Flying Gulls Never LandCh64 - I’m right here

I had no idea how long the piece of iron had been rusting for, but it was more blunt than a piece of wood, and was only marginally better than if I had used my teeth. I turned my back to Yi Da Zhuang, and as I couldn’t see where exactly the ties were on his hand, my efforts saw little return despite myself sweating all over.

“Feng ge, I don’t think this is going to work. What if we’re halfway through cutting the ties and someone walks in?”, he asked. I wasn’t sure how badly I missed but I cut him instead and heard Yi Da Zhuang draw in a sudden sharp intake of breath as he hissed. Wn8d3d

“No matter what we do we’re screwed anyways, we don’t have a choice but to try.” I responded, my perspiration slick on my fingers as it wet the iron piece, causing the piece itself to become slippery.

I lost track of how long I had spent going back and forth in a sawing motion with the iron piece in hand when suddenly I heard footsteps come from outside the door. I immediately stopped and shoved the iron piece behind Yi Da Zhuang.

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The middle-aged man approached us with my mobile phone in hand, the vibrating screen showing an incoming call from “Ge Ge”.

“Don’t say anything unnecessary,” he warned, as he switched to speaker mode and then proceeded to pick up the call. JzdsPb

I eyed the black sheathed dagger on his waist. If I could get it, I would easily be able to cut the ties on my hands and feet, however…

I licked my dry upper lip as I said, “Ge, what’s up?”

The other end of the line was very quiet and devoid of any background noise. I glanced at Jin Ya suspiciously, but he was also puzzled. After waiting a while longer, he reached out for the phone with the intention to hang up the call.

“Release my brother, what you want is in my hands and I’m willing to offer it in exchange.” Sheng Min Ou’s voice came out of the phone measured and unhurried as Jin Ya’s eyes immediately widened. He checked my mobile phone in disbelief, as if suspecting that there was a mic installed on it.

“I know you have my brother and Yi Da Zhuang. The courier box held the cipher required for the safe at Wan Li bank and I retrieved the items from the safe just then. No need to worry – I won’t call the police, and I also don’t care about anyone else involved. Give me an address, and I will personally bring the items in exchange for my brother.”

Jin Ya held the phone firmly, and narrowed his eyes when he heard these words, the ends of his eyes tilting up slightly.

Time ticked by, one second after the other, as Sheng Min Ou did not speak again, giving Jin Ya ample time to consider his proposal.

Jin Ya hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, his tone chilling, “The items kept in the safe were never meant to be seen by others. Since you have already retrieved it from its place, my employer will not be paying me the remaining sum of money with this being a botched job. You can expect to see your brother’s corpse soon.” RSQqkC

My heart tensed as I held my breath and was about to put up one last fight in a last ditch attempt to stay alive when Sheng Min Ou spoke on the other side of the line again.

“I can also give you money. I’ll pay you in cash, old bills without consecutive serial numbers. A million yuan, how about that?”

Jin Ya paused midway through his action of hanging up. The temptation of money was hard to resist, with the sum that Xiao Meng promised now up in the air. However, the one million yuan that was being offered now, that was a payout which seemed to come from the heavens, falling straight into his lap. It was an offer which would tempt anyone.

He resisted against it, his expression appearing rather twisted as his fingers gripped the phone forcefully, an evident display of his internal struggle. However, he ultimately gave in as he succumbed to temptation. xvirwC

“The exchange happens tonight. There won’t be another chance.”

This time, he decisively hung up the call before Sheng Min Ou could answer.

Jin Ya stared at the phone, his expression sour. This job was meant to be straightforward, yet they encountered so many problems along the way. No one in his position would be happy with this turn of events.

His sinister gaze swivelled suddenly to me as I tensed up, an ominous feeling arising. The next second, I was kicked forcefully in the chest as I slammed into the wall behind me. Kch7Dm

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“Djv iemx! Vemt yjv iemx!!”

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It was only when Jin Ya had finally displaced all his frustration that he stopped the fury of kicks. He unbuttoned his shirt and left it open as he walked out with a bounce to his step. 4FShU9

“This fucker…” Yi Da Zhuang moved his body away and spat on the floor, his spit mixed with blood.

The dull pain in my chest seemed to linger endlessly, and I wasn’t sure if my sternum was cracked. I coughed a few times and picked up the iron piece again, as I motioned for Yi Da Zhuang to turn around.

“We keep going.”

“Huh?” Yi Da Zhuang was so surprised that his expression was wholly blank for a moment, “Its off, it’s off?!” Kdy07Q

I took a look at the zip tie on his arm, the one that I had been wearing down for a long time, and sure enough it had come off. I surmised that this had happened when he threw his body forward to cover mine, as the suddenness of the action snapped the zip tie.

My mood lightened slightly as I said, “Let’s keep using the iron piece, we’ll aim to do the same to the rest of the zip ties too.”

Yi Da Zhuang stopped me, “No no no, Feng Ge, my ability to retaliate is limited at the moment and I also won’t be able to run very fast, so we should give you the greatest chance of survival. Pass the iron piece to me, now that I have a free hand, I’ll be able to wear down the other zip ties faster. I’ll try to break them all off for you within an hour, you…you’ll escape from the window. Don’t look back, just keep running, you’ll definitely be able to escape.”

Though this guy Yi Da Zhuang may have screwed me over and landed us in this situation, he at least exhibited loyalty. His rationale did make sense, in terms of fighting ability I was stronger than him. If somehow Jin Ya and his partner burst through the room with the intention to finish us off, at least with my limbs free I would be able to still fight back. Yr3B4O

“Alright, that’s enough of that, do you think we’re starring in a tragedy or something? With the whole ‘keep running and don’t look back’ line as well? Just hurry up and start cutting through the zip ties instead of talking nonsense,” I replied. Now wasn’t the time for polite back and forths, so I didn’t show him further courtesy as I took him up on his offer.

The iron piece was handed over as Yi Da Zhuang diligently sawed away at the zip ties binding my hands, his speed more than twice mine.

“Feng Ge, Lawyer Sheng lied to them. He didn’t retrieve anything from the safe at all.” Yi Da Zhuang turned his head sideways and whispered, “Just in case, I purchased an additional retina verification service. The safe can only be opened once it passes the double authentication of having both the cipher device and my retina pressed against the scanner. I never told them this because I held on to the thought of not letting them get to what I kept in the safe, even if I died. Though I, Yi Da Zhuang, work as an entertainment reporter I still carry the dignity of a journalist. To publish and make public the truth is the mission of every journalist, and I will never fucking succumb to criminals”

I was left slightly stunned. So Sheng Min Ou had just been bluffing the whole time? He hadn’t retrieved the documents from the safe at all, and from the beginning to end, his end goal was to use the one million yuan in exchange for me? oyESY7

“They won’t let us go like this…” It was evident from the sinister gaze of Jin Ya’s eyes that he had never planned to let go of us at all. After getting the money, he would kill all of us, including Sheng Min Ou.

“I agree.” Yi Da Zhuang nodded as he added, “They have guns, with just one shot and we’d all be dead.”

The mood shifted to a standstill, with Yi Da Zhuang and I both falling into a sombre silence at the same time. For a while, the only sound in the entire room came from the slight friction of the iron piece cutting through the cable ties.

It took Yi Da Zhuang an entire afternoon to cut through all three ties. After the last tie was cut, I grabbed my hands in excitement, though they still appeared slightly rigid due to the lack of blood circulation. I took the iron piece from Yi Da Zhuang as I moved to cut the three zip ties on my legs. VUidOu

Due to fearing the possibility of Jin Ya and his partner coming in, I made careful incisions upon the zip ties, making sure to not completely sever them.

As I did this, the sky gradually darkened, and visibility within the room became extremely poor. The space we were confined in was thrown back into blackness, becoming a small, dark room once more.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Just when I was about to be done with the third zip tie, I heard movement outside the door again. I hurriedly hid the iron piece and put both hands behind me.

The tattooed man walked in and drew a dagger from his waist as he encroached upon us. a sxf0

I thought he was about to finish us then and there so I was ready to go, as I planned to leap up from my spot to engage in one last desperate brawl. However, he instead squatted down in front of me as he severed the ties on my feet with his dagger.

“Your brother is here.” He put away his dagger and took out a ball of cloth from his trouser pocket as he shoved it forcefully into my mouth. He then stood up and stared at me coldly, “Get up, what – unless you need me to help you?”

I was calculating my chances of successfully tackling him and grabbing his gun when he turned around and I saw that his back was empty. Surprisingly, he wasn’t carrying a gun on him.

Given such uncertain circumstances, I decided to not play my trump card, as I planned to wait and devise a better play. d21x a

I stood up with difficulty, my legs and feet stumbling beneath me as a consequence of being bound for a long time, as my first few steps were met with stumbles and falls.

Da Long became irritated by how slow I was as he grabbed my arm roughly and dragged me out the door. We left the small, dark room, and moved past the bigger room outside as we finally left the confines of the house.

I had no idea how the two of them even found this place, as it looked like we were in the mountains, with ample vegetation surrounding us as we were cast in a veil of darkness. The place where we held hostage was a decrepit log cabin, with firewood and spare bottles and jars piled up outside, a lingering reminder of someone having lived there in the past, with the place being deserted for a long time now.

Da Long pressed a dagger against my neck as he stepped forward a few steps, bringing me with him. QkJ0gn

An unfamiliar jeep had its headlights on, illuminating the way. A tall figure stood enshrouded by the light, with a 24-inch suitcase by his feet.

It took me a while to get used to the light before I could recognise the figure being Sheng Min Ou. By then, he had also noticed my arrival as he squinted his eyes, blocking the blinding light with his hands as he dragged the suitcase and took two steps towards me.

“Stop there.”

Just then, I had only paid attention to Sheng Min Ou, and it turns out that I had completely missed the fact that there was another person next to the car. CA4Vti

Jin Ya leaned against the car door with his arms crossed at his chest, the gun I was looking for previously now displayed prominently at his waist.

Okay then, the situation wasn’t looking too bad. It was a 2v2, and given the fact that Sheng Min Ou was worth two men, the chances of us winning this was more than fifty percent.

“Open the suitcase,” Jin Ya ordered.

Sheng Min Ou didn’t say anything, instead, he placed the black suitcase down and unlocked the buckles. The moment he opened up the suitcase, Jin Ya, myself and Da Long next beside me all craned our necks to glance inside the box. FLgS7W

“One million…” Jin Ya couldn’t resist as he took a step forward.

It was at this moment that two quiet pop sounds came, carried by the wind, as the dagger pressed against my neck fell to the ground with a clatter. My shoulder was knocked back by Da Long who had fallen to the ground, as I stumbled to regain my balance. In my periphery, I saw Jin Ya clutching a hand to his bleeding ear, as he turned around in a furious dash towards me.

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“Son of a bitch, how dare you involve the police in this!” Jin Ya said as he pulled out the gun from behind him, “Don’t even think about getting out alive!”

Da Long lay crumpled on the floor, a red dot blossoming in between his eyebrows as his eyes were half-opened, his body lifeless. I quickly realised that Sheng Min Ou had probably called the police, and that there were already snipers who lay in ambush, just waiting for the two kidnappers to show up and to finish them. Unfortunately, it appeared that they fell short on just a bit of luck, as they did not manage to kill Jin Ya with a single blow. 3VvJDd

But it’s okay, the luck that we were missing, I would make up for it.

I pulled out the cloth from my mouth as I ran up to him, “Your mums the bitch.”

Bang!

My fist smashed into his face at the same time as when Jin Ya’s gun went off. CXcjuR

I would count myself as someone who had diligently gone over their foundations, as the force of my punch wasn’t a joke. Jin ya instantly cowered in pain, with blood flowing freely from his nose.

Just as I was about to add another kick to his face, I saw Jin Ya suddenly lunge forward, with Sheng Min Ou appearing behind him as he pressed a knee against his waist. Sheng Min Ou then grabbed his arm and twisted it back mercilessly, as Jin Ya let out a harrowing scream, his hand falling to the ground at an unnatural angle, the gun dropped to his side.

My tense nerves were finally able to relax slightly when I saw Jin Ya being subdued, as I fell to the ground on my ass and took long, deep breaths.

Around me, the sound of dense footsteps and voices rang out one after another, as beams of individual flashlights intertwined within the forest. hBopxj

“Ge, luckily you got my hint…” After being in a perpetual state of anxiety, as soon as I relaxed, I found a wave of fatigue hitting me.

Sheng Min Ou had a hand gripping firmly onto the back of Jin Ya’s neck as he turned to look at me after hearing me speak. When his gaze was cast upon me though, his usual cold and indifferent expression morphed into a rather strange one instead.

It was as if… he was at a loss at what had happened, so he appeared rather helpless.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, thinking that he showed this expression because of the injuries on my face. I planned on saying a few more words to joke around some more and to make him laugh, when my body began trembling for no apparent reason. NdiRjT

When the evident danger had passed, adrenaline levels will drop to their usual level, with pain shortly ensuing.

I looked down at my belly, and saw Sheng Min Ou’s white T-shirt which I had borrowed being stained by a pool of red which was still spreading.

Tonight, my luck seemed to also be lacking a little. In movies, the main character would never be shot, even if there was a barrage of gunfire going on. Yet, when it came to me, a single gunshot was enough to hit me.

I looked at Sheng Min Ou again and stretched out my hand to him. I didn’t know why, but I just wanted to smile at him. pT0CWh

“Ge….”

My vision gradually became blurred as Sheng Min Ou was stunned for a moment before grabbing my hand as he came to my side, letting me lean against him in his embrace.

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“Don’t be scared, I’m here… I’m right here…”

In the last moments of my consciousness, it was Sheng Min Ou’s incessant mutterings of these words by my ear that brought me indescribable peace, even when I fell into darkness. lLI7e6

Actually, I wanted to tell him that I was not scared – that if he was by my side, I would never be afraid.