Chapter Eighty: Identity

Zhang Can grew troubled. He was not short of money—so why had he been seized by greed in that heated moment? Now, returning and thinking it over in detail, he realized he had indeed acted foolishly. Anyone involved with drugs belonged to the most dangerous kind of people. If he made even a slight mistake and exposed himself, disaster would be inevitable.

Yet Zhang Can’s curiosity was piqued again. He became interested in the identity of the female diver. If she was with the police, he would have a chance: he could find a way to hand over the goods to them. But he had to be certain before returning anything. If she was part of the criminal underworld, then he must not reveal anything about himself.

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Can hurried downstairs. He didn’t take his own car, but instead flagged down a random taxi on the street. “Driver, I’d like to go out to the suburbs, to the coastal highway in the south,” he said.

“The suburbs?” The driver looked Zhang Can up and down: he carried no luggage, wore only a short-sleeved shirt and cropped pants—thin and simple. This made it easier to see that he carried no weapons.

Most drivers avoided such remote destinations; it was easy to run into trouble, especially since taxi driver robberies had become more frequent lately, particularly in isolated areas.

Zhang Can saw the wariness in the driver’s face and immediately smiled. “Brother, I’m just feeling bored, couldn’t sleep at home, so I wanted to go for a drive. I can pay extra for the trip—would you go?”

The driver hesitated. Zhang Can’s demeanor was indeed gentle, not at all like a criminal. Zhang Can pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket. The driver saw there were at least several thousand yuan. Zhang Can casually counted out five or six bills and handed them over. “Is this enough?”

The driver’s expression relaxed. They worked to earn money, after all, and this was good business. Zhang Can had handed over six hundred yuan. Their car belonged to the taxi company, and two drivers shared shifts—one for the day, one for the night. On a good day, they might earn four or five hundred yuan in half a shift; after paying two hundred to the company and another hundred-plus for fuel, the net profit was a little over two hundred. That’s on a good day; on a slow day, seventy or eighty yuan was a decent net profit.

Zhang Can had handed over six hundred yuan for a trip barely twenty kilometers away, which by the meter would cost at most fifty. He would net at least five hundred fifty—more than he could earn any other way, and with far less effort. His only concern was whether Zhang Can might be a robber; despite the fact that Zhang Can was alone and carried no weapons, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t have accomplices waiting at the destination.

Often, one person would lure the target, while accomplices lay in wait at the destination—such cases weren’t rare. So, though the driver wanted the money, he still weighed his options.

After thinking for a while, the driver said, “Sir, I need to pick up a colleague. How about I bring him along with me—do you mind?”

“No problem, have him come over quickly, whatever works for you. I don’t mind at all,” Zhang Can replied without hesitation. As long as he had no evil intentions, there was nothing to worry about. Besides, he wouldn’t even need to get out at the destination—he could just sit in the car, use his X-ray vision to survey the coast, see if the female diver or her companions were there, and decide what to do. If it wasn’t convenient, he could have the driver keep going, pretend to pass through, and return after a dozen miles. There was no need to stop in that area, so no one would suspect anything.

The driver was reassured at Zhang Can’s easy agreement. Any criminal would never consent to having another person along; if they had such a request, a real robber would make excuses—not take the ride, claim to be pressed for time, never agree to wait. Zhang Can agreed without hesitation, so he seemed trustworthy.

“Alright, get in. I’ll call my friend to come over; it’s not far, and he can meet us at the intersection ahead.” The driver tilted his head, gesturing for Zhang Can to get in while dialing his phone.

Zhang Can naturally avoided the front seat—reserved for the colleague—and sat in the back. After closing the door, the driver started the car and spoke on the phone.

He explained that he had a passenger headed for the suburbs and asked his friend to join him, promising to share the fare and give him a hundred yuan. The other party agreed immediately; Zhang Can guessed this was the other driver who shared the car, and probably their shift change was in half an hour. By having him join early and offering a hundred yuan, it was an enticing offer.

After three or four minutes of driving, Zhang Can saw a tall figure standing by the roadside, looking in their direction, unlike other pedestrians—clearly the colleague.

As the car drew nearer, Zhang Can saw the man: exceptionally tall, at least one eighty-five centimeters, holding a large thermos filled with tea in one hand and a fitness stick in the other, clearly brought for self-defense against dangerous passengers.

The driver stopped in front of him. The tall man got in, placed his cup and stick in place, then turned to Zhang Can and said without hiding, “Sir, I practice martial arts—hope you don’t mind. It’s a habit; I always bring a fitness stick when driving, no other reason.”

Though he claimed no other reason, everyone knew it was for self-defense. He added, “He practices martial arts!”—the implication was clear.

Zhang Can smiled but didn’t answer, turning to look out the window.

The new driver relaxed, seeing that Zhang Can truly didn’t seem dangerous. With two men together, it would be easy to handle any situation. Zhang Can had already paid, which was even less like a criminal’s behavior. Real robbers never paid up front; they didn’t know if they’d succeed, and usually acted out of desperation. Only those with nowhere else to turn would target taxi drivers, who rarely carried much cash—at most a thousand, usually just a few hundred, aside from the day’s takings, and maybe one or two hundred in change.

Besides, if a robber paid up front, it would make it hard to act at the destination. With two drivers prepared—one keeping the engine running, ready to move at any sign of trouble, the other watching outside—any misstep and they’d speed off. Zhang Can had no visible weapons, and a barrier separated the front and back seats, so he posed no threat. From all these signs, they guessed Zhang Can wasn’t out to rob them.

The taxi moved at a steady sixty kilometers per hour. It was after five, rush hour, and traffic was heavy. On the short stretch along the river road, they were stuck for half an hour before finally reaching the less congested section.

Once out in the suburbs, Zhang Can was pleased to notice several other taxis heading in the same direction—providing him with unintentional cover, which was a good thing.

A while later, as they neared his destination by the sea, the cars ahead suddenly halted. Zhang Can’s taxi slowed and stopped as well. The driver craned his neck to look ahead, then turned back to Zhang Can. “There’s a checkpoint up ahead. I’ll go take a look.”

He left his tall colleague in the car for safety. With seven or eight cars stopped ahead and more arriving behind, even the boldest robber wouldn’t try anything here.

The driver switched off the engine, got out, and walked forward. The road had little traffic, so Zhang Can lowered the window and leaned out to observe. Ahead, seven or eight vehicles were stopped. The checkpoint was manned by ten or more armed soldiers—not conducting inspections, just barring passage. The driver joined the others inquiring with the soldiers.

After a few exchanges, the driver seemed to get an answer, turned back, and returned to the car. “Sorry, sir, they’ve set up a checkpoint up ahead—armed forces say there’s a military operation in progress, and no vehicles can pass. I asked how long it would take; they couldn’t say. Sir, do you want to wait or turn back?”

He added, “If you choose to wait, we’ll have to charge a hundred yuan per hour for lost time.”

Zhang Can smiled lightly and glanced out at the seaside. Instantly, he activated his X-ray vision, and the world before his eyes became a wash of black and white.

On the rocks and out at sea, he saw at least a hundred soldiers in military gear. Dozens of inflatable boats dotted the water, ideal for operating in that area.

Near the spot where someone on a fishing boat had tossed a box, several small boats were moored. On one of them was a woman. Zhang Can’s X-ray vision couldn’t discern her features, but he saw a string of beads on her right wrist—and sensed through his vision that the beads were something special.

They were Buddhist beads of purple sandalwood, containing a flow of spiritual energy that excited him. Unfortunately, he was too far away to touch them; his vision allowed him to see, but not absorb the energy.

The spiritual energy was much like what he had sensed in the jade that granted him his X-ray ability.

The woman was currently examining a surveying instrument, seemingly puzzled. The location was certainly correct; she had been careful to mark it when she came ashore and had made a mark on the rocks.

Beneath the water, Zhang Can saw more than twenty frogmen diving, searching below. Their diving equipment was far more advanced and they were clearly well-trained experts, capable of reaching such depths.