The woman hesitated for a moment, but I didn't have much patience or time to talk to her nicely, so I simply pried open her mouth and forced the medicine down her throat.
She gulped down almost half a bottle of liquor in one go, choked, and coughed violently a few times. A flush immediately appeared on her face—a weak, sickly flush caused by alcohol. Her eyesight also became somewhat sluggish. But that was exactly what I needed.
I quickened my pace, continued cleaning her wound, and then re-bandaged it. I then helped her sit up and eat something.
"You need to replenish your energy and strength." I knew that the injured person had difficulty eating, and finally I became impatient and glared at her, saying, "If you don't eat, believe me, I'll force it down your throat!" Only then did she try her best to swallow.
I gave the wound some basic treatment. With a tight bandage, the bleeding stopped. But this couldn't go on...
I leaned against the wall and rested for a while; I was quite tired too. After all, I had waited overnight at the airport for my flight and hadn't had much rest. Plus, there had been so many ups and downs just now.
I lit a cigarette, pondered for a moment, and glanced at the woman: "Those people who chased us earlier, those three men, and the people who chased us in the car later... they were all from the Vietnamese gang, weren't they?"
The woman hummed in agreement, then frowned: "Are you sure?"
“Nonsense.” I shook my head. “The Vietnamese gang definitely knows Tiger is dead. I killed Tiger the night before last. As soon as the news of the murder came out, the Vietnamese gang knew, after all, this is Vietnam! Tiger is dead, and the police are looking for you everywhere. So the Vietnamese gang must be looking for you too. As for how they found us just now… I guess it’s mostly because the news of our disturbance at the airport leaked out… Hmph, I didn’t expect the gangsters to be so much faster and more efficient than the police.”
This is actually normal; we took a taxi from the airport back to the city. The journey took at least an hour. The Vietnamese gangs are local bullies; they have the fastest access to information, and I'm pretty sure... there are definitely underworld connections within the taxi company!
They must have found us so quickly by tracing the taxi we took at the airport!
“It was my oversight.” I sighed. “We should have left that area immediately after getting out of that taxi. I didn’t consider so many details at the time.”
The woman forced a smile, then thought carefully about what I said and nodded: "That's right... Moreover, I think they must have determined our approximate location before hastily gathering people. The gunmen we encountered were all ordinary people with mediocre skills; they were obviously hastily brought in from nearby... If they had had more time and sent some skilled fighters, we definitely wouldn't have been able to escape."
I glanced at her and said, "Your analysis is quite clear."
I paused, then suddenly remembered something. Squinting at the woman, I said, "You said Tiger left behind some money…that money was in a small safe at the bank, and the key was always on Tiger's chest…but how did you know about such a private matter? You…"
I did have some doubts. After all, if she was just one of Tiger's subordinates, there was no reason for her to know so much!
The woman raised her eyelids and glanced at me, then replied casually, "Oh, he told me that in bed."
I paused for a moment... on the bed?
The woman gave a weary smile, looking at me with a mocking gaze: "What's wrong? Surprised?"
"Um...no..." I mumbled in response.
"Don't worry, I'm not his woman. I've only slept with him a few times." The woman said calmly, "In fact, Tiger doesn't have a steady woman. My relationship with him was purely casual. I've only slept with him a few times. He only told me these things occasionally."
At this point, she glanced at me and said, "Don't overthink it. I'm not his woman, and I don't have much of a relationship with him. I'm not foolish enough to even consider things like helping him get revenge."
"But Tiger was quite infatuated with me..." The woman smiled flirtatiously. "He even said that if things went smoothly this time, after we returned from Vietnam and finished this business deal, he planned to take me away. It's just a pity that he died in Vietnam, and now I'm a stray dog! Vietnam... Sigh, will I even be able to leave Vietnam alive?"
I cursed, "What the hell are the Vietnamese gang doing chasing us like this? Tiger's dead, so what? Why are they chasing us?"
However, I also know that this was just something said in anger.
The Vietnamese gang will definitely arrest us. After all, Tiger is dead, and the Vietnamese gang is waiting to contact Hong Da for a deal, but Hong Da has also disappeared. The Vietnamese gang will definitely suspect that Hong Da's disappearance is related to Tiger! Since it involves a deal, they will search high and low to find anyone connected to Tiger! And this woman... unfortunately, she showed up at the scene where I killed Tiger and even posed for a photo with the police. She will definitely be the Vietnamese gang's primary target.
After talking for a while, the woman became visibly exhausted, then leaned against the wall and closed her eyes to rest; I couldn't tell if she had fallen asleep. I didn't disturb her, but slowly walked to the stairs and sat down to smoke.
The situation is getting complicated. If it were just about evading the police, there are still many options; at least the Vietnamese police are relatively slow to react. I can take advantage of the situation before they notice anything and leave Hanoi as soon as possible.
But now that the Vietnamese gang has found us, things are much more complicated.
If a local gang is determined to investigate you, they can mobilize even more resources than the police! Many local gangs have intricate connections with transportation companies, logistics companies, taxi companies, and so on! In other words, I'd better avoid taking taxis now! Since they were able to find me through the taxi that took us from the airport to the city, it means that taking other taxis afterward is definitely not safe! I even suspect that the taxi companies themselves have underworld connections!
I'm even finding it difficult to leave Hanoi now. Taxis are off-limits, and other public transportation isn't necessarily safe! Train and bus stations are off-limits. They've definitely been monitoring those places for a while now!
I suddenly realized how similar my current situation was to when I was on the run in China! I was being hunted by local gangsters, and here, even the police were tracking me!
Back in China, I had that little girl Ni Duoduo by my side... but now, I have a female assassin by my side, and she's injured.
I could have easily just abandoned her and let her fend for herself, but I have no grudge against her, and things have gotten to this point because I'm partly to blame. Besides, she's Tiger's woman…sigh…Tiger…
Moreover, when we were held at gunpoint by three men, we managed to escape only by working together – after all, I couldn't have taken down three gunmen by myself without her help.
Now that they're out of danger, they're just abandoning this wounded woman... No matter what, even in the underworld, this is a very "unscrupulous" practice! To use an old underworld saying, "It's so un-gangster-like!"
Around noon, I left her alone again and went out for a bit, but this time I left the gun with her. It's too unsafe for her to lie here alone; if anything happens, she won't be able to defend herself at all.
This time I went even further and finally found a pharmacy.
Vietnam is a country with a lot of drugs. You can buy syringes and needles everywhere in pharmacies. I bought some medical cotton, gauze, some antibiotics and glucose, and then I went back.
My purse was stuffed with the things I had just bought, cash, and my ID. As for my phone, it had been thrown away somewhere.
It was almost noon. I turned the corner and headed towards the alleyway. Suddenly, I felt a vague unease creeping into my heart…
I looked around but didn't see anything amiss. Just as I was about to cross the street, the alleyway was right across the street...
Suddenly, I saw a gunshot ring out from the alley across the street!
Bang!
Then two more sounds... bang bang!
I suddenly stopped in my tracks!
Part One: A Man in the Martial World, Not in His Own Hands Chapter 180: The Wolf's Flight
My heart skipped a beat, and suddenly I saw a figure rush out of the alley! Disheveled hair, rumpled clothes, and faint traces of blood—who else could it be but that woman?!
She stumbled out with a look of despair on her face. Then, I saw the two drivers of the three-wheeled motorcycles that had been waiting for passengers on both sides suddenly jump off and surround her. Immediately afterwards, several more men rushed out of the alley behind her. They were clearly locals, some of them carrying weapons, which appeared to be firearms, and others carrying daggers or the like...
I stopped abruptly... The woman was caught up by the men behind her. They tackled her to the ground, and the gun she was holding fell to the floor. She screamed a few times, but the pedestrians all scattered and went around her, not daring to approach. Those armed men all looked fierce; who would dare to come near them?
The woman was dragged up from the ground, and the man grabbed her hair and shouted a few questions at her. The woman just gritted her teeth and remained silent. At this moment, several more people came out of the alley, one of whom was injured and had blood on his arm...
Just then, the woman suddenly saw me standing across the street...
"Run! Run!!"
She suddenly mustered all her strength and let out a loud roar!
With that shout, people around me turned to look at me, and the group across the street immediately spotted me... I noticed that many pedestrians on the side of the road had been standing at a distance of several directions when they suddenly rushed over!
trap!
This thought immediately popped into my head!
It's a trap!
They've found us! Looks like they're trying to take control of this place and have deployed men around it. They'll catch us all when I get back!
Looking at the people rushing towards them from different directions, it was clear that these people were also their accomplices, but they had been hiding in the crowd just now.
I stumbled backward, my eyes darting around, searching for a way out... Among the people rushing towards me, some had already drawn weapons from their waists—guns, knives, everything...
I backed away. The woman across the street had already been dragged back, and then other people quickly ran across the street as well. I thought I saw the last glimmer of despair in the woman's eyes...
Time didn't allow me to hesitate! I squinted at the end of the street and charged straight in! There were two guys in front of me, armed with weapons. I charged forward, and they immediately looked at me with murderous intent…
I charged headlong into the blade. Just as I was about to strike the first man, I suddenly twisted my body and leaped past a streetlamp beside him. He hastily retaliated with a backhand slash—a sharp slash!
The knife struck the streetlight, sparks flying! I kicked the man to the ground, then charged into the crowd without hesitation! I had no choice! I could only run into the crowd because the other side had a gun! If I ran towards a less crowded area, it would be suicide! I could only use the crowd for cover.
Sure enough, my strategy was right. The people behind me didn't dare to fire. After all, no matter how arrogant they were, they wouldn't dare to shoot at a crowd of passersby in broad daylight! I charged into the crowd, first bumping into two men coming towards me, then stumbling and falling to the ground. Amidst shouts and curses, I stepped over others to get up and continued charging forward, pedestrians scrambling to make way for me…
I don't know how many people were chasing me. I struggled to escape through the crowd, knocking down countless people along the way. The street wasn't long, only a few hundred meters. I ran out in one breath, and there were railings at the intersection ahead. I leaped across, and a car came hurtling towards me from the left. I brushed past its front, but the person behind me crashed into the front of the car, and one of them tumbled out. I kept vaulting over railings and trash cans, then dashed into another side street, lined with street vendors. I yelled repeatedly, and the pedestrians in front of me, seeing my frenzied behavior, looked away with astonishment. I ran non-stop, and just then, a cart carrying garbage passed by. I rushed over and kicked over the trash can on the cart. The metal can crashed to the ground, spilling its contents everywhere. One of the men chasing me hit the can and fell off with a scream. I kept pulling at the roadside stalls on both sides—selling bamboo baskets, small wooden furniture, fruit… People and people were thrown about, and shouts and screams filled the air!
I felt as if my lungs were burning, and a sharp, tearing pain filled my entire body, but I dared not stop for a moment, and ran like my life depended on it...
We finally escaped the alley, but those guys were still hot on our heels...
Bang!
That's the sound of bullets! They finally couldn't hold back and opened fire! The bullets didn't hit me, but instead struck a train parked on the side of the road, and I broke out in a cold sweat!
There were far fewer pedestrians around now, and I lost a lot of cover... As I ran, I quickly surveyed the surrounding terrain. Suddenly, I saw two uniformed police officers on my right—patrol officers! The two officers walked towards me from a distance, seemingly unaware of the situation...
Although I was also trying to evade the police, the situation was urgent, and I felt like I had found a lifeline. I didn't care about anything else at that moment and rushed over in one breath, shouting in English:
"HELP!!! HELP!!!"
The patrol officer saw me rush towards him and seemed to try to stop me. Then, the group of people behind me also ran out of the street corner and rushed towards me. I clearly saw a look of panic on the faces of the two young policemen…
Indeed, the thugs behind them, armed with guns and knives, numbered at least a dozen! The two young policemen seemed to hesitate for a moment…
I dashed to the police officers, and they seemed to reflexively dodge to either side! The people chasing me shouted something in Vietnamese as they ran. When I ran past two policemen, they didn't even react!
I ran over, and after running a dozen steps, I couldn't help but look back. I held onto my last glimmer of hope, hoping that these two policemen could at least hold off the pursuers behind me for a little while, even if it was just for a few seconds. That would be a great help to me!
Unfortunately, I was disappointed... The two policemen saw a dozen or so local thugs, and they were shouting something... The two policemen actually stepped aside in front of the group!
Holy crap!
I cursed as I ran.
I weaved through streets and alleys, worried that they would chase me in vehicles, so I dared not take the main roads. I tried my best to rush into the alleys, making use of everything in them...
Trash cans, abandoned boxes, parked bicycles... I overturned everything I passed, trying to block the people behind me. Finally, I rushed into a small alley, which was a dead end!
There's a wall in front of me!
"Damn it!" I cursed. The footsteps behind me grew clearer. I took a few steps back, then took a deep breath and lunged back towards the wall. My feet slammed onto the wall, and I pushed off with my legs, using the momentum to propel myself upwards while simultaneously climbing with my arms...
I scrambled up the wall in one breath and then leaped down. Although my body hurt a lot when I landed on the ground after flipping over, I didn't have time to care about that at the moment. I scrambled to my feet, not even bothering to brush the dirt off myself, and continued running forward as fast as I could!
Fortunately, I've practiced martial arts since childhood and am quite skilled. I leaped over the wall in one go, while the group behind me clearly didn't have that ability. A cacophony of shouts and curses came from behind the wall. But since there were many of them, they quickly peeked out from behind it!
I ran a dozen steps when I heard a shout behind me, and then the person on the wall fired at me in a moment of panic!
Bang bang bang bang...
I ran in an S-shape trying to dodge the bullets, but I still felt a sharp pain in my left arm! Then blood spurted out. I gritted my teeth and clutched my arm…
Behind the wall was an empty courtyard, which looked like some kind of small factory. I saw a large iron gate in front of me... I was lucky; there was a small door open to the side. I rushed over in one breath. There was a person next to me, who seemed to work in the factory. He looked surprised to see me and was about to shout at me when I pushed him aside...
Running out of the factory, I was surprised to find a large river outside! Clearly, this small factory was built right next to the river (many factories in Vietnam are built along rivers to facilitate the discharge of industrial wastewater).
At that moment, the footsteps behind me came again like a death knell. I quickly looked left and right, but the terrain was very open, making it difficult for me to continue escaping.
I glanced at the murky river in front of me, gritted my teeth, and jumped in headfirst!
ordinary!
I fell into the river like a bomb. The water, carrying a faint, pungent stench, submerged my head. My body felt heavy, and despite the excruciating pain in my left arm from the bullet wound, I desperately swam with all my might... swimming towards the opposite bank...
The group of people behind me had already rushed to the shore. They were shouting and cursing on the shore. Some of them picked up daggers and weapons and threw them at me in the water. Others picked up stones from the ground, and some even pulled out guns and fired wildly at the water!
I immediately took a breath and plunged into the water...