Chapter 6 The Warehouse
The words had barely fallen.
A string of explosions suddenly went off outside The Docks.
"Enemy attack!"
I snapped my gaze to Xu Xin. She curved her lips, her eyes full of excitement.
"Did you really think we would only go to Gate C?"
"How could sugar sit in just one bag?"
Everyone's faces changed.
I had to pull people off to hold them back.
The men pinning Mu Qing thinned out.
He tore free all at once.
But he didn't run. He threw himself at Xu Xin like a madman, at the one still being held.
His voice was raw with rage.
"Talk. What else have you kept from me?"
Xu Xin was choked until her eyes bulged. Even breathing looked hard.
A gunshot banged out.
The bullet wasn't for Mu Qing or Xu Xin.
It hit the gunman aiming from the shadows, square on.
Mu Qing whipped around, saw I was the one who had fired, and his eyes looked especially complicated.
I didn't look at him. I didn't even stop.
"Listen up. Stay in your posts. Don't break ranks!"
My order came out sharp, leaving no room.
After a brief mess, the armed force at The Docks snapped back into motion.
In that leftover chaos, Mu Qing dragged Xu Xin, who was nearly choking, and vanished.
A man beside me muttered,
"Damn. That's pure love. He's still taking her at a time like this."
"Haigu used to get that treatment too. Look at now..."
"Shh. Stop talking. Do you want to die?"
I let out a cold laugh. Pure love?
I didn't think so.
I swapped in a magazine and charged after them without hesitation.
I chased them to a Warehouse.
I saw Mu Qing driving a dagger into Xu Xin's arm, one stab after another.
Xu Xin screamed without stop. He still didn't stop.
"Tell me. Was my sister really killed by Haigu's Parents?"
His voice was hoarse.
"Was it a setup from the start?"
Mu Qing's sister?
I went a little blank.
A long-haired woman rose in my mind.
She spoke very gently. She always clung to my Parents.
That was why I hated her.
But my Parents liked her a lot. They even planned to take her as a Sworn Sister.
"Don't kill me! I'll talk, I'll talk!"
Xu Xin was scared out of her mind, snot and tears running.
"It wasn't Haigu's Parents who killed her. Your sister was an accident. But they said that story would split you from Haigu, make you care only about me, and make you easier to control..."
Mu Qing's eyes looked ready to split. He clutched his head and broke down crying.
While he still looked dazed, a flash of resolve crossed Xu Xin's eyes. She yanked a dagger from behind her and stabbed hard at his neck.
I raised my hand and fired.
Her hand blew apart at once. Blood sprayed.
Mu Qing turned. When he saw me again, only guilt and pain were left in his eyes.
"Haigu... I..."
He couldn't get a full sentence out.
I had no time for his pain.
I strode over and roughly yanked up Xu Xin, who was almost dead.
"Where is their main force hiding?"
Xu Xin had already broken from the pain. She rambled out coordinates.
I passed them to everyone at once.
I looked at Mu Qing, who seemed emptied out.
"You know how my Parents treated you two, don't you?"
"Why would they lay a hand on your sister? What reason would they even have?"
"Mu Qing, you were so stupid."
Mu Qing went stiff. There was no color left in his face.
I tossed him a gun coldly.
"If you want to atone, pick it up."
"Come kill our way to their nest with me. This whole mess needs an ending."
Mu Qing slowly lifted his head. A bit of light caught in his eyes.
He picked up the gun.
He shot Xu Xin without hesitation.
Xu Xin stared, unable to believe it.
"You... you said you loved me... I still have your child..."
She died with her eyes open.
At the word child, Mu Qing froze for a moment, then finally turned his back.
I looked at him long and hard.
After we left the Warehouse, Mu Qing turned back into the Mad Dog he used to be.
Even madder.
He tore open the Rival Gang's line with a reckless charge.
My people followed fast and swept them all.
When the fighting ended, the ruins went dead quiet.
Mu Qing braced on his gun and forced himself, step by step, in front of me.
Blood and dirt mixed on his face. His eyes held a desperate plea.
"Haigu..."
His voice was too broken to hold shape.
"I was wrong. But I was tricked too. Can you forgive me?"
He pulled that bloodstained Gold Bullet from his chest.
He wiped it clean with care and held it out to me.
"I don't ask to go back. I only ask you to let me stay. I'll protect you for the rest of my life."
"I used to believe your promises."
I glanced at him.
"You saved me. You also almost ruined me."
"Today we wiped them out in one strike. You did a lot. That offsets the crime."
Mu Qing looked at me, waiting. The corner of his mouth lifted a little.
"But."
I cut it clean.
"Between you and me, this is the end. The Docks has no place for you anymore."
"You're driving me out?"
Mu Qing froze. Endless grief rose in his eyes.
"No, Haigu, I'm begging you..."
"I really know I was wrong. Don't look at me with those calm eyes, okay? Like I... don't even matter."
"That feeling makes it so I can't breathe."
He clutched the bullet tight.
As if that could call my memories back.
Faced with my silence, Mu Qing finally lowered his head.