Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 624

Now, as carefree as a cuckoo bird, he bought himself a cup of hot chocolate milk in the Cafeteria of The
Mysterious Refreshments. He was bound to try a portion of their product once in a blue moon.
All of a sudden, a gun shot was fired at a distance and there were inaudible screams. As the gunfire grew
closer and closer, Neo knew what was coming.
The Blue Dragon returned.
It was an undeniable fact that the conmen have triumphed in ripping off enterprises and developing various
black markets, first Macau and Hong Kong, then the mainland China, and now the chance for them to stalk
in this wonderland, whilst defeating other competing mobsters.
As Neo maneuvered his legs to leave, he could see the notorious leader, Lee Takshing. It was the man on
every headline of the Gossiper but a man he had never met. Lee was smaller in real life than he seemed in
his photographs. But Neo could see more. Lee was looming over an old woman, one foot pinning her left
leg, while he aimed the gunpoint of his musket at her throat.
Neo heard Lee said, “Where is the ultimate formula of your beverages? With these, I will soon build in a
new market with your products.”
Neo knew precisely that if he saved the old lady, he would be at the expense of being caught red-handed as
the trackers in his house had scented his current destination by modern technology. But as he envisioned the
miserable accident of his mother, he reckoned that he could not stand such obnoxious sight.
Neo got up the nerve to stride towards Lee, mouth agape, vociferated for the first time.
“What a coward. No one would be as pathetic as you, using violence to threaten a woman.”
Sure enough, Lee retracted his weapon and the old women stumbled to back off after taking a long stare at
Neo. As Lee was going to let out a bloodthirsty grin, there was a net descending from the second floor of
the Cafeteria, shrouding Neo and Lee’s gangsters. As Neo took a closer look, the net was thrown by a group
of men each wearing a bullet-proof vest and a pair of red goggles. Neo plainly recognized them as cadets of
Territory 10. Neo rolled his eyes as he realized that he was no longer at large. But he was glad that the
mobsters could be prosecuted with justice at the same time.
* * *
Neo sat on a white chair, his hand handcuffed to a table in an interrogation room. He couldn’t help but
looked around judging from the daintily reconstructed interior of Territory 10 Stronghold, which is now
situated in the “No Name’s Land”. He looked away hastily when the door opened. He was going to see the
one and the only person.
W.
“Back in the old university days, we were old fellows despite our differences in race. See who you are now,
Deputy Sheriff W, while I am still a jailbird.” Neo satirized as W sat opposite to him.
“Look, my friend, what you did was really praiseworthy.” W completely ignored him.
“How is the gang?”
“They are locked up for good.”
“Let’s make it straight, shall we?” Neo was apoplectic with rage. “Will, you never understand. I thought… I
really thought that I can turn over a new leaf in this place. I tried to do what you have told me, but I can’t...
I just can’t. My life is always ominous, and even in this so-called utopia, I really think that most of us are
desensitized by the modern capricious world”