The Grey and Russo sisters made their way to the peak of the mountain.
It was silent at the peak. Dark Mona’s body lay quietly on the snowy ground. Her fair chest was still exposed but it was pale from the lack of blood.
However, this did not keep the mercenaries away. Some stepped on her, some shot her, another threw a cigarette butt at her and urinated on her corpse. Dark Mona and the FA organization were the root cause of many of these people’s problems. They needed someone to vent on, dead or alive.
The Grey and Russo sisters could not stand to watch so they walked to the side. They saw footprints in the snow, some going up the peak and some going down.
“Is it him?” asked Rosa.
“Who else?” said Stella.
Theresa asked, “He killed Dark Mona, the battle is over. Then why did he still leave?”
“There was obviously more than one person in the forest fighting against the FA. He must have other allies,” said Giovanna. “He lied to us. There weren’t just six people with him.”
“No wonder he did not care if the six lived or died. He had an invisible team!” Stella was furious.
“Do you think Arthur and our people are…” Rosa was thinking of something but the line of thought scared her.
“It’s impossible,” said Giovanna. “The people led by Arthur are the elites of the Knights Hospitaller. Unless Xia Lei’s invisible team is larger than theirs, they would never succeed. Think about it, from the time we told Xia Lei about the situation in Siberia, he was only alone for a few hours. Also, we rode in the same Russian vehicle as him. There were no other people on the plane.”
The truth was sometimes like that. Despite guessing right, they refused to believe it.
“He killed Dark Mona, why did he run?” Stella looked down the mountain but did not see Xia Lei.
“Perhaps he knows of our plans?” said Rosa.
“How is that possible? If he knew we wanted to capture him, would he still come to Siberia with us?” asked Giovanna.
“Then why did he run?” asked Stella.
No one knew. Maybe God knew but He never spoke.
“What now?” Rosa turned to Giovanna.
“Go search for him with some people. I’ll call the leader,” said Giovanna. “We require new instructions.”
“You bunch, follow me!” Stella instructed a few armed guards.
The few of them walked over and one asked, “Where’s our reward?”
“I killed two people, where’s my ten million dollars?” asked another.
The four ladies had nothing to say.
More mercenaries and shooters came.
“Where’s our reward?”
“I killed one!”
“I killed three!”
“Where’s the reward? Don’t tell me you don’t have the money!”
“Money, where’s the money?”
A huge crowd of mercenaries, armed forces and assassins surrounded the four ladies. The four of them had initially wanted to search for Xia Lei but now, it did not seem like they were going to go anywhere. They were not dealing with a group of children here. They were money-motivated individuals. They promised money and let the people risk their lives for it. Now they’re asking for the money, what were they going to give these people? After all, Xia Lei was nowhere to be found.
There were still some Knight Hospitaller members left but they weren’t enough. They stood behind the four ladies, each with a terrified expression. Without the money, who knew what these rough rogues would do!
“What do you think you’re doing?” Stella asked, terrified.
A mercenary had suddenly rested his rifle’s barrel on her chest. “For fuck’s sake, I want my money! I’ll kill you if you’re not paying up!”
The Knight Hospitallers lifted their guns instinctively but in the next second, tens of guns were neatly pointed at these few people.
“So many of our brothers have died today just for your money! If I do not see the money now, you all will die!” a mercenary said coldly.
“Wait. Everyone calm down.” Giovanna forced a smile. “You will all receive your money, I guarantee it in the Knight Hospitaller’s name.”
“Who gives a shit about your promise? The Knight Hospitaller’s name means nothing to me!”
“Give me the money!”
“Fuck, these bitches are playing us! Kill them!”
It was chaos.
The four ladies were at their wit’s end.
Giovanna was silently cursing Xia Lei.
“You all want money, right? The money’s with Mr Xia, I’ll bring you to him,” said Stella.
“Yeah, Mr Xia will pay you,” said Rosa.
“Where is Mr Xia?” asked the mercenary.
“He’s…” Stella didn’t know what to say. Who knew where Xia Lei was?!
“He’s at the little wooden hut at the foot of the mountain. We’ll bring you to him. He’ll pay you,” Giovanna said shamelessly.
“Hmph! You’d better not lie to us or we’ll make you cry!” the man shoved Giovanna roughly.
“Bring us to him!”
The four sisters looked at each other, each of them about to cry.
They’d dug a hole for Xia Lei but they were now trapped in his hole instead. The person who was supposed to be in the hole had disappeared!
Just as the large crowd were shoving the four ladies downhill, within the forest at the foot of the hill, Xia Lei looked away from the peak. “They deserved it! If you all didn’t cheat me, I wouldn’t have cheated you back! You all can pay them the money on your own.”
He heard some footsteps. Turning around, he saw five faces, Anjum Khan, E’er Demutu, Yelena, Sa'im and Alessio. They were all wounded and dishevelled.
During the battle, if it wasn’t for them attracting Dark Mona and most of the FA shooter’s attention, it would’ve been difficult for him to reach Dark Mona. They contributed to half of the success.
“Is she dead?” asked Yelena.
The other four looked at Xia Lei, waiting for his answer.
“She’s dead,” said Xia Lei. “It’s a pity she did not tell me where the FA headquarters are.”
Yelena answered, “I’m not surprised. With a character like that, no amount of coaxing and torture will bring it out of her.”
“Let’s not talk about her. Are you guys alright?” Xia Lei asked, concerned.
“We’re alright. Just some scratches,” said Alessio.
“That’s good. Let’s leave,” said Xia Lei.
“What about the four women? And the mercenaries and shooters? Should we kill them all?” said E’er.
Xia Lei shook his head. “Let the dogs fight among themselves. Our mission in Siberia has ended.
“The four ladies promised them a lot of money, I wonder how they’ll pay them,” Sa’im said with a grin. “I guess they can only pay with their bodies at this point? I hope the men will be gentle.”
If the Grey and Russo sisters could not produce the money they promised, the consequences would definitely be disastrous. For some reason, when Xia Lei thought about it, he felt uncomfortable.
“Where is Tsukino Kyoko?” Xia Lei did not want to think about the Grey and Russo sisters. He felt guilty.
“They’re at our safe point, with Arthur,” said Yelena.
Sa’im took out an electronic device and took a look. “We’re about three kilometres away right now, at this speed we’ll arrive in half an hour.”
“Let’s go there now then,” said Xia Lei.
The six of them trekked towards the safe point. Yelena walked last, clearing up their footprints using a pine branch.
It was snowing lightly, these footprints were going to disappear quickly. At that point, even if the Russo and Grey sisters managed to convince the men to hunt them down, there would be no tracks to follow.
Half an hour later, the six of them arrived at a valley. At the entrance of the valley was a little wooden house built by a hunter. When they arrived, Sa’im then coined it as the Zodiac Team’s safe point.
As the six of them walked to the house, Tsukino leapt from a tree. She was wearing snow camouflage attire. It was impressive that no one noticed her.
She was an Iga-ryu ninja after all.
“All done?” she asked.
Xia Lei nodded gently. “She’s dead.”
“Arthur is inside,” said Tsukino. “There was a satellite phone call from Italy but I did not pick up.”
She tossed Arthur’s satellite phone to Xia Lei.
He did not need to return the call to know that it was a call from the Knight Hospitaller’s leader, Angelo. Dark Mona was dead and the Siberian training base of the FA group was destroyed but this was still not a fatal blow to the FA. What worried him was that the Knight Hospitallers were evidently going to betray him in some way. Should he continue working with them? If he did, how?
Tsukino opened the door to the little hut.
Xia Lei walked in and saw Arthur lying on the ground. He was still unconscious.
“Boss, do you want me to give him something so he’ll wake immediately?” asked E’er.
Xia Lei thought for a moment. “No, don’t wake him up yet.” There was a pause. “Anyone of you have a communication device for contacting the Knight Hospitallers?”
Yelena tossed one over. “I knew you would never bear to leave the four ladies with the mercenaries. I’ve prepared one for you.”
He gave a bitter smile.
He could never leave the four ladies there to be harmed by the mercenaries. One reason was because of his conscience, the other reason was that the FA group was still not wiped out yet. He still needed to leverage on the Knight Hospitaller’s strength. It was not the time to declare himself an enemy of the Knight Hospitallers.
However, he did not explain to Yelena. Some matters would just become more complicated if he tried.
