Ambush on the Crowded Street

A gunshot suddenly echoed through the crowded street. Chen Lujun felt a sharp gust of wind graze his cheek.

He instinctively touched his cheek, a throbbing pain radiating to his brain. A smear of crimson stained his fingertips, and the faint, metallic tang of blood lingered on his tongue, making his stomach churn.

Chen Lujun turned his head, his gaze sweeping into the distance.

A group of burly men, armed with an assortment of firearms, emerged from a van. To mask their true intentions, they deliberately fired shots into the surrounding crowd.

The entire street erupted into a cacophony, a boiling pot of sound. Piercing screams from women, the tragic cries of children, and the curses of men all blended into a horrifying din.

Even amidst the chaos, Chen Lujun realized something was amiss. These were no ordinary bandits.

From a considerable distance, he had already noticed the sophistication of the firearms in their hands.

Their weapons were far from cheap, each one commanding a hefty price. Some were even advanced, newly developed firearms—equipment no common thug could ever afford.

Moreover, the overturned truck, seemingly a coincidental accident, had crushed and killed most of the bodyguards Chen Lujun had brought with him. This was clearly a targeted assassination.

Having calmly analyzed the situation, Chen Lujun seized an opportune moment and swiftly took cover behind the overturned truck.

Leaning against the truck’s chassis, he instinctively reached for his waist.

Ordinarily, he always carried a handgun for self-defense, but this time, his hand met only empty air. In his haste to exit the vehicle earlier, he had left it inside. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he cautiously peered towards the sedan.

“There’s a gun in the car!”

Still seated in the car, Lin Yiting snapped back to reality, turning her head to glare at the frenzied attackers. Her previously calm eyes now blazed with ferocity and killing intent, transforming her into a drawn sword, poised for battle at any moment.

“Get out of the car, quickly!”

Chen Sishi didn’t dare hesitate, pushing open the car door and leaping out. Lin Yiting and Lin Yi followed closely behind.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Lin Yiting spun around and yanked open the passenger door. A black handgun rested on the passenger seat.

“Miss Lin, that gun is mine, I—”

The driver, still in the driver’s seat, clearly intended to say more, but Lin Yiting’s sharp gaze silenced him before he could finish.

“Less talk, more action! Get out now, or you’ll catch a bullet soon!”

Her words came out in a rapid-fire burst, and as soon as she finished, she ducked back, handgun in hand. The driver reacted just as swiftly, retrieving another gun from the car before taking cover behind a different vehicle.

He was one of Chen Lujun’s carefully selected men, also armed with a defensive weapon. However, his movements were too conspicuous, drawing the attention of the attackers.

Bullets whizzed towards them, one piercing the sedan’s steel frame and grazing the driver’s clothes. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he thought, ‘Good thing I didn’t run too fast just now, or I might have ended up dead here.’

Hidden behind the sedan, Lin Yiting leaned against it, checking the bullets in her gun. The firearm held roughly twenty rounds, featuring a selector switch for semi-automatic and fully automatic modes.

The weapon’s specifications automatically surfaced in her mind. Without a moment’s hesitation, she swiftly disengaged the safety and chambered a round.

Regulating her breathing, Lin Yiting used a shard of broken mirror on the ground to pinpoint the bandits’ positions. Their ammunition seemed to be running low; the initial barrage of gunfire had subsided significantly.

As she mentally assessed the current predicament, Lin Yiting spotted Chen Lujun hiding behind the truck. He was gesturing to her, seemingly asking her to protect Chen Sishi.

Lin Yiting glanced at the silver-haired girl beside her, her lips twitching involuntarily. Even at a moment like this, Chen Sishi was still clinging to Lin Yi’s arm as if she were fused to him.

If she could, she truly wished to toss the girl to those thugs, especially since Chen Sishi was endangering her younger brother’s safety.

However, they were all in the same boat now, and even if Lin Yiting was reluctant, she could only nod in agreement.

Seeing Lin Yiting agree to his request, Chen Lujun finally let out a sigh of relief. Lin Yiting was a prominent figure in the city’s bodyguard industry, and with her capabilities, she could undoubtedly protect Chen Sishi.

With his worries assuaged, Chen Lujun steeled his resolve and sprinted alone towards the flattened sedan. The bodyguards inside had all been armed. If he could retrieve a handgun, it would significantly lessen Lin Yiting’s burden.

After searching for a moment within the wrecked car, he finally pulled out a blood-stained handgun. With the weapon in hand, Chen Lujun returned to his previous position and resumed signaling Lin Yiting.

At that moment, Lin Yiting had just separated Lin Yi and Chen Sishi, and her eyes met Chen Lujun’s signal.

His gesture conveyed a clear message: don’t fight head-on, find an opportunity to drive away. Lin Yiting nodded in understanding; she knew these attackers wouldn’t be easy to deal with, and escaping was indeed the best course of action.

Time ticked by, second by agonizing second, as tension spread through everyone’s hearts. Lin Yi, hunched low, leaned against the car door, gasping for breath.

Though he had mentally prepared for dramatic plot twists, he had never imagined he would encounter a real-life gunfight. This particular ‘twist’ was far too intense.

His palms were slick with nervous sweat. Despite his fascination with firearms, Lin Yi was still terrified.

A potent mix of curiosity and profound fear churned within him. Ultimately, curiosity won, and Lin Yi cautiously poked his head out of the car, wanting to see what the weapons in this world looked like.

Within his line of sight, a bandit held an unusually shaped firearm. Unlike the guns Lin Yi was familiar with, this one looked like a prop from a sci-fi movie, exuding a high-tech aura.

The man raised his weapon, its dark muzzle pointed at a fleeing pedestrian. The moment the shot rang out, a young girl collapsed to the ground.

Blood continuously gushed from her wound, and the girl’s parents immediately fell to their knees. Their heart-wrenching wails tore at Lin Yi’s soul, again and again.

Witnessing this horror firsthand, Lin Yi’s pupils constricted, and his body trembled instinctively. The terror in his heart swiftly spread throughout him, cold sweat trickling down his temples.

As the bandits drew nearer, Lin Yi’s heart pounded faster and faster. He wanted to pull back, but his body was terrifyingly rigid, his joints seemingly locked in place.

Lin Yiting, who had been intently watching the mirror, raised her hand, preparing to open fire on the attackers. It was precisely then that her peripheral vision caught sight of Lin Yi’s head poking out.

A shock jolted through Lin Yiting. Her focus had been entirely on the mirror, and she hadn’t even noticed when Lin Yi had ventured out.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

She instinctively raised her voice, grabbing Lin Yi’s arm and yanking him back. She had intended to scold him, but seeing the pure terror in his eyes, her hardened resolve softened once more.

“It’s alright, Lin Yi. Big Sister is here.”

She embraced Lin Yi, her palm patting his back repeatedly. His chillingly stiff body gradually regained its mobility, and Lin Yi, still frightened, burrowed deeper into her embrace.

Witnessing this scene, the light in Chen Sishi’s eyes dimmed somewhat. She gritted her teeth, her tightly clenched hands unsure of what to do.

The gunshots behind them grew closer. Perhaps having left a psychological scar, each blast caused Lin Yi’s body to involuntarily flinch.

With no time to spare for anything else, Lin Yiting gritted her teeth and handed Lin Yi over to Chen Sishi.

“Watch him for me. And I’m warning you, don’t get any ideas about Lin Yi!”