SCREEEEEE—!!
The shriek of a power saw grinding against the vehicle door dragged He Chu San out of a brief unconsciousness. The proxy lay heavily across him. A large wound had split open at the back of the man’s head, and blood dripped down onto He Chu San’s shoulder. The inside of the van was a wreck: crushed metal, broken seats, and mangled bodies all tangled together. He Chu San struggled to push the proxy’s corpse aside, then shook Kevin beside him. Kevin’s face was covered in blood.
“Kevin? Kevin!” His weak calls were swallowed by the saw. He Chu San anxiously felt for Kevin’s breathing and found that he was still alive.
CLANG! A huge opening was cut through the twisted door. Several killers in black masks and black gloves climbed inside. Their suppressed pistols turned toward the ICAC officers who were still struggling or groaning. Without blinking, they fired repeatedly. Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! More blood erupted through the vehicle in an instant, splashing the walls scarlet.
He Chu San wrapped both arms around Kevin and closed his eyes, but the expected shot never came. Confused, he opened his eyes. Every gun had deliberately avoided him, but one muzzle slowly shifted toward Kevin in his arms. He Chu San threw himself over Kevin and shouted, “He’s my personal assistant! He handles a lot of the Shopkeeper’s business for me! There are details only he knows!”
The killer in front lowered his weapon slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he snapped his fingers toward the men behind him. Several killers immediately stepped forward, cuffed He Chu San and Kevin’s hands behind their backs, stuffed cloth into their mouths, and dragged them from the wreck. The leader remained inside, removing the identification cards from the ICAC officers one by one. Suddenly, Bang! His body jerked and collapsed straight to the floor.
The ICAC team leader was lying beneath a seat. His hand holding the gun dropped weakly. His eyes slowly closed while blood poured from his mouth. Before the killers could fire back, he released his final breath.
The surviving killers showed no panic over their companion’s death. They quickly gathered every identification card, mobile phone, and firearm that could establish the victims’ identities. They left their dead companion and the light truck used to cause the collision at the scene, poured gasoline over everything, then took He Chu San and Kevin into another van. They set the wreckage alight and sped away.
…
At an intersection, Xia Liu Yi anxiously looked left and right. The vehicle He Chu San had been riding in had been moving quickly. From a distance, Xia Liu Yi thought he had seen it turn onto this smaller road, but by the time he caught up he could no longer tell which direction it had taken.
He finally twisted the throttle and chose whichever road his instincts told him was most likely. After racing another two streets, he suddenly heard an explosion in the distance behind him. He twisted around. Thick black smoke was rising into the sky.
For some reason, his heart began pounding wildly. He had an overwhelming feeling that this had something to do with He Chu San. He immediately turned the motorcycle around and raced back the way he had come. Vehicles and pedestrians had stopped everywhere along the road to stare. The closer he got, the more impossible it became to move. “There’s an abandoned chemical factory over there! The chemical plant exploded! It’s toxic!” someone suddenly shouted in panic. People began screaming and running in the opposite direction. Xia Liu Yi forced his motorcycle against the tide of bodies and vehicles, twisting the throttle while roaring, “Move! MOVE!!”
At last, he plunged into the heavy black smoke. The air reeked of gasoline and blood, mixed with the nauseating sweet stench of burning human flesh. Fragments of vehicles and pieces of burning bodies littered the ground. Xia Liu Yi abandoned the motorcycle and charged madly toward the inferno at the center of the smoke. “A’San?! A’SAN—!!”
BOOM—!! A vehicle exploded a second time. The shock wave hurled him to the ground. Xia Liu Yi landed several meters away, his face black with soot, and coughed painfully against the pavement. Then he suddenly froze. Something on the ground nearby was glinting.
He scrambled toward it on hands and knees, dropped to the ground, and picked it up. Wiping at his soot-blackened face, he forced his eyes open wide enough to see. It was a bloodstained ring necklace. An outrageously large diamond was set into the ring, and engraved around the inner band were the words: 61xr3forever. He frantically searched the area. There was no body near the necklace, but another set of bloodstained tire tracks led away from the scene.
A’San left this clue behind! He isn’t dead!! Xia Liu Yi’s heart jolted. He stuffed the necklace into his trouser pocket, jumped back onto the motorcycle, and followed the tracks.
…
He Chu San lay on the floor of the van with a wad of cloth stuffed into his mouth, pressed against Kevin. The vehicle rocked continuously. Through the windows, he heard the ding-ding of a tram and the horns of buses. The honking grew increasingly dense. Suddenly the van braked hard and stopped. The killer driving rolled down his window and leaned out to look ahead. He Chu San heard other drivers shouting to one another outside. There had been an accident at the tunnel entrance. Traffic was completely jammed.
Tunnel? The cross-harbor tunnel? Are they taking us to Kowloon through the Cross-Harbour Tunnel at Hung Hom?
The van rocked slightly. The killers tried to turn around and take another road, but the vehicles behind had already blocked their retreat. They could only remain where they were. He Chu San heard rustling movements as several killers inside stood to observe the surroundings. The longer they remained stopped, the more time passed. It must have been more than ten minutes. He Chu San secretly nudged Kevin with his shoulder, but still received no response. He could smell the blood on Kevin’s body. With difficulty, he leaned close enough to Kevin’s face to listen. Thankfully, he could still hear him breathing.
“Hey, brother! Got a lighter? Lend me a light!” an unfamiliar man suddenly called from outside the driver’s window.
He Chu San shifted slightly. Something cold pressed against the back of his head. A gun muzzle. He froze and did not dare move again.
The truck driver beside them received a lighter. After lighting his cigarette, he leaned casually against the van door and began chatting with the killer. “Who knows how much longer we’ll be stuck here! This tunnel’s been around more than ten years, hasn’t it? Did something collapse, or is it just an accident? Where are you headed? I’ve got a delivery in Mong Kok. Told them I’d be there at five, and look—it’s already four fifty…”
The killer behind the wheel grew impatient. “Get lost.”
“Hey?! What kind of manners is that, young man? All dressed up like a proper gentleman, but you’re wearing a mask and your windows are blacked out. You hiding something in there?”
The truck driver kept talking and even stretched his neck to peer through the window. The killer’s right hand had already moved toward the gun at his waist. At that moment, the line of cars ahead finally began moving. The tunnel had reopened.
“Not wasting my time arguing with you! I’m going back to my truck!” the driver muttered before walking away.
He Chu San, who had been silently terrified for the stranger, finally relaxed slightly. He felt the wall of the vehicle vibrate as the van started forward again. Before long, they reached the tunnel toll booths. He heard the toll collector name the fare, followed immediately by a suspicious question. “Is your vehicle overloaded? There are so many people packed in the back. What’s lying on the floor? Open the rear window and let security take a look.”
The van suddenly reversed at speed. CRASH—! It smashed through the barrier arm and shot straight into the tunnel. The toll collector screamed. Security personnel ran after them, blowing whistles frantically as chaos erupted around the entrance.
At that exact moment, Xia Liu Yi emerged from a side road and plunged into the sea of traffic. He immediately spotted the suspicious van that had just smashed through the barrier. Gripping the motorcycle handlebars, he opened the throttle all the way and shot up the tall stone divider beside the road. The motorcycle flew into the air. CLANG—!! It landed on the roof of a car ahead.
Xia Liu Yi rode straight over the traffic jam from roof to roof, racing above the sea of vehicles. Finally, the motorcycle dropped back onto the road with another violent CLANG! In the blink of an eye, he shot past the shouting security guards and followed the van straight into the tunnel.
“A’San—?! A’SAN—!!” he screamed himself hoarse while chasing the vehicle ahead.
When the van had smashed through the barrier, He Chu San and Kevin had both been thrown hard against the back of a seat before crashing onto the floor. Still dazed from the impact, He Chu San faintly heard Xia Liu Yi’s scream. Heat exploded through his head. Without caring about anything else, he sprang upright and threw his entire body against the side of the van with all his strength.
THUD—!
The reinforced side window did not break. But Xia Liu Yi behind them saw the strange violent rocking of the van. He twisted the throttle and drove directly toward the tunnel wall. The motorcycle shot upward. Its tires scraped viciously against the wall, throwing a trail of blinding sparks. In midair, Xia Liu Yi released the handlebars—and hurled himself onto the roof of the van.