Her voice had come from a little speaker installed under the table. This seemed to be Yelena’s handiwork; there had also been a little speaker in the delivery van. However, this was not the time to complain about it. Xia Lei stood almost instantly after Yelena spoke. He was anxious. “Is it the CIA?”
Xia Changhe strode towards a wall as he said, “I’m afraid not. The CIA won’t dare to cause an uproar in Moscow. It’s probably the FA. I’m their number one target now and they want to erase me more than the CIA does.”
Xia Changhe reached out and tapped the wall. The seemingly flat wall suddenly opened up, revealing a hidden cabinet. There were dozens of guns in there – long guns, short guns, explosives, grenades, grenade launchers, anything and everything one could be equipped for!
The hidden cabinet also had a box and who knew what was inside.
Xia Changhe took the box out and handed it to Xia Lei. Xia Lei did not use his X-ray vision on it but asked, “Dad, what’s this?”
“This is a present from me to you. Open it. Wear it.” Xia Changhe started arming himself.
Xia Lei opened the box. A beautiful skin-coloured mask was inside and it looked like it had been taken from a live person’s face. It also had hair. Long hair. Thick, clean and shiny.
“Put it on. Don’t let the Free Agents see your face or you will become their target,” nagged Xia Changhe.
Xia Lei did not hesitate and he put it on. It fit like a glove and went easily on his face. He reached out to touch his face but it did not have the feel of plastic or silicone. It felt like human skin, just without body heat.
Xia Changhe put an AK12 and two grenades in Xia Lei’s hands. “Take it. Yelena and I will cover you as we leave. You have to leave no matter what happens. Understand?”
Xia Lei was about to say that he would not leave him behind when he saw the intensity of Xia Changhe’s gaze. It felt like he was a child again. He nodded.
Just then, Yelena walked into the house, saying anxiously, “Why are you guys still here? Go!”
“How many?” Xia Changhe was calm. He handed Yelena a shotgun and a handgun as he spoke.
“I found four, but there are surely more than that.” Yelena swiftly loaded the shotgun and started heading out. “Let’s leave from the river before they have this place surrounded.”
The three of them went out of the house and ran towards the bank of the river.
The water was not deep; it was knee-high. Thick wild grass grew on its banks and it was easy to hide in it. They just had to cross the river and enter that abandoned construction site and they would escape this attack.
Before they got to the riverbank, however, the forerunner Yelena was suddenly shaken. A bullet had grazed past her arm, leaving a wound. The bullet did not get lodged in her arm and blood flowed from the wound.
“There’s…” Xia Lei pulled her to the ground before she could finish. At almost the same time, a second bullet struck the spot she had paused in. Grass and leaves flew, and mud splattered.
Pew pew pew…
Bullets came flying from behind, whooshing through the air like heavy rain.
Xia Changhe threw himself to the ground too and kept his head down. A dozen bullets whizzed past where his head had been right after he’d thrown himself flat. The tall grass was torn apart and carried about in the wind before floating to the ground.
“We’ve been surrounded!” Yelena looked grim. “They have a sniper too. They were prepared!”
Xia Changhe patted Xia Lei on the shoulder. “You crawl over from the left and leave this place. Yelena and I will hold them back. Remember what I said to you just now. Don’t bother, no matter what happens.”
“No!” Xia Lei cried, “How can I just leave you at a time like this? You’re my Dad!”
“You!” Xia Changhe raised a hand in anger but did not hit him. His son was not the weak child of yesteryear anymore – how could he punish Xia Lei like he had in the past?
“Don’t worry. I can get rid of them,” said Xia Lei. He had already awakened the power of his left eye and his brain was whirring into action, calculating and analysing the situation.
Xia Change did not know Xia Lei’s current condition and he spoke fiercely. “Son, they’re not the CIA. They are killers of the FA. They’re more skilled than any killer you’ve met before and more cold-blooded!”
Xia Lei did not argue with Xia Changhe. He took out a grenade and pulled the pin, then threw it in a dense patch of weeds by the river.
Boom! There was an explosion and grass, leaves and mud were thrown up to cover half the sky.
“What are you doing?” Yelena looked quizzically at Xia Lei. “There’s no one there. Were you trying to use the hand grenade to blast their sniper to death?”
Xia Lei did not explain himself. A fire had started on the opposite bank and the dry weeds burnt fiercely. The fire grew rapidly and thick smoke started billowing up, blocking the sight of the sniper opposite.
Yelena asked no more questions because she already knew what Xia Lei was doing.
Xia Lei crawled towards the house with the AK12.
The grass was thick and this affected his X-ray vision. He could not see through the thousands of grass stalks so he needed to shorten the distance.
Pew pew pew, pew pew pew…
The enemy was still firing blindly but all the shots were concentrated on the area close to the river. The FAs surrounding the place were experienced killers but it was their experience which led them to make an erroneous presumption. They had presumed that Xia Lei had set the weeds opposite alight to block the sniper’s sight and find a way to cross the river to escape their attack. Who would have thought that Xia Lei would turn back to hunt them down?
Xia Changhe and Yelena exchanged glances. Both were confused. Why was Xia Lei doing this? If the enemy with superior firepower discovered them, they would have no chance of surviving!
Xia Changhe and Yelena still followed Xia Lei in his crawl towards the house because they had no other choice than to trust in Xia Lei.
The first person appeared in Xia Lei’s left eye as he got closer. It was a caucasian male, tall and big with a black bandana on his head. He was also wearing a set of black combat clothing and a bulletproof vest. He had several weapons on his weapons belt and was armed to his teeth.
The caucasian man squatted in the grass, watching the riverbank vigilantly and firing intermittently.
Xia Lei’s gaze went to the left of the caucasian man and he quickly spotted another one about 15 metres away. This was a black man and he was equipped like the caucasian man was. Xia Lei strengthened his X-ray vision and discovered the rest of the FAs.
There were six in all, one every ten metres, fanned out across the grass. They were keeping in contact and advancing slowly. These six, plus the sniper hidden in the construction site opposite were a team of skilled killers.
But they were up against Xia Lei.
Xia Lei stretched the muzzle of the AK12 out and pointed it at the caucasian man in front of him. There was no hesitation. His left eye locked onto the target and he squeezed the trigger.
Bang! A gunshot rang out and a bullet instantly went through the head of the causasian killer. He wore a bulletproof vest but there was nothing protecting his head. He died when the bullet hit him in the head, without any struggle at all.
“There!” shouted someone.
Bang! Another gunshot.
A bullet had gone through the nose of the person who had shouted, blasting his nose away and opening up a terrifying pit in his head before he had a chance to return fire. Brain matter, blood, bone and gristle exploded from his face – a horrifying sight indeed.
Pew pew pew…
The remaining four killers shot in Xia Lei’s direction but they could not see where he was.
Xia Changhe and Yelena returned fire. They did not care to stick their heads out but they were able to pressure the enemy with some firepower.
Xia Lei had already moved to another spot with the help of his father’s and Yelena’s suppressing fire. He aimed, fired, killed. Every shot he made meant the death of a Free Agent. The FAs should have been the hunters in this dense grass but they had become the prey – blinded prey. They were no match for Xia Lei in this environment, no matter how skilled they were.
The last FA fell to the ground, struck in the eyes by the bullets from Xia Lei’s AK12. He had not even seen who had killed him, nor even knew where his killer had been hiding!
Xia Lei’s gaze went to the construction site on the river bank opposite after he got rid of the last FA in the grass. The smoke still billowed. His left eye looked through that smoke and at an unfinished room. He saw a man moving quickly, holding an engineering box. That man was undoubtedly their sniper and he had given up on his mission.
Xia Lei stood up in the grass after confirming the situation.
“What are you doing?” Xia Changhe yelled angrily at him, “There’s still a sniper!”
“Dad, he’s already gone,” said Xia Lei softly.
Xia Changhe stared blankly. He knew the situation. The room that sniper was in was at least 800 metres away, and there was a huge cloud of thick smoke blocking visibility too, so how was Xia Lei able to see that that sniper had left?
Xia Lei walked to Xia Changhe and drew close to his ear to say softly, “The AE capsules have brought me some strange changes. My eye can see very far into the distance and I can see through walls. I’ve only told you this secret so far.”
Xia Changhe was not an outsider and there was no need to hide it from his own father. Besides, it was his father who had given him the AE capsules.
“Hahaha…” Xia Changhe laughed heartily. “I get it. I get it.” He then hugged Xia Lei. “This is your fate. I am happy for you, and proud.”
Yelena, who had been checking the bodies, said, “They were Nightwalkers.”
“Nightwalkers?” This was the first Xia Lei had heard of them.
Yelena smiled wryly. “A killer team in the FA. This is a small team but I don’t see their captain.” After a pause, she added, “I hope it isn’t Dark Mona.”
“Dark Mona? Is she powerful?” Xia Lei couldn’t help asking.
“They say there’s no one she can’t kill on this Earth,” said Yelena. “She is one of the best killers in the FA but your father and I haven’t seen her before.”
“You don’t have to bother about this. Yelena, send Xia Lei back to the embassy.”
“When will we meet again, Dad?” said Xia Lei.
“There will be another chance.” Xia Changhe smiled. “Our family will be reunited one day.”
Xia Lei nodded seriously, then followed Yelena out.
