I stood there without moving. I scanned the room, noting the distribution of personnel. The men in black were primarily on Ah Bei's side. Brother Hui sat on the sofa, with Ah Bei standing beside him. If we made a move, two of us could handle Brother Hui. I would take down Brother Hui in one go, controlling the remaining men in black and deterring them from acting.
Ah Bei continued, "Do you know Ah Bei went out privately today?"
I replied calmly, "Yes."
"What did he go to do?"
"Buy medicine."
"We have a medicine cabinet here. Do you usually use it? Do you still need to go out to buy medicine?"
"The medicine in our cabinet is for ordinary pain relief. Ah Bei suffers from stubborn headaches, and our medicine doesn't work. He needs a new kind of medicine, which we don't have in our cabinet."
A Zhan was taken aback, clearly surprised by my answer.
"How would you know?"
"Yesterday, he was rolling on the ground in pain, taking handfuls of medicine, but it didn't help. He said it was an old problem, and his long-term use of painkillers had made him resistant, requiring a stronger painkiller. I asked him where he could get it, and he said the pharmacies on the street had it, but it was too expensive, and he couldn't afford to buy much. He had run out."
Ah Bei still didn't believe it and had another man in black search Ah Bei.
Sure enough, the man in black found a small paper packet in Ah Bei's pants pocket, containing a few white pills.
The man in black handed the pills to Ah Bei. Ah Bei looked at them for a while, unable to figure them out, and then used his phone to call for a military medical officer.
He didn't let Ah Bei down. Instead, he looked at us and said, "I have a mission for you today. We still have three traitors imprisoned in our death row. Their skills are on par with yours. Brother Hui has decided to send them on their way today. You three need to subdue them and then throw them into the crocodile pit. However, if you are captured by them, you will become the crocodiles' meal. Do you understand?"
"This is also your final lesson. If you complete it, you will graduate. If you don't, your fate will be left to chance," he added.
This was a choice, a selection based on our abilities.
The question was, did we have the power to abstain?
I nodded. Ah Bei's situation was still unresolved, and it wasn't time for us to make a move. We would wait until the medical officer arrived.
At this moment, someone in a military uniform and a white coat entered from outside. This must be the medical officer Ah Bei had called.
The medical officer walked up to Ah Bei, who handed him the paper packet and asked him to identify the medicine.
The medical officer glanced at it and said, "This is a potent painkiller, not usually used. It's mainly for pain relief during gout attacks."
A Zhan looked at the medical officer, then at Ah Bei, and said, "Thank you, I understand."
The medical officer handed the medicine to A Zhan and turned to leave.
A Zhan walked up to Ah Bei and asked the two men in black to lower him.
Ah Bei had been hung up for a long time, and his limbs were likely numb. When he was lowered, he collapsed to the ground.
A Zhan ignored whether Ah Bei was lying down or standing and told the men in black, "Take him to the confinement room and lock him up!"
Then he said to us, "You go carry out your mission."
From the moment we entered the room until now, Brother Hui had shown no expression. He had kept his eyes closed, leaning on the sofa as if none of this concerned him.
Although Ah Bei was sent to confinement, at least his life was saved. There was no need for us to make a move. We followed a man in black out of the room.
The man in black first led us to the training room and had us choose our weapons.
We had no idea who we were up against or how large the enclosed space was, so choosing weapons was difficult.
Long weapons were out of the question. Since it was close combat, large sabers and long swords would be impractical. We all chose short blades.
I also found a one-meter-long thin chain and put it in my pocket.
One of our Daoist brothers chose a three-section staff.
Seeing that we had made our choices, the man in black led us out.
Upon exiting, I realized Ah Bei had not reappeared. Throughout the entire process, there was only this one man in black.
"Brother, can you tell us about these three people?" I asked the man in black.
"Except for being unable to come out, these three are no different from us. I can only tell you this much; I have no further comment."
Three dangerous criminals, yet no means of restraint. I was perplexed. Wasn't Brother Hui afraid they would escape and kill him?
I felt something was not right, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was.
Since they called it our final test, these three people must be incredibly powerful, not as casually described by A Zhan.
Regardless, we had to pass this test. Even if they were hired by Brother Hui to test us, we had to subdue them first, as one more person meant one more threat.
We arrived in front of a building. The man in black ordered the sentries to open the iron gate and then said to us, "You can go in."
As soon as we entered the iron gate, there was a click behind us, and the gate locked.
It seemed this was truly a fight for survival.
Regardless of Brother Hui's motives, we had entered the game, and there was no turning back. I looked around. This building was no different from the others, a single-story house with three doors. The difference was that the visible windows were all reinforced with iron bars as thick as fingers, making it resemble a prison.
I had noticed the iron gate earlier. About 1.5 meters from the left door, there was a window about 30 centimeters square, likely for surveillance and delivering food.
I whispered, "When the fight starts, don't hold back. Aim to kill."
The three of us assumed a fighting stance and walked step by step towards one of the closed doors.
Before we got close, there was a bang, and the door splintered open, revealing a burly man.
He was over 1.8 meters tall and weighed at least 180 pounds, with not an ounce of excess fat on his body, giving him the appearance of a boxer.
These were not rebels; they were clearly chosen to deal with us.
Before the man could make a move, two other doors were also kicked open, and two more burly men, his equal, emerged.
I knew this trap had been prepared for us by Brother Hui.
Perhaps he already knew our identities and had lured us here to eliminate us all at once.
There was no time to worry about anything else. We had to deal with the problem at hand first.
The three of them were unarmed, carrying no weapons.
I also felt that our so-called short blades and chains were superfluous. In front of these men, they were like toys for children playing house.
I quietly said to the other two, "Aim for the center and strike hard."
All I could assess was that their stomachs were still vulnerable to our attacks. Other parts of their bodies likely wouldn't be affected by our blows.