rslcontracting Chapter 322: Uncle, the Road Is Cut Off—Time to Go!
Chapter 322: Uncle, the Road Is Cut Off—Time to Go!
Chapter 322: Uncle, the Road Is Cut Off—Time to Go!
A storm is brewing.
This valley on the border of Yunnan province has never been so clamorous before.
Dozens of dark green military trucks, churning up dust, came to a silent halt just outside the cordoned-off area of the 'Icebreaker' film crew.
The doors opened, and squads of "SWAT officers" wearing black combat gear, helmets, and goggles jumped out.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, the prop firearms in their hands gleaming with a heavy metallic sheen under the morning light.
They communicated not with words, but with hand signals and tactical footwork.
The entire film crew was stunned.
They knew a big scene was being shot today, but no one expected it to be on this scale.
Director Jiang Wen stood on a high point, holding a loudspeaker, yet contrary to his usual nature, he wasn't roaring.
He watched those background actors, those "soldiers" played by veterans and students from police and military academies.
He watched them swiftly establish an invisible perimeter at the edge of the jungle.
His face was filled with fervor.
This was exactly what he wanted.
Meanwhile, inside the stronghold, within the replica drug lord's office.
The atmosphere was oppressive.
Lei Zhong, playing the role of Cha Cai, was pacing back and forth irritably.
He tore open the button at his collar, oily sweat beading on his thick neck.
He didn't know what had gone wrong, but an inexplicable unease gripped his heart.
"Damn it!"
He kicked over a nearby chair.
Outside the door, several background actors playing drug dealers flinched in fear.
Lei Zhong's gaze swept past the doorway, finally settling on a middle-aged man standing with his head bowed submissively.
That was one of his "trusted men," who had followed him for over a decade, a character as plain as a background prop in the script.
"You," Lei Zhong pointed at the man, "come here."
The man trembled as he walked into the office.
"Brother Cai..."
Lei Zhong walked up to him, looked him up and down, then suddenly cracked a ferocious grin.
"That batch of goods I told you to check yesterday, did you get it sorted?"
"Y-yes, Brother Cai, all sorted. No problems."
"Is that so?" Lei Zhong's smile widened. "But I heard that batch was short by three kilograms."
The man's legs began to shake. "N-no way, Brother Cai, I counted it myself..."
"You counted it yourself?" Lei Zhong repeated. He raised a hand, adjusting the man's collar for him. "Then your count was wrong."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, he suddenly whipped out a prop gun from the back of his waist and pressed it against the man's forehead.
"Brother Cai! I didn't! I really didn't!" The man completely broke down, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Lei Zhong ignored his pleas. He tilted his head, looking toward Jiang He, who had been standing quietly in the shadows of the corner all along.
Jiang Ci, playing Jiang He, stood there, motionless.
Lei Zhong's gun was still pressed against the trusted man's head,
but all his attention was focused on Jiang He.
This was a final test, a final bout of paranoia from an ambitious, ruthless character at the end of his road.
"Bang!"
A deafening gunshot exploded within the cramped office.
The middle-aged man's knees buckled, and he toppled straight backward, a bloody hole appearing between his brows.
Warm "stage blood" splattered, a few drops landing on Jiang Ci's face.
Jiang Ci's eyelashes didn't even flutter.
He looked at the "corpse" lying in the pool of blood, his face showing no extra reaction.
Then, under Cha Cai's gaze,
he pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket, stepped forward, and handed it to Lei Zhong.
He said nothing.
That single action spoke volumes.
Lei Zhong took the handkerchief and wiped his hand roughly.
He stared at Jiang Ci for a full ten seconds, that wariness and suspicion finally draining completely from him.
He laughed heartily and gave Jiang Ci's shoulder a heavy slap.
"Let's go! Time to eat!"
This particular shoot was one of the pivotal scenes of the entire series.
A grand, long-table family feast.
Jiang Wen mobilized all the cameras on the film set, one of them mounted on a crane, ready for a long-take shot.
The banquet hall was brightly lit. Dozens of background actors playing drug dealers clinked glasses and drank.
The long table was laden with delicacies from land and sea, all genuine, high-quality ingredients the crew had spent a fortune to procure.
Lei Zhong sat at the head of the table. He raised his wine cup and roared to everyone.
"Brothers! After we finish drinking tonight, we're going to pull off one last big job!"
"After this one, I'll take you all to the Golden Triangle! We'll find a new place, start over, and be emperors again!"
"Whoo!"
The background actors let out a deafening cheer.
The crane-mounted camera slowly panned.
It swept past those ferociously laughing faces, past the table overflowing with delicacies, and finally, slowly pushed in on Jiang He, who stood behind Lei Zhong.
Jiang Ci kept his head down, quietly serving food to Lei Zhong.
But the camera precisely captured how his gaze was subtly sweeping over every corner of the room.
The load-bearing pillars, the position of the windows, the orientation of the main door...
Amidst the clamor, Lei Zhong suddenly turned. He personally ladled a bowl of steaming hot soup for Jiang Ci from a clay pot on the table.
A bowl of clear chicken soup, with a few red dates floating in it.
He pushed the bowl toward Jiang Ci.
"Ah He," Lei Zhong said, his voice tinged with drunkenness, "drink this soup. After this, you and I, father and son, will find a new place and build our empire anew."
Jiang Ci looked up.
He looked at that bowl of soup.
This was the last supper.
It was also Jiang He's final meal before execution.
A flicker of pity passed through his eyes.
It was Jiang Ci's farewell to the character of "Jiang He."
He picked up the bowl of soup. Without the slightest hesitation, he tilted his head back and drank it all in one go.
The scalding liquid slid down his throat, burning his esophagus.
"Thank you... Uncle."
He set down the empty bowl and said softly.
At the exact moment the bottom of the bowl made light contact with the tabletop,
"Boom!"
Outside the window, a blinding white light exploded without warning, illuminating the entire night sky.
It was the first high-power illumination flare detonated by the film crew.
For a second, everyone in the banquet hall froze.
Then came the overwhelming, simulated sound of a hail of bullets!
There was no negotiation.
Only annihilation.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Screams, the sound of tables and chairs overturning, shattering glass, all mingled together.
Jiang Ci's body reacted faster than his mind.
He violently kicked over the heavy long table in front of him. The massive tabletop flipped upward,
and he used the momentum to grab the still-stunned Lei Zhong, shoving him behind the makeshift barricade formed by the table.
This action perfectly portrayed a top-tier, loyal low-level dealer protecting his boss.
"Uncle! Don't move!"
He roared.
In the chaos, he drew the gun Cha Cai had given him earlier.
From behind the dark barricade, Lei Zhong only saw Jiang He raise the gun, thinking he was going to return fire out the window.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Three consecutive shots.
The bullets weren't aimed at the window.
Instead, with pinpoint accuracy, they shot out the three brightest crystal chandeliers in the banquet hall!
Countless shards of glass exploded from the ceiling along with sparks. The entire hall was instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness.
These three shots created the perfect entry conditions for the assault team about to descend from the sky.
In the darkness, only gunfire and people's terrified screams remained.
"Ah He! Quick! Come with me!" Lei Zhong fumbled in the dark, grabbing Jiang Ci's arm, roaring as he tried to pull him toward the secret escape route.
Jiang Ci didn't move.
In the absolute darkness and chaos, he instead gripped Lei Zhong's wrist.
Then, he leaned close to Lei Zhong's ear, his voice clear:
"Uncle, there's no running away."
"The road... was cut off long ago."