Crimson Instinct

*Xin Lei*

I felt my jaw tighten, and my hands clenched into fists.

Yes. He killed Fu Meili.

If looks could kill, then he would have been already dead at least a thousand times by now.

Bloodygame scoffed. "Who Fu Meili? I don't remember." Then he sneered, "It's hard, you know. There have been so many fun toys here that it's difficult to remember them all. It's not like we know their names."

I felt my finger so close to pressing the trigger!

Bai Li seemed calm. But I knew that behind his calm demeanor on the outside, he was raging like a volcano inside. His deadly, quiet gaze said it all.

"Don't worry. I am here to remind you of exactly that. By the time you painfully breathe your last, you will remember who Fu Meili was. I will make sure of it."

"You? A blind man like you is threatening me? It must be so hard living in delusions."

"Why don't you ask the fifteen dead men outside if I am in any delusion or not?"

Silence loomed inside the room.

I chuckled. Those cowards were nothing in front of my Bai Li.

"Impossible!" He roared. "You want to frighten me, so you are just spewing nonsense! Even the ones who can see cannot take fifteen people on their own! And you say you took them down when you are blind? Nonsense!"

Bai Li shrugged. "That's where brain, intelligence, tactics, and strategies come into play. Unfortunately, you don't have any of that."

The three other men who were still alive with Bloodygame seemed to be frightened now.

They were nervously eyeing each other. I narrowed my eyes.

It feels as if somebody is planning to escape. With Bai Li, Cocoa, Rodey, and me, they must be feeling outnumbered in terms of strength even if the numbers were the same.

"No...no, no, no! You are lying! I will kill you!" He seemed ready to shoot, but just then, a shot rang and hit his wrist.

"Ah!!!"

The gun slipped from his fingers and fell.

"What the fuck, Bai Li? You were waiting for the shot to hit you?"

I froze.

Bro! That voice was bro's!

Before the other two men could raise their guns, Bro already shot two of them.

"Ahhh!! Please don't shoot me! Spare me!" The third man collapsed on his knees and screamed.

Bloodygame groaned in pain. "Ahhhh! You bastard...my hand…"

"Yo, Lei Lei. Glad that you didn't kick the bucket until we came," Bro smirked.

Bro...he is here too…

He snorted. "Don't get all too emotional. I just joined in to separate you and Bai Li in case you two couldn't stop yourselves from making out after your tearful reunion."

"..."

Bai Li said, "So, I guess the second floor is clear."

"Apparently, some guards thought that they were masters in hiding skills and could kill us in surprise, but oh well," he shrugged, "I proved them wrong."

"Where are Zhang Xiulan and Zhu Yusheng?"

I blinked my eyes.

Zhang Xiulan?

Then my eyes widened in shock.

"I can see the shock on your face, little sis. Yes, she and her boyfriend are a part of this attack too."

Bai Li smiled. "You know her, actually."

I frowned.

Have we met before?

"Zhang Xiulan and Zhu Yusheng went after to find Zhang Ning."

Bai Li nodded. "Let's finish here and join them."

"Big bro Bai Li!" Chu Jie hopped to his side as he cried. "I know you and sis would come to save us! You...you all are finally here…"

Bai Li felt his way and patted his head. "Hey, kid. Are you alright?"

Chu Jie smiled as he wiped his tears. "Bro. How can I not be fine? Cocoa protected me all this time. Cocoa is…really amazing and so strong. You know, he even killed two of the guards when they were after me."

"Arf."

"Hoooo…" Bai Li chuckled. "Good job, Cocoa. I am proud of you, buddy."

"Arf! Arf!" He licked his hand and furiously wagged his tail.

Suddenly, Rodey said as he panted breathlessly, "Well, your dog surely ruined my escape plan. If he hadn't chased after your woman and wasted my time, then we would have already got out of this place."

My brow twitched. So it's my fault?

"Grrrrr!" Cocoa growled at Rodey.

Bai Li smirked. "As if you could have dealt with all these men without Xin Lei or his help. You would have been dead meat by now."

Rodey dangerously squinted his gaze. "You wanna try, you bastard? I will show you just who would have been the dead meat."

"Rodey…" the woman cautiously pulled his arm. "Don't fight. They are here to help us."

"This voice...are you the woman who was kidnapped two days ago?" Bai Li asked.

"Yes. My name is Ying Yue."

Bro looked behind me and asked, "Then who is this man?" He pointed at the man who was with Chu Jie all along.

"I was here before they brought Chu Jie. My name is Long Hu."

We nodded.

"And that unconscious woman over there?"

The woman lowered her gaze. "She is my cousin…Xu Jingjing."

Rodey snorted. "Whatever. I am out of here with babe. I don't care what you do next, nor am I interested in helping you with Zhang Ning."

"Stop," Bro sternly said, "I am taking out Chu Jie, Long Hu, and Xu Jingjing with me. The army is outside, who is ready in their position to take you all into safety. You two will come with me too."

Rodey growled. "I don't need your help. I can take her out myself."

Bro snapped. "Stop with your heroism shit, you fucker. I don't care what you want. All the hostages are coming with the IB, and that is me. If I have to knock you out, so be it. You can hardly fight me in your pathetic condition."

I coughed.

Bro's tongue wasn't any less poisonous than Bai Li or Rodey himself.

Rodey seemed to grit his teeth. Ying Yue nudged him and slowly nodded. "Let's go with them."

"Fuck!"

"Well, the feeling is mutual."

Bro touched his earpiece. "Is everything in place, Zhiqiang?"

He must have given his affirmative, to which bro nodded.

Bro looked at me. "You coming?"

I smiled and shook my head. I wanted to see the end of all this with Bai Li.

He silently stared at me for a moment and nodded.

Chu Jie said, "Bro, sis, take care."

We chuckled. Bai Li said, "Of course."

Bro took everybody away.

I shot the last man, who was begging us to spare him.

Of course, we didn't.

Then I looked down at Bloodygame, who was lying on the ground, holding his wrist and writhing in pain. 

Bai Li said, "Now, time for you to remember who Fu Meili is."