unfortunately, I am merely a monk, not a master; therefore, all those I have dealt with are filled with regret but have not yet come to their senses."

A bunch of people who only regret their mistakes but never truly repent.

Neither teaching nor suffering can change them; only death can make them harmless.

It's snowing again outside the window, and the wind has picked up, drowning out the soft noises inside the classroom.

The hands on Yuan Chongxiao's watch gradually moved to twelve o'clock.

He picked up his teacup and walked out of the classroom.

Yuan Zhonglü stood in a static posture in the corridor, his hands folded in front of his lower abdomen, his face facing the wind and snow outside.

Feng Jianhua sat on a public bench in the corridor, his arms resting on the armrests, his head leaning back against the wall, emitting soft snoring.

"Fallen down again?"

Yuan Chongxiao glanced at it and said to his daughter, "The person inside gave us a website address, as well as his own account password."

The father and daughter walked down the corridor to the computer room and asked the computer teacher, who was playing games inside, for help.

Hearing their conversation, Feng Jianhua gradually woke up, yawned, and went over to check.

"How about it?"

The computer teacher, a pretty woman, adjusted her glasses and replied, "They're very careful; they've deleted all the previous transaction records."

"Luckily, the vice principal also asked about their tone of voice during their previous conversation. I imitated it, so there shouldn't be any flaws."

After a while, several messages popped up on the other end.

The computer teacher replied with two messages.

"It's settled. They've decided on the location— the Guangling Eastern Suburb Science and Technology Park. We can suggest the time."

Feng Jianhua said, "Then four o'clock in the afternoon."

Yuan Zhonglü suddenly said, "That science park is quite large. Don't you have a more detailed location?"

The vice principal said, "This is how they usually communicate. They only have a general location, and once the people and goods arrive there, the other party will contact them soon afterward."

Yuan Zhonglü frowned. "In that case, they will definitely continue to observe us in secret. We need to find at least one person to impersonate Li Guangzong."

Feng Jianhua said leisurely, "That's how people who work in the Ghost Market are. Sometimes they're ruthless and tough, making people think they're incredibly audacious, but other times they're very cautious."

Yuan Chongxiao unscrewed the lid of the teacup and took a sip.

"Disguise is nothing difficult."

He, the vice principal, wasn't just skilled in martial arts.

Feng Jianhua made the decision. "Alright, we'll set off in a bit, in two groups, one openly and one covertly."

"We must make sure to catch everyone who comes to meet and receive the goods, as well as those who might be hiding in the shadows observing."

The martial arts school mobilized a total of ten people this time, with the principal and vice principal each leading a group.

After the vice principal changed his clothes, he led a group of people in a car, pretending to be delivering goods.

Feng Jianhua and his group pretended to be tourists.

However, when they arrived at the Eastern Suburb Science and Technology Park, they discovered that the situation was somewhat different from what they had expected.

Feng Jianhua, disguised as a middle-aged man, whispered, "Why are there so many people?"

This science park is open to visitors, but tickets are required.

The buildings inside reportedly house branches of several technology companies, who showcase their products in the halls.

The large screen continuously displayed demonstration images of these products, along with narrators introducing their future prospects.

However, not many people are interested in this kind of thing.

Especially during a cold snap, there should be even fewer tourists.

When they arrived, they found banners hanging everywhere, and groups of young people, all in high spirits.

Yuan Zhonglü looked at the large characters on the banner, then took out his phone to check.

"Is there some kind of robotics competition finals being held here recently?"

"This competition reportedly started the year before last, selecting winners from student submissions across Southeast China."

"Now that it's the finals, even with this awful weather lately, quite a few people still insist on coming to watch."

Feng Jianhua shook his head. "With such heavy traffic these days, flights and trains are practically impossible to travel. These people can still manage to come here; they either live nearby or have a lot of free time."

Yuan Zhonglü smiled and said, "Science and technology are essential for national prosperity, and it's a good thing that everyone cares about science and technology."

Feng Jianhua thought for a moment, then looked at the young people's enthusiastic and heated discussion, and couldn't help but smile, "That's true."

Just like back then, everyone would hear about which battalion's artillery was particularly accurate, or which company's swordsmanship was exceptionally well-taught.

They couldn't resist watching and learning, and some even wanted to go on stage and spar.

However, the people from the Ghost Market deliberately chose this location, which made Feng Jianhua and his team's operation more difficult.

"Hmph, that cunning scoundrel, trying to take advantage of these promising young men."

"But once you're in there, how can you possibly escape the eyes of an old hand like me?"

Feng Jianhua cursed under his breath, then roused himself, appearing to be a tourist strolling around, but in reality, he was keeping a close eye on everything around him.

Without making a sound, he had a clear understanding of the behavior of the people in the vicinity.

As they walked, they noticed not only the lively discussions among the young men and women, but also their works.

Although they are called robots, very few of them are actually humanoid.

Some look like headless and clawless iron dogs, while others resemble remote-controlled helicopters.

Some of them even looked like toy jeeps.

Even worse, some are simply chubby plastic pipes, gurgling and slowly moving forward on the ground.

Feng Jianhua is not only a seasoned veteran, but also someone who is quite willing to learn about new things.

Yuan Zhonglü himself was also a young man.

But after all, they were just a martial arts school, and their impressions of robots were mainly limited to various movies and TV shows.

The technology in science fiction films is naturally much more advanced than in reality, and they have little idea what robots in reality have actually developed into.

These strangely shaped so-called robots I saw this time were actually just student projects.

They found it rather strange.

Feng Jianhua suddenly sensed something and turned to look.

It turned out to be just a photographer taking a group photo of several students. Perhaps due to the camera angle, he unintentionally captured himself in the picture.

He strained his ears and heard someone on the other end also expressing frustration, saying they had shot off-center and needed to reshoot.

Upon closer inspection, the photographer appeared perfectly normal.

Feng Jianhua frowned slightly, looked around, but still didn't find anyone suspicious.

Meanwhile, in another room in a corner of the science park...

Several people were rapidly operating the computer.

"The robot spider's scan results are in. Centered on the delivery person, there are indeed several suspicious individuals around them."

Someone reported to the sharp-looking man with short, tousled hair wearing a black sweater.

"No firearms or similar items were detected, but their faces looked somewhat abnormal."

The man with short, tousled hair stroked the stubble on his chin and looked at the screen.

Several 3D models of human heads appeared on the screen, and their faces were being reconstructed according to normal bone structure.

The man with the tousled hair had a sudden inspiration. "Add white hair and beards to the fake Li Guangzong and all these other men's faces."

The subordinates quickly complied.

"Feng Jianhua?!"

The man with the tousled hair recognized the infamous Principal Golden Knife, his expression turning grim. "It was actually this old devil who personally came..."

(End of this chapter)