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“B-boss!” Sinclair cried out as if he were a lost puppy bawling after finally returning to the hands of its owner. It was so endearing that Hong Lu couldn’t help but smile. “You came for us!”
“Aw, didn’t Heathcliff tell you that I would, Sinclair? For shame, here I thought you knew me better than that.”
Hong lu approached Sinclair, where he was still tired to his chair. The young man looked on the verge of tears, it was really quite endearing. Hong Lu’s knife was already in his hand, gleaming an arc through the light as he swung it down and severed the ropes binding Sinclair to his chair
Thankfully Sinclair looked mostly alright. There was a bruise or two on his face, probably more would be found on his body later on. And there would likely be rope burns on him from where he had been bound in some places. But at least for now he seemed bright and alert, nothing that would indicate to Hong Lu that he was in too much pain for the time being.
Heathcliff, on the other hand…
Hong Lu let out a sigh, rounding himself to the other chair whose back was butted right up against the one which had bound Sinclair.
Heathcliff was slumped over to one side, hair half-pulled from his ponytail draped over him only just enough it faintly shaded his face. When Hong Lu gently brushed it back, he could see the misshapen nose that had blood dripping from it, and the mottling of bruises that colored his face.
He couldn’t help but smile a little.
With this many bruises on his face, that probably explained why the minions who had stood in front of Hong Lu when he arrived at this place already looked so beat-up. Trust Heathcliff to never let himself go down without a fight.
“Rise and shine, Heathcliff. Wakey wakey~” Hong Lu gently patted Heathcliff’s least bruised cheek to rouse him, watching him scrunch up his eyes and wince at even the feather-light touch. When at last he opened up his eyes, Hong Lu saw the wary hesitance that colored his violet eyes. “Good morning! Rest well?”
“… ‘Bout damn time you showed up, Bossman.” Heathcliff shook his head slightly, shaking off the lingering discombobulation. “Ah, my bloody head… Where are we?”
“Warehouse out at the edge of the District. The people who brought you here weren’t particularly clever about their hiding places. Their minions were unfortunately annoying enough to delay me, so I’m sorry it took me so long.” A slash through the air, and Heathcliff’s bonds were severed as well. He sat himself up straight, hands already going to his hair to fix his ponytail and get his hair out of his face. “Can you stand on your own?”
“Maybe. One of em got me in the leg pretty good earlier. Not broken, don’t think. But already feelin’ it getting right sore.” Ah, had they? Hong Lu glanced down at Heathcliff’s feet. Which one… Ah. The right one, he saw. He was moving it rather tenderly.
Hong Lu ejected his clip, glanced at it, then pressed it back into place with a sharp ‘click’. Eight rounds still in the clip, which meant he had nine including the one in the chamber. Add in the last full clip he still had ready after making his way in here past the goons, and that made twenty-seven rounds total.
That ought to be just enough.
“Sinclair, I’ve got a car that I rented waiting outside. Would you mind helping Heathcliff get out to it?” Hong Lu pulled out the keys and tossed them over his shoulder, listening to Sinclair fumble with them until he managed to catch them in his palms. “I found your weapons on my way in, I set them waiting just inside the door. So you can bring them along when you’ve helped him.”
“W-wait. Where are you going, boss?” Sinclair asked.
“… Just wrapping things up~ Nothing to be concerned about~” Hong Lu smiled brightly, then turned on his heel and walked deeper into the warehouse. “I’ll be out soon, so just go ahead and warm up the engine for me!”
“Wait! Boss-!”
“Leave it alone, lad.” Heathcliff hauled himself up from his chair, balancing himself against the back. He watched Hong Lu’s retreating back until he was gone, and only then turned to Sinclair. “Trust me. Once Bossman’s gotten like this, no use tryin’ to persuade him to stop what he’s set his mind to doin’.” He grunted, then lifted his free arm. “You heard him, then. Help me get outside, will ya? Don’t feel like draggin’ my leg all the way to the door.”
“R-right. Here, let me…” After some working about, Sinclair managed to haul Heathcliff’s arm over his shoulder, resting just enough weight on him that he could get along without much issue. “Is this alright?”
“Fine. Let’s get the hell outta’ here.”
--
“Okay, okay. Don’t panic. Agh, those useless… No, it’s fine, it’s fine! All I have to do is get out of here. I’ll go back home, tell the family I underestimated him, and then we can come back and try again while better prepared.” The panicking man flattened himself against the wall, looking back and forth like a rabbit trying its best to avoid a wolf. “Just slip out the back door, and then I can-”
“You can stay right there is what you can do, Shi Yihua.”
A shot rang out, and before Yihua could move, a hot pain erupted in his right knee. He screamed, falling to the floor and clutching at his leg. A shadow disconnected from the rest of the darkened room on the opposite side from him, and slowly materialized into a man. With that damn Jade eye lighting the path the whole way until Hong Lu came into full view.
“Jia Baoyu… How dare you do this to me?! Do you know how furious the Shi family will be when they learn that you’ve harmed their-!” Another shot, and one of Yihua’s arms burned with that same pain when a bullet grazed his humerus. Yihua screamed, and Hong Lu watched him all the while, silently absorbing all of his agony.
“You know, that was all rather rude of you, Shi Yihua. You came all the way to this District, just so you could kidnap my employees and rough them up so badly.” Hong Lu tread slowly along the concrete floor, still training his gun on Yihua all the way. “I hope you know that you’ll be taking responsibility for that. Not to mention all the ammunition that I’ve had to use up because of you.”
“What, are you going to kidnap me now? Blackmail my family for my safe return in exchange for your compensation?!” Yihua practically snarled at him. But that turned to confusion when Hong Lu only laughed cheerfully.
“Oh, no. By all means, this was all your own plan, wasn’t it? Your family wouldn’t pay a dime for your hide, so there’s no worth in kidnapping you… However, thanks to you, I’m sure I’ll be gaining back in totality. Perhaps with a little extra, if the interested parties are willing to be generous if I do a good job of putting on an extra show of it.”
“Wh- what do you-?” Two more shots. One in the same arm, and now one in the foot of the leg Hong Lu had already shot. “AUGH!! Are you getting off on this?! Is that what this is? Torturing me before you finally put me down and turn my head in for the Life Insurance?” Now Hong Lu paused, regarding Yihua with a perplexed expression. Which eventually turned into a slow, deliberate smile accompanied by a chuckle. “What?! What’s so funny!?”
“Oh, Yihua…” Hong Lu pulled the trigger again, and Yihua screamed as one more bullet ripped open his left cheek, exposing his molars on that side to the open air. “Who ever said that you’d be getting the chance to use your Life Insurance after what you’ve done tonight?”
The color barely had enough time to drain from Yihua’s face by the time the next round was chambered, so when he turned to attempt to flee, Hong Lu had a perfect angle from which he could blow Yihua’s jaw clean off its connective tissue. Yihua fell to the ground, and Hong Lu wasted no time in putting another two bullets in him, one in the back just to the side of the spine, and another in his shoulder.
Yihua sobbed pitifully on the ground where he had fallen, his quickened breathing growing more desperate as he writhed his body forward. Hong Lu never took his eyes off him, even as he dropped the empty clip to the ground and slid the fresh one into its place while ambling over to him. The fresh round had barely cleared the chamber before it was shot through Yihua’s other shoulder. Then another into the untouched knee.
With Yihua finally rendered unable to move, Hong Lu walked towards him, kicking him in the side to force him onto his back. Yihua gargled through the blood in his throat with pain, and Hong Lu treated him to two bullets in the gut for his trouble.
Hong Lu took his time after this, tens of seconds between each subsequent shot to observe Yihua’s reactions to his new wounds.
One in the hand, another in the thigh. Collarbone. Pelvis. Kidney. Liver. Lung. Throat. Head. Head. Head. Head. Head. Head. Click. Click. Click. Click. ClikClikClikClik
…
Ah, whoops. It seems he’d lost count.
Hong Lu let out a breath, and looked over his handiwork with Shi Yihua. Or rather, what was left of him. His head was pretty thoroughly obliterated by now. He’d have to let them know where Yihua was to not get mixed up with one of his goons when someone eventually came to collect his corpse and his things.
Hong Lu lingered for a while, making sure to never take his eyes off of the corpse.
This would be enough to please them, wouldn’t it? He’d be calling home to ask for money again after this, after all. Medical bills, new ammunition, weapons repairs. Certainly, money was never an object whenever he asked for it, but even by his standards he’d probably be asking for a lot.
It was why he had to put on a show for this. If he made it entertaining enough for them, the Elders would be pushing for Grandmother to shower him in funds if he could gain more experiences like this for their viewing pleasure.
It was the least he could do for those two, since they’d wound up getting caught in his family’s petty squabbles.