The next day, afternoon.

Long Bing and Tang Yuyan walked shoulder to shoulder. Both were tall and striking women, and they attracted the gazes of the employees of Thunder Horse Military Factory.

“These two beauties must be here to see our Director Xia, huh?” A young man had an envious look on his face. “It’ll be great if I could get acquainted with one of them. I’m not greedy, really. Just one.”

“Pfft. Dream on,” said another young man dismissively. “You dare have designs on Director Xia’s friends? Want to get fired?”

“Our Director Xia is already engaged to Vientaine Group’s chairperson, Shentu Tianyin. These two aren’t his girlfriends, are they?”

“What do you know? Our Director Xia has the body and the talent. He made his own wealth and he’s good-natured too. What does it matter if he has a few girlfriends?”

Tang Yuyan and Long Bing looked over suddenly, their faces masks of cold. The employees who had wagged their tongues ran off.

“What do those two guys take us for?” Tang Yuyan said in annoyance. “Tianyin’s spare tyres?”

Long Bing looked unconcerned. “It’s just two kids wagging their tongues. What’s with your reaction? Do you actually feel like Tianyin’s spare tyre?”

Tang Yuyan rolled her eyes at Long Bing. “I haven’t been in a good mood these past few days. Don’t piss me off.”

“Heh heh.” Long Bing walked towards Xia Lei’s workshop.

Xia Lei’s workshop door and windows were tightly shut and they could not see in.

Long Bing knocked on the door. “Xia Lei, it’s me. Open up.”

The door to the workshop opened and a tanned, middle-aged man appeared before Tang Yuyan and Long Bing.

Long BIng looked inside the workshop but did not see Xia Lei. She was immediately on the alert. “Who are you?”

“I…” The man looked nervous, and he suddenly started running.

Tang Yuyan jumped up and let loose a kick at the middle-aged man. She was of the same opinion as Long Bing - this middle-aged man was suspicious!

Tang Yuyan used her Tang martial arts, of course. Her kick was executed cleanly and powerfully. However, the middle-aged man twisted his waist and dodged her kick by a hair’s breadth.

“You have some moves there, huh!” Tang Yuyan reached to grab his collar.

The middle-aged man twisted and dodged again.

Long Bing took two running steps and cut off the man’s path of retreat. She aimed a kick at his crotch as she moved to block him off.

The man stretched out a hand and caught Long Bing’s long leg, lifting it up. He lifted her kicking leg above his head. Long Bing was wearing tight-fitting jeans and her underwear was not exposed but the material almost split with this upward stretching. This was enough to make her hopping mad.

“Kiss the floor!” Long Bing let out a shout, and moved backwards. She suddenly lifted her left leg, which had been supporting her body weight, and aimed a kick at the man’s chest.

The man let go of Long Bing’s right leg and twisted aside again. He brushed past Long Bing’s left leg as he moved forward, reaching out both hands to envelop the kicking Long Bing in his arms by her waist. His movements were quicker than a darting bird, and more lively than a splashing fish!

Long Bing had been a fierce combatant, kicking aggressively at this stupid man, but she was caught in his arms a second later. She had become a bird in a cage!

Tang Yuyan abruptly took her gun out and pointed it at the man. “Don’t move! Release her!”

This was a contradictory command, and the man chose the latter option. He put Long Bing down.

Long Bing immediately kicked at the space between the man’s legs as soon as her feet touched the floor.

“Ugh…” The man opened his mouth wide; he couldn’t close it.

Long Bing swung a fist at him.

“It’s me!” yelled the man. “Xia Lei!”

Long Bing’s fist stopped at his cheek and didn’t move closer. She recognised his voice.

“What’s this?” Tang Yuyan lowered her gun. She recognised Xia Lei’s voice too.

Xia Lei reached out a hand and fiddled at his cheek for a bit, and soon pulled off the mask to reveal his handsome face.

“This…” Long Bing took the mask from Xia Lei’s hand. “Where did you get this?”

“I made it myself,” said Xia Lei.

Tang Yuyan drew close too and took a close look. She touched the mask and shook her head. “I don’t believe you made it.”

Xia Lei shrugged. “I called you two over to see the mask I made. I think it will be quite chaotic on this trip to Jerusalem. America has great pull there, and there’s also the Israel’s Mossad. They’re world-famous agents. This is what I’m thinking - we use new faces in Jerusalem. We’ll be much safer this way and it’ll be easier for us to complete our mission too.”

“You mean you’re going to make masks like this for us too?” said Long Bing.

“Yes, that’s what I mean,” said Xia Lei.

“It’s so ugly. And it’s a man too. How am I to put this on?” Tang Yuyan wrinkled her brows. “Plus, Long Bing and I are women. There are certain parts which cannot be hidden, right?”

Xia Lei couldn’t help glancing at Tang Yuyan’s generous bosom, then at Long Bing’s chest. True, one would have to be blind to mistake them for men with those measurements.

“What are you looking at?” said Long Bing fiercely. “Want me to kick you again? Let Shentu Tianyin hate me for a lifetime?”

Xia Lei laughed dryly. “You guys are looking at it too simply. This mask I made is not some mass-produced item. I need to measure your faces, then modify my moulds to turn you two into different women.”

“That simple?” Long Bing couldn’t help exchanging glances with Tang Yuyan.

“Come with me.” Xia Lei entered his workshop.

Long Bing and Tang Yuyan looked at his tools. He had a mould, some metal and plaster, and some materials which they couldn’t name. The mould looked fairly crude but they had to admit that Xia Lei’s craftsmanship was top-notch. They had not recognised him earlier and was fooled by him.

Xia Lei let Long Bing and Tang Yuyan see his tools, then pulled out a tape and measured their faces. He didn’t actually need to measure them; he was just putting on a show with the measuring tape.

“Sit still. Don’t move your head. Why glare at me?” Xia Lei gave Long Bing instructions as he pretended to take measurements of Long Bing’s face. He reached out once in a while to pinch her chin and poke at her face. He would have been taken for a pervert if he didn’t have the excuse of making a mask for her.

Long Bing glowered. She knew well that Xia Lei was taking his little revenge on her for kicking him in the crotch earlier but she could not find the words to stop him.

Xia Lei went to Tang Yuyan after measuring Long Bing’s face. He put the tape to her face and took some measurements here and there. He poked at her too, but not as much as he had done to Long Bing.

Tang Yuyan was a little awkward, a little nervous. “I didn’t hit you, if you know what I mean.”

Xia Lei laughed. “Mm, then I’ll make your face prettier.”

Long Bing spoke fiercely, “You punk! I just kicked you once down there. You’re so petty. I’ll beat you up if you make my face uglier than Tang Yuyan’s!”

Xia Lei was speechless.

He started modifying the mould after measuring their faces, turning it into a womanly shape. He spent half a day on it, and the two masks were complete.

Long Bing and Tang Yuyan put on the masks Xia Lei had made for them and stood before the mirror he had prepared for them. They did not move a muscle for up to 15 seconds. On the 16th second, they suddenly rushed at Xia Lei, raising their legs at the same time to kick at him.

Both had long legs, coolness and grace, and sexy hot bodies. This was a very nice sight but it was no joke to be caught between their legs. These women didn’t play around!

Xia Lei dodged and fled as he tried to explain himself. “I did this for our mission! Think about it - beautiful women garner attention wherever they go, and also get approached by men. These are all potential dangers! These potential dangers all go away when I make you two ugly!”

A hammer and a spanner came whistling from the back, nearly hitting Xia Lei in the back of his legs.

“See you tomorrow.” Xia Lei did not look back; he ran off in the blink of an eye.

Long Bing and Tang Yuyan looked at each other in the workshop doorway, both with angry expressions on their faces. Xia Lei had made their faces quite ugly.

“Hey, if he made a mask for Shentu Tianyin, what do you think it’ll look like?” asked Tang Yuyan for some reason.

“The prettiest type, I guess,” said Long Bing with a wry smile in the corners of her lips.

“Will he and Shentu Tianyin… get married?”

“Go ask him. Why’re you asking me? I’m not his mother,” said Long Bing in annoyance.

Tang Yuyan pursed her lips. “No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend. Who’ll want you with that stinking attitude?”

Long Bing scoffed. “You have a nice attitude but you still lost to Shentu Tianyin.”

Tang Yuyan was speechless.

-

Night descended. Shentu Tianyin’s room was warm with love, and even the air was thick with loving.

“Open your mouth.” Shentu Tianyin moved a grape on a toothpick to Xia Lei’s mouth and she pulled it back when he leaned forward to eat it, then put it in her own mouth.

Xia Lei looked at her, all smiles. Under the light, Shentu Tianyin’s skin was pale as jade and she was as pretty as a fairy.

“Open your mouth. I’ll really feed you this time.” Shentu Tianyin looked sincere.

Xia Lei opened his mouth obediently but the grape escaped his lips again just as it touched his tongue, and into Shentu Tianyin’s pink mouth. He tried to grab it, but she escaped him.

Shentu Tianyin laughed and said, “Father called from Shaolin Temple. He said the Master looked at our stars and said we are a match made in heaven. He also calculated an auspicious date for us - the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month. Um, what do you think?”

“The date the Master picked must be a good date. Let’s get married on that day, then,” said Xia Lei.

Meanwhile, hundreds of kilometres away, in a room in Shaolin Temple, Shentu Ren was smiling. “Master, can you also calculate when I’ll be able to hold my grandchild?”

The Master did his calculations. “Nine months later.”