Crimson Instinct

*Bai Li*

The door opened, and I heard two distinct footsteps coming out. As I sensed them passed by my hidden spot, they stopped just as I had told them to.

"Boss, we are here," one quietly whispered.

"Boss, where are you?"

I came out.

Slow and silent. They didn't sense a thing as I stood behind them. I grabbed their necks and squeezed the side of it where a hell lot of important nerves were present that were enough to render one completely useless.

I heard them sharply gasp and felt them violently struggle. I sensed their arms and legs flailing frantically, and they started to breathe hard. They gripped my hand, trying to tear it away but would somebody tell them that it was useless?

Well, I guess I should.

"I am here,"

This time, I used my real voice. I felt them stiffen.

"Surprise, surprise. Now, I will make this quick. Before you make your way to hell, answer my question. Bloodygame was the one who killed Fu Meili, isn't it?"

They stiffened again.

"Nod your heads if it's true, or I will smash them right now on these walls. It would look so awesome being dyed by your blood, right?"

"D-don't...hah…" the man on my left gasped. "P-pl…*cough cough*"

"Oops. I forgot to undo a little pressure, or how would weaklings like you talk?"

I released one of my fingers to make it easy for him.

"Now, talk."

"Pl-please let us go. We will give you loads of money! Please don't kill us! We will do anything you want."

"Which you aren't doing it anyways. What was the question I asked you?"

"T-that…"

"You forgot so soon? Do I need to refresh your memory?" And I squeezed his neck tighter, once again putting deadly pressure on all sorts of important nerves.

He gasped in pain again. "S-s-stop! I will say..."

"Good."

I lessened the pressure of my grasp.

"Yes... Bloodygame killed that little girl."

I nodded.

"Next question. Is he among you all hiding in that classroom?"

No answer.

"Or maybe is it one of you?" I dug my fingers deep in their soft flesh, and I sensed them frantically shake their heads in disapproval.

"You do realize that there is no point in lying, right?"

"R-really...we are telling you the truth. I am not Bloodygame."

"Me neither…hah..hah…" the other man said.

Neither of them was Bloodygame because I had heard his voice in the recording when he talked to Fu Meili. I would recognize his voice in a heartbeat, and I already knew when they spoke first. 

The voice didn't match. But it was fun playing with them.

"Good for you because his end is going to be much worse. Now then, is he among everybody in the room?"

I felt them shake their heads.

"No...he isn't with us…"

"Y-yes...he didn't escape with us."

I raised my brow. "So, he is still inside where the rest of them are?"

"I guess so...We didn't pay attention to who ran away from the room."

"But we didn't see him with us now…"

I see.

"I-I answered your questions, right? Now please let me go…"

"Me too! We answered everything!"

I smiled. "When did I say that I was going to let you go if you answer my questions? Your life and your sins end here."

I could have just shot them in their heads, but a quick death was too merciful for them. Instead, I strangled them and made them feel every second the sense of their diminishing lifeline. They were struggling like crazy. I sensed their breaths all going haywire. They were huffing and puffing and gasping, but I only tightened my grasp all the more. 

A few minutes later, I felt them stop struggling. They didn't move. I sensed their pulse on their neck.

Nothing. Dead.

Two gone.

I dragged their bodies to the side where I hid at the corner and dumped it over there.

I heard Luo Zhiqiang's voice from the earpiece. "Dead?"

"Yup."

"So this plan worked."

"Beautifully. Now time for the rest of the thirteen bastards to kick the bucket."

---

*Xin Lei*

Damn, this smoke!

"Arf! Arf!"

Thankfully, Cocoa was still by my side, but I saw him shaking his head by the smoke. 

Wait. Where are Chu Jie and that man?

I raised my hand and flailed it in front of me, but I felt nobody.

I felt my heartbeat quicken.

What happened? They were just beside me now. Where did they go?

Where was Rodey and that woman? Were they safe?

Suddenly, a shot just rang past me.

Fuck! That was too close!

"Hahaha! I see you! You are helpless in this smoke! You cannot see us, but we can see your silhouettes!"

"You all are dead!"

"Did you think it would be easy to take us down?"

"The fuckers who ran away with their tails in between their legs were just pathetic weaklings. But we aren't."

I heard Rodey's voice somewhere from my right. He was laughing. "They are pathetic weaklings, but you aren't? Then why are you taking this smoke curtain to hide your asses? Scared? Afraid to fight me?"

I heard nothing. But I agreed with Rodey. That was the first thing that came to my mind when they threw that smoke bomb.

Even without Rodey and me, Cocoa was way too difficult for anybody to fight, even if they were more in number.

Rodey continued mocking them. "You are just as cowards as they are. Even if you came to me all at once, you would still lose. You know my strength, and now there is a woman and a dog added to it. You don't have the balls to fight us fair and square."

"Rodey!"

"So just as you hide your pathetic self from the whole world in this room where you kill people for fun, you are hiding behind the smoke," he chuckled, "You want to prove yourself different from those who ran away, but you actually aren't."

"You bastard!"