Chapter 29: The Disappearance of Chief Wen

“My head is so dizzy…” Xiao Zishan woke, groggy and disoriented. He had been sleeping well lately. The air in Ming Dynasty Guangzhou was fresh, and there were no cars to shatter the morning silence.

In the early days of their trade, they had never dared to spend the night. But as their business and connections grew, so did their need to stay for longer periods. And, he had to admit, he was growing accustomed to the decadent life of having food served to him and clothes laid out for him.

But today, his head was heavy. He forced his eyes open. Outside the gauze window, the sky was bright. It was almost ten o’clock. Strange. With no TV or internet, they usually went to bed early and woke by seven.

He sat up and gasped. The room was a mess, drawers and cabinets thrown open, their contents strewn across the floor.

We’ve been robbed!

He leaped out of bed, a wave of anxiety washing over him. The money and goods from their last trade were still in the room! He reached for his clothes and found his socks and sneakers gone. He slipped on a pair of straw sandals and ran out of the room.

Bei Wei rushed out of his own room, also wearing sandals. His combat boots were gone.

“Something has happened,” Bei Wei said.

“What?”

“Chief Wen is missing!”

“What!” A chill went down Xiao Zishan’s spine. Chief Wen, missing. In 17th-century Guangzhou, where they knew no one and didn’t even know their way around.

They ran through the house, checking room by room. Engineer Wang was still sound asleep. In the servants’ quarters, the Gao family and Sun Chang were also in a deep sleep. They woke everyone, but they were all dizzy and nauseous. The Gao children wouldn’t wake at all until Sun Chang suggested splashing their faces with cold water.

“Master Xiao, this is not good,” Sun Chang said. “This is clearly a case of being hit with knockout incense.”

“Knockout incense?” The name Sun Erniang, the infamous innkeeper from Water Margin, flashed through Xiao Zishan’s mind.

“It is knockout incense,” Sun Chang confirmed. He had seen many things in his time as a beggar. “Have the masters lost anything?”

They ran to the west wing, where they had fortified a room with steel bars and a security door. The padlock on the outer wooden door was gone. But the iron grate and the security door were intact. The goods were safe.

A small relief. But Chief Wen was gone. That was far worse.

They searched his room, but found nothing. His clothes, shoes, hat, even his stab-proof vest, pepper spray, and stun gun were gone.

“Old Bei, have you seen anything?” Xiao Zishan asked, desperation creeping into his voice. “Aren’t you a reconnaissance soldier?”

“I’m a reconnaissance soldier, not a criminal investigator,” Bei Wei said.

“Let’s find someone from criminal investigation. Ran Yao used to be a policeman,” Xiao Zishan remembered.

“Then let’s find him quickly,” Engineer Wang said, “and also bring a few of those mystery buffs from the reasoning section.” He shooed Gao Xian away from the room. “Don’t move anything! Preserve the scene!”

They decided that Engineer Wang would take the goods and money back through the wormhole and summon a team of professionals to examine the scene. Xiao Zishan and Bei Wei would stay behind.

Xiao Zishan questioned the servants, but learned only that a “Little Eunuch Yang” from Beijing was coming to visit Master Gao, and that Master Gao had been preoccupied.

Gao Qing, upon hearing this, grew even more gloomy and went to sweep the courtyard. Sun Chang, however, was much calmer. “Since the thieves have kidnapped Master Wen,” he said, “they will naturally send a letter. At that time, whether to report to the officials or to ransom him, the masters can decide.”

“Report to the officials?” Xiao Zishan smiled bitterly. They were “illegal immigrants.” They couldn’t risk involving the authorities.

“You can ask Master Gao to come forward,” Sun Chang suggested. “He has influence here.”

A doubt crept into Xiao Zishan’s mind. Everything had been fine until Sun Chang arrived. Now, Chief Wen was missing.

Bei Wei returned. “I’ve found traces,” he said. “They came over the wall from the small path behind the third courtyard. Many tiles were pulled off the eaves. There are friction marks on the wall.”

“Did they leave the same way?”

“Yes. I don’t think they came in from the path. The front entrance is too conspicuous. If it were me, I would come over from the city wall.”

“The city wall?”

“Yes. The backyards of the residences here are all against the city wall. As long as you can get up, it’s practically a highway.”

“The day before yesterday, someone tried to eavesdrop. I threw a stone, and that person also fled towards the city wall. I think it’s the same group of people.”

“It seems it was premeditated. But who?”

“That I don’t know. We have to find Chief Wen. Let’s wait for the professionals.”

“Alright. We also have to notify Gao Ju. He is a local snake, after all.”

“Could it be related to Gao Ju?”

“Unlikely. What would he gain?”

“We can’t be too careful. I’ll go and look around again. A pity about my dagger!” Bei Wei said resentfully. His prized dagger and his Type 02 combat boots were gone.

Xiao Zishan paced in the study, his mind racing. Gao Ju was the most likely suspect. Only he knew they were here. But what was his motive? Money? He was already making a fortune from their trade. A hostage, to ensure his monopoly? Possible, but why go to such trouble?

Climbing walls, knockout incense… this was the work of the jianghu.

He called Sun Chang in. “Are you familiar with the city foxes and den rats in Guangzhou?”

“Not familiar,” Sun Chang said. “I am not a local. And the Gao family is very strict about the background of their servants.”

This self-declaration largely dispelled Xiao Zishan’s suspicion.

“I have an idea,” Sun Chang said hesitantly.

“Go on.”

“In this Nanhai County, there is a Qiwei Escort Agency. It’s a small agency, but they have a specialty: ‘sitting the shop.’”

“Sitting the shop?”

“Yes. Shopkeepers are often harassed by hooligans, so they hire escorts to sit in the shop to suppress them.”

“Security,” Xiao Zishan understood.

“The escorts who sit the shop are extremely familiar with the city’s hooligans. If we ask them for help, we can definitely find out some news. If it’s just the work of ordinary city foxes and den rats, we can also ask them to rescue the person.”

Note: The business of “sitting the shop” for an escort agency only existed in Beijing during the Qing Dynasty. It has not been heard of in other places. Moreover, the escort agency industry is generally considered to have appeared during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. I believe that given the commodity economy of the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, it is impossible that there was no similar industry or organization, but I could not find any information for a while, so I used the information from the Qing Dynasty.