"Easy."
Earthworm grabbed Little White Tiger before he could risk his life.
"I brought you here. Attacking you on my turf is a slap in my face."
Earthworm pushed open the little kitchen window. Right beneath the sill, three children with runny noses were playing with pebbles.
"Third Uncle."
Earthworm called to one of the boys. "Third Uncle, I'm under attack! Go get help!"
A child of seven or eight looked up at Earthworm. Seeing the sweat covering his head, he immediately understood.
"Go get help!" Earthworm urged.
Earthworm's Third Uncle pouted and ordered his companions in a childish voice, "Go find my dad."
Then, under Little White Tiger's astonished gaze, he reached up and pulled out the red cord around his neck.
Most children wore jade pendants, longevity locks, or other lucky charms on their red cords, but hanging from Earthworm's Third Uncle's cord was a handgun.
"Holy shit."
Hi Dog stared at Third Uncle, dumbfounded.
These kids who had grown up in the dump had always thought they were wild enough. Compared to the children outside the city, they were nothing.
"Wait here."
Earthworm's Third Uncle gripped the pistol with both hands and charged toward the breakfast shop's front entrance.
"The target's in the back. We'll go in first. Three-Car, cover us."
The four men crept toward the kitchen. Hi Dog darted out and managed only one shot before their combined fire forced him back.
Seeing that Little White Tiger and the others refused to come out, one of the Three-Car hitmen pulled out a grenade.
He was just about to throw it inside.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out behind them.
The hitman holding the grenade took a bullet in the back of his leg. The men turned around, and a child with a runny nose grinned at them before scurrying away.
"CNM! You came to Black Mountain Town to start shit? None of you are getting out today!"
Earthworm roared through the wall.
"Little White Tiger, come out! You're the only one I'm here to kill. Otherwise, all of you die!"
The lead hitman was drenched in sweat. He had never imagined that Little White Tiger would find people outside the city willing to help him after just one day.
Had they known people from Black Mountain Town were protecting him, the hitmen would never have underestimated him so badly.
Time was running out. The lead hitman ordered his teammates to drag the wounded man out of the breakfast shop while he picked up the grenade from the floor.
Bang, bang, bang!
Blood sprayed from the two men who had just stepped out of the breakfast shop.
Under their leader's horrified gaze, the two teammates, riddled with bullets, collapsed limply.
"CNM! Who's picking on our Black Mountain Town kids?"
"Kill them!"
"Don't wreck the cars! We can sell them!"
Dozens of armed townspeople in ragged clothes charged out of the narrow lanes toward the breakfast shop's entrance.
"Ahem. Hello, hello? Can everyone hear me? Someone's causing trouble in Black Mountain Town! Grab your fucking weapons and get to the town entrance!" A voice calling for reinforcements blared from the town's loudspeakers.
More and more people surged toward the breakfast shop.
Panic gripped the hitman leader, and a white blur shot out of the kitchen.
Rat-tat-tat!
The hitman leader instinctively emptied a burst at it. The white blur moved like a beast, racing along the wall on all fours.
The figure moved across the vertical wall as though it were level ground, then hung upside down from the ceiling.
"Reloading! Cover me!"
The hitman leader ducked behind his second-in-command. As he changed magazines, he finally got a clear look at the person who had charged out.
It was Little White Tiger. He clung firmly to the ceiling with all four limbs, watching the two men with a savage grin.
"An Awakened?"
The hitman leader's scalp prickled. "Lang never said the target was an Awakened!"
"Drop your weapons!"
"Put down the guns!"
"On your knees!"
More than a hundred people crowded the entrance, with dozens of guns aimed at the two men.
If either of them so much as twitched, they would end up like the two Three-Car men.
"Earthworm, you still alive?"
A resident at the entrance shouted toward the kitchen.
Earthworm emerged looking battered and filthy. Ignoring the guns still in their hands, he strode forward and killed the leader's second-in-command with a single stab.
The blade was too dull. The boning knife lodged in the man's face.
"CNM! Shooting at me, huh? Let's see who ends up with more bullet holes!" Still furious, Earthworm slapped the hitman leader across the face.
The man gave Little White Tiger, whose body was now covered in tiger fur, a resentful look.
He lost all hope.
Their target was an Awakened. Even veterans like them couldn't take him down quickly.
But Old Ding couldn't be blamed either. Who could have guessed that Little White Tiger had become an Awakened without ever attending an awakening ceremony?
"Buddy, put down the gun. I'll only chop off your hands."
The crowd at the entrance parted, and an old man leaning on a cane stepped out.
Faced with dozens of guns, the hitman leader could only admit defeat.
Killing Little White Tiger was now unrealistic, and fighting back was impossible. His only choice was to surrender and try to secure a chance to live.
If they had notified the people of Black Mountain Town beforehand instead of getting cocky, they might not have ended up so helpless.
"You've got guts, opening fire in Black Mountain Town. I'm impressed. I won't make things difficult for you. A hundred thousand and both your paws, and you can leave." As he spoke, the old man pointed his cane at the hitman from a distance.
Bang!
An invisible force punched through the hitman's palm, and his gun fell to the floor.
An Awakened.
Little White Tiger's gaze sharpened. The old man before him was an Awakened too.
"Sir."
Little White Tiger jumped down to the floor and bowed slightly to the old man. "Sir, could you let me ask him a few questions?"
"Grandpa, he saved my life. He's here to discuss a big deal with my third cousin."
Earthworm explained to the residents at the entrance.
The old man glanced at Little White Tiger, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "An Awakened, and an enhancement type. The younger generation is impressive. Xiao Fei will be back soon. You're our guests. Here in Black Mountain Town, even the Police Bureau chief can't touch you without my say-so."
"Thank you, sir."
Little White Tiger turned to the hitman. "Who sent you?"
The hitman shook his head firmly. "Just kill me. Once we take a job, we don't sell out the boss. That's our rule."
"Rules are made to be broken." The old man smiled scornfully. "We don't have much here, but we have plenty of ways to torture people. Even if you were a Transformer, one night here would leave you dismantled and sold for parts."
"Tell me who's behind this, and I'll let you go."
Little White Tiger knew the hitman had reached the end of the road. If he kept pushing with force alone, the man would only seek a quick death.
If he gave him hope, he might talk. After all, who wasn't living for themselves in this apocalypse?
"Tell us, and we'll let you go. These people are all my great-uncles and uncles. My word carries weight." Earthworm spat out a thick glob of phlegm and spoke with swagger.
"Buddy, there's no shame in talking. Better a miserable life than a good death. Who isn't living for money these days?" The old man gave the hitman every opportunity to back down with dignity.
The man hesitated for a long while but remained silent.
Little White Tiger wasted no more words. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the hitman.
"If you came to kill me, you must know who's backing me, right? If you don't talk, I'll have someone dig up eight generations of your family right now. You've got a stubborn mouth. Do your wife and kids?"
Little White Tiger grabbed the hitman by the hair and threatened him harshly.
A flicker of fear appeared in the hitman's eyes, his earlier defiance gone. "Leave my wife and children out of it."
"Talk, and I'll leave them out of it. Keep quiet, and I'll reunite your whole family."
Click-clack.
Hi Dog racked his gun and pressed it against the hitman's head. "One."
"Two."
"Three."
"I'll talk!"
At the last moment, the hitman finally spoke. "You'll really let me go?"
"Yes." Little White Tiger nodded firmly.
"All right. It was... it was Old Ding's man. Brother Lang sent us after you."
The hitman slumped onto the floor and shakily pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
Little White Tiger wasn't surprised at all that Old Ding had sent people to kill him.
Mr. Li had said he could give him half a month, but how many people in the underworld didn't play dirty?
"Who's Brother Lang?"
"Old Ding's Red Stick. An Awakened at peak second awakening."
Now that the hitman had talked, there was no point holding anything back. He told them everything he knew. "It wasn't just our team. He sent another group to Dongpu to find Old Ninth."
"Fuck!"
Little White Tiger's eyes widened in fury, and a chill rose up his back.
Old Ninth was still unconscious. His people weren't as lucky as Little White Tiger, with Black Mountain Town's residents helping him.
"When are they making their move?"
"I... I don't know."
Little White Tiger burned with anxiety. He couldn't stay outside the city any longer. He shouted to Earthworm, "Take me back to the city!"
"Easy, young man. Even if you go back now, you won't make it in time. I'll find you a Satellite Phone so you can contact your people," the old man said calmly.
The short, skinny old man looked frail, yet he gave off a sense of unshakable steadiness.
After hearing the old man's words, Little White Tiger felt inexplicably calmer.
"Can I go now?"
The hitman looked cautiously at the old man, who smiled faintly. "Of course. I keep my word. I won't cut off your hands, but you'll have to crawl out of Black Mountain Town."
Bang, bang!
Two gunshots rang out, and the hitman clutched both knees in agony.
Out in the wilderness, a man with ruined legs wouldn't survive a day.
He would end up eaten by the Transformed, freeze to death on the road, or run into living people who would rob him of even his clothes.
Before you continue