As soon as she finished speaking, the dagger in Qiao Ying's hand shot towards Bamboo Shadow on the second floor like a bullet from a exploding gun, carrying the momentum of thunder.
The moment the dagger was thrown, Qiao Ying also rushed out like a shadow, stepping on the wooden table to leverage herself to leap upwards to the second floor.
Bamboo Shadow dodged sideways, the blade grazing past his forehead. When he looked back, Moon Shadow beside him was already entangled with the girl.
None of them dared to underestimate Qiao Ying's ability. They originally wanted to negotiate, having Sack as a hostage should have put Qiao Ying at a disadvantage. But unexpectedly, she attacked at the slightest discord.
They really didn't know if she didn't care much about whether Sack lived or died, or if she simply didn't put Dark Shadow in her eyes at all.
Qiao Ying had killed so many of Dark Shadow's core members, while they had only inflicted some superficial wounds on Sack.
Seeing that Qiao Ying wanted to rescue the hostage, Bamboo Shadow immediately joined the fight.
The two of them worked together to force Qiao Ying back down to the first floor.
Below, seven or eight of Dark Shadow's assassins swiftly joined in, surrounding Qiao Ying in the middle.
In the dilapidated factory, the thick layers of dust on the dim light bulbs emitted faint lighting, swaying slightly in the cold wind blowing in.
Killing intent permeated the air.
In all these years at Dark Shadow, and all those missions, there had never been a need for so many people to take action together.
Bamboo Shadow: “Why did Blood Shadow make you do this? Is she dead or alive?”
Moon Shadow: “Did Blood Shadow betray the organization?”
Or was there some inside story they didn't know about?
Why would Blood Shadow harbor such deep hatred against Dark Shadow, and groom such a killing machine to deal with them?
Qiao Ying: “Betray your ass!”
Qiao Ying cursed under her breath, then swiftly struck out towards the person on her left. In the clash, she seized his dagger, then unhesitatingly stabbed it into his neck without the slightest hesitation. Blood sprayed out.
Then she kicked the assassin rushing forward, temporarily forcing him back. While dodging another’s attack, she threw the corpse whose breath she had just cut off towards the other man, then rushed forward herself.
It was another slash of her blade.
In a flash, there were already three or four bodies lying on the ground.
The dagger was like a live weapon in Qiao Ying's hands, unstoppable. Wherever it flashed, it drew blood.
Although they knew the two figures Black Spade A and Red Heart K as well as Mu Ying and the rest had died at Qiao Ying’s hands.
It was only after exchanging blows with her that Moon Shadow and Bamboo Shadow truly felt the disparity between them. Her speed was too fast, so fast that they simply couldn't keep up.
They only had a slight advantage in numbers.
Yet in a flash, even that was gone —— leaving only Moon Shadow and Bamboo Shadow.
Moon Shadow was also a expert in cold weapons and excelled in close combat. Wielding a dagger, he closed in on Qiao Ying and crossed weapons with her.
In the exchange, Qiao Ying slashed open Moon Shadow’s arm, then his shoulder, abdomen, waist and back...
After a round, both Moon Shadow and Bamboo Shadow's bodies were covered in bloody knife wounds.
Qiao Ying on the other hand barely had a scratch, with only two small cuts from their combined efforts.
As their daggers were sent flying, the three began bare-handed combat. They were all assassins, so naturally they used killing moves. A moment of carelessness could easily result in a twisted neck.
Qiao Ying sent Bamboo Shadow flying with a kick.
Bamboo Shadow crashed heavily to the ground, spitting out blood. He looked at Moon Shadow being tormented by Qiao Ying, then raised his head to look at Sack hanging from the ceiling.
Clutching his chest, he crawled up and hastily went up to the second floor.
Just when Qiao Ying was about to finish off Moon Shadow, she suddenly saw Bamboo Shadow appear upstairs.
Guessing what Bamboo Shadow was about to do, Qiao Ying immediately darted forward two steps. She kicked the dagger on the ground and sent it flying.
But Bamboo Shadow dodged it.
Qiao Ying swiftly took out the badge from her pocket and flung it out like throwing a flying dagger.
The sharp edges of the metal badge cut Bamboo Shadow’s hand, nailing itself into the wooden railing.
But it still wasn’t enough to stop Bamboo Shadow.
Bamboo Shadow slashed through the rope tying Sack to the railing in one swipe.
Sack, who was hung from the ceiling, plummeted down rapidly.
Qiao Ying kicked the nearby corpse away like kicking a sandbag. The flying corpse successfully cushioned Sack’s fall.
Sack crashed onto the corpse.
Just when Bamboo Shadow wanted to escape by jumping out of the window, clutching his wound, his shoulder was suddenly seized by a huge force that pulled his entire body back in.
In that instant when he was pulled back in, Bamboo Shadow hurriedly scattered the white powder in his hand towards Qiao Ying.
Qiao Ying reacted swiftly, turning her head sideways and closing her eyes to dodge, but some of the powder still got into her eyes, instantly causing a piercing pain.
Damn it!
Qiao Ying fiercely slammed Bamboo Shadow onto the ground, clutching his neck with one hand, forcing out her question: “Where is the antidote?”
Bamboo Shadow glared resentfully at Qiao Ying: “There is none.”
The next second, a “crack” rang out as Qiao Ying snapped his neck.
Qiao Ying searched Bamboo Shadow's body thoroughly but did not find any antidote.
It was very rare for Dark Shadow's assassins on missions to carry the antidote for a poison that is for self-protection.
Qiao Ying stood up, pulled out the badge from the railing, then went downstairs to check on Sack.
Moon Shadow had already escaped when Qiao Ying was distracted saving Sack just now.
The drug took effect quickly. Qiao Ying's vision progressively blurred.
She felt his carotid pulse — he was still alive, but his pulse was a little weak
Cutting apart the ropes on Sack’s wrists, she checked his pulse again. She lightly patted Sack's face.
“Sack?”
But she couldn't wake him up.
Looking around, the lighting was so dim. She spotted her phone that got flung out during the earlier fight. Qiao Ying went over to pick it up.
However, the phone was already broken from the fall and couldn’t be switched on.
She stuffed the unworkable phone back into her pocket.
Qiao Ying's sight went completely dark.
Qiao Ying stood still, adapting for a moment. Her face showed no panic at all.
She turned around, locating Sack’s direction, and walked towards him.
Counting her steps mentally, after about ten meters or so, she squatted down and reached out, accurately touching Sack.
Propping Sack up, she pondered how they could get out.
Leaving the factory was no issue, but where do they go after?
Most residents living in this slum could barely afford meals, so borrowing a phone from them to call Boss Lin would probably be quite difficult.
After thinking it over, Qiao Ying decided that randomly kidnapping someone for help to send Sack to the hospital might work best, albeit a little rude.
Just then, she heard approaching footsteps.
More than one person.
Unable to see, Qiao Ying had no choice but to heighten her vigilance.
She "looked" towards the direction of the entrance, one hand reaching into her pocket for the bloody badge within.
The people entered.
Then she heard a familiar voice: “Miss Qiao?”
The voice was rather familiar.
Qiao Ying: “Teng Yan...?”
Teng Yan’s voice carried a hint of a smile. “Miss Qiao, so it really is you.” He looked at the few corpses on the ground.
He kindly asked: “Do you need any help, Miss Qiao?”
One day later,
Sack woke up in the hospital.
Gritting through the pain, Sack tried sitting up, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings. He recalled what happened back at the factory.
He remembered being hung from the ceiling, and had a brief moment of lucidity where he saw Qiao Ying rush in to rescue him.
Where was she now?
Sack pulled out the IV drip from the back of his hand, and threw aside his blanket, about to get off the bed to look for people.
But he was discovered by a nurse who came to change his dressings. The nurse made him get back into bed and hooked him up to the IV again.
Sack asked her about Qiao Ying's whereabouts.
However, they didn't speak the same language.
The nurse called for a doctor to come over, and a few of them together tried to restrain Sack.
Anxious, Sack pushed the doctor away forcefully.
