Chapter 175

Two days after the bustle of the Liu family celebration had died down, the Siheyuan returned to its usual calm. But beneath this calm, Li Ping'an caught a whiff of something unusual.

That night, as usual, he sat in the courtyard meditating and practicing his skills; his Divine Perception spread like an invisible web over a radius of a hundred meters. Suddenly, an extremely faint footstep came from the Hu Tong Kou—not a resident returning home, but deliberate, measured steps with a certain rhythm.

Li Ping'an snapped his eyes open, his pupils flashing a sharp glint in the darkness. He moved silently to the wall's edge, peering through a crack in the bricks, and saw two black shadows creeping slowly along the base of the wall, moving with an agility no ordinary person could have.

"Finally..." Li Ping'an thought coldly. Since the Grey Wolf was taken down, he knew this wasn't over.

The two shadows circled the alley twice, then stopped below the wall diagonally opposite Li Ping'an's home. One of them pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and, under the moonlight, quickly jotted down something.

"The target follows a regular daily routine, lights out at ten each night..." the man said in stiff Mandarin.

The other nodded: "Continue surveillance, await orders."

Li Ping'an frowned slightly. These people were clearly after him, and they were well-trained—not ordinary agents.

He slipped back inside, but his Divine Perception remained locked on the two shadows. They crouched in the corner for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, then withdrew silently, vanishing into the night.

The next morning, Li Ping'an went to work at the Steel Rolling Mill as usual. As soon as he entered the Security Department, Wang Dahu rushed up to him: "Section Chief, there's a situation!"

"What's wrong?" Li Ping'an set down his briefcase.

"Last night the Police Substation received a report that Old Wangtou, the wonton seller, had seen two strangers loitering in our alley." Wang Dahu lowered his voice: "Old Wangtou said they spoke with a strange accent, not like locals."

Li Ping'an's heart stirred, but his face showed no change: "Maybe it's a relative from out of town; just have the Police Substation pay more attention."

He walked to the window, watching the workers coming and going in the factory area, but his mind was quickly calculating. Since these people dared to directly touch his residence, it shows they are desperate. It seems the capture of the "Gray Wolf" really hurt them.

At noon, while eating in the cafeteria, Li Ping'an deliberately sat by the window. His Divine Perception slowly unfolded, carefully sensing everyone around. Suddenly, he felt two sharp gazes shooting from the cafeteria corner.

He was a middle-aged man in work clothes, looking no different from an ordinary worker. But Li Ping'an keenly noticed that the man's chopstick grip was unusual, with his index finger always pressed against the side of the chopsticks—a habit of long-time gun users.

"They've infiltrated the factory this quickly?" Li Ping'an's heart tightened.

He finished his meal as if nothing had happened, then immediately summoned Wang Dahu back to the office: "Big Tiger, have there been any new workers at the factory lately?"

Wang Dahu thought: "Yes, a temporary worker named Zhao Zhiqiang came to the machine repair workshop last week. What, Section Chief, do you think there's a problem?"

"Machine repair workshop..." Li Ping'an pondered, "Go investigate Zhao Zhiqiang's background, and do it discreetly."

In the afternoon, Li Ping'an pretended to inspect the workshop and deliberately went to the machine repair workshop. Zhao Zhiqiang was repairing a lathe, his technique skilled, indeed like a veteran craftsman. But Li Ping'an's Divine Perception sensed that the man's heartbeat was abnormally steady, completely unlike someone doing heavy labor.

"Not bad for a veteran craftsman," Li Ping'an remarked with a smile.

Zhao Zhiqiang raised his head, showing a simple, honest smile: "Section Chief, you flatter me; I'm just trying to make a living."

The moment their eyes met, Li Ping'an caught a flash of sharp light in the depths of his eyes.

"Indeed there's a problem," Li Ping'an thought coldly.

That evening, Li Ping'an did not go home directly but took a detour to the Police Substation. He reported the situation to Deputy Director Liu.

"Comrade Ping'an, your judgment is likely correct," Liu said solemnly. "We've also received reports recently that a group of foreign agents has infiltrated Four Nine City, possibly targeting you for continually sabotaging their operations."

Li Ping'an smiled: "Then I've become a tempting target, huh?"

"No time for jokes!" Liu shook his head helplessly. "I'll send two comrades to secretly protect you."

"No need," Li Ping'an waved his hand. "Scaring the snake by beating the grass would be ugly. I'd rather see what tricks they can pull."

Leaving the Police Substation, the night was deep. Li Ping'an walked alone in the alley, his Divine Perception fully unfolded, grasping every movement around him.

Sure enough, when he was still a hundred meters from home, he sensed three people lying in wait at the alley entrance. One of them had the same aura as Zhao Zhiqiang he had seen in the cafeteria that day.

"Are they going to strike here?" Li Ping'an thought coldly, but his steps did not pause.

Just as he was about to reach the alley entrance, he suddenly changed direction, turning into a narrower side alley. This clearly took the ambushers by surprise, and a faint "Huh?" came from the entrance.

Li Ping'an quickened his pace, weaving left and right through the alley, soon shaking off the tail. But he didn't go straight home; instead, he went around to the back wall of the Siheyuan and lightly leapt over.

The courtyard was quiet, his sister already asleep. Li Ping'an stood in the darkness, his Divine Perception carefully scanning every corner of the courtyard.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed—in the shadow of the courtyard wall, a person was actually hiding!

The person curled up at the base of the wall, breathing so faintly it was almost inaudible, obviously using special concealment techniques. If not for Li Ping'an's keen Divine Perception, he would never have noticed.

"Quite the character, they even came with a feint east, strike west," Li Ping'an thought in alarm.

He didn't startle the snake, but silently retreated back into the house, observing the hidden figure through a crack in the window.

In the moonlight, the person's outline gradually became clear. He was a lean man, his face painted with camouflage, wearing a dark Night Cloak, his waist bulging, obviously carrying weapons.

Time ticked by, the hidden figure remained motionless like a stone carving, showing extreme professionalism.

Until three a. m., a distant owl's call rang out. The hidden figure finally moved, he lightly flexed his stiff limbs, took out a small tube from his pocket, and aimed it at Li Ping'an's window.

"Smoke?" Li Ping'an's eyes turned cold.

Just as the man was about to blow the smoke into the house, Li Ping'an moved. Like a ghost, he slipped out another window, circled behind the hidden figure, and delivered a precise hand chop to the back of the neck.

The hidden figure let out a muffled groan and collapsed softly.

Li Ping'an quickly searched his person: besides a tube of smoke, there was a dagger and a small porcelain bottle. Opening the bottle, inside were several pills emitting a pungent odor.

"Poison?" Li Ping'an frowned. These people not only wanted to capture him, but had also prepared lethal poison—clearly intent on killing him.

He bound the unconscious infiltrator, stuffed him into the woodshed, then returned indoors.

That night, Li Ping'an didn't sleep. He sat by the window, his Divine Perception constantly enveloping the entire Siheyuan. Sure enough, as dawn approached, a black shadow appeared at the alley mouth, peeking out—obviously there to rendezvous with the infiltrator.

"Really endless," Li Ping'an sighed.

The next morning, he went to work as if nothing had happened. The infiltrator he had locked in the woodshed had already been secretly transferred to the Police Substation.

At the factory, he deliberately went to the machine repair workshop again. Zhao Zhiqiang was still working there; seeing him, he gave an honest smile: "Morning, Section Chief."

"Morning," Li Ping'an nodded, but his keen Divine Perception caught a flicker of surprise in Zhao Zhiqiang's eyes.

Obviously, they had already discovered their comrade's disappearance.

At noon in the cafeteria, Li Ping'an noticed Zhao Zhiqiang sitting with two other workers eating. Though dressed in work clothes, their bearing constantly exuded a military air.

"Two more..." Li Ping'an silently noted their appearances.

At shift's end, Wang Dahu came to report: "Section Chief, we've checked—Zhao Zhiqiang's introduction letter is forged. Should we arrest him now?"

"Wait a bit longer," Li Ping'an shook his head. "You need a long line to catch a big fish."

He pushed his bicycle out of the factory gate, his Divine Perception constantly attentive to the movements behind him. Sure enough, Zhao Zhiqiang and the two others also rode bicycles and followed.

Li Ping'an deliberately slowed his pace, strolling along the street. The three of them were not in a hurry either, following behind him and always keeping a distance of over a hundred meters.

When they reached an intersection, Li Ping'an suddenly sped up and turned into a narrow alley. The three hurried after him, only to find the alley empty.

"Where is he?" Zhao Zhiqiang exclaimed, startled and doubtful.

Meanwhile, Li Ping'an had already circled out from the other end of the alley and silently followed behind them.

"Are you looking for me?" he said coldly.

The three were shocked and about to act, but Li Ping'an pounced on them like a fierce tiger. In a flurry of punches and kicks, the three collapsed.

Li Ping'an searched Zhao Zhiqiang's pocket and found a small notebook densely filled with records of his daily routine and movements.

"Really, they just won't go away." He snorted coldly, tied up the three, and directly escorted them to the Public Security Bureau.

That night, the Public Security Bureau conducted overnight interrogations. Zhao Zhiqiang finally confessed that they were a special ops unit codenamed "Night Owl", tasked with capturing Li Ping'an alive and extracting the secrets of the "Grey Wolf" organization.

"It seems there is an even bigger fish behind the Grey Wolf," Deputy Director Liu said with a solemn expression.

Li Ping'an stood in the courtyard of the Public Security Bureau, gazing at the star-filled sky. This covert struggle was far from over.

But he feared nothing. Having chosen this path, he was ready to face any challenge.

The night grew deep, and the lights of Four Nine City went out one by one. Yet the battle to protect this city continued.