Chapter 57 — The Attack

That evening, at Yang Dashan's invitation, Bao Lin and Hou Lin attended a banquet, and host and guests alike drank their fill and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Flanked by several trusted bodyguard underlings, Bao Lin and Hou Lin arrived at the parking lot outside the hotel entrance.

All at once, two figures came hurtling out of the darkness from different directions, making straight for Bao Lin.

"Watch out, Brother Bao!" Hou Lin, a retired special forces soldier after all, had lightning-fast reflexes. The moment he spotted the danger, he yanked Bao Lin aside and dodged clear.

Fast as Hou Lin's reaction was, the two figures adjusted even faster, abruptly changing course to strike in the direction Hou Lin had fled.

Yet it was precisely Hou Lin's warning that put the surrounding bodyguard underlings on their guard. Spotting the scene unfolding before them, they rushed one after another to meet the two dark shapes.

The underlings charged with protecting Bao Lin were the pick of the crop, and every one of them had been personally drilled by Hou Lin; their kung fu was no mean thing. But against these two figures, they found themselves badly outmatched.

The two figures scarcely exerted themselves. In a matter of moments, they had every last one of the underlings flat on the ground.

Bao Lin, too, had come up through street fighting. He lacked Hou Lin's technique, but there was a savage ferocity in him. By now he had grasped what was happening and joined Hou Lin in meeting the two figures head-on.

A slash—and before Bao Lin even knew what had hit him, a blade had found his body. Hou Lin rushed over to help, but the attackers were simply too fast; Hou Lin threw up an arm to block, and in an instant a gash seven or eight inches long was opened across his forearm. Now Hou Lin understood these men were no ordinary opponents. This was no ordinary brawl—they had come to take their lives, every move vicious beyond measure.

It was the first time Hou Lin had ever felt such pressure. He was no match for these men. To fight on stubbornly would be sheer folly, so the thought of retreat had already taken root in him—he would bide his time and get Bao Lin away.

Just then, a Mercedes came tearing up, and Yang Dashan thrust his head out the window and shouted, "Brother Bao! Brother Hou! Get in!"

Hou Lin seized the moment, shot Bao Lin a look, and the two of them flung open the doors and scrambled in. Though the two figures pressed in close behind, they were no match for the speed of a car.

"Phew—" Hou Lin let out a heavy breath, then looked at Bao Lin, drenched in blood beside him, and asked, "How are you?"

"I'll live. Not dead yet," Bao Lin said, clutching his lower abdomen, his face slick with sweat.

"Old Yang—the hospital, quickly!" Bao Lin ordered Yang Dashan.

"I know, I know—we're already on the way to the hospital," Yang Dashan said without pause.

"No—we can't go to the hospital." Hou Lin cut him off at once. "Back to the Nightless City."

"What?" Yang Dashan was stunned, at a loss.

Crude fellow though he was, Bao Lin caught Hou Lin's implication at once and nodded. "You've thought it through better than I have. They might come to the hospital too."

"Exactly. We don't know who these two are or what they're after. Going to the hospital now would be walking straight to our deaths," Hou Lin said.

Hearing Hou Lin's analysis, Yang Dashan broke out in a cold sweat. He was right—going to the hospital now would be handing the enemy an opportunity.

After delivering Hou Lin and Bao Lin to the Nightless City, Hou Lin told Yang Dashan to head back first. This business had nothing to do with him to begin with—no need to drag him into it.

The Nightless City naturally had doctors whose sole job was treating injuries. Every gang had them; many underlings, once wounded, could hardly go to a proper hospital.

After the doctors examined Bao Lin, they found nothing serious—the blade had pierced the abdominal cavity but missed the organs, so his life was not in danger. Only then did Hou Lin breathe easy.

The gang today—true, he himself now commanded a considerable share—but without Bao Lin, things truly would not hold together.

Leaving Bao Lin's room, Hou Lin called Yang Ce and reported what had just happened.

"What did you say? Even you were no match?" Yang Ce asked, startled.

"The other side struck too fast, and every move was vicious beyond measure. I never had a chance to attack—I could only be forced onto the defensive." Hou Lin's voice carried a note of shame.

The word "assassins" surfaced at once in Yang Ce's mind. "The men who came—what did they look like? Did you get a good look?"

"More or less." Hou Lin then gave a rough description of the two men's builds and features.

"What?" Yang Ce froze, sinking into thought. These two—he knew them all too well. They were the very men who had come after him last time.

Last time, after Yang Ce had wounded them both, they had never troubled him again. He had never expected them to resurface—and this time to go after Bao Lin.

"What is it, Brother Yang?" Hou Lin asked, puzzled.

"Nothing. These two were sent by Chongming—I'd wager," Yang Ce said, a note of doubt in his voice.

"Not certain, but it's a possibility." Hou Lin nodded.

"All right. You needn't trouble yourself over this anymore. I'll look into it quietly. Just the two of you be careful," Yang Ce instructed.

"Sorry, Brother Yang, for bringing you trouble," Hou Lin said.

"It's nothing. Not your fault. If I'm not mistaken, these two are assassins hired by Guo Jinbiao." Yang Ce spoke slowly. "It's only natural you couldn't beat them."

"What—assassins?" Hou Lin was taken aback. "Those two are assassins?"

"Only a guess, but a likely one." Yang Ce said, "Do you think any man under Guo Jinbiao could have skill like that? If he did, would he still be content as the boss of a little county town?"

"Mm, you have a point, Brother Yang." Hou Lin found himself in full agreement.

After hanging up, Yang Ce sank into thought. He had told Hou Lin to leave the matter to him, that he would handle it—but how was he to handle it?

In truth, his kung fu now was not what it had been when he last faced those men—not the same league at all. Now he could certainly subdue those two.

But being able to subdue them was one thing; the key question was how to find them. If they didn't come looking for him, where was he supposed to look?

This was the question that concerned Yang Ce most. If they never came looking for trouble with him again, then seeking them out on his own would be no different from fishing a needle from the ocean—his chances were slim to none.

He stood in the light while the enemy lurked in shadow, and that feeling sat poorly with Yang Ce. For now, the only option was to attack the problem from another angle.

Since Guo Jinbiao had been able to hire these two men, it stood to reason that they were the sort who worked for pay, and they surely had some means of contacting the outside world.

Or perhaps the two of them belonged to some mercenary outfit—that was not out of the question either. For the moment, Yang Shuoxuan could only probe in that direction. He had not yet decided whether to go to Jidun City himself and settle matters with Guo Jinbiao.

Now that Chen Shutang had learned the truth from Zhou Yanning, her resentment toward Yang Ce had dissolved entirely, for this time she had indeed wronged him.

So Chen Shutang made the first move to relent. She called Yang Ce's home. As for why she did not call his cell phone—the reason was simple: she was a girl, and though she had softened, she still had a little pride to swallow.

Calling Yang Ce's home was far easier to explain. She could say the call was for Yang Juehuan's mother, and that she had merely asked after Yang Ce in passing. "Hello, Auntie, this is Chen Shutang." Chen Shutang recognized the voice on the other end as Yang Ce's mother.