Chapter 575: The Last Stand 66623

Outside the villa's main hall, there were still sounds of police officers talking, the noise of moving things, and the "creak-creak" sound of glass being wiped.

There was a lot of ambient noise, yet at this moment, in this place, the living room seemed to have fallen into a strange, alternative silence.

Shi Dong's cousin glanced at the rifleman who was still glaring at him even in death, then slowly turned his head to look elsewhere.

"Perhaps you are braver than you imagine?" Lan Si sat with his legs crossed, his hands resting naturally on his thighs.

The mockery and ridicule on his face made Shi Dong's cousin's expression turn sour. He wanted to shout at Lan Si, "Try it and see," but he was afraid of the pain.

Yes, he told himself, he was afraid of pain, not death.

Everyone dies—shot by a gun, falling from a building, encountering a fire, being stabbed twice by a stranger, or perhaps being strangled by a noose.

Everyone dies; he wasn't afraid of the path he was destined to walk, he was just afraid of the pain.

"It seems you aren't as brave as you imagined." Lan Si gave him a very accurate assessment.

A smile appeared on Shi Dong's face. He didn't know if it was that smile, which was actually quite hard to notice, that stung his cousin's heart.

His cousin said something that made people want to laugh again—

"I... I might not be sure if I'm truly not afraid of death, but I can choose not to speak. No one can force me to say anything!"

Lan Si laughed twice, then let out a heavy sigh. "Make him sober up."

Amidst Shi Dong's cousin's struggles, he was pinned to the ground by the men behind him and given a brutal beating.

At first, he held out, not even crying out in pain, just holding his breath and grit, enduring the agony.

But that was only at the beginning. After being hammered for a while, he finally couldn't help but scream, and it came out with a sob—

"Let go of my fingers! You're breaking them!"

Finally, he was helped up. Lan Si asked, "Was it Bandi's order, or Gao Li's?"

Shi Dong's cousin was no longer stubborn this time. "It was Bandi's order."

The mocking smile on Shi Dong's face grew wider. He couldn't even take this little bit?

He had died at least twice!

Looking at it this way, he had already reached the limit of what he could do. Although he felt some guilt and felt he had let his family down, he only wanted to be true to himself now.

The little cousin noticed the mocking expression on Shi Dong's face, but he could only pretend not to see it.

Lan Si was very satisfied that his stubbornness had been "cured." He smiled and said, "Are you willing to testify in court?"

The little cousin froze for a moment, his expression gradually turning to shock. Finally, he looked at Shi Dong, and the smile on Shi Dong's face vanished.

One of the conditions for Lan Si letting him live was for him to testify in court against Bandi, Gao Li, and Fleming.

He agreed.

Perhaps the little cousin realized this point; the shock on his face gradually faded, and finally, he nodded. "I am willing."

Lan Si turned to look at Shi Dong. "See, he is much smarter than you."

Shi Dong had nothing to respond with other than a bitter smile.

He didn't actually hate Lan Si that much now, though of course, if he had the chance, he would still definitely kill Lan Si.

But from a personal perspective, his disgust and hatred for Lan Si were not as intense as they had been at the beginning.

When he began to understand this person from another angle, he discovered a quality in him that was usually invisible—a kind of personal charisma.

You might encounter many enemies, but among them, there is definitely one who seems more like your friend than your actual friends, yet he happens to be your enemy.

After Lan Si left, Shi Dong's cousin glared at him.

Shi Dong was a role model for many of his peers; in everyone's eyes, he was a cold "family guardian," but now, look at the things he had done.

Shi Dong sat in the chair Lan Si had just occupied. He picked up the cigarette case, pulled out one, and lit it. "If you glare at me again, I'll gouge your eyes out."

The cousin obediently reined in his temper and looked elsewhere.

Shi Dong took a deep drag of the cigarette and then slowly exhaled. "After I was captured, I wasn't willing to reveal anything either."

"I was terrified at the time, but I was mentally prepared to sacrifice my life for the family, and I did it—twice."

His cousin looked over at him, confusion on his face. "Twice?"

"Is my understanding wrong, or is what you said wrong?"

Shi Dong shook his head. "Neither is wrong, because it was indeed twice."

"They strangled me." Thinking of this, he smiled and lifted his head, letting his little cousin see the still-vivid red ligature mark on his neck.

"They used that kind of noose to strangle me, and then they brought me back to life."

"I felt incomparable fear. You haven't died, so you won't understand that feeling. The fear seemed to solidify in my body like it had a shape, freezing my soul solid!"

"Then they continued to press me for those things. I was still holding out, refusing to answer, and then they strangled me a second time."

He flicked the ash, his expression appearing calm and composed, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

"But this time, it took them ten minutes to bring me back."

"Ten minutes!" He nodded, emphasizing the phrase that described the span of time. "At first it only took a minute or two, then ten minutes. What about next time?"

"Twenty minutes, half an hour, or will I never wake up again?"

When he said this, his eyes were slightly dazed, and then he scoffed twice. "Having died twice, I've done enough for the family. I won't deny it—I really am afraid now." "If you want to mock me, then go ahead!"

"Honestly, I don't really care about your mockery. I just feel... a bit emotional."

"I've done so many things for the family, even facing the fear of death and enduring the pain of dying twice and being brought back."

"Yet they didn't consider how to negotiate with Lan Si to save me from this bastard's hands, but instead sent you, this loser, to assassinate me!"

His little cousin immediately retorted, "I'm not a loser."

Shi Dong looked at him. He was a bit stubborn, but thinking of what Shi Dong had just said, he didn't dare to keep glaring at Shi Dong.

This made Shi Dong unable to help but laugh. "Maybe you weren't a loser before, but you are now."

He paused. "Anyway, since the decision has been made, you must understand that we have no way back."

The little cousin also fell silent. He wasn't as fierce as Shi Dong, who could truly stay silent until death.

He felt that as soon as he was about to die, he would say everything.

Since that was the case, why suffer for nothing?

(Content omitted for brevity)

The news of the failed assassination attempt on Shi Dong quickly reached Bandi, which made him even more restless and uneasy.

He was like a person with ADHD now; after sitting for a while, he felt like needles were pricking his backside, and after walking a few steps, he couldn't help but want to sit down again.

The chaotic emotions left him without a moment of peace, not even for a second!

When people are about to die, there is a physiological sensation called the "sense of impending death."

Sometimes people say that after old people suddenly finish explaining some important matters, they find a place to lie down and slowly depart from the world.

They know their time of death; that is the sense of impending death.

That feeling that makes you understand your life has begun its countdown is terrifying. He felt it; his life had also begun its countdown.

But it wasn't because something was wrong with his physical functions; it was because of Lan Si.

"Should we arrange for someone else to take care of Shi Dong?"

Fleming sat opposite him and asked the haggard Bandi.

Bandi shook his head. "He's on guard now. Sending more people is meaningless; it will only keep costing us our men. No need to send anyone."

"Now all hope is pinned on Gao Li."

"If he can succeed, everything can still be saved."

"If he fails too..."

Bandi sighed. "Then it just means that's fate."

He could only say this, could only think this—it was fate.

Just like the fall of the three great families; now it was their turn.

Gao Li didn't know yet that Shi Dong had escaped a disaster. He had found a retired sniper from the army.

Attacking Lan Si didn't have much meaning; more than one gang had tried, but all had failed.

The bulletproof car and the subordinates around him were the most powerful guarantees for him to survive danger.

Then they could only try to snipe him from a distance.

He gave the sniper a large sum of money, solving some of the troubles the sniper had due to a lack of money. In return, he was willing to complete this mission for Gao Li.

For the past few days, the two had been observing the terrain together. An excellent, outstanding sniper was definitely not someone who just fired randomly.

He needed to find a suitable sniping location, design an action plan, and ensure that he had time to escape the scene after firing.

He was just helping to assassinate someone he didn't know; he wasn't selling his life directly for the money Gao Li gave him.

He wasn't that cheap, and the money Gao Li gave him wasn't that much.

For these past few days, they had been following Lan Si from afar. It had to be said, Lan Si's defensive strength was too perfect, too safe!

There were people standing guard on the high-rise buildings around the bank and the place where he lived.

They hadn't discovered this while on the ground, but when they tried to go to the rooftop of the building opposite the bank to find a place to shoot, they discovered that there were actually people holding guns on the rooftop on duty.

Two people, standing at the edge, chatting while watching the door leading to the rooftop.

No matter how they tried to go up, they would be discovered.

As for other places, the route Lan Si took every time he went out was uncertain, and they didn't know where Lan Si was going, so it was impossible to set up in advance and wait for him to deliver himself to their door.

As long as he was in the city, the moment Lan Si got out of the car, his men would appear on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings.

As for places without high-rise buildings, his men would immediately spread out, ensuring they could look out for each other, not letting anyone get close to Lan Si.

Therefore, there were only two plans now.

Either attack Lan Si on the road, which had a low success rate.

Or find a high point around the bank, seize that one or two-second opportunity, and solve the problem once and for all...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 576 =====