Settling the Score

A man crouched in front of an apartment door, picking the lock with a paper clip. He pushed the door open, and another man entered with a gun in each hand. The first man quickly shut the door and drew his gun. Together, they crossed the entryway and stormed into the living room.

A man sat on the living room table, bare-chested, with layer upon layer of bandages wrapped around his abdomen. Even so, blood kept seeping through the bandages whenever he coughed, forming an irregular circle on the floor. He was listless and weak, clearly not long for this world.

The lockpicker aimed his gun at the wounded man and laughed. "Ding Shi, how'd you end up looking like a sick chicken? Where'd that swagger go—the swagger you had when you slaughtered my whole family? Where'd it go?" He prodded Ding Shi's head twice with the barrel.

Ding Shi smiled indifferently. "You're all here? Since you're here, let's sit down and settle some scores. Let's tally up the last six years. Wang Meng, have a seat."

The man called Wang Meng stood six foot three and was powerfully built. After making sure Ding Shi had no weapons hidden on him, Wang Meng pulled out a chair and sat across from him. Looking into Ding Shi's eyes, he asked, "Second Brother, how do you want to settle things?"

Ding Shi didn't answer. He looked at the lockpicker. "Stupid Dagger, you sit too."

The lockpicker stood five foot seven and was lean. As he sat down, he corrected him. "My nickname is Short Dagger." He didn't mind wasting a little time if it meant watching his enemy die slowly.

Ding Shi said, "First, the score between Wang Meng and me. I've followed you since I was eighteen, through every danger, through fire and sword. How did you repay me?"

Ding Shi pointed at his abdomen and held up two fingers. "Two bullets. Are you even human? Are you?"

Wang Meng remained unmoved. "You were an undercover agent."

Ding Shi asked, "Right, I was undercover. But did I ever come after you?"

Wang Meng said, "You would have eventually."

Ding Shi stared at him in disbelief. "You're going to kill the me of today over something that might happen in the future?"

Wang Meng froze. How was he supposed to answer that?

Short Dagger sneered. "Don't think I don't know. Your undercover mission was to help Wang Meng wipe out all the criminal gangs in A City. Then you were supposed to take out Wang Meng and complete the Purification Operation."

Ding Shi looked at Short Dagger. "Now it's your turn, is it? You erased all my undercover electronic files, killed my superior, and stole the only paper copy of my file. So tell me, what did I ever do to you?"

"What did you do to me?" Short Dagger laughed. "Five years ago, you killed my whole family. My parents, my sister, my brother—four lives. Do you think I'd let you get away with it?"

Ding Shi wagged a finger. "I didn't kill your whole family. Our boss is Wang Meng, sitting right beside you."

Ding Shi looked at Wang Meng. "He used the paper file to threaten me. He said if I didn't take you out, he'd give you the file and let you take me out instead."

After a brief pause, Wang Meng and Short Dagger both raised their guns and aimed at each other's heads.

Short Dagger grinned viciously. "The murder of my family calls for blood. Wang Meng, what do you say?"

Wang Meng explained, "He urged me to wipe out all the criminal gangs in A City."

Short Dagger shot back, "And you did it just because he said so?"

Wang Meng answered, "He was my brother."

Ding Shi demanded, "Then why'd you shoot me?"

Wang Meng said, "But you were undercover."

Ding Shi sighed in exasperation. "Your enemy says a couple of words to sow discord, and you come after me? Do you have a brain?"

Wang Meng admitted he wasn't as smart as Ding Shi. For the past six years, Ding Shi had been the one coming up with plans for him. But Wang Meng wasn't stupid. He lowered Short Dagger's gun with his own, then lowered his own weapon and looked at Ding Shi. "Second Brother, I know you too well. If anyone among the three of us was stirring up trouble, it'd be you. So I'm not listening to a word you say."

Ding Shi asked, "You're avoiding the truth."

Short Dagger spoke first. "Ding Shi, are you really an undercover agent?"

Ding Shi spread his hands. "A dying man speaks the truth. I really was undercover."

Short Dagger asked, "How can you prove it? You spent six years as a bandit. Did you ever attend a day of police academy? Did you ever serve as a cop? Is there anyone left who can prove you were a cop? No. Believe it or not, you're no soldier. You're just a bandit, a rotten piece of shit—worse than me."

For a moment, Ding Shi had no answer.

Short Dagger clearly enjoyed Ding Shi's stunned expression. He tilted his head with a smile. "Wang Meng, let's join forces. A City will be our backyard from now on."

Wang Meng said, "Fine."

Ding Shi said, "No."

Short Dagger asked with a smile, "Oh? Why not?"

Ding Shi replied, "Because my left foot is on a bomb detonator. Wang Meng, kill Short Dagger, and I'll let you go. Short Dagger, kill Wang Meng, and I'll let you go. You'd better decide fast. I can't keep my foot down much longer."

Short Dagger's expression shifted. He raised his gun. Wang Meng, however, didn't so much as flinch. "I don't believe you."

Short Dagger said, "You can believe that much. He's got a belly full of tricks. Otherwise, he wouldn't have guessed that we'd already joined forces and lured us here. There's no saving him now. He'd definitely drag us down with him before he dies."

Wang Meng said, "I don't believe he'd let us go. He just wants to watch us kill each other before he dies, so he can have a little fun." No one knew Ding Shi better than Wang Meng. That kid was rotten to the core. If it weren't for the paper file and Ding Shi's own admission, Wang Meng would never have believed he was undercover.

Ding Shi said helplessly, "This is boring. See you." Then he lifted his left foot.

Ding Shi died.

And yet, Ding Shi wasn't entirely dead.

A white room. A white table. A white chair. A white tablet sat on the table.

Ding Shi first felt his abdomen. There was no wound, and his body felt perfectly normal. He could tell for certain that this wasn't Earth, because the white world was boundless and endless, stretching beyond sight. He cautiously leaned over to look at the tablet and saw a multiple-choice question on the screen.

Ding Shi tentatively called out to the space around him. "God? Demon? King of Hell? Lucifer? The Impermanence? Ferryman? Anyone home?" His voice grew louder with each word.

An Angel Baby suddenly appeared in the space. He was plump and rosy, wearing a green tank top and shorts, with a pair of small white-feathered wings on his back. He held a stick in one hand, and a halo hovered over his head.

Ding Shi's eyes lit up. "An angel?" What did that mean? It meant God had a file on him and knew he was a good person.

The Angel Baby had chubby arms and legs as plump as lotus roots, tempting anyone to reach out and pinch them. But when he opened his mouth, he ruined the effect.

The angel rapped the tablet with his stick. "Fill it out." He sounded thoroughly impatient.

Ding Shi wasn't in a hurry. "Where is this?"

The angel waved his stick, and text appeared in front of Ding Shi. He tapped it with the stick. "Read."

There wasn't much text on the screen. In essence, it said: This is the Ita World. Stop babbling and answer the multiple-choice question.

Seeing that the angel wasn't interested in talking, Ding Shi sensibly sat down and answered the question: a villa in a valley, a villa on an island, a villa in the mountains, a villa on the sea, or a villa in the sky.

Ding Shi chose the villa on an island.

The surroundings changed in an instant. Ding Shi and the angel appeared on the summit of an island. It was a typical island, with grass on the mountaintop, a rocky shore, palm trees on the beach, and dense forest covering the mountain. By his estimate, the island covered about one square kilometer.

On the summit stood a hut made of bamboo, wood, and thatch. The roof was covered with palm leaves, and the walls were made of wood and bamboo. It was drafty on all sides, with plenty of ventilation.

The angel waved his stick and led Ding Shi into the hut. Inside were a stone bed covered with palm leaves, a chair, a table, a toilet, a showerhead, a set of athletic clothes, and a vending machine.