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“Do we have a deal?”
Zhao Yunlan tracks the man as he paces before Chu Shuzhi. He smacks his palm with what looks like a pipe. When Chu Shuzhi doesn’t answer, the man lashes out and hits him across the shoulders with the pipe.
“Fucking fuck!” Zhao Yunlan hisses. He tenses as if to charge at the man, but Zhu Hong grips his arm, her nails biting into his skin.
“Wait!” she says. “Shen Wei isn’t in position yet!”
Zhao Yunlan bites his lip until he tastes blood. She’s right. There is a plan, but he is seconds away from abandoning it when the man, a Dixingren named Gao Something, strikes Chu Shuzhi again, this time cracking his knee.
“We can’t--” Zhao Yunlan’s words are cut off as a blur of motion to their left distracts them from the scene below.
No.
No!
“Xiao Guo, you idiot!”
Zhao Yunlan is on his feet, pistol in hand, but Guo Changcheng reaches the men first. He has the element of surprise -- and his lightning stick, thank fuck -- on his side. He screams at the man, bringing the metal rod down in a cutting arc, and hits him across the back of the head. The man drops like a stone.
“Oh, shit, Xiao Guo killed that guy!” Zhu Hong presses her hand to her mouth in horror, stunned, though she rallies and leaps from her hiding place to follow Zhao Yunlan.
Guo Changcheng casts his weapon aside and drops to his knees beside Chu Shuzhi, hands gentle as they stroke his cheeks and examine the bruises visible against his pale skin.
“I’m here,” he says, ignoring Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong, “I’m here, Chu-ge, I’m here.”
“Idiot,” Chu Shuzhi rasps, even as he nuzzles Guo Changcheng’s hand.
“I know,” he replies. He manages to look sheepish even now, even in the face of his bleeding lover. He looks down to Chu Shuzhi’s bound hands. “Are these special ropes?”
Chu Shuzhui shakes his head. “Knife in my boot.”
Zhao Yunlan swoops in and retrieves the knife before Xiao Guo can cut his damn hand off. He cuts the last bond as a cloaked Shen Wei appears in a swirl of dark energy.
“What happened?” he asks as he crouches by the Dixingren.
Zhao Yunlan shrugs. “Someone couldn’t stick to the plan.”
Shen Wei grimaces. “He’s dead.”
Guo Changcheng meets Shen Wei’s gaze and does not flinch under its weight. “Do what you must, Hei Pao Shi,” he says as he grips Chu Shuzhi’s hand. “I don’t regret my actions.”
“Changcheng.” Chu Shuzhi kisses the back of his hand.
“I don’t!”
Shen Wei removes his mask, his expression grim. “We’ll discuss this at the SID.”
Zhao Yunlan rubs his eyes. “Alright.” He looks at Shen Wei and Guo Changcheng. “Take care of Lao Chu,” he says. “We’ll close the scene here.”
When they’ve gone, Zhao Yulan turns to Zhu Hong.
“He killed that man,” she says, eyes wide.
“We’ll figure things out in the morning.”