It wasn’t only Heng, the rest of the team looked surprised.
The moment they arrived at China, they had had the feeling of being in a time warp. Scenes which were seen in movies came before their eyes such as the mafias. They were aware this timeline was in the 1940s but they were either in the U.S. or Egypt before so they never thought of it. Coming to China gave them the sensation of dissonance like putting a Peking opera performer on an European opera stage.
Zheng turned to Xuan who nodded back and said. “Since Qingbang is gathering their members, we might as well make a big scene. Heng, ChengXiao and Zero… just take them down and break their arms and legs. It’s fine if you accidentally kill some. But you don’t have to push them too far. The most important thing is your safety. You can start.”
And then the incident amplified.
“… Yes. Yes. That’s just a rumor. How can it be possible that three people beat several hundreds into the hospital? Don’t worry, Mr. Li. Shanghai is in a storm. The people of China should calm themselves and help the country stabilize Shanghai. Be assured we will notify you of new information as soon as it comes up. We will protect the safety of your section of the city.”
A fat man in police uniform put down the phone and wiped the sweat on his face. But before he got a chance to breath, the phone rang again. His hand stopped halfway reaching for the phone then he ran out of the room.
“Damn it. Where is Old Li’s team? Why hasn’t there been any message?” The fat man opened the door and shouted. All the cops outside halted their actions.
This was a major police station in Shanghai, bordering several foreign establishments. So it required a great deal of connection to take the position as the chief.
The fat man always held his heads up unless there was a foreigner in front of him. Not many of his own kind would he care to give a second look. However, he looked agitated at this moment. A rumor spread throughout Shanghai this morning regarding the appearance of a group of unknown people. Qingbang’s leader was killed right before they appeared and the gang members were cleaning the other gangs in the city. So they assumed this group was related to the murder. Four hundred gang members gathered to capture this group of under twenty people.
The rumors took a sharp turn toward fantasy at this point. The group only sent three people out and beat down the four hundred gang members, killing sixty nine in the process, critically injuring a hundred and forty three, and the rest were all disabled. This wasn’t a feat any group with single digit people could accomplish. The aftermath of the place looked like a small scale battle had took place. If it were indeed three people who did this, the only possibility was that they knew kungfu.
(Kungfu? What a joke. The wars against other countries have proven that kungfu is nothing more than lies passed from the past. Japan wouldn’t have occupied Shanghai if kungfu exists.)
Fat man laughed at himself. He would never dare to speak these words out. Instead, he would praise Chinese kungfu when people asked. He would even praise the Japanese army when he had to. He was willing to do anything to survive.
Following the rumor and large number of QIngbang members coming into the hospital, most people in Shanghai who held power knew of the incident, including foreigners. The fight took place within the fat man’s station’s jurisdiction.
While the fat man vented at the police, one of them said, “Chief, didn’t you send Li’s team to look for Qingbang’s heads? It’s only eleven. I think they should be back at twelve. We also have portraits of the three people based on the Qingbang members’ descriptions. Do you want to take a look?”
Fat man hurried over to the cop and took over the portraits. These were sketched with pencil and resembled the actual people quite well. He gave a cold laugh and said, “I thought they had three heads and six arms. They look just like normal people. What do people think of them? Mythologies? This rumor is way exaggerated.”
Just then, several cops entered the station in slow motion. Fat man was going to yell when he noticed these cops were backing into the room. Right after them, two young men in unique clothes walked in. One man had a smile on his face and the other carried a silver bow on his back.
“Hoho, Heng. I remember reading a psychology introduction book that said men’s minds are always filled with fantasies. Many are related to sex, violent, and death. Like how many people they have killed, had sex with whatever movie stars, robbed the bank, or break into a police station. Never thought we actually end up breaking into a police station.” ChengXiao giggled.
Heng shrugged. “I don’t have such dirty fantasies, at least not the sex.”
ChengXiao laughed at him. “Oh please. I know your Achilles heel… Aren’t you wanting to please that girl? Look at your face. You won’t get her to change her mind in ten years like this. When a woman changed, crying and begging would only push her away faster. A woman that has changed her heart will never be the same again. You need a different way to save this relationship.”
Heng stopped and hurriedly asked. “What way? Please, dude. You got to help me.”
ChengXiao laughed with pride. “Now you are begging me just like I said. Please me and I will tell you after this mission. Haha. It might not work 100% but at least nine out of ten times. And thank me. Haha.”
As the two stepped into the police station, fat man shouted, “What are you two doing here? Didn’t I tell you to kick all the irrelevant people out? Hurry up and kick these two out of the station…” His voice halted when he noticed these two people looked familiar, like he had seen them not long ago. His eyes glanced down at the portraits and all the words became stuck in this throat.
Fat man just then noticed the cops who backed into the room looked beaten. Their faces were red and swollen. One person’s arm was hanging there as though it was broken. Fat man’s heart instantly skipped a beat. The police were a government force and had guns in hand so not many people dared to provoke them. For these two people to come pick a fight at the police station, they were definitely more than just their looks.
Fat man cleared his throat but ChengXiao spoke before he did. “I heard that newspapers in Shanghai are regulated by the government. You only allow publishing of normal news, right?”
Fat man was not a fast thinker. His mind went blank from the change in topic. Then ChengXiao threw a bag onto his desk. He subconsciously opened the bag without thinking and was blinded by a golden shine. The bag was filled with gold bars weighting at least five kilograms. He swallowed as did the surrounding cops. They had seen bribery but never one like this.
Fat man still put on an act and said, “I won’t…”
ChengXiao waved his hand with a smile. “Don’t turn us down so fast. Our second in command told me if you turn us down, we should kill everyone in this police station and look for the next one. Our goal is to start a storm anyway. Do you still want to turn us down?”
Heng asked in a low voice. “Who’s the second in command?”
“Of course Xuan, that psychopath…”