The next few minutes were a bizarre, silent chase sequence. The bright red bicycle, with the elderly professor pedaling steadily, cut a direct line through the dense Longjing tea terraces. Mei moved ahead, hugging the lower walls, scouting for traps, a phantom in the fog. James trailed the professor, his tattered silk blanket offering absolutely no camouflage, acting as the rear guard and feeling utterly ridiculous.
They had been cycling for less than five minutes when Mei hissed, "Stop! Ambush!"
Up ahead, where the path narrowed into a covered wooden bridge, stood Agent Xi. She was alone, hands tucked neatly into her pockets, her crimson scarf stark against the pale green of the tea fields.
"Good attempt, Professor Zhou," Xi called out, her voice echoing. "But I told you: I know your mind. You always choose the path of maximum historical irony."
Mei immediately moved to intercept, ready to engage. But Xi raised a hand.
"Wait, Agent Mei. I have no quarrel with you—yet. The real quarrel is with the one in the back." Xi's eyes locked onto James. "Agent James. The Decoy Caddy was a clever touch. But tell me, why hide an empty piece of ceramic so elaborately?"
James froze. Xi had anticipated the decoy. The Professor had handed him the ceramic one in plain sight, ensuring James would assume it was the decoy and the real one (with the chip) was still in the bike. But Xi knew James's caddy obsession meant he wouldn't part with the true one easily.
He checked his pocket. The real metal Earl Grey Caddy was still there, the one he had thrown at the vent. He had forgotten to place it in the bike and, in his confusion, had simply put the Professor's decoy caddy back in his jacket, believing it was the Professor's other decoy.
Xi smiled triumphantly. "The chip is not in the bike. It is in the original metal caddy in James's jacket. A testament to his predictable sentimentality. Thank you for leading me right to the asset, Agent James."
James's jaw dropped. He had been tricked not once, but twice, by his own singular obsession. He had the chip. The bike was empty. The entire, elaborate deception was ruined by a slip of the hand and a lapse in concentration.
"Oh, bugger," James exclaimed, grabbing the metal caddy from his pocket.
At that moment, the wooden bridge exploded into splinters.