The woman who had appeared in the doorway was dressed in a black suit. She had a receiver in her ear and a Type 95 rifle in her hand. She was like a female special agent from a Hollywood spy movie - even her aura and stance were exactly the same.

Long Bing’s entrance was cool as always.

Two people were behind Long Bing - one was Ke Jie and the other was someone Xia Lei did not recognise. They were dressed like Long Bing; all in black, suited, earpieces in and holding Type 95 rifles. They were cool too.

Long Bing’s appearance surprised Xia Lei. He hadn’t called her to ask for help, yet she had turned up all of a sudden, and in such dramatic fashion too. It wasn’t so surprising, however, if one considered Bureau 101’s power and Long Bing’s style of doing things.

Her appearance and the appearance of the three Type 95 rifles made everyone freeze. The Gu clan’s faces darkened, while He Jia-Ying’s was filled with simple nervousness and fear. Xu Lang and his subordinates stood like wooden figures and did not know what to do.

Long Bing did not care how these people reacted. She walked straight to Xia Lei and said with a stern face, “Xia Lei, you are under suspicion of stealing state secrets. Come with me for questioning.” She took a pair of handcuffs from her belt when she was done speaking and made to cuff Xia Lei.

Shentu Tian-Yin’s hand moved without thinking, stopping Long Bing’s hand. “You must be mistaken! How could Xia Lei steal state secrets? There must be some mistake!”

“Move aside unless you want to be arrested,” said Long Bing coldly, but she winked at Shentu Tian-Yin as she spoke.

Shentu Tian-Yin was a smart woman and she understood what Long Bing meant from the not-obvious wink. She retracted her hands and shut her mouth.

Long Bing put handcuffs on Xia Lei. “Let’s go. You’re finished this time.”

“I’m in your hands. I have nothing to say,” said Xia Lei.

Xu Lang could not help the bitter smile which spread across his face. He knew about the relationship between Long Bing and Xia Lei. He also remembered the warning his uncle, Xu Zheng-Yi, had given him - Don’t piss this woman off! Long Bing had suddenly appeared now to take Xia Lei away but he’d be a fool to believe that Xia Lei had stolen state secrets. Who knew - they might be making plans to go somewhere for supper even before they stepped out of the hotel!

Sadly, even though Xu Lang knew that that was the case, there was no way he could stop Long Bing from taking Xia Lei away. The special powers of authority Long Bing wielded was not something a lowly inspector like him could go up against!

“Wait!” Gu Ke-Wu blocked Long Bing and Xia Lei’s way and said probingly, “We are in the middle of investigating a gambling case now. It involves hundreds of millions. You can’t just take him away because you say so.”

Long Bing stared icicles at Gu Ke-Wu. “Who are you?”

“Gu Ke-Wu!” He felt like he was being belittled by Long Bing and his anger flared. “And who are you? Show us some identification!”

Long Bing did not show any identification but she abruptly shoved the muzzle of the Type 95 rifle in Gu Ke-Wu’s lower abdomen the instant his lips were closed.

Gu Ke-Wu let out a whimper and he sank to the floor as if he’d lost control of his legs.

Long Bing moved her hand up and the rifle went to Gu Ke-Wu’s head.

Gu Ke-Wu’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat immediately. Gu Ding-Shan and Gu Ke-Wen were about to stop and question Long Bing but the sight of her with a rifle aimed at Gu Ke-Wu’s head stunned father-and-daughter into muteness.

Long Bing spoke tonelessly. “Gu Ke-Wu. I know who you are. Let me tell you that you have your connections and I have mine. We are from different worlds. If you think that you’re big enough of a deal to meddle in the affairs of National Security, then bring it on. See if I don’t shoot you down.”

Gu Ke-Wu’s lips moved but no words came out.

Long Bing put down the gun and walked out of the room, pulling Xia Lei by the arm.

Gu Ding-Shan hesitated, but still said, “Leave us your name, Miss.”

Long Bing stopped walking and her gaze grew icily dark. “I’ll give you a warning, Gu Ding-Shan. You have a chance to continue you life into retirement if you stop now. If you continue in your blindness you’ll end up in a worse state than Huang Yi-Hu.”

“Hah!” Gu Ding-Shan snorted. This was his reply.

Long Bing brought Xia Lei out of the room and went towards an emergency exit.

“What are you doing here?” asked Xia Lei.

“Don’t think I came specially to save you,” said Long Bing, “We got the go-ahead and Annina was adamant in wanting to fly over to you so I brought her over. We got information that you were here and I made my way here only to see a whole bunch of police cars rushing in this direction. Thanks to your ability to stir up trouble I knew you were the cause. So, here I am.”

Xia Lei smiled wryly. “It’s not me who wants to stir up trouble - it’s the Gu clan who doesn’t want to let me off. They schemed to harm me and want me buried. I’m not going to do nothing and let them kill me, am I?”

“I know, and I’m helping you because I know. No help from me otherwise.” Long Bing rolled her eyes at Xia Lei.

Xia Lei changed the topic. “Where’s Annina?”

“In the car outside,” said Long Bing.

They quickly got to the doorway.

Ke Jie reached to open the door for them.

Xia Lei suddenly recalled something and stopped walking.

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you walking?” asked Long Bing curiously.

“I left out someone.” Xia Lei had thought of Danny, the frightening killer.

Danny had said that he was already here but he had not seen him so far.

“The killer?” Long Bing thought quickly too.

Xia Lei did not reply. He looked past the door of the emergency exit and his gaze lit upon the high-rise building opposite. Balconies flashed past in his vision and his gaze stopped on the rooftop terrace. There was a dark, shadowy figure - and a sniper rifle!

“Watch out!” Xia Lei cried in alarm. He suddenly turned around and threw himself on Long Bing, sending them both crashing to the floor.

Sparks and little pieces of ground flew up in the emergency exit doorway the instant they hit the floor. The littles pieces burnt them.

Long Bing’s face was ash-white. If Xia Lei had been a tenth of a second slower, the bullet from the sniper rifle would have gone through not just him but her too!

Xia Lei did not stay still. He wrapped his legs around Long Bing’s waist and rolled to the side.

Bang! There was another muffled sound and shrapnel flew up from the ground again in the emergency exit. The bullet ricocheted off the ground, leaving bullet marks on the walls.

Ke Jie closed the door.

Another bullet glanced the door, leaving a furrow as wide as a fist. Ke Jie was under fire and he lay flat on the ground by the door, afraid to make any false moves.

“Uncuff me!” yelled Xia Lei.

Long Bing took out the keys and uncuffed Xia Lei as she spoke into her headset, “Seal the exits, now!”

“Where’s your sniper rifle?” Xia Lei threw the handcuffs away.

“In the boot of the car outside,” said Long Bing.

Xia Lei immediately got to his feet and ran towards the exit.

“You throwing your life away?” Long Bing called anxiously.

Xia Lei had already gone out the door. He was not throwing his life away; he had seen the sniper put his gun away in preparation to leave. Three shots were fired but none had hit the target. This was a very dangerous situation for a sniper whose location had been compromised.

Xia Lei did not have time to see the sniper’s face clearly but he was convinced that it had been Danny.

Xia Lei charged out of the emergency exit. Long Bing braced herself, and followed.

Two Hongqi vans were parked by the road; they were modified and bulletproof. The doors of both vans opened as Xia Lei ran towards them, revealing five special agents in black suits. They started running towards the building opposite, carrying guns.

“Where’s the gun?” Xia Lei did not know which van Long Bing’s modified sniper rifle was in but he spotted Annina. She was crouched under the sofa-row of the first Hongqi van, hugging her head and looking nervous.

Long Bing ran to the first Hongqi van and opened its boot. She took out a plastic box.

Xia Lei reached for the box but Long Bing swatted his hand away.

“I’ll do it. This guy’s mine.” Long Bing had already opened the box as she spoke and begun assembling the sniper rifle parts with practiced moves.

“Then let me have a handgun,” said Xia Lei.

“Be good and stay here. Your life is important to the nation,” said Long Bing.

“You…” Xia Lei was rooted to the spot in anger. This was a chance to finish Danny off but Long Bing was not giving it to him.

Long Bing assembled the sniper rifle in under ten seconds and she ran towards the building opposite with the rifle in her hands.

Xia Lei started to chase after her but he didn’t even have so much as a fork on him. His stopped in his tracks.

“Fuck. They keep telling me I’m a consultant for Bureau 101 but I don’t even get a gun. What consultant am I?” Xia Lei kicked angrily at the wheel of the van. He then looked at the building opposite and scanned it. He’d lost Danny.

Xia Lei’s heart sank. This Danny’s abilities were more than he’d imagined.

Annina crawled out of the van and asked in a scared voice, “Are you hurt, Lukas?”

Xia Lei pulled her to a crouch next to the wheels. “I’m okay. You?”

“I was so scared. I’m not hurt.” Annina hugged Xia Lei around his neck and pressed her face to his cheek.

Xia Lei patted her gently on the back and said comfortingly, “It’s okay now. Don’t be scared. The gunman’s gone.”

“Can he be caught?” Annina was still nervous.

Xia Lei knew that there was no chance for them to catch Danny anymore but he said, “I hope so. You don’t have to worry about it. Oh, right, Long Bing said that there’s been some headway. What’s the situation?”

“I’m not so sure but it’s all confirmed on my end. I’ve finished my plans. This isn’t why I insisted on coming to see you, though. It’s because… I missed you.”

Xia Lei felt the beginning twinges of an ache in his waist.