Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 60

“Who are you?” The black figure whispered fiercely.
Instinctively, I kicked him in the shin, ankled him in the abdomen and twisted the figure around. I whipped out my pistol
and shoved it towards the side of his neck. With my limited senses, I could slowly see more and more dark silhouettes
approaching as the writhing figure let out a loud howl of fury. There was no time. I took a deep breath and pulled the
trigger.
I waited for the loud bang to sound – but it never came. I cursed under my breath. My pistol was out of bullets!
The dark figure let out an evil snicker, twisted my arms that have now lost their strength and stuck his gun onto my throat.
I heard a loud bang, and felt my body melt away from the darkness and the seething pain, up and away from the modern
metropolitan city of Shanghai.
II
It felt like my soul rush ed back inside my body after a short glimpse in time. My eyes snapped open. Where was I? In hell?
Ready to rot away after trying to kill someone?
The dim landscape slowly came into view. I blinked, blinked once more, and saw two figures sitting alongside a mahjong
table, lit by a dim lamp above them.
“Oh, Mr. Lin, there’s no need for you to act this heroic.” A deep voice boomed.
I blinked again, hoping that my eyes would be able to focus.
The figure (probably Mr. Lin) replied flatly. “Brother, I’m just doing my job.”
The other figure shook his head. My vision slowly cleared as I saw the gash and beard on his face. The scar must’ve hurt.
Was this a dream?
“Well, then at least let me get 50 shipments of ahpenyen through!” The other figure sniggered sarcastically as he shot Mr.
Lin a smoldering glare.
Wait, ahpenyen ? That’s opium. Drugs don’t exist in heaven or hell, right?
Mr. Lin, with his back facing me, let out a small breath quietly. “Fine.” He nodded. “You must not inform anyone of my
presence in Shanghai, however. Just the two of us.” He whispered.
Shanghai? I was still in Shanghai? I thought I got shot! My fingers moved slowly to the spot on my neck where the dark
figure had shot me before. There was a depression, but I wasn’t bleeding a single drop of blood. The sense of danger and
ambiguity clicked something in me. My eyes slowly widened as the contents of their dialogue sank into my mind. I was
listening to something I wasn’t supposed to.