“De Niro’s the leader of some gang, used to do the dirty work for fees and take their business from the Lok family. We used to deal with them from time to time. ” at a temporary hiding place in central Chinatown, Yewei told Jianmen while sipping on some energy drink: “The antique scroll was kind of an insurance policy for me and Shanyi. But somehow they found out and tried to steal it from us. But looks like somebody else got to it before they could and killed their man that tried to steal it. And when Shanyi and I went to retrieve it, they thought Shanyi and I did it...”

“So there’s another group of people that knows about the scroll.” Jianmen asked with a frown: “Who could that be?”

“I … I don’t know. Could it be the Zhangs?” Yewei movied his hands and legs while he was lying on an old mattress: “Wait, what did you do to me? I thought I was going to die when they left me there.”

“Maybe it’s the adrenaline. You need to go to the hospital or at least get some medical care or you’ll really die.” Jianmen said: “Don’t you guys have some mob doctors?”

“I … I know someone. Let me call her.” Yewei struggled to reach his phone on a small table near his mattress: “I can’t go to a hospital! If they find out, I’m dead!”

“You’ll be dead soon if you don’t have anyone tend to your wounds. I’m no doctor but you may have some internal bleeding.” Jianmen shook his head: “Also, did you tell the Zhangs about this place when they held you hostage?”

“No no no! What are you, fucking crazy?! How dare you question my loyalty!?”

“Just asking, since I’ve never met you.”

“And I’ve never met you! Why are you interested in all of this anyway? Normal people would’ve run away like hell already!”

“Let’s just say I am interested in getting into some business.” Jianmen took out his phone and was ready to call 911.

“Wait wait wait what are you doing?” Yewei yelled at Jianmen: “Who are you calling? It better not be the police! If you’re calling them you’d better use the payphone! And it probably wouldn’t help at all, because De Niro has people in the LAPD! If they found out where we are, we’re dead!”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“No worries, I can handle some ordinary goons.” Jianmen said and then laid down the phone, “Hurry up and call your mob doctor, I will go out there and find a functioning payphone.”

“While you’re at it, can you bring me some food? I am starving right here.”

“No. ”

“Oh my god. You’re killing me right here.” Yewei frustratedly dialed a number on his phone.

Jianmen changed his looks with a simple spell, then he sped to the same payphone where he called in about the dead man earlier - where he could actually see the parked police car in a distance but according to Yewei, the officers in it are in De Niro’s pocket.

The 911 call was swift, because the dispatcher told Jianmen there were already officers near the site. And right after the call, Jianmen saw that the officers in the distant police car got out and went into the building in which Shawn’s body still lay.

Jianmen waved his hand in the air and cast another simple spell, and the conversation from those two police officers was carried over to his side as if they were talking right next to him.

“What the fuck is with this place?! Two bodies on the same day?” this was the voice of a female police officer.

“I don’t know, but sounded the gangs at this place had gone wild after the shakedown at Lok’s.” this was the voice of a male police officer.

“Let’s check this place out and call it in.” the female police officer said: “I wonder if it was the same guy that called about that body earlier.”

“If it was then we really need to find this guy. He seemed to be really connected to both dead guys.”

“Fuck, there’s the body.” after a short silence, the female police officer said: “Really, the gangs in this place. I hate to even think about living in this area.”

“Looks like he was flipped over, and there’s blood marks beside him, so there was probably another guy here.” the male police officer said: “And this knife here… let’s bag it for prints.”

“I’ll call it in, I got a feeling that this would end up with Major Crimes or the FBI. Word is they’re also interested in the Lok family shakedown, and there are some pretty high up Lok members found dead already all over the bay.”

“All over the bay? How many turned up already?”

“Johnson, in a ditch; Sabrina, found hanging in her own house; Charles, shot in the back of the head in an alleyway. And word on the street is Benedict has gone into hiding. Captain is gonna have a hard time for the next few months.”

When the two officers were calling it in and Jianmen was carefully listening to their conversation from afar, a person in a tight black jacket, black leather pants and wearing a pair of black tight gloves came up from Jianmen’s behind, held one hand over Jianmen’s mouth and ran a sharp knife through Jianmen’s neck.

The person’s pull on the knife was so forceful, the knife’s edge turned dull and even a little flat in an instance. But Jianmen being Jianmen, though he was surprised at the fact that he let himself be taken by surprise, he still immediately came to himself, turned around slowly and looked at the person with a smile on his face.

The assassin seemed much more surprised than Jianmen, and when she saw the residual dust of metal on Jianmen’s neck, she was horrified.