Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Yi-hyeon didn't leave his room all afternoon. He appeared to be deep in meditation, but in reality, he was sharing his consciousness with Sion and experiencing Sion's 'advancement' firsthand.

They were staying at a three-star hotel in Beijing. Choi Hyeong-su and his team had secured the rooms, choosing the hotel because it was close to the one Wu Qinglin was using as his temporary residence. Choi had also checked that the building had relatively few CCTV cameras and other surveillance devices.

In truth, thanks to Sion, they didn't need to worry about CCTV at all. But Yi-hyeon couldn't reveal that to the operatives, so he let them make their own arrangements.

Apart from Lee Seung-uk, the operatives were currently conducting covert reconnaissance around Wu Qinglin's hotel at regular intervals. They were investigating everything they could: the surrounding roads, people entering and leaving the building, and even the movements of the Bureau Fourteen agents responsible for Wu Qinglin's protection.

Late that afternoon, they gathered in Lee Seung-uk's room to discuss what their reconnaissance had uncovered.

"We've confirmed that Wu Qinglin is staying on the fourteenth floor. The security around that bastard is quite substantial. Whenever Wu Qinglin is in the hotel, two guards remain stationed in the fourteenth-floor corridor and another guards the emergency stairwell. There are also two in the hotel lobby and another two on the surrounding streets."

Listening to the report, Lee Seung-uk muttered a curse.

"Who the hell does that bastard think he is, the president?"

The security arrangements were certainly excessive. Wu Qinglin might be one of fewer than twenty bureau directors in the MSS, but they hadn't expected him to have this much protection.

The operative continued his report, drawing diagrams on a sheet of paper spread across the table.

"The biggest problem is securing an escape route. If something happens to Wu Qinglin, his guards will discover it within ten minutes at most. We'll have to get him out of the hotel and beyond a three-kilometer radius within that window···. It won't be easy. Finding a safe house where we can interrogate him afterward is another problem."

Complications upon complications. The operation would be considerably simpler if they could just eliminate Wu Qinglin and escape.

Lee Seung-uk asked calmly,

"What about the preparations I ordered?"

"Yes, sir. It was a rush, but I heard Lee Jong-bae managed to get everything ready. He's bringing the materials tonight. If we scatter them at the scene after the operation, they should buy us some time."

They were talking about several items they intended to leave behind after abducting Wu Qinglin. These included statements supposedly issued by the 'Xinjiang Uyghur Liberation Front' and articles associated with its members. The idea was to make the incident look like an attack carried out by Uyghur antigovernment militants opposed to the Chinese authorities. It was all a deception intended to prevent the Chinese from pursuing Yi-hyeon's group.

Of course, the MSS wasn't an organization staffed entirely by fools. They would probably see through the deception soon enough, but it could still throw the situation into confusion.

Lee Seung-uk nodded.

"The representative won't need much time to interrogate that bastard. If he's human, he'll talk quickly. If we're pressed for time, he can even finish the interrogation while we're moving in a van. The real problem is securing our escape route. But we'll find a way. Since when have we ever had the luxury of choosing easy missions?"

Seeing the determination in Lee Seung-uk's eyes, the other operatives nodded.

He was right. When had any of their missions ever been easy?

It was past ten at night when Yi-hyeon entered the room where they had gathered. His expression was relaxed and pleasant, a sharp contrast to the tense faces of the operatives.

Looking around at the men who hurriedly rose from their seats, he asked,

"Have you all eaten?"

The men, including Lee Seung-uk, exchanged glances. Judging by their reactions, everyone had skipped dinner. Yi-hyeon turned to Lee Seung-uk.

"Go buy something simple to eat nearby. We'll fill our stomachs before we move. And we're changing the operation."

The operatives grew tense at his words. The original operation was already complicated and difficult enough, and now they were changing it?

"We don't need to bring Wu Qinglin out of the hotel. I'll settle everything inside his room. All you have to do is buy me ten minutes after I enter."

"Representative, in that case···."

Lee Seung-uk was about to ask for clarification, but Yi-hyeon raised his hand to stop him.

"Let's eat first. We need full stomachs if we're going to get the job done and make a clean getaway."

"···Yes, sir."

Two or three operatives went out to buy food. They deliberately split up because a single person purchasing a large quantity might be remembered by the shopkeeper.

"Mmm, that's good."

"Chomp, chomp."

The group ate fried dumplings and mixed noodles from coated cardboard containers.

"Clean up every trace of our stay. We've already paid for the rooms in advance, so that isn't a problem. Gather all your belongings and prepare to leave."

"Yes, sir."

They erased the evidence of their occupation of the three rooms. The operation would begin shortly. This would probably be their final mission in China.

* * *

It was past one in the morning. They were in an alley one block away from the hotel where Wu Qinglin was staying. Changsha Avenue was broad and lined with impressive buildings, but just a short distance into the backstreets, everything turned dark and smelled musty.

"We confirmed that Wu Qinglin entered the hotel with a woman a little while ago."

Choi Hyeong-su spoke quietly.

"You said three men are guarding the fourteenth floor, right? Two in the corridor and one at the emergency exit?"

"Yes, sir."

Yi-hyeon nodded and gave his instructions.

"There's no need for a whole group to go upstairs and cause a commotion. Take the emergency stairs and capture the man stationed there. I'll deal with the guards in the corridor and enter Wu Qinglin's room. Bring your prisoner into that room afterward."

"···Yes, sir."

Yi-hyeon made it sound as simple as going to the neighborhood supermarket to pick up groceries, but it was anything but easy. Choi Hyeong-su swallowed hard.

"Oh, and you said there are two guards in the lobby, right? Why does that bastard need so many bodyguards hanging around him? I'll have to take the elevator without attracting their attention."

He was taking the elevator instead of climbing the emergency stairs?

Choi Hyeong-su was even more bewildered and was about to ask another question, but Yi-hyeon had already turned away.

The instant Yi-hyeon turned around, his face transformed into that of an entirely different person. He'd circulated his qi to alter his features, a process that now took only a few breaths. Even his height decreased considerably over the next few steps. He had become someone else altogether.

"Whew!"

Yi-hyeon released a long breath, his eyes gleaming.

He had advanced again. His own growth had accompanied Sion's advancement.

Whether Yi-hyeon had progressed first or Sion had led the way was unclear.

In his current condition, he felt as though he could leap all the way to the top of that hotel in a single bound. His lower abdomen was filled with a dense, powerful energy, yet his feet felt so light that he might have been walking on clouds. He even had the sensation that he could evade bullets flying toward him.

And what was this extraordinary clarity in his mind? Everything felt as transparent as crystal. With even a little concentration, he could perceive the movements of people and objects around him as plainly as though they were resting in the palm of his hand.

Was this what true advancement felt like?

Sion had explained that advancement could grant several different abilities. One of them was the power to control another person's mind through one's own consciousness.

If Sion was right, there was no need to go through the trouble of abducting Wu Qinglin and spending hours interrogating him. A few minutes would be enough.

Choi Hyeong-su hurried off, while Yi-hyeon entered the hotel lobby at a leisurely pace and surveyed his surroundings. He was looking for the two bodyguards, but unlike before, he no longer needed to turn his head and search with his eyes.

His perception, now as sharp as the tip of a needle, located both men immediately.

There they are!

Two men were lounging on a sofa in a corner of the lobby. They were supposed to be guarding Wu Qinglin, but the late hour had apparently made them complacent, and they sat there with relaxed expressions.

Yi-hyeon strolled past reception toward the elevators. There were only a few hotel employees in the lobby, and nobody tried to stop him.

Inside the elevator, Yi-hyeon pressed the button for the eighteenth floor. The men in the lobby might be watching for anyone heading to the fourteenth. After getting off on the eighteenth floor, he slowly descended the emergency stairs until he reached the fourteenth.

"Huh?"

Choi Hyeong-su was standing to one side of the emergency stairwell with his pistol drawn. The moment he saw Yi-hyeon coming down from above, he raised his weapon. The sudden appearance of a stranger had put him on edge. A man in a suit lay unconscious at his feet.

"It's me."

"Y-yes, sir."

Startled, Choi Hyeong-su lowered his pistol. He recognized Yi-hyeon immediately because Yi-hyeon had just changed his face back to its previous appearance.

This was rather entertaining.

"Someone might come through here and discover this bastard. We'd better bring him into the room. Pick him up and follow me."

"Uh, Representative. Won't there be CCTV cameras in the corridor?"

"Oh, don't worry about those. Lee Seung-uk will already have taken care of them."

"······."

When would Lee Seung-uk, who was directing the entire operation while securing perimeter security and escape routes, have found time to deal with the CCTV cameras?

Still, if the representative said it was handled, Choi Hyeong-su was supposed to accept it. Lee Seung-uk had been very firm about that.

When Yi-hyeon flung open the steel emergency door and stepped out without hesitation, Choi Hyeong-su felt his stomach tighten. After all, weren't there two guards stationed in the corridor?

Gritting his teeth, Choi Hyeong-su rushed after him. He couldn't leave his boss exposed to the enemy. Forget the terrifying Branch President Lee Jung-ho; if Lee Seung-uk learned that he'd done such a thing, he'd be in for a savage reprimand. But what happened before his eyes a moment later left him staring in disbelief.

As they entered the red-carpeted corridor, the bodyguards sitting on chairs near the corner immediately rose. One hurried toward them while the other positioned himself in front of a nearby room. Their movements were swift and efficient, clearly the result of years of training.

"Who are you?"

The approaching man shouted as he drew his pistol. Choi Hyeong-su was just about to rush ahead and shield Yi-hyeon. All he could think about was protecting the representative from that gun. As he began raising his own weapon, he saw Yi-hyeon extend a hand.

Yi-hyeon gently pushed forward with the back of his hand facing outward, then stopped abruptly. The gunman was still more than two meters away.

"Urgh!"

As though something had struck him in the chest, the man's upper body snapped backward, and he let out a low groan. Yi-hyeon didn't even spare the collapsing guard a glance. He quickened his pace toward the other man standing before the room. That guard also held a pistol, but Yi-hyeon approached without hesitation.

"Kh!"

The man tried to fire··· but his face turned crimson, and his breathing grew labored.

They were about three meters apart. As Yi-hyeon gently raised and rotated his hand, the hand holding the pistol began twisting in the same direction.

Crunch!

With the sound of breaking bones, the man's mouth flew open. His gun hand drooped helplessly, and the pistol slipped to the floor. Then his knees buckled beneath him.

Only then did Yi-hyeon approach, push the man's head aside with one hand, and look at Choi Hyeong-su.

"What are you doing? I told you to bring that bastard."

"Y-yes, sir."

Choi Hyeong-su was practically in a daze.

Exerting physical force across empty space? He'd never heard of or witnessed anything like it. Finally collecting himself, he hurried back to retrieve the man he'd abandoned in the stairwell.

Yi-hyeon was already standing before Wu Qinglin's room, his hand on the doorknob. Come to think of it, the door was naturally locked.

Crunch!

With a casual twist of his hand, the bronze doorknob broke apart and turned.

When Yi-hyeon entered, he found himself not in a bedroom but in a sitting area. Although relatively small, it contained a sofa and a table, suggesting that the suite had separate living and sleeping quarters.

Another door. Yi-hyeon approached and opened it quietly. This one wasn't locked.

Inside was a double bed, and a lamp beside it provided enough light to see clearly. And then,

"Who the hell are you?"

A man who appeared to be Wu Qinglin sat on the bed in his underwear, pointing a pistol at Yi-hyeon. A woman lay beside him, quiet and apparently asleep.

"Are you Wu Qinglin?"

At last, he'd found the bastard.

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