Wen Wen was already dressed in black, and with the black-and-white mask, he looked like the quintessential night prowler.
Tao Qingqing was also clad in black, but as Wen Wen glanced at her, a peculiar idea popped into his head.
He returned to the safehouse, rummaged around, and pulled out a set of black leather clothes, tossing them to Tao Qingqing. “Put this on and come investigate with me.”
Tao Qingqing’s face darkened. “Why do I have to wear this?”
Wen Wen rolled his eyes. “Why so many questions? Just wear it. You’ve worn that leopard-print rich-lady outfit before—this leather’s way cooler.”
In truth, Wen Wen was reminded of his last infiltration with Gu Panxi and wanted to see how Tao Qingqing would look in this getup.
“This… it’s too embarrassing,” Tao Qingqing mumbled shyly.
“Just try it on, come on, please?” Wen Wen dragged out his words, staring at her with a mix of three parts threat, three parts pleading, two parts mischief, and two parts shamelessness.
Tao Qingqing couldn’t resist his persistence. Back in their cell days, she’d been coerced into wearing all sorts of odd outfits under Wen Wen’s pressure, so she reluctantly put on the leather clothes.
She walked out hesitantly, her face flushed. “Um… does it look okay?”
Wen Wen’s eyes widened, and yin a flash, he was in front of her. “Quick, fart for me. I’ve always wondered if this outfit puffs up when you do.”
Tao Qingqing: “…”
The air went silent for a dozen seconds. Veins bulged on Tao Qingqing’s forehead as she flipped the table, losing her cool.
“Fart your own damn fart, you pervert, you sicko! Are you even human?!”
“Come on, hurry up!”
“I’ll fight you!”
---
In the quiet night, Wen Wen and Tao Qingqing stood atop their base’s rooftop.
Before setting out, Tao Qingqing had thrown a fit, and it took Wen Wen some effort to calm her down while satisfying his curiosity.
Though he got scratched a few times, his thick skin meant Tao Qingqing couldn’t even leave a mark.
Tao Qingqing wore a black face mask and had changed her hairstyle, desperate to avoid being recognized in her current state.
The two then used a zipline to slide to the opposite building. On its rooftop, Wen Wen unleashed his black blade, cutting an entrance. They slipped into the top floor of the skyscraper through the hole.
With their skills, they had many ways to infiltrate, but they chose this method purely to mimic movie scenes.
Once inside, they split up to investigate as planned.
But when they reconvened on the first floor, neither had found anything.
The building had no hidden rooms, no suspicious figures—not even anyone who noticed their presence.
Their infiltration skills were, at best, amateur thief level. Forget a major corporation like the Kewei Group; they’d probably get caught robbing a small supermarket.
“Nothing at all… No, the security here is too lax. It’s not what you’d expect from the Kewei Group,” Wen Wen said, rubbing his hair in confusion.
Tao Qingqing yawned. “Maybe you’re overthinking it.”
Unlike Gu Panxi, who could infiltrate confidently in such an outfit, Tao Qingqing felt mortified.
Back in college, her dorm had two rowdy girls, and out of curiosity and peer pressure, she’d watched some weird films. In those, people dressed like her for infiltrations usually got caught…
She desperately hoped Wen Wen would give up. This outfit was just too humiliating.
After a moment’s thought, Wen Wen said, “Let’s check all of Kewei Group’s buildings in Sihu City. If we still find nothing, we’ll grab Zhang Kewei and interrogate him. I refuse to believe there’s nothing fishy here.”
He trusted his instincts. The Kewei Group was hiding something, and the headquarters’ unnatural cleanliness was just a cover for their true motives.
Suddenly, Wen Wen froze, sensing an unusual presence.
Turning, he saw a winged girl, only seventy centimeters tall, standing at the entrance of the Kewei Group’s skyscraper.
It was Little Ji Ling Gui, who looked at Tao Qingqing with a hint of envy.
As a costume enthusiast, she’d worn many strange outfits, but never one that accentuated the figure like this.
Tao Qingqing stared back, thinking how adorable the little creature was, especially the tufts of feathers in her hair. Even Xu Hai’s handmade dolls paled in comparison.
Wen Wen asked in a low voice, “You’re that little monster, aren’t you? What do you want this time?” He was a man oblivious to “cute” and had no interest in flat chests.
But he recognized her aura. Last time, she’d led him near Heliu Xiaozhu, allowing him to save Du Kedan and others.
Ji Ling Gui’s face flushed, realizing now wasn’t the time to admire costumes. She beckoned to Wen Wen and darted off lightly in one direction.
Perhaps to accommodate Tao Qingqing, she didn’t move too fast. Wen Wen tried several times to grab her, but she always sped up at critical moments, slipping away.
After a few attempts, Wen Wen realized that, without setting a trap or going all out, he couldn’t catch her with his current speed.
So, just like last time, he followed Ji Ling Gui to see where she was leading them.
He tried talking to her along the way, but the girl ignored him, showing only the back of her head, which made Wen Wen itch to grab her and flick her forehead. So cute—imagine how much cuter she’d be crying.
After some distance, the three arrived at a factory: Sihu City’s First Automobile Factory, owned by Kangzhuang Motors, the largest car brand in Xiangnan Province.
Tao Qingqing asked curiously, “Is this part of the Kewei Group too?”
Kangzhuang Motors was a local Xiangnan company, seemingly unrelated to Kewei.
Wen Wen didn’t rush in. Instead, he called the Sihu City Foundation’s head to investigate the factory. Half an hour later, the phone rang again.
The results confirmed the factory’s ties to Kewei. It was a subsidiary of Kangzhuang Group, acquired years ago by several small companies due to poor management.
On the surface, the First Automobile Factory had no connection to Kewei, and initial reports hadn’t mentioned it.
But deeper digging revealed that those small companies were linked to Kewei.
Wen Wen gave Ji Ling Gui a meaningful look. Without her lead, he might not have noticed this factory for who knows how long.
“Let’s go. Time to see what’s fishy in there.”
“But this time… we need to be extra careful.”