Already handcuffed, Xu Zhengqing sat in the police car when Luo Jian stormed out of the house. Quickly, he approached the car and yanked open the door to the back seats. "Where's the antidote!" 

The criminal turned his head slightly to the side and looked at him. The corners of his mouth formed a smile that Captain Luo would have liked to slap off his face. But he still kept his anger under control. Angrily, he tapped his fingers on the roof of the car while bracing himself against the car door with his other hand. 

"Captain Luo." Mister Xu raised his arms demonstratively. "You've caught me. Isn't that enough for you?"

"Stop playing games. Tell me where the antidote is."

Xu Zhengqing glanced past him. Luo Jian could hear footsteps from the background. He didn't have to turn around to know that it was Ding Wei who brought Wenjie out. With or without Monsieur's cooperation, they would get the student to the hospital as soon as possible. Captain Luo was sure the doctors could help him when they examined the residue on the metal collar. 

"You see. I do not wish for his death any more than you do. But if I have to die, I will take him with me."

That damned thief. "He will survive even without your cooperation." Angrily, Luo Jian slammed the car door shut and kicked it before opening it again with his head high.

Xu Zhengqing did not reply. Relaxed, he leaned back and shrugged his shoulders. 

Captain Luo turned away from the car. Ding Wei, meanwhile, had loaded Wenjie into the car he had arrived with earlier. A few steps away from him, stood Liao Shuang. Luo Jian took a deep breath. His colleagues were not at fault here. "Shuang'er, search the entire house to see if you and Team B can find anything. The antidote must be in there somewhere."

His colleague immediately took care of it while he waved Pang Dhazi and two other officers over. "Take Xu Zhengqing and his accomplices to the station." He would accompany Ding Wei so that Wenjie would arrive at the hospital.

The student was lying in the back seat. His eyelids were fluttering. He was shaking and breathing heavily. Luo Jian walked around the car and got on the passenger side. 

Ding Wei sat already in the driver's seat, nervously drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. Right after Captain Luo got in, he drove off. "He didn't talk, did he?" he inquired of the officer. 

Luo Jian shook his head and cast a worried glance at the back seat. Again, the young man was in mortal danger. 

"He'll get through this," Xiao Dao said. 

"I hope so. Do you have any idea what he gave him?"

Ding Wei shook his head. "If I had known about this, I would have given you a heads up that we can't just rush in there and take him out." 

Luo Jian eyed him thoughtfully. Xiao Dao looked dejected. Resignation sounded even from his voice. 

"It's not your fault," Luo Jian told him. 

The corners of Ding Wei's mouth twitched slightly. "You're a better cop than I thought. When I brought Wenjie to Liao Detong, you were listening in, right?"

Captain Luo said nothing in response and just nodded.

Xiao Dao smiled. "I knew it, that he was talking to someone else."

"We almost intervened," Luo Jian countered. "You didn't tell your father about it."

Ding Wei kept silent as he steered the car straight to the entrance of the hospital. He actually seemed to care about Wenjie. So there was still hope for Ding Wei to give his life path a turn in the right direction. 

They took Wenjie directly to the emergency room, where a doctor took care of him immediately. Luo Jian and Xiao Dao stayed behind in the waiting room. 

"He wanted to kill two birds with one stone," Ding Wei addressed him after a while. 

Captain Luo listened up. He realized that the young man was talking about Ding Shenghuo. 

"He hates Xu Zhengqing, but a master thief does not cooperate with the police." Visibly restless, Xiao Dao paced back and forth in front of the door to the intensive care area. "I think he was glad you saved Wenjie, even if he would never admit it. His priority was to trip up Monsieur."

"Oh, really?" Even during the questioning, Luo Jian had a feeling that there was more to the attack on Wenjie. 

Ding Wei stopped in his tracks. His gaze wandered from the door to Captain Luo. "He told me he wanted Wenjie to feel his pain, not that he wanted to kill him. Before he sent me off, I had a feeling that he was sorry for what he was about to do. I could have guessed right away that there was more to it than us locking him in the vault and making it look like Wenjie was the thief." 

Luo Jian watched as Xiao Dao clenched his hands into fists. The young man's entire posture was tense. "Why are you talking now if you were already worried about him then?"

Xiao Dao sighed. "I had no idea what exactly he was up to. He pretty much didn't tell me anything. But I realized that as long as I don't talk, you have nothing on me that will land me in jail. At worst, I'll get a suspended sentence."

"If Wenjie had died, it might have been a different story." At that moment, his phone rang. Luo Jian immediately fished it out of his pocket and answered it. 

"Captain Luo, we found his records on the poison and the antidote. Hao is taking it to the hospital. We also recovered some cultural artifacts from the basement. And we discovered a secret room on the first floor with monitors and computers. The technology here is used to monitor an external room. You won't believe this, Zhuang Yaobai is alive."

Luo Jian jumped up, almost letting go of the phone. It spun dangerously between his fingers before he caught hold of it just in time. "Repeat that."

"Zhuang Yaobai is at the location that Xu Zhengqing is monitoring. We are working to determine the location."  

Captain Luo had never expected such news. It had been completely clear to him that the thief had drowned in the river. He was about to say something in reply when another call, this time from Dazhi, reached him. "I'll get right back to you."

Two clicks later, he had his colleague on the line. But on the other end of the line, all he heard was static. Then there was a loud crack. Street noises could be heard in the background. 

"Captain Luo. Did you think I would make it so easy for you? The members of Undercurrent are not my men."

It was Xu Zhengqing. Luo Jian froze. 

"Your people should have found the antidote by now. Take good care of the boy for me until I get him back. And tell Xiao Dao that there will be consequences for what he has done." With that, the connection broke.

to be continued...