Futile Devices Scans

The room was pitch-black. Master Qiao had his new favorite, little Sammy, in his arms while they watched an action-packed Category III movie. On the wall-sized projection screen, a beautiful half-woman, half-machine creature thrust out two enormous metal breasts and blasted twin streams of flame from them, roasting her enemies while men screamed, “Waaahhh!” all across the screen.

Elio’s Notes: Category III is Hong Kong’s adults-only film classification. The label is often associated with highly explicit sex, violence, or other adult content.

BOOM—! The door was suddenly rammed open from outside. Master Qiao and Sammy both grabbed the cushions and shrieked along with the movie. “Waaahhh!”

“What the fuck?! Bastard! Who is it?!” Master Qiao cursed once he recovered.

The lights came on. Two bodyguards rushed over, grabbed Master Qiao, and began pushing him toward the door. “Boss, run!! There are people from Lim Kee outside saying they want you to come in and ‘assist with an investigation’!”

“What the hell is Lim Kee?! Lim Kee Roast Goose?! Lim Kee Bakery?!”

“The ICAC, Boss! They say you’re suspected of money laundering and bribery!”

“Fuck! It’s one thing when the cops come after me! I’m minding my own business running the underworld—what the hell does this have to do with them?! I’ll go out there and fuck them up!”

Elio’s Notes: 廉记, rendered here as “Lim Kee,” is an informal nickname for the ICAC. The suffix 记, pronounced “Kee” in Cantonese, is also common in traditional Hong Kong shop names, which is why Master Qiao deliberately pretends it sounds like the name of a roast-goose shop or bakery.

The bodyguards frantically restrained him. “Don’t, Boss! The ICAC even dares arrest cops. We can’t afford to mess with them!”

Master Qiao was wearing nothing but a robe with his hairy chest hanging wide open, yet he still refused to let go of Sammy’s hand. Amid all the pushing and pulling, his bodyguards hustled him downstairs toward the hidden passage on the ground floor of the villa. But the instant they slipped out the back door, they found several plainclothes ICAC officers already standing in the alley, guns aimed straight at them as they held up their credentials.

The man in front began, “Independent Commission Against—” Bang—! A bullet struck him in the head, exploding into a spray of blood. Sammy, who had never seen a dead body before, let out a piercing scream. “Aaaah—!!!”

Several more deafening shots followed his scream. The remaining ICAC officers fell one after another. Master Qiao stared, dumbfounded. His bodyguards hurriedly drew their own guns and aimed them at the newcomers. Three killers in black sunglasses and black masks strode quickly toward them from the other end of the alley. An unremarkable van was parked behind them. “The Shopkeeper sent us to pick you up.”

Master Qiao released a huge breath of relief and motioned for his bodyguards to lower their weapons. Still holding Sammy’s hand, he hurried with his entire entourage after the killers and climbed into the van. Once he was in the back seat, the sight they had just witnessed still left him shaken. “You people even dare kill ICAC officers?!”

The last killer climbed in, slid the door shut, and drew his gun. “Nothing matters more than the Shopkeeper.” Bang—! Bang—! Bang—!

Blood sprayed across the inside of the van. Master Qiao’s face was splattered with Sammy’s brains. He stared blankly as the gun slowly turned toward him.

“The Shopkeeper says thank you,” the man said.

Bang—! The bullet struck the backrest of the rear seat, sending stuffing flying. This veteran underworld boss, hardened by countless fights, ducked with remarkable speed and rammed his head straight into the killer. The two tumbled together onto the floor of the van. The gun discharged accidentally and struck the roof with another explosive report. The two killers in front immediately twisted around and raised their guns. At that exact moment, a sedan slammed head-on into the van. CRASH—!!

The two killers in front had not fastened their seat belts. They smashed through the windshield and flew halfway out of the vehicle, struggling there with blood pouring from their heads. Master Qiao and the killer in the rear were still rolling around fighting when the adviser yanked open the van door from outside. Bang! He fired once, then lunged forward and dragged the blood-soaked Master Qiao out. “Get in the car!”

The two ran one after another to the sedan, whose hood had already been crushed inward by the collision. The remaining two killers began firing after them. Dodging the bullets, the adviser started the car and reversed desperately through the barrage. Master Qiao crouched in the back seat, tears of gratitude streaming down his old face. “My Adviser, my precious old darling! You’re still the best! My Sammy—!!”

“Stop wailing like someone died, Boss! There’s a gun under the back seat! Get up and help!”

…

Two ICAC vans traveled one behind the other along a winding mountain road. It was outside rush hour, and there were very few pedestrians or vehicles on the road, apart from the occasional bus. In the rear van, the ICAC officer driving kept a careful eye on the road while repeatedly checking the rearview mirror.

Xie Ying Jie sat upright in the last row, his face gloomy yet remarkably composed. Chief Investigator Xu and Lu Guang Ming sat on either side of him. Xie Ying Jie turned his head slightly toward the window, then glanced at Lu Guang Ming, whose tension and agitation were far more obvious than his own. Lu Guang Ming’s entire body was trembling faintly. The man he hated to the bone was sitting right beside him. He wanted nothing more than to flay Xie Ying Jie alive and devour his flesh, and he was desperately suppressing the urge to throw himself on the man and strangle him to death.

“You’re Lu Yong’s son,” Xie Ying Jie said.

“So you knew.” Lu Guang Ming sneered.

“Aren’t you dead?”

“Yes. Just as you wanted, wasn’t I?”

Within moments, Xie Ying Jie understood everything. He nodded. “Quite a performance. You people really went to great lengths. Investigating a Deputy Commissioner of Police is serious enough that the Governor has to be informed. Without absolutely conclusive evidence, your boss would never approve it. And he happens to be attending meetings in London right now.” He turned toward Chief Investigator Xu. “This operation wasn’t actually authorized by him, was it, Chief Xu?”

Chief Investigator Xu’s expression remained cold. He did not answer. Xie Ying Jie scoffed. “Heh. No wonder you’re skulking around so secretly.”

“So what?!” Lu Guang Ming snapped. “Once we catch your stand-in and freeze your money, do you really think we won’t have evidence?!”

“Guang Ming! He’s fishing for information!” Chief Investigator Xu warned with a frown. A vague sense of unease had come over him, and he glanced out the window. There were no pedestrians or vehicles on the road ahead or behind them. Everything was unnaturally quiet.

Xie Ying Jie laughed coldly. “Do I even need to fish for it? Your little investigator wears every thought right on his face.” He looked at Lu Guang Ming. “You hate me, don’t you? Because you think I killed your father?”

Lu Guang Ming abruptly sat upright and grabbed him by the collar, furious breaths hissing through his nose. The spirit-tablet pendant around his neck slipped out beneath his collar with the movement. Xie Ying Jie glanced down. “Tang Jia Qi? …Oh. I remember. That child who died in the freezer.”

He stared directly into Lu Guang Ming’s eyes at point-blank range. The sinister coldness in his gaze seemed like an icy blade stabbing straight through Lu Guang Ming. “I saw photographs of his body in the case file. Did you know that many people who freeze to death look as though they’re smiling? Before death, large amounts of blood supposedly rush toward the head, making the face flush red, and because they keep breathing warm air through their mouths, the mouth takes on the shape of a smile. Like this…” Slowly, he pulled the corners of his mouth upward into a strange, rigid smile.

Lu Guang Ming let out a broken, furious roar and punched him in the face. Chief Investigator Xu hurriedly unfastened his seat belt and stood to stop him. As Xie Ying Jie dodged, his gaze flicked toward the road ahead. Suddenly, he bent over and covered his head.

SCREEECH—!! Brakes screamed. The tires of the van ahead had been shredded by a row of spikes laid across the road. The vehicle spun sideways and crashed into the guardrail along the mountain. The rear van had no time to evade it and slammed into the back of the first vehicle. Because they were traveling downhill, the impact sent the rear van vaulting over the other vehicle’s roof. Both vans twisted and crumpled amid a deafening shriek of metal.

Everything inside the vehicle turned upside down. Lu Guang Ming opened his eyes in a daze. His seat belt had left him hanging inverted in midair. Both legs were trapped in the crushed side door. Chief Investigator Xu, who had not been wearing a seat belt, lay beneath him covered in blood.

A faint click sounded beside him. Xie Ying Jie, his face drenched in blood, released his seat belt and dropped onto the overturned roof. Lu Guang Ming groaned hoarsely and reached for the hem of his clothing, but Xie Ying Jie easily stepped out of reach.

“You… don’t go!” Lu Guang Ming finally forced out in a ragged rasp.

Xie Ying Jie crouched in front of him and looked up. Blood covered his face, making his features appear even colder and more vicious. His eyes were dark red. Without saying a word, he stared steadily at Lu Guang Ming, then lifted his cuffed wrist and looped the chain of the handcuffs around Chief Investigator Xu’s neck.

“No… no…” Lu Guang Ming screamed. “Let him go! Let him go!!”

Xie Ying Jie’s face remained expressionless. A drop of blood fell from his chin and landed on Chief Investigator Xu’s pale, unconscious face. As the handcuffs tightened mercilessly around his throat, the man’s face slowly turned red and distorted. Bones shifted with sickening creaks.

“No—! Don’t—!!” Lu Guang Ming screamed wildly. He released his own seat belt and dropped headfirst onto the overturned roof, but his legs remained tightly trapped above him. He clawed desperately toward Xie Ying Jie, even pounding and tearing at his own trapped legs. “Let him go—! LET GO!! Aah—!! Aah—!!!”

Crack!

That was the sound of a neck bone breaking. Xie Ying Jie finally released his grip. In a world turned upside down and stained entirely red, Lu Guang Ming saw Chief Investigator Xu’s head hang limply downward. A devastated, piercing wail tore from him as tears rolled from his eyes in great drops.

“Ah… ah…” His throat had nearly lost its voice, and his mind had gone completely blank. At that moment, Xie Ying Jie seized both his arms and violently yanked him downward.

The agony of a large section of flesh tearing open made Lu Guang Ming’s mouth stretch wide in a soundless scream. Both his arms were pulled out of their sockets, while blood poured downward from the long wounds ripped across his trapped legs. At last, he crashed heavily onto the overturned roof, his body a bloody ruin.

Xie Ying Jie kicked out the rear window, grabbed Lu Guang Ming by the arms, and dragged him from the vehicle. More than a dozen killers in black sunglasses and black masks immediately surrounded them. Xie Ying Jie accepted a handkerchief from their leader and wiped the blood from his face. He had just opened his mouth to speak when pain suddenly shot through his ankle.

He looked down. Lu Guang Ming, whose arms and legs were nearly useless, had somehow struggled upright enough to clamp his teeth around Xie Ying Jie’s ankle with the last of his strength.

Several killers raised their guns toward him, but Xie Ying Jie signaled for them not to move. He bent down himself and slapped Lu Guang Ming across the face.

Smack!

Lu Guang Ming’s blood-red eyes stared directly at him. His face flushed, but his teeth did not loosen in the slightest.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! The slaps echoed one after another. Only after more than a dozen brutal blows did Lu Guang Ming’s swollen face finally go slack. His teeth released, and his head lolled sideways as he lost consciousness.

Xie Ying Jie raised his trouser leg. Two patches of skin had been bitten clean off his ankle, leaving a bloody imprint with flesh curling outward. Frowning, he wiped his hand with the handkerchief and dropped it onto Lu Guang Ming’s face. “Take him. Dispose of the rest.”

“Yes!”

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