"What is going on? Why are the police chasing us?" Zhao Weixiang's face changed drastically as he saw the pursuing helicopters and speedboats.
Hong Jiao stood beside him, her expression calm as she said, "I leaked the information."
Zhao Weixiang snapped his gaze to her, grabbing her by the collar. With bloodshot eyes, he demanded, "Why? Why?"
Hong Jiao only said three words, "I am tired."
After all these years and multiple escapes with absolutely no hope in sight, she just could not hold on anymore.
Hearing this, Zhao Weixiang froze. The anger on his face gradually turned into a smile, a smile full of irony, though whether directed at Hong Jiao or himself was unclear.
"Good, very good!" He turned and strode toward the back of the cabin.
Thinking he was going for a weapon, Hong Jiao subconsciously took a half-step back.
But what Zhao Weixiang opened was not a weapons case. It was a hidden compartment disguised as floorboards, containing a set of diving gear and a black waterproof backpack.
"You..." Hong Jiao obviously had not expected this man to be so calculating, actually having a backup plan.
If he jumped into the sea wearing diving gear in the dead of night, it would be impossible to find him.
However, to her surprise, Zhao Weixiang did not choose to put on the diving gear and leave alone. Instead, he threw the waterproof backpack and diving equipment in front of her. Without any explanation, he said directly, "Two nautical miles ahead is an uninhabited reef island. Inside the backpack are a new identity, cash, and a satellite phone. When you get there, call the number I saved in it, and someone will pick you up."
Hong Jiao looked at him, then at the single set of equipment before her, suddenly feeling a deep sense of irony.
This man, who had never truly trusted anyone, was now giving her the only chance of survival. What was the meaning of this?
Seeing her dazed, Zhao Weixiang let out a soft chuckle and said, "I just do not want to run anymore."
Then he grabbed the diving gear and shoved it into her arms. "Put it on!"
"No! I won't!"
"Put it on!"
"Do you think surrendering will save your life? You have no less blood on your hands than I do; going in means the death penalty or life imprisonment! Hong Jiao, when you get to your new place, remember to live well."
Holding the heavy equipment, Hong Jiao's body trembled slightly. Only now was she truly certain that he was genuinely leaving the only way out for her.
She looked up at Zhao Weixiang again. This man she had followed for over a decade actually had a rare trace of sincerity in his eyes at this moment.
Maybe... this time he was sincere?
"Hurry! Stop talking nonsense! Put it on and go!" Zhao Weixiang urged. The speedboats were not far away now.
He grabbed her arm and dragged her to the side of the boat. "I told you to go, so go! Remember, swim east, and whatever you do, do not look back!"
Right at that moment.
Whoosh!
A blinding white light suddenly exploded above the speedboat, followed by a deafening blast!
A stun grenade!
Zhao Weixiang and Hong Jiao simultaneously felt their vision go completely white. Their ears rang incessantly, and they instantly lost their balance, falling onto the deck. Even the speedboat began to rock violently.
"Drop your weapons! Put your hands on your heads! You are surrounded!"
This time, the voice from the megaphone spoke in the Dragon Kingdom's language.
Zhao Weixiang struggled to look up. Through his blurred vision, he saw that three black speedboats had tightly surrounded them in a triangular formation. Standing on each speedboat were several figures dressed entirely in black, well-equipped, with the dark muzzles of their guns aimed directly at them.
Overhead, a helicopter hovered, its searchlight illuminating their speedboat as brightly as daylight.
These were actually all Liu Yutong's people!
Zhao Weixiang gave a miserable smile.
He was too familiar with her style: decisive, direct, and leaving no room for escape.
"Hong Jiao..."
Zhao Weixiang opened his mouth to say something, but found that Hong Jiao had already struggled to sit up on her own, her face bearing a sense of liberated calmness.
She looked at the men in black around them, then at Zhao Weixiang. "I am not running anymore. We cannot escape."
Zhao Weixiang understood her words, and his tense body suddenly relaxed.
Yes! After running for so many years, he was tired. He had run enough.
Zhao Weixiang dropped the pistol he had just drawn and slowly raised his hands.
"We surrender."
The men in black did not lower their guard. One of the speedboats slowly approached them. Then, three men in black agilely jumped onto the boat. One stood guard while the other two quickly stepped forward, cleanly and efficiently restraining Zhao Weixiang and Hong Jiao, and conducting a thorough search of them.
"Clear!" one of the men in black reported.
Soon, the speedboat carrying Liu Yutong also pulled alongside.
Under the escort of Yun Cheng and Chu Yang, she stepped onto the deck of the white speedboat.
Seeing this ridiculously young girl again, Zhao Weixiang still felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He felt he had worked hard enough, yet he could not even match up to a girl so much younger than him. Why? He really could not figure it out!
Liu Yutong first glanced at the two restrained individuals, then said to Hong Jiao, "Thank you for the coordinates."
Hong Jiao raised her head and looked at the excessively young girl in front of her, the one who could completely defeat the man beside her. She suddenly smiled. "Miss Liu, you really are very beautiful."
On the surface, it seemed she was praising Liu Yutong, but in reality, she envied her. She envied the fact that the other girl could live brightly and glamorously in the sunlight.
"Bring them aboard and escort them back," Liu Yutong ordered.
The men in black escorted Zhao Weixiang and Hong Jiao, transferring them to the speedboat used by the Ten Thousand Dragons Syndicate.
The men in black on the surrounding speedboats also gradually relaxed their guard and began to return one by one.
Everyone was thrilled to have successfully captured a key figure like Zhao Weixiang this time.
Yun Cheng and the others knew very well just how cunning and cautious Zhao Weixiang was. The most important thing was that by capturing him, they could finally find out who murdered their former boss and the cause of Miss Gao Min's father's death, allowing them to avenge the young miss and the former boss!
However, just as they were escorting Zhao Weixiang ashore, an accident occurred.
Bang!
A sudden, jarring gunshot rang out from behind them!
It did not come from the direction of anyone in the Ten Thousand Dragons Syndicate, but rather from the pitch-black sea to their side, where a small jet ski had approached them unnoticed.
The bullet's target was very clear: Zhao Weixiang!
"Watch out!"
Hong Jiao, who was closest to Zhao Weixiang, violently broke free from her captors the moment the gun went off and threw herself at Zhao Weixiang.
Thud!
Hong Jiao's body jerked violently as she collapsed onto Zhao Weixiang's back, and the two of them crashed heavily onto the hard concrete shore.
"Ambush!"
"Three o'clock, jet ski!"
"Protect the young miss!"
"Return fire!"
The Ten Thousand Dragons Syndicate reacted swiftly.
Almost simultaneous with the gunshot, Yun Cheng and Chu Yang roared the order to open fire.
The men in black instantly entered combat mode, aiming their muzzles at the suddenly appearing jet ski and unleashing a frantic barrage of bullets.
There was only a single, indistinct dark figure on the jet ski. Seeing the target fall, the figure did not hesitate for a second, immediately wrenching the steering and speeding away in flight.
Moreover, the jet ski was incredibly fast, clearly having been modified.
"Chase him!" Chu Yang was about to lead his men in pursuit.
"Stop chasing, beware of a diversion!" Liu Yutong stopped them, then quickly walked toward Zhao Weixiang and the woman who had fallen together.
Fortunately, Zhao Weixiang was unhurt. Unfortunately, a glaring patch of bright red had bloomed across Hong Jiao's chest.
The bullet had entered from her back and pierced straight through her chest.
"A doctor! Get a doctor!" Zhao Weixiang's eyes were bloodshot as he roared frantically at the men in black surrounding them.
He tried to cover the profusely bleeding wound with his hands, but he couldn't stop it. Warm blood quickly stained his palms red.
Hong Jiao's face rapidly lost its color, turning an ashen gray. Looking at Zhao Weixiang's anxious, contorted face, she forced a weak smile.
"Stop yelling... It's no use..."
"Why the fuck did you jump in front of me! Who told you to do that!"
Zhao Weixiang, a man who had always been cold-blooded, completely broke down in this moment. "You hate me! Didn't you absolutely hate my guts! Why did you take this bullet for me!"
"Brother Xiang... do you remember... in Yangcheng, during the winter... you bought a dirty little beggar..."
"You bought me... a roujiamo, it was hot... That was the most delicious thing... I've ever eaten in my entire life."
Hong Jiao's lips curled upward with great effort, as if she could taste it all over again.
Zhao Weixiang's body was trembling.
"You said... a girl as pretty as me... shouldn't have to suffer like that... You said... you could make big money, and asked me... if I was willing to go with you..."
"I said... yes."
As Hong Jiao said this, she coughed violently, bringing up bloody froth.
Seeing her like this, Zhao Weixiang tried to stop her. "Stop talking, don't say another word. I'm taking you to the hospital right now! You have to hold on! Do you hear me!"
However, Hong Jiao acted as if she hadn't heard him, continuing to speak at her own pace.
"Do you know... why... why I agreed back then?"
"Because... the way you looked at me that day... was so earnest."
"Later... I finally understood... you weren't just earnest with me... you were earnest about everything... Earnest when deceiving people, earnest when killing people... even earnest when running for your life..."
"Zhao Weixiang..." Hong Jiao called out his name one last time. There was no resentment in her voice, only exhaustion. "Living like this... aren't you tired...?"
Zhao Weixiang's vision was completely blurred by tears, and he nodded heavily.
"I am... so tired..."
"So this time, I'm telling the truth... I've thought it through, let's go somewhere no one can find us... buy a house with a yard, and I'll plant... plant gardenias everywhere for you. Isn't that your favorite scent? We..."
As he spoke, his voice abruptly stopped.
Because he saw Hong Jiao's pupils beginning to dilate. Her fiery red lips moved slightly, producing a sound that was almost inaudible.
"Have the gardenias... bloomed?"
"They've bloomed! They've bloomed! I'll take you there right now!"
Zhao Weixiang tightly embraced Hong Jiao's gradually cooling body. Holding one of her hands, he said, "We won't go to South America anymore, we'll go straight to Cancun. We'll go tomorrow—no, we'll go right now!"
Unfortunately, Hong Jiao did not respond to him this time. The hand he was gripping so tightly finally slipped loose, drained of all its strength.
"Ah!!!"
Zhao Weixiang let out a harrowing, inhuman howl. He jerked his head up, his bloodshot eyes locking onto the direction where the motorboat had disappeared. The hatred and madness in his gaze made even the surrounding members of the Wanlong Syndicate shudder!
"Jiang Yuan! Wu Kun! Fuck your ancestors!!!"
He struggled to stand up, but was firmly pinned down by the men in black beside him.
Liu Yutong walked over, crouched down, and reached out to check Hong Jiao's carotid artery. She shook her head.
Then she looked up at Zhao Weixiang and asked, "Do you know who sent the killer?"
Zhao Weixiang turned his head, his crimson eyes glaring at Liu Yutong, his face twisted with monstrous hatred!
"I know! Of course I know!"
"It's that old dog Jiang Yuan! And his white glove, Wu Kun! They're scared! They're afraid I'll spill all their dirty secrets! Hahaha... Trying to silence me? Keep dreaming!"
His laughter was shrill and deranged.
"Liu Yutong!"
"Didn't you want to know how your father died? Take me back, take me back alive! I'll tell you everything! The evidence I have, the lists I hold, all of Jiang Yuan's connections in the Dragon Kingdom and Hong Kong, and every dirty deed he's done—I'll tell you everything!"
"I just want them dead! I want Jiang Yuan and Wu Kun dead!!!"
"I need them to die!!!"
After venting his rage, Zhao Weixiang looked down again at the woman lying quietly in his arms and wept. "Why were you so foolish! You could have lived!"
Liu Yutong stood up, watching the scene before her with mixed emotions.
The sudden appearance of the assassin, Hong Jiao taking the bullet for Zhao Weixiang... everything had happened in an instant, catching them completely off guard.
Jiang Yuan. She committed the name to memory.
"Clean up the scene and take them with us."
"Cover Hong Jiao with a jacket."
One of the men in black fetched a coat from the car and draped it over Hong Jiao.
Zhao Weixiang, now utterly dead inside, no longer struggled. He let the men in black pull him up and escort him to the waiting car. His eyes remained fixed on Hong Jiao's body the entire time, right up until he was put inside the vehicle and cut off from her completely.
After they got into the cars and left.
Even Yun Cheng and Chu Yang remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Miss, that assassin just now seemed like a top-tier professional."
Liu Yutong nodded. "It seems Zhao Weixiang's capture is causing some people to lose sleep."
"Jiang Yuan... I think I've heard that name before. He seems to be a major tycoon in Hong Kong," Yun Cheng said with a hint of uncertainty.
"You remember correctly. That's him. He's quite a famous tycoon, said to have a status second only to the four major families of Hong Kong. He's a highly influential 'patriotic' businessman." When Liu Yutong said those last few words, her tone dripped with heavy sarcasm.
In her past life, she had heard of this wealthy tycoon Jiang Yuan. According to the original timeline, it would be another dozen years or so before he was finally brought to justice.
This man had always flown the banner of a patriotic businessman while investing everywhere. On the surface, he was funding construction projects, but in reality, he was frantically amassing wealth, swindling investors' money in every possible way, and later even becoming arrogant enough to fund certain rioters.
Eventually, his crimes were exposed, and he was thrown behind bars.
She hadn't expected that in this life, she would actually get the chance to go head-to-head with this guy.
Since that was the case, she would just have to announce ahead of schedule that his time was up!
