Chapter 59: Accident

The young man known as Little De dashed over to the side of the pavilion and cried out, "Brother Hai, they're breaking through from below! Most of our men are already dead, and only Brother Ma and Zongpa are still holding the line." Finally, after gasping for breath, he instinctively asked, "Brother Hai, what should we do?"

Hearing this, the lines on Lin Zhonghai's face all twitched in unison.

At that moment, one of the men standing behind Lin Zhonghai suddenly spoke up, "Brother Hai, why don't we fall back? Zhang's side has already transferred everyone from the cellar to the vehicles; we can leave at any time!"

Lin Zhonghai narrowed his eyes but remained silent. Clearly, he had no intention of retreating.

To retreat meant admitting defeat, meant that he was afraid!

To be honest, he didn't believe what that young man named Dong Hua had said—that these Chinese individuals were targeting the Buddha Hand Gang simply because Tan Wei had been foolish enough to kidnap someone he shouldn't have! After all, judging by the strength these few individuals had shown by escaping several assassination attempts by the Buddha Hand Gang and taking down Aikun, it was utterly impossible for the ragtag group under that bastard Tan Wei to have kidnapped them, unless those people had willingly delivered themselves to their doorstep.

In other words, that idiot Tan Wei thought he had spotted his prey, when in reality, he had long since become someone else's prey without even realizing it.

So, the question arose: why on earth had these people deliberately engineered a trap to deliver themselves into Tan Wei's hands, and then seized the opportunity to kill Tan Wei and enrage the Buddha Hand Gang?

Or perhaps, was there another faction standing behind them?

Lin Zhonghai suddenly recalled his previous encounter with that man through the glass pane. The composure the other person had displayed at the time made it obvious at a glance that he was no ordinary person.

Crucially, that man lacked the fierce and murderous aura possessed by people in the underworld.

Thinking of this, he suddenly looked back at Little De and asked, "Who told you to come and deliver the message?"

Little De was standing there with his head lowered. Hearing the question, he looked up. When his gaze met Lin Zhonghai's, his body involuntarily stiffened, and his eyes instinctively darted away. He stammered in reply, "Brother Ma told me to come!"

After listening, Lin Zhonghai stared at him for a moment, but said nothing more.

Over toward the villa, the gunfire had stopped at some unknown point.

At that moment, the man behind Lin Zhonghai spoke up again, "Brother Hai, let's fall back!"

This time, Lin Zhonghai did not hesitate. He pressed his hands against the table and stood up. As he was about to leave, he instructed Little De, "You wait here for Ma and the others."

Little De abruptly raised his head, his bloodless face filled with disbelief and terror.

"Brother Hai, I..."

Lin Zhonghai, however, paid him no further heed, not even sparing him another glance. He turned and walked out of the pavilion.

The others followed suit.

Not a single person looked at Little De again.

Little De wanted to leave as well, but he didn't dare to move.

He knew very well that if he dared to move right now, the next second he would be lying in this grass, never to get up again.

A gust of wind swept past, and thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky, rolling closer and closer from a distance.

A few seconds later, the rain began to pour.

Pattering heavily, the previously silent world instantly grew noisy.

Little De stood in the rain outside the pavilion, his T-shirt soaked through in moments, yet he didn't dare to move at all.

To the north, Lin Zhonghai and his entourage gradually vanished into the darkness. Before long, lights illuminated the area outside the north courtyard wall, the sound of car engines drowned out by the thunder and rain, barely audible.

Little De kept his eyes fixed on the patch of light spilling over the top of the courtyard wall in the distance; the moment that light began to move, he could leave this place and save his life!

Yet at that exact moment, a gunshot suddenly cut through the sound of the rain and thunder.

Crucially, the sound came from outside the courtyard wall!

After a brief pause, Little De turned and bolted without the slightest hesitation. The rain intensified the darkness; he could neither see the path ahead nor distinguish any direction. He had no idea what was happening outside the courtyard wall, but he knew that if he stayed put and didn't move, certain death awaited him.

Gunshots rang out one after another.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning split the sky, its blinding white light appearing and vanishing instantly. Immediately following it came a fierce, cracking thunderclap. The deafening roar was thunderous.

Little De stumbled and crashed hard to the ground.

The moment he tried to scramble back up, a gun barrel was pressed firmly against the back of his head.

"Slowly get up!" A cold, indifferent voice seemed even icier than the rain.

Trembling all over, Little De slowly rose to his feet.

"What's the situation over there?" the person behind him demanded again.

Little De could only shake his head. "I don't know! I really don't know!"

Hearing this, Zhong Yuan frowned slightly amid the curtain of rain.

Then, he abruptly raised his hand and struck the back of Little De's neck with the edge of his palm. Watching him collapse, Zhong Yuan turned and beckoned to the side.

Xiaohua climbed out of the grass two meters away and hurried over.

"You take him back to the villa and hide him. If Dazi and I aren't back in half an hour, you leave first. The vehicle is in the woods outside," Zhong Yuan instructed, not giving Xiaohua a chance to argue. With that, he turned, called out to Zhong Da, and slipped toward the northern courtyard wall.

The gunfire over there was still ongoing. Judging by the sound, it was fierce, and the number of people engaged in combat was likely considerable.

In truth, leaving right now would have been the best choice for Zhong Yuan and the others. However, their identities were very likely compromised; if that was the case, Lin Zhonghai had to die tonight! Otherwise, finding another opportunity like this later on would be extremely difficult!

The rain grew heavier, turning into a torrential downpour.

Zhong Yuan and Zhong Da had just reached the vicinity of the perimeter wall when the lights in a small guardhouse-like structure not far away flashed and went out.

Zhong Yuan glanced at Zhong Da, then quickly turned and moved closer to the building.

This small house was slightly different from a normal guard post; although it had windows, they were very small and positioned high up. A security door had been installed on the south-facing wall.

The security door was tightly shut.

Zhong Yuan stepped forward, gripped the doorknob, and gently tested it. As expected, it wouldn't turn.

Seeing this, Zhong Yuan called Zhong Da over and motioned for him to crouch down. Stepping onto Zhong Da's shoulders, Zhong Yuan kept close to the wall, slowly lifted himself up, grabbed the window sill, and peered inside quietly.

In the dim light, two figures could vaguely be seen guarding the north-facing door. There were no windows on the north wall either. In other words, this room was most likely not being used as a guard post.

Inside the room, several other figures were crowded together—some sitting, some standing—in the cramped space.

Zhong Yuan carefully scrutinized those figures and suddenly realized something was amiss.

The figures who were standing all held guns in their hands, but the muzzles of two of them were aimed directly at a huddle of people squeezed together on the floor.

At that moment, movement came from nearby—a faint sound, well-hidden beneath the noise of the rain and easily missed.

Zhong Yuan hadn't noticed it, but Zhong Da had.

He reached out and tugged at the hem of Zhong Yuan's trousers.

Understanding immediately, Zhong Yuan lowered his head and jumped down from Zhong Da's shoulders. Zhong Da pointed toward the darkness on the east side of the building.

Zhong Yuan nodded.

The two men dropped low and quietly crept around to the west side of the house.

Moving along the wall a bit further west, they concealed themselves behind a row of bushes.

Just as they finished hiding and looked up, they saw two heads pop up over the wall on the west side of the building. After a brief glance to assess the situation inside, the pair vaulted over the wall in a single fluid motion and jumped down inside.

Seeing their movements and martial prowess, Zhong Yuan's brow furrowed slightly.

These did not look like the moves honed by street thugs in a brawl.

Furthermore, looking closely at the two men, they were clearly wearing helmets and what appeared to be body armor. In addition, their gun-handling posture and the way they coordinated their movements as they advanced clearly indicated that these men were regular soldiers.