Baki turned toward the footsteps. His right arm was useless and blood covered him completely, but his eyes still burned. Then his legs gave out and he dropped to one knee. His body was finally done.
A gunshot cracked through the night.
One of the Red Dragon members standing near Zhang Jian looked down at the hole in his chest and collapsed. Two more shots followed and the other escorts dropped.
Hou Qing spun around. "What—"
Li Xiu stepped out of the shadows with her gun raised and a smile on her face. "My, my. What a show."
Hou Qing's eyes went wide. "Li Xiu?"
She fired at him. Hou Qing threw himself sideways and the bullet tore through his shoulder instead of his chest. He hit the ground hard.
Li Xiu walked toward Zhang Jian, who was slumped against a wall barely conscious. She crouched beside him and pressed the gun to his temple. Zhang Jian's eyes cracked open.
"You were always too loyal," Li Xiu said. She patted his head. "You served your purpose."
She pulled the trigger.
Zhang Jian's head snapped to the side. He went still. Blood spread across the wall behind him.
"NO!" Hou Qing screamed. He charged at her despite the bullet wound in his shoulder, rage overriding everything. Li Xiu adjusted her aim and fired.
The bullet caught his thigh. He crashed to the ground screaming.
Li Xiu walked over and pressed the gun to his forehead. "You shouldn't be so aggressive toward a lady." She grabbed his chin. "Did you really think I cared about Red Dragon? About any of you?" She leaned in close. "Shanghai was never yours. The master is coming. Red Dragon was useful for keeping the other Continental Stars at bay. Nothing more."
Hou Qing stared up at her. "The Continental Stars."
"That's right," Li Xiu said. She straightened and raised the gun toward his head.
A chunk of broken concrete hit her forearm. The shot went wide and sparked off stone. She spun around.
Baki stood there swaying on his feet. His left hand held another piece of rubble. His right arm still hung useless at his side.
"I don't care about your business," Baki said, his voice rough. He took an unsteady step forward. "But he was strong. Really strong." He nodded toward Hou Qing. "So you don't get to execute him after I put in all that work."
Li Xiu fired at him. Baki moved his head and the bullet passed through empty air. She fired twice more and both went wide. When the gun clicked empty he was ten feet away.
She reached for a spare magazine. Baki hurled a chunk of rubble at her face. She blocked with her forearm and the impact cracked bone. She slammed the new magazine home and pulled the trigger. Baki's left hand caught her wrist and twisted it and the bullet went into the ground.
Li Xiu drove her knee into his stomach where the spear had stabbed him. The wound tore open. She struck at his throat with her free hand. Baki tilted his head and her fingers grazed his neck. He twisted her wrist harder and her grip broke. He yanked the arm down and drove his knee into her elbow.
The joint hyperextended with a wet pop. Li Xiu screamed and dropped the gun.
She threw a back elbow that caught his broken jaw. His vision went white. Her roundhouse kick landed on his cracked ribs and his breath hitched. Baki leaned back from her next punch and it passed his nose. The follow-up aimed at his stomach wound and he twisted and took it on the side.
Li Xiu was fast and precise but Baki stayed ahead of her. She lunged for the gun on the ground. Baki stepped on it.
She reset and came at him again. They traded strikes across the ruined courtyard and Baki felt every hit reopen something that had already been broken. His right arm stayed pinned against his side and useless the whole time. He worked entirely from his left, blocking with his forearm, countering when the gap opened.
A rock hit Li Xiu in the back of the head.
She spun. Hou Qing had dragged himself across the stone and thrown it with his good arm. Blood soaked through his clothes from both wounds but his eyes were fixed on her and clear.
"Zhang Jian was like a brother to me," Hou Qing said through his teeth. "You killed him."
Li Xiu started toward him. Baki threw a left hook at her head and she had to turn back and block it. The impact drove her back a step. His straight punch to her stomach landed before she could reset.
She grabbed his extended arm with both hands, yanked him forward, and drove her knee into his chest. Air exploded from his lungs. She twisted his arm to hyperextend the elbow and his legs buckled.
A rock hit her in the temple. Hou Qing had thrown another one from the ground.
Her grip loosened. Baki stepped into the lock instead of pulling away and drove his forehead into her face. Their skulls collided and her nose shattered. He pulled his arm free and threw an elbow that caught her jaw and spun her head to the side. A tooth hit the ground.
Li Xiu staggered back and touched her face. She looked at Hou Qing with fury and charged at him. Baki moved to intercept but his legs gave out and he dropped to one knee. Fresh blood soaked through his shirt from the stomach wound. Li Xiu reached Hou Qing and drew her leg back to kick his head.
Hou Qing grabbed a piece of broken concrete with his good hand. When her kick came he swung it into her shin with everything he had.
Her leg buckled and she went face-first into the ground. Hou Qing rolled clear.
Baki forced himself up and stumbled toward them. Li Xiu was already pushing herself up. He dropped his knee onto her back with his full weight and she went flat again. The impact tore at his stomach wound and he felt it but he didn't move. She bucked and struggled and couldn't shift him. He grabbed her wrist with his left hand and pinned her arm.
Hou Qing dragged himself close. His face was pale from blood loss but his eyes were clear. He still held the piece of concrete. "Hold her," he said.
Li Xiu's eyes went wide when she saw it. "Wait—"
Hou Qing brought it down on her face. He brought it down again. And again. By the third strike she had stopped moving.
He raised it for a fourth and his arm was shaking. Baki reached over and grabbed his wrist. "She's done," he said.
Hou Qing looked down at her. Her face was destroyed and blood pooled beneath her head. Her chest still rose and fell in shallow breaths but her eyes were rolled back.
Hou Qing let the concrete drop.
Baki pushed himself off her and stood. He swayed but caught himself. The stomach wound was bleeding steadily again and his right arm had not moved once through the entire fight.
Hou Qing stayed on the ground and looked at Zhang Jian's body slumped against the wall.
"He didn't deserve that," Hou Qing said quietly.
"No," Baki said. "He didn't."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Footsteps approached from across the courtyard. Baki looked up. Jeff walked toward them, covered in blood. Baki chuckled. "I thought you died."
Jeff looked at the wreckage around them. "I have experience with that," he said. He scanned the courtyard and his eyes stopped at the far end. "Baki-ssi. Wang Wei."
Wang Wei was running. His expensive robes were torn and he was scrambling toward a vehicle near the compound wall with two guards helping him along.
Baki started walking.
Wang Wei heard the footsteps and looked back. His face went white. "Kill him! Kill him!"
The two guards turned and raised their weapons. Baki locked every joint in his body and his frame went rigid from his foot through his spine to his fist. He hit the first guard once in the chest and the man left the ground and hit the compound wall. He pivoted and hit the second in the same spot before the first had landed. The guard went flying.
Baki kept walking.
Baki caught him before he reached the vehicle. He grabbed him by the collar and spun him around.
Wang Wei shook violently. Tears and snot ran down his face. "Please. I'll pay you. Whatever you want. Name it. I'll give you anything."
Baki looked at him for a moment. "You put a bounty on my head and now you want to back out?" His voice was flat and tired. "It's hilarious that you'd think I'd let you go."
Wang Wei opened his mouth. Baki hit him once in the face. Wang Wei's body went limp and he crumpled to the ground. He was still breathing.
Baki stood over him for a moment. Then he turned and walked away.
Jeff caught up to him. "Is he dead?"
"No," Baki said.
Jeff looked back at Wang Wei on the ground. "Should we finish it?"
"Hand hin over to Tian Wai Tian," Baki said. He looked at his destroyed right arm and the blood soaking through every layer of what was left of his clothes. "I want to go home."
They found a vehicle near the east gate and got in. Jeff drove. Baki sat in the back with his head resting against the seat.
He found his phone in the torn jacket pocket and dialed with his left hand.
"Mission complete," Baki said when the line connected. "Wang Wei is neutralized. The organization is broken up." He paused. "I'm coming back to South Korea."
He ended the call and looked at the moon through the window.
"I miss South Korea," he said.