"Officer Shi, you're welcome to ask me questions, but I, Fan Qiu, am also a woman of standing. Have a cup of tea as a sign of respect for me as your host, and then ask whatever you wish."
Fan Qiu said with a smile, placing the teapot towards Shi Yong.
"Alright."
Shi Yong didn't hesitate much. He directly picked up the teacup and drank the tea in one gulp. Before he could even taste anything, the tea had already gone down his throat.
"Am I good now?"
Shi Yong asked, putting down the teacup.
"Chewing the cud, tea is meant to be savored, not gulped down like that."
Fan Qiu shook her head helplessly.
"Tea is tea. In my heart, it's for quenching thirst, just as black is black and white is white, with no gray areas."
Shi Yong said meaningfully.
"Officer Shi, has anyone ever told you that you are a very boring man?"
*Clack.*
Fan Qiu lit a slender women's cigarette, took a puff, and exhaled a smoke ring elegantly towards Shi Yong, saying,
"My wife has."
Shi Yong replied with an expressionless face.
"Alright, it seems chatting with a boring man is quite a chore. What do you want to ask me?"
Fan Qiu took only one puff before extinguishing the cigarette. She then elegantly crossed her legs and said to Shi Yong,
"How did you meet the Seven-Eyed Buddha?"
Shi Yong asked.
"Three years ago, when I was doing business in Thailand, I accidentally offended some local criminal forces. The Seven-Eyed Buddha helped me. That's how we met. Does this answer satisfy you, Officer Shi?"
Fan Qiu replied.
"Just like that?"
Shi Yong frowned slightly, clearly sensing that Fan Qiu's answer was rather vague.
"Just like that."
Fan Qiu replied calmly.
Of course, only she knew if the matter was truly as she said.
"There are rumors that you are the Seven-Eyed Buddha's lover. Is that true?"
Shi Yong suddenly asked.
"Hahaha..."
"Officer Shi, you are truly a joker. While I, Fan Qiu, am a widow, I still have my pride. Not just anyone can catch my eye. To me, the Seven-Eyed Buddha is just a man who helped me. He is not qualified to be my lover."
Fan Qiu burst into loud laughter.
This time, Fan Qiu was speaking the truth. If the Seven-Eyed Buddha wanted her to be his lover, he wasn't qualified. However, whether the Seven-Eyed Buddha had such intentions, Fan Qiu wasn't sure.
Regardless, the Seven-Eyed Buddha was now dead, so she had no way to verify it.
Shi Yong looked at her for a moment, trying to discern any signs of lying, but found none. However, he did notice that Fan Qiu's attitude towards the Seven-Eyed Buddha didn't seem feigned.
"My apologies, Ms. Fan Qiu. That was just hearsay from the marketplace. I was being nosy. Do you know the purpose of the Seven-Eyed Buddha's visit to the ancient Eastern country this time?"
Shi Yong changed the topic.
"I don't know. He never tells me these things, and I don't care what he does. My hosting him was purely because he helped me in Thailand. As a gesture of reciprocity, when he came to the ancient Eastern country, I, as the host, naturally had to entertain him."
Fan Qiu's answers were flawless, leaving Shi Yong with no room to press further.
After sitting awkwardly for a while, his subordinates reported that they found nothing, making Shi Yong restless. He had no choice but to call off the operation and leave.
After they left, everyone seemed somewhat indignant. They clearly knew the Seven-Eyed Buddha was inside, yet they couldn't find him, leaving them helpless.
"Captain, what do we do?"
A subordinate asked unwillingly.
"What else can we do? Twenty-four-hour surveillance on this place, including Fan Qiu. I want to know her every move."
Shi Yong said irritably.
This was perhaps the most frustrating experience of his career. If they had found the person, it would be one thing. Now that they hadn't, it would be much harder to enter Fan Qiu's villa again, and higher-ups wouldn't approve such an operation again.
As Shi Yong led his team away in defeat, Ning Beichen was looking at an intelligence report in his hand.
"A total of thirty-two people, all elite guards of the Black Dragon King. They entered the ancient Eastern country in two groups. One group disguised themselves as tourists and came in openly. The other group infiltrated through the waterways. The infiltrators are expected to land tonight around three in the morning at a private fishing ground dock located on the outskirts of Haizhou New City."
The person speaking to him was Ye Ya'er, who had now become his intelligence chief.
"Find something for Shi Yong and his team to do. Have someone deliver the list of the openly entering personnel to Shi Yong."
Ning Beichen said to Ye Ya'er.
"Okay, that's easy. We can just find a delivery guy. What about the group that infiltrated secretly?"
Ye Ya'er asked.
"I'll handle them. Since they are smugglers, let them disappear forever."
A sinister expression appeared on Ning Beichen's face.
"Brother Beichen, are you going to do it yourself?"
Ye Ya'er's eyes lit up with eagerness at the mention of it.
"It's none of your business, big star."
Ning Beichen said to her.
"Brother Beichen, I'm getting restless. Can I participate? Aren't there Cleaners available?"
Ye Ya'er hugged Ning Beichen and said coquettishly.
"No, even if you're restless. Even with the Cleaners, there's no 100% guarantee of safety. Those are elite guards. I don't want you to take that risk."
Ning Beichen refused her mercilessly, remaining unmoved by her subsequent cajoling.
If Ning Beichen were the type of person to change his mind just because a woman pouted, he would have died countless times by now, and the grass on his grave would probably be three feet high.
Ye Ya'er knew that once Ning Beichen made up his mind, it was unchangeable. She had no choice but to abandon the idea of participating in the operation. Although she wasn't afraid, she also knew that Ning Beichen was doing this for her own good.
Around one o'clock in the morning, Ning Beichen quietly left home without disturbing Liu Yilin. Outside, he met up with his men and drove towards the private fishing ground dock on the outskirts.
The intelligence indicated that the Black Dragon King's elite guards would arrive around three in the morning, so they departed at one. By the time they reached the fishing ground dock, it was only a little past two in the morning.
At the fishing ground dock, Ning Beichen's men were already monitoring the area and had preemptively dealt with the fishing ground staff.
Ning Beichen's team was not large, only seven people in total including himself, but for Ning Beichen, it was more than enough.
None of Ning Beichen's subordinates were armed with firearms. Instead, they all carried long swords on their backs, while some had compound bows and daggers.
It wasn't that his subordinates couldn't use firearms; some of them were as skilled with guns as European sharpshooters. It was Ning Beichen's requirement that they not use any firearms in the ancient Eastern country.