Chapter 531 - 546: Probing
On their first day in Hong Kong, An Ning and Zhao Pandi spent most of the night cleaning out sewers.
When the two returned, they discovered there wasn’t even a place to shower.
The nine-story building had no bathrooms.
Although each floor had a washroom with running water, the hundreds of people on each floor had to share five faucets. The wait would probably take all night.
On their first night in Hong Kong, the two of them stank enough to be smelled from a mile away.
At that moment, both of them were actually thinking, ’Maybe working at a nightclub wouldn’t have been so bad after all.’
’At least with our skills, we wouldn’t have been taken advantage of in a nightclub.’
Before dawn on the second day, An Ning and Zhao Pandi were woken up again. There was more work to do. This time, it was cleaning a large building.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the sewers. But when they entered the building, they realized there really was no such thing as a free lunch.
The entire building had just been constructed. Their job was a post-construction cleanup. The dust mixed with gravel was over ten centimeters thick.
After a full day of cleaning, they could shake several pounds of dirt off their clothes.
The worst part was, it was incredibly choking.
Yesterday it was the stench, today it was the suffocating dust. This Brother Hu was really doing everything in his power to make them submit.
However, the one good thing about cleaning the building was that the two of them had their own space. As a team, they were responsible for three floors.
In other words, they were the only two people on these three floors.
Zhao Pandi chose a spot where no one would come up and handed An Ning a small paper packet.
An Ning kept her spiritual power on high alert in case anyone approached.
After she opened the packet, she found a map of Hong Kong, Uncle Jiang’s address, and details about his personal connections.
The writing was tiny. Not a single word was wasted; it was all crucial information.
"Are you going to go?"
Zhao Pandi asked An Ning. An Ning asked back, "How do I get away?"
"Someone will take your place. No one can see your face clearly anyway."
Zhao Pandi already had a plan in place; she just wanted to know if An Ning wanted to go.
"Thanks. I’ll be back as soon as I can."
"Don’t worry, I have experience with this. Go on, and be careful. Director Zhao said you’re a good fighter, but I can’t be there to protect you this time. If you run into danger, someone will come to rescue you, so don’t worry."
"Thanks. Your ’close protection’ these past two days has certainly lived up to its name."
An Ning said half-jokingly, since the two of them had to squeeze into one bed at night.
Zhao Pandi smiled and agreed. "It’s my first time experiencing it too. Be careful with everything."
An Ning nodded and set off, wasting no more time.
She followed the route Zhao Pandi had arranged and made her way downstairs without issue.
Not long after An Ning left, someone with a similar build and identical clothes came up and started working with Zhao Pandi.
Meanwhile, An Ning left the building. Following Zhao Pandi’s instructions, she retrieved a specially marked trash bag from a garbage can, found a public restroom, changed her clothes, and quickly cleaned up.
She found a temporary ID and some money in her pocket. Following the marked route, she took a tram to Uncle Jiang’s residence.
A place where Uncle Jiang lived was bound to be for the rich and powerful, with excellent security measures.
But none of that was a problem for An Ning. According to her intel, Uncle Jiang had been cared for by his own subordinate ever since he fell into a coma, in a house halfway up the mountain.
No matter how well-defended a house on the mountainside was, there would always be loopholes.
An Ning successfully slipped through the mountain forest and entered Uncle Jiang’s villa without alerting anyone.
She spread out her spiritual power, scanning the area. No Jiang Xia.
’Hasn’t Jiang Xia arrived yet?’
Filled with suspicion, An Ning snuck onto the third floor, where Uncle Jiang was.
"Arrange for the master’s bath. Even though he is in a coma, we cannot be negligent in our care."
"Yes, Mr. Hao."
A maid in a work uniform bowed in agreement and went downstairs via a different route. The man, Mr. Hao, lingered for a moment before leaving in another direction.
An Ning matched Mr. Hao’s face with the intelligence from Zhao Pandi. He was Uncle Jiang’s personal secretary, always by his side, supposedly one of his most trusted men.
But when An Ning saw him, she could tell he was a born traitor. He didn’t look like a loyal person at all.
She wasn’t an expert in face-reading, but her spiritual power was extremely sensitive to a person’s emotions.
"Should I follow him?"
’Holy crap!’
That silent ’Holy crap!’ nearly caused An Ning to expose herself.
’How could I have forgotten about this spirit!’
Tao Quan, who had just emerged from the gourd, stood awkwardly against the wall with his head down, as if admitting his mistake.
"Sorry, I didn’t know I would scare you."
"It’s not your fault. I just forgot. Go follow him, but if he leaves the villa, don’t follow. Just come back and report."
An Ning watched as Tao Quan’s soul bounced along after the man.
She watched, puzzled. ’Is he that happy? Why?’
An Ning really couldn’t understand Tao Quan’s way of thinking, and she didn’t have time to waste. The reason she didn’t want Tao Quan going outside was that there were many powerful Mysticism practitioners in Hong Kong. Even Uncle Jiang’s house had been set up with a Feng Shui Formation.
Using her spiritual power as a shield, An Ning evaded the surveillance cameras and entered Uncle Jiang’s room.
Inside the room, Uncle Jiang lay on the bed, his face pale. If not for his faint breathing, one would have thought he was already gone.
An Ning walked over. After a check with her spiritual power, she was relieved. ’Good, I can fix this.’
Uncle Jiang’s problem wasn’t physical; it was related to Mysticism.
But whenever Mysticism came up, An Ning’s confidence wavered. She always felt she hadn’t even learned a tenth of what her master knew.
Regardless, the first step was to wake Uncle Jiang.
An Ning’s hand touched Uncle Jiang’s Heavenly Gate Acupoint. A mystical cleaning power flowed throughout his body, and a moment later, Uncle Jiang’s finger twitched.
He was like a person whose consciousness was awake but whose body was frozen.
Uncle Jiang opened his eyes, his blurry vision taking a while to adjust.
"Uncle Jiang, I know you can hear me. I’m short on time, so I’ll be brief."
"Jiang Xia has received the message and is on the way. I’ve discovered a Feng Shui Formation has been placed on your villa. Your personal secretary, Mr. Hao, is likely planning to betray you. Do you know if there’s anyone else behind this?"
Having just opened his eyes, Uncle Jiang was inundated with information from An Ning.
"I have my suspicions."
Uncle Jiang’s mind was sharp. He told An Ning his suspicions.
"Would killing them all help?"
"No, that would cause chaos. We can’t have chaos, at least not right now."
Uncle Jiang looked at the uncomprehending An Ning and said, "It still has to return home."
Uncle Jiang mouthed a single word, "Huaxia," and An Ning instantly understood the special circumstances of Hong Kong.
"I understand. I’ll find another way. For now, you need to keep pretending to be sick. I’ll leave you a few Magic Artifacts. If anyone tries to harm you, just throw one at them. The more accurate, the better."
An Ning gave Uncle Jiang several Magic Artifacts that others could only dream of, told him to continue feigning illness, and then returned the way she came to think of a counter-plan.
Tao Quan returned just in time, bringing her a piece of news that gave her the beginnings of an idea.
However, as An Ning was leaving, she wondered, ’Why hasn’t Jiang Xia arrived yet?’