Chapter 15 – Heaven’s Blessing

　　The three remaining soldiers, owing to their rigorous training, quickly reacted to the death of their comrade. While one of them pushed Ji Xiaoqin's head down and returned to the patient's room with her, the two remaining drew out their guns and searched for cover. At the end of the corridor, a dark figure emerged, slowly walking towards them with another scalpel in his right hand. The delicate but sharp blade of the weapon danced between his fingers like a b.u.t.terfly, sending out dazzling rays of reflected light.

　　One of the soldiers fired a shot, and it turned out also to be his last one: the moment he peeked his head from his cover, the b.u.t.terfly flew straight into his throat. He dropped his weapon and covered his throat with both of his hands, but he could only emit a choking sound as the figure in black bent his neck and easily dodged the bullet he fired without even stopping for a second. The gunshot caused a general panic within the corridor as patients and doctors scattered and scrambled for the stairs.

　　The remaining soldier squinted his eyes as he listened to the footsteps of the man in black and calculated the distance that the latter had travelled. The gun he had was given to him by Guo Tai. Walther P99, made in Germany, 9mm caliber with a magazine of 15 bullets, internal striker, double action only trigger and a rate of fire of 0.72 per second. He nodded to his companion guarding Ji Xiaoqin and leaped out of his cover, firing successive shots at the man in black. Meanwhile, his partner pulled Ji Xiaoqin out of the ward and ran for the stairs.

　　The man in black's silhouette snaked left and right as he pounced on the soldier in front of him. The next instant, a gloved fist emerged out of the soldier's back, holding between its fingers a beating heart: the soldier only had time to fire four shots.

　　The last soldier had barely taken three steps when he realized the gunshots had stopped. The ruthlessness he had acquired during his life as a member of the special forces compelled him to a last-ditch effort: he pulled out his tri-edged dagger and stabbed at Ji Xiaoqin.

　　The blade pierced Ji Xiaoqin's clothes and its tip grazed the generous curves of her chest. However, it would not go forward a hundredth of an inch more: the man in black had appeared in front of the soldier, and grasped his wrist so that he could no longer push his dagger forward. The man in black moved his bloodstained right hand until he clawed the soldier's neck and lifted him from the ground. The soldier feet kicked in the air as he struggled to no avail. Ji Xiaoqin, who fell to the ground upon losing her support, crawled away from the two: five more meters and she would reach the staircase.

　　The last soldier's struggle weakened gradually until it became no more than jerking, and then his body became limp. The man in black did not release him, but instead stared at his distorted figure.

　　"Kill her… I can… You… Cannot…" The man in black closed his fist tightly and completely ripped his prey's neck apart.

　　Ji Xiaoqin was still two meters away from the stairs, but when she heard the man in black's voice, she turned around with her mouth wide open in disbelief, almost forgetting to breathe for a moment. The voice was hoa.r.s.e, cold, dry, and devoid of emotions, but Ji Xiaoqin recognized it instantly. "Yi… Yiming?"

　　Bang! The window gla.s.s next to the man in black shattered into pieces. He himself spun around and fell down on one knee. A gaping hole appeared in his left shoulder. He had barely touched the ground before he quickly rolled to the side and laid p.r.o.ne on the floor.

　　Bang! Another loud noise was heard. This time, the wall was suddenly blown open, and a crater appeared where the man knelt a split second ago. The glint of reflected sunlight projected from a skysc.r.a.per right across the street was visible to anyone who dared to look through the breach in the wall.

　　Sniper…

　　Eyegla.s.ses remained immobile in his p.r.o.ning position at the window and adjusted the aim of his rifle slightly. His talent mainly revolved around hacking electronics, so although he could handle a few ordinary people in close-quarters, it would be suicide for him to try to challenge the camouflager. The rifle he used was the NTW-20, 14.5 mm caliber with an effective range of about 2300 meters. From where he was, he could punch a hole through an armored vehicle with a single bullet. On top of that, the rifle lived up to the Made in Secret Domain standard.

　　When she saw the wound on the camouflager's shoulder, Ji Xiaoqin's first instinct was to run toward him. However, Li Yiming's voice came from behind her. "Let's get out of here!" Li Yiming picked her up and retreated towards the staircase. The camouflager stood back up again, only to be stopped in his tracks by another loud bang and a cavity that appeared about half a meter in front of him. He attempted to crawl through the hallway, but a sudden string of gunshot noises forced him to roll sideways into a ward.