Chapter 094: A Deal Before Death

Song Kai was standing on the rooftop when he heard Guo Jianglong say those words, and he froze for an instant.

“Do you recognize me?” Song Kai said, frowning.

Guo Jianglong was kneeling on the ground, blood on his wrists and across his stomach.
Yet his face kept the faintest of smiles.
He drew in a long breath and said, “You… come down. I want to make a deal with you.”

Just then Wu Hongying came over. “Enough of your smooth talk, Guo Jianglong. We all know who you are now.”

“Ying sister, step back!” Song Kai said at once, turning to her. “Move back! Don’t you remember he’s left-handed!”

Wu Hongying stopped in surprise.

Guo, still on the ground, smiled even more happily. He slowly reached out with his left hand, and there in his palm was a silver-gray pistol—an exquisitely crafted piece, clearly hand-finished and polished to precision.

“If I had wanted to kill her, she would have died the moment she shot me,” Guo said, and blood began to seep from the corner of his mouth. “I only wanted… to speak about your father’s death.”

With those words, the pistol in his left hand fell to the floor. He lifted his left hand to show he meant no threat.

Song Kai dropped down and landed beside him.

“Do you still know my father?” Song asked, looking at Guo.

Guo nodded, then glanced at Wu Hongying. “Officer, your shooting is excellent. You’re not from the local station, are you?”

Wu gave a cold snort.

“I need to speak to Song Kai,” Guo continued, his voice still steady and firm despite his wounds. “Can you… step aside first?”

Wu raised her brows and looked at Song.
Song waved her off. “Ying sister, stay farther back. If something happens to me, just kill him.”

“Fine.”

Wu moved back twenty-odd meters and stood at the alley mouth.

Guo coughed a few times. “I don’t have much time. Song Kai, there’s a photo in my pocket. Take it out.”

Song Kai frowned, but he did as told.

In the photo were three people seated around a round table, each holding a glass, as if they had been talking.
It was a hidden-shot photograph.

Of the three, two were in profile, one faced away from the camera.

And among those two profile figures, Song Kai recognized one at once as Master Shengxu of the Sacred Wasteland.

Guo said, “The people you’re looking for are them. Song Kai, the one with his back to the camera is Ding Zhe. The other is Master Shengxu. And the other is Zhang Wuyie, the renowned elder of the Seeking Dragon Hall. I’m sorry, I couldn’t get a clear shot of Ding Zhe’s face.”

Song Kai’s mind flashed with questions. He had never imagined Master Shengxu could have known Ding Zhe, and that Zhang Wuyie was none other than the former leader of the previous Xunlong unit.

But that was no longer the core. The true question was: why had he carried this photo on his person?

Song Kai looked at him. “Why were you carrying this photo? Have you been investigating me all this time?”

“Song Kai,” Guo said, “your parents were killed by Ding Zhe because they discovered secrets of Ding Zhe’s company… c-cough. At first, Ding Zhe and your parents were cooperating, hoping to tap your father’s resources. But then your father noticed something, and Ding Zhe had to brutally kill your parents and disappear.”

Song Kai held the photo. “You still haven’t answered why you carried it.”

Guo gave a grim smile. “There are many things you do not know. But you and my enemies are the same: Ding Zhe. Ding Zhe is tied to a dark web mercenary organization. You don’t know the dark web—I don’t have time to explain it.”

“I do.” Song Kai said. “Just tell me what matters. I know more than you think.”

Guo looked at him, astonished, then nodded. “Good. I hope you’ll prove to be trustworthy. I want you to know this: Liu Qian has already been marked. The dark web mercenaries are after her. Liu Qian’s heart is what they want. But on the employer’s side, the operation date has not been fixed yet, so the time they will kill her… cannot be… certain yet.”

By the end, Guo had to kneel there; he could barely hold himself up, blood flowing heavily.

He grabbed Song Kai’s hand, still smiling. “Song Kai, promise me—you protect… Liu Qian, protect them. Do not let Ding Zhe… get the upper hand again. Ding Zhe killed your father. Now they are waiting… waiting for the employer’s order. Once the surgery begins on that side, they will… move. Protect her.”

Song Kai drew a deep breath. As he looked at Guo, many pieces finally snapped into place.

“Then why didn’t you hide Liu Qian?” he asked.

“Useless… useless. Dark web mercenaries are everywhere. Only by striking first, only by finding them… and killing them… I… I said we had a deal.” Guo fixed him with his eyes.

Song Kai nodded. “Even if what you gave me is of little use to me, I promise I’ll do everything I can to protect her.”

Guo laughed—this time with true joy. “Song Kai, go… go to where I live. In the northeast corner of the wall, dig down… ten meters. That thing, I’m giving it to you. It is the fruit of my life’s labor. Song Kai, protect Liu Qian well. And my death… my death must stay secret, because… other traffickers will come… to trouble her. Remember this—what lies there is important in Yanjing City… very… important.”

As Guo spoke, his hand slowly loosened.

Then his left hand dropped to the ground with a heavy sound.

Thus died a drug lord of fearsome renown.

Wu Hongying was already walking this way.

At the same time, from the front of the villa two figures came running toward them. It was Liu Qian and Liu Qiang.

Liu Qian came bursting out, and from far off let out a roaring cry, like a lioness.

“Ah!”

Her angry scream tore through the air. She ran so fast she dropped to her knees at once, collapsing beside Guo.

“Liu sister…” Song Kai tried to say.

“Ah! Get out! Get out!” Liu Qian seemed to understand everything. She screamed like a madwoman.

She knelt there, clutching Guo’s head with both hands. Blood streaked her clothes, but she did not care. She screamed and wept like someone gone wild with grief.

Song Kai was stunned. He stood still, uncertain what to do.

Liu Qian kept screaming, unable to accept it. Then all at once her breath failed; she fainted.

“Sister! Older sister!” Liu Qiang, shaken, rushed to shake her.

By then Liu Ying arrived too, still in her sleeping gown.

Song Kai looked at Liu Qian, then at Liu Ying and Liu Qiang. “Take your sister inside. She’s too shaken and has fainted for now. Let her recover first. I’ll handle what’s here, then come find you.”

“Okay, Song Kai, and those police…” Liu Qiang was still dazed.

Song felt a sudden heaviness rise in him. He waved her off. “You go back first.”

Liu Qiang and Liu Ying supported Liu Qian and took her away.

Song Kai turned to Wu Hongying. “I’ve got this damn feeling that I’m becoming a bad man, Ying sister. I don’t even know how I’m supposed to enter that house now.”

Wu Hongying patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Then listen to this, just as Guo said. Ying sister, please promise me to take his body back in secret and close the case quietly, no rumors. It was Guo’s request to me, and I beg you to accept it.”

Wu Hongying nodded. “Don’t worry, I can decide this. And that gun is yours.” She pointed to the silver-gray refined pistol lying on the ground, the one that had been in Guo’s hand.

Song Kai nodded and tucked it away.

Wu Hongying thought a moment, then asked, “What did he tell you before he died?”

“Not yet,” Song sighed.

“Fine, you needn’t tell me. But no matter what kind of man you think Guo was, I have to tell you: he was the number one drug lord on the border, a man whose hands are stained with blood beyond cleansing. The number of people he killed on the border—our fighters and innocent border residents—was in the thousands.”

Her voice had turned sharp.

Song Kai gave her a light smile. “Ying sister, I understand. You needn’t worry. On matters of right and wrong, I’m no fool. You can go now. I need to speak to the Liu sisters and apologize.”

Wu Hongying gestured with her hand, and quickly the body lying on the ground was lifted away.

Song Kai looked toward Liu Qian’s house and sighed. Damn, this is the cursed feeling of going undercover.

With that thought, Song Kai stepped inside the house.