Chapter 58: The Death of Liu Zhenhu

"Go over and check if he's dead."

Enduring the sharp pain in his shoulder, Liu Zhenhu ordered one of his subordinates to go to the staircase and check on Cao Yang's condition.

Gathering his courage, the subordinate stepped forward, holding his gun as he approached the stairs, only to find no one there. Cao Yang had vanished.

"Boss, no one's here. The kid probably went upstairs."

As soon as he spoke, a warm sensation hit his face, and some liquid dripped down onto his cheek.

He reached up to touch it—it was blood, Cao Yang's blood.

Using both hands to brace himself against the wall, Cao Yang fixed a pair of hawk-like eyes on the subordinate.

Frightened out of his wits, the subordinate let out a bizarre shriek and raised his gun to shoot.

With a sudden lunge, Cao Yang grabbed him and snapped his neck with one hand, effortlessly snatching the gun away in the process.

Hearing the subordinate's strange cry, Liu Zhenhu and Ah Wei knew something had gone wrong. The two exchanged glances, neither daring to step forward.

Originally, they thought he was injured and out of ammunition, but they hadn't expected him to turn the tables and pull off a counter-kill. To make matters worse, they had essentially delivered another gun right to him.

"Brother Hu, what should we do?" Ah Wei looked toward the villa's main entrance. If they tried to run out that way, they would walk right into Cao Yang's line of fire.

"Stay put and don't move." Liu Zhenhu didn't dare take the risk of showing himself. Once their reinforcements arrived, he would be safe.

"Go open the kennel and let Mighty General out to tear him to pieces!"

Obeying the order, Ah Wei opened the kennel. Two massive wolves with scarlet tongues hanging out and dripping thick, viscous saliva emerged.

"Mighty General, go rip him to shreds!" Liu Zhenhu commanded the two dogs. They never listened to anyone else, obeying only the two brothers.

"Woof! Woof!" Barking fiercely, Mighty and General sprinted toward the staircase.

They had been intimidated by Cao Yang moments earlier, sensing a dangerous aura emanating from him, but emboldened by the presence of their masters, they felt fearless. In their eyes, their masters were the most powerful beings in the world.

Hearing the barks, Cao Yang's heart sank. These beasts weren't human; while a person might hesitate or evade, these creatures would only attack by instinct.

"Woof!"

Spotting Cao Yang, the two massive dogs lunged forward, baring their teeth to tear into him.

"Bang! Bang..."

Cao Yang fired, shooting Mighty right in the head. The dog let out a couple of whimpers before collapsing to the floor and twitching.

However, the other dog, General, lunged forward and locked its jaws around his arm. Wincing in agony, Cao Yang frantically smashed the butt of his gun against the beast's skull.

The creature had locked its jaws in a death grip, refusing to let go no matter how hard Cao Yang struck it.

Left with no choice, Cao Yang pressed the muzzle against its forehead and fired twice.

The pistol only had five rounds. He had originally wanted to save them for Liu Zhenhu and Ah Wei, but now he had no other option.

"Bang! Bang..." With two gunshots, General also collapsed and died, its teeth still deeply embedded in Cao Yang's flesh. It took a tremendous effort for him to pry the dog's jaws apart.

Cao Yang sat by the staircase, his face somewhat pale, blood still flowing from his calf and abdomen.

The fire on the third floor was still raging. The neighbors had already called the police, and the property management had come to check, only to flee in terror upon hearing the gunshots.

Rationally speaking, he should leave now, but he was unwilling to give up the opportunity right in front of him.

There was only one bullet left in the gun, and rushing over blindly would be suicide.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He turned around and headed back toward the third floor.

Just as he turned, he saw Bozai crawling down from upstairs in a wretched state. Much like Cao Yang, he had been shot in the abdomen and leg. He was also bruised and battered, looking far more miserable than Cao Yang.

Cao Yang raised his pistol and aimed it at him. Bozai raised both hands.

This time, there were no pleas for mercy; instead, he looked relatively calm.

In Bozai's eyes, whether Cao Yang killed him or not, he was already dead. Despair had completely crushed his spirit, and he couldn't even be bothered to beg for his life.

Cao Yang glanced at him twice, ultimately deciding not to pull the trigger. He continued his way upstairs.

From the bodies of the subordinates lying dead at the third-floor entrance, he retrieved two handguns.

Suddenly realizing one was missing, he turned his gaze back to Bozai downstairs. A gun was tucked into Bozai's waistband, but he didn't draw it to aim at him, and Cao Yang couldn't be bothered to deal with him either.

Charging swiftly into the sea of flames, ignoring the risk of his hair and clothes catching fire, Cao Yang rushed to a third-floor window and leaped out.

Liu Zhenhu and Ah Wei still thought he was by the stairs, cautiously scanning the area with their weapons raised.

Hearing a disturbance behind them, the two turned around.

The moment they turned, Ah Wei took a bullet straight to the front and collapsed to the floor, motionless.

Two blossoms of blood bloomed across Liu Zhenhu's chest. Even so, he still tried to raise his gun to shoot Cao Yang.

But Cao Yang didn't give him the chance. Grabbing Liu Zhenhu's wrist, he twisted it hard. The man's hand rotated a full 360 degrees, shattering the joint and sending the gun falling to the ground.

Cao Yang kicked the pistol away and clamped a hand around his throat.

"Motherfucker! You must be Liu Zhenhu! I have no grudges against you, why the hell did you try to kill me?"

Overwhelmed with fury, Cao Yang didn't kill him instantly, even in such a tense, race-against-time situation.

"You piece of shit! You killed my brother, and you're saying we have no grudges?"

"Screw your mother! Don't you know that entering the octagon means accepting life and death?"

"Do you have any idea how many people your brother beat to death up there? Did anyone ever hunt him down for revenge?"

"Motherfucker! You're just a sore loser!"

The more Cao Yang spoke, the angrier he grew, smashing the butt of the gun relentlessly against Liu Zhenhu's forehead until his face was covered in blood.

"Wail-wail-wail..."

The sound of police sirens echoed from a distance. Wasting no more breath, Cao Yang pressed the muzzle against Liu Zhenhu's forehead and fired two shots, ending his life.

Cao Yang got to his feet. Avoiding the villa's main entrance out of fear of running straight into the police or firefighters, and ignoring the sharp pain racking his body, he leaped up, grabbed the perimeter wall, and vaulted out from the back of the villa.

Bozai sat despondently by the stairs. He had heard the gunshots and the sirens, but he didn't know whether Cao Yang had killed Liu Zhenhu or vice versa.

He no longer cared. Either way, everyone knew about his collusion with them; even if Liu Zhenhu died, the others wouldn't let him go.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. If everyone who knew about this died, would he still have a chance to survive?

With that thought, Bozai found a surge of energy. He stood up and limped toward Liu Zhenhu's direction.

Upon seeing the corpses of Liu Zhenhu and Ah Wei, the corners of his mouth turned upward, and he actually broke into a smile.

He then hurried back up to the third floor. Several subordinates were still lying there; most of them weren't dead yet, merely incapacitated.

Hardening his heart, Bozai drew a pistol and shot each of them twice in the head, completely ending their lives.

When it was over, he tossed the gun into the raging fire, lay down flat on the floor, and began playing dead while waiting for rescue.

Cao Yang knew nothing of Bozai's actions, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

It was daytime, and walking through the streets covered in blood made him extremely conspicuous. Passersby pointed at him, and some small children were even frightened to tears.

He tried to flag down a car, but no taxi driver was willing to pick him up. Frustrated, he simply stepped right into the middle of the road to block traffic.

A taxi was forced to a halt by him. He opened the door and climbed inside.

"Brother, sit tight, I'll take you to the nearest hospital."

The taxi driver seemed quite enthusiastic, eager to rush him to the hospital upon seeing him covered in blood.

However, the moment those kind words left the driver's mouth, the muzzle of Cao Yang's gun was pressed directly against his forehead.