The cars drove around the neighborhood before parking behind a cluster of Japanese banana plants.

The woman talked to her secretary. Later on, her secretary brought along an old man wearing a suit and leather shoes.

“Mrs. Shen, I’m the manager of these properties. I heard that you were interested in renting one of them. Is it for a long or a short term?” The old man beamed at her.

The rich woman pulled Li Mazi’s arm and talked politely. “Grandmaster, I’m going to rent a villa for you.”

“How could this be! Please, there is no need!” Li Mazi rejected repeatedly. However, his smile went from ear to ear; it was impossible for him to close his mouth.

“Please, you have to stay here and watch that rascal for me. Isn’t it more comfortable and convenient to stay in this area?” The woman then posed another question, “Grandmaster, do you have any requests related to the geomancy?”

Li Mazi thought for a moment and replied, “It should be a big villa with a broad view. Also, I need a swimming pool.”

I sniggered in my heart. Li Mazi was really demanding.

The old man took us to see several villas. In the end, Li Mazi picked the one that was facing Shen Hongbin’s place; the rent for this one in particular went for five thousand renminbi a day. The rich woman said that she would rent it for one month, and if we liked it, she would give us one after the task was completed.

Li Mazi smiled like a blooming flower as he went on vigorously, “How could it be!”

Then, he suddenly remembered the list I had asked him to get. He showed her the list and asked her to find the items.

The rich woman nodded. “I have some things to do, so I have to go now. However, someone will deliver these items to you soon.”

Li Mazi sank into the sofa after the rich woman had left. “Ahhh, I had never stayed in a villa like this before. I think I’ll bring Ru Xue and Li Meng here. We should enjoy this together…”

“You think we’re here to enjoy ourselves? Anyway, I have something I need to tell you.” My voice turned serious as I sat down.

“What is it?” asked Li Mazi.

“I think we made a mistake in the beginning. The real villain isn’t Sheng Hongbin. It’s the rich woman!” I told him.

“What?” Li Mazi said, “It doesn’t sound right. Why would she want to harm her husband?”

“To get the money,” I snarled.

The doctors in the Neurology Department had received some gifts, which eventually got them killed by the golden-armored warrior. I always felt it was odd.

It wasn’t a thank-you gift. It was money to keep their mouth shut. I was almost certain that the rich woman had asked them to do something during the surgery to leave the tycoon in a vegetative stage. Once the deed was done, she opted to kill them to silence them forever.

She knew how to control the Red Barbarian Cannon.

And another thing, the moment I figured out that the doctors had received her money and I decided to help the tycoon, the golden-armored warrior changed his attitude and chased after me. This could also prove my assumption, but the clues I had at the moment were very few.

Li Mazi said, “If that’s how it is, why would she want us to help? Does she want to put up a pretense for others to see that she loves her husband?”

“Did she really invite us? It is you who stuck to her like glue at the beginning. Of course, I can’t blame you for this as I’m also at fault. At this point, we can only persevere and see it to the end.”

“So, Shen Hongbin is the good guy?” Yin Xinyue didn’t know whether she should cry or laugh.

“It is possible that both of them are villains. The only thing we can confirm right now is that the woman is more cunning and wicked than we thought. We should be alert,” I said.

I was still restless by noon, and I often went to the window to check if I could see Chuyi in the other villa. On the other hand, Li Mazi was much more relaxed. He filled the swimming pool and swam back and forth.

“Hey, look at my breaststroke technique. Do I look cooler than Sun Yang?” [1]

“Yeah, yeah, sure!”

Yin Xinyue turned on her laptop to watch Korean dramas. Then, a man delivered a big cardboard box around twilight. I took the box to the living room and opened it.

There were two large oil bottles containing macaque blood and swine blood. I opened the bottles and sniffed them. Then, I called Li Mazi and asked him to take a whiff. He frowned and said, “Is it me or this blood smells strange?”

“She mixed urine in this blood. We can’t use this.”

The iron grains I had asked for were also mixed with stone grains. The dead fetus wasn’t seven months old. It even had several needles pinned into its flesh at some unremarkable places. The TNT explosives were just some props; they were completely fake. If I used those items to deal with the cannon, I could only imagine how I would end up.

“It seems I wasn’t wrong. This lady doesn’t want us to deal with the cannon. She wants to make clowns out of us, wishing that the cannon would kill us.”

“Damn, what an evil woman!” Li Mazi shouted.

I asked Li Mazi to go and get the items on the list. He sounded distressed. “Most of the stuff is easy, but buying TNT is illegal. You don’t want me to get arrested, do you?”

I could only take a step back. “Go to a place where they sell chemicals and get some sulfuric acid.”

Yin Xinyue ordered pizza for dinner as Li Mazi left. We checked the entire villa after we had our meal. Yin Xinyue liked this house; she wished to buy one to move in later. I guessed this sort of villa would cost more than ten million renminbi. Even though we had earned a decent sum this year, we had also spent a lot. Even if we could buy the villa, we couldn’t afford the maintenance fee. And, I always had to work outside; I wouldn't spend much time in it if we did get one.

Yin Xinyue smiled. “I’m going to buy a villa when we have a child.”

“How much do you have in savings?” I rubbed her nose.

Yin Xinyue said mischievously, “Not gonna tell you.”

The golden light before twilight shone on the oak floor, and the curtains billowed with the night wind. This atmosphere was quite nice. We couldn’t help but cuddle and make out for a while. Just as passion started to overflow, I suddenly noticed that someone was watching us.

Shen Hongbin was standing on his balcony opposite us, holding a glass of champagne. He shot us an ambiguous smile and waved at us when he saw me looking back at him. I scoffed, “Pervert,” then closed the curtains.

We lost our mood after that disturbance. Then, Yin Xinyue suddenly screamed, “Brother Zhang, there’s something behind you!”

I turned around and checked. Chuyi’s little Daoist boy with his braided ponytail was standing there, watching us silently. He sighed and placed a finger on his lips before I could open my mouth. Then, he turned as if to leave. We followed him downstairs to the living room. The Daoist boy squatted in front of the cardboard box and pointed at something inside.

I opened the box and checked the contents. I eventually found a bug attached to the bubble wrapping. Yin Xinyue and I exchanged looks. I smashed the eavesdropping device full of anger. “Damn, they listened to our conversation. I think Li Mazi may be in danger!”

I tried calling Li Mazi, but he didn’t answer. A few minutes later, the rich woman used his number to call me back. Her voice was ice cold. “Haha, kiddo, you’re quite the cautious one. That’s right. I have your friend.”

“What do you want?” I questioned.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yang