Chapter 89: The Impure's Gold Vein (4)
As agreed on the first day I arrived in the city, I divided up Gao Xusen's share from the stolen treasure and delivered it to the warehouse he had rented under a false name.
The warehouse was located on the northern bank of the waterway dividing Haizhu District and Liwan District, just a kilometer from the base pier of the Guangzhou Maritime Police. If no ships were passing, you could spot human movement with the naked eye from that distance. This wasn't so much "hiding in plain sight" as leveraging guanxi.
Even cornered as he was, Gao Xusen was a high-ranking Communist Party official, and the first quality demanded of such a man was his ability to manage connections. Naturally, he had rented the warehouse to hide its location from me. Who in their right mind would ask me to deliver straight to their personal vault? There was no law saying I wouldn't rat him out.
He had been waiting there in person until this hour. When the cheap cars he had loaned us pulled into the warehouse, he spread his arms wide with a delighted expression.
"Welcome, Vice President! I've been waiting for you with the longing of three autumns in one day!"
Three autumns in one day was an idiom meaning a single day apart felt like three years. Judging by his bloodshot eyes, it wasn't empty flattery.
I stepped out of the four-wheel-drive Yongshi SUV and eyed the suited guards surrounding the boss.
"Are all these people here ones you can trust?"
"Would I bring untrustworthy men to a place like this? Each one is insured. So, first things first—show me the goods as promised."
Gao Xusen clenched his fists like a petulant child. Insurance, huh. Yeah, that makes sense on his end.
I nodded in understanding, half-turned, and gave a chin signal to my subordinate in the driver's seat.
Clunk.
The trunks of the three Yongshi SUVs sprang open, and Gao Xusen eagerly approached to inspect the cargo. He untied one sack, and gold light spilled out, bathing his face.
"Oh... ohhh..."
Was it that good? Gao Xusen, entranced, thrust both hands into the pile of metal, rummaging greedily. He grabbed a handful, squeezed it tight, then another, sinking deeper. Amid the gold bars were mingzhi gold shaped like kirin claws and maji gold like horseshoes—relics from the Qing Dynasty.
Enraptured by fondling the gold and counting dollars, Gao Xusen checked the footage we'd shot at the mountain villa and pulled a sour face.
"We agreed to leave the evidence ratio up to you, Vice President... but with this much, wouldn't it be fine if we took a bit more? I'm not being greedy—taking out, say, twenty kilos of bars wouldn't make much difference."
Fat chance. I cut him off dryly.
"Boss. You're not just talking about shaving off some gold—you're talking about shaving years off your life and your uncle's."
"Mm..."
There had to be some suspicion of me behind his ploy. You couldn't gauge the exact amount from video alone, so he was anxious I might have skimmed extra without him knowing. His demand was indirect doubt.
But what could he do about his unease? He had safeguards like this.
"Don't forget: the total value of the seized gold going up as evidence is the total bribe reaching the top echelons."
Playing dumb, I watched him relent with feigned reluctance.
"True. It has to be that way. My apologies for the slip."
"No offense taken. I'm grateful you're honoring the deal."
Seized assets heading to the national treasury couldn't be touched without top-central approval. It was a rare chance to offer direct tribute to levels too high for normal bribes. Prove our worth, and the central party would guarantee Gao Xusen and his uncle Gao Ninghui's safety. They'd be untouchable even at provincial level.
Hands in my coat pockets, I pressed on briskly.
"Now, to the next step. You have the Triad intel ready?"
"Of course. Here."
Gao Xusen pulled a USB drive from his pocket and handed it over. This was the info he'd delayed with excuses—my real goal from the start, everything else a smokescreen. He worried I'd grab it and bolt.
"I've loaded everything I can access via my authority in the Public Security database, plus unofficial intel from me and my men. Hope it's enough."
"It will be. By the way, once the current municipal secretary falls, what's your chance of taking his seat?"
"Hard to say."
Gao Xusen pondered political calculus gravely—a far cry from his goldstruck daze. This was closer to his true cadre self.
"Even with the villa raid video out, his head won't roll right away. As you know, unless the charges are grave, faction deals precede any trial here."
"His fall is inevitable, so I'm asking about after."
"That depends on me. I might skip steps straight to provincial governor. Trust me once, Vice President. I'll make good use of your contributions."
I probed party internals lightly, but got only vague dodges. Playing his own cards close. Spill too much, and he'd show weakness. I didn't push; every move we made together was a noose around his neck anyway.
"When do you plan to hit the Triads?"
I shrugged it off casually.
"Tonight, once I pinpoint the right strike point."
"...Aren't you tired? You were just in a firefight."
"Consider it my sincerity to you, Boss. I can't rest easy till you're safe."
"That's... appreciated. You're a powerhouse. I'll put my faith in you, Vice President."
Gao Xusen turned to his men, clapping twice to signal. The stone-faced guards unloaded our vehicles, stacking the loot in the warehouse center. I saw no greed in them. What insurance did the Communist noble hold? Family in jail? Death orders if things went south?
Not a wild guess. Concealment was routine in local Chinese admin, violence and death in its prisons. A cornered noble could abuse power freely— no issue if he survived purges, irrelevant if purged.
The work wrapped as he smoked a cigarette. The neatly piled gold would move to safer spots before dawn.
Stepping back from the smoke, I bid him curt farewell.
"I'll head out then. Good news by tonight."
"Take care."
I boarded the lighter SUV and ordered a return to the passenger ferry pier. Crossing one bridge back into Haizhu, then ten kilometers along the riverside road.
Fine buildings lined the scenic route, but their thin, neat strips hid slums in every blind spot. Classic Chinese urban space law.
There, I witnessed life at rock bottom. In the deep predawn shadows of poverty-stricken streets, jobless and starving peasant workers shed humanity briefly. A starved corpse saving lives wasn't all bad—kinless, unburied anyway.
Sharing meat and guilt, their faces held no expression, just weary exhaustion. What one couldn't swallow alone was easier together.
I'd expected it. No famine without cannibalism. Humans prey on each other by nature; only methods change. China's starving masses were endless.
Last summer's historic floods displaced seventy million. Fleeing to cities, they'd devoured each other en route—the fallen dead, the weak living. Survivors repeated it here, poor with no other meals. Even rampant Immortal Cancer couldn't feed them; mana-fed cells multiplied too slowly against mass hunger. Like peasants eating next year's seed.
"A true cauldron of solitude."
Kyung-tae blinked. "Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Gudu—locking venomous beasts together to devour each other till the strongest poison survives. Superstitious sorcery, but you've heard it."
"Ah, that. Sure. But why bring it up...?"
"Seeing people eat people this late at night. Even without venom, mutual devouring breeds it."
Malice born from harm fit the poison label, spreading societal rot.
"Ooh."
Kyung-tae glanced out the impossible-to-see window, shrugging.
"They say the ultimate gudu is human-brewed ren gu."
"Is that so."
"Yeah. Starving kids is peak—lure them into bamboo with food, let them squeeze in and die..."
"Too fanciful."
"Who knows. Without you, hyungnim, I might've ended up that way."
"Nonsense."
"Haha."
Kyung-tae chuckled awkwardly, turning the wheel. The convoy curved gently along the road.
In this concrete jungle, I saw nature's law: exploitation, oppression. Raw cannibalism and its civilized proxies. Beneath one bottom lay another; the weak preyed on were predators to weaker still.
In that churning cauldron of discrimination and tyranny, soft human lines melted, leaving only hardened malice.
Now, it was time for me, the hunter, to step into that cauldron of gudu.