Chapter 151: The "Thug"
Fili’s father had diligently guarded the City Lord’s gate for 27 years.
After 27 years, he finally “lived up to expectations” and developed cancer from sun exposure.
“I know,” the captain said. “As an excellent retired guard, didn’t the City Lord promise your father that he would pay for his medical expenses? But you also know, for treatment, everyone has to queue, and no matter how long the wait, you can’t resort to evil ways!”
“No, Captain! You actually know very well the efficacy of this special medicine, it—”
“Shut up!”
The captain pointed at Fili’s nose.
“I advise you to think carefully about what you’re going to say next, and what responsibilities you’ll bear. I’m listening!”
“Please, Captain—this medicine—”
“Aren’t you going to shut up?!!!”
His father, erupting with strength from somewhere, suddenly grabbed Fili’s collar, exerted force, and flung his son several meters away, where he crashed against the wall with a thud.
Then, with trembling hands, he handed the medicine box to the captain.
“I’m sorry, truly sorry…”
The captain took the medicine box and shook it twice.
“I’ll forgive you two this time. Thankfully, you haven’t taken many pills, otherwise, you’d become a puppet of Cangyuan later, haha!”
“Yes—yes! Thank you, sir!”
Stepping out of his home, Fili felt that this was what he deserved, a debt he and his father owed.
“Alright, one last household tonight!”
The patrol car restarted and continued on its way. When it finally stopped, Fili heard a baby crying from the house next door.
A premonition of ill omen rose in his heart.
No way… The captain knocked on the door, and after a long time with no response, he became impatient and kicked it open directly.
Fili followed behind the others, entering last, and saw a very young couple inside, the mother holding a baby no more than a year old.
“I know you recently bought Cangyuan’s evil medicine,” the captain said, cocking his pistol and disengaging the safety.
“Hand it over quickly, don’t force me to take it myself.”
“Sir, listen to me—” The man braced himself and stepped forward, “Can we talk? My daughter has a congenital malignant tumor, and even if this medicine has side effects, it’s her only hope—”
“Oh—”
The captain glanced at the baby.
“How old?”
“Reporting, sir, only one year old—”
“One year old, well, that’s fine then. Even if she dies later, you’ll quickly get another birth quota, it’s no big deal.”
“No big deal.” Fili saw a fierce glint instantly appear in the man’s eyes, veins bulging on his forehead, and his fists clenched.
He barely managed to control himself from rushing up and fighting the captain.
“Alright, if you don’t want to be arrested and leave your daughter alone at home, then hand over the medicine obediently.”
“Okay.”
The man uttered only this one word.
He got up and walked towards the kitchen behind the metal partition wall, emerging with bloodshot eyes, his right hand hidden behind his torso, clearly holding some weapon.
“Don’t—”
Before Fili could finish his sentence, the other party had already rushed forward, gripping a knife.
However, the captain, who had been prepared, reacted even faster, raising his hand and firing a shot that hit the man’s thigh.
Bang!
The gunshot, and the subsequent scream of the child’s mother, made Fili’s eardrums ache.
The baby’s mother rushed over, supported her husband, tore off her own clothes, and tied them around his thigh to stop the bleeding.
She was a nurse at the city hospital, having saved the lives of injured workers more than once in her job, yet now she was being treated like this.
“Fili, the medicine box is on the nightstand. I saw it earlier. Go get it for me.”
The captain commanded.
“Yes, Captain—”
Fili, like a wooden puppet with rusted joints, walked sideways, not daring to look at the baby crying loudly on the bed.
He picked up the medicine box, and on his way back, he also didn’t dare to look at the baby’s mother, who had her back to him.
Don’t turn around, please, don’t turn around and look at me. Fili suddenly realized that at this moment, his fear of the baby’s mother turning to look at him surpassed his childhood fear of being beaten by his father, and surpassed his fear of being discovered by the City Lord for helping Cheng Lei.
It also surpassed his fear of recalling his friend’s face, which was whiter than the moon.
But the other party still turned around, glaring at Fili, her eyes filled with all the anger and hatred in this world.
As that angry gaze shifted to the captain holding the medicine box, the woman reached out her blood-stained hand towards the kitchen knife her husband had dropped.
“Don’t you dare!!”
Seeing the captain raise his hand again, Fili reacted instinctively, raising his gun and aiming.
I am an Oasis City guard, a guardian of the city. And the city is not the City Lord’s private property, but a collection of all citizens—
This is what my best friend taught me. He pulled the trigger, a shot to the head.
It happened too fast, everyone was stunned. In the room, only the baby’s cries could be heard.
Fili maintained his rigid posture of holding the gun, unmoving for at least 10 seconds. The gun smoke gradually dispersed in the hot air. The captain lay motionless on the ground, dark red blood seeping from under his head.
When everyone came back to their senses, Fili was very surprised, because his colleagues just stared blankly at him, not shooting him dead on the spot.
The next second, they rushed to the captain’s corpse, searched his body for the confiscated medicine, and held it as if it were a treasure.
“This is yours!”
His closest colleague stuffed the recovered medicine box into his hand.
“Run, Fili! What the hell are you waiting for?! Run!”
Right! Run!
Fili rushed out of the house like a madman, running towards the city gate.
He knew he had caused big trouble and wanted to run out of the city, to seek refuge with Cangyuan.
But soon, he remembered that the entire city had been under martial law days ago, and all city gates were tightly shut.
Can’t get out!
Not only that, the citizens on the street, seeing him alone in his guard uniform, looked at him as if they wanted to devour him alive.
Several young people among them, without a word, stared at him, cautiously approaching him slowly.
They’re coming for the gun!
Fili’s heart tightened. He took off his uniform and threw it away, continuing to run into the dark alley.
What’s going on with these citizens? It’s past one in the morning, why are they still wandering outside?
Right, it’s already past one…
Suddenly, Fili found his last way out. He had an appointment to meet Cheng Lei at 2 AM every night. She must have a way!
Not long after, he waited for Cheng Lei at the agreed location, along with several of her subordinates who came with her.
“Lei Jie! I killed someone! I shot my superior!”
Cheng Lei didn’t seem surprised at all, her expression unchanged.
“Explain clearly.”
“We… we rushed into a civilian’s home to confiscate special medicine. The last patient was a baby less than a year old. The father refused to hand over the medicine, and the captain fired a shot—”
Fili tried his best to calm down, but he was still a bit incoherent.
However, it was enough for Cheng Lei to understand.
“Later, he was going to shoot the baby’s mother again, and I don’t know what happened to me, I just—”
“No big deal.”
Cheng Lei didn’t let him continue, turning to look at Stone Bro.
“You know where Fili’s family lives. Go to their house now and bring his parents to our safe house.”
“Okay!”
“Fili, give Stone Bro a token of yours, so your parents will believe us.”
“Oh, okay!”
Fili took off the mechanical watch his father gave him and handed it to Stone Bro.
“Then I’m leaving!”
“Wait!” Fili grabbed Stone Bro.
“What else?”
“The family with the baby—? The captain’s body is still there, and the man’s leg was shot. Please go help them too, I beg you! I’ll tell you the address!”
After Stone Bro left with his men, Fili leaned against the wall and sat down, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
“Lei Jie, what—what do we do now?”
“You killed someone, and your own superior at that. That can’t be changed.” Cheng Lei crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at Fili. “A fired bullet can’t be recalled, and the dead cannot be brought back to life.”
Fili buried his face in his hands.
“But this doesn’t mean you’re at your wit’s end, nor does it mean you’ve ruined yourself. If the City Lord won’t spare you, then let the City Lord go to hell too.”
“You, what do you mean—”
“Get up!”
Cheng Lei pulled Fili, who was at least a head taller than her, to his feet.
“Adjust your breathing and tell me what you hear.”
“Lei Jie, this—”
“Listen carefully!”
Fili closed his eyes.
“I—I seem to hear people arguing on the street next door, people shouting loudly, no, that’s a speech—further away, I also hear—is that gunshots?!”
“Mm.”
Cheng Lei smiled and nodded.
“You’re neither the only one who fired tonight, nor the first to fire, not even the first guard to shoot their superior, and some in the security forces have already done so. So, I say it’s no big deal!”
“But Lei Jie, what exactly is this—”
At this moment, Ye Xing, who had been silent beside Cheng Lei, spoke.
“Buddy, can’t you tell? That’s the prelude to a revolution!”