Chapter 471: Chapter 407: Let Me See What’s Going On
After the phone connected, a languid voice spoke up, "My friend, I am truly delighted to hear your voice." It was none other than Mo Daidai.
Yang Xiao had grown accustomed to his lifeless demeanor and got straight to the point, "I’ve made up my mind, I’ll deal with Chairman Wu, and you help him overturn his case."
"It’s a deal," Mo Daidai replied with a laugh on the other end, "I’ll send you the information you need. You set off now, act precisely at 12 o’clock, and I will arrange for someone to take your friend to turn himself in, creating an alibi for him."
"The one surnamed Wu, his body must not be discovered, you have to make him disappear without a trace, without anyone—god or ghost—being the wiser. You know what to do," Mo Daidai emphasized.
With the Soul-Capturing Mirror in hand, of course, Yang Xiao knew what to do. The moment the call ended, a text message was sent his way. Upon opening it, he found densely packed text detailing Wu Peide’s current hideout and the surrounding security situation.
As expected of a crafty old fox, he worried that Fu Qingzhu, driven into a corner, might opt for a desperate mutual destruction, so he left Rongcheng ahead of time. He was now hiding in a hillside villa some ten-plus kilometers away from Rongcheng, manned by designated guards.
After reviewing the materials, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but take a deep breath. The message arrived just as the call ended, indicating that Mo Daidai must have been prepared well in advance. Yang Xiao had an eerie feeling that he was stepping onto a path that had been laid out for him by someone else.
"The car is waiting for you downstairs; the boss asks you to hurry," the man with sunglasses maintained his cold demeanor as if everyone owed him something.
"Hold on, I have a few last words for him," Yang Xiao said, turning back to the study. He quickly relayed the gist to Fu Qingzhu, instructing him to follow the arrangements that would come and that someone would take him away shortly. Everything was under control.
After that, Yang Xiao followed the man who had brought him downstairs to leave. In the underground parking garage, a different car awaited, pre-equipped with a duffle bag in the backseat. It contained a set of lightweight sportswear and a new pair of shoes, which, to Yang Xiao’s surprise, fit even better than those he had bought at the mall himself.
Besides that, there was a baseball cap and a face mask; Mo Daidai had prepared thoroughly.
"I will take you there now. The journey should take roughly half an hour; you can take a short nap, I’ll wake you when we arrive," the man said, starting the car and driving it out of the underground garage.
This matter was of great significance, leaving Yang Xiao with no desire to sleep. He closed his eyes and continuously went over the upcoming actions in his mind. The information from Mo Daidai was very detailed, showing that aside from Wu Peide, there were seven other people in the villa, out of which five were guards, and the remaining two were Wu Peide’s close subordinates and cadres of the Apostles Union.
It had already grown dark outside, with dense clouds overhead, no stars, and no moon. As soon as the car left the city, rain started to pour down, fierce and fast, the boundless curtain of rain as if intending to swallow everything. Watching the ceaseless drops slide down the car window, Yang Xiao sighed inwardly, acknowledging that indeed, this was perfect weather for a killing.
The car slowed to a stop, "Mr. Yang, we’ve arrived."
At these words, Yang Xiao slowly opened his eyes. The car had stopped under a tree, surrounded by endless sheets of rain. This place was a distance away from the hillside villa complex.
"We can’t get too close. The boss specifically instructed that you’ll have to walk this last stretch alone," the man said, his words loaded with implication.
Putting on the mask and adjusting the baseball cap, pressing its brim down low, Yang Xiao pulled open the car door into the torrential downpour.
Pulling out the black umbrella prepared in the car, he opened it, and his silhouette, along with the umbrella, gradually merged into the rain.
The hillside’s sparse lights shimmered through the rain as he climbed the challenging path. Wu Peide indeed knew how to choose a location—the villa complex was remarkably secluded. Yang Xiao had lived in Rongcheng for a long time but had never heard of it before. Moreover, the villa complex was an unfinished construction project. Except for a few villas that were handed over, most were abandoned, and Wu Peide was hiding in one of these delivered villas, number 7.
There was a gatehouse in front of the villa complex; the tin shed was lit, but no security guard was seen on the night shift. To be safe, Yang Xiao circled around and entered through a section of torn metal fencing. He didn’t head straight to villa number 7 but stopped near number 5. This distance was sufficient for him.
He had no intention of going inside; he had the Soul-Capturing Mirror, and its effective range had significantly increased. Hidden in a shadowy niche behind a wall in a narrow alley, the sides were piled with construction materials yet to be used, covered with waterproof tarps.
Lifting the tarp, Yang Xiao quickly located several neatly stacked large panes of glass. He put down his backpack, donned the Drama Robe, and with a thought, the Soul-Capturing Mirror materialized in his hand. The next second, Yang Xiao’s figure vanished from the spot.
He had entered the Mirror World where everything was almost identical to reality, only looking older as if filtered through the veil of time. This world had no rain, but the ground was still damp, with puddles here and there.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Xiao adjusted the angle, and the next instant, he appeared inside villa number 7. According to his reconnaissance, there were five people in the front and back yards and the first-floor living room, all guards. The number matched the intelligence provided by Mo Daidai exactly.
These people were all hired by Wu Peide with money; bluntly spoken, they were just paid to do a job and were not guilty of any major crime. Yang Xiao did not intend to make things difficult for them.
With a thought, and once his figure reappeared, Yang Xiao arrived in a sitting room on the second floor of the villa. Through a glass covered portrait hanging on the wall of the sitting room, Yang Xiao saw an old man seated on a sofa within the actual sitting room, dressed in a Sun Yat-sen suit.
The old man was rather fat, had a prominent beer belly, with striking creases on his forehead that formed the character "川," as if deep in thought, while also holding a cigar in his left hand.
This person was very familiar to Yang Xiao; he was their target for this mission, Chairman Wu—Wu Peide—whom he had met once before.
Apart from Wu Peide, there were two other people on the sofa opposite him, one was a middle-aged man in a crisp suit, and the other was a young man dressed in the latest fashion with dyed silver hair. Both of them were continuously talking to Wu Peide, who nodded from time to time.
Without guessing, it was known to be related to Fu Qingzhu.
Yang Xiao also noticed something else—the villa’s second floor did not have any surveillance cameras. Presumably, Wu Peide was also worried about his secret conversations with his confidants being leaked.
Yang Xiao had a pretty good grasp of the situation inside and outside the villa; next was simply a matter of patiently waiting. The agreed time to act with Mo Daidai was 12 o’clock sharp. With the remaining time, he used the Soul-Capturing Mirror’s ability to scout the vicinity of several villas to confirm there were no ambushes.
In the final 5 minutes, Yang Xiao began to warm up; after stretching his whole body, performing 10 push-ups and 20 squats, he then took a deep breath with the Soul-Capturing Mirror in his left hand and the Ghost Duster in his right, closed his eyes, and when he reopened them the next moment, he made his move. He pulled Wu Peide and the other two directly through the glass in the painting, into the Mirror World.
Wu Peide and his two companions had no time to react, not even a chance to scream, before they vanished from the real world.
Other than Wu Peide, who barely managed to keep from falling, the other two fell flat on their faces. The next second, Yang Xiao swung his horsetail whisk, and before they could even get up, they were smashed to pieces, splattering bones, flesh, viscera, and all sorts of other messy substances against the wall.
Seeing the turn of events, Wu Peide turned to flee, but Yang Xiao was not in a hurry. The moment he pulled them into the Mirror World, he got a general idea of their capabilities; he could leave the two who were smeared on the wall out of the equation. Wu Peide wasn’t very powerful, probably only slightly stronger than a Resentment Sect team leader Yang Xiao had once killed, but definitely not as formidable as Granny Hong.
Switching the Ghost Duster for a Human Bone Staff, Yang Xiao chased after Wu Peide. The staff was more to his liking; it consumed less energy, the only downside being that it wasn’t suitable for area attacks.
Yang Xiao kicked open the door of the sitting room. He wasn’t particularly anxious. After all, this was the Mirror World and without his permission, Wu Peide couldn’t escape.
To his surprise, Wu Peide didn’t run far and stood at the other end of the corridor, just outside another door, staring right at him, "Who exactly are you and do we have any grievances?"
Yang Xiao didn’t bother to respond, simply swinging his staff, but Wu Peide was clearly prepared, immediately pushing the door open and ducking inside. However, Yang Xiao wasn’t worried because the Human Bone Staff’s strike had already locked onto Wu Peide and was sure to hit him.
Yang Xiao himself had been struck by the Human Bone Staff before and knew how tricky it was to deal with—if not for having the Soul-Capturing Mirror in hand, he might have fallen that time.
But soon, Yang Xiao sensed something was amiss—the strike... it missed, as if it had been swallowed by some bizarre force.
How could that be?
Last time, he had evaded the attack by hiding in the Mirror World. What made Wu Peide capable of evading it—by what right?
It seemed that this certainly had something to do with his ability. Fu Qingzhu had once warned him that this old fellow possessed a key that could open any door in front of him, and that the key might also have an offensive characteristic that could turn people into dust.
"Let’s see what’s going on," Yang Xiao walked over, slightly curious but far from panicked. After all, the level of Wu Peide’s spiritual power was clear to see. Even if he had something powerful in his hands, he wouldn’t be able to use much of it. It might as well be a gift to Yang Xiao.
Wearing his sister Drama Robe, Yang Xiao felt very strong. Standing outside the door, he gently pushed it open, revealing a dimly lit small room. Wu Peide hadn’t attacked him in the moment the door opened, which was somewhat unexpected.
Stepping inside, the room was dirty and a mess. Yang Xiao walked around; the room’s setup was very odd, with that old green refrigerator, a red-shelled vintage television set placed directly in front, and in front of the TV stood a leather single-seater sofa with armrests on both sides. The sofa was filthy, surrounded by piles of garbage.
It was only upon closer inspection that Yang Xiao realized it wasn’t actually a leather sofa but an old fabric one, covered in a greasy layer of oil, as if... something had decayed on it.
