The fire drove the temperature around them sharply upward. The oxygen was thinning, and black ash swirled through the air. Du Yuelin began coughing violently. She gripped her submachine gun and jumped down from the vehicle. Behind her stood the silent Emerald Palace. The mortar had been reloaded and aimed toward the smoke at the far end of the burning bridge, ready to recreate the hellish scene of a moment ago.
Du Yuelin stared into the smoke, then suddenly widened her eyes. A dark outline was emerging from that terrifying haze, growing steadily clearer, like a monster taking shape in sea mist.
An armored vehicle! The explosion hadn’t destroyed it after all!
But as she looked more closely, a smile appeared on her lips. The closer the vehicle came, the wilder her smile grew.
It had come from eastern Jielan and endured brutal battles all along the way. This last surviving armored vehicle was already at the end of its strength. Its body was no longer intact, and it advanced at a crawl, like an old man in the final days of his life.
What could it possibly do now?
The mercenaries behind Du Yuelin raised their assault rifles and aimed at the lurching vehicle. Du Yuelin generously tossed aside her submachine gun and spread her arms in a gesture of “welcome.”
The vehicle stopped thirty meters away. Its door opened. Half a minute later, a familiar figure stepped out, fully armed and dressed entirely in black, though without a helmet.
Liang Yueze!
Du Yuelin held her head high, adopting the posture of a victor. Liang Yueze raised both hands, looking for all the world like a prisoner. Rain was still falling, and through the misty curtain Du Yuelin couldn’t make out his expression.
Liang Yueze approached until only ten meters separated them. An inexplicable shiver of fear rose in Du Yuelin. She raised her submachine gun again and glared at him.
“I’m not your enemy,” Liang Yueze said. His voice carried through the rain, cold and damp. “You and Jin Xiaoquan worked with me, after all. I couldn’t prevent his death, so I’d especially like to avoid falling out with you.”
Du Yuelin froze, then burst into laughter. “Liang Yueze. Boss Liang. Did I hear you correctly? You actually dare bring up Jin Xiaoquan! Who killed him? Don’t tell me you’re going to blame the Hua Country police!”
“I did.” Liang Yueze sighed. “But who was digging a pit under my nose? Who deliberately brought the police to investigate me? You fed on Yunquan Group’s blood and even set up an Azure Sky Cult to restrain me. You really perfected the art of wanting everything both ways.”
Du Yuelin frowned and instinctively wanted to argue.
But Liang Yueze raised a hand and continued. “Jin Xiaoquan knew perfectly well that only by getting rid of me could he expand freely in Hua Country. He, and the rest of you, had long planned to make me disappear. That left me with no choice but the worst possible option. It’s not as though I didn’t give him a chance.”
Du Yuelin watched him for a long time before laughing again. “That’s between you and him. Telling me about it is pointless. I’ve always been in Country M. I wasn’t involved in your affairs. Whether Jin Xiaoquan lived or died had nothing to do with me.”
“Hand Bu Yangyun over to me,” Liang Yueze said.
Du Yuelin raised an eyebrow sarcastically. “You think you’re still in a position to make demands?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? My intelligence says he’s in your hands. And you know something about Jin Wu’s whereabouts.”
Du Yuelin laughed even more heartily. “That’s right. But you don’t seem to understand. They’re all traps.”
There wasn’t a trace of surprise on Liang Yueze’s face. He said calmly, “Your appetite is bigger than Jin Xiaoquan’s. Avenging your father’s death is only an excuse. You want more than the Hua Country market. You want to become the true ruler of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler. You’d like to send me into Jin Wu’s jaws and let me tear him apart from the inside for you.”
Du Yuelin’s smile gradually vanished. A masked subordinate whispered to ask whether they should shoot immediately. After hesitating, she ordered the mercenaries to lower their guns.
“Whatever else happens, I’ve prepared Bu Yangyun for you,” she said. “Would you like to see him now?”
Liang Yueze smiled. “Of course.”
The badly battered armored vehicle crept forward, dragging its exhausted body over flames and blood. The Emerald Palace was heavily guarded. From the gates to the interior, mercenaries stood everywhere with guns. Although a few loyal men followed Liang Yueze, surrounded by such overwhelming firepower they appeared to have lost any ability to fight.
Inside the palace, the statues were bizarre and imposing. At their center stood an empty throne. Before Liang Yueze could speak, Du Yuelin shouted angrily, “Where’s Bu Yangyun?”
Bu Yangyun, who’d been sitting on the throne not long ago, had vanished. The guards responsible for watching him couldn’t explain it. With the fighting on Luli Road so intense, the palace had fallen into chaos and no one had noticed when he disappeared.
Du Yuelin sprayed the mercenaries with bullets, immediately filling the palace with the smell of blood. “Find him! All of you, go look! He’s still here! He couldn’t have escaped outside!”
Dark red blood spread across the floor until it reached Liang Yueze’s feet. He slowly took a step back, seemingly not disappointed by the unexpected development.
His composure enraged Du Yuelin. The guns that had been lowered rose again. Liang Yueze glanced over the densely packed muzzles, then looked directly at her. “Bu Yangyun alone wouldn’t have been enough to bring me here. If he’s vanished, so be it. What I want more are clues about Jin Wu.”
“What’s the hurry?” Du Yuelin answered. “You’ll get everything I promised.” Then she suddenly smiled. “But Boss Liang, first you’ll have to survive long enough to leave this place.”
“I think we ought to be joining forces right now,” Liang Yueze said.
Du Yuelin became wary. “What do you mean?”
“I came from the east. You set obstacles along the entire route and wore down almost all my men. You even resorted to a mortar. That suggests you aren’t in much better shape than I am.” Liang Yueze sat down and continued unhurriedly, “If the police arrive now, don’t you think they’ll simply reap the rewards while we finish each other off?”
“Impossible. I…” Du Yuelin stopped. An incredulous look crossed her face.
“Impossible? But they’ve already reached Jielan.” Liang Yueze spoke as though it had nothing to do with him. “Did you think offering a few benefits to Country M’s police would make them block the Hua Country police for you? If you’d really wanted to delay the Mobile Unit and those special operations personnel, you should never have allowed this international cooperation to go ahead.”
Du Yuelin’s pupils shook. She immediately ordered her masked subordinate to contact Li Dongchi and the people cooperating with her in Jiaoliu City. Minutes later, the subordinate reported in panic, “We can’t reach any of them!”
Liang Yueze spread his hands as though to say, See?
Thoughts flashed through Du Yuelin’s mind. An icy chill crept down her spine. She’d believed she was digging a trap for Liang Yueze, but had he actually been the one digging it? Had he pretended to be blinded by rage, using his mercenaries to grind down hers, while secretly colluding with the Hua Country police all along? Had Li Dongchi betrayed her too? Was she the one waiting to be caught like a turtle in a jar?
A shot rang out. A bullet struck the floor beside Liang Yueze’s feet, its casing scattering sparks, but he didn’t move.
Du Yuelin’s angular features twitched and contorted with fury. She walked up to Liang Yueze, stared at his impassive face, and swung a fist.
Liang Yueze failed to dodge. The force of her blow sent him flying. He landed awkwardly and spat blood. Before he could even wipe his mouth after pushing himself up, Du Yuelin pounced like a beast, seized his bulletproof vest, and drove a knee into his stomach.
“You lied to me! All of you lied to me!” she shouted, beating him without resistance. “Is this your plan? You think killing me means you can destroy the Heaven-Measuring Ruler? Dream on! So what if I die? You’ll never find Jin Wu! You’ll pay for my life with your own, right here!”
Liang Yueze finally managed to catch both her hands. As soon as he opened his mouth, blood sprayed onto her face. She glared. He trembled all over in pain, yet something in his gaze made her instinctively shrink back.
“You’ll never find Jin Wu? Why?” His voice shook. “Why? Who exactly is Jin Wu? Where is he?”
Du Yuelin kicked him away with all her strength, pressed her gun to his head, and shouted, “Why are you still pretending? I’ll shoot you dead right now!”
Liang Yueze slowed his breathing and tried to speak calmly. “I’m not working with the police. You wanted too much.”
Du Yuelin’s hand paused. She stared hard at him, trying to determine whether he was lying.
Liang Yueze collapsed to the floor, exhausted, his eyes half shut. “What use would working with the police be to me now? Even if I helped them destroy the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, would Chen Zheng let me go? Rather than be hauled back, sentenced, and lose my freedom, I’d prefer to remain a criminal living freely here.”
Du Yuelin swallowed and wiped the blood from her face. “Then how do you know Li Dongchi betrayed me?”
“You can’t imagine how ambitious he is. He wants to be this country’s champion of justice, with its entire judicial system under his authority.” Liang Yueze struggled into a sitting position. “You thought you were using him to hold back the Hua Country police, but his real plan is to use those police officers as his vanguard. If they can eliminate the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, that’s ideal. If they can’t, and some of their people die, do you think Hua Country will tolerate it? They’ll send another wave, and the Heaven-Measuring Ruler will be finished. I only knew they started moving yesterday because I have my own informants in Jiaoliu City.”
Du Yuelin grew angrier. “Liang Yueze, you deserve to die!”
“Then who deserved to live?” Liang Yueze gave two miserable laughs. “My younger brother and sister? My second uncle?”
“I’m not the one who committed the Jinsi Island murders!” Du Yuelin shouted.
“Exactly. Haven’t I been looking for the people who did?” Liang Yueze stood unsteadily. “You used Bu Yangyun and Jin Wu to lure me here. Where are they? Hand them over, and we can both leave this place alive.”
A masked subordinate rushed up to Du Yuelin with new information. Bu Yangyun was still missing, but a convoy of tactical vehicles had appeared on the other side of Luli Road. It was very likely the police!
“Still haven’t made up your mind?” Liang Yueze asked.
Du Yuelin suddenly burst out laughing. “No! I still have one more move!”
Liang Yueze looked at her in confusion.
She began clapping. The sharp sound echoed through the palace. “Officer Han, there’s no need to hide anymore!”
Surprise flashed through Liang Yueze’s eyes as he turned toward the approaching footsteps. The statues cast strange shadows, their interlocking fangs like blades twisted together. A figure emerged slowly, also fully armed. He passed through the shadows into the light and raised his chin. It was Han Qu, who’d been missing for so long!
Liang Yueze stared at Han Qu, emotions dark as ink swirling in his eyes. Du Yuelin stepped backward until she stood beside Han Qu, a smile returning to her face. She fixed her gaze on him and said distinctly, “But my last move isn’t yours. Boss Liang, bet you didn’t expect this. The police officer you picked up now works for me.”
Han Qu’s tall body made even Du Yuelin look small. He showed no expression, watching Liang Yueze silently, like Du Yuelin’s faithful guard.
Standing in Han Qu’s shadow, Du Yuelin said, “With Officer Han here, the Hua Country police won’t dare do anything to me. If they won’t move against me, those useless Country M police certainly won’t.”
The tactical convoy crossed through wall after wall of fire. The wreckage of the armed helicopter was still burning fiercely. Charred, incomplete bodies hung from its blackened frame, rising and falling in the heated air. Rapid gunfire came from the Emerald Palace nearby, growing ever more urgent, making the closing sky and earth seem to tremble.
“Everyone ready?” Chen Zheng gripped a compact submachine gun and watched the road ahead. The vehicle’s occupants had all prepared for combat. After a brief rest, Ming Han had recovered about seventy percent of his strength and fastened his helmet securely.
Zhou Jue hit the accelerator and raced over the flames. An explosion sounded inside the exquisitely built, jade-like palace. Several figures dressed as mercenaries rushed out through a collapsed corner.
Li Gongsheng prepared to jump from the vehicle to pursue them, but Chen Zheng caught his arm and shook his head. Joining the chaos now would be unwise. Nobody knew what was happening inside. The gunfight was in the palace itself. Outside, corpses lay scattered across a vast stretch of wasteland. Ming Han carried his sniper rifle onto the vehicle’s roof. Through his scope, the world was eerily quiet, with only dead grass and wildfires swaying without sound.
As the tactical convoy closed in, the fleeing mercenaries fired recklessly like desperate men. Zhou Jue and the other drivers swerved violently. Bullets struck the vehicles with a noise that set everyone’s teeth on edge. From the roof and the side window, Ming Han and Chen Zheng fired calm, precise shots, forcing the mercenaries to abandon their positions and equipment.
But then a mortar shell came hurtling toward them with an earth-shaking roar. Zhou Jue shouted and wrenched the steering wheel around. The blazing tires raised a huge cloud of dust as the vehicle leaped into the tall grass beside the road. The shell gouged a vast crater out of the highway. Two tactical vehicles behind them shrieked to a halt.
Ming Han had already spotted the mortar position. The instant the vehicle stopped, he fired. A mercenary toppled backward.
Inside the Emerald Palace, statues collapsed amid fierce gunfire and explosions, blocking several entrances and exits. Du Yuelin leaned against the base of a shattered statue. A gaping wound had opened in her chest. Blood surrounded her on every side. She could no longer support herself and slowly slid down, staring in disbelief at Han Qu’s retreating back as he walked toward Liang Yueze.
Liang Yueze gave her a smile of contempt.
Du Yuelin’s life ebbed away beneath that mocking smile. The last image reflected in her gradually vacant eyes was Bu Yangyun, panting heavily and gripping a gun in trembling hands. “Bu… Yang… yun…” She had no strength left to finish his name. The world dissolved into warped lines and fractured points of light. Her outstretched hand dropped heavily before she could reach him. Even after her last breath, her eyes remained open.
Ten minutes earlier, the masked subordinate had reported that the police had crossed Luli Road. Du Yuelin could wait no longer. She’d have plenty of chances to rebuild her power, but she might never again have an opportunity to kill Liang Yueze.
She raised her submachine gun and pulled the trigger at Liang Yueze. At the critical instant, the two mercenaries he’d brought into the palace stepped in front of him together. At Du Yuelin’s side, Han Qu moved without warning. The edge of his palm chopped sharply into her elbow. Her right arm went numb as though useless, and the submachine gun flew from her hand, landing three meters away.
Gunfire erupted all over the palace. The masked men relied on their numerical advantage to spray Liang Yueze’s side with bullets. Liang Yueze immediately shed his battered appearance, dodged behind a statue, and threw a grenade. One of his mercenaries struck it precisely with a bullet before it detonated, magnifying the blast. The clustered masked men were thrown into the air. A severed arm barely caught on the finger of a statue.
By the time Du Yuelin realized what had happened, it was too late. Han Qu picked up the fallen submachine gun and aimed it at her. She stared in shock, then caught sight of a masked man creeping up behind Han Qu. A chance! she thought. Yet Han Qu didn’t even turn. He fired backward with one hand, and the man collapsed, convulsing in a pool of blood.
A chaotic battle broke out. Tracer-like streaks of gunfire crossed the dim palace, forming a net without gaps. Du Yuelin’s masked bodyguards had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, but Han Qu had thrown their formation into disarray. Liang Yueze had only two men beside him, yet both fought with devastating skill.
The towering statues became their battlefield. Under cover of one man’s fire, another climbed onto the palm of a statue, seized the high ground, and shot down at the enemies below. The masked men fell in swathes like lambs waiting for slaughter.
One masked man clambered desperately over his comrades’ bodies toward another statue, trying to claim a firing position above them. A mercenary suddenly threw an incendiary bottle. A sniper rifle thundered, and the resulting fireball exploded. Three statues broke in half. The masked man, wrapped in flames, fell screaming from the air.
Du Yuelin watched the sudden reversal in disbelief. She drew a handgun and fired wildly at Han Qu, but he merely turned his body slightly, evading her shots. Her pistol soon ran empty. As she hurried to change magazines, Han Qu closed the distance.
“Why?” Du Yuelin asked, trembling. “Whose side are you really on?”
Before Han Qu could answer, a bullet came from behind her at an angle. It pierced her black combat suit, and hot blood from her heart immediately spread across her chest.
Han Qu looked toward the source of the shot. Bu Yangyun, who’d vanished earlier, had somehow found a lightweight rifle. His firing posture was almost comical, but his shot had struck precisely the person he’d intended to kill.
Du Yuelin stiffened. The agony of a bullet through her heart overwhelmed her, though she almost seemed unable to feel it. She slowly turned, saw Bu Yangyun, and her eyes widened like bells. She opened her mouth to speak, but blood came pouring out before any curses could emerge.
Bu Yangyun’s eyes were red. He fired repeatedly like a madman, his shaking voice echoing through the palace with the gunshots. “You made me your bait! Your cannon fodder! Look how capable you’ve become! Who helped you and your mother back then? When I was fighting the Heaven-Measuring Ruler, you were still picking chicken droppings out of the dirt and eating them, you little shit!”
Bullets kept passing through Du Yuelin’s body. She staggered backward until she collapsed against the statue’s base, exhausted. Bu Yangyun hunched like a wary hyena. If his lightweight rifle hadn’t run out of ammunition, he would’ve continued shooting to vent his hatred.
Blood flowed endlessly from Du Yuelin’s mouth. She didn’t want to die. Her ambitions were still unrealized. She wanted to use Bu Yangyun and Han Qu to kill Liang Yueze, use the police to eliminate Jin Wu, replace Jin Wu herself, and become the true ruler of the Heaven-Measuring Ruler. She…
“She’s dead,” Han Qu told Liang Yueze without emotion.
Outside the palace, Du Yuelin’s mortar had already been destroyed. Police had almost surrounded the feudal-era work of art. Inside, the few surviving masked men were clinging stubbornly to life, ready to lash out again at any moment.
Bu Yangyun panted harshly, like a soldier who’d blundered onto a battlefield and somehow captured the prize. He picked up the submachine gun Han Qu had knocked from Du Yuelin’s hand. This time, he pointed it at Liang Yueze.
Liang Yueze narrowed his eyes slightly.
“If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late,” Han Qu said.
The police were close. Soon they’d cross the short stretch of road outside the palace. Liang Yueze turned his back on Bu Yangyun and took one step. Then he spun suddenly and fired. Caught unprepared, Bu Yangyun shrieked and fell, clutching his thigh.
Liang Yueze’s face was filled with brutality. Through his sights, he seemed to see the youthful Liang Yubin and Liang Xinqing on Jinsi Island all those years ago, and Liang Yinfan, so full of ambition. But the demon before him had destroyed everything. Countless muddy hands had dragged him toward hell, and Bu Yangyun had been among them!
“I’m not the one you should hate!” Bu Yangyun laughed wildly in the pool of his own blood, even as death approached. “If you’ve got the guts, go kill Jin Wu! What does killing me prove? What does going after my son prove?”
Bu Yangyun’s voice echoed through the palace and faintly reached the grounds outside. Ming Han, advancing at speed, stopped for a beat. Zhou Jue ran past him. “Bird!”
Ming Han closed his eyes briefly, then hurried after him.
Provoked, Liang Yueze’s finger was about to squeeze the trigger again when Han Qu suddenly fired toward the palace entrance. “The police are here.”
Bu Yangyun laughed. “You can’t escape! We’re all dying here!”
Liang Yueze weighed his options briefly and ordered a retreat. A mercenary led the way, with Han Qu covering the rear. The palace was already almost destroyed. Several passages were blocked, and police poured in like quicksilver, sealing the remaining exits. Du Yuelin’s surviving loyalists were still resisting desperately, intent on dragging Liang Yueze down with them.
Behind the Emerald Palace was a dock that had long been controlled by drug dealers and mercenaries. After taking over, Du Yuelin had stationed heavy guards there. That was why she’d been so certain Liang Yueze couldn’t approach the palace by water.
“This way!” Han Qu plainly knew the palace well and led Liang Yueze’s group at a run through dark passages.
The police entered the palace in three groups. Ming Han reached the main hall. Everywhere he looked was a sea of blood. Statues lay broken in it, their arms and legs shattered like those of ordinary people. Blood stained their heads and faces, covering the last traces of mercy on the faces of these gods of dubious origin. They no longer resembled deities enthroned above humanity, but heretical things crawling out of an abyss.
A cry of pain came from a patch of shadow. Someone was still alive!
Ming Han immediately followed the sound. He rounded a statue, met Bu Yangyun’s eyes, and froze for an instant.
“You!”