Zhou Tengyun parked the car in a small alley beside the hospital, a spot that offered a clear view of the main entrance, allowing for immediate assistance if needed. Seven or eight minutes later, the sound of sirens drifted from the distance, and a string of police cars, lights flashing and sirens wailing, sped towards the scene.

"Third Brother, let's go. The police are here; the hospital is safe now," Liu Hui said.

Zhou Tengyun nodded once, pulled the car away from the hospital, and drove off. Liu Hui had intended to invite Mei Peng and Zhou Tengyun back to his villa to rest for the night, but Mei Peng was too anxious about Liu Lin at home and insisted on returning immediately. Fortunately, his home was on the same route as Liu Hui's villa. Zhou Tengyun drove Mei Peng home first, then took Liu Hui back to his estate.

The car continued its journey, with only Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun inside. As Zhou Tengyun drove, he suddenly spoke, "Boss, I want revenge immediately."

"With your current strength, you are capable of exacting revenge. But do you know exactly who your enemies are, and are they all accounted for?" Liu Hui inquired.

"I've thoroughly investigated that man surnamed Lu and his bodyguards; I even located where they are. I know the background of the Deputy Head of the Urban Management team and the police officers involved; I've also confirmed the precise locations of the men from Xinglong Service Company. Only the whereabouts of that man surnamed Ma, who directed the demolition that day, remain unknown to me."

"I know where that Ma guy is. He's the second-in-command of the Kuanglong Gang, the foremost gang in Bashan. His usual haunt is the Frog Prince Nightclub, which also serves as the gang's headquarters. How do you plan to deal with these people?" Liu Hui asked.

"The one surnamed Lu and the one surnamed Ma deserve death many times over. As for the Deputy Head of Urban Management and those inside the Public Security Bureau, I'll ensure they are utterly disgraced. As for the thugs, they absolutely must be taught a lesson," Zhou Tengyun stated calmly.

Liu Hui paused for a moment before saying, "Let me know when you make your move; I'll go with you."

"We'll see when the time comes."

An almost oppressive silence settled in the car as each man wrestled with his own thoughts. The vehicle ascended a mountain road, flanked on both sides by dense jungle, entirely devoid of streetlights, rendering the surroundings pitch black.

Suddenly, Zhou Tengyun braked sharply. Under the glare of the headlights, they saw a massive, felled tree blocking the entire road, making further progress impossible. The soil around the tree roots looked freshly disturbed. Zhou Tengyun and Liu Hui exchanged a look, an undeniable sense of wrongness gripping them.

As Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun scanned the terrain around them, a chill prickled their skin simultaneously. Both thought, This is bad, and instinctively ducked their heads. A bullet whizzed past at high velocity, grazing Liu Hui’s scalp and shredding the backrest behind him. They quickly pinpointed the sniper's position and scrambled out of the car on the opposite side.

"Third Brother, that sniper is the same one who targeted me at the mall last time. That bone-chilling feeling is too familiar. I thought his target was Wei Chao back then, but it turns out it was me," Liu Hui explained to Zhou Tengyun.

"That sniper gives me a profound sense of danger. My intuition tells me I can't guarantee dodging his bullets. Unlike those rookie snipers at the hospital, I can predict their trajectory. I just wonder if they are working together?" Zhou Tengyun remarked.

"It’s unlikely they are connected. If this person had been present during the hospital assault, we would have been utterly annihilated," Liu Hui asserted confidently.

While Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun were talking, a bullet struck the car's fuel tank with deadly precision. The vehicle erupted in a deafening explosion, the shockwave violently throwing both men clear. Without hesitation, Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun utilized the force of the blast to propel themselves rapidly into the woods. Perhaps the fire from the explosion obscured the sniper's vision, preventing an immediate follow-up shot.

The moment they were among the trees, they flattened themselves behind two large trunks, barely pausing to catch their breath. A bullet instantly flew towards them in an uncanny arc, blasting a large hole in the tree directly behind Zhou Tengyun. The round then pierced Zhou Tengyun's thigh, leaving a gaping wound from which blood immediately streamed.

Liu Hui wasted no more time. He instantly retrieved two shields from his Storage Space, positioning them between himself and Zhou Tengyun. After being targeted previously, he had specifically commissioned the crafting of two heavy iron shields, each over five centimeters thick, which he kept in his Storage Space for emergencies. Seeing Zhou Tengyun wounded, he held nothing back and deployed them immediately.

Another bullet slammed into the shield, gouging a deep pit, nearly penetrating the metal. The sniper paused, then fired again, but again failed to pierce the shield. Alarmed, the sniper instantly shifted position, preparing to retreat.

Liu Hui tossed one shield to Zhou Tengyun, instructing him to wait there, while he charged toward the sniper’s location, his own shield held aloft. He could not tolerate a master marksman having a bead on him at any moment. Zhou Tengyun tried to protest Liu Hui’s solo action, but the bullet hole in his leg made movement impossible, leaving him to watch Liu Hui disappear into the distance.

Liu Hui used the shield to cover his body, sprinting toward the firing position. By the time he reached the spot, he only found the undergrowth slightly disturbed and a few spent casings on the ground; the person was nowhere in sight.

Liu Hui let out a cold sneer, maximizing his sense of smell. He took a deep inhale of the residual scent in the area, then stealthily tracked along the edge of the jungle. He cautiously twitched his nose, following the faint trail of scent in the air. Soon, he arrived on the far side of the slope, where a mountain road lay ahead. He spotted a yellow sports car parked on the road, its headlights on, the hood open, emitting plumes of heat. A beautiful young woman was anxiously staring at the disabled vehicle.

The beautiful woman, deeply frustrated, suddenly saw Liu Hui emerge from the dense woods and jumped, nearly crying out. Liu Hui quickly waved his hands, signaling her not to be afraid, claiming he was lost and meant no harm.

The beautiful woman studied Liu Hui and concluded he didn't seem like a threat. She blinked her eyes and asked, "My car just broke down. Can you fix cars?"

"Who can't fix a car? But it's dangerous here. Why are you out so late?" Liu Hui chuckled.

"I just bought this sports car and came here alone to test its limits. Who knew a brand-new car would malfunction? Why don't you fix it for me, and I'll drive you into the city and treat you to dinner," the girl offered with a sweet smile.

"Heh, it's my pleasure to serve a beauty. Let me first take a look at what's wrong with your car," Liu Hui said cheerfully as he approached the sports car.

He bent down to inspect the engine. Behind him, a pistol materialized in the beautiful woman's hand, aimed directly at Liu Hui. But before she could even smile, a bloody hole bloomed in the center of her forehead. An expression of utter disbelief crossed her eyes before she collapsed heavily to the ground.

"A beautiful woman, yet tragically turned into a bandit," Liu Hui straightened up, shaking his head with a sigh. He searched the car and discovered a disassembled heavy sniper rifle in the trunk. He felt a profound sense of relief; it was this very heavy rifle that had put him under such intense pressure. Thankfully, the problem was resolved today.

Liu Hui had tracked the shooter by scent. The sniper carried a faint trace of women's perfume. If not for his abnormally acute sense of smell, he would never have detected such a subtle odor. The moment he saw the beauty, he noticed the same faint perfume on her and immediately realized she was the assassin targeting him. It was absurd that this female assassin had attempted to seduce him; unbeknownst to her, Liu Hui had played along, seizing the moment her guard dropped to kill her with a single steel pellet.

Liu Hui spirited the female assassin's yellow sports car into his Storage Space. He searched her person thoroughly, collecting every valuable item into his Storage Space, then meticulously erased all traces of the killing. Finally, he hoisted the female assassin’s corpse onto his shoulder and retraced his steps back to Zhou Tengyun.

Zhou Tengyun, still sheltered behind the shield, lowered it the moment he saw Liu Hui return. Liu Hui tossed the body onto the ground and informed Zhou Tengyun, "This is the person who was sniping us. I've taken care of her, and I've wiped away all the evidence."

Zhou Tengyun looked at the female assassin and murmured, "She's the most formidable killer I've ever encountered. In this terrain, without your shields, we likely wouldn't have survived today. I never expected such terrifying lethality to come from such a delicate beauty."

"Indeed. Although it was the same type of sniper rifle, she wielded it with sublime mastery. A moment of carelessness from us, and we would have died by her gun. I wonder who hired this female assassin to deal with me. I must track them down eventually; otherwise, having enemies constantly scheming in the shadows is a major threat to me," Liu Hui admitted with emotion.

"Let's bury her first. Too much has happened tonight, too many people have died. We should hurry back to the villa," Zhou Tengyun managed to stand up stiffly.

"Third Brother, you rest. I'll handle this," Liu Hui stopped him, picked up the body himself, and entered the jungle. He used one of the shields as a makeshift shovel, quickly digging a deep pit in an inconspicuous spot. He placed the body inside, covered it with earth, meticulously erased every trace of disturbance, and then emerged from the foliage.

Liu Hui effortlessly moved the massive tree blocking the road. Then, he took a motorcycle out of his Storage Space, helped Zhou Tengyun onto the back seat, and headed toward the suburban villa.

As Liu Hui drove with focused intensity, he suddenly asked Zhou Tengyun, "Third Brother, aren't you curious?"

"You mean about the sudden appearance of the motorcycle and those two shields, right?"

"Yes, aren't you curious at all?"

"Why should I be curious? You are my brother; you wouldn't deceive me. If this secret could be told to me, you would have told me already. If it can't be told, even if you did say it, I wouldn't listen anyway," Zhou Tengyun replied calmly.

"Third Brother, some matters truly cannot be disclosed to you because they are of vital importance. Just know one thing: I will never harm you," Liu Hui explained.

"En, I understand. If a secret is known by a second person, it ceases to be a secret."

The two fell silent again. After riding for a while, they finally reached the safety of the villa. Huang Huali, who had been guarding the entrance as if expecting an attack, visibly relaxed upon seeing them return safely, though she was puzzled as to why the car they left the hospital in had become a motorcycle.

Liu Hui steered the motorcycle into the garage, helped Zhou Tengyun dismount, and led him down to the basement of the villa. Since they had already shared significant secrets, Liu Hui no longer felt the need to conceal anything. In front of Zhou Tengyun, he retrieved the Biological Healing Tank.

"Third Brother, your severe injuries last time were cured thanks to this machine. Now, a bullet has left a large hole in your leg. I will place you inside, and your leg wound will be completely healed by morning," Liu Hui explained to Zhou Tengyun.

Zhou Tengyun curiously examined the strange apparatus. He then stripped off his clothes and entered the Healing Tank. Liu Hui handed him a respirator, which he held in his mouth as he settled into the liquid. Liu Hui closed the lid of the tank and pressed the red activation button. The Biological Healing Tank immediately sprang to life, and in that instant, Zhou Tengyun lost consciousness.

Due to some issues with the Submerged Fish unit, the writing schedule has been delayed, resulting in only one update today. However, the matter should be resolved soon, after which Submerged Fish will resume its usual update rate of 7000 characters daily. I hope all our dear readers can forgive this delay!

A huge thank you to the reader: Crescent Moon Cashew Nut for the generous donation.

It's a new week, and I hope everyone will continue to support Submerged Fish Setting Sail. Readers who are able, please give more recommendations and collections!