Chapter 325 — The Falcon

Huang Shu's face was just as dark. The plan had failed—failed utterly.

Earlier, when the Jing Mountain police had still not moved to arrest Yang Ce, Huang Shu had been able to console himself by saying that police work required evidence; they would surely have to study that videotape thoroughly before they made a move.

And before making an arrest, they would have to lay everything out carefully to avoid any mishap, so their failure to act at once was understandable. But now it seemed that the Jing Mountain police were not holding back—they simply did not regard Yang Ce as a suspect at all.

In fact, they had even found the real killer of Sui Yuejin: the man behind the scenes. And so the plan had failed, just like that.

This time Huang Shu was not especially frightened. After all, the reason for the plan's failure did not lie with him—it was the mastermind's negligence, his having been caught on the surveillance footage after entering the Sui Group.

It could not be said that his plan was flawed; it was only that the execution of it had gone wrong.

The mastermind was not an unreasonable man either. He stared at the wanted notice with a livid face, unable to work out where exactly he had gone wrong, or how the hard drive that should have been in his own hands had ended up with the police.

The hard drive in the surveillance recorder—hadn't it been removed? Of that the mastermind was quite certain... wait, no! The mastermind gave a sudden start as something came back to him.

Once, while stealing a rare treasure from a museum abroad, he had happened to discover that the museum's surveillance room contained not only a surveillance recorder but also a data backup machine!

The data in the surveillance recorder was synchronized with the backup machine at regular intervals! Could the Sui Group have something of the sort as well? The mastermind let out an angry sigh.

After several years in the country, he had grown careless. He had never imagined the Sui Group would have a data backup machine too! At present, that was the only explanation for how the police had come to possess the surveillance footage.

"Hmph!" The mastermind slammed his hand on the table in fury and snatched up the wanted notice,

tore it to shreds in his hands, and flung the pieces into the air with all his might; scraps of paper settled over the whole room.

Huang Shu watched the mastermind's furious display and said nothing. He knew the man was in a rage at this moment, but so long as he himself did not engage, the man could hardly vent his anger on him.

Sure enough, after his outburst the mastermind's face returned to calm, and he waved a hand at Huang Shu: "Go and rest. Let me have a little quiet."

"Yes, boss," Huang Shu said with a nod.

"Oh, and one more thing—don't move against Yang Ce for now. Let things lie for a while," the mastermind said after a moment's thought, calling Huang Shu back. "Word is tight just now. Wait until things calm down and the wanted notice is less pressing."

"I understand." Huang Shu would still need the mastermind's power to take his revenge, so naturally he did not want anything to happen to the man. Besides, there was no hurry; he had endured this long already, so he could let Yang Ce enjoy his triumph a while longer.

In his heart Huang Shu firmly believed that Yang Ce would one day be hacked to pieces—it was only a matter of time.

After Huang Shu had gone out, the mastermind drew several deep breaths to steady himself. What enraged him was not that his face had been exposed—that did not matter in the least; he had never feared anyone knowing what he looked like.

What galled him was this: extreme frustration, because he had failed, failed yet again. He did not know whether Yang Juehuan had played a part in it this time, but in any case, through his own carelessness someone had got hold of something against him!

Now a wanted notice had been issued, and he could not even go out the door. Although... the mastermind brought his fist down hard on the table.

Seeing the chat window from Dr. Ban Lin flashing on the computer screen, the mastermind clicked it open.

(Continuing into the next passage.)

"Falcon, what's the matter? Why so silent?" It was a message from Dr. Ban Lin, written in English.

So the mastermind's code name within their organization was Falcon. And he was not the ultimate authority behind it all—there were others behind him.

"Doctor, my face has been seen, and a wanted notice has been issued," Falcon typed on the computer.

(Continuing into the next passage.)

"That is nothing. I will simply make you another mask," Dr. Ban Lin said indifferently.

(Continuing into the next passage.)

"Thank you, Doctor." Falcon breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Dr. Ban Lin had not blamed him for this matter, but had readily agreed to make him another mask.

(Continuing into the next passage.)

"If only we could find that old fellow Sun Ce and make a mask that can change one's face, then all this trouble would be spared," Dr. Ban Lin sighed to himself.

(Continuing into the next passage.)

"I will do my best, rest assured, Doctor," Falcon hastened to promise.

"There is no hurrying such things. Set aside those personal grudges and feuds of yours for now—do not put the cart before the horse."

Dr. Ban Lin abruptly added a warning to Falcon.

Reading the words the mastermind—that is, Falcon—had sent, Falcon felt a chill at heart. So his doings here had not escaped Dr. Ban Lin's notice after all! Could there be others of the Doctor's people here? There should not be any...

Originally Falcon had assumed that in Huaxia, so far from the emperor and his court, whatever he did would surely be unknown to Dr. Ban Lin. But in fact that was not the case.

Dr. Ban Lin's remark had been plain enough. Though he had not named names or spelled anything out, Falcon could read between the lines, and what he read made him secretly alarmed.

"Yes, I understand," Falcon typed back at once.

(Continuing into the next passage.)

and with that, the Doctor went offline.

What exactly Mr. Rain did, Falcon did not know with any certainty; he knew only that the man was an important figure in the organization. What his specific duties were, Falcon did not know, for Falcon answered directly to Dr. Ban Lin.

And whether Mr. Rain or Dr. Ban Lin held the higher position, Falcon could not judge either; such things were beyond his understanding. That organization was far too vast—no one knew what they were really after—and yet it was an utterly terrifying presence.

After declaring his resolve, Dr. Ban Lin gave no response or statement of position—he simply hurried offline. This left Falcon feeling uneasy, and he decided that for the time being he would stop concerning himself with Yang Juehuan's affairs.

Yang Duoran did not know that there was someone standing behind the man behind the scenes, and that he himself was nothing more than a pawn. Naturally, he also did not know that the man behind the scenes actually had a mask as well—that he could change to another face and continue appearing before him.

The road back was not so hurried. After all, the first class of the afternoon had already been missed; managing to make the six o'clock evening class would be good enough.

By the time Yang Ce returned to Songjiang Engineering University, it was already four-thirty in the afternoon. He had not yet eaten dinner, so he called Chen Shutang and asked whether she was with Lin Yanhe.

"I don't have any classes tonight, so I went home." Before long, Chen Shutang picked up the

phone: "If you want to eat, look for Sister Lin. She still has a class tonight."

"Jianyun still has a class?" Yang Ce had not expected Chen Shutang to have gone home first, so he had no choice but to say, "All right then, I'll look for Zhiyun."