Hidden Assassin 208

The relentless gunshots chased him from behind. He ran around the **Diamond International Hotel**, recalling his training. As he crossed another window, he took cover behind a wall and fired two shots. The wound on his left hand, inflicted by a shard of glass, burned with a fiery pain. He paused momentarily, marveling at the fact that he was still alive, and noticed that the gunfire behind him seemed to have subsided, or perhaps, only one or two people were chasing him now.

Could it be that I shot them all with those random shots?

This was the real world. Back when Chen Gu Xia was training him, he’d occasionally tell some nonsensical stories. In some special cases, it was true that one could rely on luck to overcome everything. Sometimes, seemingly insignificant characters would inexplicably defeat the big bosses. However, in a world of billions of people, miracles like that might only occur once every few decades. As a pragmatist, Dongfang Lu naturally had no reason to believe that he possessed such luck. Sure enough, the gunfire fell silent after a short while. A voice approached.

“I think there’s no need to hide anymore… Deliberately acting like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, deliberately letting water. I don’t think I’m misinterpreting this. You want to challenge me one-on-one, or rather, accept my challenge… Well, actually, it’s fine if you killed them. I don’t know them well…”

What in the world is he talking about?

“In Japan, there are two people I admire greatly. One is Yuan Lai Chao Chuang. His abilities are well-balanced in all aspects. I once fought him. Although I seemed to have the upper hand in every aspect, I had to admit defeat in the end. His partner, Da Nei Chang Du, had almost pushed his physical condition to the limit of human potential, especially in terms of flexibility and speed. His skills were amazing. I had several encounters with him. Using my psychic abilities, I could easily outrun him. But in the end, I would always lose because of my speed. He was an ordinary human, yet he trained his body to be as good as anyone with psychic abilities… From then on, I decided to forget about my psychic powers and fight him again. But before I could, he was already dead…”

“That’s why I came over from Japan. It may be presumptuous, but I know that I couldn’t have forced you out without resorting to this method. Chen Gu Xia is not important. As for that girl named Li Yunxiu, even though she did cheat me once in Japan, I’m not here for her. I just want to see if my cultivation has reached the level I expect… Ah, though you already know who I am, since this is such a formal and sacred occasion, I think I should introduce myself properly. Hello, I am Zhushen Wunian.”

You can go to hell, I’m no dog-gone Yujinxiang. You’ve got the wrong person…

“Pleased to meet you.”

His faint words slowly dissipated in the air. Perhaps all madmen share a commonality. At that moment, Dongfang Lu noticed that Zhushen Wunian’s manic yet calm tone had a certain similarity to Jia Ming’s when he spoke to him amidst a hail of bullets. Before he could think much, there was a loud bang, and the wall behind him exploded.

He charged forward. Almost at the same time, there was another loud bang. Dongfang Lu quickly turned around. A table smashed through a window. In a flash, he raised his arms to shield himself. Zhushen Wunian had already charged out, kicking the entire table into a shower of flying shards.

The immense force that shattered the table sent searing pain through both of Dongfang Lu’s arms, almost making them snap. His body flew backward, half from his own retreat, and half from the sheer force of the blow. But this retreat wouldn’t buy him much time. Zhushen Wunian was already closing in.

He instinctively raised his hands to block, only to increase the pain in his arms. Almost instantly, a punch slammed into his abdomen, followed by four more blows to the same spot on his arm, nearly causing it to break. The next punch was aimed at his defenseless left cheek.

With a loud bang, Dongfang Lu’s body spun.

Blood gushed from his stomach. In a moment of clarity, his off-balance left leg kicked out towards Zhushen Wunian’s head. But even in that split second, his left leg took a powerful elbow strike, while his chest was kicked with immense force, sending his whole body flying backward.

“You’re not Jian Suyan…”

Zhushen Wunian’s voice echoed through the darkness, soft yet laced with unspeakable rage. Blood sprayed from Dongfang Lu’s mouth, and he slammed onto the floor, his entire body wracked with pain. He struggled to rise, but could not. He saw Zhushen Wunian slowly walk towards him, pulling out a pistol.

“Since that’s the case, you should… Ugh…” Mid-sentence, Zhushen Wunian paused, then moved like a illusion, leaping backward. With a series of evasive maneuvers, he darted into the room he had just come from. As he dodged, the sound of a machine gun erupted. In the darkness, the light of the bullets traced Zhushen Wunian’s movement. Then, the man wielding the machine gun arrived beside Dongfang Lu.

“Ugh…” Suppressing the acrid taste of blood in his throat, Dongfang Lu struggled to his feet, his legs shaky. Meanwhile, the man in front of him pulled the trigger, unleashing a volley of bullets at the figure darting around in an arc. In an instant, the bullets ran out. Zhushen Wunian charged out of the flower bed on the side, and the two figures collided. The one who had saved Dongfang Lu took two steps backward. Zhushen Wunian, propelled by the force of the impact, flew through the air, landing on the ground, rolling several times, stirring up a cloud of dust.

A strange wind swirled through the air. When the dust settled, Zhushen Wunian was revealed, half-kneeling, one hand on his knee, the other waving gently in the air. A bloodthirsty smile spread across his lips.

“Good. Now things are getting interesting…”

The distant lights shimmered like water. In the dry night breeze, the figure, having dropped his gun, stepped forward, taking a battle stance…

…

…

The door creaked open with a rough sound, and a bang followed shortly after. The lock was clearly broken with brutal force.

A bad feeling washed over Li Yunxiu. She held her breath and glanced anxiously at Ya Han beside her. But Ya Han was extremely weak, curled up on the floor, unable to make much noise. They were in a large storage room at the school. They had initially climbed through the ventilation shaft above, and now they were hiding under a dirty canvas tarp, hoping that whoever had broken in wouldn’t thoroughly search this room full of junk.

However, Lady Luck was clearly not on their side. After opening the door, the room began to resound with clangs and crashes. Though only one person was inside, he seemed to be searching everywhere. He kicked over tall chairs, climbed atop piles of junk, and eventually, the squeaking of rats erupted from within the room. Li Yunxiu instinctively covered her mouth with one hand and held Ya Han tightly with the other. Then, the rattling sound of machine gun fire echoed throughout the entire storage room. Once she was sure it was just rats, the intruder cursed in a language she couldn’t understand.

It sounded like Thai…

As Li Yunxiu pondered this, the sounds of searching continued outside, drawing closer. About five minutes later, the man let out an “Eh,” as if he had discovered something. Then, he stepped over the pile of junk and walked directly towards them. Li Yunxiu’s heart clenched. Suddenly, she realized what oversight she had made.

There was no way the dust from her climbing out the air vent would have gone unnoticed by someone like this.

Her entire body tensed. The atmosphere was suffocatingly tense. Li Yunxiu quietly moved her hand to her waist, pulling out the only weapon she had managed to bring: a scalpel, which she concealed in her sleeve. In an instant, the canvas was ripped open, and the two parties finally met face-to-face.

“Come out!” The man pointed his gun at the two figures below, speaking in stiff Chinese. Upon seeing Ya Han’s face, a smile appeared on his face. He pulled out a walkie-talkie from his waist and spoke into it in Thai. A response came from the other side. The man repeated, “Come out.” Li Yunxiu, supporting Ya Han, helplessly stood up, staring at him nervously.

He slung the machine gun over his shoulder and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He first cuffed Ya Han’s hands behind her back, then turned Li Yunxiu around and ordered her to do the same. As he reached for her hands to cuff them, Li Yunxiu’s right hand moved, and a flash of cold steel shot out. She spun around, striking with the scalpel.

It wasn’t a professional move, and her speed wasn’t particularly fast. The mercenary easily stepped back and then kicked Li Yunxiu, sending her flying into the wall. Before she could react, he lunged forward, grabbed her right wrist, and twisted it behind her back. With a clang, the scalpel fell to the floor.

“Ah… Ya!”

A searing pain shot from her twisted right hand, forcing Li Yunxiu to drop to her knees. She pressed her body against the filthy wall, struggling, but her efforts were futile. She could only weakly grab his wrist, but she had no strength, and it was all for naught.

As Li Yunxiu cried out, Ya Han, weak and feeble, yelled, “Leave her alone,” and crashed into the mercenary. In her usual state, she might have offered some resistance, but in her current condition, with her hands cuffed behind her back, her impact was meaningless. The mercenary shoved her to the ground. After cuffing Li Yunxiu, the mercenary seemed to sense something amiss. He tasted a sticky liquid on his lips.

For no apparent reason, his heart started beating rapidly, and his breath grew quick. One hand still held Li Yunxiu, while the other instinctively wiped at his lips. It was blood. He couldn’t explain why, but he was bleeding from his nose.

Li Yunxiu was undeniably beautiful, and Ya Han, weakened as she was, seemed to fit the archetype of the delicate beauty even more. Perhaps he’d been pent up for too long, and seeing a beautiful woman had caused him to lose control? The mercenary considered this for a moment, then looked at the blood, offering a self-deprecating smile. He was about to leave when he realized that his head was also spinning, and his body was swaying. His heartbeat was like a drum.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom… What in the world was going on? Anyone would find this sudden change strange. As his heart pounded, he felt a terrifying sensation—the veins in his hands were visibly bulging. He didn’t know what was happening, but perhaps due to his sharp instincts, he suddenly noticed Li Yunxiu’s hands gripping his left wrist. He didn’t know why, but…

In a panic, he tried to pull away, but his left wrist was firmly locked in Li Yunxiu’s grasp. He couldn’t break free. He kicked Li Yunxiu hard in the waist, but she gritted her teeth and held on. As he raised his machine gun to pull the trigger, it was too late. The tight strings of his heart seemed to snap.

Ya Han, lying on the floor, watched this scene with weak amazement. The mercenary was covered in blood—on his face, his hands. It was as if all the blood vessels beneath his skin had exploded at the same time. Ya Han, despite her illness, was not stupid. She could think, even if her mind was clouded. She’d never heard of anyone dying in such a bizarre manner.

As she turned her head towards Li Yunxiu, she saw the latter still gasping for breath, her forehead covered in beads of sweat. She muttered, “I didn’t think it would really work…” She shifted her gaze to the walkie-talkie and suddenly realized, “No. He’s called his men. Ya Han, we have to get out of here. Quick!”

As they dashed out the door, they could hear voices coming from the other side of the corridor. They kicked off their high heels and ran towards the other end of the corridor…

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