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墨書 Inktalez
Zhang Qiu and Lan Ningshan stepped out of the elevator and passed by a janitor. After confirming the room number, they quickly walked over. With a beep, the door unlocked, and Zhang Qiu entered first, turning on the light and walking straight to the window to look down. There was no easier position than this; the hotel windowsill was only about a meter high from the rooftop, requiring no equipment at all.
“How is it? Is it convenient?” Lan Ningshan asked as she locked the door and approached.
Zhang Qiu stepped aside from the window and said, “Very convenient. Come look; from here, we can easily reach the top of the Blue Enchantress Building.”
Lan Ningshan leaned out to look down and laughed, “This really helps us; let’s go down immediately.”
“Wait,” Zhang Qiu lowered his arms from the windowsill and looked at Lan Ningshan. “Do you want to go too?”
“Of course.”
“Stay here and wait for me; I’ll go alone.”
In Zhang Qiu's mind, he should infiltrate alone, investigate secretly, and ultimately find out where Chen Hu and his gang were hiding. Doing this kind of work alone was always better than having two people as targets. More importantly, if any danger arose, he preferred to bear it himself. He couldn’t imagine how terrible things could be if Lan Ningshan, being a girl, fell into a tiger's den.
Lan Ningshan ignored Zhang Qiu and walked to the window, insisting, “I’m going in too; this is my mission, and I can’t listen to you on this matter.”
“Then I’ll have to contact Captain Wang,” Zhang Qiu said, linking up with Wang Hailong. “Captain Wang, I request to carry out the mission alone.”
Wang Hailong emphasized loudly in the communication, “Officer Blue is assigned to execute the mission with you; you are not allowed to change that.”
Zhang Qiu countered, “Isn’t entering from the rooftop also a change?”
“If you disagree, then the operation will be terminated immediately; both you and Officer Blue should withdraw.”
Wang Hailong’s attitude was firm; he would not agree to Zhang Qiu's request. He knew that with Zhang Qiu's personality, he would act impulsively and take risks. Lan Ningshan needed to keep him in check. Having her accompany him was also a safeguard; if Zhang Qiu got into trouble, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Director He.
After a brief silence, Zhang Qiu helplessly shrugged and said, “Alright, I agree.”
Wang Hailong ordered, "No more talking, you all act immediately!"
Zhang Qiu was the first to jump down, landing on top of the Blue Enchantress Building. After steadying herself, she observed her surroundings and thought it would be necessary to assign someone to patrol the top of the Daylight Fire Tower in the future, and to install high-intensity lighting to prevent others from taking advantage of them.
"Hey, what are you thinking about? Focus on the mission," Lan Ningshan said as she slapped Zhang Qiu on the shoulder. She noticed that Zhang Qiu was standing there in a daze, clearly not thinking about the task at hand.
Zhang Qiu snapped back to reality and replied, "Nothing, let's go."
"Wait," Lan Ningshan grabbed Zhang Qiu's arm and said seriously, "This mission is different; it's full of danger. You must not get distracted."
"I understand, Sister Lan. Don't worry about me. Besides, you’re here to protect me, right?"
"What time is it to still be joking? Hurry up!" Lan Ningshan's face flushed red, though it was hard to see in the dark.
As Lan Ningshan approached the entrance leading to the rooftop, Zhang Qiu suddenly pulled her back and asked, "What are you doing?"
"We can't go this way; it's too easy to be discovered," Zhang Qiu whispered.
"Then how should we go?"
"Follow me."
Zhang Qiu took Lan Ningshan's hand and walked to the edge of the building, pointing downwards. "We can go this way."
"But we don't have a rope," Lan Ningshan observed the wall on the second floor, which was so smooth that there was no place to step. She wasn't confident in her ability to climb down without falling.
"Hey, what are you laughing at?" The streetlight illuminated the area, and Lan Ningshan noticed Zhang Qiu smiling at her.
Zhang Qiu smiled without saying a word, suddenly pulling out a bundle of cloth from her jacket. It had been too dark earlier, and Lan Ningshan was focused on the case, so she hadn't noticed that Zhang Qiu had hidden such a large piece of fabric. She asked, "When did you prepare this?"
"Just now."
"Just now," Lan Ningshan looked around, "but no one is hanging sheets out to dry on the rooftop here?"
"What sheets? This is a bedsheet; I brought it over from my room."
Lan Ningshan was speechless as Zhang Qiu tied the bedsheet to the railing and said, "I'll go down first and see if there are any open windows. If I find a way in, I'll call you."
"Okay, be careful."
Zhang Qiu wrapped the bedsheet around her waist and jumped out, turning to land on the edge of the building. Lan Ningshan gasped in shock and scolded, "What are you doing? Showing off? Safety first!"
"I'm going down now."
Zhang Qiu ignored her concern and gradually descended using the rope. Below, the lights were bright and dazzling. Fortunately, pedestrians were all looking down as they walked, so no one paid attention to the air above; otherwise, Zhang Qiu would have been spotted.
Zhang Qiu stepped onto a corner of the second-floor windowsill, gripping tightly to the only bedsheet she had. Leaning in to look inside, she saw that not only were the curtains drawn, but the lights were also off. She tried pushing the window, but it was locked from the inside and wouldn't budge. Feeling helpless, she climbed back up and moved to another spot. After four attempts, she finally found an open window; however, there were people inside.
On the west side of the room hung a large Eight Steeds Painting. A middle-aged man with short hair and a bald head, who had some extra flesh on his face, lounged on the sofa smoking leisurely. This man was Chen Hu from Azure Blue Rose; Zhang Qiu had encountered him once before when he stood on the second-floor platform watching them fight while she was looking for Jiang Xue.
Next to Chen Hu stood two burly men covered in tattoos. Sitting across from them on the sofa was a man whom Zhang Qiu had seen earlier—the Plaid Shirt Man. On the table lay two Password Boxes side by side; although Zhang Qiu couldn't see what was inside them, she could guess with high certainty.
Seeing that Zhang Qiu had been gone for a long time without calling her or coming back up, Lan Ningshan felt anxious but didn't dare to speak loudly. In a moment of desperation, she grabbed the bedsheet and climbed down. Just as Zhang Qiu was deeply focused on observing, she suddenly had an idea and discreetly took out her phone to record video when suddenly a foot landed on her shoulder. Startled, Zhang Qiu was about to throw a punch when she heard an extremely familiar voice—it was none other than Lan Ningshan.
Zhang Qiu held Lan Ningshan's legs with one arm, slowly lowering her down, and whispered, "Sister Lan, why are you here? It's so dangerous."
"I saw you weren't coming up and couldn't help but worry. I didn't dare to shout. So, did you find anything?"
"Of course I did. Look."
Zhang Qiu tugged at the bedsheet with one hand while holding Lan Ningshan with the other, unable to point anything out. Fortunately, only one window was lit. Lan Ningshan looked down and nearly gasped, whispering, "Isn't that him? I didn't expect us to find him so easily."
"The bald man across from us is Chen Hu, the leader of Azure Blue Rose."
"So what do we do now? Should we take action?"
"Let's wait a bit longer. They're still in the middle of a transaction. Once they're done, we can sneak in and find their hiding place."
"I think we should contact Captain Wang and have him lead a team in to catch them red-handed."
"That won't work. If Captain Wang brings people in, they'll definitely hide the goods. By then, he won't find anything, and it will be a wasted effort. We should stick to the original plan and locate their hiding place."
"Alright, I'll follow your lead." In terms of action, aside from Zhang Qiu refusing to let her accompany him, Lan Ningshan was more than willing to listen to Zhang Qiu.
Zhang Qiu and Lan Ningshan remained hanging outside the window, watching the entire transaction between Chen Hu and the Plaid Shirt Man. Zhang Qiu had placed his phone against the window frame to record everything happening inside the room. During this time, Lan Ningshan suggested going up to the roof to wait, but Zhang Qiu was too anxious to relax; who knew when the transaction would suddenly end? If they weren't there to keep an eye on it, they might miss a good opportunity.
Zhang Qiu's arm was already sore and numb, and he was sweating lightly. Lan Ningshan wasn't much better; he could feel her body trembling slightly. Zhang Qiu suggested several times that Lan Ningshan go wait above and call her if anything happened, but she insisted on staying with him.
As time passed minute by minute, the Plaid Shirt Man finally stood up and reached out his right hand toward Chen Hu. Chen Hu leaned forward to shake hands but remained seated on the sofa. After their handshake concluded, the Plaid Shirt Man picked up a Password Box from the table and left the room. Chen Hu handed another Password Box to someone beside him, though it was unclear what was said.
A minute later, as the last person left the room, it went dark inside. Zhang Qiu immediately said, "Sister Lan, the opportunity has come!"
Lan Ningshan was taken aback for a moment, then quickly regained her composure. Zhang Qiu protected Lan Ningshan as they approached the window. After Lan Ningshan pushed the window open and entered, Zhang Qiu followed her inside. The two of them made their way to the door, where Zhang Qiu pressed his ear against it; it was quite noisy outside.
Strange, aren't people not allowed to go up to the second floor? Zhang Qiu had never been to the second floor of Azure Blue Rose, so he asked Wang Hailong through the communication device.
"Captain Wang, are guests allowed on the second floor of Azure Blue Rose?"
"They are allowed, but there is a rule: only regular customers are accepted."
"Surely they can't be regular customers from the start?"
"That's something we don't know. We're police officers and we don't usually go to places like this, so there are many things we're actually unaware of. We learned about the 'regular customers only' rule from some thugs we arrested."
"Got it."
Zhang Qiu was initially pondering how to get out, but since the second floor wasn't exclusively for Azure Blue Rose's staff, it made things easier. To do this kind of work, one must navigate through murky waters. Zhang Qiu cracked the door open slightly and saw that there were indeed many people outside. The second floor of Azure Blue Rose was bustling with men and women walking around, and the music was louder than on the first floor, though still enough to rattle one's eardrums. Amidst the chaotic sounds, Zhang Qiu could still hear a few discordant notes.
"Are you ready? Let's go out and pretend to be customers."
Seeing Lan Ningshan nod, Zhang Qiu swung the door open wide and confidently joined the crowd outside; no one paid them any extra attention. Since it was Zhang Qiu's first time here, he followed Lan Ningshan closely behind the people in front while simultaneously observing their surroundings. He gradually realized that this place wasn't much different from the first floor; so why did Azure Blue Rose set up a regular customer area?
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