Chapter 45: Devour

With a flash of muzzle fire, the bullet was already right in front of Zhong Da.

By this time, it was impossible for Zhong Da to completely dodge it. Relying purely on instinct, he barely twisted his body to the left. It was precisely this movement that allowed the bullet to narrowly miss his chest and embed itself into his right arm.

At the same time, muzzle fire erupted from the gun in Zhong Da's hand.

Amidst the deafening roar, Ai Kun did not stay to fight. Instead, with another roll, he ducked behind the wall. The bullet struck the ground, gouging a crater into the hard marble before ricocheting away.

Fortunately, the opponent did not linger to press the attack. Otherwise, while Zhong Da had barely managed to avoid the first shot, he might not have escaped a second one.

Right at that moment, gunshots suddenly rang out from the doorway. After two consecutive bangs, the locked door was smashed open. As soon as the intruder stepped inside, he collapsed to the floor and stopped moving.

After a brief moment of silence, Zhong Yuan slipped in through the door.

"Brother, over here!" Zhong Da called out.

Hearing these words in Chinese, Ai Kun, currently in the bathroom, frowned slightly.

Chinese people were not a common sight around the Songkhla province!

Especially two Chinese men who had appeared inside his villa, gunning for his life!

However, Ai Kun did not connect Zhong Yuan and his companion to the earlier incident involving Tan Wei. Although the affair with Tan Wei had caused quite a stir back then, he was in Songkhla province, far away from the central authorities, and moreover, he had always looked down on Tan Wei to begin with. Naturally, he had never taken the matter to heart. Now that nearly three months had passed, he had long since put it out of his mind.

After a brief silence, Zhong Yuan's voice came from the other doorway of the bathroom: "Ai Kun, you won't escape today! Surrender now, and you might still save your life!"

Zhong Yuan spoke in Southern Thai. During this period, he had been studying the language, and by now, ordinary conversation posed no problem for him at all!

Hearing this, Ai Kun suddenly laughed, then asked, "Whose people are you?"

Zhong Yuan replied, "You'll naturally find out when the time comes!"

The bathroom fell quiet.

Zhong Yuan silently counted the seconds.

Over ten minutes had passed since Ai Kun had jumped out the window and fled. Songkhla was not a large place, and Ai Kun's men could arrive at any moment.

If Ai Kun's reinforcements showed up, Zhong Yuan's plan to take Ai Kun alive would become practically impossible, and they might not even be able to kill him under the hail of numerous guns!

Therefore, if Ai Kun still refused to surrender, he would have no choice but to abandon the idea of capturing him alive and kill him first!

Thinking of this, Zhong Yuan spoke again: "Ai Kun, you have ten seconds!" With that, he didn't count out loud, but recited the numbers silently in his heart.

Ten, nine, eight, seven... two, one...

Zhong Yuan suddenly poked his head out, aimed at the mirror, and fired a shot. The bullet shattered the glass surface, and the reflection instantly broke apart, scattering all over the floor.

Ai Kun was startled, his narrowed eyes filled with vigilance.

The muzzle of the gun in his hand drooped slightly, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

At that instant, the lights throughout the entire bedroom, including the bathroom, suddenly went out.

The sudden plunge into darkness gave eyes that had been accustomed to brightness no time to react, plunging them straight into an abyss of blackness where one could not even see their own fingers.

Right at this moment.

A creaking sound suddenly came from the doorway where Zhong Yuan was standing.

Ai Kun's heart skipped a beat. With a flick of his feet, he instantly lunged toward the other side, while firing his gun toward the doorway based on his memory.

Just as he did, a beam of light suddenly shone from the doorway leading to the walk-in closet, piercing straight into the bathroom.

Bang!

The gunshot rang out almost simultaneously with the light.

The bullet sank into Ai Kun's abdomen.

Before Ai Kun could clearly see what was happening before him, the light vanished once more.

Absolute darkness enveloped him again.

Anxiety welled up from the depths of his heart. Gritting his teeth, he raised his gun and fired blindly into the space before him, attempting to force his adversary out of the bathroom in this manner.

Then, the light appeared once more.

And this time, he saw the Chinese man clearly.

Barely two meters in front of him, the man was half-crouched, the muzzle of his gun tilted upward, aimed directly at his head.

"Dazi, turn on the lights!"

Illumination flooded the room again.

"Brother Ai Kun, drop your gun!" Zhong Da slowly stood up, looking at Ai Kun as he spoke calmly.

Ai Kun stared at him for a moment before relaxing his grip.

The pistol dropped to the floor with a sharp clatter.

Zhong Da walked in from the other doorway and kicked the handgun away.

At this moment, Zhong Yuan spoke up again: "Take off your bathrobe, too!"

Ai Kun's eyelid twitched, but with a gloomy face, he complied.

Beneath the bathrobe, he wore only a pair of floral swim trunks. Tucked into the back waistband was another pistol.

Zhong Da stepped forward, pulled it out, and pocketed it.

"Take off the trunks too!" Zhong Yuan instructed again.

Ai Kun furrowed his brow, clearly reluctant. But Zhong Yuan added, "You can choose not to take them off, and I can just kill you right here. When I tell the principals that you refused to cooperate, they won't do anything to me either!"

The two men locked eyes. A moment later, Ai Kun kept his gaze fixed on Zhong Yuan as he peeled off the floral swim trunks.

Sure enough, beneath the loose trunks, yet another gun was strapped directly against his inner thigh.

Zhong Da stepped forward and ripped it away.

"Turn around to the wall, hands on your head, and kneel down!" Zhong Yuan commanded.

Stripped of all hidden weapons, Ai Kun had no choice but to obey.

Once he was kneeling, Zhong Yuan glanced at Zhong Da, who understood the cue and raised his gun, keeping it trained on Ai Kun's head. Meanwhile, Zhong Yuan fished a small bottle from his pants pocket. Opening it, he shook out several small white pills.

Zhong Yuan walked over, held the pills out before Ai Kun, and said, "Eat them."

Ai Kun lowered his gaze to look at the items, his brow furrowing deeply.

"Don't worry, they're just sleeping pills," Zhong Yuan explained casually.

Ai Kun looked up at him, then reached out, took the pills, and popped them into his mouth.

At that moment, the hand Zhong Yuan had kept hanging by his side suddenly shot up and delivered a heavy blow to the back of Ai Kun's neck. Ai Kun lurched forward, and just as he tried to react, Zhong Yuan followed up with a second strike.

Ai Kun's body went rigid. His kneeling frame toppled forward, his head striking the wall before he went completely limp. Zhong Yuan gave him a kick, watching his body slide sideways to the floor. Turning away, Zhong Yuan went into the walk-in closet, fetched a few neckties, and used them to bind Ai Kun's hands and feet securely. Then, pulling out his mobile phone, he called Xiao Hua and told him to drive the vehicle inside.

After hanging up, he looked at Zhong Da, waved his hand, and said, "Come here!"

Zhong Da walked over. Picking up one of the remaining neckties, Zhong Yuan simply bandaged the wound on Zhong Da's arm.

"Go down and swap places with Xiao Hua. Tell him to come up and help me carry this guy!"

Zhong Da nodded.

Before heading out, he glanced toward the bed, hesitated for a moment, then walked over, grabbed the bedsheet, and draped it over the corpse to partially cover it.

As soon as Zhong Da left, Zhong Yuan looked at the unconscious Ai Kun on the floor, took out his phone, and snapped a photo. Once done, he lit a cigarette and took a couple of puffs. Then, he bent down to check Ai Kun's breathing. Making sure he was truly knocked out, he stood up and walked out.

When he first entered, he had noticed the safe by the head of the bed.

Zhong Yuan walked over to test it and found that the safe door was only pulled shut. Opening it, he saw there wasn't much inside: several stacks of US dollars, about a dozen gold bars weighing roughly 500 grams each, several watches, a golden Buddha the size of a fist, and a black bag the size of a palm.

After sweeping his gaze over the contents, Zhong Yuan stood up, stripped a pillowcase off the adjacent bed, and shoveled all the items inside.

For one thing, one can never have too much money.

For another, the disappearance of these valuables would help blur the trail of their identities.

After tying off the pillowcase, Zhong Yuan returned to the bathroom.

Before long, Xiao Hua came upstairs. Together, the two men hoisted Ai Kun and carried him downstairs.

Downstairs, Zhong Da had already hauled out a gasoline container prepared in advance and was splashing fuel around. After Zhong Yuan and Xiao Hua shoved Ai Kun into the car, Zhong Da returned as well.

As the engine started, a glass bottle with a burning rag stuffed in its neck flew out of the car window, sailed straight through the front door, and shattered with a crash on the floor. The flames spread rapidly along the trail of gasoline, and with a booming roar, a ferocious fire instantly surged upward. Billowing black smoke rolled into the air, and within moments, the blaze had reached the second floor!