He pressed the gun against Da Gao’s lower back and held him hostage all the way out of the nightclub. Da Gao’s men followed close behind, eager to rescue him, but He Chu San kept watch in every direction and never gave them a single opening. He signaled Xin Xin to hail a taxi at the roadside, pulled off Da Gao’s suit jacket to conceal the weapon, then struck the back of his neck with one sharp chop and shoved his unconscious body into the car.
The taxi quickly pulled away. The driver sensed that something was wrong and glanced suspiciously into the rearview mirror. Actor He remained perfectly calm. “My friend is drunk.”
“Oh. Where to?”
“Temple Street.”
“Huh? Aren’t we going home—” Xin Xin began, only for He Chu San to silence her with a glare.
The girl obediently covered her mouth. She had decided Brother Sam was truly a hidden master. Not only had the God of War possessed him that night, but even his gaze seemed to crackle with electricity. He was unbelievably handsome.
The taxi stopped at Temple Street. He Chu San dragged out the still-dazed Da Gao and struck the back of his head again when no one was looking. Supporting him between them, they transferred to another taxi. This time, they doubled back and returned to Tsim Sha Tsui, which they had only just left.
Xin Xin stared at him in alarm and was about to ask another question, only to be silenced by another glare.
“Brother Sam, stop looking at me like that. You’re too handsome tonight. I’m afraid I’ll fall in love with you,” she said weakly.
“Shut up!” He Chu San’s eyelid twitched. Without realizing it, he had used Boss Xia’s favorite phrase.
The taxi soon passed the entrance of the Wong Fat Nightclub again. He Chu San and Xin Xin ducked below the window. Several gangsters stood with their legs planted wide at the street corner, furiously making phone calls. Even from a distance, He Chu San could hear them shouting the license plate number of the previous taxi and ordering their companions to chase it.
Having successfully created a diversion, he directed the taxi through two more streets before stopping beneath his rented apartment building. Together, he and Xin Xin hauled the unconscious Da Gao into the elevator.
When the front door opened and the lights came on, Xin Xin let out a cry of amazement. The apartment was small but bright, simply furnished yet warm, with a view of Victoria Harbour at night through the windows. It was actually a very pleasant place to live.
“Brother Sam, do you usually live here?” She walked around the living room and exclaimed, “It’s wonderful!”
There was no response behind her. She turned around—and saw the Brother Sam who had been so fierce and vigorous moments earlier sliding down the wall with his head lowered.
“What happened? You’re injured!” Xin Xin rushed over to support him.
Only after a long while did He Chu San manage to speak. He raised an ashen-green face and said weakly, “It’s nothing… I was too nervous. My stomach hurts…”
“…”
Actor He had witnessed plenty of dangerous, thrilling, bloody, and violent scenes during the eventful years he had spent with Boss Xia. But Boss Xia had nearly always shielded him, leaving him no need to charge into danger himself. That night, he had carried off a heroic rescue all by himself, looking utterly fearless. In truth, he had begun trembling with delayed fear the moment they entered the first taxi. His martial arts amounted to little more than a few half-baked moves. He might narrowly defeat Da Gao alone, but if all those men had attacked together, they could have killed him in moments. Fortunately, Da Gao was fierce only on the surface and terrified of death, while the other gangsters were equally cowardly. He Chu San’s superb acting had fooled them. If even one small detail had gone wrong, both he and his sister would have died there.
He had long overworked himself and already suffered from a weak stomach. The sudden strain made his stomach cramp violently and his legs go weak. He squatted beside the entrance, unable to stand. With Xin Xin’s help, he reached the sofa, curled up on it with a green face, and lay there feebly for more than ten minutes—thoroughly destroying every last scrap of the admiration she had only just developed for him.
Under his instructions, Xin Xin had already tied Da Gao securely. She handed He Chu San a towel wrapped around ice and said glumly, “So all that fierce, heroic behavior earlier was only an act?”
“Obviously. Your Brother Sam is a law-abiding citizen, not a delinquent. I’ve never fought anyone in my life…” He Chu San curled up on the sofa like a shrimp, his voice barely audible.
“I’m warning you.” He pressed the ice against his head and spoke weakly. “We were lucky this time. If it happens again, your mother and my father will have to collect both our bodies.”
“All right, all right. I know you’re a refined scholar who only pretends to be fierce. You’re actually a weak-kneed shrimp,” said the scatterbrained girl without a tactful bone in her body.
“Shut up.” He Chu San groaned from the headache. “Go and bring the first-aid kit. It’s inside the cabinet.”
Xin Xin closed her mouth and treated the injury on his head. The moment she lifted his hair, she sucked in a sharp breath, frightened by the mangled wound beneath it. He Chu San had never been a stoic tough guy who could endure pain—except when circumstances forced him to put on an act. As she cleaned it with iodine, he repeatedly cried out under his breath.
“Ah! Hiss… Gently… ah…”
Xin Xin bit her lip and dared not speak. She carefully cleaned the wound and applied medicine. When she tried to cover it with gauze and a bandage, He Chu San refused, saying it would be easier to change the dressing if it remained uncovered. Besides, the spot on his forehead was unlikely to be touched.
Looking at the horrible injury covered in medicine, Xin Xin’s eyes reddened. “I know I was wrong, big brother. I’ll apologize to Dad and Mum when I go home. I’ll never fool around outside again.”
He Chu San sighed with relief and lectured her like an old monk chanting scripture. “It’s good that you understand. From now on, live an honest life and treat your family well.” As he spoke, he struggled to stand.
“What are you doing? Lie down and rest!”
He Chu San supported himself against the wall as he entered the bathroom, shutting the curious Xin Xin outside.
He turned on the shower and sprayed cold water directly over Da Gao’s head. Da Gao twisted and groaned before opening his eyes in a daze. He discovered that he had been hogtied with neckties, his cheek pressed against the floor. When he raised his head, he found himself staring directly at He Chu San’s black leather shoes.
He Chu San switched into Actor He mode and slowly crouched before Da Gao. Beneath the dim light, the bloody gash along his temple made his expression sinister and terrifying. Pressing the black muzzle of the gun against Da Gao’s wet forehead, he imitated Xia Liu Yi’s lazy sneer.
“Talk.”
“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Spare me! Spare me!” Da Gao writhed desperately like a caterpillar and screamed repeatedly. “Mr. He, Great Hero He, what do you want to know?”
“When you said I might reach the afterlife in time to reincarnate with Brother Xiao Ma and the others, what did you mean?”
Da Gao’s eyes shifted. He laughed awkwardly. “I only said it to frighten you. It was a joke, Mr. He.”
He Chu San lightly tapped the gun against his head and smiled sinisterly. “Mr. Gao, your guess was correct. I really am the Boss’s man—his private bookkeeper. I’ve handled his accounts for three years. I know his books, and I also know how he helps people ‘celebrate Children’s Day.’ If Mr. Gao has never experienced it, shall I demonstrate?”
“No, no! No, no, no!” The moment Da Gao heard the words celebrate Children’s Day, his pale face turned green. He screamed, “I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!”
As a low-ranking thug with little courage or ability, Da Gao did not know much. He said only that when Xia Liu Yi first became Dragon Head two years earlier, Pao-zai ordered him and several brothers to impersonate Xiao Ma’s men and cause trouble everywhere. Their purpose was to ruin the reputations of Xiao Ma and Xia Liu Yi and place Xia Liu Yi under constant pressure from the elders. After the incident outside the cinema, Pao-zai hid them away and allowed them to manage only an underground bank. Over the following two years, Pao-zai’s resentment toward Xia Liu Yi for suppressing him grew steadily, though he had no opportunity to vent it. That day, Xia Liu Yi was sentenced and immediately taken into custody. The head office called an emergency senior meeting overnight. Pao-zai brought most of his men with him, leaving only those like Da Gao, who rarely appeared in public, to guard the nightclub. He also told Da Gao that after the following day, they would be able to appear openly in Xiao Qi Hall’s establishments again. Da Gao put two and two together and guessed that his leader intended to pull off something big amid the confusion, which was why he had blurted out that Xiao Ma and Dong Dong would not survive the night.
His words contained both truth and lies. He Chu San did not completely believe him. As soon as Da Gao finished, He Chu San raised the gun without another word. Da Gao howled and prepared to beg for mercy, only for He Chu San to strike him with the butt of the gun and knock him unconscious again.
He removed one of Da Gao’s filthy socks, stuffed it into his mouth, and left the bathroom. The walls of the rented apartment were thin. Although Xin Xin had remained outside, she had heard most of their conversation through the door. She now stared at him with renewed shock.
“Big brother, do you really work for an underworld boss?”
She stopped and looked worriedly at Actor He, whose face had once again turned deathly pale the moment the director called cut. He leaned against the wall. “What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt again?”
He Chu San panted several times before recovering. “It’s nothing.” He felt at his waist and realized that his brick phone had been lost during the fighting inside the nightclub. “I’m going outside to make a phone call. You—”
Before he could finish, frantic knocking sounded from outside.
He Chu San quickly pushed Xin Xin into the bathroom and signaled for her to hide inside and remain silent.
Holding the gun, he approached the door quietly and looked through the peephole. The corridor outside was completely dark, and he could see nothing.
“Who is it?”
“Mr. He, it’s me! A’Sen!” the person outside called softly.
He Chu San frowned suspiciously and thought for a moment.
Five seconds later, he opened the door with a surprised expression and ushered A’Sen inside. “A’Sen? Why are you here?”
Then he noticed the blood on the floor. “You’re hurt?”
As one of Xia Liu Yi’s personal bodyguards, A’Sen was among the few people who knew about the apartment Xia Liu Yi shared with He Chu San. He glanced at the gun in He Chu San’s hand and limped inside while clutching his blood-soaked thigh. “A bullet grazed me. It isn’t serious. I tried calling you, but no one answered, so I thought I’d check here. Mr. He, what happened to your head?”
“Just a minor injury. It’s nothing,” He Chu San replied. “Come inside and sit down first.”
As He Chu San supported him toward the sofa, A’Sen glanced in the direction of the bedroom. “Mr. He, I’m glad you’re safe. What about Xin Xin? Did you get her out?”
“I sent her home. Why are you injured? What happened?”
A’Sen’s expression filled with grief. “Something happened at the company. Boss Pao turned against us during the meeting and took the elders hostage. He killed Boss Dong Dong too!”
He Chu San was startled. “Sister Dong Dong? How? Are you certain?”
“It’s true.” A’Sen sighed. “I saw them force her to jump from the eighth floor with my own eyes.”
He Chu San clenched his fists. “What about Brother Xiao Ma?”
“We were separated during the gunfight. I don’t know where he is. Mr. He, Boss Pao’s men are hunting us everywhere. I have nowhere else to go. Can I hide here for a while?”
“Of course. Lie down quickly. I’ll examine the wound.”
The bullet had grazed A’Sen’s thigh and caused considerable bleeding, but fortunately, it had not struck a major artery. He Chu San placed the gun on the coffee table and used the first-aid kit to clean the wound.
“Thank you.” A’Sen endured the pain and continued, “By the way, Mr. He, the situation inside the organization is extremely urgent. Before the Boss entered prison, did he entrust anything to you?”
“Entrust what?” He Chu San lowered his head as he cleaned the wound with iodine and smiled bitterly. “Did he tell me he’d break my legs if I ever cheated on him?”
A’Sen laughed despite the pain. “Of course not. Did the Boss entrust any objects to you? A ledger, perhaps? Or a staff?”
He Chu San raised his head and looked at him calmly. “You mean the ledger and the Dragon Head Staff?”
The corners of A’Sen’s mouth flattened, and his expression turned cold. “So Mr. He knows about those two objects.”
He Chu San gave a faint laugh. “Not only do I know about them, I also know why you came here. You were the one who notified Da Gao that I had gone to Wong Fat and ordered him to return and kill me.”
At some point, the gun from the coffee table had appeared in A’Sen’s hand. Its dark muzzle pointed directly at He Chu San’s heart.
“Mr. He is intelligent, so I won’t waste time. Hand over the ledger and Dragon Head Staff, and I’ll leave your corpse intact.”
Facing the gun, He Chu San slowly placed the cotton swab in his hand aside. “A’Sen, you haven’t been in Xiao Qi Hall for very long, have you?”
“What does that have to do with you? Stop wasting time!”
“Three years ago, someone said those exact words: ‘Hand over the ledger and Dragon Head Staff, and I’ll leave your corpse intact.’ Do you know what happened to him? I watched it myself. Three blades, six holes. They stabbed him until he looked like a hornet’s nest.” As He Chu San spoke, the bloody memory made him shake his head repeatedly.
“The organization has never shown mercy to traitors. What did Boss Pao offer you that made you willing to betray your own Boss and risk your life for him?”
A’Sen sneered. “Boss Pao planted me beside the Boss from the beginning. Once he takes over, I’ll become a Red Pole. The real question is what Xia Liu Yi gave you. You’re still talking while a gun is pointed at you. You filthy fucking queer—have you gotten addicted to sucking cock?”
He Chu San frowned. He truly hated communicating with these uncultured gangsters. Listen to him—asshole this, cock that. Filthy. How many times would He Chu San have to wash his ears before they felt clean again?
He was done talking and saw no reason to waste any more time. Without another word, he flipped his wrist and poured the entire bottle of iodine directly onto A’Sen’s wound.
A’Sen screamed and fired three times at him with a twisted expression.
Click. Click. Click.
He froze with the empty gun still raised. He Chu San, who had secretly removed the bullets before cleaning his wound, lifted his head and gave him a faint smile.
Then he seized the glass fruit bowl from the coffee table and swung it straight into A’Sen’s forehead.
Thud!
A’Sen screamed and collapsed onto the sofa. He Chu San leaped onto him and began striking him repeatedly with the glass bowl. Although A’Sen had been caught off guard and beaten until blood covered his head, he was still a trained bodyguard rather than useless trash like Da Gao. During the struggle, he knocked the bowl away, seized He Chu San by the throat, and the two wrestled from the sofa to the coffee table and then onto the floor. They rolled together in circles, sending the first-aid kit, vase, and drinking glasses crashing everywhere with a chaotic clatter-clang.
Bang—!
The struggle between the two grown men finally ended with a dull impact. He Chu San pushed A’Sen’s limp body away and looked up. Xin Xin stood before him holding the floor lamp, her face furious.
“You fucking bastard! You sent Da Gao to kill us?”
He Chu San clutched his swollen throat and could not speak. He gestured for her to tie A’Sen up like a rice dumpling, gag him, and throw him into the bathroom just as they had done with Da Gao.
He removed A’Sen’s brick phone from his waist and searched until he found Xiao Ma’s number. The call still would not connect. He then found Dong Dong’s number and dialed it. He called twice. After a very long time, an unfamiliar man answered. “Hello? A’Sen? Where the fuck did you go? Why are you calling a dead woman’s phone?”
He Chu San immediately ended the call, a chill spreading across his back. A’Sen had no reason to lie about this. Cui Dong Dong might truly be dead.
Even though Cui Dong Dong had recently refused to speak to him, and even though their values were entirely different, He Chu San still regarded her as a friend. More importantly, Cui Dong Dong was one of Xia Liu Yi’s closest sworn companions. He did not dare imagine how Xia Liu Yi would react when he learned what had happened.
He Chu San paced the room several times, his heart filled with pain and confusion. Brother Liu Yi had only just entered prison, and now he would learn that Sister Dong Dong had died. How devastated would he be?
But this was not the time to grieve. He suddenly realized that if the rebels intended to eliminate Cui Dong Dong and Xiao Ma’s faction, then Cui Dong Dong’s girlfriend, Xiao Luo, would certainly be implicated. Worse still, if A’Sen had thought to search He Chu San’s home for the ledger, someone else might think of searching Cui Dong Dong’s home.
The thought of the delicate, frail Xiao Luo falling into the hands of men as vicious as Da Gao made He Chu San’s heart pound.
If he could save Xin Xin, he could save Xiao Luo too. He returned to the living room, found a pair of rubber gloves, and put them on. He slipped Da Gao’s gun into his trouser pocket, then searched the bedroom. As expected, he found another gun beneath the mattress. Having stayed at Xia Liu Yi’s village house, he knew Xia Liu Yi had a habit of hiding weapons in the bedroom.
Xin Xin’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. “Big brother, there’s a gun beneath your bed! A gun! Do you really work with an underworld boss? That man also called you gay…”
He Chu San had no time to explain. He handed her one of the guns, showed her how to release the safety, and wrote down Xie Jia Hua’s phone number. “Guard them and don’t open the door for anyone. If you still haven’t heard from me by tomorrow morning, go to the phone booth downstairs and call this number for help.”
He opened the door. Xin Xin hurried after him. “Where are you going?”
He Chu San paused. “To save my friend.”
“Friend?”
He Chu San thought of Cui Dong Dong and let out a long sigh. “A friend.”
…
Cui Dong Dong’s private residence was not far away. It occupied the top floor of an upscale apartment building in Tsim Sha Tsui. He Chu San had visited only once, when he came to report Xia Liu Yi’s first arrest. Xia Liu Yi had repeatedly told him to seek refuge there if trouble arose, yet every time He Chu San came, it was to rescue someone instead.
Security was usually excellent in an upscale apartment building like this. But the moment He Chu San entered the ground-floor lobby, he sensed something was wrong. The glass doors stood partly open and moved at the slightest push. The magnificent lobby was deserted. A stack of papers lay scattered outside the security room, and a faint, acrid smell hung in the air.
Fragments of glass and plastic littered the floor. Following their position upward, he saw the shattered remains of the surveillance camera on the ceiling.
He held the gun tightly and approached the security room with great caution. He leaned inside and examined it carefully, then suddenly froze.
A pair of stiff legs protruded from behind the desk.
He Chu San suppressed another violent spasm in his stomach and stepped forward. Removing one glove, he bent down and checked the guard’s breathing. Then he relaxed. The man had only been drugged unconscious.
Both elevators were stopped on the thirtieth and top floor and could not be used. Silently cursing his luck, He Chu San found the emergency stairwell and ran all the way to the fifteenth floor in one breath.
Then he spent a very long time bent over with his hands on his knees, panting.
He gathered himself and continued until he reached the twenty-eighth floor half-dead, this time unable even to catch his breath.
After resting for a long while, he finally recovered enough strength to climb the final two floors as quietly as possible.
The stairwell was dark. As expected, someone had deliberately blocked the elevator entrance with debris, making it difficult for anyone to reach the floor. Moving silently, He Chu San kept close to the wall and approached the door at the end. The metal door stood partly open, and the interior beyond it was completely dark. He smelled the same acrid odor as downstairs.
Was he too late?
His heart sank. He pushed open the metal door cautiously.
A shadow hidden behind it suddenly shot out like an arrow, twisted his gun hand, and slammed it against the wall. Pain shot through He Chu San’s arm, and the pistol fell. The person ducked beneath his shoulder, bent down, and flipped him hard over her shoulder.
He Chu San hit the floor with a heavy thump, nearly knocking the air from his lungs.
The person picked up the fallen gun and aimed it at him. Recognizing her figure, He Chu San hurriedly cried, “It’s me! Xiao Luo!”
Xiao Luo recognized his voice but kept the weapon raised. “Mr. He? What are you doing here?”
He Chu San could not bear to tell her about Cui Dong Dong. He only said, “Someone came to my home searching for the ledger. I subdued him. I was afraid you might also be in danger, so I came to check.”
Xiao Luo hesitated before finally lowering the gun. She stepped over him to close the door, then scolded him with a gloomy expression. “What danger could I possibly be in? Who asked you to interfere? Even if I were in danger, what the hell use would a bookworm like you be? If something happened to you, how would I explain it to the Boss? If there’s danger, you should find somewhere to hide and call us to protect you!”
He Chu San lay frozen on the floor. The shock inside him was no less than Xin Xin’s reaction to seeing her refined older brother suddenly display martial prowess that night.
Was this truly the gentle, bashful, shy, obedient Xiao Luo, whom he had almost never heard speak an entire sentence?
“What are you staring at? Since you’re already here, help me drag those two pieces of trash into the bathroom. They’re too heavy.” Xiao Luo lifted her chin and ordered him around.
Just as He Chu San had expected, two assassins had come to Cui Dong Dong’s home that night. One now had a knife wound in his calf, while the other had a broken arm. Xiao Luo had wrapped both men tightly in bedsheets until they resembled two French baguettes. Rags had been stuffed into their mouths, and they lay on the living-room floor making muffled cries while flopping like live fish on a chopping board.
Xiao Luo wore a pale yellow silk slip that revealed two slender, fair legs. Several drops of blood stained her sweet features and round, childish face. Gun in hand, she stood by the window and tilted her head to light a cigarette. She exhaled a relaxed stream of smoke. Beneath the moonlight, her graceful figure resembled some mutant little deer spirit bred for violence.
“Hurry up!” With the cigarette between her lips, she glared at He Chu San, who was staring stupidly at her.
He Chu San swallowed with difficulty, climbed off the floor, and obediently went to do the heavy lifting.
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