Just in Time Chapter 70
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 70 Beat
Yun Fang felt as if he had been in a state of disorganized for a long time.
“Yi Chenliang!” Someone was calling him.
He abruptly opened his eyes, leaped up from the bed, and instinctively pulled out a gun from under his pillow.
He knelt on the bed, the muzzle of the gun pointed straight at the door, and he gasped in surprise.
How am I here? He instinctively felt that something was not quite right.
He didn’t hear the knocking outside, and the person outside was calling his name in Burmese. The three words “Yi Chenliang” sounded awkward.
He tucked the gun behind his waist, picked up the jacket on the bed and put it on, and opened the door.
Outside was a boy about fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in local attire. His eyes were big and bright, and when he smiled, his white teeth were particularly noticeable. He spoke to him in the local language, “Your lunch, grandma asked me to bring it to you.”
“Thank you.” Yi Chenliang took the plate from his hand and was about to close the door.
The boy held the door frame with both hands and peered inside, his tone pleading, “Yi, can I come in and play for a while? If I go back now, grandma will definitely make me work.”
Yi Chenliang was not moved by him and still wanted to close the door.
“Yi! Please!” The boy was still looking at him with a grin, “I’ll just play for a while, and when you finish eating, I’ll take the plate and leave. You won’t even have to send it back.”
Yi Chenliang didn’t continue to close the door.
He remembered, this boy was called Ah Mao, a villager in the village where he was staying, who usually brought him food.
Ah Mao curiously walked around his room, then sat on the stool and watched him eat in a very sensible manner.
Yi Chenliang was not very particular, he sat cross-legged on the bed, eating rice with a spoon. He was not used to the food here, even though he had been abroad for many years, he still liked to eat northern buns and pancakes.
“Yi, you’re really amazing!” Ah Mao looked at him with admiration in his eyes, “I saw you kill someone last night!”
Yi Chenliang’s hand, holding the spoon, paused, and he slowly raised his eyes, looking at him with a cold gaze.
Ah Mao was frightened and shrank his neck, quickly covering his mouth, “But I didn’t tell anyone! I swear!”
Yi Chenliang put the plate on the bed, one hand reaching towards his waist, asking with an undisturbed tone, “Where did you see it?”
“On the hill behind the village! That day I happened to be catching rabbits on the mountain, lying on the ground unseen by anyone.” Ah Mao spoke excitedly, “Six people surrounded you, you didn’t even fire your gun, and you killed them all! It was really cool!”
“Do you know who they were?” Yi Chenliang gripped the handle of the gun.
“It was too far away, I couldn’t hear what you were saying.” Ah Mao regretfully pouted his mouth, but immediately looked at him excitedly, “Yi, can you teach me kung fu? Your Chinese kung fu! Swish swish! One move can knock down the enemy!”
Yi Chenliang loosened his grip on the gun, picked up the plate and continued to eat.
“Yi, why aren’t you talking?” Ah Mao was puzzled, “Don’t you want to teach me?”
“That’s not Chinese kung fu.” Yi Chenliang didn’t even blink, finished the rice in the plate in a few bites, and handed it to him, “You can go now.”
Ah Mao held the plate and refused to move, “Yi, the girls in the village like you a lot, they say you are the most handsome man in the world, Ah Yin secretly told me she wants to marry you.”
He thought that by exchanging “secrets” with Yi Chenliang, Yi Chenliang would teach him kung fu, but Yi Chenliang was not moved at all, his face was frosty.
Ah Mao unhappily pouted his mouth, “Alright then, I’ll come to bring you lunch again tomorrow at noon.”
He slowly pushed the door to leave, without waiting for Yi Chenliang to retain him, he kicked a small stone away in frustration outside the door.
Yi Chenliang stood inside the window, watching him leave before he took his hand off the gun handle.
For safety’s sake, killing Ah Mao was the most advantageous choice for him.
But for some reason, he let the person go on a whim.
The weather here was hot, and wearing a jacket for a long time would make him sweat. He took off his jacket and threw it, wearing only a black vest on his body. A long and deep scar extended from his lower jaw to the elbow of his left arm. The scab had just fallen off not long ago, and the scar was still slightly itchy.
He poured a glass of water and drank it, sat cross-legged on the bed, took the gun apart, put it back together, took it apart again, counting the bullets inside over and over again.
This small mountain village was too remote, there was no cell phone signal, and he had been here for a week.
He was waiting for Ge San to contact him impatiently.
He had dealt with the police before, but this was the first time he was in a cooperative relationship, which made him instinctively uneasy.
Ge San was a fierce and cunning man, habitually leaving himself several ways out, he had to find a way to force Ge San back to the country.
Only by catching him in the country and biting him to death, would he not be able to rise from the ashes.
But now Ge San had begun to doubt him, and had not contacted him for a full seven days.
Yi Chenliang twirled two bullets in his hand, and the communicator in his jacket suddenly flashed.
He waited for a while, until it flashed for the third time before he took out the communicator.
[Location confirmed, pick up at twelve o’clock tonight.]
He stared at the small screen for a while before pressing the button to reply.
Success or failure was at stake, he absolutely could not let Ge San doubt him at this time.
Yi Chenliang loaded the bullet into the magazine, spun it around in his hand a couple of times, and then inserted it into the gun.
He squinted his eyes, estimating the approximate distance and position, held the gun in his left hand, and extended his right hand.
With a muffled “thud”, the bullet passed through the flesh, and the shell fell to the ground with a bounce.
The gun was casually thrown on the bed. Yi Chenliang gripped his right wrist tightly, gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, and large drops of sweat fell on his black pants, slowly soaking in.
“Ah——” The intense pain finally made him unable to suppress a cry. He lowered his head and bit his left wrist. The salty and fishy blood overflowed from his teeth. He managed to suppress the sound in his throat.
After a while, he slowly opened his mouth. The dark blood remained at the corner of his mouth. Suddenly, a faint gasp came from the window. He abruptly raised his head, his eyes blood-red like a fierce ghost, and his gaze met with a pair of frightened eyes outside the window.
He picked up the gun and kicked the door open with one foot, but the person at the window had already run away without a trace.
The blood from his right hand dripped down his fingertips onto the wooden threshold, accumulating in the long-neglected cracks.
He didn’t know when he had fallen asleep. He was awakened by the crying outside, sat up, and looked out the window to see a thick smoke and fire.
The door of the room was kicked open from the outside, and Wan Hui followed Ge San in.
At a glance, Ge San noticed the injury on his right hand, and there was a slight surprise in his eyes, “Ah Liang, you’re injured?”
“Mm.” Yi Chenliang just responded, silently put on his jacket, and tucked the gun behind him. “What’s going on outside?”
“Tsk, Ah Si was careless on the road, was seen by a kid, and that kid woke up half the village. Troublesome.” Ge San didn’t take this little accident to heart, and jerked his chin at Wan Hui, “Help Ah Liang, look at the wound.”
Wan Hui glanced at Yi Chenliang, went over and picked up his right hand to take a careful look, her face changed drastically, “How did you get hurt so badly?”
“The cops did it.” Yi Chenliang spoke in a flat tone, pulling his hand back.
Ge San looked at Wan Hui, and Wan Hui gritted her teeth, “The place where it was hit is too damn precise, this hand is considered useless, it won’t be able to shoot in the future.”
Ge San finally frowned, “Go to the city and find a doctor to take a good look, let’s go.”
Yi Chenliang had been by his side for so long, and his superb gunmanship was taught by him hand by hand. He knew better than anyone how much Yi Chenliang cherished his hand, even if he really colluded with the cops, he wouldn’t do it.
Losing his right hand was almost like losing half his life, Ge San felt that Yi Chenliang hadn’t been ruthless to this extent.
Yi Chenliang followed behind Ge San, the sound of gunfire and cries were endless. When they passed Ah Si, he was throwing a corpse into the fire.
Ah Mao’s lifeless big eyes met his gaze listlessly.
“Ah Liang, hurry up!” Ge San saw him looking at the pile of corpses, and laughed silently, “What, have you developed feelings for these Burmese?”
“No.” Yi Chenliang withdrew his gaze, followed him onto the car expressionlessly.
The village and the gunpowder smoke were far behind, he sat in the passenger seat, looking at the endless road ahead.
“Ah Liang, I’ve always valued you very much.” Ge San, sitting in the back seat, spoke leisurely, “Don’t let me down.”
“Yes.” Yi Chenliang lowered his eyes, looking at the wound on his right hand.
“You and Wan Hui are my left and right arms, losing either one would cause me great pain. Don’t worry too much about the wound on your hand, if it really doesn’t work, you can start over with your left hand.” Ge San squinted his eyes, “Those damn cops, sooner or later they will pay.”
“Mm.” Yi Chenliang concealed the murderous intent in his eyes, “Sooner or later it will be paid back.”
The car was driving very smoothly, he closed his eyes for a nap, suddenly the car jolted violently, and the booming sound of an explosion shook his eardrums.
He grabbed the handrail of the car with one hand, and in the midst of the chaos, he opened his eyes.
He didn’t know why he would appear in a cave, but it seemed that he should have been there in the first place. The situation in front of him didn’t allow him to think too much, he held the gun in his left hand, the muzzle was right against Ge San’s temple.
Ge San’s face was full of blood, he laughed crazily, “Ah Liang! I really didn’t expect, you could even be ruthless to yourself, I, Ge San, admire you!”
Yi Chenliang’s gun was firmly against him, he said coldly, “No need.”
But Ge San was still laughing, “When did you start contacting the police? A year ago? Or three years ago? I only started suspecting you recently, I didn’t expect your acting skills to be so good!”
Yi Chenliang never liked to talk nonsense, he shot through Ge San’s right wrist with a gun, disregarding his heart-wrenching howl, strangled his neck and led him forward.
“Yi Chenliang!” Ge San finally started to panic, “I, Ge San, admit that I have treated you well! When you couldn’t even eat enough, I saved you and pulled you out of the mud! I saved you! I gave you food and drink, taught you how to protect yourself! You can’t be so ungrateful! I saved you!”
“I don’t need it.” Yi Chenliang’s voice was without a ripple, even somewhat lifeless, “No one can save me.”
Ge San roared, “Ah Liang! Ah Liang! What do you want? Money! Power! Women! I can give you whatever you want! As long as you don’t kill me!”
Yi Chenliang pressed the muzzle against his chin, looking at him with a cold expression, “I want you to go to hell.”
His index finger fell on the trigger, he only needed to exert a little force, and he could end Ge San’s life.
“Wan Hui is right, you don’t even have basic humanity!” Ge San began to curse recklessly, “You are an ungrateful white-eyed wolf! You don’t even care about yourself, how could you care about others! You are a devil!!”
Yi Chenliang’s frosty eyebrows twitched slightly, and he instinctively retorted, “No.”
But what was he refuting?
Yi Chenliang wanted to understand, but he just wanted to refute Ge San, he said something wrong.
As long as he pulls the trigger now, he can send Ge San to hell.
But no, he can’t do that, because…because why?
His head started to hurt terribly, every bone in his body felt like it had moved, even breathing became less smooth, as if he could cough up flesh and blood in the next second.
It hurt too much.
Where exactly was he injured, why was it so painful?
The air in his chest was gradually decreasing, he opened his mouth wide but couldn’t inhale a bit of air, his whole body seemed to be suffocated in a swamp, slowly waiting for death.
I can’t die.
Someone is waiting for me to return.
All the images in front of him shattered, turning into tiny fragments of starlight and disappearing. In front of him was a vast void of darkness. He stumbled forward, clutching his chest, his feet were thick and sticky with blood. The blood turned into countless withered claws reaching for his life, gripping his ankles tightly, wanting to drag him down into hell.
He gritted his teeth and continued to move forward, walking became more and more difficult, until later every step he took felt like a thousand pounds. Those claws wrapped around his thighs, gripped his shoulders tightly, choked his throat, the feeling of suffocation came, making his consciousness gradually become blurred.
He really couldn’t move anymore.
He had no strength left, it was really too painful.
Maybe just let it be.
Just let it be.
He slowly closed his eyes, but at the moment he closed his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a pink fluffy flower.
His eyes, which were about to close, struggled to open again. The small pink flower floated in the pitch-black void, surrounded by tiny starlight, circled him twice, and then floated forward.
Seeing that he didn’t move, it circled itself again, floated forward a few times, as if it was guiding him.
He didn’t know where the strength came from, he broke free from the countless skeletal claws, lifted his foot that was sunk in the river of blood, and chased after it step by step.
More and more pink flowers appeared, they floated in the air, the tiny starlight twinkled and connected into a path guiding him back.
He walked faster and faster, until finally he started to run, he broke through the sea of pink flowers, and at the end of the sea of flowers and starlight, he saw a small figure.
Six-year-old Yi Chenliang stood alone at the back door of the orphanage, facing a large grove of fluffy flowers, he showed him a brilliant smile, even his voice was crisp, “Big Yi, you’re here!”
Yi Chenliang stopped, staring at him blankly.
Little Yi Chenliang reached out and tightly grabbed his hand, looked up at him and asked, “Big Yi, are you here to pick me up?”
The flowers and starlight in front of him dissipated, and the figure of little Yi Chenliang quickly grew taller, turning into a teenager who looked exactly like him.
The two of them looked at each other, as if looking in a mirror, they should have been one, but they were so different.
The teenager opened his arms and embraced him, saying in a deep voice.
“Yi Chenliang, I’m waiting for you to come back.”
Yi Chenliang remembered.
Ge San was wrong, he did care about himself.
He couldn’t kill Ge San, because he wanted to embrace someone cleanly.
Yi Chenliang was waiting for him to return.
The person lying on the operating table convulsed violently, the blood that had been stuck in his throat was coughed up, he gasped heavily, and then fell back onto the operating table.
The flat line on the machine started to beep regularly again.
That gradually cooling heart began to beat again.