Chapter 329 — How Could Wei Zhao Bear It?

Their own man — their own brother, and he had suddenly turned traitor, putting a bullet right through their leader's skull! Could someone please tell them what in the world was going on?

And so, while they stood there paralyzed, still gaping and utterly unable to comprehend how the situation had turned, Wei Zhao clamped the cool chick under one arm, scooped up Xie Jinbiao with the other, and bolted like a shot.

By the time they snapped back to their senses and realized something was wrong, Wei Zhao was already out of the repair shop and standing at the mouth of the alley where he had parked. He wrenched open the car door, dumped the cool chick onto the back seat, and told Xie Jinbiao to climb into the passenger seat on his own...

Xie Jinbiao's legs had gone completely to jelly. He had always known that in this little blue town, robbery and murder were practically everyday occurrences — but those were just stories he had heard, things that never happened to him. This time, though, it was a real, genuine gunfight happening right beside him. And if Wei Zhao had not reacted fast enough, Xie Jinbiao figured he would be a dead man by now...

"Get in the car. What are you dawdling for? If you're not getting in, I'm leaving!" Wei Zhao shot Xie Jinbiao an impatient look when he saw the man standing frozen by the open door, making no move to climb in.

"Big... big brother, my legs won't hold me. Could you, uh, give me a hand...?" Xie Jinbiao said cautiously, his face twisted into a miserable grimace. He did not dare provoke Wei Zhao anymore. This guy was a hard case through and through — he had not only dropped a Water Blue Gang leader with a single shot, but under the chaos of a full-blown firefight he had still managed to carry Xie Jinbiao and a wounded girl to safety. Was that something an ordinary person could pull off?

Wei Zhao strode over, swung his leg, and kicked Xie Jinbiao bodily into the car. He slammed the shut, climbed back behind the wheel, and drove off at speed.

Not long after Wei Zhao left, a whole convoy of Water Blue Gang vehicles rolled out... By that time, Wei Zhao had already parked the car in the rear lot of the hotel where he was renting a room.

Yang Qiqi had regained consciousness by now. After taking a bullet in the shoulder, she had bled steadily even as she forced herself through the pain and fled toward the door... Then, as if her luck were not bad enough, a second round struck her leg. The instant she was hit, her knees buckled and she crashed to the ground. Between the blood she had already lost and the fall, she had passed out clean away.

Yang Qiqi's sheer willpower was, it had to be said, far beyond that of an ordinary person. Even after losing so much blood, she had not sunk into total unconsciousness — she was still capable of waking up. In fact, she had been semi-conscious for some time already, ever since Wei Zhao had picked her up and slung her under his arm. Only her feelings were complicated.

He had saved her life once more. She owed him too great a debt. Could she still bring herself to kill him? And so, despite having woken up, Yang Qiqi had no choice but to feign sleep.

"Take my room card and go upstairs. Don't let anyone see anything they shouldn't." Wei Zhao handed the key card to Xie Jinbiao, then added flatly, "If somebody spots you and you end up dead, don't come crying to me."

"Ah... alright..." Xie Jinbiao did not want to go upstairs alone, but he knew there was no point dragging his feet. Wei Zhao would not pay him any mind. Behind them sat a female assassin of unknown relationship to Wei Zhao — and since Wei Zhao was not volunteering information, Xie Jinbiao did not dare ask questions. He took the card with trembling hands and began shuffling toward the hotel entrance.

"Wait. Take that hat off." Wei Zhao pointed at the blue baseball cap perched on Xie Jinbiao's head.

Wearing that cap upstairs was bound to draw the attention of the hotel staff. And if the Water Blue Gang really did turn up here to search the premises later on, it could prove awkward if a waiter happened to mention the man in the blue cap.

"Right... right!" Xie Jinbspiao pulled the cap off at once. He had reached the same conclusion on his own, and a chill of after-the-fact terror ran through him. Clearly, he was still no match for Wei Zhao when it came to caution and attention to detail.

"Go on up by yourself. Use the back entrance, and try not to let anyone see you," Wei Zhao said coolly.

At this point, the Water Blue Gang would almost certainly have no idea that Xie Jinbiao had already been rescued. Their attention would be entirely fixed on pursuing the female assassin and the gang "traitor" — that is, Wei Zhao himself. Still, one could never be too careful.

"I understand. I'll be careful!" Some feeling had returned to Xie Jinbiao's legs, though they were still a bit unsteady. But he did not dare refuse to move. He was afraid that if he disobeyed, Wei Zhao would truly wash his hands of him and leave him here to die.

Only once Xie Jinbiao had disappeared into the hotel did Wei Zhao turn back to the car. "Still alive? If so, tell me where you're staying!"

"The Ken River Hotel..." A trace of cool, understated gratitude squeezed itself onto Yang Qiqi's pale face. "Thank you..."

"No need for thanks. Just don't try to kill me next time, and we'll call it even." Wei Zhao was entirely unmoved by the cool chick's gratitude.

"Could you turn on the reading light? I want to dig the bullet out first..." Yang Qiqi knew that if she went back to the Ken River Hotel looking like this, it would certainly attract attention. She wanted to remove the bullet and stanch the bleeding first, then throw a coat over her night-operation gear to cover it up.

"And the reading light won't attract attention?" Wei Zhao was practically ready to start cursing. "Who trained you? And you call yourself an assassin — how is it that nobody has managed to kill you yet?"

"I..." Yang Qiqi's cheeks flushed crimson, and she glared at Wei Zhao with fury in her cool eyes. "You're not allowed to talk about my master! I... this is only my second mission. Mama always said, people grow slowly through their failures..."

"The second time?" Wei Zhao was speechless. "Then that time in Songshan City was the first?"

"Mm..." Yang Qiqi gave a hum barely audible and nodded.

"You... what am I supposed to do with you!" Wei Zhao was about to lose his mind. "Now I finally understand why you're still alive — because you ran into me both times. Otherwise you'd have been dead long ago..."

Only two missions ever assigned, and wounded twice. Was there ever a killer this hopeless? Well? Was there?

Wei Zhao was running out of words. This cool little girl was something else — all that aloof attitude on the outside, and underneath she was a total weakling.

"It's not that bad, really. Just a bit of bad luck..." Yang Qiqi lowered her head, a little embarrassed.

"I'd say I'm the one with worse luck!" Wei Zhao laughed bitterly. "I honestly don't know who let you out to run missions. Your street smarts are basically zero..."

"I... everyone's young once. If you never get tempered, how are you supposed to get strong?" Yang Qiqi shot back coolly.

"Fine, call it my bad luck. Where did the bullet hit you? I'll dig it out." Wei Zhao did not dare turn on the reading lamp; that would only draw curious onlookers.

"My right shoulder and my left shin..." Yang Qiqi said quietly.

"Give me your dagger. It's clean, isn't it?" Wei Zhao took the dagger Yang Qiqi handed him, glanced at it, and asked.