"Huh? Why say it leads straight to Qian Duoduo's home? Aren't we already in his estate?" Su Mali was baffled.
Jing Shu shook her head. "I doubt Qian Duoduo even knows about this. I think the man pretending to be your Uncle Gou, that Lin Yi, arranged it. He used the road closure at Xishan to force us to circle wide, slip in from behind, and deliberately pass by Qian Duoduo's grounds."
"And then?" She blinked. What was the connection?
"So your last known data point sits at Qian Duoduo's place. After you disappear and the final ping is on his turf, what do you think your father will do?" Jing Shu rolled her eyes.
Her mouth fell open. "My father will go for Qian Duoduo's throat. If he really has no idea, he will think my father is picking a fight. They could end up shooting at each other."
"People at their level should not be that impulsive, right?" Jing Shu rubbed her nose. Those with rank and weight should be steadier.
Su Mali clutched her hair. "You don't understand. Every time I get kidnapped, my father loses his mind. We should go up. I need to tell him I am safe, or he really will flip Xishan."
Jing Shu frowned. A manipulator like Lin Yi would surely know those pressure points. Was he only trying to pit Wu City's top two against each other?
It would not be that simple.
"Which is why we take the passage," she said. "Go the opposite way of expectation. No one will guess we chose the underground. Do you know how many of his people are waiting for you up there? And do you really want to walk in a rainstorm and get eaten by red nematodes?"
Su Mali shook her head hard.
"Good. Move. This time nothing will go wrong. Trust me." Jing Shu tugged her toward the passage.
They returned to the shaft where they had fled the elevator terror. That was their way in.
The loose stones were still on the ground. The frame that had crushed Wang Chuang had been patched by Fei Zhuzai's crew. The body had been tossed who knew where.
Jing Shu spent a long time searching for an elevator switch, hoping to reactivate the new lift, but found nothing. The controls for this huge tunnel had to be in Lin Yi's hands alone. No one else rated access.
"Let's go." She swung down and pulled Su Mali after her. Su Mali agreed in a small voice. She did not want the passage, but Jing Shu's presence always made her obedient without thinking. "Useless," she scolded herself, near tears.
Jing Shu moved quickly, dropping markers on the map app inside the space, estimating their current position and distance traveled. She had no idea how deep the tunnel ran. There was no signal, no GPS.
"I am hungry." Su Mali's stomach growled. She bit her lip, shivering in the cold air.
Jing Shu had woken hungry herself. She fished a compressed ration bar from the pocket sewn into her pants and handed it over. "Chew twenty eight times before you swallow."
Su Mali nodded, nibbled, then chewed. "Oh heavens. What was this? Delicious." Like a small hamster, she munched in contentment.
Fed, she walked faster. Meanwhile Jing Shu's lips worked on treats that were not only ration bars but chocolate, pistachios, mixed nuts, and other snacks, all without opening her mouth. Straight from the space to her tongue. Su Mali had no clue what she was eating.
"Three kilometers."
"Four kilometers."
At first there were forks, even the node they had passed earlier, but gradually the branch points vanished. A straight tunnel stretched ahead, rough hewn. This scale was not Qian Duoduo's doing. It looked like a smuggling corridor.
Poor rich man. Someone dug an artery under his estate and he never knew. The plot was grand.
"All the earlier forks were sealed," Jing Shu murmured. "Lin Yi wants us pushed to the end."
It was now about three in the afternoon. Su Mali had been missing four or five hours. Who knew what the surface looked like.
Jing Shu quickened her pace.
"They chose the passage? Then we go to Plan B," Lin Yi said, watching the nine panel wall of feeds. The corner of his mouth tilted.
"Ling Qi, start."
"Understood, boss."
The rumor flashed like lightning. The daughter of Wu City's natural gas magnate, Su Mali, had been secluded by Qian Duoduo at Xishan for his special tastes.
Within moments the city boiled. Worse, the gas magnate Su Xiangnan was said to be hauling thousands of propane bottles toward Xishan, threatening to die with that old thief Qian Duoduo.
No one knew where the story began. In minutes the top of Wu City knew. Given the stakes, the government dispatched Wu City's First Brigade, a unit trained as special forces, with the fire department in support. Second Brigade Commander Li Yuetian was ordered to assemble on standby, ready to deploy at once.
In less than a few hours, thousands flooded into Xishan. It was the largest surge since the disaster crowds during the spring deluge.
When Qian Duoduo heard, his first thought was, "What trick is that old ghost playing now? Was last time not enough for him?" The last time, Su Xiangnan had played him hard.
"Let us talk, Brother Su. Family is off limits. We don't joke with lives. I truly have not seen your daughter. There must be a misunderstanding," Qian Duoduo said, calm in a Tang jacket, walnut worry stones rolling in his palm.
His daughter went missing. What did that have to do with him.
Su Xiangnan's already dark face turned darker. Hands on hips, he pointed at Qian Duoduo. "You think I am joking with you. Do you believe I will blow up your Xishan. Do you believe if I shout once, you will hear a boom outside."
Bang.