Memory Lost

Not far away, R is fully concentrated on the monitors. He takes out a gun and seems to be getting ready to go outside.

Su Mian has been making progress quietly. Both of her hands have been freed from the rope. Her left arm is under severe pain. She can only grab onto the chair behind her with her right hand.

R puts down his cigarette and is about to get up.

They’re not far from each other. Like a crouching beast, Su Mian grabs onto the wooden chair and swings it toward the back of his head!

But it’s as if R has eyes behind him, he tilts his head and dodges the attack. “Bang—–” the chair hits against the coffee table and breaks apart instantly.

R’s face is cold as he reaches for the gun. But this is the moment that Su Mian has been waiting for; she grabs a piece of sharp wood and aims for his chest!

This is her real attack.

R fails to dodge it and the piece of wood stabs into the left side of his chest firmly. He groans from the pain but reacts quickly and pushes Su Mian away. He coincidently pushes on Su Mian’s dislocated shoulder so she falls to the ground from the severe pain and is unable to get up.

It’s hard to tell whether or not the wood has gone into his heart. It’s just that his face is pale, sweat is surfacing on his forehead as he holds onto his chest with one hand and doesn’t dare to take the piece of wood out. He points the gun directly at her with his other hand.

Su Mian is also in tremendous pain, but she grits her teeth and doesn’t make a sound. She is really out of ideas and actually says to him, “R, let me go. You have someone you want to save, so do I. Release me. I can’t continue to stay here. I need to go help him. I have to go help him!”

I want to return to his side. I want to be with him. He’s deep in the opponent’s nest and is trapped. He’s decided to sacrifice his life.

Let me die with him then, so that we’ll never be separated again!

But R looks at her with the gun pointing toward her and shakes his head slowly.

He backs away slowly, opens the door, and exits the room. Su Mian feels her heart pound. She springs from the floor and rushes toward the door. But with the sound of a “Bang!” the door closes tight. Su Mian hears a “click” sound indicating that it’s been locked.

“Open the f–king door!” Su Mian slams into the door with her full body weight.

Outside, R’s weak and raspy voice says, “Su Mian.” It actually carries a hint of gentleness and smile.

“Su Mian,” he says again, “I left the key in the keyhole. If S makes it back, he will open the door for you. If he doesn’t make it, you’ll accompany him underground forever.”

“Ah……” Su Mian leans against the door with tears flowing from her eyes. She wants to cry out loud but no sound comes out. But at this very moment, she catches one of the monitors showing the few of them pointing their guns at each other. They seem to be talking. And Han Chen has two guns pointing at him. His facial expression is cold as ever.

She holds in her tears and pain, drags herself and her dislocated shoulder back to the monitors and stares at him without blinking.

Han Chen, my Han Chen.

_____

The first to question Xu Nan Bai’s sudden appearance is actually A.

“K, what is……the meaning of this?” A presses the wound on his chest and asks while gasping for air.

Xu Si Bai and Han Chen don’t say anything.

Xu Nan Bai keeps quiet for a moment, sweeps his eyes to A without budging, and says calmly, “Nothing. I’ve been waiting for S to wake up.”

“What are you planning to do?” Xu Si Bai asks suddenly.

Xu Nan Bai smiles. But his smile vanishes immediately and his face returns to coldness with his eyes full of stubbornness.

“S, you once were my belief,” he says slowly.

In the spacious underground, his voice is dry yet peaceful. But A’s expression changes hearing the words “once were.”

“You shouldn’t have any weaknesses, S,” he continues, “Su Mian and us shouldn’t be your weakness. Planning for the perfect crime, letting the people see the seven-member organization’s spirit, and causing them to fear us and their lives should be what you possess. But……” His eyes turn even colder and empty as he says, “But you’ve disappointed me, S. Ever since five years ago when you decided to disband our group and walk into that poisonous room. I felt disappointed and upset. These last five years shouldn’t be the life that you live, and it shouldn’t be how the rest of us live either. You and we should clearly be living in the brightest spotlight in this world. But yet you’ve led us to misery.”

A falls into a daze as he listens. Han Chen is standing still with a cold face as he continues staring at Xu Si Bai. But Xu Si Bai is quiet; he’s calm and quiet.

“I’ve been waiting,” Xu Nan Bai smiles suddenly; it’s a crazy yet self-mocking smile as he pauses, “waiting for you to recover your memories. I really want to see that once you’ve recovered your memories, would you be different from before and would you continue to disappoint me. But you’ve once again promised that woman a life that she wants. For the sake of A and L, you’re willing to give up this perfect crime. There’s so much kindness in you. You’re no longer the person that I want,” he turns around suddenly and stares directly at Xu Si Bai while saying coldly, “You can’t continue to be S. You’re better off dead.”

A panics hearing this, “K! What are you doing?!”

Xu Nan Bai smiles and doesn’t respond.

Xu Si Bai’s face is clear and stiff. The gun in his hand is still pointing at Han Chen, his biggest enemy. But he speaks calmly, “You want to kill me?”

Although Xu Nan Bai’s gun is pointing at Han Chen, he doesn’t answer.

Xu Si Bai’s eyes are indifferent like still water, but he says unhurriedly, “Even if I were to die, I wouldn’t die in your hands. If you pull the trigger on me right now, Han Chen will switch over and point his gun at you. You won’t be able to escape either.”

Han Chen doesn’t say anything.

A, who’s on the ground, doesn’t speak either, but he’s reaching with all his might to grab the gun in front of him.

Xu Nan Bai smiles slowly and says softly, “You’re right. I’m not so stupid to get myself killed either. But what if there’s two of us with guns?!”

Just as he finishes, another figure comes out from below.

L.

His clothes are ragged, half of a pair of handcuffs is still remaining on his wrist, and he looks a bit shaken up.

But he has a gun in his hand. From the second he walks out of the shadow, his gun starts pointing directly at Xu Si Bai.

He walks toward them slowly and expressionlessly, and then stands beside Xu Nan Bai.

Han Chen and Xu Si Bai remain quiet. They can understand the gist of what’s happening. A still isn’t able to retrieve the gun. His heart shakes seeing what’s unfolding in front of him. He roars with his voice cracking, “Xu Nan Bai, you crazy f–king lunatic! You hypnotized L?!”

L’s eyebrow twitches without anybody noticing, but he continues pointing his gun at Xu Si Bai.

On the other side, Su Mian feels her heart racing watching this. Without a doubt, Xu Nan Bai is using the same tactics as before. He once was comrades with L and the others, so it’s easy for him to conduct mild hypnosis on them on a daily basis, which helps him succeed with hypnotizing them more deeply. Just now when L was separated from the group, he took L away and had the time to conduct deep hypnosis on him. It’s possible that he fed L some medicine causing nerve paralysis or hallucinations. So, therefore, he’s able to control L so easily in such a short period of time.

The circumstances have turned around just like this! Han Chen and Xu Si Bai are keeping each other under control, and Xu Nan Bai has the upper hand.

“Both of you, put down your guns,” Xu Nan Bai orders, “Put them down slowly, and give me the remote.” His expression becomes serious, “The bridge will blow up. Many of those people will die. The performance of lies, murder underground, subway crash, and deaths from the destroyed bridge……this will be a perfect crime of the century. It’ll be our crime!”

Han Chen and Xu Si Bai don’t move.

“Put your guns down!” Xu Nan Bai orders them again and puts his index finger on the trigger. L follows suit. 𝐟𝓇ℯ𝐞𝚠𝚎𝒃𝑛𝒐ѵe𝚕.co𝚖

Han Chen and Xu Si Bai move finally. They stare at each other and lower their arms slowly.

But outside of the scene, from Su Mian’s angle, she can see them exchange a glance with each other super fast. Su Mian’s heart skips a beat. She understands right away——they’re joining forces? To fight against Xu Nan Bai?

For a moment, Su Mian’s breathing stops as she stares at them.

And then.

And then something unexpected happens.

The moment that causes her heart to tear apart actually comes at this very instant!

L, who’s in the dominating party, starts to tremble suddenly. He turns his gun and points it directly at his own temple. Xu Nan Bai is the first to notice and his expression changes.

Xu Si Bai raises his eyebrows as he lifts his gun up again and shoots toward L, “Bang!” The shot hits L’s wrist. Another “bang” comes from L’s hand; the shot that was supposed to kill himself fires toward the ceiling. His whole body is shaking vigorously. His eyes become clear again seeing Xu Si Bai in front of him.

And just at the right moment, Xu Nan Bai pulls the trigger, “Bang!” and it hits Xu Si Bai in the chest. Han Chen’s expression changes. He also fires two shots quickly, “Bang! Bang!” One of them hits Xu Nan Bai in the neck and the other also hits Xu Si Bai.

“Bang!” A on the ground finally grabs hold of the gun in front of him. He lifts his hand and shoots toward Han Chen, who’s the closest to him in an attempt to stop him from shooting Xu Si Bai. But it’s too late. The shot hits Han Chen’s back.

A has used up all his energy; the gun falls out of his hand as he lies back onto the ground. Xu Nan Bai stops breathing and dies falling to the ground with his eyes open wide. Xu Si Bai got shot twice and his face is cold like snow. He raises his head suddenly and Su Mian feels as if he’s looking at the camera. And then his gun and remote falls out of his hands and onto the ground. He’s standing close to the edge and behind him is the deep foundation. He’s looking at her just like that. Those pupils are black and peaceful. Su Mian can’t even be sure if she’s seeing a hint of that shiny, clear, warm, and gentle smile.

And then he leans back and falls down.

Su Mian covers her mouth. She sees Han Chen still holding the gun with one hand while pressing his chest with the other. He has his back toward her as he falls to the ground.

Only L is left standing. This scene stings his eyes as well. He raises his head and suddenly roars like a beast trapped inside a cage. He picks up the gun from the ground, stuffs it into his mouth and “Bang!” the shot goes through his head and he collapses to the ground.