Chapter 44: Venture

Aikun was in the bathroom.

When Zhong Yuan led Zhong Da over, the sound of music suddenly drifted out from inside.

Hearing this, Zhong Yuan's brows instantly furrowed.

His pace quickened, and upon reaching the doorway, he immediately reached out to turn the knob. Finding it locked, Zhong Yuan did not hesitate and threw a kick.

Bang!

The door yielded and swung open, but the bathroom was completely empty.

The eastern window stood wide open, letting the night wind rush straight through.

Zhong Da stepped forward and just as he poked his head out, a gunshot rang out, a bullet tearing upward from below. At the crucial moment, Zhong Yuan violently yanked him back by the collar. The bullet grazed his forehead with terrifying closeness, leaving a bloody groove.

Warm, fresh blood trickled down his brow. Zhong Da raised a hand to wipe it, staring at the crimson stain on his fingers, unable to collect his wits for a long moment.

The line between life and death spanned mere seconds.

Had Zhong Yuan not pulled him back just then, that bullet would have buried itself deep inside his brain.

"Are you alright?" Zhong Yuan pulled him close, asking while inspecting his wound. Fortunately, although it looked gruesome, it was merely a graze and nothing serious.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Zhong Yuan issued a command: "Call Xiao Hua, tell him to keep an eye on the front gate. If a car leaves, follow it, but safety first—don't take risks." With that, he stepped over to the window, peered cautiously outside, and turned back to Zhong Da. "I'm going down through the window. Find a place in the room and hide!"

Hearing this, Zhong Da frowned. "Brother, I'm fine!"

Zhong Yuan replied, "Aikun might still come back."

Although he wasn't certain how Aikun had discovered them, he was confident Aikun knew his men had already been cleared out.

Given Aikun's habitual caution, the probability of him blindly fleeing without knowing how many enemies awaited him was extremely low. The most likely course of action was to fake an escape while actually finding a hiding spot somewhere within the villa to await reinforcements.

So, which place in this villa would Aikun consider the safest?

Naturally, this bedroom!

That was why Zhong Yuan chose to descend through the window. Aikun was surely still nearby, and he needed Aikun to see with his own eyes that they believed he had already escaped. Only then would Aikun feel secure enough to return here.

"Find a place to hide and don't act impulsively." Having said that, Zhong Yuan grabbed a bath towel hanging from a nearby rack and tossed it out the window. Following that, he took two steps back, took a running start, and dove directly through the window frame.

True to expectation, his landing made not a sound.

***

Aikun made no further moves.

After making a show of searching the area for a bit, Zhong Yuan circled around toward the front entrance.

At this moment, the villa was brightly lit, yet dead silent—you could hear a pin drop.

A figure silently crept up the stairs from the basement, holding a gun and wrapped in a bathrobed. On his neck, chest, and every inch of exposed skin, intricate black Sanskrit tattoos were visible.

It was none other than Aikun.

His damp hair hung in disarray across his forehead, and his triangular eyes burned with profound calm and cruelty.

He ascended slowly, his gaze sweeping swiftly across the first floor. Seeing no one, he didn't linger and immediately turned toward the second floor.

Upon reaching the second floor, however, Aikun did not return to his own bedroom to hide as Zhong Yuan had anticipated; instead, he headed for a small room in the northwest corner.

Inside the bedroom, Zhong Da was hiding within the walk-in closet, waiting quietly.

A faint, sickeningly sweet stench hung thick in the air, emanating from the bed. The pooling blood and torn flesh exposed to the open air were undergoing subtle, invisible changes as life drained away.

Time ticked by at an unhurried pace.

Suddenly, the bedroom door clicked open quietly.

Then, Aikun squeezed in from outside.

The moment he entered, he locked the door behind him. With a soft click of the lock, he raised his gun, glanced toward the bed, and then turned to prowl toward the walk-in closet and the bathroom.

Finding no one after making a circle, Aikun relaxed slightly and turned back toward the bed.

The corpse lay on the bed in a gruesome pool of blood, but Aikun acted as though he didn't see it at all.

He walked straight to the right-hand bedside table, pushed it aside, and pressed gently against the wall behind it. A wooden panel sprang open, revealing a wall safe hidden behind it.

Aikun opened the safe, reached into his bathrobe pocket to pull out a black bag, and was just about to place it inside when he sensed movement behind him. He whipped his head around, but the silent room held no one else besides him and the corpse on the bed.

Still, Aikun's unease lingered.

He quickly shoved the black bag into the safe, slammed the door shut, and stood up with his gun in hand. After scanning the entire room meticulously, he slowly walked toward the walk-in closet.

Inside the walk-in closet, rows of clothes hung neatly, showing nothing suspicious at first glance.

With a cold expression, Aikun swept his gaze around before suddenly raising his gun and firing two rapid shots directly into a cabinet door nearby.

***

The bullets pierced instantly through the cabinet door and embedded themselves inside.

Aikun waited for a moment, and hearing no sound, shifted his aim and fired two more shots at another cabinet door.

After leaving two bullet holes in the door, the room remained entirely silent.

Seeming finally to set his mind at ease, Aikun scanned the area once more and turned to walk back.

Yet, just as he squatted down to reopen the safe, a voice rang out from behind him: "Drop the gun, put your hands behind your head, and kneel!"

Aikun's body stiffened. Then, with an appearance of complete compliance, he raised both hands, slightly gesturing backward with the hand holding the gun as if preparing to toss it away.

At that exact instant, however, Aikun violently twisted his body and lunged to the side. At the same time, a flash of fire erupted from the muzzle of his gun, and bullets spat forth amidst the roar of gunfire!

Though Zhong Da had not let his guard down, Aikun's movements were unexpectedly swift. Fortunately, Aikun had not fully pinpointed his position before firing, so his aim was mediocre. Zhong Da dashed aside and barely managed to evade the shots.

"Whose people are you?" Aikun suddenly shouted.

Zhong Da remained silent, hiding behind the sofa on the far side of the bed.

At that moment, gunshots sounded from the doorway again. With two successive metallic clangs, the door lock was shattered. The previously bolted door creaked open, a gap cracking wide.

Then, a powerful shove pushed the door open from the outside, and a figure lunged straight in.

Aikun, hidden in the corner, immediately opened fire. Bullets slammed continuously into the charging figure, making his forward-falling body shudder and stutter in mid-air.

Yet, taking advantage of the cover provided by the first man, a second figure flashed through the doorway from the outside, darting into the walk-in closet in a few swift strides.

"Aikun, you have nowhere left to run!" Zhong Yuan shouted. He spoke in Southern Thai. He had spent two days learning the phrase from Xiao Hua, and his pronunciation was remarkably standard.

Aikun did not reply.

Seeing this, Zhong Yuan let out a cold laugh and added, "Your men aren't coming."

Hearing those words from his corner, Aikun suddenly spoke up. "You're not Southern Thai!" He said it with absolute certainty. "Just who the hell are you?"