Crimson Instinct

Time: 8:30 PM.

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*Bai Li*

Inside the building northeast east to Imperial High, Xin Zhen handed me two Glocks 19, and I asked, "Are the guards suspicious yet?"

"No."

"I think Yusheng is leaving now," Zhang Xiulan said. "They didn't doubt a thing."

I asked, "There are four floors in the building. How many can you see patrolling in each?"

Luo Zhiqiang said, "I can see two guards taking rounds in the corridor. But there can be more in the classrooms."

"So up to 10-12 guards and then those twenty-five men who tortured the victims."

"But from the corridor, they can see the guards on the ground. If we take them out, they will alert the whole place," Zhang Xiulan said. "Do we know where they are kept? Which floor? We don't have the time to check all the classrooms on all the floors."

I paused. "It should be on the fourth floor. The highest one. Don't worry about them catching us, knocking the guards down on the ground. Luo Zhiqiang. At my signal, send a fake message to the guards on the corridors to shift their attention away from the school's entrance. We will finish them off, and before the others realize it, it would be too late."

"Got it."

I heard Xin Zhen say, "Let's go. We don't have much time."

"Wait. I didn't know you are coming with us."

"Heh," I sensed him snort, "My sister is dumb, and I have to be there to take her out, or who knows what will happen."

My mouth twitched.

Am I not going there just for that?

"I am also-"

"Yeah, I don't want the risk of you two getting into a reunion makeout in the base. Do you want the others killing off the bastards or waste time in separating you two apart?"

I heard Liao Huifang suddenly cough. "That is completely plausible…"

I smiled. "Why don't you admit that big brother is worried about his little sister? Such a tsundere you are…"

"Who cares for that dumb sister?"

I sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Haven't your guts increased to question me now, Bai Li?"

"..."

"Luo Zhiqiang will keep an eye here and give us all the updates we need."

"W-wait!" Liao Huifang suddenly said, "I also want to help."

"No!"

"No."

Luo Zhiqiang also said at the same time. His voice sounded a little strained.

"But I want to be of help too!"

I denied, "This is too dangerous. There are too many people. You won't even know when and from where a bullet might hit you."

"Bai Li is right. And nobody is saying that you are not helping. Monitoring the situation here is just as important as helping them. We can see the guards from here and give them their coordinates to kill them off."

I nodded. "I understand your feelings, but we cannot have collateral damage. There is already Chu Jie and the woman who we have to take out, and that is risky enough. There is going to be messy gunfire, and we cannot afford to let anything happen to you."

There was silence.

"Okay? Help out Luo Zhiqiang. Trust me. You will be helping us out a ton."

"Okay…"

"En."

For the next five minutes, we went over our strategy again.

I said, "Let's go."

---

Zhu Yusheng joined us at the entrance. He said, "There is one guard on the gate, and the other is inside near the playground."

"Alright."

I said, "There was a dark spot on the road where Zhu Yusheng had parked the truck, right? We will use it to cross the road to the school using that."

The distance between the two sides of the road was just a little more than the average considering the road width that Luo Zhiqiang told me. So, instead of the usual five steps, I ran nine steps with them, and we stopped near the wall.

I touched my bluetooth earpiece. "Luo Zhiqiang. Do it now."

"Got it."

A minute later, I heard the guards on the ground whisper, "Hey, I think something has happened."

Zhang Xiulan said, "It has worked. The guards in the corridor stopped and listened to their radio and then went away."

Luo Zhiqiang relayed the same message. "Done."

"I will take over the other side of the gate," Xin Zhen said.

Zhang Xiulan and I stood still. I heard their voices inching closer towards us. Their footsteps were growing nearer.

Ten steps... nine steps…

Five...four...two steps…

At the last step, he was near enough for my arm to reach him. I grabbed his shoulder and, with my other hand, closed his mouth. At the same time, I heard the other guard gasp as Xin Zhen would have caught him.

The guard I got hold of began to struggle, but it got over just as soon as I held his head and twisted it to the side. His neck broke. The crack sound was all too familiar. He turned limp, and I heard his gun fell with a thud. I threw him on the ground.

Zhang Xiulan chuckled. "Poor man didn't even know what got him."

"This was easy. Plus, we should save ammunition. There are a lot of these bastards inside."

I heard a similar thud from the other side and then Xin Zhen's voice, "So boring. Wasn't even a challenge."

"Good for us, isn't it?"

"My skills will become dull at this rate if I killed such pathetic flies."

I shrugged. "Let's go before the guards at the corridor get alert."

We quickly moved inside. It was easier to run through the place as I had already mapped it out before coming here. Qi Qiang, with his excellent skills, got the map of this place inside out, so I could basically gauge my way through distance and angles.

If I went wrong, then there was no need to worry either because Luo Zhiqiang had fit a small video camera on my shirt who could see where I was going and was there to direct me through my earpiece though I insisted not to rely on him.

We climbed the steps to the first floor and stopped as we heard some noises.