Chapter 1378 — The Passage Opens
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Wu Chengtian had lately taken over Ergoudan's post, sitting every day at the villa's main hall entrance, eating and sleeping right there — another door god in the making. Ergoudan, watching it all, allowed himself a sigh of relief. He was a man who kept his own accounts, and he counted this a test of Wu Chengtian: if the boy truly proved conscientious and dutiful, he would not mind waiting for Wei Zhao's return and putting in a good word for him.
When Wu Gonggao and Wu Jiaoqi phoned to ask after him, Wu Chengtian did not let slip a single word about Ergoudan's injuries. He might not be much of a schemer, but he knew this much: whatever the leader had told him to keep quiet was bound to be a matter of the very first importance, and not something he could go shooting his mouth off about.
At the Gu villa, little had changed beyond one thing — the close guards who escorted Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu on their daily rounds had given way to Wu Chengtian.
An Liwen, for his part, had likewise learned that Ergoudan had beaten Jin Wudi to death. But he felt no fear of it. He had always kept to the shadows, so he did not fancy Ergoudan would come calling at his door. It was Ergoudan's identity that galled him all the more.
"Damn it — this Ergoudan is actually Wei Zhao's man!" The report on Ergoudan had left An Liwen's face dark as a thunderhead, and he cursed through his teeth: "Wei Zhao and that woman Qiu Lingshan are thick as thieves; nine times in ten it was that bastard Wei Zhao who tipped someone off, and the news came through that Ergoudan!"
"Calm yourself, Young Master Wen. Killing Jin Wudi is really nothing at all," Dr. Yin said evenly. "My biochemical work has already entered its final stage; given time, I will have the Strength Pill perfected — one dose, and an ordinary man could punch clean through an armored car and kick a UFO into scrap. Besides, isn't the whole point of our plan, apart from raking in the cash, to bring Wei Zhao down? Even if he and Qiu Lingshan are on intimate terms, once the evidence is on the table she cannot possibly shield him. And if she cares to play rough then, very well — we will ruin her name right along with his. With Qiu Lingshan out of the picture, it becomes that much easier to make our fortune in Songshan City!"
"Mm, there's sense in that. Has the test subject been delivered?" An Liwen nodded and asked.
"He is here already. I am running the final activation on him now, and the Fire Wolf Gang's finest plastic surgeon and hypnotist are hard at work beside me — we will guarantee not a single slip when the moment comes," Dr. Yin said. In former days his standing had been equal to An Liwen's; you could even say he had originally come here on nothing but the Fire Wolf Gang's orders, to run biochemical experiments, with aiding An Liwen a secondary consideration at most.
But now, as the black money An Liwen hauled in for the Fire Wolf Gang grew ever greater, his status had risen with the tide — and every scheme of his belonged to those no-capital, sky-high-profit rackets, which had won him the particular favor of even the branch helmsman of the Fire Wolf Gang. And so Dr. Yin had become An Liwen's vassal, bound to cooperate with him in full and take his orders.
"Excellent!" An Liwen nodded. "We shall see how much swagger Wei Zhao has left then!"
Wei Zhao, who was sitting in the palace chamber at the mouth of the underground vault, could not help but sneeze. This was already the second day, and Yu Xiaoke and Old Black had still found no secret in the stone pillars.
After a meticulous sweep by several of them, it could be confirmed that no mechanism or button of any kind existed on the pillars — that is to say, every pillar was alike, indistinguishable from the next in outward appearance.