Are You Addicted?

Since the day of the ambush, Gu Hai and Bai Luo Yin changed their phone numbers without delay yet again as to avoid any other unexpected surprises. Elsewhere, Bai Han Qi had also taken the initiative to purchase a new SIM card, used only for the purpose of getting in contact with his son. Over the week, the two were particularly sagacious in handling everything they did. Taking into consideration that their safety is paramount, they rarely ventured out unless an unusual situation arose. After meticulously mapping out their plan, the two were finally prepared to meet up with Gu Yang.

The three settled to meet in a private room at an exceptionally hidden restaurant to chat and dine.

 "You should get a haircut." Gu Yang said nonchalantly.   

Gu Hai lifted his head and ran his hand through his hair, unconsciously measuring the length with his fingers before speaking in an uninterested tone.

"Really, huh? I think it"s still short!

"I"m talking about Bai Luo Yin."

Hearing his name, Bai Luo Yin finally picked his head up and absent-mindedly said, "oh".

Gu Yang"s ambiguous attentiveness to such a minute detail sp.a.w.ned a blitz of jealousy within the room. Letting his eyes rest on the person beside him, Gu Hai placed his hand on the back of Bai Luo Yin"s head. With a rather stoic aura aligning the contours of his face, he gently caressed Bai Luo Yin"s hair, letting the softness play out against his skin. Tilting his head slightly to the side, allowing it to nearly touch the other boy"s head, Gu Hai deliberately said some words just for Gu Yang to hear.

"I think this hairstyle is pretty good. It"s not too long or too short. There"s no need trim so neatly."

Bai Luo Yin shot Gu Hai a glance but opted to not say anything.

"Where do you intend to go to after?" Gu Yang asked, seemingly unaffected. 

Keeping his hand on the same spot, Gu Hai racked through his thoughts for a moment. "Probably Yúnnán [1], if not, we"ll head to Tibet. In short, the further from the city, the more isolated the place, the better."

"When are you leaving?"

"After the New Year." Gu Hai said matter-of-factly, "Winter in those places is hard to endure so we won"t be leaving anytime before the New Year. It"s best to stay in this place for the time being since it"s pretty nice. Unlike the severe and dry coldness of Beijing, it"s a lot more comfortable spending the winter here."

Seemingly apathetic, Gu Yang cast Bai Luo Yin a glance. His voice was calm and collected as he spoke, "Are you guys planning on celebrating the New Year here?"

Scooting closer, Gu Hai snuggled his arm around Bai Luo Yin"s shoulder and cheerfully said, "Isn"t New Year the same no matter where you celebrate it? What"s important is who you spend it with. We missed the chance last year so it"s a given that we must make up for it this year."

"Why did you miss the chance to last year?" Gu Yang asked intentionally as one of his brows slightly rose. 

Bai Luo Yin and Gu Hai exchanged glances, both recalling the pain and suffering that took root in the previous year. With neither saying a word, the room deafened with silence.

Naturally, Gu Yang did not question any further.

After chatting for a while longer, Gu Hai suddenly said, "I"m going to the bathroom."

Once the door closed after Gu Hai left, Bai Luo Yin and Gu Yang found themselves alone together. Bai Luo Yin placed his chopsticks down and looked straight at Gu Yang without saying anything. 

Slightly turning his head to the side to catch the other person"s eyes, a tenuous unintentional smile that was somewhat laced with an unusually cold arrogance emerged from Gu Yang"s stern countenance.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Bai Luo Yin lightly parted his tinted lip and slightly narrowed his eyes questioningly, "My examination for direct entry into the university was somehow approved without trouble, were you the one that worked it out with the school?"

The corners of Gu Yang"s mouth pulled back and as he spoke his tone was nearly ice cold to the ears. "You"re such a narcissist."

Bai Luo Yin countered with an even colder gaze, one that demanded the viewer to back down. "I do hope that is the case."

"The hairstyle you have now really doesn"t suit you." Gu Yang emphasized this observation once again.

 "Whether suitable or not differs from person to person."

Gu Yang scoffed, then without warning, his hand reached over towards the person in front of him. He turned it over and slid the back of his hand along the side of Bai Luo Yin"s face for a moment. 

"Your facial features aren"t anything special, but the shape is perfect. If your standard of beauty always emulates that of Gu Hai, then this visage of yours can only remain at the level of every other average looking man on the street. I think that"s such a pity, wasteful if anything."

Heeding none of those words, Bai Luo Yin immediately gripped Gu Yang"s hand and flung it away disinterestedly.

"Your standard of beauty is quite high. However, I really don"t know how to appreciate it."

Gu Yang"s brows rose as he took a sip of the beer. Within seconds, a semblance of a smile, yet at the same time not a smile, appeared as he looked at Bai Luo Yin with interest. "It"s seems I"m really starting to like you a bit."

"Then you can slowly develop a relationship by yourself."

As the two continued chatting, the door of the private room suddenly burst open with a thunderous bang. In seconds, five to six bulky men, armed with weapons, barged into the room and surrounded Bai Luo Yin and Gu Yang.

"Don"t move!!"

The atmosphere instantly stiffened. Bai Luo Yin and Gu Yang exchanged a quick glance then simultaneously stared at the men before them.  

"Where did you all come from?" Gu Yang asked coldly.

One of them opened his mouth, "Master Gu, you"ve taken General Gu"s trust for granted. In spite of knowing everything, you failed to escalate and report!" 

"He trusted me?" Gu Yang laughed grimly, "Then what brings your squad here?"

Although the men looked at each other in consternation, they nonetheless gripped the rifles in their hands tightly. 

"Master Gu, we don"t want to waste your time. If you"re wise, you should quickly surrender the person without delay. That way we can properly head back and report on this."

Gu Yang narrowed his eyes and stared at each one of them with a judgmental gaze before faintly asking, "Who do you all want me to surrender?"

"Stop pretending!" A man with an explosive temper shouted angrily, "We saw him walk in here."

"Really?" Gu Yang casually spread his arms out, "Then do tell me, where is he?"

Unaffected, the leader issued a command: "Go search immediately! If he"s not found, seize these two and take them back with us!"

At the tumultuous order, four to five men hastened their feet and dispersed throughout the private room. They searched every nook and cranny of the interior that could possibly conceal a person. One of the foolish men even took to ruthlessly kicking the floor just to see if there was a hidden path beneath or not.

Noting this act, Bai Luo Yin couldn"t help but to sneer mentally.

You think the pa.s.sageway is the pit latrine,[2] huh?

After thoroughly searching throughout the place, only the washroom remained. Someone took to wringing the doork.n.o.b, but in seconds, he discovered that it refused to budge.

"Someone"s inside!!"

Hearing his stentorian voice reverberating from that side of the room, the remaining four men quickened their pace and uniformly ran over. Two of them kicked at the door, while the remaining three stood behind to cover. In less than a second, the door opened and just as those two men were about to charge in, they were suddenly rammed backwards by someone. Caught off guard, the duo crashed onto the three men that were maintaining their position behind them. As the five men stood their ground, they looked ahead, their eyes slightly widened in astonishment. 

Inside the tight narrow s.p.a.ce stood more than ten odd men, all bore a sinister expression as they stared at them.

s.h.i.t! We"ve been ambushed!

The stunned men wanted to retreat, but unfortunately it was too late. There were safety in numbers for the men they were facing now. Even more so, each and every one of them were all skilled individuals who knew their stuff; evident in the split second that it took them to subjugate the intruders. Not only were their rifles confiscated, their hands were also tied tightly behind their backs.

Unable to move, they all stared with discontent at Gu Yang and Bai Luo Yin.

"Master Gu, nothing good will come out of you openly provoking the General like this. The weak cannot contend with the strong. It can"t be that you don"t understand this saying?"

"Whether or not I understand it is none of your concern." Gu Yang turned to those ten or more men and gave them a signal with a slight twitch at the corner of his eye. Then he instructed them, "Lock them all in the washroom and confiscate all their communication devices. I will find someone to a.s.sist you all with getting in contact with the General. You all should take a rest as well."

Unsatisfied, the leader shouted with vigor, "Master Gu, as a person who behaves with integrity, you need to leave yourself an escape route!"

Gu Yang sneered bitterly, "I don"t know whether or not I have an escape route, but I know for sure you definitely don"t!"

"You"ve also underestimated us!" In just seconds, the leader"s disposition brandished the colour of someone ranked as an elite. "Today, Laozi[3] will let you experience what outflanking actually means!!"

Just as those vociferous words flew out, another group of men, comprised of roughly 20 or so, clamorously broke through the door. Fortunately, the private room Gu Yang booked was big enough or else this place would not fit so many people. Looking at these men now, each and every one of them were tall and bulky. To worsen the situation, they were all well-equipped with superior quality weapons. 

This time around, it was not hard to imagine how tremendous Gu Wei Ting"s determination was in this endeavor. Just for the sake of one person, he even resorted to utilizing such significant amount of police force.

Just as these people charged in, the five men who were previously subjugated were instantly replenished with confidence. 

"Master Gu, you can decide what to do now!" The leader spoke out again.

Gu Yang looked at the disposition of the force displayed before him as a thread of anxiety colored his face. "I really want to surrender him to you guys, but the point is, he"s not here!"

Hearing the sternness in Gu Yang"s words, the opposing men"s faces changed to several indiscernible expressions. From the looks of it, whether the opposing side confronted them or not, Gu Hai never once appeared during the entire ordeal.

"It"s fine that he"s not here. The two of you being here is more than enough. Tie them up first!" Shouted a loud and hoa.r.s.e voice.

Four to five men simultaneously made their way towards Gu Yang and Bai Luo Yin"s sides. Surprisingly, even at a time like this, Gu Yang still has the impulse to banter around with Bai Luo Yin.

"Tell me, if 20 or more people were all locked up in the washroom, would they all fit?"

"That would be terrible," said Bai Luo Yin as a mischievous smile played out across his face.

Just as the person was about to tie them up, his hands suddenly trembled.

Quick to notice the sudden change in his subordinate, the leader let out another roar, "What are you being stupefied about!? Move quickly! I"ll take the blame if they get hurt!"

Bang! A bullet flew past the leader"s ear and ferociously punctured the wall behind him.

This was a genuine bullet.

The leader"s facial expression changed in the wink of an eye!

In that exact moment, Gu Hai broke through the door, dragging a sniper in with him.

"Perfect! All the "terrorists" have been captured!"

Once those words filtered into the room, ten rifles suddenly emerged from outside of the windows. Their muzzles swayed left and right, causing the reflection of light from the scopes to shine throughout the private room, making everyone shiver in fear. Since the sniper"s leg was. .h.i.t by a bullet, all he could do with great difficulty was to lean against the wall.

The leader could no longer restrain his anger as he roared, "Risk it all and fight!!"

Gu Hai aimed the gun at the leader"s head, "There are twenty odd men here, none of you are using real bullets that would actually hurt anyone. However, I"d like to apologize in advance "bros". I"m not that merciful or kind-hearted. The bullets I"m using are all real."

Just as he finished saying that, another round was shot and the leader"s immediate reaction was to roll on the ground. Although no one was gunned down, the twenty odd soldiers" hearts sank coldly. Killing any of them would be like stepping on an ant. However, if any of the three boys were to meet with a slight mishap, they would have to drag their families to the grave. One side can freely open fire without any qualms, while the other side had bullets but did not have the nerve to shoot them. How was it possible to fight?

Gu Hai stood in the center of the private room with a domineering air while carrying a mighty distinction, "All of you look carefully. Altogether, there are fifteen rifles aimed in here. I"ll give you all fifteen seconds. As long as you flee to the washroom within those fifteen seconds, you will be safe. Those that haven"t gone in, can taste a hail of bullets!"

Just as those words dropped to the floor, several of the washroom a.s.sistants conscientiously came out to vacate the room for those group of men.

If they were normal civilians, they would have bolted to the bathroom already and the s.p.a.ce would probably be swamped. However, these twenty odd men were experienced combatants. They did not struggle or rush as they walked into the bathroom with gloomy expressions. As the room gradually lessened in the number of people, only the leader and his sniper did not budge, instead they took to glancing at the remaining few seconds. Bai Luo Yin suddenly hijacked the sniper"s rifle from his hand and shot him a few times.

He won"t die from these "bullets" anyways, might as well use this opportunity to take revenge for Gu Hai!

Once the pain consumed him, the sniper immediately fell to the ground and began to roll around in agony.

Who knew when the leader had begun to properly understand the situation that he was placed in? He suddenly stood up with bloodshot eyes and walked unwillingly into the washroom. Afterwards, the a.s.sistants pilfered all these men"s communication devices.

Gu Yang"s cold eyes swept past the stolen hardware before he finally spoke again, "Don"t worry, someone will contact the General in your place."

The corner of Gu Hai"s lips curved into a smirk, "Don"t even think about going back home for New Years. It"s a much better atmosphere if we all celebrate it together!"

Bai Luo Yin faced those dozen or more men who were on his side and faintly said, "These people are in your hands now. Give them three meals a day and ask for some blankets for them in the evening. Don"t forget to treat them with great hospitality!"

"Don"t worry, none can escape."

In the end, the three mischievous boys cheerfully took their leave.

Translator"s Note:

[1] Yúnnán (云南) – the most diverse province in all China, both in its extraordinary mix of peoples and in the splendour of its landscapes. That combination of superlative sights and many different ethnic groups has made Yúnnán the trendiest destination for China"s exploding domestic tourist industry.

More than half of the country"s minority groups reside here, providing a glimpse into China"s hugely varied mix of humanity. Then there"s the eye-catching contrasts of the land itself: dense jungle sliced by the Mekong River in the far south, soul-recharging glimpses of the sun over rice terraces in the southeastern regions, and snow-capped mountains as you edge towards Tibet.

With everything from laid-back villages and spa resorts to mountain treks and excellent cycling routes, Yúnnán appeals to all tastes. The roads are much better than they once were, so getting around is a breeze, but you"ll need time to see it all - whatever time you"ve set aside for Yúnnán, double it.

[Lonely Planet]

[2] pit latrine – An outhouse or pit toilet is primarily a hole dug into the ground, into which biological waste solids and liquids are introduced, similar to a cesspit. If sufficient moisture is available, natural bacteria within the waste materials begin fermentation.

[3] Laozi – means “I”, although  it’s used in a very arrogant or jocular manner.

Are you Addicted?