Chapter 42

Time passed slowly in the confinement of the safe house.

The light filtering through the boarded-up cracks outside the window gradually shifted from the pale gray of early morning to the dim yellow of late afternoon. The air conditioner hummed monotonously, but it couldn't dispel the stagnant tension and uncertainty in the room.

Haidongqing fell into a drowsy state under the influence of the drug, his breathing slightly steady. 739 stayed by the bed, alert to any movement outside the door, and occasionally glanced worriedly at Gu Jing, who sat quietly at the table with his eyes closed, as if in a trance.

Beneath Gu Jing's calm, his mind raced. He laid out all the clues—Qin Yu's destruction, the fight for the antibodies, Qin Xiao's involvement, Interpol's suspicious investigation, the two contradictory anonymous letters, this lawless place called Redmayne—one by one on the chessboard of his mind, deducing various possibilities.

Qin Zhengfeng seeks to annihilate the entire group, reclaim the antibody, and eliminate all those who know about it and pose a threat. Qin Xiao seeks to profit from the situation and seize Qin Zhengfeng's legacy, including the list. The antibody is his crucial bargaining chip. Interpol is being exploited, but it could also become an uncontrollable variable. The mysterious party behind the second anonymous letter holds the most unpredictable agenda. Protection? Exploitation? Or perhaps a deeper trap?

What about him? He was no longer the Gu Jing forcibly sheltered under Qin Yu's wings, nor was he the desperate man who only thought of escape or mutual destruction. His hatred hadn't diminished, but it had solidified into something colder and harder. In the most brutal way, Qin Yu had dealt him a twisted chance at life, searing the flames of revenge into his soul.

He was living now, not just to survive. He wanted Qin Zhengfeng to pay the price. He wanted to get to the bottom of everything. He wanted to… seize that absurd, faint spark of another possibility, even if it was just to extinguish it completely.

“Click.”

Suddenly, there was the sound of a key unlocking the door.

739 instantly straightened his body and reached for the hidden weapon. Gu Jing also slowly opened his eyes and looked towards the door calmly.

The door was pushed open, and the person who contacted him came in. He was holding a thermos bag, which was emitting the heat of food.

"Let's eat." He placed the thermos bag on the table and said briefly. His eyes swept across the room, lingering on Hai Dongqing for a moment. "I'll refill his medicine next time."

"Where is Qin Xiao?" Gu Jing asked directly without looking at the food.

"Brother Xiao is handling things." The respondent still gave this vague answer.

"Has 'Viper' spoken?" Gu Jing asked with sharp eyes.

The contact looked at him for a moment, as if evaluating something, and finally said lightly: "When the time comes for you to know, you will naturally know." He had obviously received strict instructions and was very tight-lipped.

After saying that, he didn't give Gu Jing any chance to ask questions, turned around, locked the door again and left.

The smell of food filled the air: simple pasta and meat sauce. After checking, 739 nodded to Gu Jing.

"Eat first." Gu Jing picked up a portion and began to eat mechanically, trying to maintain the necessary strength. The food didn't taste good, it was just fuel.

Shortly after the meal, the old-fashioned cell phone suddenly rang, and the shrill ringtone was particularly startling in the silence.

Gu Jing picked up the phone and pressed the answer button, but did not speak first.

Qin Xiao's voice came from the other end of the phone, but the background noise was so quiet that it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.

"How was your rest? Is my 'safe house' comfortable?" His tone sounded a little tired, but still carried that cynical tone.

"Just get to the point." Gu Jing responded coldly.

"Tsk, how boring." Qin Xiao chuckled, then his tone became more serious. "Viper is a little tougher than I thought, but... it's limited."

He paused, lowering his voice. "I got some interesting information. The old man is really furious. He issued a death order, and there's a lot of noise. Also, regarding 'Archive Zero', he revealed a possible backup location. It's not in the country, which is a bit troubling."

"What else?" Gu Jing asked, his heartstrings slightly tense.

"And...about that second anonymous letter." Qin Xiao's voice was filled with genuine doubt and caution. "Viper said he knew nothing about it. It wasn't the old man's work. That's interesting, isn't it?"

It wasn't Qin Zhengfeng. This answer made the faint spark flicker again.

"I need to know more." Gu Jing's voice was calm.

"I know you need it," Qin Xiao said, "but right now, you need to be patient. Redmayne is a mixed bag, with spies from all sides. Showing up will make you a sitting duck. Wait until I clean up the environment and get more accurate intelligence."

"How long will it take?"

"It depends. Maybe one day, maybe three days." Qin Xiao's tone became a little impatient. "Wait. When I need you, I will naturally find you. Remember, don't cause trouble for me."

The phone was hung up crisply, leaving only a busy tone.

Gu Jing slowly put down his phone.

Qin Xiao held back, not revealing everything. This was to be expected. Viper's opening meant Qin Xiao was beginning to take more control. And the second anonymous letter remained shrouded in mystery.

He walked to the window and looked out through the gap in the wooden boards. All he could see was the mottled red brick wall of the warehouse opposite and a corner of the gray sky.

The air in Redmayne seemed to be filled with the smell of conspiracy and danger.

They are temporarily safe, but they are also trapped in a cage.

But Gu Jing knew that this brief confinement wouldn't last long. Qin Xiao's "cleansing" would inevitably be accompanied by bloodshed, and the storm would eventually sweep over.

He needed to recover his strength and clear his mind as quickly as possible during this period of forced "patient" waiting.

He returned to the table, sat down again, picked up the old-fashioned mobile phone, and turned it unconsciously in his hand.

The next time this phone rings, it will definitely not bring peaceful news.

And he is ready.

Whether as a chess piece or... the chess player.

Night is quietly falling on Redmayne.

The night was as dark as ink, completely engulfing Redmayne. Inside the warehouse safehouse, the only sounds were the low hum of the air conditioner and the occasional muffled groan of pain from the Saker Falcon.

Gu Jing sat quietly in the darkness, his fingertips unconsciously caressing the cool plastic casing of his old-fashioned phone. Qin Xiao's call was like a stone dropped into stagnant water; after the ripples, there was a deeper silence and waiting. He knew this calm was an illusion, a brief, eerie pause in the eye of the storm.

"Mr. Gu," 739's voice echoed in the darkness, a hint of hesitation. "Are we... just going to keep waiting like this?"

"Wait." Gu Jing's answer was a single word, but it was filled with unquestionable calmness. "Conserve your energy and recover. Qin Xiao needs our 'value'. He won't let us take risks easily, nor will he let us leave until he has drained the 'Viper' and assessed the risks."

He paused, his voice lowering. "This place isn't completely safe either. Stay alert."

"Yes." 739 responded in a low voice, saying no more. He just breathed more lightly and listened more attentively to any movement outside the door.

Time creeps by minute by minute.

Later in the night, a few sporadic gunshots could be heard faintly outside the window, quickly drowned out by the clamor of the city. In this city called "Free Port," this seemed to be the norm.

Gu Jing's eyes did not change, as if he had not heard anything.

After a long time, there seemed to be a sharp sound of sirens in the distance, piercing the night sky, from far away to near, then from near to far, and finally disappearing in a certain direction.

Extremely light, almost imperceptible footsteps were heard outside the warehouse, stopping outside their door.

739 instantly tightened his grip on his weapon and looked towards the door.

There was no knocking, no sound of unlocking the door, only the slightest scraping sound of something being pushed in from under the door.

After a moment, the footsteps quietly faded away.

Gu Jing stood up, walked silently to the door, and leaned over to pick up a folded note that had been slipped through the crack in the door. In the extremely weak moonlight that came through the window, he unfolded the note.

There was only one line of nondescript Song-style characters printed on it:

The Albatross has left its nest, heading southeast. There are changes in the nest's appearance, so wait and see.

The note was pinched tightly between Gu Jing's fingertips.

"Albatross"—this was most likely one of Qin Xiao's codenames. "Leaving the Nest"—did he leave Redmayne? Or a certain base? "Direction Southeast"—pointing to an unknown location. "Nest Changes"—did something go wrong with his base or plans? "Watch and Wait"—ordered them to continue waiting and hold their ground.

Who had sent the note? It wasn't Qin Xiao; he wouldn't have delivered such a vague and disturbing message in this way. Was it the mysterious person who sent the second anonymous letter? Or... another unknown force?

With so little information, it's hard to discern their intentions. Is it a warning? Misleading? Or is it an attempt to use them to stir up trouble?

Gu Jing walked back to the table, took out his lighter, and lit the note. The small flame leaped, quickly devouring the paper into curled ash, the last ray of light illuminating his expressionless, cold profile.

"Mr. Gu?" 739 asked in a low voice in confusion.

"It's okay." Gu Jing's voice was emotionless. "Keep waiting."

He crushed the ashes and scattered them into the trash can.

The situation was more complicated than he had anticipated. Qin Xiao seemed to be in trouble, and this trouble might or might not be related to them. The appearance of this note proved that in addition to Qin Xiao and the possible "protector", there was a third party secretly observing and perhaps even trying to interfere.

The water in Redmayne is indeed bottomless.

All he could do now was to wait. In the absence of sufficient intelligence, any rash action could be fatal.

He closed his eyes again, forcing all his churning thoughts down into cold patience.

Waiting for dawn. Waiting for Qin Xiao's next instruction. Waiting for a fleeting flaw that might appear in this chaotic situation.

The Saker Falcon moved restlessly in its sleep and uttered a vague mumbling.

739 immediately stepped forward and comforted him softly.

Gu Jing still sat still, like a reef sunk into the deep sea, waiting for the coming storm.

He knew that when the next piece of news came, whether it was through the ringing phone or another note stuffed through the crack of the door, it would surely shatter this fragile peace and drag them completely into a new vortex.

And he and his knife were ready.

The night grows darker in the midst of the unknown and waiting.