A Song For A Summer’s Night - Chapter 123

Knives out, Yu Haoran narrowed her gaze sharply at Xun Zichen. She glinted at him maliciously as she lifted her blades near her face; the iron gleamed quicksilver.

Xun Zichen never had a duel or a fight with the objective to hurt someone. And though Yu Haoran was a nuisance, he didn’t want to kill her. He didn’t feel like it.

She threw another knife speedily at him, and Xun Zichen deflected it with his sword, surprising himself. He breathed hard, nearly amazed. He didn’t trust himself, but he decided to believe in his muscle memory, his senses, and his instincts.

Xun Zichen began to circle her, and she let her knives rain down on him.

He moved with grace, leaning back, swinging his sword to deflect any directing towards his body. One of them scraped his arm, splitting his coat. He then bolted towards some pallets piled on top of each other, trying to outrun the knives. He could try to deflect all of them with his sword, but it wasn’t a shield, and it wouldn’t protect his entire body.

Yu Haoran chased him angrily and impatiently. She didn’t keep throwing them; she held them in her hands; her aim followed his every move.

Xun Zichen didn’t know what to do.

鈥?/p>

Song Luli and Long Jie turned around every corner, noticing that people were hastily trying to pack up whatever they were moving, almost as if they were…leaving.

“We should take them out, one by one,” Song Luli suggested. Long Jie nodded.

They began to lure guards silently by whistling softly, trying to catch some of their attention. Song Luli would jump on their backs, covering their mouths with the light jacket she brought, stifling sounds by knocking them unconscious. Long Jie would effortlessly hit their heads with the hilt of a knife he picked up after Yu Haoran.

Slowly and sneakily, they attempted to take them out one by one so that no one would raise the alarm to others.

But, of course, they noticed.

The men who gathered lifted their guns to aim, but Song Luli and Long Jie had already begun to shoot. Blood spilled, and the adrenaline kept them going, as they needed to slip away since others would come.

They kept running behind pillars and anything that would shield their backs.

Song Luli cursed, and when they reached the end, they felt frustrated for not finding Su Xiang.

“Let’s go,” Long Jie said. “I don’t think she’s here.”

A bullet shot the wall, merely inches away from him. Long Jie stumbled forward, pushing them both out of the way, crouching down.

They both held their guns, and hair spilled over their eyes. Long Jie glanced at her, absorbing one good look before they split in opposite directions.

Song Luli crouched down to hide when she landed near a large pallet truck with boxes of storage. She glanced over, watching as they kept shooting towards Long Jie’s direction when he tried to escape. He shot back, ducking and repeatedly aiming until his bullets ran out. Panicked, Song Luli stood up, starting to shoot at the men aimlessly. Their attention then steered towards her. Her body instinctively ducked behind the full pallet truck, her heart leaping.

She glanced over again, watching as they sprinted towards her, nearly enclosing any spaces she could escape through. There were at least eight of them left, so she sucked in a sharp breath, closing her eyes for a split second. Afterward, she stood, aiming at them with both hands. The gun recoiled as the bullets hit, but it still wasn’t enough.

Long Jie then appeared suddenly behind them, trying to take three of them out by bashing their heads against each other, kicking the guns from their hands. He threw one of them over his shoulder, kicking and punching his way through ferociously.

Song Luli stopped her shooting, afraid Long Jie was going to get hit. She froze, realizing they were going to kill him.

Five of them aimed at him quickly, and though the bullets sprang, followed by groans of pain. It wasn’t Long Jie that was hit.

The dark-cloaked man and Long Yuntian appeared, participating in a full shoot-out.

Relief and fear crashed through Song Luli’s body in waves. She didn’t know that they’d come.

The Cloak hit fiercely with clean precision. Long Yuntian kept steady despite using one hand while his other gripped his cane.

Long Jie, on the other hand, was stunned, not believing his grandfather had come for him.

All the henchmen fell, and Long Jie glanced over at the Cloak and Long Yuntian gratefully before dashing towards Song Luli. His shaking hands hastily explored her face, her body, only noticing a few scrapes. He smiled, releasing a shallow breath.

He embraced her, glancing at his grandfather with a smile. Never did he expect Long Yuntian to fight for anyone besides himself.

“How did you guys know?” Long Jie asked.

“The old man from your home,” The Cloak replied. 聽Long Yuntian wore a聽soft smile, but then he coughed, and blood spilled from his mouth. Long Yuntian stumbled back, his legs giving out. He fell on his backside, as the blood seeped through his dark blue sweater.

Eye-wide, stunned, and horrified, Long Jie let go of Song Luli, running. He approached his grandfather, collecting him in his arms.

“Are you in pain?” Long Jie said, lifting the shirt from his torso as blood poured from Long Yuntian’s abdomen. “I’m going to call an ambulance,” he said. Long Yuntian didn’t reply.

“You can’t,” said the Cloak coldly beside him. “The police will detain us.”

Long Jie gazed at him sharply. But, Long Yuntian groaned, and said, “It’s okay, Jie.” His grandfather tried to sit up, and pain shot through his body.

Long Jie was about to help him stand, but all Long Yuntian did was pull Long Jie forward. “鈥ell them you killed me.”

“What?”

“The Dragons don’t trust me. They won’t come while I’m still the head of the organization鈥ut they’ll follow you…I know they will.”

Song Luli bit her lip worriedly, watching them.

“No,” Long Jie replied shakingly. “Come with us. We’ll get help.”

“It’s tradition,” Long Yuntian breathed, coughing blood, “to kill a family member鈥o ascend your position.”

“Fuck tradition,” Long Jie snapped, his face twisted in pain.

“Smear yourself in my blood, let them know…” Long Yuntian barked out another cough. His words drifted away as he fell over聽Long Jie’s shoulder, stilling, lifeless.

Long Jie trembled, shaking his grandfather’s body, forcing him to face him, but it was no use. He was gone. Tears spilled from Long Jie’s eyes; a cry escaped his mouth. The blood had poured over him, crusting over his hands.

Long Yuntian had always been a stout-hearted, stubborn man. But to think, to think鈥e cared. Long Jie cradled his grandfather’s body.

Song Luli didn’t know Long Yuntian all that well, but seeing Long Jie in pain, made her heart ache for him.

After a few long moments, the Cloak interrupted, “We should check on your friend. I have called some men to help me take your grandfather out of this building, unnoticed.”

Long Jie held Long Yuntian, gently laying his grandfather down, his face going cold and blank at once. He caressed Long Yuntian’s hair, absorbing one more look.

With the blood already on his hands, Long Jie smeared it on his face, standing up and stepping forward. “Spread the word that Long Yuntian is dead, but his grandson has succeeded him,” Long Jie said distantly, almost remote.

The Cloak nodded, biting down a shiver from Long Jie’s cold, dead voice.

Long Jie then started up ahead, and Song Luli followed him.