Chapter 16

Two cars raced down the street and its occupants were exchanging round after round of fire. Clearly, this was some gang shooting.

Lily grimaced. Running into a gang war… could her luck get any worse?

The incident ended as soon as it began. In just a few seconds, the fight had left the scene. Lily tapped Shu Kori, who was still holding her, and the two of them stood up. Almost immediately, they saw Su Luo protecting Xia Lin next to the door, and Zhong Ni hiding nearby on the side.

"Well, that was unfortunate. I can't believe that just happened," Shu Kori said with his brows creased, watching Wu Sun and Xia Lin get up.

Xia Lin was scared out of her wits. Su Luo comforted her while eyeing Zhong Ni, who was also getting up slowly, in his peripheral vision. The man looked slightly unsteady. "Are you okay?" Su Luo asked him. He had shoved Zhong Ni to safety the moment he heard the first gunshot, but he had to be sure.

Zhong Ni laughed humorlessly and walked over, clutching his right leg. "A bullet grazed me."

Shu Kori and Su Luo both paled upon hearing that and rushed over to check Zhong Ni's wound. A bullet had grazed past his lower leg — although the injury was not deep, blood was still steadily trickling down. It wasn't a major wound, but his ability to participate in the next day's race was compromised.

"Why didn't anyone listen to orders and stay indoors?" A voice cut in. It belonged to the golden-haired man that appeared two days ago. He threw the group a reproachful glance.

No one responded. Zhong Ni's injury was of utmost concern, so the group quickly returned to Di Clan territory, where a medical professional was immediately made available for him.

A golden-haired man stood in the room with them, peering outside a window with an ashen face. An endless stream of people kept coming in to report things to him.

"How is it?" The man asked one of the men, turning around after a long moment of silence. "Will it affect the race?"

"It's a superficial wound," the other man replied respectfully. "However, it may affect the muscle there. For a race that requires such muscle sensitivity and control, it might be a problem."

The golden-haired man furrowed his brows and glared at Zhong Ni and the rest with a stony face. "I told you people to be careful, to be cautious, and to not leave the perimeters of our protection," he said. "What am I supposed to tell the boss?"

"It's just driving," Zhong Ni bit back. "No matter how badly I'm injured, it's not like I've never driven a car before. It's not a big deal, and I'm not looking to blame you guys or anything. There's nothing to say."

"We chose to go out, so it's our responsibility," Shu Kori added. "We won't humiliate you guys tomorrow."

It didn't escape Lily that neither Zhong Ni nor Shu Kori mentioned that she was the reason they left at all. Su Luo said nothing, but his silence showed his support.

"Daniel Craig, the Williams family was behind the attack. Their goal was simply to prevent Zhong Ni from joining the race, not to kill him."

Su Luo and Shu Kori shared a look at this latest report to the golden-haired man. No wonder they ended up in the middle of a gang fight. It hadn't just been pure coincidence. And Zhong Ni's leg wound — killing him would have been easy, but the bullet was only meant to injure him.

Daniel Craig — whether that was the man's name, pseudonym, or ranking, none of them could be sure — let out a harrumph. "The Williams family are the Blue Clan's dogs," he sneered. "The Blue Clan are the only ones who would dare provoke us. They'd better prepare themselves for our retaliation."

After he issued his threat, Daniel Craig once again swept a glance over Zhong Ni and the rest. He appeared to regain control of his emotions, and said quietly, "Take care of the injury. We'll take care of the rest."

He left them alone in the luxurious room, and the group was submerged in a moment of silence. It occurred to Shu Kori that Lily had yet to say a word. "It's okay, the injury's not too bad," he said, walking up to her with a smile and taking her hand."It'll just sting a little. He's not a man if he can't handle that bit of pain. You don't have to feel bad."

"Yeah, this is nothing. I'm just driving, and they didn't tell me to fight for the Race King title or anything," Zhong Ni agreed. "You don't have to be sorry at all. Although I wouldn't mind a bit of pity. Come on, Lily, you should give me a kiss and heal my injured heart."

To which Xia Lin chimed, "Last time I checked, the injury was on your leg, not your heart."

Zhong Ni rolled his eyes at her.

"Since the culprit turned out to be Di Clan's biggest opponent, Blue Clan, then we couldn't have predicted when and where they'd attack. Something like this would have happened sooner or later. It's really fine." Lily raised her eyes to see Su Luo looking at her. Zhong Ni was also looking at her with an easygoing smile on his face. Shu Kori was the same, and Xia Lin was nodding earnestly.

There was a long pause, and then Lily's eyes flashed. "That's good. I'm going to bed then, I'm exhausted," she murmured, spinning around and exiting the room.

Once in the hall, she caught sight of Daniel Craig walking up ahead and ran up to him. Upon seeing her, the man asked coldly, "What?"