Chapter 135: Temporary Abandonment (Seeking Monthly Votes)

"Let us spread out. Xueyi, lead Shundong and take the lead, staying ahead of him. Zhiheng and Shaowenguan will follow behind them, and we will trail right after. Let me emphasize one thing: this Tian Liqun is extremely vigilant. Do not get too close. I would rather we lose him than alert him." Xiang Yan immediately assigned the personnel, concentrating all available forces on Tian Liqun in an instant.

Everyone acted immediately according to their assigned roles, deploying a surveillance web far around Tian Liqun.

Tian Liqun stepped out of his house, walked for a distance as usual, reached the street corner, hailed a rickshaw, and headed all the way south, finally arriving at Xicangqiao Street in the southern part of the city.

Ning Zhiheng immediately recognized this street as the very same one where he and Kang Shundong had trailed Su Yu the day before.

However, this street was also a major thoroughfare, wide and heavily congested with pedestrians, which brought some trouble to the surveillance. Fortunately, everyone was an old hand at field operations and managed to keep Tian Liqun under long-range surveillance without losing the target.

Tian Liqun stepped off the rickshaw, paid a few copper coins, and hurried a few steps into the bustling crowd. Guo Xueyi and Kang Shundong momentarily lost track of his direction; he made a sudden turn into an alleyway and vanished from sight.

Fortunately, Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan, trailing further behind, had not lost the target. They glanced at the name of the alley entrance—a metal sign reading "Er Ma Alley"—and followed him inside.

Yet they had not walked more than a few paces when they saw Tian Liqun waiting unhurriedly near the mouth of the alley, turning around to observe the passing pedestrians.

"Damn it!" Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan were separated by less than ten paces, and being caught off guard by this situation, both reacted promptly. Without breaking their stride, they kept walking forward naturally without showing the slightest trace of abnormality, passing close by Tian Liqun's side.

Tian Liqun observed the area near the alley entrance for a while longer before unhurriedly continuing deeper into the alleyway.

At this point, Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan deliberately slowed their pace to wait for Tian Liqun, only to find that he was not following them at all, acting as if he were just strolling around absent-mindedly.

Although Er Ma Alley was short, it was quite wide. From time to time, small peddlers operated minor stalls along the roadside, and Tian Liqun walked and stopped, looking very leisurely.

Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan did not follow too closely. Observing his every move carefully, they failed to find anything unusual about him.

Meanwhile, Guo Xueyi and Kang Shundong, having lost the target earlier, also located the entrance to Er Ma Alley and briskly walked in. Scanning from side to side, they finally spotted Tian Liqun. To their dismay, in the blink of an eye, Guo Xueyi accidentally locked eyes directly with Tian Liqun.

When Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan saw this, they inwardly cried out in dismay! The absolute taboo in surveillance was locking eyes directly with the target; the watcher inevitably had a subconscious reaction of a guilty conscience and evasion, which easily exposed anomalies to the target.

Fortunately, Guo Xueyi was experienced. At the exact split second of eye contact, he steadied his mind, keeping his gaze completely calm and natural as he swept past, then walked right past Tian Liqun.

Although Tian Liqun did not spot anything abnormal, he gave Guo Xueyi a few extra glances. His habitual caution and wariness told him he should observe a bit longer. He also stopped at a small stall and pretended nonchalance while keeping an eye on the surrounding pedestrians.

At this moment, Ning Zhiheng made a decisive judgment and signaled the others with a glance, instructing a complete withdrawal. Lingering here for too long would cause the highly vigilant Tian Liqun to detect a problem. It was better to pull back; he would rather abandon this operation than alert Tian Liqun.

The operatives dispersed. Shaowenguan and Kang Shundong successively withdrew, but Guo Xueyi felt unwilling to give up, believing they could give it one more try. Just as he lingered for a moment longer, reluctant to leave, he caught sight of Ning Zhiheng's cold, warning gaze, which instantly made his heart skip a beat.

His military rank was major; logically speaking, he should not fear Ning Zhiheng, who was only a captain. Yet for some reason, when he saw Ning Zhiheng's eyes, it felt like looking at a venomous snake staring fiercely at its prey—cold-blooded and sinister, evoking an inexplicable sense of dread in his heart.

He recalled what Xiang Yan had told them beforehand: "I am taking you along to help you earn some merit. This is a fine opportunity, but you must realize we are snatching this credit from the Third Action Team. Especially their captain, Ning Zhiheng—this young man is no simple character. Do not let your emotions dictate your actions. If a good thing turns sour, you will have plenty of trouble ahead!"

There had to be a reason why even Xiang Yan held a slight inward apprehension toward this young man. Knowing he could not persist any longer, Guo Xueyi exchanged one last glance with Ning Zhiheng and withdrew from the scene.

Initially, upon seeing Guo Xueyi lingering of his own accord, Ning Zhiheng had felt a surge of irritation. The current case was a clue he had tracked down through arduous personal effort, pushing it step-by-step to its present stage. When Xiang Yan brought his own men to take charge, Ning Zhiheng knew it was standard bureaucratic procedure and technically faultless. However, if Xiang Yan's subordinates acted without authorization and ignored instructions, thereby startling the target, Ning Zhiheng would certainly not stand for it.

Despite being a major, Guo Xueyi was not a frontline commanding officer. In the military, a high rank did not automatically equate to executive authority; one's actual position mattered just as much. Therefore, throughout several operations, Kang Shundong—who also held the rank of captain—consistently deferred to Ning Zhiheng as the leader and followed his arrangements.

Seeing Guo Xueyi retreat, Ning Zhiheng did not dare linger either, making his way unhurriedly out of the alley.

Once out of Er Ma Alley, Ning Zhiheng spoke up: "Do not be impatient. Keep watch on both the front and rear alley entrances. His dead drop must be around here. Once we pin down the exact perimeter, he cannot escape!"

The front alley entrance was undoubtedly being watched by Xiang Yan. The four of them scattered and waited nearby. Sure enough, after a long while, Tian Liqun's figure finally reappeared at the entrance of Er Ma Alley.

He had clearly spent a considerable amount of time observing inside Er Ma Alley, and only after confirming there were no anomalies did he drop the film roll into the dead drop before emerging from the alley.

Ning Zhiheng whispered, "Tian Liqun is probably going to send the signal that the dead drop is activated now. Lao Shao and I will tail him. You three rendezvous with Section Chief Xiang, check every suspicious spot in Er Ma Alley, and then await Section Chief Xiang's orders! Call every surveillance point every half hour to report and confirm our positions!"

With those words, he and Shaowenguan trailed along behind Tian Liqun.

Watching Ning Zhiheng's departing back, Guo Xueyi spat out a curse under his breath and muttered resentfully and unwillingly, "This Ning Zhiheng is far too arrogant. He doesn't put us in his eyes at all. If the overall situation weren't at stake, I'd give him a piece of my mind!"

Kang Shundong, standing beside him, did not echo the sentiment. Instead, he asked with a puzzled frown, "Lao Guo, what came over you just now? Section Chief Xiang gave explicit instructions before we came that operations should be centered around Ning Zhiheng. He already signaled for a retreat—why did you insist on lingering?"

Hearing this, Guo Xueyi felt his deflation deepen. Knowing he was in the wrong, he stubbornly argued, "In my opinion, Tian Liqun didn't notice us at all; we should have given it another shot! Now look at this—the location of the dead drop hasn't been found, and this entire operation has gone to waste!"

Kang Shundong hesitated for a moment after hearing this before finally saying, "You saw the situation just now as well. If we had lingered any longer, we undoubtedly would have drawn Tian Liqun's attention. The section chief instructed us repeatedly: better to lose him than to alert him!"

At this point, his tone turned earnest: "Lao Guo, listen to me. Ning Zhiheng is ruthless and sharp-eyed like a hawk eyeing its prey; he is destined for greater things in the future. The section chief specifically told us to maintain good relations with him. To make a powerful enemy simply out of petty pride would spell endless trouble for us down the road!"

Hearing Kang Shundong's words, Guo Xueyi knew his performance had completely violated Xiang Yan's intentions, and it had indeed been rather injudicious. Furthermore, he knew that needlessly antagonizing Ning Zhiheng was profoundly unwise. He could only nod and say, "Fine, I know what to do!"

The two men said no more and turned back to rendezvous with Xiang Yan.

Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan monitored Tian Liqun from a distance. Tian Liqun did not delay in the slightest and headed straight back to his workplace, the Minsheng Newspaper Office.

Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan tailed him all the way. Seeing Tian Liqun enter the newspaper office, they stopped following and returned to their surveillance post directly opposite the building.

"This Tian Liqun is truly vigilant. We can monitor him well enough in open spaces, but once we reach narrow quarters, we simply cannot get close," Shaowenguan said with visible irritation.

Ning Zhiheng nodded as well, saying, "Tian Liqun's counter-surveillance skills are top-notch. We can only be certain that the intelligence drop box is inside Er Ma Alley! I wonder how things are going over at Section Chief Xiang's end?"

Just as his voice trailed off, the telephone rang. Ning Zhiheng picked up the receiver, and it was indeed Xiang Yan's voice on the line.

"Tian Liqun went straight back to the newspaper office?" Xiang Yan asked with some surprise.

Upon receiving Kang Shundong's report, he had led his men to conduct a rough reconnaissance of the entire Er Ma Alley. The alley resembled a semi-circular loop; apart from a few residential households, there was only a small wine workshop that sold exclusively home-brewed unblended white liquor—a very modest family-run operation.

Fearing he would startle the snake in the grass, Xiang Yan had dismissed his subordinates' suggestions to search the place and insisted on continuing the surveillance.

At that moment, needing to confirm Tian Liqun's whereabouts, he had called the observation post at the Minsheng Newspaper Office, and sure enough, Ning Zhiheng and Shaowenguan were stationed there.

"Section Chief, Tian Liqun left Er Ma Alley, made no stops along the way, and came straight back to the Minsheng Newspaper Office!" Ning Zhiheng reported.

"He didn't go anywhere else? Shouldn't he be sending the signal to activate the dead drop right now?" Xiang Yan asked, sounding somewhat perplexed.

Ning Zhiheng also found it unusual. He hesitated and said, "Could it be that his superior checks the dead drop on a regular schedule, rendering signals unnecessary?"

"That's a possibility, but the likelihood is too slim. Frequently handling the dead drop increases the risk of exposure. I still lean toward the belief that Tian Liqun will send an activation signal," Xiang Yan said, dismissing the hypothesis after a moment of reflection.

He continued, "Here is what we will do: you two keep watching Tian Liqun's movements. Once I finish arranging things here, I will come over to rendezvous with you and finalize our next steps!"