Chapter 239: Tracking
April 30, Thursday.
In Huaguo, City C.
Tomorrow marks the start of the May Day holiday, and some citizens who have adjusted their leave in advance have set off early on the highway towards other cities. As time passes, the inevitable and frustrating urban traffic jam occurs once night falls.
Jiang Yao is driving today, in a mid-range domestic oil-electric hybrid sedan she just bought, with a temporary license plate.
This was Jiang Yan’s initiative to distract Jiang Yao by fulfilling a long-held wish, since there is a parking space in her new home anyway.
The business at the Ahsin Tes Company is not much, and after a half-day of work, Zhong Jing declared an early dismissal, immediately triggering cheers from everyone.
In recent days, Jiang Yao’s attitude towards Zhong Jing has been visibly distant. Zhong Jing, sensing this, has wisely avoided provoking her, seemingly preoccupied with his own thoughts, quietly withdrawing under the gaze of others when leaving work.
The Jinhe Club will also be closed for the holiday tomorrow. Jiang Yao plans to drive there to show off a bit and accompany Jiang Yan on her shift, so they can return home together at night.
To be honest, Jiang Yao is not used to the atmosphere at Ahsin Tes Company. Although there are many female employees, it gives her an overwhelmingly mundane and emotionally cold feeling.
The Jinhe Club is different; Jiang Yao is favored there, and the glances and feelings she receives are either friendly, warm, or envious—overall, it feels very comfortable and secure.
Perhaps this is the subtle difference between the hyacinth group and the ordinary populace; the former is a community formed under imminent crisis, where people trust and care for each other, while the latter fosters hypocritical proximity in times of peace, along with pointless whining.
Jiang Yao feels that she is probably no longer accustomed to interacting with ordinary people; this sensation is hard to simply describe with the term ‘discrimination.’
Unfortunately, during her first drive to the Jinhe Club, she got stuck on parking issues. To find the underground parking lot of a nearby shopping mall, she mindlessly circled around twice, nearly violating traffic regulations.
As her car went around the front of the Jinhe Club once again, Jiang Yao was about to lose her patience. She decided to temporarily stop by the roadside to ask for help from Xiao Ai or Xiao Dong.
Just as she set the handbrake, Jiang Yao noticed a tall, familiar young man walking out from a side fire escape door of the Jinhe Club.
“Hey, is that Meng Huai? Instead of using the main entrance, he chose to come out from there…”
Jiang Yao’s gaze began to follow the young man in his suit as he moved, until he walked into the greenery directly across from the Jinhe Club.
Meng Huai was clearly avoiding others, hiding in the shade of the bushes while on the phone, occasionally glancing back in the direction of the Jinhe Club.
Two minutes later, after finishing his call, Meng Huai hailed a taxi and headed east.
“…Sister, I plan to stop by the 4S shop to add some interior decorations on the way, so I’ll pick you up from the club later… Hmm, the car handles very well; I’m quite pleased!”
As Jiang Yao hung up the phone, her expression immediately turned mysterious, and she drove her car to follow a taxi that was waiting for the green light from a distance.
Meng Huai rode the taxi eastward and suddenly turned northwest at a certain point, arriving at a large amusement park parking lot half an hour later.
There was no so-called annual fee; he paid a one-time admission fee of one hundred and ninety-eight yuan. The serious-looking Meng Huai, despite the peculiar glances from the staff, entered the amusement park.
Opening a social media app on his phone and using location sharing, Meng Huai soon arrived at a relatively secluded corner.
There, wearing sportswear, Han Jieqian seemed like an ever-young child, grinning while sitting on a seesaw and looking at him.
“I just returned from the capital last night; it really exhausted me! However, Commander Wang gave me a few days off, haha.”
Han Jieqian laughed as he left the seesaw and walked into a nearby cartoon-themed semi-open sunshade pavilion with Meng Huai.
“Going to report the outcome of the talks with the Wang family back to headquarters?”
Meng Huai looked around, confirmed there were no vampire atmospheres within a hundred meters, then took off his suit jacket and sat next to Han Jieqian.
“Very troublesome. The Wang family is either showing displeasure to the headquarters or setting a trap for the Han family. They’ve insisted that I act as the liaison, rejecting any other means of contact with the An Qian team. Now I, my uncle, and even the whole Han family are put in a precarious position.”
Han Jieqian said with a bitter smile, his mind drifting to the secret meeting with his uncle and the ongoing meetings over the past few days. However, until he straightens out some thoughts, it’s not convenient to spill everything to Meng Huai.
“I asked you to inquire about the Wang family. What was their response?”
Meng Huai smiled, seemingly indifferent to any new undercurrents between the An Qian team and the Wang family. He took out a USB drive from his pants pocket and handed it to Han Jieqian: “Here, this is the psychological test you wanted…”
Han Jieqian accepted it, smiled again, then lowered his voice: “It’s basically confirmed that Xia Yan and Gu Yao were not blood-invaded by their grandmother, but most likely seeded.”
Then, Han Jieqian briefly recounted what the Wang family’s elderly matriarch had said.
…But when probed deeper, they looked evasive, avoiding the core issue. They also hinted that I shouldn’t dig into these matters. Probably they see me as naive, completely transparent in my thoughts.”
It seemed that the answers were not surprising to Meng Huai; he just casually responded with a “Hmm,” and his expression remained unchanged.
“Meng Ge, during this period, you’ve gathered so many assorted intelligence materials from the Strategic Task Support Center and me, right? Any progress to share?”
“Also, I noticed that you’ve gone deeper into the Wang family; isn’t that too aggressive? What I mean is your identity and safety concern…”
After venting about his own situation, Han Jieqian shifted the topic towards Meng Huai.
“You’ve been following me because you think I’m wasting valuable action resources from the Strategic Task Support Center?”
Meng Huai looked at the park visitors passing outside the pavilion, his expression somewhat indifferent: “You don’t seem to trust me?”
Upon hearing this, Han Jieqian immediately shifted to a more cheerful tone: “Actually, I feel very happy, haha!”
“How to put it? Other scarecrows, it used to take them a year or even several years to get a bit of feedback, not to mention in the last twenty years, they haven’t heard anything at all.”
“So compared to them, I’m more worried about not keeping up with your thoughts and being unable to help you.”
Hearing Han Jieqian’s half-joking complaints and evident flattery, the corners of Meng Huai’s mouth finally relaxed into a slight smile.
“Meng Ge, this time at the Wang family, we’ve obtained a lot of high-value information that updated many of my previous views… Remember our last brainstorming session about the grandmother, queen, and seeding questions?”
At this point, Han Jieqian’s smile faded and his expression grew serious: “Now I have a potentially ridiculous hypothesis.”
Hmm? Ridiculous?
Seeing the change in Han Jieqian’s demeanor, Meng Huai straightened his back.
“Meng Ge, I used to think that seeding and the queen were two interlinked concepts. How to say, I still think so now, but the key lies in the word ‘queen.'”
“Why not prince or king? Because the queen must be female. The vampire from the Tang family designated for seeding at the underground factory in City D was female, and you personally eliminated her.”
Han Jieqian paused, and Meng Huai gently nodded in agreement with this logic.
However, the Wang family didn’t outright deny that Xia Yan and Gu Yao were seeded by their grandmother. This seemed to contradict our original understanding of the queen—that the seeding target must be female.
Seeing that Meng Huai had no objections, Han Jieqian continued reasoning, and Meng Huai listened very attentively.
“Let’s go back to the concept of the queen. As the name suggests, it should specifically refer to a female, but there’s a curious logical blind spot here… Is a female the condition for the birth of the queen, or the result?”
“If it’s the latter, can either a male or female be seeded?”
After finishing, Han Jieqian seemed startled and awkward, touching his nose and pretending to survey the surrounding visitors.
“Interesting; this is indeed quite a ridiculous hypothesis… Only someone like you would come up with such thoughts. Your cousin Han Xiao often speaks in a way that surprises others too.”
Meng Huai had no special expression as he began to check his wristwatch, seemingly intending to conclude the discussion.
Given such ambiguous remarks, Han Jieqian felt a bit embarrassed: “Sigh, Meng Ge, I know that what I’m saying is just a wild fantasy logically, and there are still flaws.”
“Hehe, are there still flaws? I thought you were going to make it definitive.”
Meng Huai chuckled, loosening his tie, feeling a bit unsettled and hot.
“Well, the biggest logical flaw is: the hidden hand has clearly been laying down plans domestically for many years. So the queen might have existed before the 430 operation, making Xia Yan and Gu Yao have little connection to the queen.”
In other words, the Xuanjia Brigade’s raid on the Tang family was merely a trigger for exposing the progenitor plan and the queen, rather than the beginning of Xia Yan or Gu Yao becoming the queen.
Perhaps the grandmother truly has other unknown abilities, enabling Xia Yan and Gu Yao to become different kinds of monsters after seeding, which makes the Wang family too afraid to reveal them?
So far, we only know that Zhen Guangquan has repeatedly concealed clues about Xia Yan, meaning if Xia Yan isn’t the queen, she is at least related to the progenitor plan and is a special existence.
After speaking, Han Jieqian pulled out a drink from his shoulder bag and took a big gulp.
Quietly watching Han Jieqian, Meng Huai felt heavy in his heart.
He knew that the flaws Han Jieqian mentioned had some persuasiveness, but more so it was to ease their shocking emotions, more like a reason for each other to avoid accepting horrifying conjectures.
After a few seconds of silence, Meng Huai nodded slightly and slowly stood up: “Let’s leave it at that for today; I have some private matters to attend to.”
After saying this, Meng Huai grabbed his suit jacket and was the first to walk out of the sunshade pavilion. Soon, the young man’s silhouette blended into the bustling crowd.
It seems that Meng Ge is also hiding many things from me now. Is the hidden traitor in the An Qian team making him less trusting of me like other senior seeders, choosing to cut off contact one day?
Hmm, my uncle still wants me to persuade him to join this gamble. If he doesn’t trust me, that would be a problem…
Watching Meng Huai disappear in the direction he went, Han Jieqian let out a deep sigh.
Minutes later, Han Jieqian and Meng Huai left the amusement park one after the other.
Not long after, a light golden-haired girl wearing a cartoon mask, holding a toy telescope, also walked out of the park gate.
“Meng Huai and that Han family person are together; they’ve known each other for a long time… Hmph, they really are still connected to the An Qian team, sneaky!”
Jiang Yao fiddled with the toy telescope in her hand, deep in thought.
In the evening, Jiang Yao finally arrived at the Jinhe Club and managed to find a street parking spot.
Today, hardly any members came to the Jinhe Club; they probably all prepared for the May Day holiday in advance. Xiao Ai also announced an early dismissal according to the custom, and now there will be five consecutive days of holidays.
As per the usual rules, members of the hyacinth team are not allowed to leave S province during the long holiday for security reasons unless there are special reasons. Meanwhile, attendants can only stay in City C.
Xiao Ai herself had already informed Wan Yue in advance that she would be returning to A Province in East China to visit her great-grandfather, who has reportedly been unwell lately.
Most people had already changed and left, with only a few individuals like Jiang Yan still busy with last-minute item checks and storage work.
Feeling a bit idle, Jiang Yao sat in a corner of the hall, playing on her laptop, glancing occasionally at certain directions.
“Meng Huai, did you go out this afternoon? Sister Xiao Dong personally baked some pastries earlier to share with everyone but didn’t see you around.”
After finishing the last bottle of red wine, Jiang Yan turned and quickly greeted Meng Huai with a smile.
Meng Huai walked out from the staff passage, checking each lamp and electrical switch.
Unlike other members of the hyacinth team, Meng Huai and Liang Tai, as internal security personnel of the Jinhe Club, can only rotate for rest and outings during long holidays. For someone like Meng Huai, who leads a consistently dull life, this arrangement seemed entirely reasonable.
“Yeah, I went to the Eastern Suburb Martyrs’ Cemetery this afternoon to check on old comrades…”
Meng Huai nodded at Jiang Yan, avoiding her gaze, then casually walked away to continue his inspection work.
Did Meng Huai go to the Eastern Suburb Martyrs’ Cemetery to visit the graves of Xia Yan and Yan Yao? That’s right, today is April 30; a year ago today, Meng Huai, I, and Xiao Yao participated in that battle…
Slowly closing the cabinet door, Jiang Yan’s gaze swept over the rows of bright red bottles, as if the smell of smoke and blood once again appeared in her nostrils.
Hehe, two people who others think are dead are actually here reminiscing about their graves…
A few seconds later, Jiang Yan raised her head and called out to Meng Huai’s back, slightly raising her volume: “Meng Huai, how about coming to my house tomorrow for a holiday dinner together?”
“Mm, I’ll let Brother Liang know!”
Meng Huai turned around, smiled politely yet stiffly.
Having visited the grave of his comrade, he seems to be more burdened with thoughts. Sigh, as long as there’s no war, he becomes like this, trying to exhaust himself with me… Watching Meng Huai disappear down the staff passage, Jiang Yan gently sighed.
“Sister, he lied!”
Jiang Yao suddenly appeared beside Jiang Yan like a ghost, her face sporting an eerie smile.
Lied? What do you mean?
Jiang Yan frowned slightly, looking at Jiang Yao’s strange expression. After thinking for a moment, she hurriedly pulled her to a secluded corner.
He went to the amusement park in Zone J this afternoon to meet with Han Jieqian. Sister, Meng Huai is simply an undercover agent for the An Qian team!
Jiang Yao fixed her eyes on the distant staff passage, her voice very low.
Hmm… I know.
A few seconds later, Jiang Yan calmly nodded, “Sister Wan also knows… He still has some contact with the An Qian team.”
You…
Jiang Yao was stunned, opening her mouth several times without being able to utter a word.
Whether Meng Huai is an undercover agent for the An Qian team is open to discussion, but he is indeed helping the An Qian team combat the black blood clan. It might just be an inertia of identity and self-awareness; he’s been avoiding acknowledging his vampire nature…
Jiang Yan thought for a moment and managed to force a smile.
Am I a child? When would the An Qian team treat a blood-invaded fugitive this way? Why don’t they contact you? Sister Wan used to be part of the An Qian team; why didn’t they contact her?
Jiang Yao’s face turned pale and flushed, clearly feeling insulted by Jiang Yan’s forced and perfunctory remarks.
Sigh…
Jiang Yan sighed lightly, continuing to pull Jiang Yao over to sit down, stroking her hair with a hint of apology in her eyes.
Xiao Yao, when have you seen or heard Sister Wan treating the An Qian team as the enemy?
When we went to the Wang family last time, didn’t you see the tacit cooperative relationship between the Wang family and the An Qian team? Sister Wan brought Meng Huai to the Wang family; isn’t that a hint?
The enemies of the hyacinth have always been the black blood clan that disrupts social stability. Sister Wan has continuously protected everyone from the harm of the black blood clan; she has never positioned the hyacinth against ordinary people.
Think about it carefully—if it weren’t for some private relations between the Wang family, Sister Wan, and the An Qian team, could you really have walked away completely unscathed from what you did on Valentine’s Day?
What is the real relationship between Meng Huai and the An Qian team and the Han family? That should be what Sister Wan cares about. Her ability to accommodate Meng Huai within the hyacinth demonstrates her trust in him; she has been guiding him to truly become part of the hyacinth.
This series of explanations left Jiang Yao growing more confused. She felt something was off but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what.
Alright, I’m going to change clothes. There’s no time left, and I won’t cook dinner tonight; let’s go out for a feast together!
Patting Jiang Yao’s head, Jiang Yan smiled as she left.
But, is Meng Huai’s transformation into a vampire really just a simple misfortune? Wang family, hyacinth, Sister Wan… what are you all doing? What if we get exposed?
Hugging the cushion on the seat, Jiang Yao suddenly felt a chill spread through her body. That long-lost feeling of insecurity since joining the hyacinth seemed to return at this moment, making her uneasy and restless.
…
At that moment, in the depths of the employee area monitoring room, Meng Huai quietly watched the surveillance screen, replaying the images of Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao whispering to each other.
He also pulled out a few sheets of paper from his pocket, filled with hundreds of names and bank account information, along with several sets of markings made with different colored pens.
There were two remittance accounts linked to Hong Kong that had been confirmed to have connections with Xia Yan before the operation at the 907 Military Hospital, which were used to transfer funds to the W District Children’s Welfare Institute…
Meng Huai closed his eyes, sitting in a daze, without any further movement for a long time.
