Chapter 166: Stealing Fragrance (21)
Pei Yinnian had originally intended to go to the tea house. He hadn’t wanted to come to this chaotic nightclub.
But Xiao Ji had received that letter, and if he had rushed to the tea house immediately after, it would have made him look too restless. Who was he, Pei Yinnian? In all of Huating, when he said “east,” no one dared to say “west.” Yet here he was, held by the throat by a mere schoolteacher, losing his composure to such an extent. It was truly unseemly.
So, he had only stared at that tea house for a while before turning into this nightclub. Now, watching the dancers and listening to the surrounding noise, he was already starting to regret it. Listening to Lin Shu’s words only made him more irritable.
He finished the remaining half-bottle of imported liquor and stood up, saying to Lin Shu:
“Let’s go back.”
During this time, Lin Shu had been on edge, fearing that any unintentional turn of his head would meet Xiao Ji’s cold face. Now that Pei Yinnian had spoken, Lin Shu finally let out a sigh of relief.
But unexpectedly, just as the two of them stood up, a gunshot rang out, muffled by the chaotic music. The bullet nearly grazed the top of Pei Yinnian’s head, embedding itself into the wall behind him.
Pei Yinnian had been drinking, and his outing tonight had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. He hadn’t brought anyone with him except Lin Shu.
Seeing this, Lin Shu immediately shielded Pei Yinnian and fired several shots toward the direction of the gunfire. Chaos erupted instantly.
As a large crowd of customers surged out of the nightclub, the tea house across the street was just preparing to close. Nan Siyan was sitting at the counter of the tea house with his chin in his hands, listening to Boss Du lecture him. Seeing the chaos across the street, he was startled.
“What’s going on?”
Boss Du was already used to such things. He frowned and quickly closed the doors, extinguished the lights, and peered out through the crack in the door. He said to Nan Siyan:
“Earlier, I saw Young Master Pei standing by the road for a while before entering the nightclub across the street. This must be aimed at him.”
Hearing this, Nan Siyan’s heart skipped a beat. “Young Master Pei? Mr. Xiao’s… Master?”
In a tea house where people come and go, it was easy to gather information. Ever since Xiao Ji had helped him, Nan Siyan had asked around about Xiao Ji’s situation, which was how he knew to send the money to the Pei Residence.
Boss Du glanced at Nan Siyan and warned him, “Mind your own business.”
Nan Siyan nodded and agreed, then said: “I know. I’ll go to my room and rest now.”
After saying that, he turned into the backyard. Seeing no one around, he secretly opened the small, narrow gate of the tea house’s backyard.
Pei Yinnian and Lin Shu had emptied their magazines and jumped out of a second-story window of the nightclub. They rolled on the ground to break their fall and ran toward their black vintage car parked by the road.
However, the tires had been slashed; it clearly wouldn’t drive.
Pei Yinnian cursed and quickly surveyed the surroundings. He saw a dark alley next to the tea house and pulled Lin Shu toward it.
Soon, several figures ran out of the nightclub. The leader looked at the empty street and narrowed his eyes. “Split up and search.”
Pei Yinnian and Lin Shu sprinted through the dark alley, only to find a high wall ahead—a dead end.
Lin Shu gritted his teeth and said to Pei Yinnian: “Master, I’ll boost you over. We can’t stay here!”
With a tall, smooth wall, one person boosting from below could help the other get over. But the one left behind would almost certainly face dire consequences if caught.
Pei Yinnian couldn’t die. But he also couldn’t abandon Lin Shu at a time like this.
Meanwhile, the sound of footsteps was already coming from the entrance of the alley.
In that critical moment, a narrow black door by the wall opened a crack. A small head poked out, looked at Pei Yinnian and Lin Shu, and whispered, “Quick, come in!”
In a life-and-death situation, a door had suddenly opened. Pei Yinnian and Lin Shu didn’t have time to think and squeezed through the small door. Nan Siyan closed the door, bolted it, and with a kerosene lamp in hand, made a “hush” gesture. He pointed to a small room in the courtyard with an open door, signaling them to go inside.
Pei Yinnian and Lin Shu exchanged a glance and ran into Nan Siyan’s small room, pulling the door shut behind them.
Nan Siyan leaned against the wall by the narrow door, blew out his lamp, and listened carefully to the movement outside.
Several footsteps reached the door.
“It’s a dead end.”
“Search somewhere else.”
Nan Siyan had been worried someone might knock. But perhaps because it was dark and the small courtyard door was narrow and inconspicuous, or perhaps the people outside didn’t expect anyone would be bold enough to let them in, the footsteps soon hurried away.
Nan Siyan breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and crept back into the room.
As soon as he pushed the door open, he saw Lin Shu and Pei Yinnian squeezed into the corner behind his wardrobe.
He said, “They’re gone. You’d better wait until dawn to leave.”
Although Pei Yinnian was relieved, the cold expression on his face hadn’t softened. He held his gun, pointing it at Nan Siyan.
“What is your purpose?”
Nan Siyan shushed him. “Quiet. I know you. You are Mr. Xiao’s Master. Mr. Xiao helped me, and I won’t just sit by if you’re in trouble.”
Pei Yinnian then realized that this thin, weak, and clean-looking youth was the very actor he had wanted to see but had been too embarrassed to visit. He scrutinized Nan Siyan; he felt a bit awkward, but the tension from being hunted finally relaxed. Most importantly, this kid was sensible enough to know he was “Mr. Xiao’s Master.”
His expression softened slightly as he said to Nan Siyan, “Thank you.”
Nan Siyan waved his hand. “It was nothing.”
At that very moment, Xiao Ji—who had already received a notification from 037 and was standing at the entrance of the alley—also sighed in relief.
Then, alone, he surrounded the five or six men running out of the alley.
The leader saw a man in a long gown and glasses, looking like a refined scholar, standing at the alley entrance staring at them. He said rudely:
“Get lost, don’t block the—”
Unfortunately, before he could finish, he fell straight down.
Xiao Ji held a gun, his face cold and silent. Before the others could react, he fired several shots in quick succession. Each shot hit a target right between the eyebrows.
After killing them all, he suddenly froze and stopped moving.
037 was confused: [What’s wrong?]
Xiao Ji pursed his lips: [I forgot to leave one alive to ask who the mastermind was.]
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