Volume 12
Chapter 18: A Barrage of Gunfire (Part 1)
The next morning, pulling open the curtains to peer outside, the group of monitors on the street outside the hotel were still there, and in greater numbers. The moment the curtains were drawn, the group of ugly-faced monitors all looked at Lu Li in unison. This time, they didn’t bother to hide it at all, just revealed cold smiles.
Lu Li sent a message to Zhu Xi, but the other party didn’t reply. He hesitated for a moment, then moved back to Zhu Qiao’s bedside, touched her forehead. Everything was normal; the illness from yesterday had not reappeared. It was just that Zhu Qiao looked a little weak, her eyes swollen. It was unclear if it was from drinking too much water before bed last night. Lu Li held her hand. “Little Qiao, just hold on a little longer. I’ll take you to see your sister.” Zhu Qiao nodded blankly, her little expression making Lu Li’s heart ache.
Lu Li simply carried Little Qiao on his back and hurried to the hall. The monitors didn’t stop Lu Li, but followed behind him and Zhu Qiao, step by step, like a persistent disease. There was a kind of discordant balance between him and this group of monitors. They seemed to be waiting for something, perhaps a text message, perhaps a signal, at which point they would tear off their human disguise and swarm in, devouring Lu Li completely.
They hadn’t dared to be so audacious in Mulan.
Lu Li’s pace became more and more urgent. He could feel that some kind of change was happening within the Yan family; these suddenly appearing monitors were ironclad proof. Arriving at the hall, he was, as usual, received by a tea boy. The child turned a blind eye to Zhu Qiao on Lu Li’s back. “Mr. Lu, the competition has already begun. Please proceed to the shooting range inside the hall.”
Lu Li was about to leave with Zhu Qiao on his back, but the tea boy stopped him again. “Mr. Lu, unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter the shooting range. After all, guns and cannons have no eyes and can easily injure people. Why don’t you let this big sister wait in the rest area?”
Zhu Qiao, on Lu Li’s back, said in a small voice, “Gege, you go. I’ll be fine waiting outside for a little while.”
He deeply felt that he and the Zhu sisters truly had an ill-fated connection. Before, he had carried a broken-legged Zhu Xi through the snow, and now he was walking a tightrope with her younger sister on his back. Lu Li carried Zhu Qiao to the rest area and let her lie on the sofa. “Little Qiao, I’ll be back soon with your Sister Xi to see you.” Zhu Qiao nodded slightly. “I just didn’t eat yesterday and was weak from hunger. I’m much better now… You go, you go. I’ll just eat some of the little snacks here.”
She pushed Lu Li again. “Hurry up and go. I’m not that fragile.” The tone in which she said this was strikingly similar to Zhu Xi’s. Should one say they are sisters, after all?
Lu Li nodded. Right now, Zhu Qiao might not be safe with him. He had to contact Zhu Xi as soon as possible and have her arrange a place for Little Qiao. Lu Li entered the shooting range, ignoring the enthusiastic greetings of the other candidates, his gaze sweeping over the audience seats not far away. He checked several times but didn’t see Zhu Xi. Where had she gone?
Lu Li took a deep breath, suppressed his restless heart, and waited for the competition to begin. Ten minutes later, Lu Li’s anxious wait finally ended. A tall, thin, middle-aged woman walked down from the audience seats. She was wearing a suit, white gloves, her lips were extremely thin, and the corners of her eyes drooped downward, looking not easy to get along with.
“The rules are simple. Each person gets three clips. The score is based on the number of targets knocked down.” The middle-aged woman’s gaze suddenly fell on Lu Li. “Lu Li, I thought you wouldn’t be coming today.”
Lu Li had originally planned to leave yesterday. With so many monitors around, even a fool would know there was danger. But Lu Li was a fool.
“Where’s Zhu Xi?”
“Is Zhu Xi a name you can call?” that woman reprimanded. “You should call her Your Royal Highness! Her Royal Highness has already returned to her family. I will be presiding over all the subsequent competitions.”
Would Zhu Xi entrust such a matter that concerned her future to someone else? Obviously not… This woman was lying. Lu Li looked back at the bewildered candidates, then at this harsh-faced woman. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Three minutes.” This woman took out a golden pocket watch. “Lu Li, Mr. Lu, you only have three minutes left.”
Three minutes.
What time was this three minutes referring to?
Of course, Lu Li didn’t need to go to the bathroom. He was just trying to contact Zhu Xi in a bathroom stall. He sent many messages, but Zhu Xi didn’t reply a single word. In the end, he was forced to type out that Zhu Qiao was with him. Sure enough, half a minute later, Zhu Xi called from a strange number. Before Lu Li could speak, Zhu Xi blocked his mouth with a barrage of information. “You with the surname Lu, I’m currently locked up in the hall by my grandmother’s people. Talking to you is already a huge risk! Now, you listen to what I say, and don’t argue with a single word. You, now, immediately, right away, take Zhu Qiao to the Zhu Family Ancestral Hall. You can find it by entering 77 Wutong Road into the map navigation. After you hand Zhu Qiao over to the master there, go directly to the airport. I’ll find a way to arrange the earliest flight for you. You must leave the Capital City, leave Shenzhou, as fast as possible! The situation has changed now. I don’t know what has happened with my grandmother, but I know that you are no longer safe!”
The call was quickly hung up. Lu Li reacted quickly. He pushed open the door, about to give up the husband selection and take Zhu Qiao away, but suddenly, the woman’s treacherous laugh came from outside the men’s room door. “Mr. Lu, there’s still one minute and seven seconds.”
Madwoman… Lu Li cursed in his heart. He walked out of the bathroom and indeed saw that woman standing outside the men’s room with a pocket watch. She was muttering a countdown under her breath. “One minute and three seconds… one minute and two seconds… sixty seconds… fifty-nine seconds…”
This inexplicable countdown made Lu Li feel uneasy. He went straight to the rest area, about to take Zhu Qiao and leave. In this situation, perhaps Zhu Qiao’s side was the safest. But when he entered the rest area, he found Zhu Qiao “asleep” on the sofa, motionless.
“Little Qiao… Little Qiao…” Lu Li pushed her a few times.
Zhu Qiao didn’t even open her eyes. She forced a smile, unable to speak. Lu Li checked her temperature; the back of his hand felt ice-cold. It’s here again… this symptom without any warning…
Lu Li carried Zhu Qiao on his back and, on the way, glanced at the wall clock. The minute hand was already on the 12, and it was less than thirty seconds until nine o’clock.
“Eighteen. Seventeen. Sixteen. Fifteen.”
That woman was still counting the numbers next door.
He was a little annoyed. “Can you fucking stop counting!”
“Fourteen. Thirteen. Twelve. Eleven.” She laughed even more exaggeratedly.
Lu Li pushed open the door of the rest area and found that the vast hall was now empty. The servants and tea boys who had been serving tea and water before had all disappeared. He couldn’t care about anything else and, carrying the dazed Zhu Qiao on his back, went straight for the main entrance. That middle-aged woman followed behind him with the pocket watch.
“Five. Four. Three. Two.”
Lu Li pushed open the main door. The countdown happened to end, and the bell for nine o’clock rang, the cuckoo’s calls rising and falling. Outside the door were the monitors who had been waiting for a long time. They uniformly pulled out their pistols from their coats and looked at the wide-eyed Lu Li with sinister expressions.
The only thought in Lu Li’s mind was a question: They wouldn’t disregard Zhu Qiao’s safety, would they?
The answer he got was the woman’s sharp, sarcastic voice:
“Kill them.”
