The two remained silent. Su Bingyan opened the small door on the welded-closed factory gate, which was only for workers, and went in first. Ling Yun followed her in.
At the entrance were rows of neatly arranged old shipping containers, stacked to a height of five or six meters. Aisles, about two meters wide, were spaced between the containers for people to walk through. Su Bingyan led Ling Yun through the aisles, winding and turning as if in a maze, until they finally reached the end of the aisle.
The factory building, ten meters high and over one hundred meters in length and width, was exceptionally spacious. Since most of the industrial facilities had been relocated, the empty space made it feel utterly desolate. Only a few steel spare parts and concrete piles remained scattered on the floor. Rows of rusty, dust-covered blue or red shipping containers surrounded the building. It appeared to be an abandoned car manufacturing plant, with a few scratched tires scattered on the ground and nearby.
Several huge searchlights hanging from the steel beams of the factory building emitted a dazzling light, but they could only illuminate part of the space, leaving most of the workshop hidden in dim darkness.
On the dark cement floor lay a dozen corpses of various colors. Several burly men in black were struggling to drag them one by one to an open container. One grabbed the shoulders, another grabbed the feet, and then together they threw the corpses into the container.
Chapter Fifty-Three: An Unexpected Turn of Events
Several burly men in black, brandishing pistols, pointed them at a richly dressed man crouching on the ground, clutching his head. Beside the men in black stood two young men; the one on the left, clearly the leader, was handsome and leisurely smoking a cigarette. He looked somewhat like Su Bingyan, but his face was filled with hostility, clearly indicating a volatile temper.
When Su Bingyan and Ling Yun entered together, the two young men were taken aback. The young man who was smoking immediately threw his cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out, and strode over: "Little sister, is everything settled? Who is he?"
"This is my classmate Ling Yun. He was accidentally kidnapped here by Boss Lin's men. We ambushed Boss Lin's men and rescued him as well," Su Bingyan said without changing her expression. "I've taken care of those people, but we also lost a few brothers. Let's send someone out to clean up the mess." In just a few words, she explained Ling Yun's background and made the matter clear.
“This is my brother, Su Binglong,” Su Bingyan introduced to Long Yun.
Su Binglong looked at Ling Yun suspiciously, then turned and called out, "Xiao Wei, take a few men outside and tidy up." Another young man responded and then beckoned three burly men in black to leave the factory.
Ling Yun greeted her politely, "Hello." He noticed that Su Binglong didn't extend her hand to show friendliness, so he didn't dare to do so himself to avoid embarrassment.
"Is this kid reliable?" Su Binglong looked at Ling Yun, his murderous intent undisguised. "What kind of bullshit classmate is he? Let's just kill him." As he spoke, he reached for the pistol on his waist.
Ling Yun smiled faintly. This Su Binglong seemed too impatient. Such a rash personality would cause him to suffer sooner or later.
"No!" Su Bingyan stopped him. "He's my classmate, you can't touch him. Besides, he has nothing to do with this. He's just here to ask about someone's whereabouts. Once he's done asking, let him go."
"Let him go?" Su Binglong was surprised that his sister would defend this country bumpkin so much, and immediately became anxious. "What if he leaks our information? I've killed all of Boss Lin and Bo Hai's men. Nobody knows we killed them and stole their goods. If this kid leaks it out and the forces behind Boss Lin and Bo Hai find us, do you and I have any chance of survival?"
“No need to say anything, brother,” Su Bingyan said resolutely. She suddenly turned around and looked deeply into Ling Yun’s eyes. “Ling Yun, you will keep this a secret for us, right?”
Looking into the girl's beautiful eyes, Ling Yun suddenly remembered Su Bingyan's words and a faint smile appeared on his face: "Yes."
Su Bingyan looked at Ling Yun gratefully: "Thank you." For some reason, this young man always gave her a sense of peace and comfort, even more so than Su Binglong.
Su Binglong laughed loudly, "What good is it if someone points a gun at your head like I do? Would you still keep it a secret?" As he spoke, he suddenly pulled out a pistol from his waist and pointed it menacingly at Ling Yun's head.
A hand shot out like lightning, grabbing his wrist that was holding the gun like an iron clamp. Su Binglong felt as if his wrist was being clamped by steel, and cried out in pain. His fingers loosened, and the pistol fell lightly into Ling Yun's other hand.
"Everyone who pointed a gun at my head is dead," the boy said coldly. "I advise you not to do that." With that, he put the pistol back into Su Binglong's waistband before releasing his wrist.
Su Binglong felt a sharp pain in his wrist. Upon closer inspection, he saw a ring of bruised finger marks, demonstrating the immense strength of the young man's grip. He looked at Ling Yun with surprise and doubt, realizing that this seemingly simple young man was actually unfathomable, and a sense of fear arose within him.
Su Bingyan watched with a smile. Her brother was good in every way, except that he was too impulsive and reckless. If Ling Yun could teach him a lesson, it would probably be very beneficial to him in the future.
She was about to say something when she suddenly noticed a slight change in Ling Yun's expression and was startled: "What's wrong?"
"Get down!" Ling Yun didn't have time to explain, he only had time to press down on Su Bingyan and Su Binglong's shoulders, and the three of them lay down on the ground together.
The sudden burst of heavy machine gun fire echoed throughout the entire factory.
The five-centimeter-thick concrete wall was so vulnerable to the penetrating bullets of the heavy machine gun. In the blink of an eye, the right wall of the factory was riddled with holes, and faint starlight shone through hundreds of fist-sized holes. Countless bullets, like fire meteors, flashed across the night sky, turning the dozen or so black-clad men standing in the factory, who had not yet reacted, into sieves.
The sturdy factory building shook violently, and the air was thick with dust, making it almost impossible to see anything. This was caused by the dust kicked up by bullets hitting the ground or containers. As several searchlights were extinguished by stray bullets, the entire factory was plunged into complete darkness, with only bullets flashing across the night sky like meteors.
The sound of the heavy machine gun had just subsided when Ling Yun grabbed Su Binglong and Su Bingyan by the shoulders. Just as the two were panicking and at a loss for what to do, their bodies suddenly felt light, and then, as if they were floating on clouds, Ling Yun had already pulled them out of the factory.
With one hand carrying Su Binglong and the other around Su Bingyan's incredibly slender waist, Ling Yun moved through the darkness at an astonishing speed. The combined weight of the two of them, nearly 300 pounds, felt like nothing to him.
With a deafening roar, the walls, which had been broken into a mesh pattern, could no longer support the heavy steel beams of the factory building. Under their fragile strain, they finally broke into countless sections, causing the entire roof to suddenly drop and collapse, instantly raising clouds of dust tens of meters high.
If Ling Yun had come out even a minute later, he would have been completely buried under the factory roof.
Su Bingyan was both surprised and delighted. She was surprised that someone would actually launch an ambush here. If it weren't for Ling Yun, she and Su Binglong would probably have met the same fate as those burly men in black the instant the heavy machine guns opened fire. She was delighted because she was lucky to have met Ling Yun today. This young man always gave people a sense of surprise, and he was able to lead her and Su Binglong out of such a dense attack.
Pulled under Ling Yun's arm, their posture was incredibly intimate, almost like lovers embracing. Smelling the unique scent of a young man emanating from Ling Yun, Su Bingyan suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of peace and contentment, as if she had returned to the embrace of her parents as a child. Without burdens or responsibilities, she could rest peacefully. After years of experiencing the bloodshed and turmoil of the underworld, Su Bingyan hadn't felt this sense of security. She even felt a touch of drowsiness and wanted to drift off to sleep in Ling Yun's arms.
A moment later, she felt the hard ground beneath her feet. Su Bingyan, as if still in a dream, clung tightly to Ling Yun's arm, refusing to let go. Ling Yun was startled, gently released her slender, soft arm, and whispered, "Are you alright?"
Su Binglong reached out from Lingyun's other side and touched Su Bingyan's forehead: "Little sister, what's wrong?"
Su Bingyan gave a soft "hmm," turned her face away in the darkness, and took a few deep breaths of the cool air. She forcibly banished the strange feeling from her mind until calmness and strength returned to her heart before slowly saying, "It's okay, I was probably just too nervous."
"Thank you, Ling Yun, you saved my brother's and my lives," Su Bingyan said softly.
"Yes, Lingyun, if it weren't for you, my brother and I would be dead. Don't worry, if we manage to escape this time, I, Su Binglong, will definitely not treat you unfairly." Su Binglong said in a low voice, his tone full of gratitude towards Lingyun.
"Don't be so polite, it's too early to talk about escaping," Ling Yun said.
Chapter Fifty-Four: The Blooming Night Rose
The three were hiding behind a concrete platform behind the collapsed factory building. The abandoned industrial site was mostly open, with only a few scattered obstacles of unknown purpose; this platform was one of them. Although small, it was enough for the three to conceal themselves without being detected.
"How are things now, Lingyun?" Su Bingyan asked calmly. Her night-vision goggles, which were originally hanging around her neck, had shattered when she suddenly fell, hitting the ground and rendering them unusable. In the pitch black night, being unable to see clearly would be a fatal flaw. Moreover, without any weapons, she was unable to mount an effective counterattack.
In fact, because the attack came so suddenly, even Ling Yun was unaware of what had happened. Ling Yun also couldn't be sure if anyone had seen him escape from the factory. Escaping himself wasn't difficult, but if he were to escape with two ordinary people while the enemy was heavily armed, it would be very difficult to manage both.
Ling Yun couldn't believe that his simple attempt to track down someone had led him into such a complex and turbulent gangland conflict. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, unsure whether he was lucky or unlucky.
He peeked out from behind the platform, and his exceptional eyesight immediately revealed the scene not far ahead.
A military jeep sat quietly to the right of the factory building. A V935 heavy machine gun, its front end muzzled, was mounted on the dark green metal roof, though it was now silent. Double-row, eight-centimeter-long bullets flew from the top of the gun, the other end extending into the vehicle. The gunman remained motionless, silently watching the collapsed factory building.
Dozens of corpses lay scattered in front of the factory. Among them were Lin Laoda's subordinates killed by Su Bingyan, Su Binglong's subordinates killed by Ling Yun, and the last to die were likely the young man and a few of his men whom Su Binglong had sent out to clean up the battlefield. But before the battlefield could be cleaned up, their lives were taken once more.
Two men of medium build stood in front of the military jeep. One was probably in his twenties, and the other was a little older, around forty. At that moment, both men looked dejected. Although they were more than a hundred meters apart, Ling Yun could still hear their hushed conversation.