“What do you think you’re doing? Using the organization’s tools for personal matters? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?” Wudong saw Night Heron rush into the safe house. “Even if you are, why aren’t you with your grandmother? Didn’t you say you wanted to find an opportunity to take care of Number 021?”
The Covenant of the Scales assigns numbers to bounty targets. They’re divided into several factions internally to standardize difficulty. It’s easy to tell: the larger the number, the higher the difficulty. For example, 021 is considered low-to-medium difficulty, suitable for a group of three to five people, given it’s only one person.
Compared to other single-person bounties, this one was already quite high. It was only after Night Heron returned and exaggeratedly described a ruthless, perverse killer that this number was assigned.
“Of course I’m checking the surveillance!” Night Heron glared at her. “I’m telling you, 021 just went to see my grandmother. There was nothing I could do; I’d just left and missed her. Now I’m worried she’ll lay a hand on my grandmother, so I need to keep an eye on her.”
Wudong saw through her supposedly skillful lie. She sat on the sofa, fiddling with gun parts on the table. “I think you ran away scared when she arrived, so now you can only snoop around like a little mouse in the gutter, terrified your identity will be exposed and someone will strike first and kill you.”
“Hey, hey, stop talking.” Night Heron put a finger to her own lips, then turned her back to seriously watch the surveillance feed.
“Oh my god! Ms. Zhou is too much! I hid her candy, how could she still find it? It’s expired!” Seeing her disobedient grandmother, her temper flared instantly, and even the stealthy Lin Mo became less important.
Wudong found her annoying. She walked over and pushed Night Heron’s head away. Night Heron narrowed her eyes, and Wudong finally pulled her attention back to the important information, asking, “What do you think 021 was doing in front of the medicine cabinet?”
They intently watched the movements of the person on screen, following that slender figure as she squatted down and stood up. It felt like an eternity, but Lin Mo never touched the locked glass medicine cabinet.
Night Heron guessed, “Do you think she might be doing magic? She actually wants to harm my grandmother and already switched the medicine in the cabinet when no one was looking.”
“...Magic is just a trick; the medicine cabinet is truly locked,” Wudong’s mouth twitched. “If you’re going to overthink it so much, just go back to the nursing home and see for yourself.”
The scene on the surveillance was uneventful. Before Lin Mo left, Grandmother successfully found the hidden candies and kept trying to stuff them into Lin Mo’s arms. Lin Mo didn’t appreciate it, just symbolically took one and put it in her pocket before leaving, probably not intending to eat it.
There was no scene of her grandmother being harmed, as Night Heron had imagined, nor any opportunity to report it.
Yes, as a member of the illegal organization, Covenant of the Scales, she wanted to report Lin Mo.
Because her grandmother had been brought to live with her and her mother, there were restrictions. As a member of the Covenant of the Scales’ action team, and her mother a researcher for them, both were under the organization’s control. Therefore, they couldn’t unilaterally transfer family members without valid reasons, such as ‘potential harm,’ which was too vague.
But they wanted Grandmother to live well, so they had to bring her closer.
Reporting Lin Mo to the organization for an encirclement and suppression couldn’t guarantee that the fight wouldn’t endanger Grandmother’s safety. If Lin Mo truly wanted to harm Grandmother, she couldn’t possibly escape.
She could travel thousands of li to kill the Chief; her grandmother was just lying in bed, unable to move easily.
So she could only rely on the Security Bureau! Unfortunately, 021 had yet to make a move. Could she and Grandmother really be ‘bosom friends’ with an age gap? That cold-blooded, ruthless person, who acted inexplicably, must have come because Grandmother stumbled upon a secret and she wanted to silence her.
“Your grandmother really likes her. Your grandmother didn’t even give me candy when I left.” Wudong raised her chin. “I asked Grandmother last time, and she said she and 021 already knew each other in Licheng.”
“Damn it, it’s all my fault. If only I had brought Grandmother to live with me sooner, she wouldn’t have been taken advantage of by this dangerous individual,” Night Heron cried, speaking sour grapes. “Don’t eat those candies, my grandmother doesn’t know how long she’s hidden them; they might be expired.”
Halfway through crying, she looked up in confusion. “Hey, when did you see my grandmother?”
“Yesterday, after 021 and you both left, I went over. I said I was your friend.” Wudong still maintained goodwill towards a teammate’s family, especially since she had no family other than her brother.
Meeting Night Heron’s shocked gaze, she reassured her, “Don’t worry, I changed my face. I won’t walk around with my original face next time.”
Since almost running into Lin Mo, Wudong had finally learned her lesson. Even when not on a mission, she had to maintain a disguise and couldn’t relax just because she was in the organization’s controlled area.
Night Heron couldn’t make up her mind, so she contacted her mother, who was far away in the research institute. As soon as she sent the message, a call came through.
The voice on the other end was cold and clear, suppressing anger. “Tang Ziyan, I really want to open your brain and see what you’re thinking! Are you so scared by someone with an unknown background that you’ve lost all your courage?”
“Are you stupid? Haven’t you investigated her background at all these past few days? Where does she live? Does she have family? If you can’t act in the nursing home, can’t you act outside?!”
“You can’t do anything right, and you’re leading a team! I’m telling you, I’ll give you one more week. If you don’t take care of this person, I’ll make you come to the lab too!”
Night Heron’s mind cleared after being scolded. She tentatively said, “Do... do experiments?”
“Lie on the dissection table!!” the woman roared. “I’m going to turn your brain into a specimen and name it ‘The World’s Most Stupid Brain!’”
“And! Is Wudong with you?!”
Night Heron... “Yes.”
“Give the communication device to her.”
Night Heron, “It’s... for you.”
Wudong took it, speaking in a businesslike tone, “Supervisor Tang, I’m Wudong from the Action Team.”
The voice on the other side immediately calmed down. “I’ll trouble you with this next. Night Heron doesn’t have many useful skills. She’d be fine as support, but this matter specifically relies on you. I’m sorry, our family is actually causing you trouble.”
Rate on N.U.
