The four Lord Protectors of the Dragon Gang were either dead, caught, or on the run; at the same time, many of their three thousand followers had been detained. Xiao Luo was pleased with the results of their efforts so far. But Long Sankui, on the other hand, was furious. He was like a hunted beast making a final stand before its impending death. He would not be going down without a fight.
Xiao Luo went to the hospital to visit Wang Lihu and his compatriots.
“Boss Xiao, I will be discharged soon, and will be able to fight alongside you once again then.” Although Wang Lihu was in his patient’s gown, he had his sleeves rolled up, showing off his massive biceps.
“You dumb tiger, there’s only Long Sankui left now, our leader and I will suffice, you’re still recovering from those wounds and can stay in the hospital. That’s your fate.” Ye Qiu quipped jokingly.
Wang Lihu was having none of it and fired back, “You stupid eagle, shut up!”
As he said so, he threw his pillow at Ye Qiu but ended up exacerbating his wounds. It drew a painful grunt, and his expression changed.
“Hey, hey, hey! I say, can’t you two learn from me and read some magazines and newspapers? We must have a better understanding of the current affairs and keep up with the times, brothers.” Liu Tieguo, who was lying on his bed, reprimanding them with his usual candor.
Ye Qiu couldn’t help retorting with a wisecrack, and said sniggering, “Brother Guo, we are living in an era of information explosion. Magazines and newspapers are things of the past. If you want to keep up with current affairs, you just need a smartphone.”
As Xiao Luo addressed Liu Tieguo as Brother Guo, Ye Qiu naturally followed suit.
“F*ck, even the data network here is 2G, you can forget about the wifi. I can’t even open a damn webpage, how can I catch up with the f*cking current affairs with my phone.” Liu Tieguo put down the magazine in his hand angrily. He had long been annoyed about the fact that there wasn’t any internet access. It was still bearable if no one had brought it up, but now he couldn’t stop himself from feeling vexed.
Wang Lihu soothed him, “Chill, Brother Guo. Even without the internet, we can still look at the pretty young nurses.”
As he said so, the nurse in the ward who was drinking water from a cup out of thirst cast him a disgusted look.
Wang Lihu continued to say, “Didn’t you all watch “Drawing Swords” where Old Li [1] managed to find himself a wife when he was in the hospital? Although I don’t have the heroic charm of Old Li, I am reasonably handsome, and it is not a challenge to make a pretty lady fall for me at first sight.” He turned and looked at the nurse, then winked flirtatiously at her. “Am I right, pretty lady?”
WEKKK!
Upon hearing it, the nurse found it so ridiculous that she spat her tea all over the floor. She quickly made her way out of the ward and even rolled her eyes at Wang Lihu before leaving. Her message was crystal clear.
Ye Qiu and Liu Tieguo couldn’t keep themselves from laughing.
Wang Lihu did not seem to get the message, as he was by nature what some would term as thick-skinned. He said in a meaningful tone, “See, that pretty lady was drooling when she laid her eyes on me. With my looks and physique, it’s not easy for a girl to hold her emotions in.” He furrowed his brows and sighed, “Hiyah… how pitiful!”
“Hahaha…”
“I’ve seen shameless people, but none as shameless as you are!”
Ye Qiu and Liu Tieguo now couldn’t help laughing their heads off, and Liu Tieguo was even slamming his hand on the bed, tearing up from too much laughter.
Xiao Luo also couldn’t suppress a chuckle either, surprised that Wang Lihu had suddenly become such a jester. “It seems that you three are enjoying yourselves in the hospital.”
Amid their light moment, his phone vibrated, and he received an incoming call.
He looked at his phone but didn’t recognize the incoming number. But he accepted the call anyway, and then a rough and haughty voice boomed out.
“You little son of a b*tch, I have underestimated you. I didn’t expect you to be so capable. Now I want to get you, and I’ll cut you up alive, piece by piece!”
Long Sankui!
He immediately knew the identity of the man.
He looked at his friends, then without saying a word, he walked out of the ward, still on his phone.
He laughed, and spoke mockingly, “Mr. Long, it’s been a while. Judging from how powerful your voice is, it seems that you are as healthy as before.”
“Healthy your *ss, you little b*stard, don’t play with words. Come over to my place tonight at twelve, so I can f*cking kill you!” Long Sankui was seething from the wrath he had long harbored.
Xiao Luo smiled slightly and continued egging him on, “Do you think I will go, knowing that you are trying to kill me?”
If he had wanted Long Sankui dead, he would have gone directly to Long’s house a long time ago, and there would have been no need to join the police force. He aimed to destroy the entire Dragon Gang and to remove this malignant tumor from society altogether. And he would do it through lawful means to avoid becoming a fugitive running from the law.
“Hahaha!… I am confident that you will come.”
Without waiting for Xiao Luo to answer, Long Sankui hung up.
“This old man must be mad.”
Xiao Luo couldn’t help feeling that Long Sankui was getting slightly unhinged, given that he couldn’t even talk properly.
He turned to step back into the ward.
BOOM!!!
The entire hospital building shook violently as the sound of a tremendous explosion tore through the air. Looking out the window, he could see billowing smoke and flames coming from another floor.
Shrill voices and panicked screams echoed in the chaos as a terrified mass of people scrambled about in all directions.
Incendiary explosives!
Fire! Xiao Luo strained his eyes, as he made out the level where the explosion occurred, he quickly realized that it was where his sister, Xiao Ruyi, was stationed.
He immediately rushed to find her. When he got to the level, he found the place consumed by fire, chocking with thick, pungent smoke rising to the ceiling. The explosion had killed many of the nurses and patients, and charred corpses littered the floor. There were still many severely wounded people crawling to safety, screaming out for help.
Xiao Luo ignored them all and began searching the rooms one after another.
“Ruyi! Ruyi!”
He felt a rising panic. He feared nothing more than the death of his loved ones.
The blast site was a complete disaster zone, and it was smoke-filled with countless hotspots of angry flames. Xiao Luo stopped his breathing temporarily using his Yi Jingjing technique, but soon his sweating body was covered in a layer of soot, and his skin turned red from the licking flames.
Many of the severely wounded succumbed to the harsh environment. Even Xiao Luo, who was protected by Yi Jinjing, felt that his body was shutting down after searching for only about five minutes. His body felt like being grilled in an oven on maximum heat. He resisted the urge to escape the fiery hell, and he kept telling himself he couldn’t possibly do so without first finding Ruyi.
“Ding! Warning, the system has detected a hostile and life-threatening environment. The host must leave at once. Repeat, please leave at once!”
In his mind, the System notification tone sent out the urgent warning.
However, Xiao Luo paid no heed to it and continued his search for Xiao Ruyi, going room to room. He did not look at the dying victims he passed along the way. He had to save Xiao Ruyi.
He glanced at the singed flesh on his arm through his eyes, now red, swollen and stinging from the smoke and heat. His steps were slow and heavy, but he kept pushing himself forward.
He had made up his mind and didn’t care if he was cooked alive!
He ignored the pain and swore to find his sister, Xiao Ruyi.
At this moment, a figure, mouth, and nose covered with a wet towel, rushed towards him and grabbed him.
“Ruyi is not here, come out with me, hurry!”
She was Gu Qianxue. She possessed a high level of inner power, but in such a hazardous environment, even one minute was pushing her limit.
She immediately grabbed Xiao Luo and pulled him out to safety.
Footnotes:[1] Drawing Swords: A television drama about the Second Sino-Japanese War featuring Li Yunlong, a historical figure, as the main character of the show.