Yet another gunman fell, and not alone either. The confidence of the men going after Xia Lei fell with him.

Xia Lei was just a single man, but he was charging about like a demon in the snowy forest, able to see well without night-vision equipment and spot his targets. His gunmanship was excellent, and every shot he made killed a person. Who could still maintain his confidence when his opponent was like this?

Bang! Another gunshot, another gunman down.

The instant the gunman went down, the charging figure changed directions, turning at an angle of almost 90 degrees to go behind a row of trees.

Bang bang bang!

Some bullets came flying, and they struck the row of trees.

Snow came rustling down from the crows of the trees.

“Fuck!” A gunman cursed in English. He was losing it, and he charged recklessly out from behind a tree, firing a M16A2 assault rifle in the direction Xia Lei had gone.

The M16A2 roared, and bullet after bullet shot from its muzzle, tearing into tree trunks. Some of the bullets went through the gaps between the trunks but they did not hit the target. What target? The gunman who had fired could not even get Xia Lei in his sights. He had only glimpsed Xia Lei with his night vision equipment when he had turned and then lost sight of him.

Click-click. The sounds of an empty gun magazine came from the M16A2. The gunman then realised that he had emptied the magazine, and he was quick to reload. Unlock, load, re-lock – the whole process took less than two seconds.

However, Xia Lei flashed into view in the second second. There was a spark in the darkness and a bullet stabbed viciously into the gunman’s head.

The gunmen who fell was Xia Lei’s sixth victim.

The few remaining gave up on the fight. They shot suppressing fire as they fled downhill.

The surviving gunmen had only just realised that trying to kill Xia Lei in this forest was like trying to kill a whale with a fish hook!

‘Trying to run away? Why don’t you ask if I’d let you go first?’ A sneer appeared in the corners of Xia Lei’s lips, and his eyes were terrifyingly cold.

Unlocking the full potential of his body was extremely draining. He would be exhausted and fit to collapse at any moment once the battle was over. However, the upcoming battle did not require him to use all his energy anymore since the gunmen were retreating downhill. He could now use his most familiar method to end the fight – using the XL2500 to snipe them!

Those remaining gunmen would meet the same fate whether they stayed to fight or chose to retreat, and that was DEATH!

Xia Lei took the XL2500 from his shoulder and stuck it on a tree branch. He spied a black gunman running away raggedly with his left eye, shooting behind himself as he ran down the hill.

Bang!

A gunshot.

The black gunman was knocked off his feet. He struck a tree, and slid to the ground…

The killing in the dark continued, but the roles were reversed now. The prey had become the hunter!

Meanwhile, the battle at the foot of the hill was almost at its end too.

The last Japanese thug was gunned down by Long Bing, and the village grew silent. There were no more shocking gunshots.

Some tourists and residents in the village couldn’t help themselves and they opened windows to check on the situation outside, every one of them wary. There were several with their phones in their hands, trying to call the police, but no phone call was going out. Some also tried to use the landline to call the police but it proved fruitless too. All communications in this place had been cut off.

There was no way to call the police, and outside was a war zone. Only the final winner could leave this place alive.

“Lei, how is it on your end?” Long Bing tried to contact Xia Lei again after she killed off the last thug gunman.

No response came from the communications device.

Bang! A gunshot suddenly came from the forest above.

Long Bing let out a breath after hearing that gunshot. This gunshot was familiar to her – it was the sound of an XL2500 firing. In that moment, she felt like that sound was the best sound on earth to her. It meant that Xia Lei was alive, and fighting!

“You handle those guys. I’ll help you settle the one you want.” Long Bing muttered to herself, then walked towards the Heart of Oshino hotel.

The gates to the Heart of Oshino were wide open, and no one could be seen in the lobby. In this situation, those who could escape had all escaped, and those who couldn’t had hidden themselves. Who would still stand dumbly in an open area for all to see, waiting for a bullet to fly in from goodness-knows-where and kill you?

Long Bing stood on the doorway for five seconds. She confirmed that there was no movement inside, then charged in,

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Long Bing went through a corridor and soon found the room with the roof which Xia Lei had nearly ripped apart.

The door to this room was tightly shut, and the lights were off. She could not see if anything was happening inside.

Long Bing reached out a hand to push the door to enter, but abruptly stopped herself. She had changed her mind. She backed two steps into the corridor, lifted the muzzle of the Gust assault rifle, and let out a volley of gunfire.

Bang bang bang, bang bang bang…

Wood splinters flew, and the thin room door was shredded instantly. The bullets went through the wooden planks and hit the glass and furniture in the room. Sounds of chaos rang out.

A magazine was emptied. Long Bing reloaded in one second, then kicked the tattered door of the room open.

Bang! A gunshot rang out in the room, and a bullet grazed past Long Bing’s shoulder.

Long Bing dove to the floor and hugged the floor as she rolled. She raised her gun and shot in the corner of the room.

Crack crack…

A table which had fallen over shook, and it looked like it was going to be broken soon.

“Don’t shoot!” A woman’s voice came from behind the table, and she raised her hands. There was a handgun in the right hand. She had fired at Long Bing but she was no match for her. This woman had given in and surrendered after one round.

This woman was Gu Kewen.

The most dangerous spot was also the safest spot. Gu Kewen was very clever, and she had not run out, or she would have met the same fate as the Japanese thugs. However, she had not counted on Long Bing not going to help Xia Lei, and coming here to catch her instead.

“Throw the gun away,” said Long Bing coldly. She strode towards Gu Kewen.

Gu Kewen threw the gun aside. “Don’t kill me. I’ll give you Xia Lei’s important thing.”

Long Bing went around the table and pressed the muzzle of the Gust assault rifle to Gu Kewen’s head. “Where is it? I’ll give you one minute to take it out and give it to me, or I’ll send you on your way.”

“Don’t be hasty. I… I’ll give it to you.” Gu Kewen took out a document folder from under the table and handed it to Long Bing.

“Open it!” commanded Long Bing.

Gu Kewen opened the document folder nervously and took out its contents. There was a stack of photocopied contracts and a USB stick.

Long Bing glanced quickly at the contract right on top. It had Shentu Tianyin’s signature and company logo on top.

“Copies?” said Long Bing coldly. “Gu Kewen, do you take me for a fool? Where are the originals?”

Gu Kewen shuddered. “Originals… I don’t have the originals. Of course the originals are with Shentu Tianyin. These contracts were signed in private. Of course Shentu Tianyin won’t let Xia Lei see them. I, however, know the people who did the acquisitions, so I had the opportunity to make copies.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’m really not lying to you. These are the things Xia Lei wants. I’ll give it to you. Let me go. I promise never to show my face again. I… I’ll never cause trouble for you or for Xia Lei, ever again.” Gu Kewen was on the verge of tears.

“Pack the things up nicely,” said Long Bing.

Gu Kewen put the contracts and the USB into the document envelope and handed it to Long Bing.

Long Bing took the envelope, and a sneer sppeared in the corners of her mouth.

Gu Kewen seemed to sense something, and she said anxiously, “You promised me! You have to keep your word!”

Long Bing spoke flatly, “When did I promise you anything? People like you should not be left alive on this Earth. I’ll give you a chance. Pick one – knife or gun?”

“Wh… Why don’t you take me back to China? I’ll accept whatever the judge decides! You can’t kill me! You don’t have the authorisation!” screamed Gu Kewen at Long Bing.

“Looks like you don’t want to choose. I’ll send you on your way.” Long Bing lifted the gun muzzle but turned it suddenly to the door, squeezing the trigger as she did so.

Bang bang bang!

Three bullets flew towards the door, but they did not hit anything.

A figure suddenly moved in the doorway and a grenade was abruptly dropped to the floor.

Boom! There was a deafening explosion, and a blinding flash filled the space in the room.

Long Bing could not see anything, and her ears had stopped working. In this critical time of danger, she moved to stand behind Gu Kewen. She put her elbow around Gu Kewen’s throat, and shot in the direction of the doorway with the Gust assault rifle.

A regular soldier, or even a regular agent, would be immobile when attacked with a grenade like this. However, Long Bing was not an ordinary soldier, nor an ordinary agent. She was an elite agent of Bureau 101!

Bang bang bang…

Though she could not see and could not hear, Long Bing was still able to locate the right direction by drawing from her memory, and use the Gust assault rifle to release supressing fire at the possible entrances where enemies could come rushing in.

“You are tough, but this is useless.” A woman’s voice came from beyond the door. Her Chinese pronunciation was flawless.

If one just listened to her voice, one would never suspect that she was not a native Chinese person.

However, she was the mixed-blood woman.

Click click.

The Gust assault rifle stopped firing. It had exhausted its last magazine.

Long Bing drew out her handgun.

Bang! A gunshot rang out and a bullet struck the gun in Long Bing’s hand. She could not hold it steady due to the impact, and the handgun dropped to the floor.

Under normal circumstances, Long Bing would have drawn her gun ten times faster, but the grenade had blinded and deafened her, slowing most of her reactions. She was now in a similar state as people who had drunk too much, and could not control their body very well.

The mixed-blood woman appeared in the doorway, and walked over elegantly.

She held a modified handgun, about twice the size of a regular one, in her right hand. She also had a shield in her left hand. The shield was silver-coloured and it looks to be titanium. It was very strong. There was a picture spray-painted on it, and the picture looked like a king cobra rearing its head.

Gun and shield. She look like a fighter from the Middle Ages, only that the sword had been replaced by a gun.

This style of combat was very strange.