"Ignorant of the times?" I suddenly burst out laughing, then pointed at the second-in-command, my tone mocking: "You say Shen Shan is ignoring the times? Hahahaha! How ridiculous!! That's fucking laughable!!"
Although Shen Shan is dead, I have to admit that he was indeed a person with a very strong sense of the big picture!
Being a fence-sitter is despicable in my eyes, but from another perspective... his actions were indeed quite clever! However, this second-in-command didn't know that Shen Shan's rejection of Ye Huan wasn't out of loyalty to the leader of the Human Division! Rather, he had already secretly decided to side with another division!
Whether it's Ye Huan or the Renzi Tou, they're all doomed! But Shen Shan has already planned the best way out for himself!
It's laughable that this second-in-command would rather follow Ye Huan... and yet he thinks Shen Shan is out of touch with reality?!
"Have you laughed enough?" the second-in-command said coldly. "I heard Cang Yu praise you to the skies and thought you were a very powerful character. But today it seems you're nothing special. Ye Huan couldn't sleep at night because of you, but today he easily fell into my hands... Hehe, you, the famous Fifth Brother, are nothing special after all."
“Okay…” I shook my head.
Since things have come to this, I won't be coy. Instead, I bluntly raised my hand and said, "So, are you going to kill me here, or take me back to curry favor with Ye Huan?"
"No rush." The second-in-command shook his head. "I've heard you, Little Fifth, are quite skilled, and I know that too. Once you catch the tiger, you must tie it up securely, otherwise it could be dangerous... Now? Could you please take everything out of your pockets, Little Fifth? Cell phone, wallet, keys... I know. In the hands of a skilled person, even a key can be used as a murder weapon."
I did as instructed immediately, but the second-in-command looked at me and said calmly, "You'd better slow down so I can clearly see what you're doing, otherwise... hmph."
After I threw my wallet, phone, and keys onto the table, the second-in-command was still not satisfied. He actually pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket and threw them on the table.
"Please put it on yourself, Brother Wu."
"Looks like you want to take me back." I smiled.
With the handcuffs on, the second-in-command finally felt relieved. He laughed and said, "Now... please come with me... Don't get any ideas... Your capable bodyguard has already gone after Jin He... And here, outside this private room, Shen Shan's men have all been sent away by me. His men are downstairs, and no matter what you say, no one will believe you! After all, I'm the second-in-command here... Don't get any ideas!"
I put on the handcuffs, then suddenly glanced at the second-in-command: "You're very good, really very good... Can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
I sighed, pointed to Shen Shan's body lying on the sofa, and slowly said, "Just now, he told me personally that you were his good brother, one of his own. He also said many good things about you and wanted to introduce us properly... Although I don't know you, I can tell from your tone that Shen Shan must have treated you well."
The second-in-command's expression stiffened. He glanced at me and sighed, "He was indeed good to me. But unfortunately, he's in my way."
"I understand." I nodded and said in a low voice, "I accept defeat here today... but even if I'm going to the guillotine, I should at least have a drink, right? I have a request, a very small request, can you grant it?"
Before the second-in-command could refuse, I pointed at Shen Shan: "After all, we've known each other for a while... and I really think he's a good person... Look at him, lying here now, dead, but his eyes are still wide open... As the saying goes, a person dies peacefully with their eyes open. If you let me close his eyes, it would be my way of doing my duty, would it?"
The second-in-command glanced at Shen Shan's corpse. Sure enough, Shen Shan's eyes were still wide open, though his eyeballs were bulging out. A complicated expression appeared on the second-in-command's face, and he nodded.
I sighed loudly, then slowly said, "Boss Shen, oh Boss Shen... it seems you were destined to die... You're such a smart person, yet you had such poor judgment of character... You died with your eyes open, probably because you hated this! So be it, although I'm an outsider, we hit it off immediately, so I'll close your eyes for you! May you have a safe journey to the underworld, and perhaps it won't be long before I, Xiao Wu, come down to join you!"
After I finished speaking, I bent down and gently stroked Shen Shan's face, helping him close his eyes.
The second-in-command could naturally sense the barb in my words. His face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "You, surnamed Chen! Are you done yet? Hmph, you're all talk and no action."
I smiled and looked at him: "I have one last thing to say, may I?"
"What did you say?"
You're a pig!
...
call out!!
A flash of cold light! A scream!
The scream came from the second-in-command! The gun in his hand had fallen to the ground, and a dagger was stuck in the palm of the hand that had been holding the gun!
At the same time, Shen Shan's body on the sofa suddenly sprang up, and I grabbed his body and hugged him tightly...
Puff puff puff!
The men the second-in-command brought immediately opened fire, but all the bullets hit Shen Shan's corpse! I hid behind Shen Shan's body. After dodging several shots, I suddenly exerted force!
The second-in-command's two henchmen watched helplessly as a huge person flew over...
The dead don't die again, so shooting at a corpse is useless. Their only option is to hide!
By dodging like that, I gained some time!
The two guys had barely dodged when I charged forward, crashing headfirst into one of them, breaking several of his ribs with an elbow strike, then simultaneously trapping his arm. Then, I grabbed the other guy's hand, pulled the trigger of my pistol…
Puff puff!
Another guy fell down. I'd already snapped his neck.
The second-in-command was stunned. He stared at me with disbelief, as if he couldn't understand how I had done it.
His skills were mediocre; he was clearly not a capable fighter.
I kicked him to the ground, then stepped on his back, ignoring his screams, and pulled the dagger from his hand.
"You're such a pig! You know that skilled people can even use keys as weapons... but you forgot that there was a dagger stuck in Shen Shan's body... Hmph!"
I stopped wasting words with him and with one stroke, I severed the second-in-command's neck.
The private room fell silent, and four corpses lay on the floor.
I glanced at Shen Shan's corpse: "Shen Shan, although you weren't a good person, I've avenged you."
When I left the private room, I put on a coat so that my blood-stained shirt wouldn't show. But after only two steps outside, I saw two people walking towards me. It was one of Shen Shan's men! The same man who had gone to the hotel to invite me!
This man had obviously been sent away by the second-in-command long ago, and only returned now. He glanced at me and laughed, "Mr. Chen, what brings you out? Have you seen our second-in-command? Hehe."
I sighed...
I can't explain the current situation anymore!
In the private room, when Jin He came to assassinate him, the second-in-command, in order to cooperate with Jin He, diverted Shen Shan's men away! No one knows yet that Shen Shan was assassinated by someone posing as a waiter! And after that second-in-command led his men in, I killed them.
The current situation is... In the private room, Shen Shan is dead, the second-in-command is dead, and there are also two of the second-in-command's subordinates!
But I came out of there alive!
In this situation... anyone would assume I'm the murderer!
Besides, I told these Shanghai gangsters: your second-in-command colluded with outsiders to kill your leader... and I just avenged your leader by killing your second-in-command...
Holy crap! Who would believe that?!
"Oh, I came out to find the restroom," I mumbled, but kept walking towards the door.
"Oh? There's a restroom in the private room." Shen Shan's subordinate seemed puzzled, but he didn't say much. I had only taken two steps when he pushed open the door and went into the private room, then ran out quickly, his face terrifying!
I knew something was wrong, so I immediately ran as fast as I could towards the corner of the corridor ahead!
"The boss is dead! The boss is dead!!" the guy suddenly shouted, then yelled at my back, "You killed the boss!"
Bang! Bang!
I heard gunshots, and bullets hit the wall behind me. I had already turned the corner and was running down as fast as I could.
Part Three: The Pinnacle, Chapter Sixty-Two: Good Deeds Are Rewarded
The gunshots immediately alerted those nearby. Many waiters ran in panic, but many of Shen Shan's men also came running from a distance. The Shen Shan subordinate who came to pick me up probably already believed that I had killed their two leaders.
I smiled bitterly to myself, but I ran toward the elevator. The two men from Shen Shan who were guarding the elevator door seemed to be doing normally when they saw me running from a distance, but then they seemed to touch the earphones hanging on their ears!
I thought to myself: Oh no!
Sure enough, the two men's expressions changed drastically, and they simultaneously drew their guns.
I quickly ran into another corridor next to it...
Damn! This place is like a maze!
There's a corridor on the left and a corridor on the right, both lined with private rooms! Shen Shan's nightclub is no ordinary place!
The footsteps behind me grew closer, accompanied by loud shouts, screams, and gasps. I could also clearly hear several groups of people chasing me merge together!
I felt the corridor ahead getting narrower and narrower as I ran...
Hold!
At the end of the road, there was a door!
Without thinking twice, I kicked the door! After knocking the entire door down, I rushed inside, only to find, to my dismay, that it was a laundry room!
The room, which is only a dozen square meters, is small and can be seen at a glance... It has walls on all four sides!
The footsteps behind me grew more hurried. Suddenly, I noticed a lid on the wall, and my eyes lit up!
They immediately went over and lifted it up forcefully, only to discover that it was a passageway for passing things!
It turns out that there are passageways between the laundry rooms on each floor of this building. This avoids the hassle of transporting items back and forth in the elevator.
This passageway leads directly to the laundry room on the first floor. I glanced at it; it was just the right size for me to squeeze in. I couldn't worry about anything else at that moment, so I immediately crawled inside…
His body slid down the passageway... no, it should be said that he crashed down!
It felt like the slide in one of those toddler playgrounds I used to ride on as a child, except this "slide" was incredibly steep. I practically fell vertically down...
Depend on!
A sharp pain shot through my head, and my vision went black as I nearly fainted. It turned out that when I fell, my head hit the inner wall of the tunnel. It was a curved tunnel, and thankfully, the wall cushioned my fall, so although it hurt a lot, I landed safely.
I kicked the lid open with all my might, leaned out, and breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear voices coming from the passageway above me. Those guys were shouting impatiently, "He went down the passage! He went to the next level..."
Then there were a few bangs, and I knew someone else was jumping in too. I rushed out, but instead of stopping, I grabbed a table and blocked the cover of the passageway, then ran out of the laundry room...
This entire four-story building belongs to this nightclub. Shen Shan has quite a few men working for him here! I left the laundry room, then picked a direction and ran. I knew that places like this, besides the staircases for customers, would definitely have fire escape staircases! And there should also be freight elevators for transporting goods!!
I did find the freight elevator... but to my dismay, it was locked!
I punched the door open and heard footsteps approaching. In a panic, I ran off in another direction.
And thankfully, Shen Shan's nightclub was huge! Each floor felt like a shopping mall, and I felt like I was playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of people. Occasionally, two people would block my way, but I managed to force my way through them, and I wasn't caught along the way.
After turning one corner after another, I heard footsteps behind me, but suddenly a person came out from the corner and I bumped into him!
I reacted quickly, my hand already gripping the other person's wrist, my next move was to dislocate their arm, but upon hearing the woman's cry of pain, my grip involuntarily faltered...
I recognized the woman I bumped into...it was the madam here who looked familiar...that beautiful woman named Xiaoxuan.
In the brief moment I was stunned, the footsteps behind me quickened, and I suddenly realized that Xiao Xuan was looking at me with no trace of panic in her eyes, but rather with a strange expression...
"Don't talk, come with me!" She suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me away.
I was filled with suspicion; this woman's behavior was too strange... She tugged at me, and seeing that I didn't move, she immediately became anxious and whispered, "Come with me, I can help you!" After a pause, she added, "Brother Wu, I won't hurt you!"
With the pursuers closing in, I had no choice. Although this woman's behavior was strange, it also gave me a strange sense of trust. Especially when she called me "Brother Xiao Wu" just now, it sounded so natural, as if we were old acquaintances, as if she was used to calling me "Brother Xiao Wu".