Everyone's High

The night in the French Concession was a little chilly. Dim yellow streetlights cast long, mottled shadows of trees across the bluestone road.

The Drunken Immortal Tower, a Green Gang property, had its front doors tightly shut. Only a faint light showed from the back courtyard.

Lu Tinghui crouched on the roof of an Italian restaurant, silently observing the little courtyard through a pair of binoculars.

Shen Yan crouched beside him, every muscle taut, like a cheetah ready to spring.

"Relax. This is when you need to keep your cool the most."

Sensing Shen Yan's tension, Lu Tinghui reassured him softly, never taking his eyes from the binoculars.

Downstairs, more than twenty shadowy figures sat or stood with their guns on safe, their eyes fixed on the courtyard, ready to charge at any moment.

In the restaurant's kitchen, a Jewish couple lay in pools of blood, silently telling their god of the wrong done to them.

Shen Yan took out his pocket watch and glanced at it by the moonlight.

Nine fifty. The agreed time was near.

"They're here!"

Lu Tinghui spoke softly.

Shen Yan cautiously peered out. A figure in a long gown and a fedora emerged from the shadows, carrying a large wicker suitcase. He stood straight but appeared wary, glancing from side to side every now and then. Only after making sure nothing was amiss did he slowly knock on the Drunken Immortal Tower's back door.

Three short knocks and one long one.

A moment later, the courtyard gate opened soundlessly. A man in a short black cloth jacket poked his head out, looked at the man in the long gown, then carefully checked the area behind him.

"Boss Li, I presume? Our boss has been waiting for you. Please come in."

With that, he stepped aside to let the man into the courtyard, took another look outside, then shut and locked the gate.

Lu Tinghui lowered his binoculars and went downstairs.

"The fish has arrived. Get ready to close the net."

The Italian restaurant's door opened quietly, and the action team filed out, swift and silent.

Li Kui went first, followed by Shen Yan and then Lu Tinghui.

Li Kui gave a series of tactical hand signals, and the team slowly spread out, surrounding the courtyard like a great net.

Suddenly, Shen Yan grabbed Li Kui. Before Li Kui could get angry, he saw Shen Yan pointing at a dark corner.

Following his finger, he saw a tiny glow flickering in the darkness. Clearly, someone was smoking there.

A hidden sentry!

Li Kui sucked in a breath, raised a clenched fist and signaled the team to hold position under cover. They stopped at once, each finding the nearest dark corner to await further orders.

Li Kui turned to two team members behind him, pointed to the sentry's position and drew a finger across his throat, ordering them to eliminate the target.

The two nodded, drew their daggers and crept over, hunched low.

A few minutes later, one of them emerged from the darkness and signaled that the job was done. Only then did everyone continue forward, surrounding the courtyard.

Upon reaching the courtyard wall, one team member clasped his hands and gently boosted a teammate up onto it. Less than half a minute later, the courtyard gate slowly opened. As everyone went inside, the conversation in the courtyard grew clearer.

"Boss Li, did you bring the goods?"

Li Mo nodded and handed over the wooden box. In an even tone, he said, "Don't worry. It's all top-grade Persian goods, and this is only the first batch. Our boss said that as long as the deal goes smoothly, we can supply as much as you want after this!"

"Good! Good! Good! As expected of someone from the Nationalist-controlled area, Boss Li, you certainly talk big! Let's hurry up and inspect the goods. Once the deal's done, I'll take you to the Paramount for a good time!"

Lu Tinghui nodded when he heard this. Since the man had come from the Nationalist-controlled area, they couldn't go wrong by arresting him. As for what they were trading, no one cared.

Having received his instructions, Li Kui made several more hand signals. The action team advanced slowly, tightening the encirclement.

Meanwhile, Shen Yan quietly took a broken shard of porcelain out of his space and tossed it right beneath Li Kui's foot. Li Kui was staring straight ahead and noticed nothing as he stepped on it.

"Crack!"

The sound was faint, but in the dead silence of the night, it rang out with startling clarity!

"Who goes there?!"

The people in the courtyard immediately became alert and drew the automatic pistols at their waists.

Lu Tinghui glared viciously at the bewildered Li Kui and shouted, "Move! Take them alive!"

Hearing the order, Shen Yan hesitated no longer. His twenty-shot pistol was the first to open fire. "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

He fired shot after shot, but it seemed none of them hit...

The other team members also sought advantageous positions, peeking out to pin down the other side.

"Fuck! It's an ambush!"

Baldy Zhang, who had spent years living on the knife's edge, acted decisively and shot Boss Li dead.

"Fuck! Trying to rob us after making a deal? Brothers, shoot to kill! There's a big reward for every one you take down!"

The fighting grew even fiercer!

Shen Yan kept firing on faith. One of his bullets happened to hit a hurricane lamp on a rack in the courtyard.

The glass shattered, and the burning lamp oil fell squarely onto the wicker suitcase and spread.

"My opium!"

Baldy Zhang's eyes nearly split with rage. He charged toward the fire like a madman, only to be driven back by bullets. He could only watch helplessly as the whole suitcase of fine opium gradually burned to ashes.

Blocking a man's path to wealth was like killing his parents!

The Green Gang members were beside themselves with fury. Every one of them charged forward as if pumped full of stimulants, with no regard for their lives.

"Fucking kill them!"

The action team seemed to be getting carried away too. Lu Tinghui and Li Kui led the charge, firing as they shouted, "Leave none alive!"

The twenty-odd men fought with the force of a vast army...

Shen Yan froze.

Wait... both sides are this fearless?!

Even the usually cautious Lu Tinghui was charging at the front...

Before long, both sides had fired all their bullets, and quite a few people had fallen to the ground.

Yet no one reloaded. They threw down their guns and rushed forward barehanded, grappling with one another!

Have they all gone mad?

Shen Yan was utterly baffled, but a glance at the wicker suitcase, wisps of smoke still rising from it, made him understand immediately.

They aren't mad. They're all fucking high!

More than fifty jin of opium! All consumed by the two groups.

System, why am I fine?

"Ding! The host drank a little red bottle. Your body has been modified and is now immune to all poisons!"

Shen Yan's face turned red as he held back his laughter. He hurried forward to join the fight, taking the opportunity to put the money bag lying forgotten on the ground into his space.

With a few punches and kicks, Shen Yan killed all the remaining Green Gang members. He piled the unconscious Lu Tinghui and Li Kui, along with the six surviving action team members, onto a flatbed cart in the courtyard, pulled open the door and ran like mad toward the Japanese-controlled area, dragging the cart behind him.

He could already hear the whistles of the French Concession police. If he didn't run now, he really wouldn't get away!

Shen Yan's stamina was now no worse than that of a full-grown ox. He ran at full speed and soon reached the Japanese-occupied area. Fully armed Japanese squads lined the boundary, presumably a backup arrangement made by Lu Tinghui.

Shen Yan staggered toward them and, facing the Japanese soldiers' bayonets, shouted, "Please save my superior and my brothers! I'm begging you!"

Then he slowly collapsed and passed out.