Pristine Darkness - Chapter 118

An explosion.

The sudden explosion sounded like the howl of a wild beast on the plains, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass.

The riverbank had been empty, and that explosion sounded like it was not too far away, almost as if it were next to them. Instantly, Jian Yao took a small step back and snapped her head up violently. Hadn’t the explosion come from the building Song Kun was in?

This Gu An, he had already planned this dirty trick!

Having thought this far, Jian Yao felt herself trembling, just for a split second, before she snapped out of it. However, it was already too late. Gu An had decided to give Jian Yao a taste of her own medicine. Seizing the opportunity of her momentary inattention, he seized her gun in one swift move and twisted it aside, while pulling the trigger of his own rifle!

In the past year, Jian Yao’s speed of response had been honed even more by Fang Qing. In the nick of time, she twisted away and dodged the bullet, which thudded into the ground with a loud ‘pop’. Jian Yao dropped the gun she was holding, but at this critical juncture, she refused to retreat and in fact, took the offensive, with both hands coming up to grab Gu An’s rifle. This move had nothing to do with skill, it was purely gutsy. Gu An was actually taken aback. His assault rifle, wrenched out of his hand by Jian Yao, fell to the ground.

In the end, though, Gu An was still more skillful. Upon seeing his rifle fall, his actions became even more ruthless, and he punched Jian Yao forcefully in the stomach. Unable to evade the blow in time, Jian Yao bent over in pain, whereupon he delivered a karate chop to the back of her neck. With a low groan, she dropped to the ground.

It was such a thrilling fight, but Gu An subconsciously felt that something was amiss.

A fleeting thought surfaced in his mind – what about Simon King? He had been quiet for too long, how could he be indifferent to his wife’s safety?

He looked up and understood everything in the blink of an eye.

Bo Jinyan was still standing at the door of the little cabin. His hands, hanging by his sides, were tightly clenched.

This blind man had every intention to act but had no power, haha. Both he and Jian Yao had guns, even if Bo Jinyan were to rashly come closer, how could he possibly help? The corners of Gu An’s mouth lifted in a grin, he liked seeing a powerless Simon King. Just like a year ago, just like right now . . . hehehehe . . . out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that of the several gang members lying on the ground not far from Bo Jinyan, one of them had another gun at his waist. However, that was of little consequence. It was not likely that a blind man, no matter how intelligent, would know there was a gun there, much less accurately and speedily retrieve it. . .

Gu An pushed aside Jian Yao, who was on the ground. At some point, the mask on his face had also slipped off. He looked up again at the indistinct glow of the building on fire and his heart was filled with delight. He bent over with the intention of picking up the rifle he had dropped while at the same time saying lazily, “Simon King, right now, there’s only the two of us left, isn’t that wonderful . . .”

His speech came to a sudden halt.

Something pressed lightly against the back of his head.

It was a gun, an ice-cold gun, unerringly pressed against his skull.

“Oh yes, it is indeed wonderful, masked killer.” A deep, low voice, like that of a cello, stated.

Gu An was transfixed.

Simon King . . .

He turned around almost instantaneously. Apart from the black muzzle of the gun, he saw a pair of incomparably bright eyes.

Even though the masked killer was capable of extreme frivolity, right now, his face was deathly white. Everything had been within his expectations, apart from that man opening his eyes. He saw that Simon King, whom they both hated and feared, standing there in the empty space outside the little cabin, without his sunglasses, which had been thrown to the ground. He was holding a gun, and the waist holster of the gang member who was lying on the ground was empty. His eyes were so clear and bright, just as they had been at that time, like the legendary pearl that glowed in the dark, even through the water. He just stood there, clear and bright, as if freed from this world, like he had been gazing at everything that was going on for a long time already.

Gu An’s tears suddenly burst forth, but what issued from his throat was a sharp grin and a hoarse voice, saying “Haha . . . Simon King . . . your eyes . . . are fine now . . .”

Bo Jinyan ignored his craziness. In his eyes, a river of silence flowed.

“The person who killed Fu Ziyu, was it you?”

Gu An’s expression gradually turned cold, and he indifferently replied, “Yeah, your Fu Ziyu, he was no fun at all. No matter how I tortured him, he refused to beg for mercy, and even wanted to take my Han Yumeng away. In the end I . . .”

He didn’t finish speaking.

Peng. A gunshot resounded. Bo Jinyan had shot him in the right chest. Gu An smothered a groan and swayed several times but did not fall over. There was blood on his lips, but his smile became even more brilliant. “Oh, Oh, Simon, Simon, are you angry? Sad? Do you feel as if life is f*cking lamentable? You should have realised this a lot sooner, why did you have to wait until Fu Ziyu died to understand this?”

“No. I don’t think life is lamentable,” Bo Jinyan said. At the same time, another ‘peng’ sounded as Bo Jinyan shot Gu An in the abdomen. This time, Gu An could no longer stand upright and lay on the ground like a puddle of mud as he listened to Bo Jinyan talking over his head. “Some people, even though they are dead, in their short lives they were like a diamond, brilliant and precious. Some people live nothing more than a fabricated, empty shell of a life, seemingly human but not, seemingly like a ghost, but not. Because they live lamentable lives themselves, they see the whole world as lamentable.”

Gu An merely looked down and smiled, and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

“Your eyes . . . when did they recover?” he asked. “I had my doubts, but you both acted so well . . . oh, no, it can’t be . . . you even lied to your wife? Simon King, this match, I wholeheartedly admit defeat. You are too good at playing . . .”

Bo Jinyan lowered his head to fix his gaze on Gu An as he replied, “Three months ago. Ah . . . I told myself I would not open my eyes until I found Fu Ziyu’s killer.”

Gu An appeared to be gasping for breath. His face was drawn and he stopped talking. At this point, Bo Jinyan said, “Masked killer, raise your head.”

Although Gu An was covered in blood, he still laughed. He did not know what Bo Jinyan’s intention was and raised his head, little by little.

He suddenly shook all over.

This time, he looked at Bo Jinyan’s eyes more clearly.

That bright and handsome, proud and aloof, thin man. His eyes were profound, yet also cold and detached.

But why, in those eyes, did Gu An see a trace of gentle sorrow?

That sorrow, those eyes like glimmering water, were very much like another man’s . . .

Gu An’s entire body started to tremble. Even though there was not an ounce of humanity in him, at this moment he felt some kind of strange dread gripping his heart. His body jerked once, and he burst out, “Fu Ziyu . . . ha . . . Fu Ziyu . . .”

The sorrow in Bo Jinyan’s eyes vanished, and what remained was a pair of fathomless pitch-black eyes.

“Yes,” he whispered into Gu An’s ear. “These are . . . Fu Ziyu’s eyes. Henceforth they are also mine.”

He fired repeatedly and Gu An finally took his last breath, his mangled body slumped on the ground.

The surroundings fell into a profound silence in the twinkling of an eye.

Bo Jinyan crouched on the ground for a while before slowly standing up. He strode towards Jian Yao and picked her up in his arms.

It was then that a sound came from the underbrush behind the little wood cabin. The sound of boots striking broken rocks. Bo Jinyan unhurriedly turned his head.

That person, holding a gun, was half hidden in the darkness. He said softly, “You shouldn’t have shot him yourself.”

——

Three minutes before the explosion.

At that time, on the upper floor of the small building, the atmosphere was rather sombre.

Song Kun had fired his shot only to discover that Gu An had hidden behind the boulder and he could no longer find a viable shooting angle. His heart full of bitterness, Song Kun turned and saw that the person closest to the door was his most formidable aide, and one of those able to contend with Gu An. He said, fiercely, “Take some men, and bring Gu An back here alive. Even if you have to beat him to within an inch of his life, you still have to bring him back here like a dog and throw him before me.”

That person left with his orders. Song Kun turned back to see Zheng Chen standing with his mobile phone in his hand, his face gloomy. Next to him stood Qin Sheng, with an equally gloomy face. Song Kun’s tone of voice was surprisingly especially calm as he said, “Once we have eliminated this scourge, our family will be peaceful and secure. All that Gu An was managing will come under the two of you.”

Zheng Chen nodded once, while Qin Sheng hurriedly said, “Ok.”

Song Kun once again put on the headphones and took up his sniper rifle. He heard Gu An’s voice saying, “Did you really think that you’ve secured the winning card? . . . On the contrary, everything is going according to my plan!”

Song Kun jolted with alarm. Suddenly, he could hear  ‘di di di’ sounding from somewhere near him. Without any effort, the sound became louder and more urgent, He quickly turned his head and saw Zheng Chen looking down at his mobile phone – that sound was coming from the device.

The new mobile phone which Gu An had given him a few days ago!

Qin Sheng was also looking over in astonishment. Song Kun’s reflexes were the fastest, and he yelled, “Drop it!” At the same time, he dropped his rifle and leaped for the nearest corner.

However, Zheng Chen was unable to drop it in time.

The ear-splitting boom was accompanied by a sudden blaze of flame and everything burst open in that split second. The shock wave smashed all the glass in the room at once. Song Kun and Qin Sheng, who had been standing slightly further away, were hit hard. Both of them were thrown to the floor at the same time, and the loud buzzing in their ears rendered them incapable of hearing anything else.

Where Zheng Chen had originally stood, there was only smoke, flame and residual fragments. The explosion had propelled mutilated flesh all over the room. There was nothing else there.

——

Bo Jinyan stood up with Jian Yao in his arms, and that person also walked out from the shadows into the light. A tall, straight figure, a robustly healthy face – Zhao Kun.

Bo Jinyan walked to the door of the little wood cabin and picked up his sunglasses.

“Why did you come?” Bo Jinyan asked.

Zhao Kun replied, “Song Kun sent me to deal with Gu An, no problem.” At the same time he stretched out his hand towards Bo Jinyan, who handed him the gun. Zhao Kun took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped it clean before sticking it into his waistband. Then, he said, “Let’s say it was I who killed Gu An. But, Professor Bo, this step you’ve taken is way too risky.” He fished out a cigarette butt from his pocket.

Unexpectedly, Bo Jinyan smiled and said, “Burn it.”

This was the cigarette butt which Bo Jinyan had smoked then tossed into the yard of Zhao Kun’s home, before the entire plan had been implemented. A slip of paper had been inserted into the cigarette butt, on which was written two words: ‘Don’t move’.

When had Bo Jinyan started noticing something different about Zhao Kun?

It started from the first night they had arrived at this place.

That night, Zhao Kun had brought some men to the small building where they were staying temporarily in order to check them out. It is reasonable to say that someone like him, bold and attentive to detail, who had already decided to get rid of them the next day, should not have left any traces behind. However, he had smoked a cigarette in the yard and tossed the half-smoked butt into a highly conspicuous location. The cigarette was very expensive, so this did not make sense.  This had been tantamount to alerting them that someone had come by in the middle of the night.

Thereafter, all of Bo Jinyan’s observations of Zhao Kun pointed to him lining up nicely with the psychological profile of the undercover police officer, whereas Zheng Chen, Qin Sheng, and Gu An definitely did not. Therefore, before the implementation of this plan where the false was mixed in with the truth, Bo Jinyan decided to follow the set pattern* and send Zhao Kun a message using a cigarette butt.

*T/N 如法炮制 (ru fa pao zhi) – lit. to follow the recipe.

“What’s the situation like over there?” Bo Jinyan asked.

Zhao Kun replied, “Zheng Chen died in the explosion, while Qin Sheng and Buddha’s Hand have been hurt. Let’s drag Gu An’s body back there, so they won’t get suspicious.”

Bo Jinyan nodded and said, “Very good.”

After a brief pause, Zhao Kun said, “Because I divulged that information, the entire organisation of Buddha’s Hand is now under strict control, and I have no way to get in touch with the outside. Professor Bo, does that side have any instructions on how we are to proceed? I have found out that the large amount of wealth Buddha’s Hand has accumulated over the past few years, as well as a huge stash of weapons and ammunition, and drugs, are all in the mountains. Due to all these things happening in quick succession, and with his personality, I’m afraid that he will cause a diversion somewhere and flee. If that happens, it will be very hard to catch him. I have spent five years in Buddha’s Hand and we have finally reached this day, when things are about to boil over. I don’t want to fail through lack of a final effort*; I must bring them all to justice!”

*T/N 功亏一篑 (gong kui yi kui) – lit. ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful. Equivalent English idiom – to spoil the ship for a ha’penny-worth of tar.

Bo Jinyan’s eyes were as dark as night. He laughed faintly and said, “Don’t worry, they won’t be able to escape. It’s already been so many days. If my people can’t work together with your Captain Zhu to follow the trail and use the clues we’ve left behind to deduce this location, then they can all find other jobs*. Unless my assessment is wrong, within these few days, they will launch a full-scale attack. When the time comes, we just need to protect ourselves and work together with them to coordinate the external and internal offensives.”

*T/N 领盒饭 (ling he fan) – colloquial, used of an actor with a bit part. Lit. to receive a boxed meal; indicates that one’s job is done e.g. the character has been killed off.

Zhao Kun grinned when he heard this, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Just then, the person in Bo Jinyan’s arms moved.

Bo Jinyan’s body froze momentarily, his sunglasses still in his hand. After a heartbeat of hesitation, he did not put them on. Instead, he looked down at the woman in his arms.

Jian Yao made a soft sound and opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was his face, and the eyes that had finally opened. His eyes, gentle and profoundly black, were gazing unblinkingly at her. In this quiet moment, Jian Yao’s heart felt like a river which had long been frozen over and in which a huge crack had suddenly opened up, with the sunlight shining in without so much as a ‘by your leave’. She clutched his lapel as her tears flowed forth.