Ding Wei lay at the bottom of the air shaft. In his hands, he held the rope that dangled down through the opening. He waited patiently for Wenjie, when the door moved. He blinked in irritation. Then, he realized that the door was closing. Startled, he scrambled to his feet. He almost hit his head against the ceiling. Without hesitation, he abseiled down. 

But by then, it was already too late. The door closed with a muffled sound. A soft click sounded. Ding Wei held on to the door frame with his hands as before. He lacked a little strength in his legs. This prevented him from pushing against the door as hard as he could. It remained closed. 

At the same time, he noticed that the floorboards were sinking into the ground. He hastily pulled himself up by the rope. Laser arrows shot out of the holes in the walls. Just in time, Xiao Dao pulled himself upwards. Shit. He hit the wall in the air shaft with his fist. 

Xu Zhengqing. He had to call him, but he still couldn't get any reception. What a fucking mess. He heard footsteps in the distance. Quickly, he pulled the trapdoor upwards. He left just a small crack open, to see what was happening below. 

Three guards approached the door. There were too many of them. They would discover Wenjie. Ding Wei felt a chill run down his spine. Not just because of his friend. It was also because of the open secret room. If the guys discovered him, there would be no way for him to escape. 

Since he couldn't take on the guards on his own, he needed help from outside. He carefully closed the trapdoor and climbed back through the shaft to the secret room. 

No one was waiting there. When he glanced down and noticed a bright stripe on the floor, he discovered that there was light on in the study. He also saw the armchair by the desk from his position. Someone was sitting there, with their back to him. As the backrest was too high, the back of the head was hidden. Only the arms on the armrests were visible. So that was it for the escape, or a call from the landline. 

They could have done that straight away. Why hadn't they thought of that? An unconscious impulse resulting from the hope of being rescued? So, why did that make him so nervous now? Because Captain Luo and Zhuang Yaobai were still trapped on the ship. The timing was bad. 

Should he take his chances? If he was clever and there was only one guard in the study, he might be able to overpower them. He left his rucksack at the top of the shaft. Afterwards, he used the rope to get down quietly. 

The beam of light did not reach the spot where he landed on the floor. Perfect. Now, he not only had a view of the desk, but also part of the study. His hopes of overpowering a guard sank abruptly. 

Someone was also standing at the window. Wait a minute. Ding Wei narrowed his eyes. It was Crow. He remained rooted to the spot. 

“Don't you want to come out?” The man in the armchair raised a hand. Between his fingers was a silver bracelet that slipped down onto his wrist. 

“Xu Zhengqing?” Ding Wei ran into the study. 

Monsieur turned the desk chair to the side. A satisfied smile played around his lips. “You boys have done well. We'll take it from here.”

“Wenjie is still in the vault,” Ding Wei blurted out immediately. 

“Don't worry about it. Everything is going according to my plan.”

Now, he no longer understood anything.

Xu Zhengqing laughed. “Do you remember our phone call?”

Ding Wei felt queasy. Of course he did. He had said he had to break Wenjie to secure his obedience and loyalty. “Is that really necessary? To put him under stress? I thought we agreed you'd do it the nice way?” 

Monsieur pushed the chair back a little. Then he stood up. “Do you really think a few hypnosis sessions are enough to reprogram his brain?” He patted him on the shoulder and walked past him around the desk. 

Ding Wei buried his hands in his jacket pockets. With one hand, he tightly clutched the piece of paper on which he had scribbled the message to the police. “What are you going to do with him?” 

Xu Zhengqing turned to him and looked at him thoughtfully. “You've been tampering with the desk.”

“We were looking for clues to reach the vault.” He formed a fist around the piece of paper in his pocket. The look on the older's face froze the blood in his veins. “What are you going to do with Wenjie now? You don't want to leave him in the vault, do you?” The last time that had almost ended badly for Wenjie. 

“Where's your backpack?” 

The change of subject irritated Ding Wei. Delayed, he pointed to the secret room. 

“What are you waiting for?”

Ding Wei hurried back into the room and climbed back up the rope into the shaft. He nimbly collected everything they had brought with them, including the rope that was still hanging from the fan. He also carefully loosened the metal rod that had brought the fan to a standstill. 

Back in the secret room, he closed the trapdoor and placed the metal rod in the corner from which he had taken it. He also tidied up the cards on the tables so that everything was soon back in its original place. 

Crow helped him with the locking mechanism for the secret room. 

Xu Zhengqing was already waiting in the hallway. “You can watch what we do with your friend. But I don't think it will be very interesting.”

“That depends on what you mean by breaking his will,” Ding Wei grumbled. 

“Do you think I'll get my hands dirty? Oh, Xiao Dao. You think just as badly of me as Wenjie does.” 

“You did a good job of preparing for this.” Ding Wei's gaze glanced around the corridor. “It was all a set-up, wasn't it? It was never about stealing anything here. You own the estate?”

Monsieur grinned. “It really belongs to a business partner. He still owed me something. So I made deal with him. It includes the usage of his brainwashing technology. I'm curious to see how effective it is.”

to be continued ...