Chapter 26: The Fatal Blow

Seeing the expression on Su Jin’s face—the fierce fighting spirit and determination to protect that erupted from beneath her usual cool, rational scientist exterior—Yang Rui felt a sudden jolt in his heart. A wave of warmth, mixed with complex, indescribable emotions, washed away the pain of his wounds and the gloom in his mind. He pulled at the corner of his mouth, offering a genuine, slightly roguish smile, even though it made the wounds on his back protest with a sharp, stinging pain.

"Dr. Su..." his voice was raspy, "this stance of yours... is unreasonably cool."

Su Jin was taken aback by this sudden "compliment," and a faint, subtle blush immediately climbed onto her cheeks. She glared at him irritably. "When do you think this is? Still joking! Close your eyes! Rest!" She pulled the thin blanket over his uninjured shoulder without room for argument, her movements a mix of forceful tenderness.

Yang Rui obeyed and closed his eyes, though a trace of that smile still lingered. Pain and exhaustion washed over him again, and his consciousness began to blur. But before sinking into the darkness, he heard Su Jin clearly as she picked up her phone, walked to the window, and whispered in a calm, crisp tone:

"Hello, Amy? It’s me, Su Jin. Yes, I’m fine... I need you to do me a favor, a very important one. Please help me pull all the engineering blueprints, inspection reports, and environmental assessments you can find for the Binhe Cultural Park renovation project, especially the Zhenhe Tower area handled by the Hengtai Foundation... Yes, everything! Especially the underground pipeline network and the foundation structure! The more detailed, the better! Also, help me check all the public financial reports and investment projects of the 'Hengtai Cultural Foundation' over the last five years, particularly regarding overseas capital flows... Yes, it’s urgent! It involves... human lives!"

Her voice was not loud, yet it carried a sense of burning bridges, like a horn sounded in the dead of the night.

Outside the window, the city was still flickering with neon lights, the traffic flowing like a loom. Below the hospital, an unremarkable black sedan was parked in the shadows of the trees, its windows covered in dark tint. Inside, a man in a jacket whispered into a headset: "Brother Bao, the target has been admitted to a private room on the seventh floor of Building Three. The woman... Su Jin, is still inside and hasn't come out. The cops really have set up undercover lookouts downstairs, two spots."

A cold, gravelly voice came through the headset, like a viper flicking its tongue: "Got it. Keep watching. It’s hard to move inside the hospital; wait for her to be alone. The boss said the guy surnamed Yang must be crippled, and the woman... keep her for now, but make sure she knows pain, knows fear, and knows the consequences of sticking her nose where it doesn't belong! Find an opportunity and leave her a 'souvenir' too."

As the effects of the painkillers wore off in the middle of the night, the wounds on his back felt as if they were being repeatedly pierced by countless red-hot needles. Yang Rui lay prone on the hospital bed, his consciousness drifting between lethargy and sharp pain. Outside the window, the city’s light pollution cast blurry patches of light onto the curtains.

The door to the private room was silently pushed ajar. A tall figure in a navy blue cleaning uniform, wearing a mask and a cap, glided in while pushing a cleaning cart. He moved with practiced ease, as if he knew the hospital’s routines like the back of his hand. His cap was pulled low, obscuring most of his face, but a hideous knife scar on his exposed neck was visible—it was Brother Bao!

His gaze, like a poison-tipped icicle, locked instantly onto the defenseless back on the hospital bed. The target was right before him: weak and unable to resist. Baishi’s cold voice echoed in his earpiece: "Clean and quick, leave no trace. Disappear immediately after."

Brother Bao’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. His right hand reached silently into the bottom shelf of the cleaning cart, gripping a gleaming, silenced short dagger. Like a black panther stalking its prey, his footsteps were almost noiseless as he approached the bed step by step. The air was filled with the scent of disinfectant and the icy chill of impending death.

Three meters... two meters... one meter!

Just as Brother Bao raised his dagger, preparing to deliver the fatal blow, Yang Rui—who had seemed completely defenseless on the bed—suddenly rolled inward! His movement was impossibly fast, nothing like that of a severely wounded man! Simultaneously, his left hand, hidden under the quilt, darted out like lightning, and he slammed a small metal canister directly at Brother Bao’s face!

"Hiss—!"

A stinging, spicy spray erupted like a venomous dragon, instantly coating Brother Bao’s head and face!

"Ah!" Caught off guard, Brother Bao felt his eyes, nasal passages, and throat burning as if scorched by fire. The agony was immense, and tears and snot gushed out instantly! His vision blurred completely! He instinctively closed his eyes and retreated, his dagger missing its mark and slamming into the iron frame at the edge of the hospital bed with a dull "clang!"

"Damn it!" A warning bell rang in Brother Bao’s mind; he realized he had been tricked! The other party had been prepared!

"Help! There’s an assassin!" Yang Rui’s hoarse yet piercing roar exploded in the room! He endured the tearing pain in his back, rolled off the other side of the bed, and hid behind the bed frame, grabbing a metal thermos from the nightstand as a makeshift weapon. That single roll had nearly exhausted all his stored energy, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his hospital gown.

Though temporarily blinded by the spray, Brother Bao’s ferocity was fully ignited! Relying on instinct and memory, he lunged toward the direction of Yang Rui’s voice, his dagger slicing through the air with a sharp whistle!

"Thud!" The dagger pierced the thin mattress, but it was empty!

Just then!

"Don't move! Police!" The hospital room door was kicked open! Two plainclothes officers who had been lying in wait in the adjacent observation room rushed in like tigers! Their dark gun barrels instantly locked onto Brother Bao!

Knowing the assassination had completely failed and that staying would mean certain death, Brother Bao’s survival instinct overrode everything! Ignoring the police warnings, he threw his dagger toward them and launched his body like a cannonball toward the hospital window!

"Crash!"

The fragile glass shattered on impact! Brother Bao’s tall figure, covered in glass shards, broke straight through the third-story window!

"Stop!" The police rushed to the window, only to see Brother Bao roll upon landing to absorb the impact. His movements were shockingly fast; he didn't even look back as he dashed toward the shadows of the hospital wall, vaulting over it in a few quick leaps and disappearing into the vast night. The officers stationed downstairs reacted a beat too slow, catching only a fleeting glimpse of his back.

"Damn it! He got away!" one of the plainclothes officers slammed his fist against the window frame in frustration.

The other officer immediately rushed to Yang Rui’s side: "Comrade Yang Rui! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Yang Rui leaned against the hospital bed, his face as pale as paper, gasping for air as fresh blood seeped through the gauze on his back. He shook his head with difficulty and pointed to the dagger Brother Bao had left behind and the canister of high-strength pepper spray. His voice was weak: "I'm... I'm fine... He... he was after me... one of Baishi's men..."