Chapter 85: Taking an Unconventional Path

The afternoon rain dragged on for a very long time, not finally easing until eight o’clock at night.

Because of the rain, the streets lay under a murky, leaden gloom. Since six in the evening, there had been hardly any pedestrians at all.

A little after eight, the lights in Li Wensheng’s home suddenly went out.

Seeing this, the man at the window on the third floor, diagonally opposite to the left, hurriedly instructed someone beside him to fetch Chen Wenqi.

Chen Wenqi was eating dinner in the living room. Hearing the report, she immediately set down her chopsticks and came over.

At the window, she took the binoculars handed to her by a man nearby and studied the building intently.

After watching for a moment, Chen Wenqi lowered the binoculars and ordered, “Tell Group Four to keep a tight watch on the front door. If anyone comes out, come back at once and report it.”

“Yes, Section Chief.”

After one man left, a middle-aged fellow with a square face asked in a low voice, “Section Chief, if the lights went out so early, he must be about to make a move. Shouldn’t we go over there?”

“Who said the lights out means he has to act?”

The square-faced man froze. At that moment, Chen Wenqi set the binoculars on the nearby table and turned back toward the living room, giving orders as she went.

“Watch the balcony, the windows, and the rooftop. Given his temperament, there’s a very good chance he’ll take an unusual route.”

Unusual. The square-faced man curled his lip disdainfully, picked up the binoculars, and continued his watch.

At two in the morning, the hour of deepest sleep, even those secretly keeping watch over Li Wensheng’s home were growing drowsy.

Just as the square-faced man lowered the binoculars and yawned, a black shadow suddenly appeared on the balcony of Li Wensheng’s home, then sprang downward.

Li Wensheng lived on the fourth floor, thirteen meters above the ground. Below was a stone-paved road. To leap from that height was to invite death if one was unlucky, or crippling injury if one was lucky.

But that shadow was clearly not gambling on luck.

As he dropped past the third floor, both hands shot out like lightning and seized the third-floor balcony.

When he fell to the second floor, he reached out again and caught the balcony there.

Those two grips on the balconies took away most of the force and weight; when he landed, there was only the faintest sound.

By the time the shadow vanished into an alley nearby, the square-faced man with the binoculars had only just managed to close his mouth.

Though he had openly scoffed at Chen Wenqi’s claim that Li Wensheng would take an unconventional route, he had been brought here by her and trusted enough to be left at the window precisely because he was meticulous in everything he did.

Even if he did not agree, he still kept his eyes fixed on the target. Even when yawning, his half-lidded gaze had remained on Li Wensheng’s room, and the moment he saw the shadow, he raised the binoculars at once.

To see that black figure leap from the balcony and actually use the air to catch the balconies and dissipate the impact left him so stunned that his mouth gaped wide enough to swallow a fist.

After closing his mouth, the man immediately ran to the living room.

“Section Chief! Section Chief!”

On the sofa, Chen Wenqi was sleeping like a fairytale princess. At once she opened her eyes.

“What is it?”

“Section Chief, that room, the room—”

Chen Wenqi threw off the blanket over her, sat up, and glared with her phoenix eyes. “Speak clearly.”

The man steadied his breathing and forced down the shock in his heart. “Section Chief, just now a black shadow jumped from the balcony of Li Wensheng’s room.”

“Jumped down!” Chen Wenqi’s face was full of astonishment.

“Yes, but he was all right. He grabbed the balconies on the third and second floors in midair, and when he landed, nothing was wrong with him at all.”

Chen Wenqi’s large eyes were filled with disbelief. She knew Li Wensheng was formidable and possessed excellent physical condition, but to jump from the fourth floor and come away completely unharmed was still far too outrageous.

“Are you certain he was all right?”

“Section Chief, I’m certain. I saw it with my own eyes. After he landed, he immediately slipped into the alley beside the building, with no sign of injury or inconvenience at all.”

Only after several seconds did Chen Wenqi accept such an absurd thing.

That black shadow had to be Li Wensheng. Li Wensheng had escaped the watch of the four-man team, yet Chen Wenqi did not panic.

She knew how capable Li Wensheng was, and she had long since made preparations.

“Send someone to notify Li Guangyi and tell him to keep a tight watch.”

“Yes, Section Chief.”

The square-faced man turned and instructed someone beside him to notify Li Guangyi.

Chen Wenqi rose from the sofa, tugged her trench coat more snugly around herself, and headed for the door while issuing orders. “Tell the other teams to go to Li Wensheng’s room.”

Soon after, Chen Wenqi arrived at the door of Li Wensheng’s room. She took out the key she had long ago obtained from the landlord and unlocked the door.

The room was neat and orderly, the furniture arranged with great care.

Chen Wenqi swept her gaze around and walked into the bedroom.

The bedroom too had been tidied up very neatly, except that on the bedside table lay a document.

Picking it up, Chen Wenqi wrinkled her delicate nose.

She opened the document, which gave off a foul smell, glanced at it, and stuffed it back inside.

Then she looked around the bedroom once more and left with the others.

By then, the remaining three watch groups had also arrived.

Dozens of people gathered in the corridor, alarming the residents in the surrounding rooms.

If the nearby rooms had all been occupied by ordinary people, no one would have dared to come out. But that was not the case.

“Who are you people?” Old Ox shouted, pistol raised.

The people in the corridor turned back, exposing Chen Wenqi at the doorway to Old Ox’s view.

Old Ox had only seen Chen Wenqi once, but her appearance was unforgettable.

“Why is she here? What is her connection to the Section Chief?” Old Ox was deeply puzzled.

“Old Ox, what’s going on?”

As he hesitated, Fierce Gunner and Scholar came out of a room nearby.

Just as Old Ox was about to answer, Chen Wenqi spoke first.

“It seems Li Wensheng told you nothing. In that case, it would be best if you acted as though you knew nothing at all, so as not to waste his good intentions.”

As she spoke, she walked up to Old Ox and handed him the document. “This file was what your military intelligence service was looking for, so I’m returning it to your military intelligence service.”

Old Ox stared at the document in surprise.

He knew this foul-smelling file was the one containing the currency reform technology.

But how had it ended up in Chen Wenqi’s hands? And why wasn’t she taking it as credit for herself? The currency reform technology file was a tremendous achievement; once the document was in hand, she could claim great merit.

Seeing that Old Ox did not reach out, Chen Wenqi tossed the document onto him and strode toward the stairway with her long legs.

After Chen Wenqi and the others left, Big Ox crouched down and picked up the file.

“Old Ox, what’s going on? Where is the Section Chief?” Fierce Gunner asked blankly.

“I don’t know either, but I’ve seen that woman before. She knows the Section Chief.”

“She knows him? What was she doing coming here with people in the middle of the night to find him?”

When Old Ox and Scholar remained silent, Fierce Gunner went on, “Come on, let’s go to the Section Chief’s place and take a look.”

After saying that, Fierce Gunner started toward Li Wensheng’s room, but after only one step he was pulled back by Scholar.

“Scholar, what are you doing?”

Scholar shook his head solemnly. “What that woman just said was right. Since we know nothing, we should not go poking around and disappoint the Section Chief’s good intentions.

“As for what it is—don’t forget who the Section Chief is.”

Fierce Gunner’s expression changed dramatically. “You mean that woman just now was...”

Scholar hurriedly cut him off. “Don’t say it. Just pretend we know nothing. The boss will certainly not ask either.”

Fierce Gunner froze for a moment, then nodded slightly.

After that, the three of them returned to their rooms separately, as if nothing at all had happened.