The helicopter flew towards Sanshen Island, hovering not far from the surface of the sea. On the water, several speedboats carrying gunmen armed to the teeth broke through the waves as they sped after the helicopter.
On the helicopter, Ahn Suhyeong was talking into a satellite phone with Ahn Geungan. “Dad, that guy is in the net. There’s no escape for him now. I will kill him and take those things back.”
“Come back right away after it’s done, Suhyeong. Do not linger in China. If something like this is discovered it’ll be difficult to clean up,” said Ahn Geungan.
“Don’t worry, Dad. There is no phone signal here. He won’t be able to call for help. This island is also a deserted one – no on will discover us. We will bury Xia Lei’s corpse on this island and no one will find his bones even after a hundred years,” said Ahn Suhyeong.
“Good. Remember, that punk is not easy to deal with. Killing is Hyena’s job. You’re only to take the things back. Don’t take any risks. You are not to get close to him before he’s dead,” warned Ahn Geungan.
“Nn, got it, Dad. That’s it.” Ahn Suhyeong hung up.
The helicopter landed on the beach. The speedboats also stopped close by in the sea and dozens of gunmen in full gear went ashore. There were some hunting dogs too. The dogs sat on the beach, waiting for instructions. It was apparent that these dogs were trained military dogs.
A Korean gunman handed Ahn Suhyeong a walkie-talkie and he spoke into it. “Mr Hyena, we’re here.”
A man walked out of the forest. He was in sniper camouflage and his face was painted in green, black and dirt-brown. His eyes were like those of a wolf. He was the main star of this operation, the king of killers – Hyena. He carried a Barrett M107 sniper rifle, and it had obvious modifications done to it.
Hyena walked towards Ahn Suhyeong and he had a suffocating aura of fear. Some of the hunting dogs were disquieted and they made low sounds and backed away. Their owners scolded them but it was no use.
“Mr Hyena,” Ahn Suhyeong said, “where is Hoffman?”
“Hoffman is dead. Your men are dead too,” said Hyena.
Ahn Suhyeong’s expression grew serious, because he knew Hoffman’s capabilities. However, this did not affect his determination to kill Xia Lei off and he quickly put Hoffman out of his mind. “Mr Hyena, Xia Lei is powerful indeed but we have dozens of men, and dogs. We also have you, the king of killers. He cannot possibly win. That’ll never happen.”
Hyena had no reaction to Ahn Suhyeong’s flattery. He spoke softly, “Xia Lei is not alone either. A woman has come to this island.”
“Woman?” Ahn Suhyeong immediately thought of Shentu Tianyin, and his heartbeat increased.
“The woman has had some combat training but she can be discounted. With her skills, she will not be an asset to Xia Lei but a hindrance,” said Hyena.
Some combat training – it was not Shentu Tianyin for sure. Ahn Suhyeong then thought of Bureau 101’s Long Bing and Tang Yuyan, but those two women were elite Chinese agents. They would surely have had plenty of combat skills, so it could not be them either. But if it was not either of them, then he had no idea who the woman was.
Jiang Ruyi was just an ordinary woman and her social life was limited to Haizhu City. It was normal for a Korean like Ahn Suhyeong to not know of her existence.
Hyena took out a piece of torn-up cloth and gave it to a Korean gunman with a dog. “This dropped from that woman’s body. Let your dogs remember her scent, then follow that woman. Xia Lei must be next to her.”
A smile appeared in the corners of Ahn Suhyeong’s mouth. “Kill Xia Lei for me, Mr Hyena.”
“I’ll command the men you brought. You shall see his corpse in 24 hours,” said Hyena.
“24 hours?” Ahn Suhyeong had not expected it to take so much time. He’d imagined that it would take just an hour to solve this problem.
Hyena scoffed. “I’m talking the ideal time, if all goes smoothly. It could take even longer. Additionally, my fees have to be doubled. Get your father to transfer the amount to my account now.”
“You what?” Ahn Suhyeong wanted to throw a tantrum but held back. “My Hyena. What you’re doing goes against the contract.”
“There is no such thing as a contract in my world.” Hyena sneered, “You told me that my target was just a businessman but he killed Hoffman and four of your underlings. I exchanged fire with him and his capabilities gave me a surprise. I’m sure that he’s the most difficult target I’ve ever had. I may die here, up against him. You have to double my fees or you can kill him yourself.”
“You…” Ahn Suhyeong compromised and said angrily, “I’ll call my father right now!”
The hunting dogs ran into the forest a few minutes later. The 30-plus Korean and Russian gangsters Ahn Suhyeong brought went into the forest too. Under Hyena’s command, they were split into three – one after the dogs, and the other two to the sides to surround the area. Hyena was not part of any group. He quickly disappeared after entering the forest, like a fish swimming into the ocean.
Meanwhile, on a part of the peak on the left side of the island.
“No signal. Why is there still no signal?” Jiang Ruyi waved her phone about but the phone display showed no signal reception.
Xia Lei looked at the snowy white skin dancing about in front of him and he could not help the wry smile on his lips. “Stop trying. This island won’t have a phone signal unless it’s a satellite phone. They want to kill me here, so they definitely won’t give me a chance to call for help.”
“Aren’t I your helper?”
Xia Lei said nothing.
“Who the hell are they?”
“Koreans. People who belong to Ahn Geungan, leader of the Grand National Party. His son Ahn Suhyeong is probably on his island already.” She’d risked her life to come help him so she was entitled to know this bit of truth.
“The hell? Leader of the Grand National Party? This is really… why? Why does he want to kill you?”
“I have dirt on Ahn Geungan that can topple him from his position, and even put him behind bars,” said Xia Lei.
“If you have something like that you can give it to the Korean police. Why risk the danger and come here? You obviously know that they want to kill you.” Jiang Ruyi could not understand Xia Lei’s actions.
Xia Lei’s motive was to kill them too, on top of getting the location of Gu Kewen and the information they have on Shentu Tianyin which could bring her down. He couldn’t tell Jiang Ruyi this, of course.
Xia Lei patted Jiang Ruyi’s shoulders. “Stop asking, Ruyi. It’s better if you know little of such things. Let’s keep walking. We need to put some distance between them and us.”
“My legs feel as heavy as an anchor. I can’t walk any more.” Jiang Ruyi spoke with a frown as she massaged her thighs. She looked like she could not go on.
Xia Lei crouched in front of her. “I’ll carry you.”
“Really?” Jiang Ruyi smiled immediately.
“Don’t waste time. Hurry up, or you walk on your own,” said Xia Lei.
“You’re tired too. I can’t bear to make you more tired. Forget it, I’ll walk on my own. I can still walk,” said Jiang Ruyi with a smile.
Xia Lei stood. “Let’s go, then. We need to get to the peak before daybreak.”
“Nn.” Jiang Ruyi nodded, then followed Xia Lei up. Xia Lei’s show of concern seemed to have energised her and her legs were livelier.
They climbed dozens of metres more and a stone wall of more than two metres loomed before them. The stone wall stretched to the left and right and they could not see an end.
Jiang Ruyi stood on the left side and jumped to try to catch hold of the edge of the stone wall but was unsuccessful. Her jump was so weak it could barely be called a jump, but the bounce in her chest was astounding. Her feet and touched ground again but her two mounds still jiggled for a bit before they stopped moving.
“Lei, I can’t climb up,” said Jiang Ruyi. She was discouraged.
“I’ll push you up.” So saying, he moved forward and out his hands around Jiang Ruyi’s slender waist. He raised her up.
Jiang Ruyi’s hands grabbed the edge and her legs gained purchase on the wall. She started to climb but her body stuck to the wall like a wet noodle when Xia Lei stopped pushing. She could not go on.
Xia Lei sighed. He braced himself and raised her up again.
Jiang Ruyi gritted her teeth and climbed up.
“Aaah!” Jiang Ruyi let out a cry of surprise as she fell from the wall.
Xia Lei had no time to recover; Jiang Ruyi smashed into him.
“Lei, are you all right?” Jiang Ruyi hurriedly got to her feet and looked anxiously at Xia Lei.
Xia Lei paused for a while before he said seriously, “Let’s try again.”
Jiang Ruyi was speechless.
