The venue was in chaos. No one knew who closed the door, and many people couldn’t see clearly and were bumping into each other.
“Ah! Don’t step on me!”
“Open the door! Help…”
Duan Yelin followed the sound, concealed himself in a less crowded spot, and moved cautiously along the wall with his gun. His sharp hearing caught the faint click of a wrench amidst the noise. Instinctively, he dropped to the ground—just as two bullets from opposite directions struck the spot he had been moments before!
There is more than one killer!
Duan Yelin didn’t dare to stop and quickly ran up the stairs, then hid behind a pillar. He lay on the ground with his ears pressed to the floor to listen to the footsteps.
Dada, dada, dadada…
Amidst the chaotic footsteps of the fleeing crowd, a few stood out for their eerie calmness. Quickly assessing the situation, he estimated that there were at least three assassins.
He stood up and slowly opened his eyes, his vision already accustomed to the darkness. Faint silhouettes took shape before him. In the distance, he spotted a Japanese-style jacket abandoned by someone who had fled in panic. Crawling forward, he retrieved it, put it on, and lay in wait for the right moment to strike back.
The assassins were coming for him. They had fired only four shots, three of which were aimed directly at his head. These weren’t Japanese—the Japanese wouldn’t be foolish enough to stage an attack at their own auction. Moreover, he had overheard Kuromiya Keiko ordering her men to call the army for protection.
It seems that it is important to keep someone alive tonight.
After changing his clothes, Duan Yelin stood up and cautiously moved forward, every nerve on edge. Suddenly, he stiffened—someone was approaching from around the corner.
Holding the gun upright, he slowed down his pace. The scary thing was that the man opposite him also seemed to slow down his pace as well.
In a critical moment, speed is of the utmost importance.
Duan Yelin quickly got close to the wall, squatted down, and moved along the wall a little bit at a time until he reached the corner. He held the gun in front of him and looked up. Sure enough, he saw a small gun tip sticking out from the wall.
The time is now!
He aimed his gun upward and fired—knocking the assassin’s weapon from their grasp! The force of the impact made the killer stumble back, but being well-trained, they quickly regained composure and fled without hesitation.
Duan Yelin fired another shot, and a sharp cry of pain echoed through the corridor. But before he could close the distance, the figure vanished into the darkness. When he gave chase, there was no trace left to follow.
Running really fast, Duan Yelin thought.
On another floor, Qiao Song took Xu Hang into an empty room. The room was illuminated by moonlight, and they could barely see things.
But Xu Hang only took two steps, then turned around and said, “This room looks scary. Let’s change to another one.”
“Young Master Xu, the situation is urgent now, please bear with it for a while.”
“I don’t want to hide.” Xu Hang actually started to cause trouble at this dangerous moment, and Qiao Song felt helpless.
Just as he was about to speak, Qiao Song sensed something was off. Xu Hang stood with his back to the room, facing him. In the moonlight, Qiao Song saw Xu Hang’s mouth moving, as if he were saying something—but no sound came out.
He opened his eyes wide and looked carefully, reproducing Xu Hang’s lip reading word by word.
There is someone behind the curtain.
His entire body stiffened, as if paralyzed. His gaze shifted to the curtains behind Xu Hang, and sure enough, a dark figure stood motionless like a ghost. In the moonlight, a small metallic object caught his eye—a gun, its muzzle aimed directly at them.
With cold sweat dripping down his face, Qiao Song reached for the gun at his waist and said, “…If you are really scared, I will take you to see the Commander.”
“Alright.” Xu Hang said calmly, then walked out of the room and closed the door.
The two of them walked in the dark for a long time before Qiao Song gasped, “Whoosh… Young Master Xu, you have a really sharp eye. My life was hanging by a thread just now!”
“Our lives are still hanging by a thread. We got lucky just now, but the killer might decide it’s safer to finish us off. We need to go now!”
As if to confirm Xu Hang’s words, a faint creak of a door opening echoed in the darkness. Without hesitation, Xu Hang lunged at Qiao Song, knocking him down. Qiao Song’s head hit the ground, leaving him momentarily dazed. At the same moment, two gunshots tore through the air, whizzing just above them and burying into the wall.
There are actually two killers here!
Before Qiao Song could react, he felt his waist suddenly lighten—Xu Hang had already snatched his gun. He loaded the gun at a speed invisible to the naked eye, swung it upward with unstoppable force, and fired a shot straight ahead!
“Ouch!” A dull cry of pain sounded.
Then, the sound of blood splattering and flesh hitting the ground echoed through the darkness. The sensation of being on the edge of death seemed to intensify in the night, sending a chill down the spine and making every hair stand on end.
They maintained their current actions and dared not change until the other side became completely quiet.
If the lights had been on, Qiao Song’s face would have shown pure disbelief. The precision of the marksmanship, the seamless movements in the dark, one shot that took down two targets—it was clear the other party were skilled killers as well. Xu Hang, Young Master Xu, how was he capable of this?
It couldn’t have been just luck. The steady, controlled movements proved he had a solid foundation. Qiao Song couldn’t help but admit that, given the situation just now, he wouldn’t have been able to pull off such a flawless execution.
In other words, in terms of shooting skills, Xu Hang might be better than him.
Xu Hang took the gun, threw it back into Qiao Song’s arms, and stood up calmly: “Let’s go.”
As footsteps approached, Xu Hang and Qiao Song instinctively hunched their shoulders, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Their eyes, sharp as daggers, fixed on the source of the sound, revealing only a tall, shadowy figure.
“Yuan Ye?” Xu Hang recognized him first. Sure enough, he paused for a moment, then quickly stepped forward and asked with concern, “Yes, is it Xu Hang?”
It really is Yuan Ye.
Xu Hang shook his head but thought it was too dark here, so he asked, “Why are you here?”
“I…” Yuan Ye felt that this was not the right time to explain his purpose. “I came here to see the collection, but I came late, and you didn’t notice.”
“Then you came at an unfortunate time.”
“That’s right…”
Xu Hang was about to suggest they find a place to hide when he glanced over Yuan Ye’s shoulder and saw a killer lying in a pool of blood, still swaying and raising his hand, waiting for a chance to strike. In an instant, Xu Hang grabbed Yuan Ye’s tie, pulling him to the ground just as a bullet whizzed past, narrowly missing them!
“Cough, cough, cough!” Yuan Ye was strangled and couldn’t catch his breath.
“Qiao Song! Shoot!” Xu Hang didn’t dare to delay and reminded Qiao Song immediately.
But before Qiao Song could pick up the gun, another gunshot blew up the killer’s head!
The shooter’s footsteps were sonorous and powerful. He ran to the killer’s side, put his hand on his heart, and confirmed that he was dead before walking over: “Are you alright? Don’t worry, this man is dead.”
It’s Duan Yelin!
Xu Hang, Qiao Song, and Yuan Ye all let out a sigh of relief. On ordinary days, when everything was calm, they hadn’t given it much thought. But at this moment, they truly felt the weight of the sense of reliance they had on this man guarding Hezhou City.
Duan Yelin still couldn’t let his guard down: “On the way here, I shot and killed two people, and another two here, I think… there should be another one.
“How do you know?”
“The footsteps are different,” Xu Hang muttered. “Earlier, one of them managed to escape from my grasp, injured. Their operation tonight has failed. With such a large commotion, our reinforcements will be here soon, and they’ll retreat.”
“Then let’s retreat first.”
The four of them looked after each other and walked downstairs carefully. At this moment, in the hall, Kuromiya Keiko stood in a corner with a gloomy face, and in front of her was the man named Kenji who was protecting her.
“Has the person who went out to call the police not come back yet?” She asked.
Kenji replied, “He should already be on his way back with people.”
Kuromiya Keiko was naturally unhappy that such an accident happened during a normal auction.
Just as she pressed her forehead, trying to ease the headache, a hand reached from behind, moving silently toward her neck.
That hand was as fast as a ghost’s. Kuromiya Keiko felt her neck being strangled hard, and then there was the sound of a chain breaking. Then her neck felt lightened. She touched it, and the pendant was gone!
Just as she was about to turn around, she was pushed and fell on Kenji.
Kenji supported her: “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a thief! He stole my necklace!”
With a bang, the door was knocked open from the outside, and countless people holding torches ran in, lighting up the dark Japanese consulate. People screamed in panic at first, but only after seeing the situation clearly did they feel like they had survived a disaster.
The rescue troops have arrived!
