A Mercenary's War Chapter 60: Runaway

Chapter 60: Runaway

Translated by: kevin1782

Edited by: Isalee

Zhao Xin Wen's office was located on a floor where there were dozens of other offices. He had fired at least a dozen times and thus didn't put any hope at all on not being discovered. But when he left the office, all was quiet and some doors of the other offices that were ajar were now closed.

He originally intended to walk down the stairs but when he saw that an elevator was heading down and would soon be reaching his floor, he calmly pressed the b.u.t.ton and waited for the door to open. He was smiling like nothing’s happened while entering the lift.
   

There were seven to eight people in the lift. They had no clue that a homicide had just occurred. Gao Yang stopped to and fro with the elevator and very swiftly got to the first floor.

When he reached the main hall, he discovered that the atmosphere was already different. There were three to four security guards nervously waiting for the lift. There were also a few other sales personnel from the building running about back and forth. He wasn't sure if Zhao Xin Wen and his men's cadavers had been discovered, or if they had called the police after hearing the gunshots.

Luckily, there were people exiting and entering the main hallway, so at least n.o.body was planning on locking down the whole building. He lowered his head and briskly exited the building. He saw a taxi driver drop off a pa.s.senger. He hurriedly walked there and got on.

Just as Gao Yang got in, there were four to five police cars with police alarms rushing over. They stopped right at the entrance of the building. More were incoming and they were fast.

The driver was very curious and didn't leave straight away. He perked up at all that commotion. “There must be something happenin’ there, so many people, bro, are you in a hurry? If not, we can have a look. It's okay, I won't start the meter.”

Gao Yang could only become more anxious. “What do you mean not in a hurry? Get going quickly, I need to meet someone.”

The driver looked at the police helplessly while the police rushed in like they were facing some formidable enemy. The cab just staggered reluctantly towards the road. When the cab went off, Gao Yang finally exhaled a long breath and relaxed.

Seven kills in one instance. And it was gun violence. Gao Yang knew the crime he had committed could be considered a top-rated case. The whole country would probably broadcast it. In addition, if he left just a few traces, he'd be found out. It was just a matter of time.

Recalling the cameras in the building, Gao Yang knew that time was running out. It'd be impossible for him to stay in this city like nothing had happened.

Gao Yang original intention was to go to the hospital right away, but when he was halfway there, he changed his plans. If he were to run right now, he'd have a chance of getting out of the country. If he waited, the police would lock the city down and it wouldn't be easy for him to leave.

Seeing that the cab was pa.s.sing through the Jing Guan River bridge in the city, he asked the cab driver to stop by the river. He saw that there wasn’t anyone around so he took out his gun and magazines from the bag. He threw them into the river in an incognito manner after wiping the fingerprints on the handle clean. He counted his RAIs and made sure that he hadn't left any sh.e.l.ls back at the office. He then threw the RAIs too.

When he threw what he needed to throw, he took out the IOU and once again made sure that it was his father’s penmanship. He lit it up with a lighter and burned it to ashes.

He did whatever he had to do. A sense of emptiness suddenly floated up in his heart. He hadn’t  been home for long and he had already committed such a heinous crime that would ring a bell in everybody's minds. No matter the reason, as long as he was caught, he’d absolutely be shot.

He knew that he had to run. But when reality struck him, he couldn't carry the can of doing so. He was now indecisive about two things: either go hospital now before going or fly away [1] from all this.

He didn't hesitate for too long and was lucid about it. No matter what he did, it’d be enough as long as his parents knew that he was still alive. There'd be hope[2]. If he was really shot, then it really would be despair at its finest.

He called his dad. When Gao Wu picked up, Gao Yang immediately said in a solemn voice, “It's me. Listen to me and don't talk. I've burned the IOU. The rest you'll know at night when the news comes out. I have my ways, the money in the card is for you guys. I'll give you more in the future. I'll call you when I'm clear. Don't worry, I’m not saying anything else. I’m hanging up.”

His face was tear-stricken, he wanted to call his parents to say farewell but he didn't dare to even call out 'dad’ or 'mom’. It's only because he didn't want to burden his parents in case the investigation was on him. He should have hung up when he was done speaking, but he just couldn't do it.

His father’s breathing became really heavy and after he heard about the IOU, he knew what had happened. He panted a few times and said softly, “Got it, you, you… Ai, you take care, man!”

He was already sobbing soundlessly and uncontrollably when he heard his dad talk. But when he heard that his name wasn't spoken, he already knew that his dad knew about his intentions and he’d probably be able to hide his ident.i.ty.

He finally hung up and while walking briskly ahead, he swapped the phone card after snapping and throwing the previous one into the recycling bin.

The current Gao Yang was really relieved to have himself a backup plan. As long as he could get to the Motherland, he'd be safe and sound. However, right now he had to think about how to get to Hei Long Jiang first.
 

Getting a flight there was the quickest but he didn't need to think about it so soon. The most pragmatic way would be by train. He decided to first get out of the city — it'd be fine even without a direct train to Hei Long Jiang. If he waited until the police began tracking down train stations and car checkpoints, then he definitely couldn't go by train or Free Go Buses and stuff.

The only thing worth rejoicing about was that if he wasn't listed as a suspect, he could get to Hei Long Jiang directly. If he were to wait a few more months then it wouldn't be possible. That's because he saw on the news that on June 1st, the train transportation authorities would make it mandatory for people to validate their personal IDs in order to buy tickets. So for now, he could take any train without an ID.

Gao Yang took a cab to the train station and asked for the schedule to Hei Long Jiang province. There were five, but the closest was five hours away.

He didn't dare to wait at the train station for more than 5 hours. He looked at the train arrival schedule and calculated meticulously for a while. He bought the ticket that went the same way towards Hei Long Jiang province. He'd be going to Ji’s Tang Shan City as his destination. He could get off there and switch to the train going to Harbin.

After buying the tickets, he went to the platform. Throughout the whole process, there weren’t any problems that popped up at any train station.

Gao Yang boarded the train and waited no more than several minutes. It felt like eons to him. When the train finally started and slowly drove out of the station, Gao Yang, who had been overwrought with fear and anxiety finally relaxed a little. His path of becoming a runaway fugitive had just begun.

Translator's note(s):