Xu Zhengqing laughed. “Not so fast. You do realize, you can always wriggle out of the noose with this story?”

“Of course. Better safe than sorry.” Ding Wei grinned as he quoted his father's favorite phrase. 

“Give me one good reason, why I should believe you?” 

Xiao Dao faltered. The fish had bitten, but was not yet in the net. It would have been too easy. Monsieur himself had experience in manipulating people. He wasn't easy to trick. But the seed had been sown. 

“Alternatively, you can prove your loyalty to me by handing over Wenjie.”

Yes, that's what he would like him to do. Ding Wei would do it in a heartbeat. Certainly not. But if he didn't get involved in negotiations or deals at all, that would disqualify his story in Xu Zhengqig's eyes. Then he wouldn't buy his story. 

“I'd need to know where you are and you'd have to help us with an issue first.” 

His eyes met Wenjie's. The younger man formed words with his lips. Xiao Dao nodded. Yes, he planned to play the two sides off against each other. In the end, the police would catch the kidnappers and Monsieur. 

“And that would be?”

Xu Zhengqing listened to him. That got them a little further. Even if he tended to dislike asking him for help. Especially, as it could be assumed, that Monsieur would betray them. 

“You know how important his friends are to Wenjie. Lin Zhiyue was kidnapped. You always had good contacts. Help us find Xiao Lin.”

Xu Zhengqing laughed again. “You amuse me. Why should I care about his friends?”

Ding Wei took a deep breath. “If you help him like you've done before, it will ease his prejudices.” He referred to the case with the smugglers. Without Monsieur's intervention, Wenjie might not have managed to escape Madame Hong's men and inform the police. Xu Zhengqing remained silent, so Xiao Dao continued to speak and went one better.

“Before you held him captive, he considered you a friend. Your betrayal affected him more than his imprisonment. That's where we can start. Besides, he asked for you after Captain Luo freed him from your control.”

There was a short pause before Xu Zhengqing responded. “Did he?”

“He was repeatedly convinced, that he had seen you. You weren't actually near his university?” 

“Interesting.”

Unfortunately, it was not clear from this whether Monsieur had been there. Nor did Ding Wei expect him, to reveal his cards in this regard. “I think your actions before and during the kidnapping have left their mark. If you put him through a crisis of conscience, he might come back voluntarily.”

“You underestimate his resilience,” Xu Zhengqing replied. “He had already chosen the path of righteousness, when he entered law school. In order to reshape him, his will and hope must first be broken.”

Ding Wei felt a chill run down his spine. If he got his hands on him again, Xu Zhengqing would pick up where he left off with Wenjie. Suddenly his action no longer seemed as ingenious as it had at the beginning of the phone call. 

“You're in a hotel in Taizou, aren't you?”

The question snapped Ding Wei out of his worries. “So you're going to help us?” 

“Have the kidnappers contacted you yet?” 

The ping-pong game of question and counter-question elicited a grin from Xiao Dao. He was tempted to answer with another counter-question. But that got them nowhere. “Yes. We're supposed to meet them at Taizhou harbor today.” He answered Xu Zhengqing's first question, indirectly. But Monsieur knew anyway. That was Ding Wei's assumption. 

“I won't be able to be with you so soon.”

So he was still in Qingcheng? On the one hand, that reassured him. Because that meant, Wenjie was out of his reach. On the other hand, they wouldn't be able to set a trap for him today. He would prefer, if the police caught Monsieur as early as possible. Then, they would have one less problem. 

“We'll find out what they want from us today. We can get in touch again this afternoon. I'd let Wenjie know that you've come forward and want to help us. Is that what you want?” 

Xu Zhengqing was silent for a moment. The silence caused a sinking feeling in Ding Wei's stomach. “Do you have a computer with you?” 

“Yes.”

“Create an account on the Dark Web. I'll send you the address of the platform to your cell phone. I'll talk to you in the afternoon. I'm looking forward to see Wenjie.” 

Ding Wei shook himself. The last sentence gave him goose bumps. Wenjie was certainly not happy to see the man, who had hold him captive for two weeks and had killed his mother. 

“See you later.” Ding Wei hung up. 

“Are you serious that you want to work with this creep?” Zhijian shouted loudly. “Were you just fooling us?”

Wenjie shook his head and punched him gently in the shoulder. “No. He was just trying to make him believe that.”

“Oh.” Ashamed, Zhijian stared at the computer screen. Then he regained his composure. “Does that mean Xu Zhengqing is in Qingcheng? Shouldn't we tell the cops?”

“We don't know where he is. If we inform the police and he finds out, we'll be caught before we've had a chance to set a trap for him,” Wenjie replied. 

“But we could find out, when we have the video conference with him. I can try to trace the conversation,” Zhijian suggested straight away. 

“Oh, damn it,” Ding Wei said. “He'll do that too. Trace our location. That's why he wanted the video conference.” 

“Then we shouldn't have the video conference here in the hotel.” Wenjie thought about it. “Maybe we can use a warehouse at the harbor after our meeting.” 

Ding Wei nodded. “I hope they won't double-cross us. Even if they haven't worked for him before.” That didn't have to mean anything. If there was contact between the parties, Monsieur would certainly make a deal with the kidnappers. If things went badly for them, it would be better than what they had hoped for. There only hope was, getting the police on board quickly and killing two birds with one stone would work. 

While he was still pondering, the doorbell rang. The delivery man was there. 

to be continued ...