“What’s going on?” Jiang Ruyi crawled to Xia Lei’s side.
Xia Lei did not answer. He raised his hand and hit Jiang Ruyi’s plump ass. SMACK!
“You…” Jiang Ruyi gave him a wronged look.
“What did you come here for?” Xia Lei spoke softly but harshly.
“I was worried about you so I followed you. I’ll be of help in case you run into any trouble,” said Jiang Ruyi.
She did not help in coming but gave him more problems instead. Xia Lei could have gone all out and killed the enemy but he had to keep himself in check with her arrival.
“Who are those people?” asked Jiang Ruyi.
Krak! The trunk they were hiding behind shook.
Xia Lei grabbed Jiang Ruyi by the waist and rolled on the ground with her. They’d just rolled clear when another armour-piercing bullet went through the trunk.
The bullet hit a rock on the ground, sending up sparks.
Jiang Ruyi was pale with fright.
“See that? Tell me what help you’ll be,” said Xia Lei angrily. He slapped her ass again, hard.
Jiang Ruyi tightened the corners of her mouth but did not retort. She didn’t dare to hit him back either.
“Surround them!” shouted someone in Korean.
Bam! A dull sound rang out and a grenade hit the trunk. Flames leapt about the forest. Pieces of wood and shrapnel flew in all directions and the sound was deafening.
The three Korean gunmen surrounded them.
Xia Lei pulled Jiang Ruyi deeper into the forest, avoiding Hyena’s location.
There were four of the enemy now. Xia Lei just needed to hide Jiang Ruyi deep in the forest so the enemy would find it difficult to locate them.
“They’re escaping! Chase them!” shouted a Korean gunman.
Bang bang bang…
Someone fired and all the bullets hit tree trunks. It was no threat to Xia Lei and Jiang Ruyi at all.
Rip! The sound of something tearing came from Jiang Ruyi. Thorns had torn a hole in her trousers, revealing a large patch of pale skin.
“My trousers!” said Jiang Ruyi.
“It’s not time to care about your trousers. What’s more important - your life or your trousers?” Xia Lei did not stop moving. There were bushes ahead blocking him but he did not even stop. He went right into them.
“Who the heck are they?” asked Jiang Ruyi again.
“Don’t talk!” Xia Lei wanted to hold his hand over her mouth.
Bang bang bang! Shots came from behind them.
“There! They’re ahead!” shouted someone.
It was impossible for Xia Lei and Jiang Ruyi to leave no tracks in the forest as they fled. The three Korean gunmen were not on the same level as Hyena but they were not amateurs either if they had been entrusted with this task. Besides, Jiang Ruyi’s voice was the guiding beam for them in their pursuit.
Jiang Ruyi wanted to slap her own mouth when she realised her mistake.
Xia Lei pulled her before him and he turned around and raised his gun.
A Korean gunman soon came into his field of vision. He squeezed the trigger a second later.
Pew! The face of the gunman right in front exploded. He had not even managed to let out a sound before he was killed. His body was lifted off the ground by the impact and it thudded against a tree trunk.
The remaining two came to a halt and hid behind tree trunks, not daring to show their heads.
It was them doing the hunting, wasn’t it? Why did they feel like they were the prey?
Xia Lei was indeed hunting them. The only one he was avoiding was Hyena. They were nothing to Xia Lei!
Xia Lei had been within Hyena’s range earlier. The four gunmen added to that meant that he could not dare to stay too long in one place. That was why he had run away with Jiang Ruyi. Once they were out of Hyena’s range, he was not the prey anymore but the hunter!
The other two hid after that one was killed and Xia Lei pulled Jiang Ruyi along in flight again. He reached out a hand and gestured to Jiang Ruyi to lie on the ground.
She lay on the ground at Xia Lei’s second time gesturing. She looked nervously at her surroundings with both hands on her gun, waiting for a target to appear.
Xia Lei crouched and said quietly in her ear, “Lie here, don’t move. Don’t fire unless you have targets within range. Got that?”
Jiang Ruyi nodded.
For some reason, Xia Lei reached out a hand and spanked her butt lightly, and he retracted his hand slowly, like he was deliberately feeling the curve of her buttock.
Jiang Ruyi stared at him. She was all nervous but she knew that Xia Lei had not actually hit her but groped her. Her face turned red immediately.
Xia Lei acted like nothing had happened. He went around a few tree trunks and approached the two gunman from their side.
Visibility in a forest like this was a few metres at best in the dark, even with moonlight and starlight. However, an environment like this was clear as day to Xia Lei and he was not affected at all. He could use his X-ray vision to see through some trees and lock on to the location of those two Korean gunmen.
The two Korean gunmen had their backs to tree trunks and they were nervous, breathing heavily.
Two of their colleagues were dead and they did not know who was next. No one could remain calm in this sort of situation.
A Korean gunman took out a walkie-talkie and said in a low voice, “Mr Hyena, Xia Lei and a woman are ahead of us. Two of our team are dead. Please send support!” After a pause, he added, “We will hold him back. He has a woman with him so he can’t run fast.”
The other gunman said, “Shit, why isn’t Young Master sending more support? That punk is trapped here on this island. Now is the time to surround him and kill him!”
“Mr Hyena has probably disseminated the information that Xia Lei is on the island. Let’s wait. There will be support troop soon. That Chinese punk will be dead then!”
“I hope Young Master will be quick. I feel like that guy is a scary one and not easy to handle.”
Pew! The face of the gunman who’d called Xia Lei scary exploded. His brains splattered on the tree trunk and fell to the ground.
The other gunman then realised that Xia Lei had sneaked up to them and he hurriedly readjusted the muzzle of his gun. Before he could shoot, a combat knife came flying over and planted itself viciously in his arm. The gun in his hands dropped to the ground.
The last gunman moved to take his knife out but Xia Lei lowered his XL2500 to press the muzzle against his head. The gunman grew compliant and looked at Xia Lei in terror, trying to guess at his fate.
Xia Lei spoke in Korean, “I don’t know you and you don’t know me. We have no grudges. I have no need to kill you, so if you cooperate, I’ll just knock you out and not kill you. Do you agree? Nod if you do. I’ll send you on your way if you don’t.”
The gunman hurriedly nodded. He knew without a doubt that Xia Lei would blast his brains out if he said ‘no’.
“Are there just the six of you on this island?” This was Xia Lei’s first question.
The gunman nodded. “Yes, just us six.”
“Who is in command of this operation - Ahn Geungan or Ahn Suhyeong?” This was Xia Lei’s second question.
“It, It’s Young Master.”
“Where is he?”
“I, I’ll tell you. Will you really let me go?”
“I will. I told you I have no need to kill you. I believe you’re just following orders and not acting of your own volition,” said Xia Lei rather sincerely.
“I’ll tell you.” The gunman said, “Ahn Suhyeong is on a nearby island. He will come over via helicopter once we are done here.”
Xia Lei’s face darkened and a cruel glint appeared in his eyes. “Do you believe that I won’t kill you?”
“Wh, What do you mean?” The gunman grew nervous. “I’ve already told you all that I know.”
“Bastard, I heard you talking. You said that Ahn Suhyeong would bring support troops once it was confirmed that I am on the island!”
“I… I…” The gunman’s face drained of colour and he said in a panic, “I didn’t lie to you on purpose! I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Ahn Suhyeong has people on another island too. Dozens. Those people are professionals he’d hired from Korea. And, And Russian gangster gunmen. He wants to kill you. An exchange won’t happen. Please let me go and escape quickly. He’ll soon bring people over.”
Xia Lei stepped on his neck as soon as the words left his mouth.
CRACK! His neck snapped. The last gunman stopped breathing. His death-mask was a terrible sight; tongue out and eyes bugging. A wide-eyed death.
“Sorry, I’ll never keep promises with people like you,” said Xia Lei softly.
Xia Lei stripped him of his gear, and the other two gunmen too. He took all their equipment. He took off two bulletproof vests from the corpses and two walkie-talkies. Ahn Suhyeong was probably on his way to Sanshen Island now, and Xia Lei needed these weapons and equipment for the upcoming battle. The bulletproof vest was mainly for Jiang Ruyi.
He returned to Jiang Ruyi’s hiding spot and saw that she was still lying on the ground, looking nervously at her surroundings. She was still in a shooting posture.
“You… Killed them?” Jiang Ruyi saw the things in Xia Lei’s arms, and the bulletproof vests. Even if she was dumb, she could guess what had happened - she just didn’t quite believe it.
Xia Lei nodded. “Mm. We’re safe for now.”
“Why didn’t you get me a pair of trousers?” said Jiang Ruyi discontentedly.
Xia Lei was surprised. “Eh? When did your trousers get ripped?”
“You…” Jiang Ruyi could not go on. He’d even touched her earlier and now he was acting like he’d just realised it? He was obviously bullying her!
Xia Lei kept a straight face. “This is fine too. It’s your own fault for coming here.”
Jiang Ruyi crawled to her feet and hurrumphed. “You’re my man. Why should I worry about you seeing my butt? I’ll let you see all you want.” She then turned around and bent over to show him her pale buttocks.
The weapons and equipment in Xia Lei’s hands went crashing to the ground a second later.