Chapter 68  : Ripple Effect

In the Managing Director’s office, the leader of the Big Circle Boys, Yang Dawei, was staring at his stopwatch and holding a walkie-talkie in his other hand. He grit his teeth at the screams and commotion filtering through its speaker.

“The motherf*ckers! They killed Old Eight!”

A man soaked from the rain suddenly burst in. One hand gripped a sniper rifle, the leather glove of his other hand soaked red with the blood that was flowing from his shoulder.

“Boss!” he panted, “the cops know about this place! We need to clear out!” The man, Old Seven, had rushed back to their base as quickly as possible, after his run-in with the police force at the bamboo forest. Though he had managed to stall them quite a bit, it had quickly become a evident to him that a change of plan was necessary.

Yang Dawei cursed again. “The cops know too?!” His brows were heavy. “Let our men know! Hurry up and bring those three university students here; we have to get the h*ll out.” He had planned on handling this calmly, but the cops had arrived earlier than anticipated. If they didn’t run now, they’d be sitting ducks.

“I’ll go now!” Old Third, who was keeping watch at the Managing Director’s office with Yang Dawei, picked up his gun and ordered his men to move out. He took a peek inside the main conference room as he passed by. They locked the door from the outside and barricaded it with a metal rod. If the Managing Director woke up, he wouldn’t give them trouble so long as he was was locked away.

…

In Qingfeng Garden, Gu Nianzhi had been waiting for almost half an hour, but Brother Li still hadn’t returned. Her heart was beating faster by the second. Mei Xiawen crossed his arms and stood before the window as he looked at the rain; his eyes behind the gold rimmed frames were somber.

Strongman was hiding in the back of Qingfeng Garden, keeping a watch on the outside. Through a crack in the door, he saw two people carrying guns rush by on the path outside. He stiffened, scared that he would be discovered by them. After he waited for the two to move farther away, he finally let out his breath and said to Mei Xiawen in a hushed voice, “Class Rep, two people went towards Mingyue Court. I saw them carrying guns!”

“God, are they gonna do it? What will we do? Are we just sitting ducks?!” Little Temptress clutched her hand to her head as she shook it desperately. “No way, no way! I haven’t lived long enough! I can’t just die like this!”

“Of course not! We’re not alone.” Gu Nianzhi also stood in front of the window. She turned around, her eyes scanning the faces of everyone in the room. Gu Nianzhi’s flashed them a smile. Her face had no trace of anxiety or fear; she was confident in their survival. Her expression encouraged everyone else.

“What do you plan on doing?” Mei Xiawen looked over, his eyes drawn to her. It was this expression of hers, this kind and resolute face, that always invaded his heart.

Gu Nianzhi selected a disposable raincoat from the pile that he resort staff had arranged in their room. She looked up at the bright, palace-style lanterns above their heads with a smile. “I’ll trip the circuit breaker.” With the cover of darkness, it’d be much easier for them to confuse the criminals. This would reduce the criminals’ advantage and also alert the people who lived near the resort. Gu Nianzhi was certain that the thugs didn’t have the time or incentive to murder everyone in whole villa, otherwise they wouldn’t have spiked the food of the students in Mingyue Court. Her friends caught on to her train of thought and began to launch a plan.

Mei Xiawen quickly volunteered. “I’ll go, since I know where the circuit breaker is.”

“Then you can come with me. I’m familiar with tripping breakers.” Gu Nianzhi winked at Mei Xiawen.

For all her assurance, there was another feeling that surged through her. She noticed that her palms were sweaty and realized with a start that she was actually excited.

Just knowing the location of main circuit breaker was no good in this situation; cutting off the power was necessary. Modern circuitry was a lot more complicated than the older models that had been used. It had more security features and intricate wiring systems. Without training, it would take too much time to the cut the power in a place as large as Dufeng Mountain Resort Villa in just one go. However, Gu Nianzhi had lived on the Special Operations Forces base for two years, and had closely watched the soldiers train, itching to try it herself too. Tripping circuit breakers or hacking into a security system; these had been just some of the things they had teased her with and trained her in for fun.

Mei Xiawen hesitated. “Ok.” He put on a raincoat and rushed into the heavy rain with Gu Nianzhi. Mei Xiawen had visited the villa many times before and had traveled there once with his family as VIP guests of the Managing Director Fu. Director Fu had guided them through the villa himself and Mei Xiawen remembered how they’d passed by a place that the Director identified as the electrical room. The electrical room contained inside the main circuit breaker for the entire resort. Although it had been a year or two ago, this incident was still fresh in his memory. He followed the directions he remembered and took Gu Nianzhi to the electrical room. The heavy rain and the pitch black night made it hard to navigate. They held hands and stumbled to the steps of the electrical room. The door was shut tightly and light from the inside leaked through the door’s cracks. Mei Xiawen inched closer to them and exclaimed in surprise, “There’s no one inside!”

Normally, the electrical room would be manned 24 hours a day. Gu Nianzhi’s eyes flashed in excitement as she gently pushed past him. “Let me try.”

She held a normal looking keychain attached to her keys and covered the keyhole as she inserted it in. This, however, was actually a lock opener that Yin Shixiong had once gifted her for her birthday. She felt for the bolt inside the keyhole and then gently turned it a few times until the door finally opened with a soft click.

Mei Xiawen stared from Gu Nianzhi to the open door, and then back at her. “How did you do that?!”

“That’s a secret.” Gu Nianzhi winked at him. Her playful expression made him catch his breath.

For some time now, Mei Xiawen had felt that something was different about Gu Nianzhi. She was usually so gentle and quiet: a studious girl who minded her own business. The biggest cause for attention to her—aside from her brilliance—was also her incredible beauty, and yet she wasn’t one to revel in that spotlight. The Gu Nianzhi before him though, was electrifying. There was a raw energy emanating her; she was confident and eager, and apparently skilled in espionage and military tactics from the looks of things. Mei Xiawen fell further in love with her.

He stared at Gu Nianzhi’s face and listened to her purring voice as he kept watch by the door in a stupor. In that moment, he would have consented to anything she requested of him, no matter how extreme.

Gu Nianzhi found it strange that Mei Xiawen was suddenly so obedient, but had no time to reflect on it as she slipped inside. The electrical room had a vast array of switches, switchboards, and various circuit breakers. The truth was, if Mei Xiawen had come alone he would’ve never found the main circuit breaker; carelessly tripping breakers would only alert the criminals. Gu Nianzhi scanned the electrical room and quickly locked on a medium-sized glass case on the north wall. From the circuitry, it appeared to encase the main circuit breaker. Gu Nianzhi rapidly strode over to examine it. The glass case was secured with a large lock and, upon closer inspection, she realized that using her lock opener would be useless: the lock was connected to a wire, that she couldn’t use a lock opener on. However, the glass encasing the main circuit breaker switchboard wasn’t connected to any circuits. Gu Nianzhi stared at it for a moment and then searched around the electrical room. She made up her mind and picked up a hammer from the toolbox in the room and fiercely lobbed it at the center of the glass case.

Bang!

It shattered immediately, revealing the main circuit breaker’s switchboard. Just like every other electronic or technological device: tough to build and all too easy to destroy Gu Nianzhi thought amusedly. She found a conductive pen in the toolbox to stab the switchboard with; sparks immediately flew from it as it sputtered loudly several times. The bulb in the electrical room flickered rapidly before going out. The lights rippled out in waves from the electrical room and total darkness spread throughout the entire resort.