“Are we running or what?”
Johnny was clearly terrified. Just as he started to say more, Gu Lian lifted the hem of her jacket, revealing the holster beneath her leather pants, her left hand already gripping the handle of her gun.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three bullets left the chamber instantly. Their fire merged with the glow of the sunset, speeding straight toward the heads of the three men following them.
Johnny jumped at the sudden gunfire, his body trembling uncontrollably, but the men behind Gu Lian were struck with even greater panic.
“No…”
The three were rattled by the swift, precise movement. One of them had barely uttered the word before a whistling wind cut him off, a bullet finding the center of his skull.
THWIP, THWIP, THWIP!
Blood and skull fragments sprayed from the back of their heads. The three fell backward in unison, their faces still frozen in the shock of their final moments. In the center of their foreheads, one-inch bullet holes with charred edges looked gruesome.
THUD!
The three corpses hit the ground. Only a small amount of blood pooled behind them, as the entry wounds had been cauterized by the lingering heat of the rounds.
Her jacket, dyed gold by the sunset, flapped in the wind. Gu Lian tossed her Desert Eagle into the air, caught it with her right hand after a few rotations, and leveled the black muzzle at a sniper hiding on a rooftop.
BANG! BANG!
Two more shots rang out. Two bullets tore through the air, ripples distorting the space. One shattered the sniper’s trigger finger, while the other pierced his skull.
BANG!
The metal helmet was punctured, and the sniper slumped over, lifeless. Dust whirled around him. His mouth hung open in disbelief, but alas, he would never make another sound.
The kinetic energy of that shot had fried his central nervous system.
She advanced slowly, tossing the Desert Eagle back to her left hand and flicking her wrist to slide the weapon securely back into its holster. The hem of her jacket fell perfectly back into place, concealing the holster once more.
WHOOSH~
The wind whistled through the yellow sand filling the street. Johnny walked forward, shivering and stumbling, his steps unsteady from fear. Those five shots had practically scared the soul out of him.
“If you have no talent, stop having such twisted ideas.”
Gu Lian dropped her hands, tucking them into her pockets. ‘If I had this gear on me when I was being hunted by the Lieshou, that trash with the dual pistols would have been dead with a single shot.’
“…”
Johnny, who was leading the way, shook even harder. He was certain that the person beside him was a cold-blooded killer.
The two entered Gold Rush Town. Because they had a guide, they didn’t have the trouble of being lost in a strange place. After winding through several blocks, they arrived at Fighting Joy Street. Gu Lian stopped in front of number 103.
It was a small three-story building, looking as if the walls were built from individual stone bricks.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
As she rapped on the door, Gu Lian unbuckled a belt on her waist. She glanced back at the fidgeting Johnny and said, “You’re useless now!”
“…”
Johnny’s face twisted as he squeezed his eyes shut. His hands clenched into fists behind his back, his nails digging into his skin until blood leaked from his palms.
He was unwilling to accept this, truly unwilling.
“Come in.”
THUD!
The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground and the door opening occurred simultaneously. It wasn’t the gunshot he had imagined. Johnny opened one eye, then the other.
The sun had set, and the building’s shadow stretched long. Dust was whipped up by the wind, and a black bag was tossed at his feet.
Seeing he was still alive, his expression went from blank, to confused, and finally to ecstatic. He was still alive!
BANG!
The door slammed shut. Johnny shivered, looking up to see that Gu Lian had already entered the building.
He shifted his gaze to the bag in front of him. Johnny knelt down, his hands trembling as he opened it. Eight packets of War-ready Food were scattered inside.
His body froze for a moment. He noticed a flash of gold beneath the rations, and his breath hitched.
Hesitating, Johnny carefully moved the food aside. A gold nugget, the size of a thumb, lay quietly among them.
SWISH!
Johnny grabbed the bag and sprinted away, heading out of Gold Rush Town.
In the swirling sand, a man with a scar on his face emerged from a dark alley, grinning as he watched Johnny flee.
BANG!
A low gunshot rang out, and the wooden door of room 103 cracked, dust vibrating out of the seams.
A spiraling bullet passed effortlessly through the door, trailing a vacuum-sealed path through the air. It pierced the side of the Scarred Man’s temple.
Bone shards and blood sprayed out. The Scarred Man kept his previous expression, his legs turning to lead as he stumbled and crashed heavily to the ground. Crimson blood spread into the yellow sand, the dust clotting it into beads that rolled toward the horizon.
The sun had vanished completely. Night had fallen.
“What do you want?”
A man dressed as a Scavenger leveled a pistol at Gu Lian’s head. Gu Lian remained expressionless as she holstered her own weapon.
“If I paid you a salary, and someone who didn’t know the meaning of death tried to eye that money, what would you do?”
She turned around, the dark muzzle pointed directly at her forehead, and tilted her chin up to meet the Scavenger’s eyes.
“…”
The two locked eyes. The Scavenger kept his gun aimed at her, his thumb resting on the hammer.
CLICK!
A round was chambered. The Scavenger’s index finger tightened against the trigger. The atmosphere was incredibly tense.
“Sigh…”
Gu Lian sighed and reached out, gently patting the Scavenger’s waist. In a blind spot, she slipped a small piece of gold into his pocket.
***
After doing this, she patted his pocket again and shook her head. “Buddy, is it really worth it?”
“Of course, my friend. I was just joking.”
Feeling the weight in his pocket increase, the Scavenger immediately lowered his gun. His attitude shifted one hundred and eighty degrees, and he even slapped Gu Lian on the shoulder enthusiastically.
Gu Lian was used to this. She had seen too many people like him; the petty naturally have their own way of surviving.
The Scavenger smiled and led Gu Lian toward the second floor. As they reached the stairs, the Scavenger patted her shoulder again, then barked sharply, “Why are you dragging your feet? Our boss wants to see you!”
As he spoke, something touched Gu Lian’s arm. As they climbed, the Scavenger shoved her slightly.
Gu Lian stumbled but seized the chance to look around. There appeared to be only one room on the second floor, and standing by the door was a man with his lower face covered by a scarf.
“Dragging your feet, ptooey!”
On the stairs, the Scavenger spat contemptuously. Without another look, he walked past Gu Lian and approached the Scarf Man to begin speaking.
Seizing the moment, Gu Lian pretended to remove her glasses. As her left hand rubbed her eye, her right hand opened to reveal a note. Three words were written on it: Personnel, Business, Lying.
These three words could mean many things.
Personnel and business likely suggested those were the two types of people welcomed here.
Perhaps the former meant it was easy to join them.
As for the business, it might be a hint that if she wasn’t here to trade or join, she should leave.
And finally, the lying…
Gu Lian closed her eyes and put her glasses back on, looking at the two men who had finished their conversation.
Was it a subtle warning not to trust a single word anyone said inside?
Or perhaps, he simply wanted money, and these hints were all nonsense.