The man was gaunt in both body and appearance, with thinning hair at the crown and deeply sunken eye sockets. It was the sort of face commonly seen among the Walled City’s junkies who took “white powder.”
At that moment, he was fleeing for his life through a dark, narrow alley squeezed between buildings. Wet little smacks sounded beneath his feet. He had no idea how many greasy rats scurrying across his path he had trampled to death.
Several dark-faced, burly men chased behind him with cleavers in their hands. Their shouts were as unoriginal as they had been for the past ten years.
“Hey, brat, stop running! Fuck, you’re dead! You hear me? Stop! Hey!”
He turned at the fork ahead and found himself among several bustling dog-meat stalls.
Dozens of small hotpots were packed tightly across the open yard. Empty liquor bottles and half-eaten bones lay scattered across the filthy tabletops.
Summoning every last ounce of strength, the man charged straight through them. In one continuous rush, he overturned several tables in succession.
The entire place descended into chaos.
People howled and cursed. In an instant, everyone began shoving and fighting, tangling together in a hopeless mess.
The dark-faced men plunged into the crowd like dumplings dropped into a pot of boiling soup. They were instantly swallowed by the surging mass of people.
After being tossed around several times, they finally squeezed their way out in a thoroughly bedraggled state.
The man had already vanished without a trace.
“Fuck!”
One of the thugs, who had a fashionable, slicked-back hairstyle and a scar across his face, began swearing at the top of his lungs.
“Brother Ma, what do we do?” the others asked.
“Do your mother! A bunch of useless trash! Split up and find him!”
…
Having narrowly escaped with his life, the man ran on, wheezing and gasping.
The darkness filling the alley ahead seemed endless.
But he knew that once he made it through here and left the territory of Jiaolong Walled City, he would be safe for the time being.
Suddenly, a soft scratch sounded in the darkness.
A tiny flame sprang to life.
The man stopped dead.
His eyes widened, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
His calves trembling, he stared at the long blade embedded sideways in the wall.
Its razor-sharp edge was only a single step from his neck. Had he stopped even half a second later, he would have plunged straight into it and separated his own head from his body.
The man who had struck the match stood leaning against the wall.
He tilted his head to light a cigarette, then raised his chin and leisurely inhaled before breathing out a mouthful of smoke.
The faint firelight illuminated his sharply defined profile and relaxed expression.
The fleeing man dropped to his knees with a thud.
“B-B-Brother Liuyi…”
Xia Liuyi lowered his head.
He flicked cigarette ash onto the hilt of the other blade at his waist, which had not yet been drawn, and asked idly, “Still planning to run?”
“N-No! I’m not running anymore! I-I know I was wrong! Brother Liuyi…”
“It’s good that you know.”
Xia Liuyi lazily raised his chin.
“Pull it out.”
The man climbed shakily to his feet.
It took him several attempts before he finally pulled the long blade free from where it was deeply embedded in the wall.
He held it in both hands and returned it to Xia Liuyi.
“Carry it.”
With the cigarette between his lips, Xia Liuyi straightened.
“Be good. When we get back, I’ll treat you to Children’s Day.”
The moment the man heard that final sentence, his legs went weak.
He collapsed to the ground again with a thud and began sobbing at the top of his lungs.
“Brother Liuyi, I know I was wrong! Spare my life! Please spare me! Aaaah…”
Xia Liuyi had already walked briskly a considerable distance away.
He said nothing.
He merely waved his hand as though calling a dog to follow.
Still sobbing, the man scrambled after him in a state of abject terror.
He even carried the gleaming long blade for him.