Chapter 30: The Client’s Identity

There were simply too many men in black; even if one or two slipped through, it would be hard to notice. Su Hanyan grew anxious. "We must hurry to the greenhouse and check," she said.

She couldn't run fast enough, so Gu Xiangnan scooped her up and dashed forward. Before long, they reached the greenhouse built atop the mountain.

The area was eerily silent. Su Hanyan couldn't tell if Zhuzhong had arrived yet or not.

At the greenhouse entrance, Gu Xiangnan set her down. Su Hanyan carefully examined the combination lock—there were no signs of tampering.

"We're almost out of time, Xiaonan. The fruit is about to ripen. Let's wait inside," she suggested.

She keyed in the password, and the lock clicked open. Gu Xiangnan entered first, with Su Hanyan close behind.

But unexpectedly, two more men followed them in. Zhuzhong wrapped his arm around Su Hanyan's neck, clutching a hand grenade in his other hand.

Beside him stood another man, his face bloodied and swollen beyond recognition, though the faint outline of a scar was visible. Wasn't this Cunye?

Back at the hot spring hotel, five men from Fusang had been beaten within an inch of their lives. One of Yang Dianfeng's men had dragged them away, but Cunye, feigning unconsciousness, managed to crawl out stealthily. He knew reinforcements would come for the Xianlingzi, so he headed straight toward the northern mountain.

He arrived just as his comrades were pursuing Su Hanyan. He caught up with Zhuzhong, who was at the rear, and after being recognized, the two decided to lie in wait here for a perfect ambush.

"Try anything, and I'll pull the pin—let's all die together. Hand over the Xianlingzi!" Zhuzhong threatened.

Su Hanyan hadn't even had a chance to struggle.

A gunshot rang out—"Bang!"

A man stood at the door, shooting Zhuzhong in the hand.

Zhuzhong cried out in pain, dropping the grenade, which skidded across the smooth floor and finally stopped with a thud against the wall.

Seizing the moment, Su Hanyan broke free from Zhuzhong's grip.

"Little brother, I'm not late, am I?" The man at the door was Yang Dianfeng.

"Brother-in-law, you always show up at the critical moment. No wonder you're the boss!" Gu Xiangnan laughed as he approached him.

Yang Dianfeng spotted Cunye and fired two shots at his legs. "I spared you earlier—did you think that meant mercy?"

He kicked the rolling, groaning Cunye. "Weren't you quite the runner? Now you'll spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair."

Gu Xiangnan strode over to Zhuzhong, kicking him in the shin. Unable to withstand the blow, Zhuzhong dropped to his knees.

"Speak! Who sent you?" Gu Xiangnan demanded.

Zhuzhong's eyes darted nervously, cold sweat beading on his forehead, but he clenched his teeth and refused to utter a word.

Gu Xiangnan's eyes flashed with icy intent.

Yang Dianfeng stepped closer, crouched, and yanked Zhuzhong's hair, forcing him to look up. His voice was frigid.

"I know you're from Fusang, but you shouldn't be causing trouble in China."

His gaze fell on Zhuzhong's neck—a large area of tattooed skin with distinctive patterns, and a diamond-shaped pin fastened to his collar.

This was the unmistakable hallmark of the Sugi Group.

Yang Dianfeng's eyes narrowed with a cunning thought. The Yamaguchi Group's organization was vast and intricate; perhaps he could exploit this to trick Zhuzhong into revealing something.

"The Fusang underworld has come to Jiangning, but hasn't paid respects? That's against the rules! Is this how Mr. Yamaguchi taught you?"

Zhuzhong was startled. From the sound of it, this man had ties to their top leader—Mr. Yamaguchi.

Tentatively, Zhuzhong asked, "You… know Mr. Yamaguchi?"

"What do you think? Without inside help, how would your Sugi Group come and go so freely here?" Yang Dianfeng's words were intentionally ambiguous.

Zhuzhong couldn't discern the truth, but their operations in China had indeed been unimpeded recently.

"Our mission failed—we'll be punished when we return. Please, you must help us, put in a good word," Zhuzhong bowed deeply to Yang Dianfeng.

Yang Dianfeng laughed heartily, as if he could handle anything. "Easy enough! But first, you must tell me whose commission you're carrying out. Otherwise, how can I plead your case?"

"You… you're trying to trick me!" Zhuzhong shouted angrily.

The Sugi Group, as an underground syndicate, never revealed their clients' identities. If Yang Dianfeng really were a friend of Mr. Yamaguchi, he'd know this rule.

There was only one possibility: he was bluffing.

Yang Dianfeng realized he'd been seen through, smirking coldly. "I advise you to confess."

But Zhuzhong was stubborn as iron.

Jaw clenched tightly, he remained silent.

Bang!

Another gunshot.

Yang Dianfeng wrapped his arm around Zhuzhong's neck, their foreheads almost touching, and fired directly into Zhuzhong's thigh.

"Will you talk now?"

Zhuzhong's face contorted with pain, but he shook his head resolutely.

"If he won't talk, you will!" Yang Dianfeng shoved Zhuzhong aside and aimed his gun at Cunye.

Terrified, Cunye kowtowed repeatedly. "I'll talk… it was Suzuki who hired us to steal this medicine, to bring it back for the Emperor—he has no heir."

"Suzuki again," Gu Xiangnan muttered angrily, glancing at Su Hanyan. She clenched her fists.

"Trying to steal medicine from me? You must have a death wish!" An irate female voice called from the doorway.

Baihuabing finally arrived, surrounded by her men. She had come with Yang Dianfeng to find Gu Xiangnan, but Yang Dianfeng, in his urgency, had gone on ahead.

As Baihuabing entered, her gaze immediately locked onto Zhuzhong and Cunye, a fierce light flashing in her eyes.

"Husband, you can't let those two off."

She had finally gotten her chance to conceive, and nearly lost it because of them. How could she not hate them?

"It's not that simple. There's more to them," Yang Dianfeng said, gently pressing his wife's hand.

Su Hanyan approached Cunye and asked, "Was it you who set fire to my herbal plantation?"

Cunye nodded.

Gu Xiangnan's anger surged; he wanted nothing more than to crush them on the spot.

Su Hanyan quickly pulled him back, urging, "The police will investigate the fire. If they die now, all leads are lost—and we'll get ourselves into trouble."

She watched Gu Xiangnan slowly withdraw his hand. "Let's hand them over to the police."

"You're just going to let them go?" Baihuabing protested.

Yang Dianfeng turned and instructed his men to take the Fusang men away and have the police investigate them.

With all the chaos, midnight was fast approaching.

Everyone wanted to witness the miraculous ripening of the Xianlingzi together.

Hundreds of Xianlingzi seedlings stood in neat rows in their pots, gleaming green, with blossoms at their crowns.

The flowers were pale gold, their petals clustered around deep purple stamens.

Baihuabing, curious, stepped closer to one Xianlingzi and examined it intently. "Wow—I've never seen such beautiful flowers!"

"Yes," Su Hanyan replied. "They are indeed beautiful—and extremely rare."

The greenhouse ceiling was transparent glass.

Moonlight poured in like water, bathing the Xianlingzi leaves in a silvery glow.

Time slipped by; no one dared even blink, afraid to miss a single moment.

At midnight, the flowers of the Xianlingzi began to change.