City of endless rain ( 終雨之城 )

chapter 5

"You may not know this, but the situation out there is rather dangerous right now!" From the moment they stepped out of the house, Jake had been muttering constantly. "Slow down, you asshole! Why did Li Yuanyu have to leave you with me now of all times? What have I done to deserve this?"

"How is it dangerous? Is it because of those three soldiers who got lost?"

"Uh..." Jake faltered, unable to answer.

"Is it another secret?" Tang Shan rolled his eyes.

"It's not a really a secret, but, uh, I don't know if I can tell you."

"If you don't tell me, how would I know how dangerous it is out there?"

"That's true. I guess there's no harm in telling you." After deliberating on it, Jake proceeded to tell him everything. "After some research into the background of those three soldiers, we found that they'd escaped from the army. We've already informed the military and they'll send people over to deal with the situation. Now they've disappeared... You can tell how serious this is, right? Hey! Are you even listening? Hey!"

Jake cursed and shouted, creating a ruckus behind him, but Tang Shan turned a deaf ear to his actions, moving forward with large steps as he pleased.

"Oi! Don't go towards the city! Oi!!! I told you not to go there!" Jake couldn't control him at all. In the blink of an eye, Tang Shan had already entered the alleys, which were maze-like and difficult to tell apart. Jake hurriedly rushed after him, but by the time he got to the entrance of the alleyway, Tang Shan was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm finished! This is game over for me..." Jake had given up all hope. He'd actually lost Tang Shan.

Tang Shan squatted in the shadows of the alley, watching as Jake rushed past him. He didn't dare to act recklessly and waited quietly for him to move further away.

"Tang Shan! Where are you? Don't try to fool me! Come out! Tang Shan!"

Jake's voice eventually faded into the distance, and Tang Shan decided that it was the best time to leave. Just as he was about to get up, he was stopped.

"Hey!"

From somewhere around him, he heard some rustling. Three men appeared from within the alley, dressed in the green camouflage military uniform. There were two men and a woman, and the person who had stopped him was the black woman.

"You're Tang Shan?"

Tang Shan watched them closely. Seeing that they didn't seem friendly, he did not bother replying.

"You're the manager's partner, aren't you?" the female soldier came closer to him and inquired.

"Get him," one of the men exclaimed and pushed the woman aside, stepping onto Tang Shan's shoulder and kicking at his head.

"Hey! Didn't we agree not to use violence?" The woman shoved at the man, expressing her discontent. "Shut up, woman!" His tone was that of disdain, and he even spat at her.

Tang Shan held his shoulder, feeling a little dizzy. The man had not been holding back. Hearing them beginning to argue amongst themselves, he found that it was best if he left as quickly as possible. However, just when he'd managed to crawl a small distance using his arms, a pair of army boots appeared in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" The third soldier blocked his way, dissipating any hopes he had of escaping.

Jake's voice had also travelled over. It seemed like he'd heard the argument and was rushing over.

"Jake, save me! Jake! I'm here!" Tang Shan yelled as loudly as he could. He was left with no other choice and had the feeling that these three soldiers might actually kill him.