The 99th Divorce

Shen Zhilie did as he was told. Upon exiting the alley, he saw the same group of old men. Their heads turned in unison toward him before they looked away and ignored him thereafter.

Shen Zhilie walked toward the left. He anxiously glanced around at his surroundings and quickened the pace of his steps. His heart tightened. The man was probably intending to settle everything in one go at the location he was leading him to.

Shen Zhilie still hadn’t disconnected the call, and asked, “Are you here to get the item from me?”

“Why are you asking me that? Just keep walking!”

Shen Zhilie lowered his head and kept walking ahead.

“Turn right.”

The raspy and unpleasant voice commanded Shen Zhilie to change directions. Shen Zhilie had a hunch that the man was just nearby at that moment and was observing his every action, but just where was he? Shen Zhilie looked around at his surroundings but couldn’t find anything suspicious.

“What are you looking at? Turn right!”

Shen Zhilie followed his orders. His eyes narrowed as the cogs in his head began turning. The guy was likely on high ground.

He looked up and looked around. Nope. There was, however, a building that was made of reflective glass. It was a small villa. Was he hiding there?

“Turn left,” the unpleasant voice rang out again. Shen Zhilie’s heart clenched violently as he not only didn’t turn left, but dashed right instead.

The man on the phone was incensed and scolded, “I told you to turn left! Where are you going?”

Shen Zhilie quickened his steps even more and replied, “If you want the goods, come get them from me yourself!”

The man was burning with fury. At that instant, Shen Zhilie clearly heard through the phone the sound of something being smashed.

“You must f*cking have a death wish! I’m going to kill that woman of yours!”

“Well, you’ll first need to get a chance to,” Shen Zhilie growled. “This is the first time I’ve come across someone this arrogant when asking others for a favor.”

No reply came through the line. Shen Zhilie could hear the sound of wind blowing through the speaker, as well as the sound of fabric rubbing together.

Shen Zhilie knew without a doubt that the man had started to run. His heart sank. After meandering his way around, he finally found himself in a small alley facing a tiny provision shop.

After asking for a bottle of liquor and a lighter, Shen Zhilie threw a one hundred dollar bill down and disappeared as quickly as he could.

He opened the bottle as he ran. He was running fast. Behind him came the sound of running footsteps. However, it turned out to be just the young lady from the provision shop.

The lady got a scare from Shen Zhilie and stammered out, “Your… your change…”

“Keep it.”

Shen Zhilie turned to continue running, and the lady found his actions unusual. His change amounted to quite a bit of money. Why didn’t he want it? And he looked like he was running for his life.

The next moment, a dark shadow rushed up behind her. His facial features were hideous, and he looked very scary. The young lady quickly ran to the side in fright, but the man didn’t seem to pay her any notice at all, and headed straight for Shen Zhilie.

When Shen Zhilie heard the commotion behind him, his heart plummeted, and he sped up.

“Stop where you are!” the unpleasant voice rang out.

Shen Zhilie hugged the bottle of liquor in his arms as he gritted his teeth and dashed toward the crossing.

“I said stop where you are!”

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Shen Zhilie muttered an insult within earshot of him. “Dumb*ss.”

This guy was scum. He was nothing more than a drug addict driven to desperation. How had he allowed himself to be frightened by such an individual the whole night?

When he finally reached the intersection, Shen Zhilie turned around suddenly and removed the cap from the liquor bottle, splashing its contents in front of him.

The assailant was caught unawares, and the liquor drenched him. He stood stunned, but before he could regain his senses, a flame was ignited and engulfed him with a roar.