We drove a little further in silence. Out of my window I caught a glimpse of a blinking light in the distant buildings. It took me only a moment to figure what happened. I opened my mouth to warn Braun, but it was too late already. Blood poured from Braun's chest and he lost the wheel. I grabbed hold of the wheel and make it run smoothly as possible. The car did a 720 spin before it skidded to a stop in front of a detour. The first thing I did was tend to Braun wounds. It had to be a heavy sniper. Aiming at us. The only question was why. Kenasi would have used the sniper before if it was his but who else?

"Braun can you hear me?"

"Ugh..." he was still alive. I checked the wound. It wasn't deep, but the bullet had splintered and the pieces were still inside him. My first instinct was to call the ambulance, but that only result in unnecessary trouble. But he's dying! I needed to make a choice, and fast or I would face the consequences. I caught the slightest sound of motorbike engines in the distance. When would they learn to give up?

"Braun I am going to call the police, you just sit here and wait. I will draw their attention."

All Braun did was nod.

I took out my phone, then I called 110 the Chinese police number. A moment later the other end picked up.

"I need help from a doctor. My friend is dying, the situation is urgent, I am requesting medical aid immediately." I said opening my door. I dropped the phone and made a dash for the road like a shadow.

Expecting a steep hill I ducked and rolled into total darkness. I reached the bottom and rose like a shadow. Then I saw light in the distance and made a sprint for it. I could see a warehouse and chimneys and some sort of complex inside. The place was surrounded by a concrete wall with glass shards planted on top. I was hesitant whether to climb the wall or not, but the roar of the distant motorbike gave me no choice. I scampered over the wall. The place looked like a long abandoned factory. The place couldn't be turned into a decent ambush site for Kenai and his goons. The entrance was nothing more than a rusted pair of iron gates and completely unguarded ...what was all my acrobatics for? But no point in regrets, not now. I barely had time to hide in a portable washroom before a dozen motorbikes stampeded through the gate. They formed a circle with their motorbikes I took a risk and reached my head out of the cover of the portable washroom and I was surprised again how the lifeforce of Kenai is stronger than a cockroach. Beside blood flowing like a waterfall from his forehead and couple hundred bruises, Kenai sat proud and perfect on his bike. I watched him get off the bike like he had just pulled up to a gas station, but a moment later he spat blood and hunched over. A couple of his men surged forward to help him up, but Kenai waved them off and backhanded one who got too close. Then he managed to stand up straight and yell:

"I KNOW YOU ARE THERE! COME OUT YOU COWARD AND FIGHT ME!" They say the pig cries the loudest when it's about to be slaughtered.

I didn't reply.

"If you don't..." he drew back a breath as he spat out more blood. "I will kill your friend..." I knew what he meant. I took a quick look and my worst fears are right. Braun, bloody and unconscious was shoved onto the ground before him. Kenai stepped forward and drew his Katana but before the blade touched his shirt, I stepped out of my hideout.

"There he is boss!" yelled one of the men beside him.

"Be quiet! I am not blind!" And he backhanded that man too. He turned to me and pointed his Katana at me with effort, while blood trickled from his wrist. I could now see that half of his mask was gone, and the part that was not covered was bloody.

"What do what you want with me?" I asked as though this was a normal occurrence, which it seemed to be becoming.

"Come forward and I will... make you a living hell! Starting with skinning you alive!"

I doubted his ability to accomplish his task but I obeyed and took several steps towards him. That earned me a panicked face from each of his men, even Kenai looked a little surprised. My plan was get close enough, and knock him out for good this time, but I had to convince him that his men shouldn't interfere. His blade never wavered, never faltered, when I was a dozen paced from him I could clearly see that his hands were shaking. From three paces, I could see that he didn't even have the strength to swing his Katana. I questioned whether or not it was worth the effort to knock him out since he was going to pass out on his own in a few minutes. On the other hand I didn't have a few minutes.

A shot rang out breaking my thoughts. Instinctively I ducked and rolled to the right. I didn't feel anything, I put one finger on the nape of my neck. My pulse was still normal...I looked around to see if anyone else had been shot. There was only one person still standing and that was Kenai, everyone else had ducked and run for cover. But he just stood there... I looked closer and for a moment I couldn't believe what I saw. In Kenai's stomach was a three inch hole. He looked rigid, like a cat out of a refrigerator, but this was no laughing matter, he looked down and put his right hand to his wound. For a moment I thought he would pull the bullet out and demand his new opponent present himself. Instead he made a nervous laugh and fell backwards crumpling to the ground. I was the first one, and only one to rush towards him. I got there and was shaking his shoulders. I had only wished for his defeat... not his death. His eyes snapped open but they weren't looking at me, they were looking at death.

"Ling...you are the first able to beat me with the odds against you... take this," he said producing a small piece of paper from his coat left breast pocket. I didn't need him to tell me what it was, so I took it from his hands pocketing it.

"Take my Katana, Yuki. Every sword needs a master...It's meant to be passed down from generation..." he turned to the side and coughed out blood. He turned back to me and said with what seemed like his last breath: "Yuki in Japanese means courage and you deserve Yuki. May courage be with you when you need it, tell her those were my last words..." he coughed one more time, as his Katana rolled from his hands. He drew breath no longer. I put a finger to his neck and felt for pulse, but there was none. He's...dead...dead...dead......DEAD! The word screamed in my mind. I picked up his Katana and stood up careful not to disturb his spirits. I respect the last will of any person, though I don't make promises to fulfill it.

I walked a few steps from his body then turned to face him men. All of them were weeping and losing themselves. But all eyes were on me when they saw me holding the Katana.

There was a moment of deathly silence, then one of the men came up and said, "Our boss placed our fate in your hands. We would follow him anywhere, even to hell."

"Let us has revenge for our boss!" said another.

"I let the one who murdered our boss, suffer even worse the depths of 9 hells!" They all went shouting and crying at the same time.

It was all happening to quickly for me to process, my suspicion about the sniper being a 3rd party was correct. Even though he disappeared from sight, I got a feeling he was still in the complex. In order to be beat the enemy, I had to be a few steps ahead of the situation.

"All of you shut up and listen to me!" I yelled at no one in particular. They all shut up.

"I previously have seen all you and your boss as an enemy. But no longer, since right now we all a common cause to fight. The fact that your boss was murdered cold-blooded and as I say this, the murder is still probably inside the complex. But rushing into the situation like a bunch of hot heads, will not only resolve in not getting your revenge, and quite possibly all of you killed too. So we need to think this through. Your boss gave me his Katana, not as a pretty sword, but as approval. But his last words meant far more then approval, it meant trust. So I want all you gentlemen have trust me in like you have trust in your master. Mistrusting me means mistrusting your master, so do I have your word for trust gentlemen?"

No one spoke for a moment, just when I thought I had lost control of the situation, one of his man the one he slapped previously walked towards me and kneeled before me.

"If those are his words, we have no choice but to obey." A few others followed his example and a few seconds later I had 10 people kneeling around me in a circle.

"I am going in alone. Someone care for my sheath because I will need it when I get back." The tiniest smile cracked from the corner of my lips.