The marketplace was alive with the clatter of bargaining voices. The sizzle of food stalls, and the restless shuffling of the crowd. It was the sort of chaos most men in his position avoided. But for him, it was a luxury and anonymity wrapped in noise and color.

*Wei Zhi had left Niu zhen leaning against a lamppost at the edge of the square. * “Take five,” he’d told him. No need for a tail today. No suit either. Just a plain shirt, rolled sleeves, and dark glasses. In this crowd, he was just another man out for a walk.

With a hand in his pockets, he moved through the narrow lanes, letting the scent of spices and grilled chuanr thread through his thoughts. His gaze lingering not on the goods but on the people. Habit. He couldn’t turn it off even if he tried.

He drifted past a stall draped in bright scarves when he brushed against someone in passing. A stranger balancing a few shopping bags. Out of reflex, his gaze swept the space around them, catching a flicker of movement just behind.

A small, grimy hand slipping into their pocket.

He didn’t think. His steps closed the gap in two strides, fingers curling gently but firmly around the thin wrist of a boy no older than twelve. The child froze, eyes wide like a feral animal caught in a trap.

“Easy,” Wei Zhi murmured, his tone almost indulgent, as if calming a stray dog. He crouched slightly, his voice low enough that no one else heard. His body blocked the view of the crowd. From his own pocket, he pulled a folded bill, more than the wallet would have given the kid, and pressed it into the boy’s hand.

“Trade,” he murmured, taking the stolen wallet in exchange. The wallet changed hands without fuss. He jerked his chin toward the side street. “Now go. And keep your head down.”

The boy hesitated only a heartbeat before vanishing into the market’s noise.

Wei Zhi straightened, turning back, the would-be victim was just a few step away examining the trinkets, blissfully unaware. Wei Zhi stepped up beside them, his smile warm, practiced, harmless.

“Duìbùqǐ, I think you dropped this,”