Vol 3 Book 3 Chapter 15 (1/2)

Book 3 Chapter 15 – Prey

Original and most updated translations are from volare. Please don’t read elsewhere and stop supporting theft.

“Alright, this place seems isolated enough.” Li Yiming said after following the mobsters around for awhile in the alleyway. It had been a few minutes since he had seen the last pa.s.ser-by.

“What do you mean, Mr. Li?” Huang Fei looked around and asked. ‘He knows our intentions, I wonder what he’s up to?’

“Yang He, did they threaten you?” Li Yiming inched closer to the boy so that he can protect the young boy if a fight was ever to break out.

“Did you know from the start that my bracelet was an artifact?” Yang He, who stayed quiet the whole time, suddenly raised his head to look at Li Yiming. His timidity and reluctance had been replaced by bitterness.

“What?” Li Yiming was surprised.

“Stop pretending. I know that people like this don’t exist. You gave me fifteen thousand extra because you felt bad about swindling a child, didn’t you?” Yang He could not hold it in anymore.

“Did they tell you that?” Li Yiming’s heart shook: he could not believe that what he perceived to be a timid yet strong-hearted child could stare at him so venomously.

Huang Fei kept his smile and backed off slightly. The mobsters spread around and surrounded Liu Meng and Li Yiming. Some of them had already begun to take out the metal rods they had concealed in old journals.

“No one told me anything. Don’t think that I’m an idiot. I’m not selling my bracelet anymore. Give me back my bracelet, I’ll give you back the money.” Yang He said with heavy breathing and flushed cheeks. He looked like someone who was rightfully angry at being deceived.

Li Yiming did not know what to say. He looked at the young man in front of him. ‘Is this… human nature?’

“Mr. Li, I’m not going to waste your time. I know that you sold the bracelet, so you can’t return it anymore. Just give us the money, and we’ll leave it at that, okay?” Huang Fei proposed to the two while keeping his smile, as if he was a fair mediator of the conflict.

“Hey, we didn’t force you to sell it, did we?” Liu Meng spat out angrily. She did not care so much for Yang He’s betrayal, only it hurt her to see Li Yiming’s goodwill be trampled on like that.

“My mother needs the money to stay in the hospital, and yet you’re preying on a defenseless child? That’s inexcusable,” Yang He retorted.

“You…” Liu Meng’s anger boiled, and she was about to say something, but Li Yiming stopped her with a pat on the shoulder.

“Just tell me what you want,” Li Yiming suppressed his rage and answered in a calm voice. He had to repeat the thought in his head. ‘This is a domain, not reality… This is a domain, not reality…’

“Give the money back to Yang He. As for swindling him, you can give us your bracelet and the ring on that girl’s finger.” Huang Fei took a step forward in an effort to intimidate Li Yiming.

“Oh? You want my bracelet?” Li Yiming suddenly burst into laughter. His odd reaction brought an ominous feeling to Huang Fei. ‘This guy is way too calm, smiling in this kind of situation. But the reward… d.a.m.n it, I’ll never get anything if I don’t risk it. At worst I’ll just run away after this and find another place to prosper.’

“Well, since we’re all here, you’d have to pay for our… displacement, wouldn’t you?” Huang Fei thought about the worst-case scenario and firmed his tone. He also started to look at Liu Meng in an effort to hint at the consequences of his demands not being fulfilled.

“You’ve gone mad from being poor, haven’t you?” Liu Meng was very uncomfortable from being looked at like that. She glared menacingly at Huang Fei and put her arms in front of her chest.

“Little girl, if I told you that I’d strip you naked and hang you from that pole, would you believe me?” Huang Fei looked at Liu Meng with undisguised l.u.s.t.

“And I’m telling you that this is a toy, how about that?” Li Yiming said coldly.

Huang Fei froze. He looked at the gun barrel pointed at his forehead. ‘A gun? Wait a second, in our country? Do you think this is a movie?’ A defiant smile appeared on Huang Fei’s lips. “Do you think that I’ll be scared that easily? I…”

Bang!

Instead of bickering further, Li Yiming aimed at Huang Fei’s leg and pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot, untempered by a silence, resounded in the alley way. It was immediately followed by an ear-piercing scream from Huang Fei. His followers backed off as soon as they saw what happened, and Yang He fell to the ground in the scare of the moment.

“How about now?” Li Yiming moved back his gun to Huang Fei’s forehead and repeated calmly. The screeches of pain were cut short.

Bang!

Another gunshot. Another gun appeared in Li Yiming’s left hand, and, this time, the bullet flew into one of the mobsters who thought that it would be a good idea to attack him from behind. The mobster fell onto the ground with a silent thud.

“That’s what I thought, not even scared of death,” Li Yiming said coldly. He could no longer repress his anger. His goodwill had been rewarded with this, and he thought that it was very ironic that just a moment earlier he was thinking about finding Yang He and repaying the favor.

“Tell me, did he come to you, or did you find him?” Li Yiming looked at Yang He, very disappointed. He wanted to know the answer to his question for he had a last sliver of hope.

“He… he came to us.” Huang Fei said in a trembling voice. ‘A real gun! And he just killed someone. Who is this guy?”

“Really?” Li Yiming was disappointed. He turned around to look at Yang He, who was so frightened that he sat on the ground dumbly without being able to do anything.

“Yes, yes! The man who came with him also said that if we can take your ring and your bracelet, he’d give me ten million. Don’t kill me please, I was just following orders!” Huang Fei hurriedly explained.

“The man who came with him?” Li Yiming was shocked by the revelation. Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind come from behind. He wrapped around Liu Meng and dragged her down onto the ground.

Bang!

A gunshot. But Li Yiming was not the one who fired. One of the mobsters behind Liu Meng fell to the ground, and the rest scattered away with panicked screams.

‘Sniper?’ Li Yiming peeked at the direction from which the noise came. It was the building facing them.

“Stay here.” Li Yiming yelled to Liu Meng and climbed onto the fence at the end of the alleyway. He dashed toward the entrance of the building.