Цзянху Фэн Цинчэна и Мо Сибэя

Глава 1

Chapter One: The Man in Black

September 30, 2006.

The Sleeping City.

In a dead-end alley next to the police station, our tour driver "came back to life," leaning against a sturdy high wall, trembling as he faced the furious Ye Xiao.

Tell me! What happened?

The driver lowered his head timidly and replied in simple Chinese, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"explain!"

"I didn't mean to, it was all because--"

Just as the driver was about to say something, a crisp popping sound suddenly rang out, followed by a flower blooming on his forehead, spraying out a lot of bright red sap that splashed onto Ye Xiao's face, who was facing him.

As the explosion rang out, our driver fell silent forever.

Ye Xiao stared at him in disbelief. On his dark and shiny forehead, the beautiful flower was quickly covered by black blood, turning into a deep bullet hole.

The driver wasn't blown to bits at the gas station; instead, a bullet shattered his skull.

He died.

Officer Ye Xiao's face was splattered with the victim's blood and the murky liquid from his brain.

The driver collapsed to the ground, a look of astonishment still lingering on his face, as if asking, "Who killed me?"

He wasn't the second, but the tenth.

Half a second later, Ye Xiao turned around angrily, his eyes like an eagle's, scanning his surroundings. One side of this dead-end alley was a courtyard wall, and the other side was a four-story police station building.

The bullet that killed the driver could only have come from the police station building!

In the brief silence, a window on the fourth floor shook slightly.

This movement, as subtle as a hair, did not escape Ye Xiao's eyes.

He immediately dashed out of the alley and ran quickly back to the police station.

Fortunately, Xiaozhi stayed on the ground floor and did not run away. When she saw Ye Xiao's face covered in blood, she thought he was seriously injured and almost screamed in fright.

Ye Xiao didn't care about the blood on his face at all, and only said one sentence: "Stay here and don't move!"

He rushed up the stairs, pulling out a pistol from his waist.

The second-floor corridor remained silent, filled with the smell of stale dust and musty papers from criminal files. He suppressed his anger, or perhaps a slight tension, and frowned as he checked each room in turn, also keeping an eye on the stairs—he was certain the gunman was still in the building.

He's a dangerous guy.

Ye Xiao kept reminding himself to hold the gun to his left side and to reduce his breathing to a minimum, but he couldn't suppress his frantic heartbeat.

There was nothing unusual on the second floor. He quietly walked up to the third floor, his professional sixth sense telling him that some kind of murderous aura was not far away. But after carefully checking, he realized that the guy wasn't on the third floor. He was really patient, waiting on the fourth floor for Ye Xiao to come up? Perhaps he didn't know that Ye Xiao had a gun and thought he could easily subdue Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao crouched low and walked up to the fourth floor, but couldn't determine which room the other party was hiding in. He hadn't gone far in the dark corridor when he felt a chilling wind coming from behind him. Prepared for this, he squatted down and then threw a heavy punch, only to feel himself hit a hard object—a set of strong abdominal muscles that actually blocked his punch.

The man immediately retreated rapidly, and Ye Xiao raised his gun and shouted, "Don't go!"

But unexpectedly, a red light flashed on the other side. Ye Xiao instinctively ducked and dodged. At the same time, he heard a crisp gunshot, and the bullet flew past his scalp.

Fortunately, the light was dim; otherwise, at such close range, Ye Xiao would have been shot in the head and killed long ago. He cowered in the corner and began to return fire. The bullets exploded from the impact of the firing pin, instantly shooting out of the barrel and into the darkness. The sound of bullets hitting the wall could be heard, but they missed that damned guy.

Immediately afterward, footsteps echoed down the stairs. Ye Xiao quickly drew his gun and gave chase, running down several flights of stairs until he reached the ground floor of the police station. The light there was much brighter, and he could clearly see a black figure from behind. The person was dressed entirely in black, even wearing black sunglasses—a man in black?

Xiaozhi stood there stunned, while Ye Xiao shouted, "Get down!"

At the same time, he quickly aimed at the man, the crosshair pointing directly at his back, and fired another shot. But the man dodged incredibly fast, and the bullet whizzed through the police station gate. Ye Xiao had no choice but to continue chasing, but just as he rushed out of the police station, he felt the man turn around and raise his hand. Instinctively, he immediately dropped to the ground. Sure enough, a gunshot rang out from the man in black, and the bullet grazed his scalp again.

Since that anti-drug operation in Yunnan years ago, Ye Xiao had never experienced such a real gunfight, and cold sweat poured down his back. Before he could even aim, he had already fired another bullet at his opponent.

At the same time, he boldly stood up, raised his gun again, pointed it at the man in black, and shouted authoritatively, "Don't move!"

Under the scorching sun, on the quiet streets of Nanming City, the two finally stood still.

The man in black was tall and slender, dressed entirely in black, and held a black pistol in his right hand.

Just as the air seemed to freeze, the man in black slightly raised his hand. Ye Xiao fired swiftly, hitting the man's pistol squarely.

Exceptionally accurate—if the crosshair were even a centimeter off, the opponent's finger would be smashed.

The pistol fell to the ground, but the man in black's hand remained unharmed. He could no longer resist and stood frozen in place like a statue.

Ye Xiao took a few steps forward and said sternly in the tone of a police officer, "Alright, you're under arrest now. Please put your hands behind your head and turn around."

The man in black paused for a moment without moving, but Ye Xiao knew that the other party could understand Chinese, and urged loudly, "Hurry up! Otherwise I won't be polite."

The killer in the sunlight—though his face was obscured by sunglasses, it was unmistakably Chinese.

"Take off your sunglasses!"

At Ye Xiao's command, the man in black obediently removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of cold, wolf-like eyes.

He appeared to be in his thirties, tall and fit, with an unremarkable appearance, but an unusually cold expression. Despite facing Ye Xiao's gun, he seemed to know nothing of fear.

However, Ye Xiao had a strange feeling that the face in front of him seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Man in black?

Ye Xiao didn't have time to think back; he only felt a slight dizziness and quickly asked loudly, "Did you just kill the driver?"

The man in black remained expressionless, unresponsive as if he were deaf.

"Answer me!" Ye Xiao pointed the gun at his forehead. "YES or NO?"

"yes."

The man in black answered in Chinese, a word as simple and clear as the bullet he fired.

"Why?" He pressed the muzzle of the gun against the man in black's forehead, just like the bullet that had shattered the driver's skull. "Who are you?"

"I am me."

This nonsense only fueled Ye Xiao's anger. As a police officer, he couldn't tolerate such rudeness from a prisoner; he had to get this guy to talk—even though he couldn't get a single truth out of Xiao Zhi.

Suddenly, a strange look appeared on the previously expressionless face of the man in black, and his gaze turned to Ye Xiao's back.

But how could such a petty trick fool anyone? Ye Xiao knew that if he were to lose focus even for a moment, the guy would immediately grab the gun and fight back.

To Ye Xiao's surprise, there really was someone behind him.

She is Xiaozhi.

"Let him go!"

Xiao Zhi quietly walked up behind Ye Xiao and said this unbelievable thing.

"What?"

Ye Xiao kept his eyes fixed on the man in black, his gaze fixed on the dark muzzle of his gun, lest the man find an opening.

I said—let him go.

"Why? Are you crazy? He just killed our driver. Maybe he's the biggest culprit here."

He didn't dare turn around and talk to Xiaozhi; he could only continue pointing his gun at the man in black.

“Let him go—” The girl walked to Ye Xiao’s side and said calmly and decisively, “Have you forgotten so quickly? More than two hours ago, you swore to do three things for me.”

Ye Xiao certainly wouldn't forget that he had sworn to the heavens that he would never go back on his word and would do three things for Xiao Zhi no matter what—the first thing was to kiss her again, and as for the latter two things, even Xiao Zhi herself didn't know.

"This is the second thing you want me to do?"

"That's right, you must keep your vow."

He still held his gun, and gave the man in black a bitter smile: "The second thing you asked me to do is to let this assassin go?"

"Yes."

"You expect me to let this guy who just killed someone and almost killed me go? And he must know a lot of important secrets!"

Ye Xiao's gun barrel trembled slightly, and he almost bit his lip until it bled. The man in black remained expressionless, showing no sign of sudden resistance.

“Yes, let him go!” Xiaozhi answered resolutely. “I mean it! Are you going to break your vow?”

"No--"

Ye Xiao painfully took a few steps back, creating a two-meter distance between himself and the man in black, but the gun was still pointed at his forehead.

"Let him go!" Xiao Zhi chanted in his ear like a mantra, almost driving Ye Xiao to a mental breakdown. He dared not look into the black-clad man's eyes again; he knew that those murderous eyes concealed contempt and mockery towards him.

Finally, he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger of his pistol.

Another bullet whistled out.

Xiaozhi also closed her eyes and covered her ears.

Two seconds later, when the gunshots were still echoing in the sleeping city, Xiaozhi and Ye Xiao opened their eyes again, only to find the man in black standing unharmed before them.

It turns out that Ye Xiao fired that shot into the sky.

The man in black maintained his calm expression, then nodded to Ye Xiao, the tone ambiguous as to whether it was gratitude or contempt. Ye Xiao's gun was already lowered, his limp hands seemingly controlled by gravity.

"goodbye."

Finally, the man in black spoke his second sentence, then turned and ran quickly toward the street corner.

Xiaozhi breathed a sigh of relief and put her hand on Ye Xiao's shoulder.

Half a minute later, when Ye Xiao raised his pistol again, the man in black had already disappeared from the intersection.

Under the blazing sun of the sleeping city, the street in front of the police station fell silent once more. Ye Xiao let out a long sigh and stared coldly into Xiao Zhi's eyes.

Tell me—why?

The Sleeping City, Nanming Hospital.

Some people are forever asleep, while others have just been awakened.

Frenchman Henri Pepin lay languidly at the foot of the hospital building, the scorching sun shining on his twisted limbs, black blood still flowing on the ground, gradually spreading to the soles of Tong Jianguo's shoes.

He will never wake up again.

Yes, Tong Jianguo confirmed that he was dead. The poor Frenchman, Henri, fell from the fourth floor, landing headfirst, and his brains splattered on the spot, killing him instantly.

Trembling, Tong Jianguo carefully laid down the deceased's head. Since Henry's mysterious disappearance four days ago, Tong Jianguo had been unable to find him. He never expected that their reunion would be nothing short of sending him to hell with his own hands.