The person coming did not notice Qiao Ying's presence. He went in, closed the door, turned on the lights, and was taken aback to see a girl sitting leisurely at the tea table eating something.
"It's you."
The man looked at the Asian girl and guessed that she was the one who had been causing trouble in the Wuma Family's territory these past few days, as well as the one who had sneaked into their territory and even into his room the night before.
Qiao Ying looked up and narrowed her eyes slightly as she recognized the man's face. Qiao Ying smiled satisfactorily without needing to ask anything more.
She had finally found him.
The man was one of Dark Shadow's assassins, ranked after the "Shadow" title, with considerable standing among Dark Shadow's forces.
Qiao Ying: "So, sir is Black Spade A."
The man's gaze darkened: "Who exactly are you?"
Qiao Ying: "The one here to take your life."
The bright moon hung high. The maze-like high-rise was shattered from its tranquility as a commotion suddenly erupted. They were still blocking the exits while the "perpetrator" had long vanished without a trace.
Qiao Ying left following the same route she had come in by. As she was walking, she saw a figure standing in the shadows up ahead.
"Qin Hanyue?"
As Qin Hanyue saw her come out, he immediately walked over to her.
"I knew you'd come here." He looked up at the brightly lit maze high-rise building not far behind Qiao Ying.
He had gone back to the camp to take care of some things and found her gone when he returned.
Qiao Ying: "What brings you here?"
Qin Hanyue: "Came looking for you. We can talk as we walk."
The two headed back together.
Seeing her in good spirits, Qin Hanyue asked, "Any gains this time?"
Qiao Ying: "Mm-hmm."
Qin Hanyue: "What is it?"
Qiao Ying took her hand out of her pocket and opened her palm.
A few large, purple grapes.
Qin Hanyue looked blankly for a moment. Seeing her bring her palm closer to him, he asked, "For me to eat?"
Qiao Ying didn't say anything.
Qin Hanyue smiled and asked, "Sweet or sour?"
Qiao Ying: "Sour."
Qin Hanyue took one and popped it into his mouth. Sweet.
Sweeter than the ones he had the other night. So sweet it was cloying.
Qin Hanyue's smile grew: "It's sour."
Qiao Ying: "Found Dark Shadow's people."
Qin Hanyue: "Then what?"
Qiao Ying: "Killed them."
Qin Hanyue: "Luring Black Spade A?"
Qiao Ying: "Mm-hmm."
Qin Hanyue: "Just killing one of his capable helpers might not be enough. I wonder if Black Spade A got news about what happened with Wei Qingyuan and has his eyes on you now."
Qiao Ying: "Get some explosives from Old Liu and bomb them for two days. He should come out by then. It works out fine if he has his eyes on me, saves me the trouble of finding them."
"First Wei Qingyuan, then Black Spade A. Dark Shadow definitely won't sit still and wait for their demise." Qin Hanyue looked at her worriedly, "Are you trying to wipe out the entire Dark Shadow organization?" How long would it take for her to avenge everything?
Qiao Ying: "Just a few old fellows, no need for the rest."
Qin Hanyue: "How many more are there?"
Qiao Ying: "Four."
Qin Hanyue fell silent for a good while without saying anything.
Suddenly he asked, "Any more?"
Qiao Ying: "Hmm?"
Qin Hanyue: "Grapes." He held out his hand.
Qiao Ying looked at his palm then back at him with raised brows. "Mr. Qin is a grown man asking a young girl for food?"
With that, she placed two grapes in his hand.
Unable to stop smiling, Qin Hanyue held the grapes.
"You can tell Ye Si is very fond of you," he suddenly said.
"What kind of 'fond' does Mr. Qin mean?" Qiao Ying asked.
Qin Hanyue: "Naturally feelings between a man and woman."
Qiao Ying laughed.
Qin Hanyue: "It's not?"
Qiao Ying opened her mouth to say something when Ye Si, Cheng Jinyan and the others came over to look for her. "Babe~"
The next day,
The group went to the camp to find Old Liu.
Xu Zheng, who had been unwelcoming towards them just days ago, was now standing next to Old Liu without a word of objection, back straight as a rod.
Qiao Ying told Old Liu she wanted to buy some timed explosives.
Ye Si: "Babe, why not get a few cannons and raze everything to the ground for good. It's simpler and my hands are itching anyway."
Xu Zheng kept sneaking glances at Qin Hanyue while Qin Yan kept signaling him to tone down his fanboy behavior. However, Xu Zheng didn't even glance at Qin Yan once. Even when they had bought everything and left, Xu Zheng was still standing at the door watching them.
In a lowered, casual tone, Qiao Ying said to Qin Hanyue, "That Xu Zheng seems quite interested in you, Mr. Qin."
Qin Hanyue just smiled, "I don't fancy men, so I'll have to disappoint him."
Meanwhile, Old Liu looked at Qiao Ying walking alongside Qin Hanyue and understood in his heart, "Young miss, it appears we'll be seeing more of you from now on."
Xu Zheng looked at Old Liu, "What do you mean?"
Old Liu smiled, "What do I mean? Look at that young miss, doesn't she look like she could become our future madam?"
Xu Zheng: "Too young."
Old Liu: "You wooden-head, what would you understand. Luckily we didn't offend her earlier, or else the two of us would've had to retire early."
Ye Si's subordinates were all from the 791 unit, highly skilled fighters, so the bombing naturally fell to them.
And so, in the next few days, Arkenlin was like war-torn Syria.
In a usually bustling season, the din grew louder than ever before.
First the Wuma Family's territories suffered disasters. Then the territories of the drug overlord met the same fate.
First their plantations were bombed, then their processing factories, followed by their transport vehicles.
At night, unable to fall asleep and fingers itching, Qiao Ying personally went into action, directly bombing their high-rise building.
After a couple of trips, she had bombed their buildings nearly to smithereens.
Sometimes at night after setting the explosives and leaving, she would run into Qin Hanyue again waiting for her and asking, "Any gains today?"
Qiao Ying would simply reply, "Didn't see any grapes."
In comparison, the Wuma Family's losses were negligible.
Everyone in Arkenlin felt insecure, fearing they would be next. Although no one saw who was bombing them, people guessed it was the same group who burned down the Wuma Family's auction house.
As such, Qiao Ying's group became the living Yama King in the eyes of Arkenlin's residents, too formidable to even speak of.
Rumor had it that great changes were coming to Arkenlin, with the arms dealer in the southwest region probably next.
After repeated attacks, this drug overlord's empire built over many years lay seven-tenths destroyed. This finally alerted the man behind the scenes − the "Sir" they spoke of, the drug overlord himself.
On the eve of Chinese New Year in the homeland,
this man made his appearance in Arkenlin.
That day, Qiao Ying's group received an invitation.
They were invited to the maze-like high-rise building. The surrounding buildings had all been bombed into ruins.
The moment they entered, Qiao Ying spotted three familiar faces.
All three were assassins second only to those behind the "Shadow" title.
The instant Qiao Ying stepped through the door, the three men detected a similar aura from her. Looking at the young Qiao Ying, they were strangely reminded of the legendary child prodigy assassin in the organization.
Lounging on the sofa, Ye Si asked arrogantly, "Where's your boss?"
Footsteps sounded from the stairs.
Two men appeared, both ordinary-looking.
One was a middle-aged man in his fifties, dressed in a Zhongshan suit. He looked like any average uncle, but was in fact the "Sir" they spoke of − the drug overlord.
He was also an old friend Qiao Ying was looking for − Black Spade A.
The other was a young man with an icy stare and a face like a coffin, seeming incapable of tears or laughter.
Also an old friend − Blade Shadow.
Upon seeing Blade Shadow, Qiao Ying raised her brows slightly in surprise that this cold-faced man was working under Black Spade A.
In skills, Blade Shadow was second only to Feng Ying. His combat skills might be inferior to Qiao Ying's, but his speed matched hers equally.
He would prove a tricky opponent.
