Red dragon

Xi Shenghui ran a hand through his hair in frustration and he could be heard hissing over the earpiece. "Be careful. Like before, we can't get any signal once you get down through the elevator, so if you run into any problem, break your watch. It'll send a distress signal," he reminded.

"You're beginning to sound like Big Boss; and here I thought I was the boss in Juyan." Ying Yue chuckled, and then she got into the elevator. She could hear her earpiece start to flicker as the elevator started moving down. And then her thoughts flew to Fei Huangjin who was waiting for her outside. "Huangjin?"

Fei Huangjin's ears perked up as he heard Ying Yue's crackling voice calling out to him. "Yes, honey?" But there was no answer to his question. And then the sound of static filled his earpiece, making him cringe as he took it out of his ear briefly before putting it on again. "Sh*t. Hello?"

Xi Shenghui cleared his throat, just in case the man on the other end forgot that Juyan could hear him. "Shadow fox has been cut-off."

Fei Huangjin wanted to curse out loud. He didn't like the fact that his wife was out-of-reach like this. "I'm going in."

"No, red dragon." Since Fei Huangjin was on this mission under Juyan directive, he was also given a codename of his own during the briefing. Xi Shenghui huffed in exasperation and bit his thumb briefly to calm himself down. "You will be compromising the mission if you go ahead of time. You have to give shadow fox enough time to do her job."

"Hello?" Ying Yue tapped on her earpiece as the elevator brought her below the ground. There was no response from the other end. Damn this place. It had only been a few seconds since she'd gotten in the elevator and she was already cut-off from the outside world. Her eyes flickered from one side of the metal casement to another, and then to the arrowhead on the elevator panel that indicated that she was still going down. How deep was this basement anyway?

Her hands tingled, like it usually did when something bad might happen.

"Ying Yue, you just have to go in, document the place, get evidence, and get out." She told herself. "And get a nice warm bath afterward." Warm baths were the best after a stressful mission.

And maybe some "bed time" with her husband but she didn't want to be distracted about that right now.

The elevator gradually slowed to a stop, and the arrow pointing downwards shifted to a single letter: B. B for basement? How unoriginal. She rolled her eyes at it and clenched her fist as the doors opened.

It opened to an empty hallway, and her eyes quickly darted around her, automatically spotting the surveillance cameras in the vicinity. There were two by the elevator and another one at the end of the hallway, right before the path divided into a T. There were also numerous pipes on the ceiling that followed the hallway path. Why were there multiple pipes? If it was for water, two would've sufficed. She started to walk forward with her cap low, making sure to look like she was one of the security personnel.

As she drifted closer to the end of the hallway, the sound of jiggling keys and clacking footsteps from one of the other pathways started to ring in her ears, and she patted her chest in an attempt to calm the furious thumping of her heart against her chest. A woman then appeared from the right pathway, wearing a lab coat. She was busy writing down something on her clipboard.

Ying Yue spotted an identification card and a bunch of keys hanging on her coat pocket, and she stepped on the woman's way, causing them to collide.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The woman bristled and dusted off her lab coat, stomping away from the scene with a huff.

Ying Yue exhaled, and a subtle smile appeared on her lips as she pocketed the card and the set of keys. She continued on and turned right.