In the forest, on a tree which several men could encircle.
“You’re dead.” A cruel smile appeared in the corners of Hyena’s mouth. He looked through the scope and locked-on to the rock at the peak.
His Barrett sniper rifle had been modified. Even his scope had been custom-made to allow him to spot targets 3,000 metres away. The distance between himself and Xia Lei was under 2,000 metres so he could see Xia Lei poking his gun barrel out from the rock.
Hyena could see Xia Lei’s gun but the king of killers was still unable to use his Barrett sniper rifle to shoot Xia Lei’s gun muzzle, and at a distance of 2,000 metres too.
“You’ve found my location? I let you.” The cruel smile deepened in Hyena’s face. He placed his finger gently on the trigger, waiting for Xia Lei to show his head. He was going to show him to way to hell.
Ahn Suhyeong’s gunmen were also helping to give Hyena this chance. Xia Lei did not dare let the gunmen get close. Xia Lei had no time to wait, but he did. In a fight between elite snipers like this, it was not a contest of gunmanship or experience - it was patience! Xia Lei had no chance to be patient.
The scales of victory dipped in Hyena’s favour.
Up on the huge rock, the XL2500 sniper rifle poked out from the rock, then stopped. The muzzle was pointed towards the sea. However, it did not stay level - its muzzle moved at a speed slower than the eye could discern.
'What is he planning? A blind shoot?' Hyena raised his eyebrows, disbelieving. 'Impossible. We are 2,000 metres apart. How could he shoot blindly at me from this distance? Is he trying to lure me into shooting, then shoot at me after I take my shot? That must be it. I won’t fall for that unless he shows his head.'
Xia Lei did not show his head at all, but the gun was pointed and aimed at Hyena’s location. It was a straight line from the muzzle of the gun to Hyena!
Unfortunately for Hyena, he was unable to use his scope to see details at that distance. It was just a small, blurry thing in his scope and he relied on his experience to tell him that it was Xia Lei’s sniper rifle. He could not sense that the gun was already pointed at him.
'Still not showing your head? This guy sure is patient. Too bad he’s out of time.' Hyena kept waiting for Xia Lei to show his head and give him the chance to shoot.
A leaf next to him suddenly moved, then fluttered from the tree.
A soft fluttering did not escape Hyena’s notice and he glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. He saw a white mark on the branch - a bullet had grazed past and scraped the surface of the bark!
Hyena was stunned. He stiffened.
And in this breath of time, a bullet came flying through the air. It shattered the scope of the Barrett. The bullet had entered Hyena’s head through his right eye before the scope was totally broken apart, and it made a fist-sized crater in his head.
All thought processes stopped in this second, and Hyena toppled from the tree canopy.
Till his death, he’d believed that he had Xia Lei in his sights and under pressure, and that he would be able to kill Xia Lei, given time.
Too bad - this bullet was a full-stop to the like of the killer Hyena.
If there really was a hell, then Hyena would be there right now wondering how Xia Lei killed him.
Up on the rock, a smile appeared in the corners of Xia Lei’s mouth. He had killed Hyena quite simply - he used his X-ray vision to see Hyena through the rock and shot him without showing his own head. It was far, and the wind had affected his shooting so the first shot had not hit Hyena. But his left eye had caught the marks the first bullet had made and he’d re-adjusted, way faster than Hyena could ever do!
Hyena had died in the second shot.
No one on Earth could compare with Xia Lei when it came to sniping.
Xia Lei and the XL2500 was an unbeatable combination and Hyena would not have accepted this job if he had known.
“Oh no!” cried Jiang Ruyi nervously, “I’m out of grenades! What do we do, Lei?”
“Just lie flat. I’ll do the rest.” Xia Lei pressed her down.
There was no need to be so cautious now.
Xia Lei popped his head out from the rock. He aimed, fired, aimed, fired. A man fell at every shot and each and every one of them died from a messy head shot.
All the men Ahn Suhyeong had brought lay on the ground in a scant few minutes.
The smoke on the battleground thinned gradually; the wood was almost all burnt out.
Jiang Ruyi paused at the ceasefire, then said in surprise, “What’s going on? Did they retreat?”
“Seems like it,” said Xia Lei. “You stay here. I’ll go down and take a look. Remember - don’t stick your head out.”
“I can’t let you go alone,” said Jiang Ruyi worriedly.
Xia Lei gave her a glare. “Listen to me and we’ll live. Disobey and we may die here. Think of your Ma and Da, and of the good days to come. Remember - don’t stick your head out.”
This seemed to persuade Jiang Ruyi and she hid under the raincover. She did think of her parents and the future she’d have. She was his mistress and could not be brought out openly but for someone like her who loved Xia Lei deeply, she was the happiest if she could be with him. She had done it after much difficulty, so why wouldn’t she treasure it?
Xia Lei got to the battlefield and soon found Ahn Suhyeong of the two broken legs.
Ahn Suhyeong’s wounds were still bleeding and there was a big pool of blood around him.
Xia Lei squatted next to him and hit Ahn Suhyeong’s Renzhong acupressure point.
Ahn Suhyeong was brought back to consciousness but he felt pain no longer. He looked at Xia Lei and terror infused his every fibre. “Y, You… can’t kill me.”
Xia Lei spoke flatly, “I didn’t say I was going to kill you. You’re a big man in South Korea. I wouldn’t dare kill you.”
These words seemed like a compliment but it stung like a barb to Ahn Suhyeong. “S,Save me. I’ll give you anything you want.”
“I can help you stop the bleeding. I can also treat your wounds. I know first-aid and I’m none too shabby at doctoring. You can definitely live if I help you,” said Xia Lei.
“Then what are you waiting for? Stop my bleeding!” Ahn Suhyeong was anxious.
Xia Lei was cool as a cucumber. “I can do that, but you have to tell me where Gu Kewen is.”
“Japan. In Tokyo. She sold me the stuff, and I gave her a load of money. She went to Japan.”
“What part of Tokyo in Japan?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t. I have to reason to lie to you.” Ahn Suhyeong’s voice was pleading.
“Where’s the stuff?” said Xia Lei.
“It’s on me. It’s a USB flash drive. There’s evidence of Shentu Tianyin amassing government-owned assets on there. She will be in big trouble if this comes to light. Save me and I’ll give it to you.”
Xia Lei loosened the armour on Ahn Suhyeong’s body and found the USB in his clothing. He put the USB flash drive away, then stood.
“You… You lied?” Realisation dawned on Ahn Suhyeong.
Xia Lei laughed. “Don’t get anxious - I won’t lie to you. I’ll go back to Haizhu right now and call for an ambulance for you. There’s no phone signal here on this island, you know? I can’t make the call for you now. Tsk, tsk, you. Of all the places to pick, you picked one with no phone signal.”
“Die!!” screamed Ahn Suhyeong angrily.
“You kidding me? You’re in that state and you’re telling me to die?” said Xia Lei.
“You…” Ahn Suhyeong was so angry he could not speak.
Xia Lei spoke emotionlessly. “Let me tell you what’ll happen, Ahn Suhyeong. You will die from blood loss. This process will be slow and painful. Your father will be in more pain though. I plan to give what I have to the South Korean media and your father’s political enemies. Everything your father’s done will be exposed. He will lose everything, and spend the rest of his life in prison.”
“No, no…” Ahn Suhyeong started crying brokenly. “Xia Lei! Mr Xia Lei, I’ll admit my wrongs to you. I’ll give you all my wealth. Please save me! I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!”
Xia Lei shook his head and turned to leave.
“Mr Xia, I beg you. Whuuh…” Ahn Suhyeong kept crying. His voice was full of despair and regret, as well as terror.
Xia Lei did not look back. He had no kindness for his enemies. Ahn Suhyeong had brought dozens of gunmen to the island and hired a top-tier killer to murder him. He would have been killed by Ahn Suhyeong long ago if he were not capable of defending himself. If he were the one on the ground pleading for his life, Ahn Suhyeong’s response would probably be to shoot him one more time.
The smoke cleared, revealing all the corpses littering the ground.
Xia Lei swept his gaze over the bodies and thought, ‘Should I report this to Bureau 101? If I do, they might investigate and dig out information on the assets Gu Kewen and Tianyin acquired. Better to forget it. I’ll clean up the bodies and persuade Ruyi to keep it secret. This can be hidden.’
Xia Lei’s first choice would be to report this to Bureau 101 if it would not uncover evidence which was threatening to Shentu Tianyin. However, this involved her so he had to take the risk of hiding this from Bureau 101.
Xia Lei then dragged corpse after corpse into the forest and threw each and every one of them into a naturally-made trench.
Ahn Suhyeong’s corpse was the last to get thrown in.
Xia Lei threw a grenade he’d taken from a gunman’s corpse into the trench.
Boom! There was an explosion and a dirt wall by the trench collapsed due to the force of the explosion. It buried all the bodies.
“Goodbye, Ahn Suhyeong,” said Xia Lei.