Good News

The door opened.

Fish Head Xu came in, his face glowing. The moment he saw Yang Chu standing on the living room balcony, he called out happily, "Chu-zai, you're still up?"

"I don't sleep much."

Yang Chu looked at Fish Head Xu in his suit and crooked tie. His steps seemed a little unsteady, and Yang Chu caught a faint whiff of alcohol and perfume. He smiled. "Brother Xu, did something good happen tonight? You seem so happy..."

"Aw, I just had a few drinks with some friends."

Fish Head Xu chuckled and waved a hand, but the excitement in his cross-eyed gaze was impossible to hide.

Yang Chu smiled at the way Fish Head Xu looked, but didn't say or ask much.

From the first time they'd met, Fish Head Xu's life had involved trying to steal another man's girlfriend and getting chased by thugs who wanted to hack him up. Then, just the other day, a woman had run over to flirt with him while they were eating at a dai pai dong. Yang Chu could imagine what his life was like.

Truthfully, Yang Chu was the outsider who had suddenly barged into Fish Head Xu's life.

Still, he hadn't thought about moving elsewhere. He was gradually getting used to living with Fish Head Xu, and even his emotions had slowly begun to surface over the past day or two.

Standing on the balcony, Yang Chu balanced on the ball of his left foot, raised his right leg high behind him, then reached both hands back to grab it, striking a pose that required exceptional flexibility.

"By the way, Chu-zai, I asked around on set today."

Fish Head Xu plopped onto the sofa and glanced over at Yang Chu, who was striking a bizarre pose on the balcony. Lowering his voice slightly, he said, "A few cops came by this morning, took some statements, and left. They didn't ask much else. Black Skin Sha is dead, and Big Brother is in a pretty good mood. I heard him say he'd gotten a tip that some outsiders have been cleaning out the drug dens around Hong Kong Island."

"Hm?"

Yang Chu had been working on his flexibility, but when he heard Fish Head Xu say that, he abruptly stopped.

"Outsiders? Cleaning out drug dens?"

Yang Chu stood still, his eyes glinting as he quickly analyzed the situation. Fish Head Xu's words made him feel that a lot of things were falling into place and becoming clear.

First was the trouble his current body had gotten mixed up in.

From what he'd heard from the ponytailed young man who'd come with Black Skin Sha, he'd learned that he was probably a henchman of a drug dealer named Dao You Cheng—possibly even a trusted one.

After Dao You Cheng and his men had been killed, this trusted henchman was the only one who'd somehow survived. He was also the only one who knew where Dao You Cheng had stashed a valuable shipment, which was why other drug gangs were looking for him.

Second was the group of outsiders Fish Head Xu had mentioned, the ones cleaning out drug dens on Hong Kong Island. They were obviously the organization behind those killers who felt no pain.

That night, when he'd gotten into Black Skin Sha's car, the two pain-insensitive brutes had been after Black Skin Sha. But Yang Chu had shown up and killed them, and that had soon drawn more people from the same organization to hunt him down tonight.

Third, the mysterious organization with its pain-insensitive killer-soldiers had ties to Black Mask, Xu Xi. Dao You Cheng, too, appeared to have been wiped out by that organization.

So I've been involved with them from the start. I killed five of their people this time, and judging by the way they operate, they won't just let it go. I just don't know what role Black Mask Xu Xi plays in all this.

These connections and deductions had come to Yang Chu after just one or two brief trains of thought, thanks to the huge improvement in his brain's processing speed and analytical ability.

"I'm still really curious about why they can't feel pain."

The only things that truly interested Yang Chu now were all kinds of martial arts, along with the mysteries of the brain, the mind, and the human body.

He didn't care about anything else.

Ring, ring—

Just as Yang Chu was turning these thoughts over and piecing the information together, the living-room telephone suddenly rang.

Fish Head Xu sprang off the sofa and dashed to the phone, picking it up.

"...I'm home, Jenny... Okay, okay, I won't call you Jenny. Ah Xue, Ah Xue, are you done filming... Do I miss you? Of course I do..."

Fish Head Xu's syrupy voice rang out.

"Chu-zai, I'm heading out for a bit tonight."

About five or six minutes later, Fish Head Xu hung up, rubbing his hands together, his face brimming with excitement.

"Something good happen?" Yang Chu asked with a smile, continuing his workout on the balcony. He could more or less guess what Fish Head Xu was up to tonight from the look on his face.

"Don't ask, don't ask. I'm heading out."

Fish Head Xu chuckled. Too impatient to bother with Yang Chu, he hurried out of the apartment.

"Hey, sir, if you keep making false reports, we can charge you with obstructing police business."

At Sham Shui Po Public Swimming Pool, a young uniformed officer looked at the pool attendant, Uncle Kin, with obvious impatience.

"Officer, I really am telling the truth. A few gweilos came charging in here earlier and even tried to shoot me. How did I offend them? It wasn't me—it was a young guy. He comes to the pool all the time, but he doesn't swim. He just sleeps. A real oddball."

The pool attendant, Uncle Kin, gestured wildly as he explained himself to the uniformed officer, looking thoroughly exasperated.

"Okay, okay." The officer waved a hand. "We've taken your statement. We'll investigate. It's getting late, sir. Clock out and go home."

"But, officer..." Uncle Kin watched the officer turn and walk away, then hurried after him with short steps, seeming to want to say more.

Across from Sham Shui Po Public Swimming Pool, on the roof of a low-rise building, two figures—one black, one red—had watched the entire time as Uncle Kin brought the police into the pool and gave his statement.

After Uncle Kin and the officer had gone far away, the beautiful woman in red turned to face the masked man in black, the night wind blowing around her. "Instructor, do you know who that man was tonight?"

"Ruolan, he's a friend of mine." Xu Xi's eyes, hidden behind his mask, didn't turn toward the beautiful woman in red. He simply gazed out at Hong Kong Island beneath the night sky.

"But he killed five of our team members."

The beautiful woman known as Ruolan looked somewhat agitated. "We barely have any team members left who escaped. Those people were once taught by you, too."

"Five? So there were two before them?"

Xu Xi turned to the beautiful woman called Ruolan and asked, "Why would he kill our team members?"

"He ruined our plan." There was a deep note of hatred in Ruolan's voice.

"Your plan?" Xu Xi paused at that. "What plan?"

Ruolan fixed her gaze on Xu Xi's masked face, then suddenly turned away. "Only the captain can tell you that."

"Then take me to see the captain."