Chapter 231: Won't Leave You Behind

Pei Ling took a long stride, stepping onto the bathroom windowsill. He turned his head, his wrist just about to exert force, when Zhu Yuan had already used the momentum to reach his side. She gripped his hand tightly and said, "Hurry, they are about to enter the room."

Hmph.

The next second, Pei Ling let go of her hand.

Zhu Yuan was startled.

Seeing the panic in her eyes, Pei Ling let out a cold scoff, his hand moving down to pull her waist tight against him. "I won't leave you behind."

Before Zhu Yuan could react, Pei Ling used his other hand, which was gripping the rope, to press her head into the crook of his neck. "Hold on tight. If you fall, I really won't care about you."

Zhu Yuan obediently raised her hands to wrap them around his waist.

With a cold and stern expression, Pei Ling held her and leaped out of the window. The rope gripped in his right hand slid continuously. After landing, he discarded the rope, switched the hand holding Zhu Yuan's waist to hold her hand instead, and headed toward the car.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from an unknown direction, and a bullet struck the door of the car they were about to board.

Sparks flew everywhere. Pei Ling instinctively raised his hand to shield Zhu Yuan's head, his right hand swiftly drawing a pistol from behind his waist.

At the same time, increasingly dense gunfire erupted from around the villa.

"You cannot take Miss Zhu away!" Not far away, Enzo gripped his pistol, his eyes complex as he looked at Pei Ling and Zhu Yuan.

Actually...

He had sensed something was wrong with the car loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables and had discovered Pei Ling.

He wasn't blind to the fact that Pei Ling liked Zhu Yuan, so he naturally knew Pei Ling couldn't possibly harm her.

The moment he looked away and pretended not to see, his heart was leaning toward Zhu Yuan.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to do something that would betray Sheng Yu.

After much inner conflict, before he could even make a judgment in his mind, he saw Pei Ling about to take Zhu Yuan away. His hand moved faster than his brain, and without hesitation, he fired at their car.

The pistol spun in Pei Ling's palm as he changed its direction. He said coldly, "You think you can stop me?"

"Don't!" Zhu Yuan grabbed Pei Ling's wrist. "Don't shoot at Enzo!"

She had never seen Pei Ling fire a gun and didn't know how fast his marksmanship was, but she had seen how he had chopped off one of Zhu An'an's fingers in a flash. With his movements and the fact that he had been fighting wolves since he was a child, his skills and marksmanship were surely beyond question.

If he fired, Enzo would undoubtedly die.

Pei Ling did not shoot at Enzo, but instead swept a cold look across Zhu Yuan's face.

He knew it—women were trouble.

But what could he do? He had already rescued her, so trouble it was.

He gripped Zhu Yuan's hand tightly, intending to get her into the car.

However, two more gunshots rang out, the bullets flying into the car's windshield and tires!

One gunshot came from Enzo, and the other...

Zhu Yuan's expression changed abruptly. She looked back and saw Situ standing by the bathroom window of the master bedroom on the second floor. He was holding a gun, and the muzzle was smoking.

Their eyes met. Situ frowned tightly as he looked at her, his expression as complex as Enzo's.

Zhu Yuan hurriedly moved to stand behind Pei Ling, not giving Situ a chance to ambush him. "Situ, can you just pretend you didn't catch up to us?"

Hearing her words, Pei Ling didn't know whether to call her naive or say she took them too much as friends. They were all brothers who had lived and died with Sheng Yu; they had a scale in their hearts to weigh what was important.

Not shooting to injure her to stall their progress was already out of regard for past sentiments.

Looking at the heartbroken Zhu Yuan, Situ's brow furrowed even deeper. His face remained expressionless as he raised his pistol to aim at Pei Ling.

"Bang!" A gunshot rang out!

Zhu Yuan's heart leaped into her throat, but she saw Situ's hand holding the pistol tilt. A bullet struck the window beside him, and the glass shattered at the sound.

Shards fell from the windowsill, refracting dazzling rays of light in the sun.

"Second Master!" Pei Li rushed in with his men, holding pistols, and quickly surrounded Pei Ling and Zhu Yuan.

He stood with his back to Pei Ling, his expression grim. "Besides us, there are other forces. I took advantage of them clashing with Sheng Yu's men to rush in."

Pei Ling gripped Zhu Yuan's hand tighter.

Other forces?

He lowered his eyes to look at Zhu Yuan's slender back. Sheng Yu wasn't here today; it was clear the other party was also targeting her.

Song Ci was her best friend, having grown up with her and knowing her inside and out; she must have tried every possible method before turning to him.

Then, this unknown group of people definitely wasn't here to save Zhu Yuan.

They were here for her life!

A fierce look flashed in Pei Ling's eyes. "Let's get down the mountain first. That car is totaled."

Situ had shot out a tire; it was impossible to drive anymore.

Pei Li and his men guarded the perimeter around Pei Ling and Zhu Yuan. Pei Ling pulled her over. "Who told you to stand with your back to me? Do I need you to protect me?"

"We are companions now." Zhu Yuan was watching the surroundings, and the sentence she blurted out made Pei Ling pause slightly.

Companions?

It was a good thing she didn't say accomplices.

As Pei Ling pulled Zhu Yuan to his side, Situ, standing by the windowsill, lost the initiative to act. Firing from his angle without a sniper rifle, he was likely to miss and accidentally injure Zhu Yuan.

Young Master Yu had left orders: under no circumstances was Zhu Yuan to be harmed in the slightest.

Situ gritted his teeth and jumped out of the window with his men. "Chase them!"

He tugged at his collar and, through the frequency-synced walkie-talkie, gave orders calmly and coolly, "Snipers, you may fire at anyone, provided you do not harm Miss Zhu!"

Pei Li noticed his movement. Although he couldn't hear what was said, he could guess a portion of it. He was horrified, yet it was within his expectations.

A man like Sheng Yu couldn't possibly be unprepared.

He made a gesture to his men to heighten their vigilance.

Pei Ling's forces had to block Sheng Yu's men while also intercepting the other group, and for a moment, the three sides were locked in a fierce struggle.

But soon, more and more of Pei Ling's men broke through the encirclement and rushed into the villa.

However, just as they were about to rush to the perimeter of the villa's exit to rendezvous with their vehicles, a barrage of gunfire suddenly erupted from all directions, and Pei Ling's men began to fall one after another.

A gunshot rang out through the air; before Zhu Yuan could react, Pei Ling clutched her head and pressed it against his chest, looking up with fierce, cold eyes at the sniper hidden on the roof of the small building.

The next second, the sniper's body hit the ground, a bullet having struck his heart!

Pei Ling gripped the smoking pistol.

After Zhu Yuan became pregnant, her sensitivity to smells increased; she caught the scent of blood on Pei Ling and realized he had just been shot and wounded.

Just as she was about to speak, the sound of car engines cut through the sky amidst the overwhelming gunfire from all around, and black sedans drove toward them.

The cars lined up in a row, successfully blocking their path!

The door of the black sedan in the middle opened, and the tall, long-legged Sheng Yu stepped out, his dark, cold eyes fixed intently on Zhu Yuan's face.