BOOK 3. Shen Wei works in a bank in the background because he does not like to mix with the customers. After a raid, he is mistaken as the inside man but only briefly which leads to him meeting Zhao Yunlan. The story follows their relationship th...
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The two men left the lawyer's office with more questions than answers especially after Wei was given the golden orb and he passed it to Yunlan for him to examine. It was quite beautiful in true daylight and seemed to catch the sun easily which was strongly reflected in the gold and Yunlan suggested that he should wear it because obviously it was left to him as a gift from his father, but he was also curious as to what had happened in the lawyer's office, so they found a quiet area to sit and enjoy the sunshine as Wei explained.
"There was a masked figure of a person inside the orb who called me 'old friend' and said that he had known me for a long time. He would explain some things when we went to the vault and he wants you to come as well. He must know you because he called you by your name."
Yunlan found it strange because as far as he could remember, he never knew any masked men, whether they were criminal or not but he trusted Wei and if he saw a masked man in the orb, he had to believe him, even although he had doubts. So they went to find the bank hoping that they were not on a wild goose chase.
The address was easy to find but the premises looked small for a bank that had security vaults in the basement, and one security guard which made Yunlan a bit nervous after the recent bank robberies. Shen Wei walked confidently towards the teller at the service desk and gave his name while producing the orb from his pocket with Yunlan one step behind him, glancing around the main office, mentally trying to remember everything about his surroundings.
The teller nodded to the guard who immediately locked the doors while another well dressed man approached them and Wei could tell that he was the bank manager, expecting him to take them down to the vaults but neither Yunlan or Wei were prepared for what happened next.
The manager stood for a moment in front of Wei and signalled to all his staff to immediately assemble in reception while Yunlan's nerves were replaced by a defensive attitude. Everyone in the building appeared from the janitor to the book keepers, the cleaners to the unseen tellers and all the secretaries. They all gathered around Yunlan and Wei, dropping to their knees in a salute of respect as the two men were surrounded and shocked.
The manager arose and approached them, leading them through the kneeling bodies and showing them the way to the vault. Yunlan watched everything, he wasn't convinced that they weren't in any danger, it was all too surreal, why did all the employees kneel to Shen Wei, because it certainly wasn't for him. The vault was in the basement as they had originally thought but it was very old and the manager excused himself, seemingly too afraid to approach.
Yunlan disliked the situation even more and asked Shen Wei if he really wanted to go any further.
"Yunlan, can you see any obvious danger... no, neither can I. let's just open the vault and find out what this is all about, then we'll leave."
Wei stepped forward and approached the old heavy door looking for a lock but couldn't see one, so he took out the orb looking at it again for anything that would help them enter. The orb glowed and the noise of locks turning echoed as the door moved, opening slowly, allowing Yunlan and Wei to enter before loudly slamming closed behind them, plunging them into darkness. A direct beam of light shone down on the figure in black with the hood, recognisable to Wei, and he raised his head revealing the mask and smiled.
