Chapter 13

Two men and a woman walked briskly across the street, the middle-aged woman holding a small figure in her arms. If the black and white diamond-patterned T-shirt on the figure's back, which Bak had bought himself, caught his attention, it was the actions and expressions of the three that truly triggered his instinctive reaction. The two men guarded the woman from either side, her face showing a tense, reflexive anxiety and a forced effort to not look back. More importantly, the man closer to Bak had a bulge at the elbow of his left sleeve, indicating something hidden inside! The back of his hand bore dark marks, which Bak instinctively recognized as blood! There was a knife or some other weapon inside that sleeve! This was all Bak saw with just a glance from the other side of the four-lane road, under the fragmented light of the street lamps and the shadows of the trees. When he was assisting the national defense forces in Baghdad, Iraq, to identify terrorists, he had become incredibly adept at this life-saving skill. In those hellish regions, a moment's lapse in attention could mean a suicide bomber rushing up to detonate themselves! Perhaps his reaction was a bit excessive, but this was the first instinct of someone who had returned from a war zone. Besides, when he bought the clothes for the little beggar, the vendor had grumbled that this pattern was hard to sell, so Bak had bought it cheaply. Whether or not it was the same, Bak would take a look. For him, not looking would be abnormal, and he was bored anyway. In fact, all sorts of things happen around people every day and every moment, but not everyone has Bak's intuition and keen eye to notice them! Without directly approaching them, Bak simply stepped onto the road and walked in the opposite direction, about ten meters behind the three, clearly not part of their group. Then, as he passed a parked SUV, he suddenly emerged from behind it, now tailing the three from behind. As he passed the large rear of the vehicle, he had already taken off his greasy sweatshirt and draped it over his shoulders. Unless someone was staring at him, they wouldn't notice the change; his previously tall and imposing figure now seemed somewhat dejected and sluggish, his steps lazy as he moved between the trees, maintaining a distance of about thirty meters. He had no intention of closing the gap. Really, something inside Bak felt ignited! He gave a self-deprecating, bitter smile. Was this instinct or a hobby? Was this kind of stealthy, killer-like behavior pattern deeply ingrained in his subconscious? Thinking about the scattered and dead comrades and trainees, it wasn't by chance that he, who had always been unremarkable, was still alive and in one piece. His mind was filled with proud, random thoughts, while his hands fished out a pair of rubber gloves from his pocket and put them on, his steps becoming more agile and quick. He passed several bustling street stalls, where the party was just getting started, but he was about to pack up... He wasn't really that serious about these street stalls, was he? The more people, the better; Bak could use the chaotic crowd to hide himself. His eyes were fixed on the three people and the child, the woman's shoulder-length hair covering the child's head. The little beggar had taken off his clothes when he returned, so it was unlikely he had changed so quickly, but the child's sandals peeking out from the woman's waist... were the same style he had bought! It was just a way to exercise and review... Bak justified to himself, even calmly taking a pair of disposable chopsticks from a table at one of the street stalls, hiding them in his hand. But the former killer, calm and composed, had misjudged one thing. In the past seven or eight years, the number of private cars in China had undergone a dramatic change, something Bak, who had been abroad, had not fully realized. Just as he turned a corner, slightly away from the bright and noisy market, a dilapidated minivan pulled up to the side of the road, and one of the men opened the door and got in! Bak's mouth opened slightly, his right hand instinctively reaching for his waist, but there was no gun... He was already moving, running quickly, pushing aside the two people next to him, and dashing across the road, diving into an alley on the other side! Since the car was waiting there, Bak didn't think they would turn back, so he continued forward... He was very familiar with the terrain in this area; the road had to turn and slope down to leave the neighborhood and reach the main city road. No one would notice the connection between the young man who suddenly ran across the street and the minivan that silently started up, including the minivan itself. The people he pushed aside just felt a momentary dizziness, muttered curses, and continued on their way. Bak even had time to grab a pot of oil from a street stall as he ran across the road. The familiar alley, with the steps unchanged, saw Bak unscrew the cap of the oil pot as he ran, the pungent smell hitting him: "Damn! It's gutter oil again! The smell is rancid..." His colleagues were truly unscrupulous. In the last ten steps, he leaped down, and the oil pot flipped over, splashing a few liters of thick gutter oil onto the cement road. Before he could throw the oil pot away, the dim headlights turned around! Bak only managed to take two steps forward, and the minivan, accelerating, was just a dozen meters behind him. The headlights cast a long shadow in front of Bak, getting closer and closer... The seemingly harmless man walking on the dimly lit side of the road suddenly threw the oil pot into the middle of the road. The oil pot, as big as a head, flashed in the headlights, and the driver, who was only about five or six meters away, instinctively hit the brakes and swerved to avoid it. Anyone who has driven a dilapidated minivan knows how poor the braking ability is, especially on a downhill slope, and even worse if the wheels are on a greasy surface. There was no screeching of tires, only the fully lubricated wheels locking up and immediately losing control, skidding and spinning with a screech, crashing into the curb! Bak turned around as if innocently, the headlights briefly illuminating his hand, and he pulled off the chopstick wrapper, separating the disposable chopsticks as if preparing for a feast. At this moment, he didn't seem to consider what would happen if he was wrong and hurt innocent people. Bak trusted his eyes and intuition, and even this small scene wasn't enough to get his adrenaline pumping. He watched the car pass by him, very close, without flinching. But clearly, the people in the car were too preoccupied to notice him. The car spun once, completely losing direction, and with a bump, it crashed into the rear of a parked bus with a not-so-heavy thud! Bak even saw a man thrown to the inside of the windshield by centrifugal force, his head hitting the glass, which cracked into a large spider web pattern. He then struggled to push open the front door and fell out, completely dazed and unable to stand. Bak called upon his acting skills, his face showing panic as he ran up and reached for the rear sliding door: "What happened..." "Get lost! It's none of your business..." The door only opened a crack, and a broken, intermittent curse came from inside. The man who had fallen from the front seat was also struggling to get up and reaching for him. Bak just confirmed the bloodstains on the man's hand, then with his left hand, he fully opened the door and grabbed the small body on the floor of the back seat, pulling it out. With his right hand, he jabbed the separated chopstick tip at the woman's chin, who was panicking and trying to grab the child. The chopstick, a cheap disposable one wrapped in the lowest quality plastic film, with its irregular, sharp tip, became a deadly weapon in Bak's hands! But as soon as it touched the soft, taut skin of her chin, Bak's fingers stopped precisely: "Let go!" His deep voice sounded like a death warrant from hell! The sharp sensation made her instinctively release her grip, and Bak quickly pulled the limp body into his arms, feeling the extremely slow heartbeat in the thin chest. The messy but clean and fair face made Bak realize that this child was not the little beggar, who always had a dirty face. This child, with slightly longer hair and bright eyes, was a girl! He held the girl close to his nose, and a sweet, stimulating smell came to him. The ether-based anesthetic... Bak felt a bit more relieved. He pushed the chopstick tip upward, and the woman involuntarily rose with it! The other man in the car seemed to finally come to his senses, lunging forward, but the car door was only so wide. In his haste, a short machete, less than half a meter long, slipped out of his sleeve and stabbed out from the woman's waist! Bak saw people running toward them from a distance and, with a quick glance at the car, pressed the chopstick tip harder, piercing the woman's neck. It wasn't deep, but it immediately caused a sharp,疯狂的尖叫声，她不顾一切地捂住脖子跳下车，露出了身后的男人。

巴克要的就是她主动闪开，脚尖轻轻一踢，正中对方手腕。老实说，这个男人也被尖叫声吓了一跳，刀掉下来就被巴克扔掉的筷子抓住，反而砍了过去！

用对心肺有伤害的迷药残害这样的孩子，肯定不是好人，巴克手上感觉一梗，已经砍中对方惊恐躲开的腿部，碰到骨头了！

够了！

巴克用手里的孩子挡住自己的脸，也挡住自己有些狞笑燃烧的冲动，右手握紧砍刀再砍到前排地上已经抓了根钢钎要扑上来的男人肩头！

一刀下去，砍刀几乎卡在了对方肩胛骨，应声惊呼着倒下，巴克居然还熟练地用手掌在木头刀柄上抹过，不让橡胶手套指头留下痕迹，才转身不顾背后翻滚的两个男人，一脚重重的踢在女人腰上！

铁棍一样的抽腿一下就打得女人浑身巨疼，带着呼吸不畅的眩晕倒地！

等听见车祸声音过来的人们靠近时，只看见三个身上有刀和满地鲜血的男女在翻滚！

瞎子都知道不是车祸，赶紧给警察打电话报警吧！

巴克已经抱着那个孩子重新回到那条黑暗的台阶巷道上。

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