Chapter 15: The Pursuit Across a Thousand Miles (3)

"Six bodyguards?" Wu Zui, upon hearing this, paid the old man no further mind and began scanning the cabin with his eyes. One... two... twelve... altogether, there were eighteen people in the cabin emanating black mist. Two were in the cockpit, four by the emergency exits, six near him, and the remaining six scattered throughout the plane. In first class, only the people around the old man seemed to qualify.

"Just these six?" Wu Zui pointed at the six in first class. Apart from the two beside the old man, none looked the part of bodyguards.

The old man glanced at his bodyguard, who nodded grimly.

"Young man, looks like you guessed right!" The old man shrugged nonchalantly, spreading his hands.

"Sir, have your bodyguards guard the passage between first class and business class. Someone is attempting to hijack the plane!" Wu Zui said as he unclipped his seatbelt and stood, heading straight for the cockpit door.

"Master..." Xiao Keyan said eagerly.

"Stay in your seat and don’t let anyone else in," Wu Zui replied, glancing back.

"Fine!" Xiao Keyan pouted.

"Two of you, do as he says," the old man instructed his bodyguards with a wave.

Wu Zui made his way to the crew’s rest area, found it empty, and quickly changed into a flight attendant’s uniform. Checking the stewardess' schedule, he learned that the copilot had a habit of drinking coffee.

So, Wu Zui poured a cup of hot coffee and used the intercom outside the cockpit to announce, "Copilot Lin, your coffee is here!"

Inside, the hijackers had just dealt with the pilots and were preparing to take over when they heard Wu Zui’s voice. Exchanging a glance, they switched the plane to autopilot and stood on either side of the door, opening it.

Wu Zui, standing outside, saw the two masses of black mist waiting behind the door and frowned. He hadn’t seen these two commit any crimes, but the concentration of black mist told him they were not ordinary men.

Clearly, they were waiting for him to enter so they could kill him immediately. Wu Zui’s plan for a surprise attack was a bust.

He hadn’t brought a gun, and he was sure the two inside wouldn’t use one either. Firing a gun in the cabin was one thing, but in the cockpit, a stray bullet could hit the controls and doom them all. Even terrorists wouldn’t do that—they wanted to die for a cause, not meaninglessly, like crashing the plane into a target.

With the door wide open and the two hijackers still waiting for him to enter, the man on the right poked his head out. Wu Zui threw the hot coffee straight into his face.

A scream erupted. The man on the right clutched his eyes—the coffee had gone straight into them.

Before the man on the left could react, Wu Zui’s right hook landed squarely on his face with a dull thud, slamming him into the cockpit wall where he collapsed, unconscious. Before the scalded hijacker could recover, Wu Zui chopped him on the neck, knocking him out as well.

"Sorted! Lucky these two were so stupid." Wu Zui clapped his hands, dragged both men from the cockpit, and only then checked on the original pilots. As expected, both were dead, their throats silently cut, unable even to cry for help.

Back in first class, the passengers remained oblivious. Apart from Wu Zui and the chatty old man, most wore headphones, were working, or catching up on sleep. Not even the plane’s violent lurches had disturbed them.

Wu Zui tied up the two hijackers, confiscated their pistols and knives, then threw them into the crew’s rest area, hoping the flight attendants wouldn’t mind.

Returning to his seat, Wu Zui asked the old man, "Do any of your bodyguards know how to fly? Both pilots are dead. If not, we might need to consider parachuting."

"Let’s wait for Ah Xiang and the others to return—they’ve gone to deal with the rest," the old man replied in perfect Mandarin.

Wu Zui realized the other four bodyguards had disappeared, leaving only the two who’d stayed by the old man’s side.

"Master, I know how to fly!" Xiao Keyan tugged at Wu Zui’s sleeve suddenly.

"You? Paper airplanes?" Wu Zui teased her. Piloting wasn’t part of the detective training.

"Not paper planes! Real ones! My stubborn old dad insisted I learn," Xiao Keyan huffed, pouting as she thumped Wu Zui’s back.

During their banter, Xiao Keyan’s wig slipped off.

"You’re the youngest daughter of the Xiao family?" the old man asked, recognizing her signature twin ponytails and large eyes.

"Yes, and you are…?" Xiao Keyan straightened, addressing him formally.

"Zhang Zhenbang. I held you when you were little. I recall your mother wanted you to take over the company, but you insisted on following your father into detective work. So you succeeded?" he asked, a familiar smile on his face.

"Zhang Zhenbang? Grandpa Zhang, I didn’t recognize you with that Cantonese accent! This is my master—he’s a famous detective in Binhai! I’m working with him now," Xiao Keyan replied, pulling Wu Zui closer.

"I’m from Guangdong and Guangxi, so Cantonese is natural! But, as the country encourages, my Mandarin’s not bad either," Zhang Zhenbang replied in a mix of accents.

"Are you living in Pearl Island now, Grandpa Zhang?" Xiao Keyan asked curiously.

"Doing import-export business now, and it’s going well…"

Wu Zui watched them drift into small talk, forgetting the hijackers weren’t all dealt with—and, more importantly, that the plane was still on autopilot with no pilot.

He cleared his throat loudly to remind Xiao Keyan. At the same moment, the four bodyguards reappeared, dragging eight men behind them—clearly the hijackers. Flight attendants and a few passengers followed.

"Ah Xiang, you and Miss Xiao fly the plane to Pearl Island’s airport. Hand over these people and their weapons to the local detectives when we land," Zhang Zhenbang instructed his men.

The four nodded, dragging the hijackers away—presumably to the crew’s rest area.

"Master, can I go?" Xiao Keyan asked Wu Zui with wide, pleading eyes.

"Go ahead, but be careful," Wu Zui replied, unable to hide his surprise that Xiao Keyan could actually fly a plane.

"Yay!" Xiao Keyan bounded toward the cockpit, excited to handle a large passenger jet for the first time.

Only now did the first class passengers sense something amiss, but were quickly soothed by the flight attendants.

Wu Zui, noticing two black-misted figures unaccounted for among those dragged away, stood and headed for business class. The bodyguards had missed two—he needed to investigate.

"You’re teaching her detective work?" Zhang Zhenbang asked curiously.

"Yes, have any objections?" Wu Zui, already halfway down the aisle, called back, annoyed at being delayed—if those two were hijackers, trouble could still be brewing.

"No, just pay more attention—it’ll be good for you," Zhang Zhenbang replied, a bit startled by Wu Zui's abruptness, but still voicing his advice.

Wu Zui shrugged, took an orange-flavored lollipop from Xiao Keyan, and walked toward the one remaining black-misted figure in business class—a middle-aged woman, not in disguise and with only a faint aura.

Looking closer, Wu Zui deduced the cause—an abortion. Shaking his head, he continued to economy class.

There, the last suspect was a thin, professional-looking man. Though physically unimposing, his black mist was far denser than the woman’s.

Wu Zui looked him over.

"Sir, congratulations! You’re our lucky passenger, chosen for an upgrade, and your fare will be refunded after landing," Wu Zui announced in his flight attendant uniform.

"Wow, some people are just born lucky!"

"I’ve never seen a raffle on a flight before!"

Passengers murmured as the man followed Wu Zui and another attendant out of economy class. Once out of sight, Wu Zui chopped him on the neck, knocking him out.

"Snake King? I always figured someone with a nickname like that would be a human trafficker," Wu Zui muttered, tying him up with his accomplices. "A team needs to be kept together."

"Young man, did you find anything?" Zhang Zhenbang asked as Wu Zui dragged the man back.

"Yes, looks like a big catch. Pity I have no authority outside Binhai, so the lucky girl gets the credit," Wu Zui replied, remembering they’d left the city’s jurisdiction—he was now working under Xiao Keyan.

"I never expected the Xiao family’s little girl would actually become a detective. Her mother worries constantly about her dangerous job—she’d prefer her to be a boss like me. Take good care of her," Zhang Zhenbang said sincerely.

"She needs to listen, though," Wu Zui replied absently, chatting with Zhang Zhenbang as the plane successfully landed at Pearl Island—whether it was Ah Xiang’s skill or Xiao Keyan’s, Wu Zui no longer had to consider jumping out mid-flight.