CHAPTER 1335: KIDNAPPING GANG

"The way your mind works never ceases to amaze me," said Dai Chen, laughing with a sound caught between a tired sigh and genuine amazement.

"A genius’s mind works in mysterious ways," Yang Qing smugly said as he raised his chin, before both he and Dai Chen broke into laughter.

After a few minutes had passed, Dai Chen, refilling what was to be his thirteenth cup, said, "If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask."

"Thanks," said Yang Qing as he raised his cup to him. "I need all the help I can get," he added with a sigh, leaning back exhaustively into his seat as he gazed upward. "I’ve uncovered a lot, but in certain aspects, I feel just as in the dark about the case as I did when I first stumbled onto it," sighed Yang Qing.

"What pushed them into kidnapping Bai Chen?" he softly said, almost as if he were thoughtfully mumbling the question to himself.

Suddenly changing his posture and sitting upright, with his gaze centered on Dai Chen, he asked, "What would drive you to kidnap someone?"

"Well..." Dai Chen began, pausing briefly as he immersed himself in the scenario—which didn’t take him long, as he indeed had something that could make him color over the lines.

"Revenge," he said in an unsettlingly calm tone. "If it would have helped me find those who attacked Lai Lei and almost killed him, I wouldn’t hesitate to be a kidnapper if that was one of the paths available to me as an avenue to tracking them down," he added with a rueful smile.

"You?" he asked, as his hands busied themselves with another pour.

"Well, if it helped a friend get what they wanted and I believed it was the only option, then I think I’d gladly lend a hand," said Yang Qing as he smiled comfortingly at Dai Chen, who shook his head with a smile before offering Yang Qing a toast.

"To kidnapping," Dai Chen said, raising his cup.

"To kidnapping," Yang Qing replied, returning the gesture before both broke into laughter—laughter that was soon interrupted by another newcomer.

"Toasting to kidnapping in broad daylight, and at the Order’s headquarters no less... Yang Qing, you really love tempting fate, don’t you? And you too, Dai Chen," said a voice which, when the figure finally appeared at the table, belonged to none other than Mao Yunru.

"Mao Mao," Yang Qing gently said, his voice softening and his expression brightening without him even realizing it. The change drew a knowing look and a quiet chuckle from Dai Chen, whose gaze alternated between the suddenly animated Yang Qing and the bashful Mao Yunru, whose ears and neck had flushed under his gaze.

Clearing her throat to steady herself, she said, "Glad to see you’re back."

"Since your time as branch chief, you’re hardly ever around," she continued, glancing around the abode before finally settling her eyes on him. "Did the Order threaten you or something? Maybe you had some field review quota to meet? Or did they promise you something that made you forget your fears?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she scrutinized him as if his expression might give her an answer.

"Mmh, if not some threat, then probably some delicacy," she said, nodding to herself as though she’d hit the mark.

"Do I have to be under threat or bribed for me to leave?" Yang Qing snorted. "I’ll have you know I decided to indulge in my adventurous, heroic side of justice. So no, Miss Know-It-All," he said with a mocking edge, "I wasn’t bribed or threatened." He shot her a venomous glare. "I went out completely of my own choice," he added haughtily.

"You?" asked Mao Yunru, caught between surprise, amusement, and stifling a laugh.

"Yes, me," Yang Qing said heatedly, feeling his dignity trampled by that look. "Dai Chen, tell her," he quickly followed, turning to his friend for support.

"I’m not getting in the middle," Dai Chen said lazily as he sipped his wine, clearly enjoying the show.

"No wine," Yang Qing said coldly.

"He is the bravest and most heroic person I know," Dai Chen immediately said in a solemn tone, with a matching expression.

"He isn’t lying," he added gently as his expression returned to normal when he looked back at Mao Yunru. "I was surprised myself that he actually left the headquarters without being ordered."

"Really?" Mao Yunru said, sounding and looking genuinely surprised, with her reaction earning her a peacock-like snort from Yang Qing.

"Yes, really," said Dai Chen. "He might be growing," he added, and both he and Mao Yunru turned to study Yang Qing as if he were some rare specimen they had just discovered.

"My family, the Order, my team, the birds I raise, and even my so-called friends... what kind of dog luck is this?" Yang Qing muttered angrily under his breath, shooting the two of them a grievous glare that did little to deter them as they only stared harder before bursting into laughter.

"So why were you making a toast to kidnapping?" said Mao Yunru as she made herself comfortable, choosing the seat closest to Yang Qing before unceremoniously taking the last plate of braised pork. She smirked when she saw Yang Qing’s eyes twitch.

"What? You want to join our little band of kidnappers, Mao Mao?" Yang Qing asked sarcastically, crossing his arms as his embittered gaze shifted between the air, the table, Mao Yunru, and the plate of braised pork in her hand.

Chuckling at his antics, Mao Yunru and Dai Chen shared a look that seemed to say, some parts have remained the same.

Ignoring Yang Qing’s dagger-filled stares, Mao Yunru took a generous bite of the braised ribs, making sure to savor and enjoy them in a way that thoroughly conveyed just how tasty they were.

"Why wouldn’t I join the kidnapping?" she asked once she’d finished the bite, grinning cheekily at Yang Qing, who was now staring deeply at the sky, mumbling a curse incantation under his breath.

"My abilities are perfectly suited for it," Mao Yunru continued smugly before her expression softened, her gaze turning worriedly toward Yang Qing. "Why were you discussing a kidnapping?"

Tearing his gaze away from the sky and looking back at her, Yang Qing sighed before going on to explain Bai Chen’s case.

"So, if you were to kidnap someone, what would push you to actually do it?" Yang Qing asked once he was done with the explanation.

"Well," she said as her clear gaze settled on him, "if you or anyone I cared about deeply were in danger or lost somewhere, and kidnapping someone was the only way to help or find you, I think that would be enough to get me to do it."

Her words left Yang Qing staring at her wide-eyed before he quickly turned his gaze back to his wine, while Dai Chen at the side struggled to stifle a laugh that was becoming increasingly difficult to contain.