Chapter Twenty-Eight: International Mercenaries

Hou Li stood at the arrivals gate of Xiaoshan Airport with several of his subordinates. One of them held up a sign that read “Jackal Tour Group” in both Chinese and English.

For the past few days, Hou Li had lost his appetite and could barely sleep. The Hou family started as small-time merchants. Like many who saw their business grow, they had engaged in some shady dealings over the years. Perhaps it was this long-standing arrogance that nearly led to disaster two months ago.

It happened at a high-end KTV in Shen City—a night of heavy drinking with friends. A young man accidentally bumped into Hou Li, and instead of letting it go, Hou and his friends beat him up. The young man tried to reason with him, but Hou Li wouldn’t listen, going so far as to threaten to have his legs broken. The man left, furious and disgraced.

In the past, such incidents would have ended then and there, but this time, Hou Li had picked the wrong target. The young man was named Li Youbo. He had come to Shen City to visit friends and consult an orthopedic specialist, and had only joined the evening’s entertainment out of courtesy. After being inexplicably assaulted, Li Youbo’s friends immediately gathered a group and stormed Hou Li’s VIP room.

A brawl broke out between the two sides. Hou Li ended up with a split lip and, relying on his connections, called the police. Several patrol cars arrived and, without asking questions, tried to arrest Li Youbo and his companions. Hou Li kept making threats, saying that if they didn’t kneel and apologize, he’d make sure they suffered even in detention.

But before his threats were finished, an even greater force arrived outside the KTV—two military transport vehicles from which two platoons of heavily armed soldiers disembarked. Hou Li suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a submachine gun, utterly stunned.

The chaos lasted until well into the night, and in the end, it was only through Li Youbo’s grace that Hou Li was let off. Since that night, Hou Li had been unable to rest. Through his contacts at the police, he learned that the two troop carriers had come directly from the Jinling Military District’s Shen City garrison, under the command of the military police, and that the soldiers were carrying live ammunition.

A friend at the police station told Hou Li to be careful and not to contact him anymore—higher authorities were planning a thorough investigation into the Hou Group’s affairs. Terrified, Hou Li realized he had been playing with fire on sacred ground.

After much effort, Hou Li finally discovered the identity of the man he had offended, and despair set in. Li Youbo was the only son of Li Shengyao, a lieutenant general and deputy commander of the capital’s military district. The Li family patriarch was even more formidable—a founding general who had fought in the War of Liberation, the Korean War, and had commanded major operations in Vietnam.

The Li family’s connections in the military were vast and deep, with countless protégés, and many former military leaders had transitioned into politics. Their influence was staggering—ten Hou families would not amount to a finger of the Li clan.

Yet fortune still offered a narrow path. After spending a fortune and pulling every string, Hou Li discovered a sliver of hope. General Li Hongguang, the elder statesman, had suffered serious injuries in his youth, and now his condition was deteriorating. The Li family was searching the world for a renowned physician, which was why Li Youbo had come to Shen City.

As luck would have it, Hou Li knew of one such healer—Bai Yanxi, a master of traditional Chinese medicine, famed for his expertise in treating musculoskeletal injuries and restoring health. Hou Li flew to the capital personally, waiting an entire night outside the Li family’s guarded residence before finally gaining an audience. He conveyed his intent to invite a master physician and pleaded for a chance to help.

Thus began Hou Li’s journey to SY County in Kuaiji to “invite” Bai Yanxi. Yet, misfortune seemed to shadow him—though he had long been aware of Bai Yanxi’s circumstances and found him in SY County with ease, an unexpected rival swooped in and spirited Bai away.

After the incident at the KTV, Hou Li had grown cautious and dared not provoke the mysterious Wu You. Wu You’s bodyguard looked capable of killing Schwarzenegger with a single punch—only a fool would court that kind of trouble. Hou Li used the car’s license plate to dig for information, only to find the vehicle registered to a rural family named Wu in the Xiashan district of Qiantang. Their background was squeaky clean, nothing more than an ordinary middle-class family.

Middle class? Hou Li nearly exploded at the findings. What kind of “ordinary folk” drove a Maybach Zeppelin and employed a bodyguard who looked like he could crush an ox with his bare hands? The investigation was utterly unconvincing, leaving Hou Li at his wit’s end.

After much deliberation, he decided to take a calculated risk and spend a large sum to hire professionals from an international mercenary website. The task was to extract Bai Yanxi from the Wu family’s house—without harming any member of the Wu family, and with a warning that there was a formidable bodyguard present. If the mission failed or left any evidence, the mercenaries were on their own—Hou Li would not intervene.

Hou Li put up a generous bounty of five million dollars. With such a high reward, there was no shortage of takers—a simple “hostage rescue” in China, against unarmed civilians, at least by appearances. To the mercenaries, it seemed like easy money.

Within hours of posting the job, three teams expressed interest. Hou Li chose a squad composed mainly of Japanese and Vietnamese mercenaries, instructing them to depart for China immediately. The fifty-thousand-dollar deposit was already paid through the site.

The Jackal Mercenary Team was due to arrive today, with the pickup scheduled at 10 a.m. Hou Li and his men were waiting at the airport by half past nine.

At five past ten, nine swarthy-skinned Asian men followed the sign written in Chinese and English to them.

“You must be Mr. Hou Li. Hello, we’re from the Jackal team,” their leader greeted him in fluent, though accented, Chinese.

Hou Li enthusiastically extended his hand. “Hello, hello! Welcome. Come, let’s get something to eat and talk things over.”

…

In a private room at an upscale restaurant, even before the dishes arrived, the groups were already deep in discussion.

“We’ll need Mr. Hou to provide accurate maps, with police patrol routes and high-interest locations marked, as well as the locations of all surveillance cameras,” the mercenary leader said.

“No problem, it’s all here—complete maps and key notes,” Hou Li replied, gesturing for an aide to open a briefcase. Each mercenary received a tablet with a detailed display.

“And how do you plan to pay, Mr. Hou?” They examined the GPS-enabled, 3D digital maps with satisfaction, but the leader pressed the question that mattered most.

“The moment I get the old man, you’ll be paid—in full, on the spot, by wire or check, whichever you prefer,” Hou Li promised.

“We have no further questions.”

At that moment, the waiter entered with the food, and both sides fell silent until he left. Then Hou Li asked, “So, what do you think—any difficulties? When do you plan to act?”

“The customer is always right. We’ll move by tomorrow night at the latest. As for the difficulty, this is far simpler than any operation in Iraq.”

Hou Li beamed, raising his glass. “To a successful mission!”

The mercenaries raised theirs. “To God!”