Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 142: Chapter 115: Contrast! A VIP Escort

The old-fashioned sedan was parked in the shadows at the mouth of the alley.

Just as Wan Ze pulled open the car door, his communicator began to vibrate.

It was Zhai Jia.

The moment he answered, he was hit with a barrage of words. ”Ah Ze, be honest with me... You didn’t do anything major, did you?”

Wan Ze froze. ”...What do you mean?”

”I’m not kidding. The entirety of Hua City has suddenly been locked down.” Zhai Jia’s voice was low, as if he were hiding from someone. ”I got solid intel. They’ve set up checkpoints at all entrances and exits, and they’re checking every person and vehicle one by one... I thought I could get here sooner, but it took a hell of an effort just to get in.”

Wan Ze’s heart sank.

’Damn it! The plan’s changed!’

He was silent for two seconds, then said thoughtfully, ”I don’t know what happened in Hua City, and it definitely has nothing to do with me... But what I’m carrying can’t be discovered.”

Wan Ze paused, his voice growing even softer. ”Otherwise, a lot of people will die.”

The other end of the communicator went quiet for a moment.

A second later, Zhai Jia’s voice suddenly shot up. ”Holy shit!”

But it wasn’t out of fear.

It was frustration!

”Ah Ze, you’re a real piece of work! How could you not bring me along for something like this?!”

Wan Ze’s expression darkened. ”Hey, man, didn’t I call you? You said you’d be here in half an hour at the latest... But I’m already done, and everything went smoothly.”

”Damn, you called me for cleanup, not for the main event! Son of a bitch, it’s obvious the first half was the real action...” Zhai Jia slapped his thigh, sounding utterly convinced.

”Is this really the time for that, man? This is life or death!” Wan Ze couldn’t help but cut him off.

Zhai Jia fell silent.

A moment later, he clicked his tongue, his tone turning more serious. ”Let me think.”

Wan Ze didn’t rush him.

The night was deep, and the streetlight at the alley’s entrance stretched his shadow long.

He got into the car, listening to Zhai Jia’s rambling muttering on the other end of the communicator.

”Where are the checkpoints...”

”Which road can we take to get around them...”

”No, no, the national highway is definitely going to be the main focus tonight... Or!”

”Ah Ze, I’ve got it!”

Zhai Jia said excitedly.

Wan Ze’s eyes lit up. ’I knew Brother Jia would never let me down!’

...

”We’ll go by sea.”

Zhai Jia’s mind worked fast, his voice laced with a touch of shrewdness. ”We can’t go straight back to the Holy City. We have to be careful we’re not being followed. Let’s bypass Hua City and get out of Gui Province’s jurisdiction first.”

Wan Ze listened quietly as a rustling sound came from the other end. ”I have an old acquaintance at the customs office. His surname is Fang, name’s Fang Hao. We’re sworn brothers, he’s tight-lipped, and he gets things done. We’ll use his connection. Let’s meet at the docks.”

But as he was talking, he suddenly paused.

”I’ll need to come up with a pretext, though. Loose lips sink ships, after all... By the way, who’s with you?”

Wan Ze glanced at the driver’s seat. ”Miss Ling.”

”Anyone else?”

”Just the two of us.”

The line on Zhai Jia’s end suddenly went dead.

Two seconds later.

”...Just the two of you?” His jaw practically dropped. ”Wait, just you two... pulling off something this intense in the middle of the night?”

Wan Ze didn’t respond.

Zhai Jia took a deep breath on the other end, then slowly exhaled. ”...Fine.”

He resigned himself to it.

”I know what to say now. Anyway, see you at the docks. Oh, and if anyone gives you trouble on the way, just drop Fang Hao’s name.”

”Fang Hao? Understood.”

They both hung up.

Wan Ze turned his head and met Miss Ling’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

He gestured. ”To the docks first.”

Miss Ling nodded without asking any questions, turned the key, and the old sedan let out a low growl, speeding off into the night.

As the night deepened, fog began to rise in the city.

It wasn’t thick, just a thin layer like gauze, carrying a damp chill that blurred the streetlights into fuzzy yellow halos.

There was no one on the streets.

At this hour, the residents of Hua City’s old district were long asleep.

Occasionally, a late-night horse-drawn carriage would pass by, the oil lamp hanging from its cabin swaying back and forth before being quickly swallowed by the fog.

Miss Ling drove steadily.

Her hands were firm on the steering wheel.

Her lips were pressed together as she focused on driving.

Suddenly, two beams of white light appeared from the intersection ahead.

Only when they got closer did they realize it was a police car.

Miss Ling’s breath caught, but she forced a calm expression onto her face.

Fortunately, the police car passed by on their left. It bore the Hua City Police Station insignia, but its roof lights were off as it drove at a steady speed in the opposite direction.

Miss Ling snuck a glance at the rearview mirror.

Watching the police car’s taillights shrink in the mirror before disappearing around a corner, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

The cool, misty air seeped in through the cracked-open car window.

Wan Ze didn’t look back.

He simply reclined his seat a bit.

...

「Twenty minutes later.」

The car stopped at the edge of a freight yard.

The docks were just ahead.

Unlike the bright lights of a passenger port, this place was lit by only a few high-hanging mercury lamps, casting circles of pale, ghostly light in the fog.

Old gantry cranes stood on the shore.

About a dozen small fishing boats and patrol boats were moored nearby, bobbing gently with the waves. Their ropes scraped against metal pilings, making a constant ”CREAK... CREAK...” sound.

In the distance, the surface of the sea was pitch-black, its horizon invisible.

The smell of the tide, mixed with the scent of diesel, washed over them—salty, bitter, and laced with a touch of cold.

Miss Ling turned off the engine.

It was so quiet all around that even the crisp ticking of the engine’s metal contracting as it cooled was clearly audible.

She subconsciously reached for the gun at her side, then stopped.

’Probably won’t need it...’

’At least, not right now.’

She looked cautiously at Wan Ze. ”What now?”

”I’ll ask.”

Just as Wan Ze spoke, his communicator vibrated.

He answered immediately.

”Ah Ze.” Zhai Jia’s voice came from the other end, hushed, with the sound of waves crashing against the shore in the background. ”I’m here.”

”We’re here too.”

A moment later, Wan Ze saw Zhai Jia.

He walked over quickly and saw a young man, not yet thirty, following behind Zhai Jia.

The man wore a slightly worn, navy-blue jacket with an open collar. He wasn’t particularly tall, but he stood very straight, his shoulders and back forming a sharp, clean line—a crispness likely honed by years of braving the wind and waves.

The man’s face showed a hint of weariness.

Understandable. Anyone would be tired after being dragged out of bed at this hour.

His eyes quickly swept over Wan Ze’s face, not lingering or sizing him up, just a brief pass.

Then he smiled, not a polite, fake smile.

”Fang Hao, my brother,” Zhai Jia said, clapping the man on the shoulder before jutting his chin toward Wan Ze. ”Wan Ze, also my brother.”

Fang Hao extended a hand. ”Old Zhai has mentioned you to me.”

”Sorry to trouble you this time, Brother Hao,” Wan Ze said, also extending his hand to shake it.

The man’s palm was dry, his knuckles calloused—likely from handling a gun often.

”No trouble.” Fang Hao waved a hand, dismissing the pleasantry. He looked up at the sky; the fog had thinned a little, and a few specks of light from fishing boats were now faintly visible on the distant sea.

”We shouldn’t delay. Let’s get on board.”

”But we still have the car...” Miss Ling couldn’t help but say.

Fang Hao was direct. ”You can drive the car right on. We weigh anchor in ten minutes. We’ll head down the Wujiang River’s main channel, and we should be out of Gui Province’s jurisdiction by the day after tomorrow. We’ll dock at around ten in the morning. You can leave anytime before then.”

He didn’t ask what Wan Ze and Miss Ling did, nor why they needed to travel by sea in the middle of the night. He didn’t even give a second glance to the cloth-wrapped sword on Wan Ze’s back.

He simply said what needed to be said, then gestured toward the dock with his chin.

”Let’s go.”

The car drove up the ramp at the cargo ship’s stern, setting off a dull, metallic roar.

The ship was a medium size, its deck stacked with containers covered in tarps.

Fang Hao led them to a set of cabins in the middle of the ship. It was a suite of three adjoining rooms, each with a small, fixed table and a window facing the sea.

”I’m afraid you’ll have to make do for two nights,” Fang Hao said apologetically. Just then, his walkie-talkie crackled to life with a subordinate reporting an issue. After a quick reply, he spoke to Zhai Jia again. ”If you need anything, just find me. I’ll be at the end of this hallway.”

”Go on and get back to work. Don’t worry about us,” Zhai Jia said, not standing on ceremony with him.

Fang Hao smiled. ”I’ll have someone bring you all some food later. Any dietary restrictions?”

The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads. Zhai Jia laughed. ”Whatever you think is best is fine.”

”Alright then, I’ll get back to it.”

Fang Hao closed the door, and his footsteps faded away.

After returning to their respective rooms, the three of them gathered to eat in Wan Ze’s cabin.

The food had been sent over by Fang Hao.

There were five meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, along with a basin of hot soup, all served on stainless steel cafeteria trays. The portions were so generous they hardly seemed meant for only three people.

Wan Ze moved his sword off the table, leaning it against his bunk where he could easily reach it.

Miss Ling sat down by the door. Her portion of rice was in front of her, chopsticks in hand, but she didn’t take a single bite for a long time, simply staring out the window at the pitch-black night, lost in thought.

Zhai Jia took off his jacket, tossed it onto the bunk in his own room, and leaned against the table in Wan Ze’s cabin, shoveling down his food.

He glanced at the untouched bowl of rice in front of Miss Ling and spoke with his mouth full. ”Alright, we’re on the boat now. Once we set sail, Hua City can search all they want. It’s got nothing to do with us.”

Miss Ling snapped out of her trance, gave a soft ”mm,” and lowered her head to take a bite of rice.

Zhai Jia’s gaze flickered between her and Wan Ze, and he suddenly broke into a grin.

”Seriously, I never would’ve expected this pairing... one with a sword, the other with a gun. What were you two doing, raiding a dragon’s den in the middle of the night?”

He paused, a hint of irrepressible amusement in his voice. ”I just never figured that Miss Ling, who always seems so quiet and gentle, would know how to handle a gun.”

Miss Ling’s face instantly flushed red. She lowered her head, poking at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, too embarrassed to reply.

”Brother Jia. We owe you for this one,” Wan Ze said, looking up at him.

Zhai Jia waved his hand dismissively, picked up a piece of beef and swallowed it. ”It’s fine, I won’t ask any more questions. But next time something like this happens, remember to call me for the main event. Cleanup is seriously boring. No fun at all.”

Wan Ze chuckled, speechless.

Just as he was about to speak, a commotion suddenly erupted on the deck.

It was the sound of hurried footsteps.

It sounded like more than one person, accompanied by low voices. The words were muffled by the bulkhead, but the sense of urgency was palpable.

The three of them stopped eating.

Zhai Jia frowned and got up to peer out the window.

In the darkness, the silhouettes of several speedboats were approaching. Searchlight beams swept back and forth across the water, and the word ”CUSTOMS” was painted on their hulls.

Without a word, he pulled out his communicator and made a call.

The other end picked up immediately.

”Fang Hao, what’s going on out there?” Zhai Jia asked, getting straight to the point.

The sound of rushing wind came from the communicator, along with the background noise of someone shouting in the distance.

”It’s not a big deal.”

Fang Hao’s voice was steady. ”Three patrol boats have come to conduct an inspection. They’re saying a major incident occurred in Hua City, and they’re searching for suspects.”

He paused.

Zhai Jia turned back and exchanged a look with Wan Ze.

Over the communicator, Fang Hao spoke again. ”You guys just keep eating. I’ll go send them away.”