Why Are You Everywhere?

In the pitch-black night, a glaring beam of light suddenly pierced the dense woods and brush. The seemingly unremarkable three-wheeler looked as if it had cast gravity aside, tearing up the steep slope at an impossible speed. It ground through loose soil, flying across the hills. The moment the sniper on the high ground spotted the bizarre tricycle, he froze in hesitation, already considering a retreat. Yet faster than his retreat was a shadow sweeping across the sky... A bird spreading its wings! Amid the lurches and jolts, the case in Little Niuma’s cargo bed shot into the air, its handle caught firmly in Gloria's talons. The tiny bird spread her wings and took off, effortlessly dragging the long leather case that outweighed her tenfold as she dove toward Ji Jue's position. Xiao Jiu Express! "..." Shock drained the color from the sniper's face. Instinctively, he moved to raise his barrel and shoot the bird out of midair, but in that same instant, a buzzing sound made his scalp prickle with dread. His hair stood on end. On the battlefields of the Mid-Continent, that sound meant only one thing: a swarm of kamikaze drones was descending from the heavens. Cradling his rifle, he threw himself into a roll without thinking, drew a pistol from his waist, and pulled the trigger toward the source of the buzzing. Only when he clearly saw the completely harmless wreckage of a drone did a chill like falling through ice seize him. Damn it! Tossing the pistol aside, he dropped into a crouch and leveled his sniper rifle back toward the drainage ditch. That was when he saw the opened leather case tumbling from the sky, plummeting downward. The lever-action rifle falling from within had already been caught by a hand reaching out of the ditch. From that very moment, hunter and hunted traded places. "Good to see you, old friend." Holding the weapon, Ji Jue offered a heartfelt sigh of admiration. With a smile and a fluid sweep of his arm, the rifle's open magazine tube caught the bullets raining down from the leather case. A light, casual flip, and a crisp metallic click rang out. Fully loaded. Next came the joyous hour of trading sniper shots down mid— "[Fire]," he commanded. In that instant, within the resonance of Deus Ex Machina, his reflexes struck like lightning. The silent thunder erupted in a roar of fury, and a mercury bullet shrieked through the air, hurtling across the nine-hundred-and-seventy-meter expanse. Midair, it collided head-on with the bullet fired from the sniper rifle. Sparks sprayed as metal ground against metal, and the streaming mercury punched cleanly through the center. Slicing onward, the round corrected its own trajectory, carved a silver arc through the air, and plunged into the tree trunk beside the sniper! A bone-chilling dread swallowed the marksman whole. He didn't even have time to check the dull ache throbbing across his face before his instincts drove him to work the bolt and squeeze the trigger once more. Yet through his scope, Ji Jue’s rifle ejected a spent shell with another spinning flick. He reloaded in one seamless, flowing motion and raised the barrel. The outgoing bullet once again detonated the incoming round midair, leaving a lingering trail of shimmering mercury radiance in the sky. Like a drawn blade held poised to strike, it pointed straight toward the sniper hidden in the dense woods. The chill crashed over him like a tidal wave. A century-old lever-action rifle? Was this a joke? Was he even awake right now? Or had he plunged into a nightmare long ago? Drenched in sweat, the sniper pulled the trigger again, forced to seize every fleeting opening to attack. He didn't dare stop. He couldn't stop! The second he turned to run, a bullet catching him from behind would splatter his brains across the dirt. Ji Jue had dragged him into a deadly duel with no way out. His only remaining option was to hold on, to keep firing until his magazine ran dry, leaving him entirely at the other man's mercy! Thunderous booms echoed through the mountains, one after another. Like a high-noon standoff beneath a blistering western sun. Trails left by burning, vaporizing mercury flared in the darkness of the hills before slowly dispersing. Every blast of silver light brought a whip of air so agonized it felt as if it were tearing flesh from bone. Thick blood dripped down his face, seeping into his eyes. The world stained dark crimson in his sight. He didn't even dare to blink. He simply pulled the trigger on pure instinct until an empty hollow click echoed from the chamber. Out of ammo. The instant the realization struck, the emotion rising within him was, absurdly, a sense of granted amnesty—a profound relief. Ah, finally... *Bang!* The sniper rifle in his hands abruptly blew apart, twisted out of shape. A flying bullet tore into his arm, gouging a massive hole through his shoulder. Then a second, and a third, shattering his legs without claiming his life. He was left there with cruel precision, bleeding out in the dark, waiting for death. Or waiting for an agony far worse than death... Only then did a low report filter through the resonance of Deus Ex Machina: *[Reporting, Sir. Firing complete.]* *[Mission accomplished. Good work.]* Lowering the rifle, Ji Jue let out a long breath. Amid the dead silence, not a sound stirred on the scene. Those hiding in the corners didn't dare draw a breath, and even Chen Yubo, having crawled out of the drainage ditch, lay there completely drained of strength. Only Ji Jue sat quietly on the front of the Kunpeng, gazing up at the night sky. The stars were tranquil, the moonlight gentle. "What a beautiful night." He gave a faint smile and said no more. Not until the rumble of an approaching convoy echoed from the distance did Chen Yubo’s phone finally ring. Ecstatic, the young man scrambled to his feet, waving frantically toward the vehicles. The convoy stopped well back. A gaunt, white-haired man stepped out, accompanied by several youths. After checking on Chen Yubo and assessing the scene, the man—addressed as Uncle Lin—walked over to Ji Jue of his own accord. His spiritus fluctuations were coiled and contained, his steps light yet firmly planted. His eyes were sharp, but when he looked at Ji Jue, his expression held only genial warmth, entirely free of hostility. The unfamiliar Celestial Chosen extended a hand with a warm smile. "Mr. Ji, my sincere apologies. There was too much trouble tonight, so the boss couldn't pull away to come thank you in person." With that, he carefully drew a plain-looking business card from his pocket and presented it with both hands. "Before I set out, he specifically instructed me to convey his gratitude for your help tonight. Such loyalty is truly rare, and he will certainly pay a visit to express his thanks another day. "He also hopes you won't take these unexpected events to heart. Whenever you have some free time, please do honor him with your company for tea." "Of course, no problem at all." Ji Jue smiled, accepted the business card, and solemnly tucked it away in front of him. With that, both sides had completed the polite dance of civilized society. Chen Xingzhou had acknowledged the debt of saving his younger brother's life and offered a promise in return. Whether that debt could be cashed in remained to be seen, and Ji Jue had no dealings with the Wild Gathering for the time being anyway. But when compensation was brought right to his doorstep, he had no reason to turn it down. For countless people striving in vain, a seemingly ordinary slip of cardstock like this could be their dragon gate into high society. "There's another sniper up on the hill. Don't forget about him," Ji Jue pointed toward the vantage point above. "Likely military background. Watch out for booby traps on the way. If you move fast enough, he might still have a breath left in him." Uncle Lin's expression turned stern. "I will go myself." The old man's silhouette blurred like a phantom in the gloom, flickering as he scaled the high ground in just a few bounds, without showing the slightest strain. The faint rumble of an explosion sounded shortly after. Before long, he came back down carrying a corpse, tossing it to the ground with a sigh. "Already dead. Poison. But judging by the tattoos on his body, he's from the Empire. There aren't many of their kind in Yacheng, so tracking it down should be straightforward." While they were speaking, the youths who had split off earlier returned as well, escorting a despondent, ashen-faced Mu Jiang and politely seeing him into a car. One of them came up to report to Uncle Lin: "The woman is gone." Uncle Lin gave a nod, offering no comment. Before departing, Chen Yubo pushed aside the people attending to him and walked over. "I owe you big time today, Old Ji." He wrapped Ji Jue in a tight embrace, patting him firmly on the back. "If you're free sometime later, how about coming over to my place? You can pet my cats!" To be frank, Ji Jue hated trouble and truly had no interest in cats, even if they could do backflips. Yet seeing Chen Yubo's expression—and the faint, humble plea beneath it— Ji Jue sighed in the end. There was no helping it. The boss had paid him, after all, and he wasn't a bad guy either. He had already accepted the older brother's business card, so what harm was there in petting the younger brother's cats a couple of times? "Sure," Ji Jue nodded. "When the car needs maintenance, I'll drop by your place to fix it up." At that, Chen Yubo broke into a grin. It was as if nothing else that night could possibly bring him greater joy. He waved as he left. Only Ji Jue remained, sitting atop Little Niuma in the cool night breeze beneath the stars. Suddenly, a strange melancholy washed over him—the awkward feeling of slipping into a personal friendship with a client outside of working hours. No overtime pay was one thing, but tricking me into going to his place to look at cats? Something feels off about this! *** "Tell me, whenever the wind starts blowing, are we beat cops always the last to know?" More than half an hour later at a late-night street food stall, Wen Wen hung up her phone, curled her lip, and tipped back a whole pitcher of beer, downing it in one go before shaking her head with a sigh. "Who was that?" Tong Hua asked curiously. "Your brother." Wen Wen picked up a pod of edamame and said casually, "The big shots in the First Bureau are warning us patrol grunts that Yacheng's been restless lately, telling us to watch our backs on duty." "Ugh, Tong Shan, that absolute dumbass!" Tong Hua slammed the table in fury. "When we were kids, I was the one who took the fall when he broke Second Uncle's jar! And now he treats me like chopped liver?! Don't be mad, Sister Wen. When I get home, I'm giving him the cold shoulder!" "Giving him the cold shoulder won't do any good," Wen Wen chuckled, shaking her head. "An hour ago, Lei Yaoxing's men tried to put a hit on Chen Xingzhou's little brother. Lucky for him, the kid had hired a... bodyguard making some cash on the side beforehand, so he managed to keep his life." Her expression turned particularly strange when she reached the latter part of the sentence, like an officer on a vice raid spotting an acquaintance among a line of suspects squatting with their heads in their hands. It was pure, heartfelt curiosity and suspicion—*why the hell are you everywhere I look?!* "And then Chen Xingzhou isn't one to take things lying down," Wen Wen continued. "Not five minutes after it happened, Lei Yaoxing's personal accountant and driver were thrown off the tallest building in Lihua District, splattering into a bloody paste on Mingyue Square. "Right now, both sides are calling in their allies, blades drawn. It looks like an all-out brawl is about to pop off." "Huh?" Tong Hua was stunned. "Lei Wuye isn't stepping in?" As the Wild Gathering's local director and shot-caller, the name Lei Wuye had hung over the dark underbelly of Yacheng like a storm cloud for forty years. Like an apex predator ruling over the food chain, he had commanded numerous factions beneath him, turning the city's criminal underworld into an impenetrable fortress while monopolizing every scrap of profit from smuggling in Yacheng. Now his godson and his most trusted lieutenant were about to tear into each other, and he was just standing by? That made no sense at all. "And that's the biggest problem of all," Wen Wen sighed. "That old bastard Lei Wuye is on his deathbed."