Hualian AU ~ 4. At the Green Ghost Lair

Part 2

After 5 to 10 minutes, Hua Cheng gestured to Xie Lian someone was coming, and got up, waiting. Xie Lian followed him, and to his surprise, it was Lang Qianqiu. He looked pissed off when he came close enough to see it was Xie Lian, and turning to Hua Cheng, hissed,

"You texted me to come over if I wanted to know the truth about my brother's death. Why is he here? I don't want to hear his rubbish!"

Hua Cheng just looked bored, and simply replied,

"Just shut up and come."

Then he fished for something inside the breast pocket of his jacket, and gave it to Lang Qianqiu, saying, "You can thank me later for that". Wrapped thickly around in a plastic bag, it was Lang Qianqiu's knife!

"Shit", Xie Lian couldn't help saying, "That's police evidence right there", he pointed out. He turned to Lang Qianqiu, and said, "You really owe San Lang big for that".

Hua Cheng didn't wait for any more reactions, and nodded for both of them to follow him. They walked for about five minutes, to a white van parked down the road. Hua Cheng gave a quick knock on its side; its door opened and Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu were pulled inside by mysterious hands. Hua Cheng got in the passenger seat, someone started the van and drove off.

They saw themselves inside a police surveillance van, with screens showing video monitoring and even night cameras, integrated radar and audio surveillance equipment. The guy who pulled them in gave them a friendly smile; he was tall, black, with dreadlocks tied up, and diamond studs.

"Hi, I'm PC Xiaxian Yue from the Metropolitan Police. I understand you're here to help us out in an operation? Don't worry everything's under control", and gave them an assuring smile.

Both Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu were startled, and looked at each other, puzzled. Metropolitan Police? Operation? And, more importantly, what did Hua Cheng have to do with any of this? PC Xiaxian Yue produced two jackets from what looked like a bin bag, and handed over to them. They were army jackets similar to the one Hua Cheng was wearing. He also gave them black bandanas.

"Here's the deal", he explained, "You guys are going to infiltrate a gang gathering at The Green Ghost lair. That's why you need to dress up. I'll also bug you guys", he said, clipping tiny microphones inside their shirts. After he finished, he patted them on the shoulders, smiling approvingly, like a mother dressing her children to school.

He said, "Don't worry. We've got men inside, everything's being monitored. I wouldn't normally send civilians like you though; but apparently you guys know the suspect we're after, or you're relevant to the case anyway, so you can make him talk". He winked.

Finally Xie Lian snapped out of it, and asked, "Officer, may I ask who this suspect is?"

PC Xiaxian Yue made a serious face, and replied, "He's the Green Ghost himself, real name Qi Rong. He's from XianLe, where he started a life of petty crime, drug dealing and gang violence. I believe you know him?"

"I do, yes", Xie Lian admitted, "I'm from XianLe myself".

"Slippery type, that Qi Rong. But we got a hacker working with us to spread a rumour of gang clashes at Ghost City, to draw him out, so we could pin his lair's location". Then he added, "Besides other things, we're investigating his connection to the death of a young person, named An Le, from Yong'An", he continued.

Lang Qianqiu replied in a low voice, "He was my brother".

"I see. I understand it must be hard for you", PC Xiaxian Yue replied, sympathetically. "However, you don't have to do anything; neither of you", he said, looking at Xie Lian too, "Just follow Hua Cheng and let him do the talking. Is that ok?"

They nodded, half not knowing what to say, half in shock of being instructed to follow Hua Cheng inside a gang gathering; what, was he an undercover policeman now?

The van slowed down, and stopped. The lights went off, and after a moment, Hua Cheng opened the side-door for them to drop off. PC Xiaxian Yue turned to Xie Lian and Lang Qianqiu, and said, "You guys just follow silently, understood? I'm here for backup, but whatever you do, don't do anything". He nodded to Hua Cheng; they all covered their faces with the black bandanas and were off.

It looked like a dodgy area, with big warehouses in bad state, and not many people around, its streets poorly lit. They walked for 10 minutes or so, taking side streets till they got to what seemed a barren area, with another row of crumbling warehouses under a flyover. They heard a loud lousy beat, a waft of weed in the air, and made their way towards it.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed Hualian getting ready for action 😃

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