Dawn of the Long Night

Inside a hotel in Dali city.

There was a knock on the door.

Hearing the noise, Lu Min went to open the door, and it was Silver Fang who had returned after finding out the news.

"What's going on?" Lu Min asked anxiously.

Silver Tooth smiled and said, "I've been following Yang Hao all day. Just now, Yang Hao took Sang Qi out of the Sun and Moon Tea House and all the way to the Red Sea Casino. So, Sang Qi is being held at the Red Sea Casino."

“The Red Sea Casino…” Lu Min stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The Honghai Casino was originally a major industry in Dali City, Changle. After industrial transformation, it was transformed into the Honghai Club, which attracts people from all walks of life for entertainment every day.

However, Red Sea Gold Club is now a large underground casino. Many wealthy gamblers enter the club under the guise of entertainment and are then taken into the casino by staff.

Lu Min opened his phone's map to confirm the location of the Red Sea Casino. Silver Fang leaned closer to look and asked, "When are we going to rescue them?"

"tonight."

"tonight?"

"Isn't this too hasty?"

"No, there's a betting game tonight."

"gambling?"

"Two big shots from Dali will be at the Red Sea Casino tonight. This betting game was arranged by them a month ago. Tonight's high-profile game will attract a lot of attention. This is the best time for us to sneak in and rescue them."

Silver Teeth's eyes lit up instantly, and he exclaimed in admiration, "Wow, Min-ge, how did you know?"

Lu Min said casually, "I infiltrated a group within Chang Le, and that's what they said in the group."

"Now that we've decided to rescue them tonight, what should we prepare now?"

Lu Min's gaze turned serious: "Can you get your hands on a gun?"

Silver Teeth was stunned.

"If you can get your hands on a couple, just in case," Lu Min said earnestly.

Silver Tooth nodded emphatically: "Okay, leave it to me."

In the evening, Lu Min and Yin Ya obtained a full set of gear and weapons, and hid outside the casino early in the morning, preparing to take action at night.

The tycoon's bet was scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. at the Red Sea Casino. However, by 8 or 9 p.m., a large number of people had already flooded into the casino.

At this moment, Lu Min and Yin Ya were dressed in neat and well-fitting suits, disguised as young people who went in for entertainment.

They cautiously followed the flow of people into the casino. Since Silver Tooth had previously worked at the Red Sea Casino when he was still in Chang Le, he knew the surrounding corridors and entrances like the back of his hand.

Lu Min followed Silver Tooth through the crowd, bypassing the strict security checkpoints, and successfully infiltrated the underground casino.

Silver Tooth used to be just an impulsive and reckless young man, but now he's become clever and resourceful, able to sneak in with Lu Min so skillfully. Lu Min looked at Silver Tooth with new respect.

The underground casino was huge, seemingly endless, and brightly lit. Every gambling table was surrounded by people, with various waiters shuttling back and forth to serve the wealthy gamblers.

Lu Min glanced around and silently hid behind a pillar, while Yin Ya also carefully concealed himself.

Lu Min raised his hand to check the time on his wrist: "It's almost ten o'clock. The casino is about to open. Once there are more people, we can make our move."

At this moment, Silver Tooth looked around cautiously and said, "The entrance to the second basement level has two sides, east and west. The east side is the elevator, and the west side is the staircase. We need to avoid the cameras and head west."

"good."

Lu Min was unfamiliar with this area, so he could only listen to Yin Ya.

...

Inside a secret room on the second basement level of the casino.

Qian Kunpeng came again in the evening.

Faced with Qian Kunpeng's violent interrogation, Sang Qi was at a loss.

Qian Kunpeng warned her that she didn't have much time left, and if she didn't hand over the storage device, he wouldn't be polite.

Sang Qi slumped to the ground, utterly dejected. If he didn't save himself now, there wouldn't be any time left. Although the chances of escape were slim, it was better than sitting and waiting to die.

So Sang Qi gritted her teeth and made a decision: she would save herself.

The room where they were locked up was a large room, and the layout and furnishings were like those of a regular guest room, with a bed, a desk, bookshelves, sofas, coffee tables, and the like.

Sang Qi searched the room for a weapon to defend himself, turning the desk drawer upside down before finally finding a small, exquisite paper cutter. The blade wasn't sharp, but the point was, and it was easy to hide on his person.

Without saying a word, she hid the paper cutter in her sleeve, and then searched for other things, but found nothing.

I searched the whole room, and all I found was a box cutter.

She thought to herself that this should be enough.

It was exactly 10 o'clock.

Sang Qi suddenly overturned the coffee table, making various noises, then knocked everything on the desk to the ground, and smashed all the ornaments and porcelain on the bookshelf.

Then, Sang Qi shouted in panic, "Help! Don't come any closer! Help! Someone come quick!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs while smashing whatever was visible and tangible.

The room was making such a loud noise that the guards thought something had happened and opened the door to come in.

Just as the door opened and the black-clad thugs guarding the door reached in, there was a sound of breaking glass. The thugs felt a chill run down their spines, their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground.

It turned out that Sang Qi was hiding behind the door. As soon as the door opened, he grabbed a vase and smashed it fiercely on the thugs' heads.

There was more than one thug guarding the gate. When another thug saw that his companion had been knocked unconscious, he was about to call for help when, in that split second, Sang Qi swiftly grabbed the phone charging cable that had fallen to the ground and strangled the man.

The man's neck tightened, and his cheeks flushed red. Sang Qi tightened his grip on the man's neck and closed the door to prevent anyone outside from noticing.

The man being strangled was frantically fiddling with a data cable, his legs kicking wildly. Sang Qi, meanwhile, was using his legs to strangle the man's back with all his might.

Sang Qi's eyes turned red, and she gritted her teeth, squeezing the man tightly for a full minute before he gradually lost his reaction.

Seeing that the person was no longer moving, Sang Qi finally let go.

There was a clear red-to-purple ligature mark on the man's neck. Sang Qi checked the man's breathing and heartbeat, and only felt relieved after confirming that the man was not dead, but just unconscious from being strangled.

She didn't want to kill anyone.

After dealing with the two people, Sang Qi tied up all her long hair. Since she didn't have a hair tie, she found a black baseball cap in the room and put it on, gathering all her hair on top of her head and securing it with the cap. Then she found a black mask and put it on to cover half of her face. Finally, she took the suit jacket off the person who had been strangled unconscious and put it on herself.

After a quick disguise, Sang Qi cautiously opened the door and, seeing that no one was around, quietly left.

During the day, Yang Hao led her along this road, and Sang Qi secretly memorized the route along the way. Now, Sang Qi retraced the route she remembered.

The first half of the journey went smoothly without encountering a single person, and Sang Qi thought she could escape successfully. However, when she walked the second half of the journey, she bumped into several men in black, all of whom had fierce and menacing faces.

Sang Qi, a tiny girl, hunched her shoulders as she passed by them. Nothing would have happened, but one of the men teased, "How can there be such a small man?"

Upon hearing this, the leader immediately sensed something was wrong and shouted, "Stop!"

Sang Qi was stunned upon hearing this, immediately frozen in place, his heart racing.

The men returned and sized up Sang Qi. Sang Qi forced herself to remain calm, but kept her head down, her hat brim pulled low, and she was also wearing a mask, so their faces were completely obscured.

"Who are you? Why are you wearing a mask?" the man questioned.

Sang Qi lowered his voice and said in a deliberately rough tone, "I have a cold, and I'm afraid of catching it."

"Is that so?" The man's gaze never left Sang Qi.

"I have something to do, so I'll be going now." Sang Qi didn't dare to linger any longer.

"Wait a minute." The man was about to question Sang Qi again when a sharp, piercing alarm sounded.

The men present were all startled, and Sang Qi was also frightened.

The sudden alarm startled Sang Qi so much that she almost screamed. As the alarm sounded, shouts came from afar: "Someone has broken in! Someone has broken in!"

Suddenly, the quiet second basement level became agitated.

Sang Qi felt a sense of foreboding; if things escalated like this, he wouldn't be able to escape at all.

The men who had initially called out to Sang Qi rushed off to provide support upon hearing the alarm, leaving only the man who had led the questioning of Sang Qi.

Seeing Sang Qi's nervous expression and noticing the stray hairs at her temples that were not typical of a man's neat sideburns, the man immediately identified Sang Qi.

When Sang Qi realized that the man seemed to recognize her, she turned to run away, but the man grabbed her arm and then ripped off her hat, causing her long hair to fall loose.

Sang Qi panicked completely.

The man's eyes flashed with malice: "I knew you were a woman."

At that moment, a sharp sound of a blade cutting through the air was heard, followed by the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh. The man's features suddenly twisted as he stared at his chest in disbelief.

Sang Qi gripped the paper cutter tightly in her right hand, the blade plunging into the man's chest. Gritting her teeth, Sang Qi exerted more force, driving the knife even deeper.

The man's pupils dilated, he staggered backward, and then collapsed to the ground.

Sang Qi loosened her grip; she didn't pull out the paper cutter. When Sang Qi stabbed him, she assessed the location—it wasn't a major artery or a vital area; the man had only fainted, not died.

Seeing the man fall, Sang Qi searched the fallen man for any usable weapons. He touched the man's waist and felt the cool, metallic texture. It felt solid and heavy.

Sang Qi took it out and saw that it was actually a gun.

This made her panic, but she didn't have time to hesitate. Without saying a word, she grabbed her gun and ran.

Because someone just broke in and triggered the alarm system, the second basement level is now full of people searching for and tracking them.

Sang Qi faced numerous hardships and dangers on his journey. Ahead of him were several thugs who had come after hearing the commotion, carrying knives or guns.

Seeing the scene before him, Sang Qi dared not openly barge in, so he hid in a small room next door, a room about the size of a monitoring room.

The room had no door; it was completely open. Sang Qi quickly hid under the table, where a tablecloth hung down to conceal her.

Sang Qi wanted to wait until the group of people had passed before coming out, but she saw Lu Min instead.

She could hardly believe her eyes!

It was actually Lu Min...

The moment Sang Qi saw Lu Min, tears welled up in her eyes.

She knew that Lu Min had come to save her.

…………

Half an hour ago.

Lu Min and Yin Ya sneaked into the second basement level.

The second basement level was designed like a maze, with rooms on both sides of the secret passage. Although Silver Fang was familiar with the design of the area, he did not know which room Sang Qi was locked in, so they had to search each room one by one.

To better conceal their identities, Lu Min and Yin Ya knocked out two gatekeepers, put on their clothes, and disguised themselves as gatekeepers to continue their investigation.

Due to the vast size of the area, Lu Min and Yin Ya split up. However, while searching for Sang Qi separately, Yin Ya triggered an alarm, attracting a large number of people.

Lu Min encountered the manhunt team midway through his journey. With nowhere to hide, he had no choice but to confront them head-on. A fight broke out between the two sides.

Four or five men attacked, all armed. Lu Min knocked the first one to charge to the ground, picked up their iron bars, and swung them aside, clearing away those who were attacking him. But he overlooked the men behind him.

Just as Lu Min was dealing with the person attacking him head-on, several figures silently swept past behind him. By the time he noticed, he had already been hit several times with heavy blows.

He was almost knocked down, with sticks and fists raining down on him. Lu Min gritted his teeth, let out a loud shout, and rolled up from the ground, his muscles tense and veins bulging.

He knocked down each of the attackers who came after him. This time, he was furious and fierce. He snatched the stick with his bare hands and smashed it down on their heads. Then he grabbed their wrists, choked their throats, swept his legs, and threw them over his shoulders. The whole set of movements was fluid, agile, and nimble.

However, the continuous stream of reinforcements overwhelmed Lu Min, forcing him to flee whenever he had the chance, while his pursuers relentlessly chased after him.

Lu Min, who was on the run, had no idea what was going on with Yin Ya. He wanted to find Yin Ya and then leave together, but at this moment he had no idea where Yin Ya was.

He was wounded, blood was flowing from his head and his face was covered in it, and he was unsteady on his feet, swaying back and forth.

At that moment, Sang Qi, who was hiding under the table in a small room at the edge of the secret passage, saw Lu Min passing by. Her heart skipped a beat, and she was both surprised and delighted. Her big eyes welled up with tears.

Just as Sang Qi was about to come out, a deafening gunshot rang out, and immediately, Lu Min in front of him knelt down on one knee.

Sang Qi covered her mouth in fright, her pupils filled with fear and panic.

Lu Min was ambushed from behind and shot in the thigh. At that moment, the person who ambushed him walked up to Lu Min and kicked him to the ground in the face.

Lu Min lay on the ground, barely alive, when the man continued to punch and kick him relentlessly. Every punch and kick was aimed at killing him, each blow landing with brutal force, a truly horrifying sight.

Seeing Lu Min so badly injured, Sang Qi couldn't just stand by and watch him die.

The situation was extremely urgent. Sang Qi knew that he was outnumbered and outmatched. Going out to rescue people would only result in him being killed instead, and he would not only fail to save them but also lose his own life.

In her anxiety and anguish, she suddenly remembered that she had a gun on her person.

At that moment, Sang Qi was so moved that tears streamed down her face.

She was incredibly grateful that she had brought the gun with her.

In a flash, Sang Qi calmly and collectedly drew his gun and gripped it tightly in his hand.

The gun's magazine was already loaded with bullets. Now, all Sang Qi had to do was pull the slide to chamber the bullet and pull the trigger to fire it.

I remember when I was in school, I went to play outdoor paintball with my classmates, and the instructor taught me basic operations such as firing a gun and loading ammunition.

Although it's unknown whether the real gun is the same as the model, Sang Qi has no choice but to risk firing it for now.

Sang Qi gripped the gun handle, his fingers on the trigger, and raised the gun high, aiming it at the man's abdomen.

Sweat dripped from her forehead like rain, her heart pounded as if it would jump out of her throat. She struggled to steady her trembling hands, and the next second, she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger forcefully.

"Bang!" A deafening gunshot rang in my ears.

The moment the bullet is fired, the person falls to the ground, the gun slide recoils immediately, and the spent cartridge is ejected at the same time.

The man who was shot in the abdomen fell to the ground on his side, still showing signs of resistance. He looked fiercely at the source of the shooting and saw that it was a woman who had fired the shot. He immediately gritted his teeth and pulled out a gun from his lower back.

When the man raised his gun to aim at Sang Qi and fire, Sang Qi did not hesitate. He immediately slided the gun back in, chambered a bullet, pulled the trigger, and another loud gunshot rang out.

After the gunshots subsided, the man collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.

Sang Qi, who had fired two shots in a row, was panting heavily and had not yet recovered, remaining in the firing position.

Lu Min, who had collapsed to the ground, struggled to sit up. He opened his eyes and suddenly froze in shock.

He couldn't believe that it was Sang Qi who had fired the shot, and that Sang Qi had actually escaped unharmed.

Lu Min's glance contained too many emotions.

There was shock, joy, doubt, and deep affection...

The two gunshots just now have attracted a lot of people, and now a large number of people are rushing over here.

Sang Qi realized how critical the situation was, and she rushed out to help Lu Min up: "I'll take you away."

Lu Min propped himself up, enduring the excruciating pain throughout his body. He had just been shot, and blood was still gushing from the wound. His body was also covered in various wounds, a horrifying sight to behold.

Because she was supporting the seriously injured Lu Min, Sang Qi couldn't move too fast or too large, which gave the person in front of her the opportunity to block the exit. In this situation, she could only fire her gun randomly.

When the men saw that real guns had been fired, they scattered and fled in all directions. Those who were carrying guns pulled out their guns and fired at Sang Qi.

Although Lu Min was seriously injured, he was still focused. His eyes were sharp, and when he saw someone raise a gun, he immediately laid Sang Qi down on the ground and fired a shot, but the shot missed.

Despite the pain, Lu Min pulled Sang Qi forward and seized the gun from her hand, killing the person who had just fired without hesitation.

That was the last bullet in the magazine. After firing that shot, Lu Min casually tossed the gun aside and pulled out two more guns he had prepared from his waistband.

He handed one to Sang Qi and took one for himself. Sang Qi didn't say anything, holding it in his hand for self-defense.

The two cleared away the obstacles in their way and went up from the second basement level to the inner area of ​​the casino on the first basement level.

Not long ago, the alarm on the second basement level was triggered, and people on the first basement level were thrown into chaos. Some people took advantage of the chaos to cheat, while others took advantage of the chaos to run away with the money.

The wealthy gamblers called out their bodyguards for protection, and the basement level quickly descended into chaos.

At this moment, Qian Kunpeng and Jin Hai were furious and determined to find the person who caused the trouble at all costs.

As a result, almost all of Chang Le and Qian Kunpeng's men were mobilized to hunt down Lu Min and Sang Qi.