No one could explain it. There were too many things in this world which could not be explained by science.
Xia Lei was the only one who had snapped out of the illusion. To the others, however, this was just the beginning of their terror.
A hand suddenly sprang from the blood-coloured ground and it grabbed a CIA agent by the ankle. It was a rotting hand, with skin and flesh hanging off it like noodles, exposing bone in some areas. But this dead hand seemed to have terrifying strength, and it pulled the CIA agent to the ground in one go.
“Ah— Die!” The CIA agent who had fallen screamed like he’d gone mad. He pulled the trigger.
The hand was blasted to pieces by bullets. The bullets had hit not just the hand, but the ankles and calves of the others.
A Crusader in Crusader armour burst out of the bloody ground, waving his hand axe at a Special Forces soldier. There was no skin on his face, only white bone.
Bang bang bang…
The Special Forces soldier who was being attacked fired wildly. However, that Crusader was very nimble, and he moved to the side to avoid the shots right away. The soldier moved his gun muzzle, following the Crusader. But what he shot was not the Crusader. He was firing at his comrades.
Chaos. Slaughter.
What the CIA agents and Special Forces soldiers saw, was that they had a lot of enemies and they were all in a life or death situation. What Xia Lei saw, however, was that they were firing at empty air and killing each other.
The CIA agents holding Xia Lei released their hold on him.
Before they could fire at anyone, Xia Lei’s right hand cut across the neck of the CIA agent on his left. The poisoned edge of the throwing knife cut the man’s neck open, first the carotid artery, then the trachea. Blood spurted, like a red fountain.
Xia Lew drew his right hand back, and down, using the force of the impact to stab the bloodstained knife into the heart of another CIA agent. He grabbed the falling body, and took the agent’s TAR-21 assault rifle from his hands.
Ptu ptu ptu!
Bullets hit the back of the corpse right after Xia Lei covered himself with it.
Bang! Xia Lei squeezed the trigger. A bullet took away a CIA agent’s head.
Threats eliminated, Xia Lei turned back, raised his gun and pulled the trigger again. The two soldiers who’d been dragging Tang Yuyan off fell to the ground, one after another.
The chaotic battlefield quieted down quickly.
Xia Lei pushed the corpse of a CIA agent off himself and rose from a pool of blood.
“Sa… Save me…” A CIA agent called for help in a weak voice. He reached out a hand to grab Xia Lei’s ankle.
Xia Lei lifted his foot and trod lightly on his wrist, then moved the muzzle of his gun to fire a shot at his head.
The man’s skull blasted open, and blood and brains splattered.
Xia Lei stepped over the corpse and walked towards Gu Kewen. He shot the ones still breathing as he made his way towards her. He didn’t shoot anywhere else but the head.
Blood stained his body. He looked like an evil spirit which had crawled out of a pool of blood. He had no pity for the people injured and still breathing. His pity had long been trampled by Gu Kewen, the CIA agents and the Special Forces soldiers.
A white agent covered Gu Kewen, and only one leg and one hand of hers could be seen. Her trouser leg was red with blood, and she still held that gun she’d used to “kill” Zhu Xuanyue in her hand.
Xia Lei came to a halt next to Gu Kewen.
Gu Kewen suddenly lifted her hand, and the muzzle of her gun was pointed at Xia Lei’s chest.
A small sneer appeared on Xia Lei’s lips. He just had to move his foot to kick the gun in Gu Kewen’s hand away.
Gu Kewen pushed off the corpse pressing down on her and rolled. She reached for a TAR-21 assault rifle which had fallen on the ground. She had just grabbed hold of that TAR-21 assault rifle when a foot came down on her wrist.
Gu Kewen used all her strength to pull her hand away.
Xia Lei’s foot sank further, stomping Gu Kewen’s hand violently into the blood-soaked soil. As he did that, he put the hot gun muzzle to her ass, and put pressure on that crack.
“Argh—” Gu Kewen screamed. She let go of the TAR-21.
The smell of burning flesh came from Gu Kewen. Mixed in with the smell of blood, it was a very particular smell.
Xia Lei released the hand he was stepping on.
Gu Kewen abruptly reached for a gun again.
Xia Lei kicked Gu Kewen in the torso, and her body lifted with the impact. The body spun one in the air before she landed on the ground.
“Guh— Hurgh—” Gu Kewen took great gulps of air. She was stubborn, and did not scream. She saw Xia Lei walking to her — he was bathed in blood and his eyes were terrifyingly cold. She wanted to get to her feet, but the pain in her abdomen made her lose all strength.
Knowing that death approached but having no strength to struggle and escape was the last sorrow of man.
Xia Lei came to a stop next to Gu Kewen. He was silent for a bit before he said, “Bullet, or knife?”
“Xia Lei… Kuh…” Gu Kewen took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Calm down.”
“I’m calm.”
“I don’t want to die.”
“Nobody wants to, but they have to,” said Xia Lei. He crouched and took a combat knife from a corpse. He put the knife to Gu Kewen’s throat. “Choose one. Knife, or bullet?”
Tears dropped from the corners of Gu Kewen’s eyes. “Don’t kill me. I can tell you the secrets of the FA, and of the CIA. I can work for Bureau 101. I can do everything that Liang Siyao can. I swear, I will be even better than her. I can help you earn money too…”
Xia Lei pulled his hand back, and the sharp combat knife cut Gu Kewen’s neck. A line of red appeared immediately on her neck.
“Why!” Gu Kewen broke down. She shouted at Xia Lei, “Is it wrong of me to want revenge on you? You killed my father and my brother. You destroyed everything I had!”
Xia Lei had pulled the knife across Gu Kewen’s neck, but he had not cut her arteries and throat.
“Tell me, back then, at Distinguished Gathering, why didn’t you want me? Why?!” Gu Kewen was losing it. “That day, if you’d taken me and made that deal with me, I wouldn’t have ended up this way. Do you know how I’ve survived everything?”
Xia Lei looked at her coldly. There was no pity at all in his eyes, just cold.
His silence was his answer.
Gu Kewen lifted her hand to wipe her tears away. She’d calmed a little after releasing some of her emotions, and her voice had grown much smaller. “Must you kill me?”
Xia Lei nodded.
“Heh…” Gu Kewen laughed once, and her tears flowed again. “I don’t want to be shot, and I don’t want the knife either. I don’t want marks on my body when I leave. It’s ugly.”
“Do you think that you still have the right to talk terms with me now?”
Gu Kewen had said that earlier to Xia Lei, and it was now Xia Lei saying it to her.
“Dark Mona and her men have also joined in on this operation. She’s in charge of wiping out your subordinates. According to our plan, she will attack me and my men on Indian territory, then snatch you from my grasp. Sean would come meet me in India, and Dark Mona will kill him for me,” said Gu Kewen.
Xia Lei paused. He didn’t know why Gu Kewen was telling him all these at a time like this.
“Your men are probably dead. But Dark Mona might leave one or two alive to trap you and your father.”
“Why are you telling me all these?” asked Xia Lei.
Gu Kewen did not answer his question. She said, “You’ve threatened the national interests of America. The American higher-ups view you as a serious threat. The orders to deal with you are no longer like previously where you have to be captured alive. We can kill you and take your body back. The AE Research Centre and the CIA are making up a plan to deal with you, but I don’t know that the code name of that plan is, and I don’t know the details.”
“You…” said Xia Lei. “You think I will let you go if you tell me all these?”
Gu Kewen laughed bitterly. “Dark Mona trained me, and treats me as a pawn piece in the CIA. Sean and Williams are already doubting me. Didn’t you remind me too, in France, that Sean and Willians had sent me there to die in the line of fire? I am cannon fodder. If I don’t die now, I’ll die next time. I have no hope. It’s actually not bad that I can die here in your hands.”
Xia Lei was silent. He knew that if he blocked her path back to China, she would have no way to live if he did not take her in.
“I’m giving you all this information just in exchange for dying in the way I want.” Gu Kewen looked quietly at Xia Lei with tears in her eyes.
This Gu Kewen now was a completely different person from the Gu Kewen earlier.
Which one was the real her?
Both were.
No one was born a devil, but everyone had a devil in their heart.
“Tell me, then. How would you like to die?” For some reason, there was no hate in Xia Lei anymore.
“Let me lie in your arms. Strangle me,” said Gu Kewen.
Xia Lei stared blankly.
Strangulation. It was a painful way to die. A dying person would usually avoid pain and choose a more painless way to die. A knife or a bullet could give a quick death, but she had chosen a most painful way to die.
“Do it.” Gu Kewen shut her eyes.
Xia Lei nodded woodenly. He went to Gu Kewen’s head, and pulled her into his embrace. He took her neck in his arms, and applied pressure.
Gu Kewen was calm for only ten seconds before she started struggling.
Xia Lei could not hold himself back anymore. He suddenly exerted a great force in his arms and chest, and twisted. Crunch. Gu Kewen’s head stopped moving, and fell limp.
She was dead. She was not going to live because her heart was in the wrong place now.
Xia Lei had killed the woman he’d most wanted to kill, but there was no thrill of the kill in his heart. There was just a heaviness, and sorrow.
Hatred was the most complex of human emotions, and more intense than love. There were few unforgettable loves in this world, but uncountable unforgettable grudges. It was like a flame, and the flame left only destruction, or nothing.
Xia Lei put her down. He tidied her hair, and wiped away the blood on her face with his palms.
She could leave this world beautifully now.
Xia Lei glanced back at her one last time when he stood to leave. For some reason, he felt like he’d seen a faint smile on her lips.
Xia Lei walked towards Tang Yuyan, his steps heavy.
Where was Zhu Xuanyue?
He didn’t want to think of this question.