I escorted Charlotte back to the hotel ASAP and got my wind coat and a bunch of other stuff. The park closed around 5:00 p.m. so I hid in the forest but by some coincidence was spotted by a janitor, at first I had to convince him I was lost, but he didn't take the bait. So I had to pay him about 100 US, which he gladly took and told me to hide in the washroom. He didn't ask me my purpose again, which I was grateful of. But he made me promise that if someone else found me, I wouldn't rat him out, which I also agreed to. At around 11:00pm the moon hung like a Scythe in the sky. I put on my gloves then came out of the washroom using the window and got behind some bushes.

Security was tight. This morning I saw 4 surveillance cameras that were visible, and who knew how many more were hidden. Dodging from bush to bush. I managed to get to the top of the hill, without triggering any sort of alarm. In the darkness I saw two blinking red lights. Two enhanced 360 degree surveillance within ten meters of each other. They could see things within a hundred meters as clear as day, but its strength is also its weakness. I set down the flashlight and the smoke machine I borrowed from the janitor. I set them both to a precise angle, then I turned on the flashlight first then I turned on the mist machine a second later. Together they create a bright fog that would blind the camera, until security arrived, which I estimated would at least take 5 minutes... more than enough time. I took out my own customized flashlight that not only had a white light but also a black light. I had never used it before, but it proved to work quite well. I waved my flashlight before me and traced out the two figures out of the brightness.

I walked up to the one my left hand side and tapped it. It was hollow and it doesn't appear to carry it on any part of its body... of course it was out of sight... at least mortal sight, because mortals don't have x-ray vision! So that means the only place it could hide it... I put my flashlight away, then ever so gently I lifted up the figure, it was amazingly heavy, and set it down like a newborn baby. I was careful not to touch it with any other part of my body. After setting it down, I ducked down and swept the ground with my hand carefully. A moment later I felt my hands curl around something round, I didn't need to see it to know what it was. I quickly put it on my right forefinger. Voices and bark of security dogs were audible in the distance. I got up at once and did a series of parcore downhill and didn't stop until I exited the park, and just as planned Braun's car was parked around the block. Well technically I was 3 minutes early, but it didn't matter, since the only thing security would only catch up to was my dust. I sat on my bench and realized how fast my heart was beating. I did a few intake of breath, and it didn't work the first few times. A minutes later, my heartbeat began to slow down and I started to relax.

"Stealing from your own country what a shame." The voice made my blood run cold. The figure stood a short distance away wrapped in shadows.

"Let me guess you are one of the competitors." I stood up at once.

"You must be as stupid as a pig if you can't figure that out." The figure said as he stepped out of the shadows.

"If I remember correctly you are Tora Kenai, the Japanese competitor." I recognized him even though we wore a tiger mask. He was over six feet, wearing a white leather jacket, with nothing underneath. He had jet black hair tied back in a mini ponytail, his dark brown eyes peeking through the eyeholes with ferocity.

"Ling Qi. I did a little research about you, your mother is Japanese and your father... is Chinese. But speaking to your Japanese side, how can you do such a shameful act as stealing?" he spoke in Japanese with a heavy Kensai accent.

"Robbing is even worse. And how did you find me?" I replied back in Japanese.

"You are too naïve, I had my men checking the flight schedules of all the competitors, and you left the earliest."

"And you followed me all the way to Xi-an. It seems you have great trust in me finding the relic."

"I was curious why Acott and his daughter would choose you. Indeed you have not disappointed me. If you give me what I want...I might not hurt you badly."

"Rhetorical. You won't be able to touch a hair of mine."

"Ho? Boys show him what we've got in store."

A dozen guys in punk outfits wearing strange masks came out from all directions. In other words, I am trapped. To make the situation worst, each and one of them held a blunt metal weapon. Fighting all of them wouldn't be an option. And using my gun wouldn't be an option either, even though there were no cameras around here the gunshot would attract more attention than I wanted...unless this comes to life threatening, using my gun would be my last resort.

"Too afraid to fight me one on one?" I said mimicking his accent. In general copying the accent of a Kensai person was viewed as an insult and I hoped that Tora was no exception.

"No, I just don't want you to get away." I felt the anger in his voice.

"If you are so strong, how about you fight me one on one?"

"...UGH! Fetch me my Katana, I will cut this son of a bitch to pieces!" he spat.

"So you can't beat me without a weapon?" I taunted, "What a great man you are Tora the ikujinashi"

He was silent for a moment, the color of his face changing, from red to purple. He should be I had just called him a coward in Japanese.

"You! Throw him your weapon!"

His men were hesitant, but in the end one of them tossed me a weapon, a Nun-chuck, metal.

"Not good enough for you?" Kenai said as he drew his Katana, the three foot blade gleamed in the darkness, and it looked sharp enough it cut an uneasy feeling in me.

"Never used one before."

"I have been generous enough, perhaps too generous."

I never really learned how to use a Nun-chuck, but I had already pushed his generosity too far.

"Actually this will suffice to beat you."

"I will cut that smear of your face, and cut out that cursed tongue of yours. And if anyone of you fools dares to interrupt me you will suffer greatly."

"Then come and get it." And like a tiger who had been waiting for his pray for far too long, he dashed at me. I side stepped his first attack instinctively. He slashed at me a few more times, mostly to the mid-section of my body, most I avoided by backing up or side stepping.

At one point I was forced to parry. Unluckily, even though I remained unharmed, one side of nun-chuck was sliced in half.

"Sharp isn't it? My blade Yuki, it's passed down from generation to generation. It is said it's so sharp that it..."

"Shut up, I don't want to hear your family history."

That really struck a spark.

"DIE!" as he went into a frenzy.

I dodged his right swing by ducking, and got behind him with lighting Ling speed. Using the weapon advantage, I wrapped the chain around his neck, and pulled back as hard as possible. He dropped his Katana first, and began scampering while trying to pull away from his grip. His man looked panicked but none of them dared step forward. Finally he stopped resisting, I let go and he slumped to the ground like a lifeless doll, foam coming out of his mouth. His men rushed forward to help him up but I dropped the half nun-chuck and walked away. They let me pass.

"This isn't...over!" Kenai said in a weak voice.

A black Mercedes drove by as its left front door opened. "Get in," said Braun from the driver seat. I got in beside him and closed the door as he slammed the gas pedal.

"I was 3 minutes early."

"Maybe next time you should be on time."

"I was ambushed by a fellow competitor, so much for sportsmanship."

He was silent afterwards, which was fine with me. Just when I resting my head on my elbow I caught a glimpse through the rear view mirror of a half a dozen Motorbikes closing in on us. I sat straight up, turned to Braun and said, "5:00 clock, 6 motorbikes gaining on us fast."

"Probably some random motorist." He said as we passed through a red light. I looked back and saw that they were still following us, and when they did the traffic went messed up, as drivers slammed on the emergency breaks and still couple cars ran into each other, but the motor rides are still on our tail.

"Well random motorists don't follow us through red lights! We need to lose them fast."

"Do you think I didn't notice that, just be quiet and let me concentrate on driving!"

"Be careful 9:00 o'clock direction, one straight heading for you!" The warning came at the right time, we were at a cross road, Braun all of sudden gave the hint of making a right turn which made the motorist to take a left turn or be squashed, then Braun slammed the break and did a 90 degree drift left side drift and accelerated forward.

"Not bad for an old guy." I said.

"Hey, I maybe twice your age, but when it comes to driving I would beat your ass."

"Says the old man, if I were driving I would have done a 720 and took them all out with one sweep."

"I would like to see you fail boy."

"I take that as a challenge." I laughed and he laughed too. But the danger still wasn't over, a bunch motorbikes were still chasing us like a wolf pack. They all wore helmets, and their visors were black. But through the lead visor I could tell that Kenai was back up. His body was hunched and looked unstable, it was a miracle that he had managed to chase us this far.

"If we take out the one behind us, they will stop chasing."

"Why do you sound so sure?"

"It's their leader, you take out their alpha wolf, and the pack will break up."

"Good point. How are you going to do that?"

"You mean us. At that next cross road just slam down your break."

"You are one crazy son of a bitch!"

"Crazy or not, we can't go back to the hotel with them on our trail and for rest of the game. We need to get rid of them now."

Braun spared me a look of mistrust.

"He is not going to die."

"Why do you sound so sure again?"

"Because 5 minutes ago I got him in a choke that could make a grown man go unconscious for a dozen hours. And right now he is almost catching up on us.

"I don't like the sound of this plan."

I had to use trump card.

"If you don't do as my plan says, they will follow us to the hotel and find out me and Charlotte are traveling and they will view this as cheating. This could not only lead to danger to me but to your precious "My lady" too. Think how embarrassed she will look on TV."

Something changed in his eyes, he didn't say anything. And he didn't need to. Through the rear-view mirror, I see Kenai reaching for the Katana on his back. Without any warning, Braun slammed down the breaks and a split second later the motorcycle a huge impact caused the windows to shatter and I caught a of the bike flying through the air doing flips in front of us before it slammed to the ground skidding to a stop. I didn't stop check if the person was still on it. Braun rocketed us out of the chaos of traffic. A moment passed in silence. When I was just about to open my mouth to speak Braun said, "Not a single word. Understand?" it sounded more like a command than a plea. But I accepted it anyways.