Crimson Instinct

*Xin Lei*

"Drop your weapons."

As Bai Li said that, the entire base got silent. Then it all happened in seconds.

"You bastard!" Two men tried to attack us from behind.

"Cocoa."

I ducked when the man came to land a punch at me. I shifted clockwise, balancing on one foot on the ground and one foot in the air.

I slipped my hand in my pocket. His punch landed in thin air as I moved at the right moment. I bent my leg and jabbed a knee on his groin.

"Fuck!"

He groaned in pain, and I took this chance to puncture the needle deep in his neck.

"Ah…"

He clutched his neck, stumbled, and fell.

On Bai Li's side, he had already punched a straight elbow cut on that man's gut while still tightly holding onto the woman and aiming the gun at her. The man toppled down.

Cocoa jumped on the third guy near to him and bit his wrist hard.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

The gun dropped from his hand, and blood trickled from his wrist.

I saw that the leader was going to shoot, but then a knife flew at his side and hit his hand. The gun fell and got thrown aside.

"Damn!" The leader flailed his hand that was cut.

Surprised, I looked behind and saw that it was Liao Huifang who made that mark.

That was a great move!

The woman yelled. "What do you want?"

"Shut it, or I will kill you. My finger is already on the trigger."

"No! Stop!"

"Ahhh…"

The man that Cocoa bit, collapsed on the ground. He must have a bit a vital nerve, and with the blood loss added to it, he was going to die any moment. The two other men were also out.

There was only the leader.

"Now keep your hands up in the air."

He did, and I quickly tugged Bai Li.

Bai said, "Tell your leader to free the boy."

I saw the woman gritting her teeth. She tried to resist, but Bai Li had firmly held her.

"Don't even try to make the mistake of putting up a fight."

The woman glared at the leader. "Leave the boy!"

The leader pushed Chu Jie away, and I quickly caught him.

I motioned Chu Jie and Liao Huifang to stay behind me at a safe distance.

Now there was only the leader and the woman.

Bai Li asked, "Now tell me what are you doing? What did you want with Chu Jie? And where is Fu Meili?"

She looked at us, surprised.

It felt a little odd.

The woman laughed. "You are never getting anything from me."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Hey, who is there?"

We heard a man's voice from the door, but it was really familiar. He barged in holding a gun in his hand.

What!? Duan Deming!

Bai Li also said, "Duan Deming?"

I looked at him, dumbfounded. What was he doing here?

He looked equally shocked at us.

"Drop your weapons, Bai Li!" Duan Deming narrowed his gaze when he looked at the mess.

The woman shouted. "Cop! Please help! These people have held us hostage here! They want to kill us!"

I gritted my teeth as she shed some fake tears.

She is taking advantage of the situation! And he just came at such a wrong time!

Bai Li said, "It isn't what you are thinking."

Duan Deming said, "Yeah, sure. First, you didn't steal the evidence, and now it is not you but your doppelganger who is holding that woman hostage, right?"

Liao Huifang stepped up and said, "No, you are wrong, officer! They are the hooligans here. They kidnapped the boy Chu Jie."

"No, they are lying!"

Chu Jie fearfully said, "T-that is true. She kidnapped me here."

The woman glared at him. "He is lying. They have threatened him to say that we have kidnapped him. Please save us, officer!"

Duan Deming said, "Leave the woman, Bai Li, and we will talk."

"You do not understand the situation here. Five minutes ago, they were aiming their guns at us. What I am doing is self-defense."

"Enough. You cannot fool me. And you two!

Weren't you with General Song? Didn't he arrest you? Then how are you here?"

Damn, I forgot that General Song had talked to him. But now he doesn't know that General Song, and we had a deal.

We cannot expose that.

"Hah! So you somehow escaped! And why not? You are criminals on the loose. First, you stole the evidence, shot down an entire gang, then ran away, and when General Song caught you, you escaped. And now you are holding hostages. Do I look like a fool to you?"

Why is it always the worst timing?

I shook my head and tried to sign him that he was misunderstanding, but he didn't bend.

Damn!

"Drop the gun Bai Li, or else I will shoot you."

"Yes, officer. Look! As you can see, he even hurt my buddies. One of them is dying because that dog bit him, and he is about to die! Look so much blood is flowing out. They knocked out the other two too!"

Yeah, as if it wasn't enough, the leader joined in too.

No matter how anybody looked, it was as if we were the criminals here!

Duan Deming said, "Bai Li and Xin Lei. You are under arrest for taking hostages and attacking civilians! Drop your weapons and surrender yourselves."

Liao Huifang shouted. "You don't understand! They are the kidnappers, not us! Ask the boy!"

Chu Jie also nodded. "These guys have helped me, officer. That woman has lied and brought me here with a man."

Duan Deming asked, "Who is the man? Is he among these men?"

Chu Jie pursed his lips. "I didn't see him. There was a blind between the seats."

"See? That boy doesn't know! These goons brainwash him."

Bai Li said, "It's useless to explain anything to you now. Clear the way, officer Duan."

The leader begged. "No, please save us! My friend is dying. Please help him!"

"Ah…my hand... please…" The man was really groaning in pain.

Duan Deming bent and was checking his condition. "We will get you to the hospital quickly."

The leader inched towards him from behind.

I widened my eyes.

No, don't let him come near you! I shook my head hard, glancing at Duan Deming, but he jumped and already grabbed him.

*Bang*

Bai Li immediately fired a shot at his direction.

"Ah!" Liao Huifang pulled Chu Jie and ducked her head in between her arms.

He gasped as the bullet pierced his arm, but in that frenzy, he still disarmed Duan Deming and grabbed his gun with the other hand.

"Hey-" Duan Deming was cut off.

The leader immediately fired a round and so did Bai Li again on his end. He rushed to the side, dodging the bullet, but the woman managed to get away by pushing him hard. Bai Li stumbled by the desk.

"Arf!"

Bai Li!

We ran towards him.

Bai Li raised his hand to shoot again.

"Stop! I have the officer with me!"

I turned and saw that the leader was pointing his gun at Duan Deming's temple.

Duan Deming narrowed his eyes. "You…"