Chapter 105
They were in a big oil tank, empty, with the pervasive smell of rust. The smell was like tiny, small bugs invading their nostrils. There was only a little light leaking in from the crack above their heads.
Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan were cramped together; he was almost entirely carrying her.
Yue ge had ‘felt bad’ about putting them in the oil tank temporarily, saying that it was to avoid the police. However, it was obviously also a precautionary measure, and a means of control. In this way, they would have no idea which direction the boat was travelling in, and where it was going.
The tank was on the aft deck of the boat and there was no movement in their immediate surroundings. Yue ge and his underlings had probably decided there was no need to watch over them all the time. Jian Yao raised her head and leaned against Bo Jinyan’s chin. Finally, she sighed and said, “Truly, the will of heaven supersedes man’s.”
Her Mr. Bo, who had thrown off all restraint in his behaviour for the past half hour, had apparently recovered his cold and arrogant demeanour by now. Despite their terrible circumstances, he replied in a leisurely manner, “No, Jian Yao, there’s no need to be depressed. This is just a slight deviation from my original master plan. After all, no one can anticipate everything. It could even be that a better opportunity is brewing, because, where previously we were on the outside making arrangements, now we are in the game ourselves.”
Jian Yao pursed her lips in a smile. In truth, without batting an eyelid, this criminal psychologist had more or less worked out the situation. Zhu Tao had also mentioned Smiling Snake, the leader of the newly emerging small criminal gang who was secretive and methodical. They did not know how Smiling Snake had gotten wind of the information they had, which he had planned to seize from them today. However, Smiling Snake had suffered defeat at the hands of Zhu Tao a few days ago, so it made sense that he would seize the information and offer it to the most powerful organisation in the southwest, Buddha’s Hand. Although Bo Jinyan had taken the opportunity to pass himself off as the man they had killed, Smiling Snake, this was actually something he was rather reluctant to do. But, where psychological warfare was concerned, victory and defeat are just separated by a hair’s breadth. Today, she had quietly watched as, through his speech and manner, he had come across as slightly probing and offensive, really convincing Yue ge that he was Smiling Snake. If what they were doing now could get them into the heart of Buddha’s Hand, that would be an unexpected harvest. Once they got there, though, would they still be able to keep up this false identity?
Greatly perturbed, Jian Yao held Bo Jinyan’s hand tightly. He had probably sensed her worries, for he unexpectedly chuckled and said, “Wife, let your husband worry about what comes next. Right now, I think you should sleep for a while and replenish your energy. After all, you are the fighting expert in our little team.”
Jian Yao could not help laughing. She made a soft sound of assent and laid her head on his chest. The boat rocked gently with the waves and the smell of the water lingered all around. It was such a small space, on the Jinsha river* with danger lurking on every side, yet Jian Yao unexpectedly felt a sense of tranquility.
*T/N 金沙江 (Jinsha jiang) – the upper reaches of the Yangtze river in Sichuan and Yunnan
“Jinyan ah . . .” she seemed to be about to fall asleep and asked hazily, “When will your eyes be able to see the light again?”
Bo Jinyan was silent for a long time before he took one of her hands and placed it on his eyes. Jian Yao felt his eyes open in the darkness, and his fine eyelashes brushed lightly against her fingers. Little by little, up and down, without words, yet, they surpassed thousands of words. Jian Yao’s tears burst forth, and she hugged his thin body tightly.
——
At this time, Yue ge was sitting in the bow, smoking a long, local cigarette*, but he was actually very calm. A bright moon shone on the surface of the river, the clear and crystalline water shimmered darkly, and the valleys were quiet. When he thought of how he had snagged such a perfect, bountiful harvest on this trip, and would most probably gain that person’s favour, he felt secretly pleased.
* T/N Interesting fact – Yunnan is China’s largest tobacco-growing region.
In reality, he was only a middle-ranked leader in Buddha’s Hand. However, they were a real criminal organisation, very different from those disorganised groups, those useless ruffians. Where underground power and influence in the southwest was concerned, Buddha’s Hand was the most secretive, and bowed to no one*. Naturally, this meant that some small groups, as well as newly emerging powers, all rushed headlong to gain the attention and favour* of Buddha’s Hand.
*T/N 可遇而不可求 (ke yu er bu ke qiu) – lit. can be encountered but cannot be asked/ pleaded with. Usually used to describe opportunities – if something is meant to be, it will happen, it cannot be forced.
*T/N 趋之若鹜 (qu zhi ruo wu) – lit. to rush like ducks, to scramble for something unattainable
Such as Smiling Snake.
Jian Yao had guessed correctly. When Smiling Snake’s organisation had been taken down by Zhu Tao, he had indeed sent a message to Buddha’s Hand, saying that he would get hold of information which was a matter of life and death to Buddha’s Hand. Of course, at Yue ge’s level, he had no idea what the information was about.
But, that person had always been cautious, and read people and situations very accurately. He had already issued the command to bring Smiling Snake and that intelligence before him. Thus, Yue ge was in no hurry to do anything to ‘Smiling Snake’, and had not forcibly seized the information. They could all be colleagues in future, right? Most crucially, Yue ge did not want to run counter to that person’s wishes; that would be acting blindly without thinking.
Moreover, Smiling Snake was blind, which was totally unexpected to Yue ge. However, those in this line of work protected themselves very well and did not easily reveal their identities. If they did so, they would long ago have come under the eagle eyes of the drug enforcement officers, who were always ready to pounce on them like vicious wolves. Yue ge, who had been with Buddha’s Hand for several years, did not even know what that person looked like. Mind you, there were plenty of odd people in the jianghu. In addition, that person’s laugh was so full of cunning, so insidious, that one knew straightaway that he had plenty of evil tricks up his sleeve. This was absolutely in line with the nickname, ‘Smiling Snake’. Anyway, if there were really some kind of conspiracy, who would send a blind man to impersonate Smiling Snake? Wouldn’t it be totally unnecessary to pretend to be blind? As he thought along these lines, Yue ge felt that it was even more credible that this person was Smiling Snake.
The night was quiet. As Yue ge slowly smoked his cigarette, he felt that the more dangerous a person’s life was, the more interesting and meaningful it was as well. He really loved the tranquil contentment that followed after danger . . .
A headlight.
A glaring light shone straight on them from a distant boat. The light was cold and harsh. Yue ge was so shocked that the cigarette almost dropped from his hand onto the deck. . . WTF, there was a situation!
His ‘brothers’ around him were also startled.
But it was too late!
A good number of boats approached from all sides, with armed police officers standing on deck. The red flag (PRC flag) fluttered at the prow of each boat. These were clearly the elite forces of the border police surrounding them!
Yue ge was suddenly overcome by a great sense of failure! He could not figure out how he had come under the watchful eyes of the police! Of course, he was even more ignorant of the fact that this was all because of the two people on the boat whom he had captured.The only thing that was crystal clear to him was that he had committed innumerable crimes and would be dead meat if the police caught him! Thus, after a moment’s panic, he threw the cigarette he was holding onto the deck in a violent gesture and yelled, “Brothers, whether we live or die depends on if we can charge through! All of you, grab your guns! Speed up! Let’s charge out of this river!”
……
Severely injured and with his torso swathed in bandages, cold-faced Zhu Tao stood on the deck of the central command boat. He watched the police forces attacking the ruffians until they were in disarray, he watched their boat try to flee down the river, but it was beaten back by the police so many times that they were almost cowering in submission. However, a shadow fell over his face as he remembered the missing Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan. Were they dead or alive? Were they on the boat, or not? They had to be found!
The boat capsized, it actually capsized!
Yue ge fell into the river. He looked at the gunshot wound in his stomach with incredulity as he slowly sank in the water. Gangsters both big and small were like ants who had fallen into the water, struggling frantically. The smaller boats of the police force were fast approaching them. The goods on the boat had all fallen into the water and were drifting away on the waves, including dozens of large oil tanks. Due to the speed of the water, the police were not in time to intercept them. In the darkness of night, several oil tanks looked like black cannonballs as they disappeared in the blink of an eye. The gangsters’ cries for help rose and fell with the swell of the waves of the torrential river, drowning out all other sounds.
Zhu Tao watched the oil tanks and goods floating away and urgently commanded, “Order the downstream salvage team to intercept those goods!” Then he immediately had his boat draw closer, hoping to see the figures of those two people in the black water, amid the remains of the boat.
But the night was boundless. Where could he find them?
Chapter 105
They were in a big oil tank, empty, with the pervasive smell of rust. The smell was like tiny, small bugs invading their nostrils. There was only a little light leaking in from the crack above their heads.
Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan were cramped together; he was almost entirely carrying her.
Yue ge had ‘felt bad’ about putting them in the oil tank temporarily, saying that it was to avoid the police. However, it was obviously also a precautionary measure, and a means of control. In this way, they would have no idea which direction the boat was travelling in, and where it was going.
The tank was on the aft deck of the boat and there was no movement in their immediate surroundings. Yue ge and his underlings had probably decided there was no need to watch over them all the time. Jian Yao raised her head and leaned against Bo Jinyan’s chin. Finally, she sighed and said, “Truly, the will of heaven supersedes man’s.”
Her Mr. Bo, who had thrown off all restraint in his behaviour for the past half hour, had apparently recovered his cold and arrogant demeanour by now. Despite their terrible circumstances, he replied in a leisurely manner, “No, Jian Yao, there’s no need to be depressed. This is just a slight deviation from my original master plan. After all, no one can anticipate everything. It could even be that a better opportunity is brewing, because, where previously we were on the outside making arrangements, now we are in the game ourselves.”
Jian Yao pursed her lips in a smile. In truth, without batting an eyelid, this criminal psychologist had more or less worked out the situation. Zhu Tao had also mentioned Smiling Snake, the leader of the newly emerging small criminal gang who was secretive and methodical. They did not know how Smiling Snake had gotten wind of the information they had, which he had planned to seize from them today. However, Smiling Snake had suffered defeat at the hands of Zhu Tao a few days ago, so it made sense that he would seize the information and offer it to the most powerful organisation in the southwest, Buddha’s Hand. Although Bo Jinyan had taken the opportunity to pass himself off as the man they had killed, Smiling Snake, this was actually something he was rather reluctant to do. But, where psychological warfare was concerned, victory and defeat are just separated by a hair’s breadth. Today, she had quietly watched as, through his speech and manner, he had come across as slightly probing and offensive, really convincing Yue ge that he was Smiling Snake. If what they were doing now could get them into the heart of Buddha’s Hand, that would be an unexpected harvest. Once they got there, though, would they still be able to keep up this false identity?
Greatly perturbed, Jian Yao held Bo Jinyan’s hand tightly. He had probably sensed her worries, for he unexpectedly chuckled and said, “Wife, let your husband worry about what comes next. Right now, I think you should sleep for a while and replenish your energy. After all, you are the fighting expert in our little team.”
Jian Yao could not help laughing. She made a soft sound of assent and laid her head on his chest. The boat rocked gently with the waves and the smell of the water lingered all around. It was such a small space, on the Jinsha river* with danger lurking on every side, yet Jian Yao unexpectedly felt a sense of tranquility.
*T/N 金沙江 (Jinsha jiang) – the upper reaches of the Yangtze river in Sichuan and Yunnan
“Jinyan ah . . .” she seemed to be about to fall asleep and asked hazily, “When will your eyes be able to see the light again?”
Bo Jinyan was silent for a long time before he took one of her hands and placed it on his eyes. Jian Yao felt his eyes open in the darkness, and his fine eyelashes brushed lightly against her fingers. Little by little, up and down, without words, yet, they surpassed thousands of words. Jian Yao’s tears burst forth, and she hugged his thin body tightly.
——
At this time, Yue ge was sitting in the bow, smoking a long, local cigarette*, but he was actually very calm. A bright moon shone on the surface of the river, the clear and crystalline water shimmered darkly, and the valleys were quiet. When he thought of how he had snagged such a perfect, bountiful harvest on this trip, and would most probably gain that person’s favour, he felt secretly pleased.
* T/N Interesting fact – Yunnan is China’s largest tobacco-growing region.
In reality, he was only a middle-ranked leader in Buddha’s Hand. However, they were a real criminal organisation, very different from those disorganised groups, those useless ruffians. Where underground power and influence in the southwest was concerned, Buddha’s Hand was the most secretive, and bowed to no one*. Naturally, this meant that some small groups, as well as newly emerging powers, all rushed headlong to gain the attention and favour* of Buddha’s Hand.
*T/N 可遇而不可求 (ke yu er bu ke qiu) – lit. can be encountered but cannot be asked/ pleaded with. Usually used to describe opportunities – if something is meant to be, it will happen, it cannot be forced.
*T/N 趋之若鹜 (qu zhi ruo wu) – lit. to rush like ducks, to scramble for something unattainable
Such as Smiling Snake.
Jian Yao had guessed correctly. When Smiling Snake’s organisation had been taken down by Zhu Tao, he had indeed sent a message to Buddha’s Hand, saying that he would get hold of information which was a matter of life and death to Buddha’s Hand. Of course, at Yue ge’s level, he had no idea what the information was about.
But, that person had always been cautious, and read people and situations very accurately. He had already issued the command to bring Smiling Snake and that intelligence before him. Thus, Yue ge was in no hurry to do anything to ‘Smiling Snake’, and had not forcibly seized the information. They could all be colleagues in future, right? Most crucially, Yue ge did not want to run counter to that person’s wishes; that would be acting blindly without thinking.
Moreover, Smiling Snake was blind, which was totally unexpected to Yue ge. However, those in this line of work protected themselves very well and did not easily reveal their identities. If they did so, they would long ago have come under the eagle eyes of the drug enforcement officers, who were always ready to pounce on them like vicious wolves. Yue ge, who had been with Buddha’s Hand for several years, did not even know what that person looked like. Mind you, there were plenty of odd people in the jianghu. In addition, that person’s laugh was so full of cunning, so insidious, that one knew straightaway that he had plenty of evil tricks up his sleeve. This was absolutely in line with the nickname, ‘Smiling Snake’. Anyway, if there were really some kind of conspiracy, who would send a blind man to impersonate Smiling Snake? Wouldn’t it be totally unnecessary to pretend to be blind? As he thought along these lines, Yue ge felt that it was even more credible that this person was Smiling Snake.
The night was quiet. As Yue ge slowly smoked his cigarette, he felt that the more dangerous a person’s life was, the more interesting and meaningful it was as well. He really loved the tranquil contentment that followed after danger . . .
A headlight.
A glaring light shone straight on them from a distant boat. The light was cold and harsh. Yue ge was so shocked that the cigarette almost dropped from his hand onto the deck. . . WTF, there was a situation!
His ‘brothers’ around him were also startled.
But it was too late!
A good number of boats approached from all sides, with armed police officers standing on deck. The red flag (PRC flag) fluttered at the prow of each boat. These were clearly the elite forces of the border police surrounding them!
Yue ge was suddenly overcome by a great sense of failure! He could not figure out how he had come under the watchful eyes of the police! Of course, he was even more ignorant of the fact that this was all because of the two people on the boat whom he had captured.The only thing that was crystal clear to him was that he had committed innumerable crimes and would be dead meat if the police caught him! Thus, after a moment’s panic, he threw the cigarette he was holding onto the deck in a violent gesture and yelled, “Brothers, whether we live or die depends on if we can charge through! All of you, grab your guns! Speed up! Let’s charge out of this river!”
……
Severely injured and with his torso swathed in bandages, cold-faced Zhu Tao stood on the deck of the central command boat. He watched the police forces attacking the ruffians until they were in disarray, he watched their boat try to flee down the river, but it was beaten back by the police so many times that they were almost cowering in submission. However, a shadow fell over his face as he remembered the missing Jian Yao and Bo Jinyan. Were they dead or alive? Were they on the boat, or not? They had to be found!
The boat capsized, it actually capsized!
Yue ge fell into the river. He looked at the gunshot wound in his stomach with incredulity as he slowly sank in the water. Gangsters both big and small were like ants who had fallen into the water, struggling frantically. The smaller boats of the police force were fast approaching them. The goods on the boat had all fallen into the water and were drifting away on the waves, including dozens of large oil tanks. Due to the speed of the water, the police were not in time to intercept them. In the darkness of night, several oil tanks looked like black cannonballs as they disappeared in the blink of an eye. The gangsters’ cries for help rose and fell with the swell of the waves of the torrential river, drowning out all other sounds.
Zhu Tao watched the oil tanks and goods floating away and urgently commanded, “Order the downstream salvage team to intercept those goods!” Then he immediately had his boat draw closer, hoping to see the figures of those two people in the black water, amid the remains of the boat.
But the night was boundless. Where could he find them?
