Futile Devices Scans

Xia Liu Yi swung the gun toward the doorway. Seizing the opportunity, Fat Seven wrapped both arms around his legs and dragged him to the floor. Nearly two hundred catties of weight crushed down on Xia Liu Yi as Fat Seven tried to snatch the gun from his hand. Xia Liu Yi fired twice during the struggle, but both shots missed. He finally managed to brace a knee against Fat Seven’s belly and throw him off—only to hear a deafening bang.

Inspector Hua had pulled a gun from a cabinet drawer and fired into Fat Seven’s abdomen. Clutching his mangled stomach, Fat Seven lay on the floor and stared at him with wide eyes. “You… you…”

“Those men outside are yours?!” Inspector Hua cursed furiously. “You bastard! Where did you find the nerve to stage a rebellion inside my own home?”

Clinging to his final breath, Fat Seven said with bitter hatred, “You old bastard! Stop pretending you know nothing! Xia Xiao Liu, I’m telling you—it wasn’t my idea to persuade Xu Ying to kill Azure Dragon. He told me to pass—”

Before he could finish, Inspector Hua raised his hand and fired again, striking him directly in the forehead. Half of Fat Seven’s head exploded into bloody pulp. His enormous body convulsed twice and then lay still. Having silenced Fat Seven, Inspector Hua turned and found himself facing Xia Liu Yi’s shocked gaze.

Both froze for an instant, then raised their guns at the same time. Two shots rang out in quick succession. The bullet that struck Inspector Hua in the chest threw him backward and sent him crashing to the floor. His own shot went wide and struck the chandelier overhead. The luxurious crystal fixture, which weighed dozens of catties, came thundering down onto the dining table and shattered into pieces.

Ignoring the flying shards of crystal, Xia Liu Yi crossed the room in several strides, seized Inspector Hua by the collar, and demanded, “Azure Dragon always respected you! Why did you attack him? Why?!”

Inspector Hua’s lips trembled, but he could not utter a word. His hands clawed weakly and uselessly at the air. This veteran Chief Inspector, who had dominated the underworld for twenty years, basked in the glory of being addressed as “Chief,” protected countless underworld figures, and amassed assets worth hundreds of millions, stared wide-eyed at the expensive chandelier he had purchased from France, now shattered beyond recognition. His body convulsed as he swallowed his final breath.

Xia Liu Yi kicked him viciously and fired three more shots into the corpse to vent his rage.

The door was suddenly kicked open from outside. One of Fat Seven’s bodyguards charged in wielding two guns, but every bullet struck Inspector Hua’s raised corpse instead. Holding Inspector Hua by the collar with his left hand, Xia Liu Yi sheltered behind the body and caught his breath. Then, as he shoved the corpse toward the intruder, he transferred the gun from his weakened right hand to his left and killed the bodyguard with a single shot.

Fierce gunfire was also erupting outside the balcony. Hearing the commotion inside the mansion, the forces belonging to both sides outside began shooting at one another without hesitation. Fat Seven’s men on the rooftop dropped ropes and swung down onto the balcony, concentrating their fire on Xia Liu Yi, the only person still standing inside the room.

Xia Liu Yi raised his gun and fired several shots, killing the first two men who rushed into the room and forcing a third to retreat. When the gun ran out of ammunition, he pulled the trigger twice more before casually throwing it aside.

“The Boss is dead! Xia Liu Yi is still inside! Set the place on fire and burn him alive!” the Fat Seven subordinate who had escaped shouted from outside.

Two paint tins filled with petrol were thrown through the window, splashing the room with a choking stench. A burning torch followed immediately afterward.

Xia Liu Yi hurriedly turned and retreated toward the door, but Fat Seven’s other bodyguard had just finished a killing spree outside and charged in. The two came face-to-face. Before the man could raise his gun and fire, Xia Liu Yi snatched a dinner knife from the table and hurled it, striking him directly in the throat.

He bent down, retrieved Inspector Hua’s gun, and tucked it into his waistband. Pulling off his suit jacket to cover his nose and mouth, he strode toward the doorway, stepped on the violently twitching face of the bodyguard with the knife lodged in his throat, picked up the man’s gun, and rushed out of the room.

The corridor outside was equally chaotic. The bodies of Hua household servants killed by Fat Seven’s bodyguards lay scattered across the floor. Xia Liu Yi took a long stride forward and lifted the body collapsed behind a large vase, shaking it forcefully. “A’Ying? A’Ying!”

“B-Boss!” A’Ying, covered in blood, barely opened his eyes and coughed. He had been shot in the abdomen and was close to death. “You’re safe… Cough…”

“Where’s A’Biao?” Xia Liu Yi asked, seeing no sign of his second bodyguard.

“Cough… I don’t know… He said he was going to the toilet…”

Xia Liu Yi’s expression darkened, but he had no time to determine what that meant. Endless gunfire and chaos sounded from downstairs. Madam Hua screamed once, then fell completely silent.

Upstairs, tins of petrol had been thrown from the balconies into every room, and flames blazed everywhere. More men were running up the interior staircase. Without wasting a word, Xia Liu Yi bent down, hauled A’Ying upright, and draped him across his shoulder. As he ran, he turned and fired two shots at their pursuers, killing the man at the front.

A torrent of bullets roared back in response, blasting the walls and vases along the corridor into pieces. The corridor lights crashed down one after another, filling the floor with broken glass, dust, and smoke.

Xia Liu Yi hunched over, shielding his head with the gun as he supported A’Ying and ran desperately through the smoke. Beside his ear, he heard A’Ying whisper weakly, “Boss, leave me… Go…”

“Shut up!” Xia Liu Yi snapped with a frown. Using his weakened right hand, he barely managed to grip A’Ying’s collar and drag him toward the end of the corridor. At the same time, he fired another shot behind him, and another pursuer dropped heavily to the floor.

The window at the end of the corridor was locked, and the rusted latch would not move no matter how hard he pulled. Xia Liu Yi wrapped his jacket around his left arm and smashed through the glass with a single punch.

He swept the remaining shards from the frame, turned, and lifted A’Ying to push him outside. Suddenly, A’Ying struggled violently and knocked Xia Liu Yi aside. At that exact moment, several shots rang out from the staircase, tearing even larger bloody holes through A’Ying’s body.

“A’Ying!” Xia Liu Yi shouted hoarsely.

With his mouth full of blood, veins bulging across his forehead, A’Ying looked at him through reddened eyes. He took the gun containing the final three bullets from Xia Liu Yi’s hand, seized him, and used the last of his strength to shove him through the window.

Then he turned toward Fat Seven’s charging men and released a furious roar as he fired and rushed at them. A storm of bullets struck him head-on, and the deafening gunfire shook the entire mansion.

The floor was not particularly high. Accompanied by the gunshots, Xia Liu Yi fell from the second story into the garden and landed in a cluster of low shrubs. He rolled several times before climbing upright. Breathing heavily, he looked up at the smoke-filled window on the second floor and gritted his teeth. With grief written across his face, he turned away—then heard Xiao Ma shouting from outside the courtyard. “Boss!”

After receiving Xia Liu Yi’s signal before he entered the mansion, Xiao Ma had remained vigilant. The moment the first shot rang out inside, both sides outside immediately opened fire. Gunshots echoed continuously, and several bodies already lay scattered across the ground.

Xia Liu Yi pulled the second gun from his waistband and, under the covering fire of his men, charged through the hail of bullets toward their bullet-riddled car.

“Boss, are you all right?!” Xiao Ma asked.

Xia Liu Yi caught his breath. “I’m fine. The police will be here soon. Move!”

He was already too late. Somehow, word had leaked. Red lights flashed and sirens wailed at the foot of the mountain as large numbers of police vehicles swarmed toward them. The police had even deployed the Flying Tigers, and they were coming in force.

Elio’s Notes: 飛虎隊 (“Flying Tigers”) is the popular nickname for the Hong Kong Police Force’s Special Duties Unit (SDU), an elite tactical team deployed in high-risk operations.

“How did they get here so quickly?!” Xiao Ma exclaimed.

Remembering the missing A’Biao, Xia Liu Yi immediately calculated what had happened. “Don’t stay and fight. Burn the cars and scatter!”

“Yes!”

The group separated and hurriedly disappeared into the darkness. The men Xiao Ma had brought were clever and agile, so Xia Liu Yi did not need to worry about them. Alone, he took a narrow path and slid and rolled down the edge of the wooded hillside. He ran for several miles before looking back. The mansion in the Mid-Levels was engulfed in flames, staining half the sky red.

Back on the mountain, the police established a cordon and arrested several of Fat Seven’s men who had been trapped inside the courtyard and failed to escape. Fire engines and ambulances also hurried to the scene. Arriving alongside the fire engines was an ordinary sedan with a license plate ending in 61. Several plainclothes officers stepped out and showed their identification to the uniformed police maintaining order.

Thick smoke continued pouring from the mansion’s roof into the sky. Xie Jia Hua approached the courtyard with two subordinates. “Who is in charge here?”

“I am,” replied an officer dressed in plain clothes.

“Senior Inspector Xie Jia Hua of O Division. This is a triad conflict that our division has been investigating for some time. O Division will take over the case. Thank you for your work.”

After speaking, Xie Jia Hua turned toward his subordinates. “The Mercedes at the entrance belongs to Xia Liu Yi. Put out the fire immediately and search it carefully.”

“Yes.”

“Where are the suspects you arrested?” he asked the officer previously in charge.

“They’re all handcuffed inside the vehicles.”

“Take me to them.”

Xie Jia Hua entered the rear compartment of a police vehicle with his subordinates. The arrested thugs, all covered in soot and dirt, looked toward him. He pointed at A’Biao, who was crouching in a corner, and told one of his men, “Take him away separately.”

…

Half an hour later, after finishing everything, Xie Jia Hua crossed the police cordon and entered his car. Someone knocked on the window from outside.

He lowered it. Standing there was a young man in his twenties with narrow brows and eyes, single eyelids, and a smile as sly as a fox. “Hello, Inspector Xie. I’m Lu Guang Ming, an Assistant Investigator with the ICAC.”

“What is it?”

“With such a lively scene here, something major must have happened inside, Inspector Xie.”

“The case is under investigation. Under confidentiality regulations, I have no obligation to disclose anything to you.”

“I understand. I’m not here to interrogate you. I’m here to offer assistance. Chief Inspector Hua, who lived here, was suspected of accepting bribes and colluding with triads. We have been investigating him for some time and possess information that is not restricted by those confidentiality regulations. It may prove useful to your investigation. This is my card.”

Xie Jia Hua accepted the card and began raising the window. “Thank you. I’ll contact you.”

Lu Guang Ming reached out and stopped the window. “But Inspector Xie, my information isn’t free.”

“What do you want?”

Lu Guang Ming glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then lowered his voice. “Chief Inspector Hua was not the highest-ranking officer suspected of accepting bribes. There are others above him. One of them… has a personal connection to you, Inspector Xie.”

Xie Jia Hua’s expression darkened, and his gaze instantly turned icy.

As though frightened by the cold, Lu Guang Ming stepped back and smiled with narrowed eyes. “Inspector Xie, I’m merely a newly appointed Assistant Investigator. I have no reason to fabricate something like this and provoke you. That’s all. Remember to arrange a time to meet me. Oh, and I like the milk tea at Honolulu Café.”

…

Xia Liu Yi walked down the mountain and blended into the city. He threw the gun into the sea, rolled his bloodstained suit jacket into a bundle, and held it against his chest. Slowing his pace, he walked toward the Star Ferry Pier, intending to disappear among the crowds and take the ferry across the harbour to Kowloon.

Just as he reached the pier entrance, someone grabbed him from behind.

Xia Liu Yi instinctively spun and drove an elbow backward, but the newcomer swiftly blocked his arm. “Brother Liu Yi?”

Xia Liu Yi turned and saw He Chu San staring at him in surprise.

He Chu San wore gold-rimmed glasses and carried his briefcase beneath one arm, plainly having just finished working overtime. He looked Xia Liu Yi up and down and instantly understood the situation. Hurriedly removing his coat, he wrapped it around Xia Liu Yi’s blood-scented body and whispered, “You can’t cross the harbour right now. Plainclothes officers are checking people everywhere. Come with me.”

He led Xia Liu Yi onto a tram. Without speaking, they swayed all the way to the Western District, got off, and walked quickly to an old tenement building.

The stairwell was dim. He Chu San took a flashlight from his briefcase, held Xia Liu Yi’s hand, and led him upstairs. He took out a key and opened the door to a rented apartment on the second floor.

He Chu San turned, locked the door, drew the curtains, and switched on the light. The two stood beneath the bright illumination, breathing heavily.

“How did you know there were plainclothes officers?” Xia Liu Yi finally asked.

“I saw police vehicles everywhere from upstairs at my office. They said something happened in the Mid-Levels and even the Flying Tigers had been sent in.”

He immediately asked, “What happened?”

Xia Liu Yi’s expression remained indifferent. “It has nothing to do with you.”

Knowing that he did not wish to explain, He Chu San tactfully asked no more questions. He lowered his head and noticed the blood seeping through Xia Liu Yi’s shirt. “Are you injured?”

Xia Liu Yi had not even realized that he had been wounded. He looked down in confusion. He Chu San crouched, urgently pried apart his hands, and lifted his shirt.

The wound was on the side of his waist. A shard of glass had cut him when he crashed through the second-floor window. It was not particularly deep, but the violent movement afterward had rubbed and torn the flesh until it became bloody and ragged. He Chu San gently touched the skin beside it with his fingertips. The wound felt cold, wet, and sticky, and his heart trembled with pain.

He clenched his fist hard and forced himself to remain calm. Supporting Xia Liu Yi, he helped him sit on the living-room sofa. “I’ll go downstairs and buy medicine. Rest here.”

“Hey,” Xia Liu Yi called after him. “Be careful.”

He Chu San’s heart trembled again. “You’re the one who should be careful. Don’t go outside. I’ll be back immediately.”

Grabbing his briefcase, he hurried away. Xia Liu Yi pulled open his shirt and leaned bare-chested against the sofa. He dragged both hands fiercely over his face and released a long breath.

After such a dangerous and bloody struggle, suddenly finding himself in this peaceful, quiet environment made him feel as though he were dreaming.

…

After staring blankly for a while, Xia Liu Yi examined the apartment. It contained one bedroom and one sitting room, with cheap walls covered in a thin layer of dust, an uneven floor, and a mouldy ceiling. It was extremely crude. A paper-cut character for “fortune” was pasted behind the door, clearly another of Father He’s creations. The sitting room contained only a sofa and a small coffee table. Two pairs of leather shoes and one pair of slippers were neatly arranged beside the entrance.

Supporting himself against the wall, he entered the bedroom. There was a single bed, a small wardrobe in the corner, and a desk beside the bed piled with a large stack of documents and books. Several more neat stacks of books stood on the floor beside the headboard.

Fucking bookworm. He spent every day living with pieces of paper!

Xia Liu Yi opened He Chu San’s wardrobe and rummaged around, pulling out a pair of trousers and draping them over his arm. Just as he was about to close the door, he noticed a black leather case in the corner.

Opening it, he found an old, bulky camera. A label from an “XX Pawnshop” was attached to the bottom, indicating that it was secondhand. There was also a small canister of film. Boss Xia had little interest in it, so he examined it briefly and put it back.

As he walked, he kicked off his mud-and-blood-stained shoes and socks. He removed his trousers, casually threw them onto the sitting-room floor, stepped into He Chu San’s slippers, and entered the bathroom to wash.

The apartment was old, and the shower consisted of nothing more than a water pipe without even a showerhead. Xia Liu Yi grabbed the pipe and carelessly sprayed water across himself. While rubbing soap into his hair, he wondered privately: the brat was always so frugal that he even rented such a decrepit apartment, so why had he been willing to spend money on a secondhand camera?

While Xia Liu Yi washed away the stench of blood, He Chu San hurried downstairs, bought bandages, gauze, and common medicines from a pharmacy, then rushed back. The moment he entered, he saw Boss Xia’s trousers lying in a crumpled heap.

He placed everything on the coffee table, hurried to the bathroom, and knocked on the door. “Brother Liu Yi?”

“Mm?” Xia Liu Yi answered through the rushing water.

“The wound mustn’t get wet. Be careful while washing.”

Xia Liu Yi ignored him and tilted his head back to rinse away the foam with narrowed eyes. It was only a tiny wound!

He Chu San sighed inwardly and patiently sat on the sofa to wait for Boss Xia to finish bathing. After a while, Xia Liu Yi emerged from the bathroom dripping wet and bare-chested. Looking down as he pulled up the zip of the trousers, he said, “Towel.”

He Chu San carefully opened the curtain a little and retrieved the towel hanging outside the window. Xia Liu Yi snatched it and wiped himself carelessly before reaching for the disinfectant.

“I’ll do it.” Unable to keep watching, He Chu San took the bottle away.

He pulled Xia Liu Yi down onto the sofa, carefully dried the remaining water from his body with the towel, and disinfected the wound. With the towel draped over his head as he rubbed his hair, Xia Liu Yi allowed the disinfectant to burn through the torn flesh without making a sound.

Xia Liu Yi did not complain of pain, but He Chu San felt it for him. He sprinkled medicine onto the gauze and carefully pressed it over the ragged wound, imagining what must have happened when Xia Liu Yi was injured. He did not know the details, but the suit jacket covered in clotted blood and glass fragments, the expensive shoes coated in mud, the large numbers of police vehicles roaring up the mountain, and the plainclothes officers checking travellers crossing the harbour all hinted at how violent and dangerous the battle had been.

Xia Liu Yi’s body was covered in scars, most of them old. But He Chu San had personally witnessed the terrifying centipede-like line of stitches across his right shoulder. Remembering how Xia Liu Yi had once collapsed unconscious before him in Kau Lung Walled City, covered in blood and deathly pale, caused waves of pain to tighten across his chest.

Xia Liu Yi felt He Chu San’s movements gradually slow. Without speaking, He Chu San lowered his head and lightly rested one hand beside Xia Liu Yi.

With the towel covering his head, Xia Liu Yi could not see He Chu San directly, but he could see their shadows cast across the wall ahead. He Chu San silently raised his hand in a motion that would have wrapped around Xia Liu Yi from behind and embraced him.

Xia Liu Yi instinctively tensed his back. The movement tugged at his wound, and he gritted his teeth to suppress a groan—then saw He Chu San’s hand quickly retreat in the shadow.

Frowning, Xia Liu Yi turned his head. He Chu San behaved as though nothing had happened and focused intently on securing the bandage. No matter how fiercely Boss Xia glared at him, he remained entirely unmoved, his face innocent and honest.

Fucking Best Actor! Keep pretending! Go on, keep fucking pretending! Little bastard, I knew your relationship with that woman looked fake!

Once the wound had been treated, Xia Liu Yi hurriedly pushed the scheming brat aside and said coldly, “Give me the brick phone.”

With his head lowered, He Chu San obediently stood and found the phone for him, then draped a thin dressing gown across his shoulders.

With a towel on his head, a dressing gown covered in adorable little bears around his body, and flip-flops on his feet, Boss Xia supported his waist and walked to the window to make a call. While dialing, he asked He Chu San, “Do you have cigarettes?”

“No.”

“Go buy some.”

“You’re injured. You can’t smoke.”

“You little bastard!” Xia Liu Yi had known he would say that and cursed loudly before speaking into the phone. “Hello, Dong Dong?”

“Little bastard?” Cui Dong Dong repeated teasingly from the other end. “Oh, Boss. Did the ‘little bastard’ play the hero and rescue the beauty again?”

“Fuck off,” Xia Liu Yi cursed. “Has Xiao Ma returned?”

“He’s in hiding. He called me. The streets are full of police right now, so neither of you should come back yet.”

Xia Liu Yi fell silent for a moment. “A’Ying is dead.”

Even He Chu San, who was tidying the room nearby, paused at those words. He remembered the name. A’Ying was Xia Liu Yi’s chief bodyguard, a calm and quiet man who always nodded in greeting whenever he saw He Chu San. On Children’s Day, he had even helped deliver He Chu San’s cake.

Cui Dong Dong also fell silent. “I’ll arrange for someone to look after his family.”

“Give them double the usual settlement,” Xia Liu Yi said. “Once this trouble passes, I’ll give him a grand funeral.”

“Understood.”

“Also…” Xia Liu Yi listed several establishments. “Withdraw the goods and people from all these places.”

“What happened?”

“A’Biao has disappeared. I suspect he’s working for the police, and he knows about every one of those locations. Send several clever men to search his home. Bring back anything suspicious and clear out the apartment. As for A’Biao himself, I don’t care whether he’s in Heaven or buried beneath the earth—find him!”

“All right.”

Xia Liu Yi ended the call and looked up to find He Chu San holding a pile of bloodstained clothing and staring at him with a complicated expression.

“What?”

“A’Biao is a police officer?”

Xia Liu Yi replied impatiently, “It has nothing to do with you!”

He Chu San remained silent for a moment. “Don’t harm a police officer. Don’t do anything reckless.”

That sentence made Boss Xia laugh in anger. “What? Is this your first day learning that I do reckless things? I’m a gangster. If I don’t fight the police, should I marry them instead? Shut up!”

He Chu San opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. Boss Xia could see perfectly clearly, however, that the words beyond saving were written all over his face.

Xia Liu Yi hurled the mobile phone at him. “Go buy beef offal!”

Moving swiftly, He Chu San caught the phone with the clothes in his arms, picked up Xia Liu Yi’s shoes, and silently walked away.

He burned the bloodstained clothes, flushed the ashes down the toilet, scrubbed the leather shoes, and cleaned the room. Then he cooked a pot of lean-pork congee for Xia Liu Yi, sprinkling it with sesame seeds and sweet pork floss. He also steamed one basket of siu mai and another of salted-egg-yolk buns. Xia Liu Yi leaned back against the sofa beneath the little-bear dressing gown and dozed. When he opened his eyes, he found the coffee table covered with bland, wholesome food.

“Fuck!” Xia Liu Yi cursed. “Where’s the beef offal?”

“The stall downstairs didn’t look very clean,” He Chu San said. “I’ll buy fresh offal and cook it for you tomorrow.”

Xia Liu Yi glared at him for a long time. He wanted to overturn the table, but as the distinguished leader of an entire organization, he felt it beneath his dignity to lower himself and quarrel with the brat. It was beneath him. Beneath him… Fucking little bastard!

He had eaten only a few bites at Inspector Hua’s home and then endured a life-threatening battle, so he was ravenously hungry and had no room to be selective. He could only make do and eat a little of what was available… He made do so thoroughly that he finished everything. When Cui Dong Dong called, he was lying back on the sofa rubbing his stomach and digesting the meal.

“One of our men saw A’Biao outside the police station. It looks like he has become a police witness, so we can’t get near him. The police have also sealed off his residence. We can’t enter.”

“Fuck!” Xia Liu Yi hurled the brick phone across the room.

He Chu San, who was collecting the dishes, jumped aside and raised a bamboo steamer. With a metallic clang, he caught the phone inside it.

“…” Xia Liu Yi stared at him and discovered that after half a year apart, the brat’s reflexes had improved considerably.

He had no idea that whenever He Chu San became busy at work, he and his colleagues frequently threw folders to one another. He could hold five pens in one hand, bite a sandwich between his teeth, clamp a telephone beneath one shoulder, watch the market figures with his eyes, and strike the keyboard with his other hand.

“What happened?” He Chu San meddled. He had vaguely heard A’Biao’s name through the telephone.

Frowning, Xia Liu Yi sat on the sofa and thought without answering him. It was obvious, however, that the situation had frustrated him.

“…”

“What the fuck are you secretly enjoying?!”

Xia Liu Yi felt that spending ten minutes with He Chu San was enough to choke him to death. The brat did not even need to speak. Merely lifting the corner of his mouth could make Xia Liu Yi want to claw at the walls. With a dark expression, he held the wound at his waist and felt as though his stitches might burst from anger. He Chu San remained perfectly calm and began preparing the bed as though nothing had happened. “Brother Liu Yi, you can sleep in the bed.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

Xia Liu Yi examined the narrow sofa. It was clearly too small for a grown man to lie on comfortably. But after remembering all the evidence of He Chu San’s improper intentions, he hardened his heart. The brat was absolutely sleeping on the sofa!