Chapter Eighty-Nine: Dual Personality

Thank you to Brother Hei for the tip, and thanks to all the brothers for the likes and recommendations.

Early the next morning, I went out for exercise. When I passed Britt's place, Tim came out. The guy was gradually getting stronger, and the outline of a solid chest had begun to take shape.

"Morning, boss!" Tim called out.

Qiu Fengyu nodded without a word and kept running, then ran into Sheriff Coffin. The three of them still ran together. Tim kept pushing ahead, overtaking both Qiu Fengyu and Sheriff Coffin.

"That little punk keeps thinking the two of us are having an affair, so he always leaves plenty of space for us," Qiu Fengyu said with a laugh, keeping pace beside Coffin.

"You want to have an affair with me?" Coffin glared at him.

"Maybe. You know... I'm not the kind of man who likes to involve too much feeling... If it's only a purely physical relationship..."

"You're an asshole!" Coffin cut him off.

"How are you planning to escort that bastard to prison tomorrow?"

"I'm going personally," Sheriff Coffin said.

"Cobra isn't going to let this go..."

"I know, so I'm taking him myself." Sheriff Coffin nodded. "There will also be state troopers coming tomorrow, making the escort force more than thirty men, so Cobra won't have a chance to make a move!"

Qiu Fengyu nodded and said, "That would be best. Keep your guard up tonight and make sure they don't launch a surprise attack."

Coffin nodded, then smiled. "Have you always been this concerned about the police department's affairs? I ought to give you a Good Citizen Award. Too bad I'm not the mayor."

"I'm concerned about the sheriff in the police department, not the police department itself," Qiu Fengyu said with a grin. "You're a good man. Truth be told, I didn't have a very good impression of you at first. You were always threatening me..."

"And now it's good. Why is that?"

"Because... you're beautiful!" Qiu Fengyu nodded. "And... I like seeing a hot girl in a police uniform!"

"Goddamn it, you're really an asshole!" Coffin laughed and cursed.

At noon, not many people came out for noodles. That was understandable. Compared with noodles, many people were more willing to stay home, hold a gun, and guard against Cobra's men.

But there were still those who were not afraid of trouble. As always, the Japanese family came to eat noodles at Qiu Fengyu's place. So his forty bowls of noodles still sold out, though it took longer than usual, not until two in the afternoon. Then he closed up and went to the bar.

There weren't many people in the bar either. Qiu Fengyu walked in, and Brekin was idling at the counter. When he saw Qiu Fengyu, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Qiu Fengyu placed a paper bag on the counter. It was the final payment for the guns.

"Count it yourself," Qiu Fengyu said. "Where's my stuff?"

"Here!" Brekin took out a black cloth bag and placed it on the counter. "I won't bother with the rules this time. I'll give it all to you directly. Normally the guns and ammunition are supposed to be separated."

Qiu Fengyu took the cloth bag and opened it to check. Inside was another black case, probably for a sniper rifle. He took out the black case, opened it, and confirmed the goods were right, then closed it and put it back into the bag.

"All used pieces?" Qiu Fengyu frowned. "You made a good profit again."

"Hey, man, this is already very good. You know how hard it is to find brand-new, unrecorded stuff. Usually we look for used ones. But don't worry, I guarantee these have no record. If they do, you can blow my head off with one shot, I swear!" Brekin assured him. "And I'll throw in a suppressor. If you want to kill someone, you can do it without a sound."

"I believe you," Qiu Fengyu said. "Bring me a vodka."

Brekin brought over the vodka. Qiu Fengyu drained it in one go and said to him, "Pleasure doing business." Then he headed for the door.

"That drink's on me," Brekin shouted after him.

That guy hadn't even paid for the liquor.

Back at the noodle shop, Qiu Fengyu took out the things and examined them carefully. He believed Brekin would never dare deceive him or palm off inferior goods on him; otherwise, he would be the one inviting trouble. He laid out the guns, looked them over once, and put them back into the cloth bag.

After a while, the Japanese girl appeared. She stood at the doorway, looking at Qiu Fengyu inside, and tapped lightly on the door. Qiu Fengyu opened it and let her in.

When she sat down in the booth, Qiu Fengyu placed the cloth bag on the table and took a seat opposite her.

"A Mark S, eighty percent new, already nicely broken in. Best suited to someone experienced. Comes with one hundred rounds of ammunition." Qiu Fengyu took the items out and laid them on the table, checking them off one by one. "An A-12 automatic rifle, from the Russian special forces. You know how hard this is to get. Top-shelf stuff, no worse than the Model 27. After all, that thing hasn't yet been tested in real combat, but this one has. It was used in Ukraine and got excellent reviews. Colt pistols, no records, no priors—that's the most important part. Getting these took quite a bit of effort..."

"Very worth it." Mikura Ryoko gave Qiu Fengyu a faint smile. The girl could finally smile.

The Japanese girl deftly reassembled the dismantled guns. She also skillfully loaded the ammunition, then suddenly picked up one of the pistols and pointed it at Qiu Fengyu.

"Oh, that's not funny..." Qiu Fengyu blinked, then shook his head.

Ryoko smiled, then put the guns back into the cloth bag. "Take me somewhere to test them."

Qiu Fengyu shrugged and said to the Japanese girl, "Come on. I'll take you to a place."

The place Qiu Fengyu took her was the riverbank upstream where he and Tim often went to test firearms. There were still fragments of various bottles shattered by bullets.

He set a few bottles on the rocks and said to Mikura Ryoko, "You can give it a try, but before that you'd better make sure your guns are properly tuned... all right, you're already doing very well."

Qiu Fengyu realized that this girl was surprisingly skilled with weapons, and felt that he had truly spoken too much.

Once she had adjusted the firearms, the girl began shooting with the pistol. Her aim was excellent.

Then she fired the automatic rifle, and the result was still impressive. It could be said that her shooting skill was no less than the gifted marksman Tim's, and she seemed even more seasoned than Tim.

"Excellent!" Qiu Fengyu gave her a thumbs-up.

"I still want to try this one." Mikura Ryoko skillfully assembled the Mark S, then raised it and sighted through it. She seemed not entirely satisfied with the scope and shook her head slightly.

"This is already the best one," Qiu Fengyu explained.

"I know. If I wanted something better, I'd have gone to a gun shop." The Japanese girl nodded. Then she raised the gun and aimed. With a crack of gunfire, she lowered it again, still somewhat satisfied.

Qiu Fengyu looked over there, but the distance was too great to make out anything.

"I'm very satisfied." The Japanese girl nodded with a smile. At a distance of about three hundred meters, she had hit a tin can. That level of accuracy was basically enough.

"You really are an expert. I couldn't tell," Qiu Fengyu said with a laugh. "All right, can I count this deal as finished? But... I won't be providing after-sales service."

"Of course... that's the rule." Mikura Ryoko nodded and put the firearms away. "You have to drive me home."

"All right, that's a complimentary service. No charge." Qiu Fengyu nodded, got into the car, and the Japanese girl tossed the cloth bag with the guns into the back seat while she sat in the front passenger seat.

"You're not curious why I know how to do this?" she asked with a smile as the car started.

"I am curious, but... I don't take the initiative to ask about such things, because... that means I might end up causing myself some trouble..." Qiu Fengyu said earnestly.

"You're a smart man. I like dealing with people like you." Mikura Ryoko nodded. "I've watched you for many days. You're a good person."

"In what way?" Qiu Fengyu smiled. "I've always thought so too."

That was rather shameless, and Mikura Ryoko laughed as well. "You can tell from the way you sell noodles, slaughter cattle, and from yesterday, when you knocked down that bastard... You're very good at hiding yourself. Actually... you should be a martial arts expert, and... you're very familiar with weapons too... Maybe you're the same kind of person as me."

"No, no, I don't even understand you..." Qiu Fengyu hurriedly shook his head.

"I don't understand you either, but we have time, don't we?" Mikura Ryoko was talking more than usual. "Don't mention this to my family... all right?"

"Uh, of course... Can I take it that way about you? You're like some formidable killer who grew tired of bloodshed and fighting, and then tried to hide away with your family in some anonymous little town, living a quiet life ever after... starting all over again..."

"A very good story. I like it." Mikura Ryoko said to Qiu Fengyu, "I've arrived. Stop here." Then she gave Qiu Fengyu a wink. She got out of the car, carried the cloth bag, and walked into the house.

Could this... count as a split personality? Qiu Fengyu looked at the girl's retreating figure and could not help wondering.