Fang Ming took the meeting address and left without looking back.
His retreating figure carried a lightheartedness as if he were going to pick up money, completely devoid of the heaviness of someone about to commit illegal acts.
Old Ghost sat in the passenger seat of the GL8. Seeing Fang Ming walk away, he pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, thought for a moment, took out his phone, and dialed Qin Xiao's number.
"Young Master Qin, Fang Ming has left."
"Mm, I know."
"Young Master Qin..."
Old Ghost hesitated for a moment before asking the doubt in his heart: "Actually, for such a small matter, it would be enough for me to keep an eye on things. Isn't it a bit hasty to let Fang Ming join in??"
These were Old Ghost's true thoughts. Although kidnapping and extortion were dirty work, he was well-versed in them. Letting Fang Ming, who had never done such a thing, join in was somewhat like taking off one's pants to fart—completely unnecessary.
"Fang Ming is one of ours. Giving him an opportunity to tie him completely to our ship is nothing improper. Besides, while this matter seems airtight, if something goes wrong, someone has to take the fall. Fang Ming has a clean background and took the job voluntarily for money. If it really comes to that, we throw him out."
Hearing this, Old Ghost's hand holding the phone couldn't help but tremble. A surge of electricity shot up his spine straight to the crown of his head.
So that was it?? So that was it!!
In Qin Xiao's eyes, this matter could only be entrusted to a confidant.
Both he and the current Fang Ming could be considered Qin Xiao's confidants, but his utility was far greater than Fang Ming's.
Once something went wrong, Fang Ming would be the discarded pawn to take the fall in his place.
"Young Master Qin is wise!"
Old Ghost's voice was trembling—not from fear, but from excitement. It was the excitement of being valued and protected by his master.
"Don't flatter me."
Qin Xiao was indifferent to such compliments. "Don't just sit idle over there. Keep an eye on the online public opinion. Once it's done, your share won't be a penny short."
"Thank you, Young Master Qin. I'll get right on it."
Beep, beep, beep!
The call disconnected. Old Ghost looked at the darkened phone screen and took a deep breath.
"Why do I feel like Young Master Qin's shrewdness has been getting deeper and deeper lately???"
...Web novels weren't popular in this world, and Old Ghost wasn't a transmigrator, so he naturally couldn't understand the real reason for Qin Xiao's change.
Fang Ming had guessed some of it, but there was no way to confirm such things, and he didn't have the mind to confirm it anyway.
He arrived at Section B, spot 302 of the underground garage and saw that dusty Wuling Hongguang.
The car body was covered in mud splatters, and the rear bumper had a dent in it. It was unclear which junkyard this scrapped car had been scavenged from.
He reached above the front left tire and, as expected, found a key covered in grease and grime.
Click!~
He pulled open the car door, and a blast of stale tobacco smell mixed with the stench of sweaty feet hit him in the face.
Fang Ming didn't get in immediately.
Instead, he turned on his phone's flashlight, bent down, crawled under the car, and meticulously inspected the chassis.
Next was the interior—under the steering wheel, the gaps in the seats, and the layers of the sun visor.
Ten minutes later, Fang Ming closed the car door and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"No listening or tracking devices? It seems there's a lot of room to maneuver in this mission."
"Do I need to hide my identity?"
After a moment of hesitation, Fang Ming took a taxi home and blocked all other social interactions.
He had Gu Bai go downstairs to help him buy two sets of clothes, pants, shoes, and socks that were different from his usual style—leaning toward middle-aged preferences—along with a pair of gloves, a mask, and a baseball cap.
Early the next morning, wearing his own clothes, he packed his glasses, shirt, dress pants, and leather shoes into a black hiking bag and gave it to Gu Bai for temporary safekeeping.
His glasses were non-prescription, and he wasn't nearsighted. The reason he wore glasses was entirely to make himself look more mature.
Now that he was going to be a kidnapper, it was naturally unsuitable to wear glasses.
He packed the other two sets of clothes, shoes, socks, data cables, power banks, and other daily necessities into another backpack. Along the way, he had breakfast, bought some self-heating rice meals, and took a taxi to the business KTV parking lot from the previous night.
He tossed the self-heating rice into the trunk, went to the driver's seat to open his backpack, changed into the middle-aged clothes, and drove the Wuling Hongguang toward the destination.
Before leaving the parking lot, Fang Ming wiped his hand across his face. His originally handsome and clean-cut face gradually became unremarkable.
Not only did his skin tone darken and his age appear older, but a mole also appeared on his face, making him look somewhat sleazy.
"Perfect."
Looking at the sleazy man in the rearview mirror, Fang Ming grinned. That black mole twitched with his muscles, making him look even more sleazy... The Abandoned Logging Camp in the Western Suburbs.
This place used to be a state-owned timber factory in Rong City. It had been closed for over a decade and was long overgrown with weeds.
Several dilapidated factory buildings stood in the wilderness like haunted houses. The rusted iron gates were half-ajar, making a creaking "zhiya zhiya" sound.
Fang Ming parked the car in a hidden spot, put on his gloves, mask, and baseball cap, and carried a box of braised beef noodles, a pack of ham sausages, and a case of mineral water, walking inside with uneven steps.
Just as he reached the entrance of the innermost warehouse that was still somewhat intact, a strong smell of low-quality cigarettes drifted out.
"Who is it?!"
A low shout rang out, followed immediately by a flash of cold light.
A rusted machete was placed directly against Fang Ming's neck.
The one holding the knife was a bald man with a face full of scars and fat that wobbled with his movements. His triangular eyes were staring deathly at Fang Ming, revealing an undisguised fierce light.
Zhang Dapao!
Not far from him, by a broken wooden table, sat two other people.
One was as thin as a Bamboo Pole, playing with a black imitation pistol in his hand.
The other had a scar on his face and was unhurriedly wiping a short dagger by the dim candlelight.
Hearing the commotion, the Scarred Man only lifted his eyelids, his gaze scraping over Fang Ming like a blade.
"Are you the person who just contacted me?"
"Besides me, who else would know you're here??" Fang Ming said with some disdain.
His voice was raspy, clearly treated with the 'Nine Yang Divine Needles'.
The Nine Yang Divine Needles could bring people back from the dead; stimulating acupuncture points to change his voice was, of course, a simple task.
As for why he showed disdain? It was because these three were desperate criminals, fundamentally different from a villain like Qin Xiao.
No matter what identity he used to approach them, Fang Ming should express disdain.
The three were long used to it and didn't care. The Scarred Man said to the bald one, "Dapao, put the knife away. Don't scare our... God of Wealth."
"Take the stuff. If you need anything, let me know. I'll be in the car outside." Fang Ming threw the instant noodles, ham sausages, and water on the ground. Without wasting words with this group, he left the warehouse directly.
The three didn't take it to heart either. Using a pre-prepared gas tank and pot, they boiled water to make the noodles.
Fang Ming returned to the car, rested his head on his hands, and lay in the driver's seat with his eyes closed to rest.
"The Soldier King's sister, Chu Yao, is in Rong City, so the plot after the Soldier King returns to the country should also take place in Rong City. Generally speaking, in a Soldier King protagonist's script, there's usually a beautiful police officer heroine... Should I find a way to help this police officer heroine earn some merit??"
Fang Ming murmured in his heart.
After careful consideration, he abandoned the idea.
One reason was that he didn't know any beautiful police officers right now. Another was that the difficulty of executing such a plan would be very high, and accidents could easily occur.
"Forget it, forget it. Better to be safe."
Fang Ming stayed there for the entire day. Except for the three of them asking for two packs of tissues midway and having Fang Ming help buy some braised dishes, there was no interaction.
As required, Fang Ming reported once every four hours. He ate and drank entirely in the car, handled his business nearby, and slept directly in the back row of the car at night.
A little after five the next morning, the three drove out in a van. Fang Ming stayed behind at the abandoned factory alone with his backpack, finding a cool spot against a wall to rest.
He didn't stop Qin Xiao's plan, nor did he immediately call the police to arrest them.
Only around eight in the morning did he close his eyes, sink his consciousness into his mind, use the Chat Group to open his WeChat alt account, and pull Mu Qingxue out of the blacklist.
Fortunately, she hadn't deleted or blocked him.
"Are you going to do a live stream this afternoon?"