Though his legs were shot, the a.s.sa.s.sin smiled as his comrade rolled the surgery cart into the ward. In his imagination, the next thing that’d follow was a ground-shaking explosion. All the targets that needed to be taken out would be reduced to chunks of meat.
Bang!
A bullet rang out.
Those were his final thoughts before death.
The one that took the a.s.sa.s.sin’s life was a Special Force member that lunged out of the stairway in the nick of time.
In the ward.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!” The a.s.sa.s.sin with the rolling surgery cart roared a battle cry and slammed his right thumb onto the detonation b.u.t.ton.
Whoos.h.!.+
A ray of silver flew by in a flash. Before he could even feel pain, the a.s.sa.s.sin watched as his thumb was severed. It rotated unceremoniously to a complete 360 degree before splattering onto the tiled floor.
Blood gushed out of the new opening. The a.s.sa.s.sin instinctively switched over to his index finger. Another ray of silver flew by in a flash. His index finger once again detached itself from his fist and was sent flying away.
He was in so much panic that he did not bother locating the target. Sadly, no matter how hard he tried to improvise with the situation, he was still one step slower.
As his index finger slid off, he finally saw the culprit behind his two broken fingers. Xia Lei. It was a handsome face adorned with a menacing expression. The man looked like a beast thirsty for blood!
“Ahhh!” The last surviving a.s.sa.s.sin lunged the control device forward to his chest.
Whoos.h.!.+
It was another silver ray that reached the extremes of cruelty. Before the killer could even knock the device against his chest, his entire right palm was chopped off.
Xia Lei extended an arm, caught the bloodied severed palm and kicked the surgery cart. The cart flew off out of the ward and slammed against a wall.
There was no explosion because the detonator was now in Xia Lei’s grip. He flexed his fingers tightly around it. His family of eight was hiding in the room’s attached bathroom. He needed to be extremely cautious.
The last a.s.sa.s.sin stumbled back, doubling over and hitting the ground. Immediately, his remaining left hand clawed for an AUG a.s.sault rifle laying nearby.
Xia Lei lunged forward and delivered one slice.
The a.s.sa.s.sin’s left index finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky were severed in one go.
“Ahh!” The torment proved to be too much even for a well-trained a.s.sa.s.sin like this. He screamed and screamed as he writhed helplessly on the tiled floor.
Xia Lei took another step and waved his arm. The killer’s last thumb fell with a plop.
This time, the a.s.sa.s.sin could no longer scream in agony. The man’s vision went dark as he slipped into unconsciousness.
A group of Special Force members barged into the ward, gaping at the sight of a bloodied Xia Lei standing above a limp body on the floor.
“Mister Xia… A...Are you alright?” The Special Force member asked cautiously.
“Is this how you do your f.u.c.king job?!” Xia Lei snapped, “How the f.u.c.k did these a.s.sa.s.sins get past you?!”
“We…” The captain hesitated.
“f.u.c.k off!” Xia Lei’s wrath was uncontrollable!
His anger did not stem from the fact that there was an attack. His precious wives and children were in this ward for f.u.c.k’s sake!
The Special Force members quickly exited the ward.
“Go get the doctor and save this b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Xia Lei sneered. “Also, there are explosives in the cart. Go deal with it now!”
Two Special Force soldiers picked up the severed arms while the captain personally pushed the surgery cart towards the lifts. A few of their men went to check on the nurse.
“She’s alive! Doctor! Doctor!” The soldier screamed as soon as he detected her pulse.
It was only then that Xia Lei allowed himself to relax. He pried the detonator out of the detached fist.
Liang Siyao, Fan Fan, Long Bing and Jiang Ruyi carefully exited the bathroom. The children were long awake but none of them was crying. The four newborns stared at their father blankly, seemingly unfazed by the blood and gore displayed.
“Hubby, are you alright?” Liang Siyao strode over.
The other three women too approached him. Used to this, Long Bing was unfazed. However, Fan Fan and Jiang Ruyi’s faces went pale. It was only natural for them to be shocked by the scene. While they weren’t able to wrap their arms around him, they opted to stay close to him. He was the only man that could bring them a sense of security in a time like this.
Xia Lei extended his arm around his family. Though he couldn’t hug them all, he really wished to do so. He had never once felt so much fear over possibly losing them.
“It’s alright. Everything is under control now. I hope it didn’t spook you out.” Xia Lei comforted his wives.
“We’re alright. Are you hurt?” Fan Fan was anxious.
“I’m good.”
“That doesn’t sound too convincing when you’re caked with blood. I’ll go call the doctor for you,” offered Jiang Ruyi.
Xia Lei tugged her back. “I’m really alright. This is someone else’s blood.” He paused and studied their expressions. “I’ll call the female knights over immediately to escort you home. The hospital is no longer secure. We will carry out your postnatal confinement at home.”
[Note: Postnatal confinement is a traditional Chinese practise where new mothers are given special care to recuperate and rest during the first month following childbirth.]
The four wives agreed to it right away. After what had happened, there was no way they’d feel safe to extend their length of stay at the hospital. While there were protections from the Special Force, the security level was obviously not as good as that in the Peace Mansion and Thunder Horse Organization headquarters.
Xia Lei dialled for Giovanna. Then, he turned around and instructed, “They’ll be here soon to pick you up. I’ll go check on the surviving a.s.sa.s.sin. I need to find out who sent them here.”
“Alright, be careful,” reminded Long Bing sternly.
Xia Lei left the room and was led by one Special Force soldier into a surgery theatre. One doctor and two nurses were in the middle of an emergency rescue on the a.s.sa.s.sin. The loss of his palms had left him suffering from excessive blood loss which plunged him into a coma. On one side of the surgery table, a nurse transfused more blood while the doctor tried to seal the exposed veins to halt the bleeding.
“Doctor, when will he be awake?” Xia Lei rushed forward.
The sudden commotion caused the doctor to spare him a glance. Noticing that it was Xia Lei, the doctor answered, “Mister Xia, he’s in a coma due to excessive blood loss. We’re in the middle of a blood transfusion. He’d most likely be awake an hour after the surgery.”
“I don’t have that much time. Can you try to wake him up now?” said Xia Lei.
“An adrenaline shot can wake him up but it’s very dangerous,” replied the doctor.
Xia Lei hissed, “He is nothing but a filthy animal. If he dies, he dies. He does not deserve your concern. Inject the adrenaline, now.”
“But…” The doctor was hesitant.
“Inject him, now!” Xia Lei shouted at the doctor.
The events that transpired tonight had made it difficult for him to realign himself. A slight bit of inconvenience was enough to drive him over the edge again.
“Mister Xia, I understand your feelings but I need approval. Please give me a moment.” The doctor swiftly turned around and said, “Xiao Li, can you please get me the hospital director?”
Xia Lei fumed but did his best to suppress it. The doctor had his own responsibilities. If his hasty decision to inject adrenaline into the a.s.sa.s.sin had killed him, the doctor would be held responsible.
The nurse took off to look for the hospital director.
The hospital director was a plump man in his fifties that radiated the aura of a leader. Despite that, his status was nothing to Xia Lei.
“Mister Xia, I’m terribly sorry for the mishap. I shouldn’t have allowed this to happen…” The first thing the hospital director did was to apologize profusely.
Xia Lei’s patience was running thin. “No need to apologize, I suspect that someone has leaked out information. I need to interrogate the a.s.sa.s.sin. Tell your doctor to give him an adrenaline shot to wake him up. If he dies, I’ll take responsibility.”
“But…” The hospital director too gaped at his outrageous request.
Xia Lei lost his cool immediately. “Were you the one who leaked information?”
“Huh? Mister Xia, don’t say things like that! You’re bound to kill someone!” Caught by surprise, the hospital director yelped. The older man quickly turned and faced his subordinate. “Inject a dose of adrenaline so Mister Xia can interrogate him.”
So the doctor did as he was told.
“Mister Xia, you… Please conduct your interrogation as you please. This has nothing to do with me. I… I’ll take my leave now.” The hospital director speedily left the theatre.
From the hospital director’s perspective, offending Xia Lei was a small issue. However, offending Xia Lei’s wife, Fan Fan, would be an entirely new story! He had no capacity to care for the a.s.sa.s.sin’s life in such circ.u.mstances!
With the hospital director gone, the doctor straight up wrapped some ropes around the severed wrists as a temporary solution. “Mister Xia, uh… I’ll be back after you’re done.” Immediately, the doctor fled.
The only ones left behind in the quiet surgery theatre was Xia Lei and the injured a.s.sa.s.sin. The suffocating silence and the strong scent of disinfectants in the air were incredibly uncomfortable.
“Ugh!” The adrenaline kicked in and the killer regained consciousness. He reflectively tried to clamber up but the energy drained away by his blood loss rendered his efforts futile.
“I’ll ask you a few simple questions. If you cooperate well, I’ll allow the doctor to resume your surgery.” Xia Lei threatened coldly in fluent j.a.panese. “Your resistance will result in death. I have my ways to make you regret ever being born into this world.”
The a.s.sa.s.sin stared at him blankly. Without warning, he spat at Xia Lei.
Xia Lei easily dodged it. In the process, the man picked up a scalpel and drove it into the a.s.sa.s.sin’s right exposed wrist.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” The killer screeched in agony, cold sweat taking form on his forehead.
Xia Lei tilted the scalpel upwards, letting the sharp blade split the man’s flesh open. Blood began to pool again.
“This is your last chance. Tell me, are you working for the Hattori clan?” His interrogation was paired with the combo of his eyes. His X-ray vision and data scanner began to close in on the a.s.sa.s.sin’s beating heart.
The killer avoided Xia Lei’s piercing glare and his pulse picked up. Though so, his exterior was calm.
Even if he chose to stay mum, Xia Lei had already gotten his answer. These a.s.sa.s.sins were sent by the Hattori clan. “Qian Jun took out both Hattori Masao and Hattori Mei with his sniper rifle. The core characters of the clan are all dead, why is there still a large scale operation like this? Could it be…”
Was Hattori Masao alive?
Was Hattori Mei alive?
How was it possible for Qian Jun to commit such a mishap?
After a moment of silence, Xia Lei attempted to probe, “Did Hattori Masao send you over?”
The a.s.sa.s.sin betrayed no truth, lips faintly curling into a challenging smirk. His pulse returned to normal.
Xia Lei attempted again. “Did Hattori Mei send you here?”
The killer was once again silent. However, the ghost of a smirk was gone. His pulse picked up as soon as her name was mentioned.
Xia Lei was surprised. “Hattori Mei is still alive? How?!”
“How did you get in here? Was someone tasked to show you in?” Xia Lei shot another question.
“Hmph! This is just a hospital. How hard do you think it is to blend in?” The killer spat back in j.a.panese.
Xia Lei’s gaze was still on his heart. His pulse was normal. He wasn’t lying.
“You’re bound to die soon or later!” The killer seethed, “You’ve angered out people and the samurai community!”
“Oh, really?” Xia Lei snorted. The man extended an arm and turned off the blood transfusion machine. His movements were excruciatingly slow as he drawled languidly, “So you’re a samurai? Hmm… I’m trying to kill you here. What are you going to do with me?”
Ka-boom!
A deafening explosion abruptly rang from outside the hospital.