Killing Zheng

"Where is he?" Zheng Kun's voice came from below, followed by his footsteps as he searched the balcony.

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao sat on the ground, shrinking back against the wall and slowing their breathing as much as possible so the people below would not notice them. Their earlier embarrassment had long since been forgotten.

A woman's voice came from downstairs, too far away for them to hear clearly. But Zheng Kun cursed, "Stinking bitch," and went inside without waking anyone else to search. Apparently, the scare had probably been Bai Gong's prank, rather than her actually discovering Zhang Yi and Nan Shao. In the darkness, the two exchanged looks, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Just then, voices came from the room behind them, making their hearts lurch at their own carelessness.

"Brother Wei, Zheng Kun seems to be looking for someone downstairs. Should we go out and take a look?"

Those words brought a sheen of cold sweat to both men's backs. Just as they were considering whether to risk climbing onto the roof, a deep, resonant male voice answered, "No need. Zheng Kun's fooling around with that woman. It's not our place to interfere."

Zhang Yi and Nan Shao did not dare move again, deciding to wait until the power went out before climbing down. The room fell quiet for a moment before the earlier voice spoke again. "Brother Wei, this doesn't sit right with me. Zheng Kun did that to Fatty over a woman. It's left everyone feeling pretty disheartened. Sure, she's good-looking, but her heart's set on Fatty. What's the point of getting his hands on her?"

The man called Brother Wei did not respond, but someone else spoke.

"You think that Bai Gong is any good? If she really liked Fatty, she wouldn't have kept talking about him all day and bringing trouble down on him. Zheng Kun's been fucking her for days now. Other than putting on that icy princess act in front of everyone all day, where has she shown any unwillingness? Hmph, that idiot Fatty. With the way he is, why would a beautiful woman be so devoted to him? He was just being used as a stepping stone, yet he thought he was so charming. He deserved his bad luck. If I were him, even if I had to die, I'd take out that pair of bastards first."

"Enough. All of you, say less. We're going hunting tomorrow. Get some rest, and don't let anything go wrong then." Brother Wei finally spoke, stopping them from continuing.

He clearly carried considerable authority. The other two voices stopped the moment he spoke, and apart from the shouting downstairs, everything became exceptionally quiet. Before long, snores rose from inside the room.

Chapter 30: Killing Zheng

The instant the power went out, a clamor erupted on the first floor. Those who had been dealt good hands but had not had a chance to play clamored for candles so they could continue, while others called for everyone to break it up. The two men took the opportunity to climb down. Even the faint sounds of their landing were covered by the noise. Besides, the two people in the room were already rolling around together; they were hardly going to notice such a slight disturbance.

Without any light, however, everything around them sank into deep darkness. Even Nan Shao, whose eyesight had improved, could not make out the objects around him under these conditions. Neither had anticipated this, leaving them somewhat frustrated. But things had reached this point, and they could no longer back out.

Voices, coughs, and the sounds of people leaving the main room and heading upstairs came from below. The two were about to slip into the room when they heard footsteps turn toward the back of the house, followed by the splashing of someone urinating. They stopped, dismayed at the thought that they would have to climb down that way later. At the same time, Zheng Kun, who was halfway through the act inside, suddenly propped himself up and felt around in the bedside cabinet for a candle. It took him two strikes to light it. Bai Gong complained unhappily, but her words soon turned into moans. Apparently, the bastard liked doing it with the lights on. Zhang Yi and Nan Shao exchanged a look and quickly slipped beyond the reach of the light so the man urinating below would not see them, though they could hardly contain their delight. This was like being handed a pillow just as they grew sleepy. Zheng Kun was courting his own death; he could not blame them.

The trickling finally stopped. The man suddenly spat toward the upper floor before shuffling around to the front in his shoes. Zhang Yi and Nan Shao were somewhat baffled, but seeing that the action inside had reached its most intense stage, they dared not delay and darted into the room. They had brought machetes and originally intended to use them to send Zheng Kun on his way. But when Nan Shao saw a fruit knife lying on the bedroom's TV cabinet, he signaled to Zhang Yi, then picked it up.

Zhang Yi froze for a moment, instantly understood Nan Shao's meaning, nodded, and followed him. As the large bed shook faster and faster, Zheng Kun rose onto his knees, hoisted two long, snow-white legs onto his shoulders, and thrust his hips faster, panting as he neared his climax. Nan Shao seized that fleeting instant, lunged forward, clamped a hand over his mouth, and stabbed him precisely in the heart several times with the fruit knife. At the same time, Zhang Yi stuffed clothing into Bai Mei's mouth before she could scream in terror.

Nan Shao was, after all, an ability user. Both his strength and speed surpassed those of an ordinary strong man, and he had chosen the moment when his target was least guarded. If he still failed under these circumstances, their luck would have had to be truly terrible. But it seemed their luck was not that bad. Stabbed through the heart, Zheng Kun barely struggled before he stopped breathing. His eyes remained wide open in death, filled with bewilderment. Clearly, he had not even understood what had happened.

"She killed Zheng Kun, then killed herself when she had nowhere to turn, afraid of retaliation." Nan Shao checked Zheng Kun's pulse at his neck, confirmed that it had stopped, and spoke flatly as his gaze fell on Bai Gong, who was staring at them wide-eyed in horror. He paid no attention to her naked, shapely, full-figured body.

Zhang Yi said nothing. He restrained the woman, who struggled harder as she realized what was about to happen, fear and pleading rising in her eyes. He watched indifferently as Nan Shao released Zheng Kun, pulled out the fruit knife, and, amid the spurting blood, forced it into her resisting hand. Closing her grip around it with unyielding force, he decisively turned it back and stabbed it beneath her trembling left breast. Not a ripple stirred in Zhang Yi's heart. How could he feel sympathy for someone who had endangered his son and friends?

"Let's go," Nan Shao said, wiping the blood from his hands on the sheet. They discussed the gun they had seen earlier and decided not to take it. Once Zheng Kun's gun went missing, it would certainly arouse suspicion, and all their careful arrangements would have been wasted. Besides, without a supply of ammunition, the gun's usefulness was very limited. They would be better off practicing their blade skills. As for Zheng Kun's subordinate, whom they had originally planned to kill as well, this was not a good opportunity, so they would put that off for now.