Speaking of bodyguards....
The success of every Mafia clan when it comes to lasting long under the scrutinizing eyes of the law was discretion. Bribery may be good as well as securing connections, but it was always more reliable to have a sort of cover for your base of operations.
The cover for the Mo clan was that they were a private security agency called Chaoxue, which is The Den in English.
Meaning that under broad daylight and in the public eye, they were just a bunch of bodyguards that were hired to protect celebrities and other rich personalities.
But at night and days off, they were cold-blooded killers that assassinate and shoot people for a living.
This kind of double life were also practiced by several Mafia clans. It's not uncommon for them to have a cover of some sort, and especially those that match their own... expertise.
Drug mafia empires can use the cover of an ice cream company, or bakery, or a factory where the warehouse keeps both goods and the drugs.
Blackmail empires like the Fangs pretend to be a simple information tech companies, customer support agencies, etc.
They soon saw someone wearing The Den uniform come over to the alley where they were standing. They just have the logo and of the Chinese characters etched over the brest pocket of their white uniform, sunglasses and earpieces like usual bodyguards have.
"Did the police saw you?" Leon said worriedly at this Den member, much younger-looking than Yao Yuzhui but similarly bulky and has a bald head.
"No, Mr. Mo. The others distracted them with a tip that he was spotted running back to Shujin North." He bowed respectfully at Leon, and picked up the old man, who was now semi-conscious and mumbling something.
He raised an eyebrow when he saw Wolfe Fang beside him, but nothing else.
"Old Yao had been AWOL since three month's ago. The actress that he works for claimed that he stole her newborn child." The Den member said. "We'll be taking care of this matter, Mr. Mo. Rest assured."
"Just call me Shizi, Mr. Mo is my father." Leon said grimly, and went closer to hear what the old man was mumbling.
"It's not me.... Not me... Innocent..."
He frowned, and said. "What do you plan to do with him so he won't sing like a canary to the police once I take him there?"
The Den member smiled. "What we do best, sir."
Leon Mo knew very well what The Den do best when someone tried to leave or disobey orders.
And that is to threaten them with death..... or kill them on the spot depending of the gravity of the situation.
Since this would get them under the eye of the law, it's expected that they might do the latter. A bird won't sing if it's dead.
"I'll come with you." Leon said. "I want to see what he has to say, I'll convince him myself to not tell on the police."
The Den member raised both his thin eyebows this time. But then again, this was the Master's son, and he's just following orders.
"Follow after me then, sir. The car is this way."
Leon turned to Wolfe. "You're coming along again aren't you?"
"Guilty as charged." Wolfe smirked. "After all, I'm Young Master Mo's future fiance now, aren't I?"
The Den member almost chuckled when he heard this, but cleared his throat.
Leon pinched his waist and whispered with a gritted teeth. "You say that again out loud and I'll shoot you in the mouth with a gun."
"Ohhh, scary." Wolfe said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "You already shot me with your gun last night though."
"You nuisance!"
They went on an another route that brought them to the other side of the block. A black limousine was waiting for them, and the Den member put the old man on the trunk like a bag of potatoes.
The two went on the passenger seat while still bickering, and the car drove off for a few miles to reach a certain building.
As the parked at the front steps, Leon felt a pit on his stomach.
It has been a long time since he had went inside the Den.
Clean and normal on the outside, but underground....
That was where the real base of operations happens.
And that was where they went. They rode the elevator and The Den member who was dragging along the old man pressed a series of buttons, not just one.
It was a smart way for outsiders to never figure out that there were underground floors.
The underground floors were much more different than the upper floors. Because here, it was dark, damp...
And the smell of blood was everywhere.
It was mostly from the live animals they use as a target practice. Chicken feathers can also be seen everywhere. But occasionally.....
That blood was either dripping down an assassin's body and was messily cleaned up afterwards.....
Or the blood of a traitor being tortured and executed right here, behind closed doors.
Wolfe Fang was obviously terrified by the smell and the sounds of screams on each individual metal doors they passed by in this long hallway. He flinches whenever he heard loud bangs and screams of help.
"Can't we talk to him somewhere more private?" Leon asked upon noticing his companion's discomfort.
"This way, sir. This room is soundproof and unused."
The Den member led them down to the final doors of the hallway, opened the one on the right side with the key, and held the door for them while still dragging the old man.
This room really looked like it wad meant for interrogation. There's only one lamp that serves as a light, two chairs, handcuffs and even some rope.
There were also... certain devices. Leon knew exactly what those are for. He hoped he would not need to use them while questioning Old Yao.
They placed the old man in front of him, and he sat down on the chair with Wolfe crossing his arms over the wall to watch what would happen next quietly.
"Wake him up." Leon said.
The Den member took a syringe just laying about, and the moment he injected it to the old man, he jolted with awake!
"I'm innocent! H-Help me, I'm innocent!" Yao Yuzhui exclaimed.
Leon leaned closer so he could see him from the dim light of the lamp. "Calm down, Mr. Yao. It's just me."
"I-Is this the police station? I've never been to this place before..." His aged hands shook nervously.
Leon cynically thought, (That's because if you were taken to this place, there's a 90% chance you're good as dead and will be taken to the other rooms later.)
But he focused on getting the old man to calm down and gaining information from him. "This isn't the police station. Just me. I just wanted to talk to you, Mr. Yao. I need you to tell me everything."
He played the recorder on his phone below the table skillfully like second nature. All interrogations need to be recorded in some way after all, both for a way to access the information again later..... and as insurance.
"I-I promise, Young Master Mo, it was all a misunderstanding! I would never abduct a child..... Why must I? I already experienced difficulty raising 10 of my own."
"10 children? You and you wife must have really took the chance to make a whole army after the One-Child Policy* was taken away, huh?" Leon joked to try and lighten his mood.
Old Yao laughed along but was still nervous. "Haha, well, I love my wife very much and I rarely see her due to this line of work."
"But I'm done with dealing with children. I'm an old man now with some of my kids having their own kids. This was actually my last year of contract as a bodyguard, I was thinking of retiring."
Leon's face darkened. "But how about your... other job? You're allowed to retire from that?"
"Oh, I haven't been holding a shotgun since ten years ago, Mr. Mo. Did you forgot about your father's policy to not take a mercenary that is 50 years old and above?" Old Yao said.
"He even gave us some senior member benefits. I could retire without worry, I just liked being in the bodyguard side of the Den so much that's why I continued."
He laughed nervously. "I was even planning to move to Tibet with my wife after I earn money from both the senior benefits and being a bodyguard."
Leon nodded. After all, even when they may have taken human lives, these people are human themselves. They have families and dreams of an easygoing life, and they happened to be skilled at this, that's why they took this career path.
"What exactly happened to make you run away?" Leon asked to get the conversation back on track, since Old Yao seemed to be calm enough.
He turned to the Den member lurking in the shadows. "I heard that you were working for an actress and her child was now missing. I'm guessing it was pinned on you?"
"Yes! That woman, Ku Qi... She's a good girl. She and her husband who is an international celebrity. I had a good relationship with them." Old Yao recalled fondly.
The genuineness of his eyes when they twinkle while recalling his employers was evident to Leon. His intuition was telling him that this old man really did not do it, but he needed more proof.
Old Yao nervously asked. "C-Can I ask for a cigarette, young master? It all h-happened so fast that I need one to recall everything p-properly."
He had no cigs with him but someone's delicate hand reached out to give them a cigrette and a lighter, causing the old, paranoid man to yelp when he saw another person was here.
Leon frowned. "Ignore him. He's just my---"
"Partner." Wolfe Fang showed his face in the dim lamp light. "And I'd like to remind that our time is running low. We have..... other matters to take care of, so it would be good if you would give us a shorter version of it."
The old man took the cigarette and lighter from the young master's partner, and then sighed. "I-I-I don't think I would be able to tell it as short as 3 m-minutes, though."
Wolfe took the phone lying from Leon's lap and raised it up.
Leon protested. "Hey, don't meddle----"
Wolfe ignored him. "That would be enough. You may start now, and we'll use this to help clear your name."
The old man looked at them back and forth. But with how persistent this man was, and those grey eyes of seeming to burn a whole through him.
He spoke without a stutter somehow, and delivered everything clearly under the eyes of the wolf.
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"Hold on, I have to do something first." Wolfe Fang said and...
He stopped the recording and deleted it.
"Wha--- Hey!" Leon took his phone from him. "What was that for?"
"He mentioned your father's business. Are you really that dumb, Leon Mo?" Wolfe rolled his eyes. "You almost incriminated yourself."
"I was going to edit that part anyway!" Leon said. "I'm not dumb, you just meddle too much! I know what I'm doing!"
Wolfe retorted. "He didn't say anything important before anyway. And if he did, I remember it completely. What we need is a recording of just his statement about the criminal accusation."
"I really shouldn't have brought you along...." Leon grumbled, then opened the recording.
"Continue, Mr. Yao. If you could also recall the dates and give full names of the people you mention, that would be really helpful."
Old Yao nodded. "W-Well, all the important bits happened in just one day, young---"
"Mo." Leon interrupted him before he can say 'master'. "My name is Leon Mo, I work with the International Criminal Police Organization. You can relax and entrust us with your statement, though this recording may be used in the future to support you or against you under the court of law."
Old Yao's eyes widened at this revelation, confused if this was true. He became even more nervous.....
Wolfe Fang mouthed to him, 'Play along'.
This made him relax, thinking of the possibility that this may just be a cover as well.
"A-Alright, Officer Mo. Well, the day it happened was three months ago, on June 18. My employer, Mrs. Ku Qi, had just gone into labor the night before on June 17. I remember the time of birth exactly, it was 8:31 PM."
"You were in the hospital with her during the labor?" He asked.
"Yes, as her bodyguard, it's part of my job." Old Yao nodded. "But I wasn't allowed inside during the labor process since I am not a family member. I was waiting outside by the bench. I had nothing to do, and I was also adjusting my watch with the hospital's clock, since the old, cheap thing had been faulty lately."
"I knew the child was born at 8:31 because of this, and because I heard the medical team cheering at the success. It was a long and dangerous labor, lasting for about 8 hours."
Wolfe edged to sit on the chair with Leon, and they obviously don't fit so Leon begrudgingly let him sit partially on his lap.
Wolfe grinned triumphantly at least, but continued playing the assistant interrogator. "Was the child healthy?"
"Surprisingly, yes. Because her pregnancy was sensitive, the doctors were also saying that it was very likely for him to have had deformities or he gets miscarried."
Since they were talking in Chinese, and the word for 'he' and 'she' sounds the same, Leon had to verify. "Was it a boy or a girl?"
"A boy." Old Yao said. "His foreigner father was very glad."
"Full names, please." Leon reminded.
"Oh, it was hard to pronounce and I can't really spell it. His father was Russian, or something near that, I think. We call him Mr. Lebed because it's the start of his very long last name, and his first name starts with Ah..... What was it? A Du Rik."
"Adrik Lebed." Leon said.
"Yes." Old Yao nodded.
"What does that mean?" Wolfe asked when he noticed Leon's frowning expression.
"Dark or black swan." Leon smiled dryly. "I just find it amusing that his name means that, and black swan is used for unpredicted events with terrible consequences... like this child being abducted."
He waved it off. "Anyway, continue. Mr. Lebed wasn't around when his son was born?"
"Yes. He had a project in his home country, Mrs. Ku said. He promised to catch a flight next week however, when his filming was over."
There's nothing much to say on that, since it makes sense. Leon just kept a mental note of this possible lead.
It's actually not as uncommon as people may think for parents to kidnap their own child in order to gain something from the other parent.
He then posed the question: "On the day of the abduction, was the child still in the hospital?"
"Yes, yes." Old Yao nodded. "You see, what happened was after the baby was taken care of by the nurses and placed with his mother, Mrs. Ku asked me to take the child back to the crib as she was going to eat dinner."
"Poor girl looks really tired. But also very happy, I know how much she loved her baby boy. I did as she said, and put the child back to the crib. Then, I went to the bathroom."
"That was when it happened. Someone who was dressed like me and have the same build as me entered the room and was caught by the CCTV. "
"He took the child from its crib and escaped. When I came back, Mrs. Ku asked me where her child was and I said I didn't know, I just put him down the crib."
"She panicked, and kept asking me where he was. I told her I just came from the bathroom, and she said she knew that because she saw me go there twice."
"That was how I was accused. For you see, there were no CCTV near the bathroom stalls. The nearest one was on the hallway on the leftside, and on the right where Mrs. Ku's room was."
"The one on the left caught a female nurse holding the baby, and since I also came from there, they thought I was the one who handed the child to her!"
"I would never do something like that!" The old man exclaimed. "I have no reason to! I don't even know that woman when they showed her face to me on the CCTV, but they won't believe me!"
"I didn't want to go to jail, so I panicked and ran! My.... My situation is something you understand, Officer Mo." Yao Yuzhui became more careful about mentioning his connection with the mercenary business. "The moment I get examined by the police, there would be great danger to come."
Wolfe took the initiative to turn off the recording at this part. "Thank you, Mr. Yao. That would be all."
Yao Yuzhui now sighed in relief. "You work at the police now, Young Master Mo?"
"Sort of." Leon answered. "Listen, Mr. Yao...What you did had just further made you suspicious. You should have complied with the process that the police investigators had ordered and gave them this statement from the start."
"I-I know but..... Just getting involved with the police would bring danger to The Den." Old Yao fiddled with his hands. "And I was running out of hope. Mrs. Ku completely distrusts me, even after all my years of service to her."
Leon nodded. He called out The Den member. "Tell my Father to let Mr. Yao stay underground here for now. I will be taking this to the MSS and see what I can do to prove his innocence."
The Den member frowned. "But the rule for traitors that almost endangered the group---"
"I know. But I am the young master here, aren't I? My word is also part of the law here. I am the rules."
Leon said intimidatingly with his eyes that can already make you feel like you are facing a beast and not a human.
Even the tough Den member was unsettled by this, and so he could only nod and give a call to Mr. Mo outside.
"T-Thank you so much, young master!" Old Yao almost fell to his kness as he cried and reached out to hug Leon. "Thank you for sparing this old man's life! I still want to see my grandchildren."
Leon smiled and his darkened eyes softened. "You will see them again soon once we clear your name. For now, here's my number. Expect to receive a call from me checking in on how well they're treating you, or giving you updates on the case."
He turned to Wolfe. "Let's go, 'partner'. If someone asks, our alibi is that Old Yao managed to escape by hitting both of us with a wooden slab on the head."
"But that would mean we need injuries, right?'" Wolfe said confused.
"Exactly. Prepare yourself." Leon Mo said.
Wolfe blinked. "H-Huh?"
He took Wolfe to another room where some guy was practicing with nunchucks and said. "Hey, odd request, but can you hit me and my buddy in the head? Just enough to knock us out and not kill us, thanks."
Wolfe Fang panicked, running for the door but Leon Mo blocked him. He was wearing a shit-eating grin. "Don't worry, it's all gonna be fine."
"It's not going to be fine, you idiot! Why can't we just use make-up and prosthetics---"
BAM!!!!
The world went dark for him, along with Leon.
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For every 5-star review
10 chapters for Magic Castle or Higher
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