Chapter 164

Bang!

With a crisp gunshot, beneath the swimming pool's surface, a smear of crimson rapidly spread, and a figure in black clothing slowly rose from the bottom, part of the body surfacing.

After firing, Liu Xiaotian didn't pause for a moment, quickly changed direction, and began searching for the next target.

And at the exact moment he shot and killed the black‑clad figure hidden in the treetop to the southeast, the usually calm Elder Principal's facial expression suddenly changed.

But it was not because of Liu Xiaotian.

He raised his wrist, glanced at what was usually just a watch face, now flickering with pale yellow dots, and a hint of solemnity flashed in his eyes.

If you looked closely, there was also a barely perceptible trace of tension.

Although Liu Xiaotian firmly believed that the kindly‑looking Elder Principal definitely possessed strength far beyond his own, he still felt obliged to say the polite words:

At one, one look `none, one wrong version%!'

But, I lack the courage to face you, I'm very sorry!

As his words fell, not knowing what mechanism he had triggered, a steel plate about thirty millimeters thick silently protruded from the corner of the wall.

Ptptpt……

Two extended magazines, holding a total of seventy rounds, in under three seconds all poured toward the dark end of the corridor.

The voice in the darkness seemed to be venting, speaking a lot in one breath, but most of it was meaningless cursing and complaining.

The rapidly spinning bullet, after shattering his eyeball, proceeded to stir his brain into a mush, then, carrying the mixed red‑white viscous matter, it blasted a fist‑sized hole in the back of his head, spraying the mixture in a jet onto his own back.

Next, he lifted his head, as if speaking to himself and also to a long‑gone old friend, whispering: "Old friend, please forgive me!"

From now on, be careful: this room's bullet‑proof glass cannot fully stop firearms of 12 mm caliber or larger.

When you notice cracks appearing on the glass, you must immediately drop down and leave the room as quickly as possible, otherwise you will be in danger.

Under the bullet's tremendous kinetic energy, a body weighing over a hundred pounds, shot at such close range, is absolutely equivalent to being hit by a car traveling about fifty yards per second.

But a few seconds later, a voice with a strange tone, obviously using a voice‑changing device, suddenly came from the dark end of the corridor: "Valaeo, my old friend, after all these years you seem to have completely forgotten what happened back then!"

"Do you know? Actually, I feel regret……"

His body traced a perfect parabola through the air, and combined with the red‑white matter spurting from the back of his head, the scene really had a bit of the artistic presentation of a Western abstract painter's canvas.

The Elder Principal said nothing more, and the fleeting pain in his eyes did not reappear.

Liu Xiaotian even doubted that, if he weren't lying on the ground with great resistance, he would have been pushed back even farther.

That unlucky fellow flew backward six or seven meters before hitting the ground — that is the most genuine and powerful proof.

After a full two minutes, that voice finally stopped; in the darkness only its angry breathing could still be heard.

"Hahaha……" the voice in the darkness suddenly burst into laughter, the laugh full of resentment and unwillingness: "Valao, you're still as hypocritical as ever! Back then, if it weren't for me, the person who should now be sitting in a wheelchair would be you!"

This time, Liu Xiaotian didn't see the condition of the person who got shot; he could only see a red humanoid shape on the electronic scanner.

Having said that, without waiting for Liu Xiaotian to speak, he flashed to the door, pulled it open, and walked out.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?"

At the corner of the second‑floor building, the Elder Principal suddenly stopped, leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, his tone somewhat desolate: "Please tell me, why are you doing this?"

If it were on a smooth ice surface, this guy would probably slide ten or twenty meters away.

After successively taking out two black‑clad individuals hiding in the dark, the Elder Principal calmly holstered his gun, turned to Liu Xiaotian and said: "Liu, there should still be three or four people around here; I temporarily can't deal with them."

Yet the bullet fired from the Elder Principal's barrel precisely threaded through the gap in the log that served as that person's shooting hole, following the sights and notch, and drilled precisely into the unfortunate fellow's eye…

While he was speaking, the Elder Principal had already taken from the wall‑corner cabinet a gun that, though looking old, gleamed with oil — obviously well‑maintained — a first‑generation AK‑47 rifle.

Poor the guy lying on the ground aiming was shoved backward by the bullet's immense kinetic energy, retreating nearly a meter across the floor.

The whole corridor was pitch‑black; no silhouette could be seen.

Nobody saw that, at the moment the voice sounded, a hint of pain flickered in the Elder Principal's eyes: "Clay, please forgive me, I feel terrible; I have always been grateful for what happened back then, and over all these years I have never overlooked you."

That person was hiding behind a pile of logs, aiming through the gaps between them; in fact, his situation was similar to the Elder Principal's room, both aiming through firing holes, and relative to the other three, his safety factor was the highest.

Next, the Elder Principal, without moving, turned his barrel toward a stack of logs to the northwest and, within two seconds, pulled the trigger again.

"Liu, stay here; I have some matters to attend to." The Elder Principal left those words lightly, then turned and walked toward the door.

The black‑clad individual hiding at the protruding corner of the southwest‑facing two‑story small building didn't even utter a sound before launching straight up from the spot.

In fact, after being shot, a person's body does not simply slump down gently, let alone fall forward.

After a while, the Elder Principal softly sighed:

It appeared that this was meant to be the Elder Principal's cover, but in fact, on the other side of the steel plate — that is, the side facing the far end of the corridor — protruding from the wall together with the plate were two Uzis submachine guns.

At the exact moment Liu Xiaotian's words finished, the Elder Principal first darted to the west window, raised his gun barrel in no more than 2.5 seconds, and his weapon fired.

At that moment Liu Xiaotian realized that, in the gunshot scenes he had seen in films and TV, the dramatic flair was mostly for atmosphere and visual impact, not a close reflection of reality.

But in the darkness there was not a whisper of anyone being hit or dodging; only the sound of bullets striking the bullet‑proof glass or walls, and the resulting ping of ricochets.

After the gunfire ceased, the Elder Principal's facial expression also returned to its original calm.

"Natasha, Xieliao Sha, do you know? As an old friend of your grandfather, I am truly heart‑broken.

Children, please forgive me; I had no other choice……"

(End of chapter)