SES Chapter 184 Part 2

“So if you want to hurt Mu Dai, you’ll have to kill me first. As long as I’m alive, you can’t cross this line.”

Leopard laughed disdainfully.

“Is that a promise, Luo?”

“When have you ever kept one?” she continued. “Did you ever tell your pretty little daughter, ‘Daddy will definitely protect you’? And what happened?”

“You brought your people charging into my territory. And what happened? You walked out alive. They died.”

Her smile widened. “This time, you still won’t be able to do it.”

Luo Ren burst out laughing. Before the sound had even faded, his daggers were out. The gleaming blades sliced across his palms and flew straight at Leopard. At the same time, he lunged at her like a ferocious beast.

Leopard sneered and dodged sideways, but Luo Ren had already calculated it. The direction he leapt was exactly where she would evade. The timing was perfect. He slammed into her and immediately locked his arm around her throat.

His blood-soaked hand pressed against her neck. Her skin seemed corroded, wisps of smoke seeping out.

Leopard laughed, reaching up to grip Luo Ren’s arm and twist it outward.

Like Yafeng, her strength was astonishing. But unlike Yafeng, Leopard herself was a powerful fighter. Ordinary injuries meant nothing to her.

Luo Ren’s thoughts raced. Suddenly, he slammed his head into hers, then swept her legs out hard. They crashed to the ground together, hit almost simultaneously, then rolled and sprang back to their feet, facing each other at close range, exchanging cold smiles.

They seemed evenly matched, but Luo Ren sensed something was wrong. Leopard didn’t seem to be using her full strength. Why?

He made up his mind—forget it.

He had a blood feud with her. He would gamble with his life. If he fought, there was still a sliver of hope. If he didn’t, Tasha and his brothers would have died for nothing, and Mu Dai wouldn’t be saved either.

Clenching his teeth, Luo Ren charged again.

Leopard’s limbs were like forged steel, her speed terrifying. Fighting her was like a cat playing with a mouse, or a master toying with a newly initiated disciple. She didn’t fear his blows. A smile never left her face, and the meaning in her single eye ran deep and dark.

Cao Jiefang flapped in terror nearby, running and flying about, too panicked even to cry out.

Suddenly, a figure vaulted into the forest, shouting, “Luo!”

It was Qingmu.

He’d understood that message.

—Dinner out tonight? Change things up a bit.

Luo Ren had told him earlier not to leave Gather and Disperse at Will unless it was urgent. Time had been too tight to think of a better way. Thankfully, Qingmu had understood.

Blood surged in Luo Ren’s chest. In a daze, it felt like he was back in the Philippines, back on the battlefield. Every brother who had risked life and death with him—Qingmu, Yuris—only needed a glance from him to know what to do next.

Luo Ren roared, “Take Mu Dai and go!”

At the same time, he swept Leopard’s legs out again. Her sudden burst of speed was terrifying. Luo Ren took a brutal blow to the chest and abdomen as he grappled her to the ground. Catching sight of Qingmu hesitating, he shouted furiously, “That’s an order!”

This wasn’t a brawl. It was a war. And in war, there was blood and death, and there were objectives. His objective was to get Mu Dai out. The process didn’t matter—only the result.

No more damn dithering. This was an order.

Qingmu gritted his teeth, rushed to Mu Dai, hoisted her onto his shoulder, gave Luo Ren one last look, and sprinted out of the forest.

Luo Ren gathered all his strength and threw Leopard off once more, flipping his hand to reveal the bloodstained dagger.

Leopard smiled at him, not attempting to struggle. “Luo, kill me.”

Luo Ren’s head rang, voices echoing in his ears.

—Yuris saying, Luo, I can’t learn to swim. I’ll drown.

—In the misty forest at dawn, his brother says, Luo, count me in. Count me in.

—At the harbor late at night, Tasha is clinging to his arm, asking, Daddy, will you come see me in Australia…

Luo Ren’s eyes burned red as the dagger plunged.

Then a childish voice rang out behind him. “Daddy!”

Qingmu clenched his teeth and ran at full speed. Just as he was about to leave the forest, his body jolted violently.

He heard gunshots.

More than one.

Qingmu turned back, staring into the depths of the forest, like the jungles of war back in the Philippines.

After the gunfire, everything went quiet. No sound. No one chased after him.

He stood there for a moment, then suddenly turned around and strode back. The metal braces on his legs creaked under the force of his steps, as if they might give way.

Luo Ren had fallen.

No one knew how many times he’d been shot. Blood pooled around him. He lay there in a spreading crimson slick, eyes open, chest heaving violently.

Leopard sat on the ground, utterly at ease, reaching up to pluck bits of leaf debris from her hair.

And the little girl standing beside Luo Ren…

Qingmu suddenly felt as though the whole world had gone gray.

It was Tasha. Tasha is holding a gun. Over a year ago, he’d pulled a rainbow hair clip mixed with bone fragments from a mastiff’s stomach—that had been his last connection to her.

Leopard gave a small yawn, stood up, and smiled at Qingmu.

“Two people,” she said. “You can only take one. Choose.”

Qingmu’s face was completely expressionless. Even his Adam’s apple didn’t move. After a moment, his hand loosened, and Mu Dai slid off his shoulder and onto the ground.