Chapter 45
The loud noise of the explosion and the whistling of bullets almost tore the air apart!
Qin Xiao's reaction was incredibly fast. The moment the explosion sounded, he threw himself to the ground and yelled, "Get cover!"
The men he brought with him were all experienced desperadoes. They rolled and dodged almost at the same time, or relied on the limited cover in the room - heavy weapon boxes, welded metal tables - and quickly opened fire to fight back!
Bullets thudded against the twisted iron door frame and walls, sending up a shower of sparks and concrete debris. Smoke and dust filled the air, blurring the view instantly.
739 suddenly threw Gu Jing behind a huge metal cargo box. The bullets almost grazed their scalps and hit the cargo box with a teeth-grinding sound.
"Fuck! They're a professional team!" one of Qin Xiao's men roared in judgment between reloading. The enemy's firepower coordination and offensive rhythm were extremely methodical, definitely not ordinary thugs.
Gu Jing quickly leaned over from behind the cargo box and calmly pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A dark figure that had just rushed in from the smoke at the door fell to the ground.
His marksmanship was terrifyingly accurate, without the slightest hesitation, each shot aimed for a vital spot. This wasn't the skill a young master of the Gu family should possess; it was a survival instinct forced out of him in Qin Yu's twisted purgatory.
Qin Xiao hid on the other side, the submachine gun in his hand spewing flames, suppressing the firepower at the door, and cursing: "Zhou Liguang, that old fox! He's so fucking ruthless!"
The exchange of fire was fierce but brief. The attackers tried to force their way in, but Qin Xiao's men, using cover and precise counterattacks, temporarily held off the attack. Three or four bodies in black had already fallen at the door.
However, the other side seemed to have the advantage in numbers and was clearly well prepared.
Suddenly, a strange, high-pitched humming sound was heard.
Immediately afterwards, a small can was thrown in from outside the door. It exploded instantly after landing, releasing a large amount of pungent, gray-white smoke!
"Tear gas!" someone exclaimed!
The smoke quickly filled the air, intensely irritating everyone's eyes, throats, and respiratory tracts! Violent coughs suddenly erupted, completely obliterating their vision!
"Cover your mouth and nose! Rush out!" Qin Xiao's voice sounded a little distorted in the smoke. He was obviously experienced and knew that being trapped in a confined space was a dead end!
In the chaos, gunshots rang out again, but they had lost their accuracy and were more of a blind sweep.
Gu Jing covered his mouth and nose tightly with his sleeves, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably, his lungs aching. Relying on memory and intuition, he yanked at the 739 next to him and growled, "Follow me! Left!"
He remembered that there was a direction on the left that might be a ventilation hole or a back door!
The two men stumbled as they moved in the thick smoke, with bullets whizzing past them from time to time.
"Bang!" Another gunshot was heard, but the sound was extremely dull, as if a silencer was used.
Immediately afterwards, a short and shrill scream came from the viper in the corner!
Gu Jing's heart trembled! Their goal was to silence him!
He fired two shots in the direction of the scream, but the smoke was so thick that he couldn't tell whether he hit the target or not.
"Let's go!" Qin Xiao had also reached the area at some point, his voice filled with suppressed coughs and anger. "Damn it, we missed a move! We can't stay here anymore!"
He fired blindly towards the back door he remembered, and called out to his men, "Retreat through the back door! Quick!"
Violent coughing, chaotic footsteps, and sporadic gunshots mixed together in the thick smoke.
Gu Jing and 739 followed Qin Xiao's blurry figure, struggling to break through the dense gas smoke, and suddenly knocked open an inconspicuous metal door that was half-hidden by the cargo box!
Outside the door was an even darker, more chaotic alleyway behind the warehouse, filled with discarded building materials and garbage.
The cold, fresh air rushed into their lungs, causing a violent cough, but it also temporarily freed them from the deadly gas.
"This way!" One of Qin Xiao's men led the way, and several of them ran wildly along the alley! Sporadic gunfire and shouting could still be heard from the warehouse behind them. It was obvious that the people left behind by Qin Xiao were still struggling to hold on.
They ran for who knows how many blocks until they could no longer hear the gunshots behind them. Then they stopped in a dead corner filled with rotten wooden boxes, propped up their knees, gasping for breath, coughing, tears and snot streaming down their faces, looking in a miserable state.
Qin Xiao counted the number of people. Including himself, Gu Jing, and 739, only four people had escaped. The other two men and Viper were probably in grave danger.
"Zhou Liguang..." Qin Xiao wiped his face, his eyes flashing with an extremely dangerous light in the darkness, "Good, very good! The feud is over!"
He looked at Gu Jing. Even in such an embarrassing situation, Gu Jing's eyes were still frighteningly cold, as if the life-and-death experience he had just had was just a trivial episode.
"It seems your uncle doesn't want to give you this 'surprise' opportunity." Qin Xiao panted and sneered, "He took the initiative."
Gu Jing didn't respond to his teasing, but asked calmly: "Backup plan?"
Qin Xiao took a deep breath, suppressed his surging anger, and said quickly: "There is more than one safe house. Follow me. Damn, luckily I have a trick up my sleeve."
He identified the direction and took the remaining three people to sneak into the maze-like, dark streets of Redmayne again.
The night is thick, like ink that cannot be dissolved.
In the first battle, they suffered heavy losses and were almost wiped out.
Zhou Liguang's ruthlessness and decisiveness far exceeded expectations.
But the cold fire in Gu Jing's eyes burned even more fiercely.
This hunt has just begun.
And he had already smelled the scent of prey.
The second safehouse was hidden even deeper, beneath the old town of Redmayne. The entrance was through a hidden door in the cold storage at the back of a 24-hour laundry that rarely saw customers. The air was damp and cold, a mixture of bleach, old fabric, and a faint hint of rust. The space was smaller than the previous one, but the structure seemed more solid.
The four remaining men sat or stood, the atmosphere oppressive. The frustration of losing both their men and the key witness, Viper, hung like an invisible smear on everyone's minds.
Qin Xiao checked the only gun he had brought with him, a handful of ammunition, his face grim in the dim light. One of his men was bandaging a minor scrape on his arm, while another was vigilantly guarding the secret door to the laundry room.
739 handed Gu Jing a bottle of water and whispered, "Mr. Gu, are you okay?"
Gu Jing shook his head, took a sip of the water, and the cold water flowed down his throat, still burning from the tear gas. His gaze fell on a pile of seemingly discarded debris in the corner. His eyes were as sharp as ever, without a trace of panic, as if the near-death encounter he had just escaped was just a small part of his plan.
"How could Zhou Liguang be so fast?" Qin Xiao suddenly spoke, his voice filled with suppressed anger and a hint of subtle doubt. "Even if there was a tracker, his reaction and the speed with which he mobilized his forces were ridiculously fast. It's like... it's like he knew we were going to that warehouse and had a knife ready and waiting."
He raised his head, his eyes sweeping over Gu Jing and 739, and finally landing on his two men. His eyes became somewhat unpredictable: "Unless, not only does he know that the Viper is in our hands, but he also roughly guessed what we would pry out of the Viper's mouth, and even... guessed our first destination."
The implication in these words made the air freeze instantly.
Is there a traitor?
Or, were their whereabouts anticipated by the other party from the very beginning?
739 subconsciously tensed his body. Qin Xiao's two men also stopped their movements and looked at each other with alert eyes.
Gu Jing slowly put down the water bottle.
"It wasn't the mole." His voice was calm, breaking the suffocating suspicion. "It was that anonymous letter."
Qin Xiao frowned: "What do you mean?"
"The first anonymous letter attracted Interpol. Their goal was clear: to kill with a borrowed knife and eliminate us and the antibodies together. The second anonymous letter disrupted the situation at a critical moment. It seemed to help us out, but in fact..." Gu Jing's eyes were as cold as ice, "It muddied the waters even further, drawing everyone's attention to us and Redmayne even faster."
He looked at Qin Xiao. "The sender knows full well that Interpol's involvement will only force you to mobilize Redmayne's base more quickly, interrogate Viper more quickly, and... find Zhou Liguang more quickly."
"And Zhou Liguang, or the people behind him, may have also received some kind of 'hint,'" Gu Jing continued his analysis, his logic eerily clear. "They don't need to know the exact location. Just knowing that we've arrived and that we're carrying Vipers is enough to make them alert, set up a tight net, and wait for us. The tracker is just a safety measure to confirm our location."
Qin Xiao's expression darkened completely. He slowly stood up straight. "So, the guy who sent the second letter didn't want to help us at all? He wanted to... speed up the collision? Force us to fight Zhou Liguang to the death?"
"When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits." Gu Jing spat out eight cold words.
The person behind this is a ruthless person. He not only wants to get rid of the antibodies and Qin Zhengfeng's inheritance, but he may also want to take advantage of the conflict between Zhou Liguang and Qin Xiao (including Gu Jing) to clear all obstacles in one fell swoop and sit on the Diaoyutai.
"Damn it!" Qin Xiao kicked an empty iron bucket nearby, making a loud clang. "I'm being used as a gun!"
He took a few deep breaths, his eyes becoming fierce. "Okay, great! You all want to play, right? Then let's play a big one!"
He glanced at Gu Jing fiercely. "Zhou Liguang must be thinking we've suffered heavy losses, and now he's become frightened and is hiding away to lick his wounds. Now that he's got the Viper's body (if there's still one), he thinks he's eliminated the direct evidence, so he'll relax a little and continue his activities."
"Old Lighthouse," Gu Jing said, understanding Qin Xiao's meaning. The most dangerous time might also be when the other party is most relaxed.
"That's right!" Qin Xiao's face showed a crazy and resolute smile. "The place he is most likely going to right now is the old lighthouse! To confirm the backup of his treasure, or prepare to move! We have to do the opposite and go there now! Catch him off guard!"
"We're short on manpower," Gu Jing pointed out. Including him and 739, there were only four of them left, and they had just been through a fierce battle.
"That's enough." Qin Xiao's eyes flashed with a desperate glint, "We're not going to storm. We're going to steal the house. Too many people will only get in the way."
He quickly walked to the wall and pulled open a hidden panel. Inside was a small munitions storage area with several pistols, spare magazines, daggers, and even two lightweight bulletproof vests and some special equipment, such as grappling hooks and micro-blasting ropes.
"Pick whatever is convenient for you." Qin Xiao said to his men and Gu Jing, "We will set off in ten minutes."
He picked up a bulletproof vest and threw it to Gu Jing: "Put it on. You are the key 'prop' now, don't die easily."
Gu Jing took the vest and put it on without refusing. 739 also quietly selected a more suitable submachine gun and a few magazines.
Qin Xiao looked at Gu Jing's profile as he calmly checked his equipment. He suddenly leaned in close and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Master Gu, we're really in the same boat now. Zhou Liguang isn't the only one watching us from behind. Wait... don't be soft-hearted."
Gu Jing raised his eyes and met his gaze, his eyes were deep and unfathomable: "I also give this sentence to you."
Ten minutes later, the laundry room's back door quietly opened a crack. As if blending into the shadows of the night, the four of them slipped silently into Redmayne's intricate, dingy, and dim back alleys, quickly heading towards the long-abandoned "Old Lighthouse" perched atop the sea cliffs.
The night wind blew through the narrow alley, carrying an ominous whimpering sound.
The real hunt officially begins at this moment.
The identities of hunter and prey may be reversed in the next second.
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