Chapter 1

The smell of gunpowder filled her nose, the pained groans of a girl echoed in her ears, and sporadic gunfire sounded from a distance.**

Damp and cold, water seemed to be rising to her ankles…

Liang Kefeng involuntarily shivered. She opened her eyes, her surroundings were a blur, the light dim. Instinctively, she touched the back of her head—

Thick blood!

The original character had died from a head injury.

She had transmigrated into a book.

As a top spy from the future Iron Curtain era, Liang Kefeng had died of illness, only to transmigrate into a gangster novel set in the 1970s Hong Kong.

Liang Kefeng surveyed her surroundings. She was on a small, dilapidated fishing boat.

Dusk was fading, the inside of the boat was in complete disarray. A small hole had been blown in the bottom of the boat, and seawater was beginning to pour in, already submerging her feet.

“Sis…”

A weak voice came from the girl lying at the back of the cabin.

The girl was seriously injured, her body bloodied and mangled, and she was struggling to reach out to Liang Kefeng.

Her head throbbed as the original character’s memories flooded in…

The injured girl was Liang Kefeng’s distant cousin, Liang Ke’er. The two sisters had stowed away from Jiangwu County in Guangdong Province to Hong Kong to find their relatives. The cousin sought their grandfather, while the original character was looking for her father.

Liang Kefeng’s cousin’s grandfather was the leader of Hong Kong’s entire gangster world, the Hongmen’s Grandfather.

The sisters had just arrived on the smuggler’s fishing boat when they were caught in a gang shootout. A bomb hit the boat, leading to the sisters’ accidental deaths and triggering a series of events.

Liang Kefeng took her cousin’s hand. It was cold, sticky, and smelled of blood.

Liang Ke’er’s round, youthful apple face was pale, her lips dry. “Sis, it hurts! I thought… I thought you were dead… Wu Biyun and her brother stole the watch my mom left me…”

Liang Kefeng pressed on the wound on Ke’er’s chest, softly comforting her, “I know.”

Wu Biyun and her brother were their neighbors, who had stowed away with them on the same smuggler’s boat.

When the boat reached Hong Kong in the evening, it was bombed. Liang Ke’er was hit by a stray bullet, gravely wounded. Wu’s siblings, thinking she wouldn’t survive, tried to steal her belongings.

The original character had protected her cousin and refused to let them take anything, but Wu Biyun pushed her down, causing her head to hit an anchor inside the boat, killing her instantly.

Aside from the two sisters, only the corpse of a person killed in the explosion remained on the boat.

It appeared the Wu siblings and the other smugglers had already fled.

Liang Ke’er had been shot in the chest, losing a lot of blood. Her hands and feet were ice-cold, and her face was drained of color. If the bleeding wasn’t stopped soon, it would be too late.

“It hurts…”

“Don’t talk, save your strength.” Liang Kefeng quickly tore off Ke’er’s inner clothes, improvising with the fabric by ripping it into strips to stop the bleeding.

First, stop the bleeding, then find a way to escape and locate a doctor to remove the bullet.

The water was slowly rising; the boat wouldn’t last long. She had to hurry!

“Sis… I’m so cold!”

It was early February in Hong Kong, just before the Lunar New Year. The temperature had plummeted in recent days, likely no more than ten degrees now.

Seeing Ke’er’s eyes growing more and more vacant, Liang Kefeng quickly took off her cotton coat and draped it over her.

“Sis, I… I can’t make it. You should go find Wu Biyun, take… take back the watch, then… go find my grandpa… Grandpa said… I’m not really…”

Before Ke’er could finish her sentence, a massive explosion shook the air, and before Liang Kefeng could react, she was thrown into the water.

Salt!

She swallowed a mouthful of seawater.

The water was bone-chillingly cold, but her back burned as if on fire.

The wound on the back of her head throbbed painfully, almost causing her to black out.

The fishing boat had been blown apart. Fire lit up the surface of the water, and gunfire still echoed in the air. She swam toward the shore, relieved that she had taken off her cotton coat earlier, making swimming easier. By the time she reached the shore, all that remained in her hand were the fabric strips from Ke’er’s clothes.

“Ke’er!” she called softly.

No one answered.

The fishing boat was still ablaze in the distance. Liang Kefeng, using the firelight, swam back to the spot where the boat had sunk, searching back and forth among the floating debris. All she found were fragments of her cotton coat and a broken canvas shoe.

Liang Kefeng’s mind wavered. The world wasn’t so full of lucky breaks. As the original plot dictated, Ke’er had been swallowed by the sea.

The two sisters were the same age, with Ke’er only born a few hours later. She hadn’t even reached twenty yet, and her life had only just begun, snuffed out before she could bloom.

Because of unrelated people, because of stray bullets from who knows where, her life had ended abruptly.

Liang Kefeng bit her lip hard. She hated this feeling of helplessness, where she had no control over her life’s trajectory.

…

At some point, the gunfire stopped. It seemed the battle was over.

With a wound on her head and having soaked in the freezing seawater for more than ten minutes, if she didn’t leave soon, she’d lose her own life as well.

Just as she was about to swim back to shore, a voice called from a nearby boat: “Who’s there? Don’t move!”

Following the sound, about twenty meters away, on another fishing boat, a young gangster was holding a gun, aiming at her.

She could have tried to escape by diving underwater, but Liang Kefeng hesitated, staring at the gun in his hand.

She wanted a weapon, and she wanted revenge for her cousin.

In her world, revenge was a must, no matter how long it took.

Those who blew up the boat and killed people, and those who stole things and pushed the original character to her death—all would have to pay for what they did.

“Oi! There’s a woman here!”

*

On the fishing boat, Liang Kefeng sat on a low stool wrapped in a blanket, finally warming up, but still trembling.

Standing in front of her were two men, one called Guizai and the other Fenchang. They had just fished her out of the water.

“Hey, I’ll ask you one more time, did you come here as a stowaway? Just tell us, we won’t eat you.”

“Do we even need to ask? Look at her clothes, it’s almost certain!”

“It’s all because of that fool throwing grenades even though he knew it was a smuggler’s boat. What an idiot!” After Fenchang finished speaking, he glanced at Guizai. “So what now? Should we tell Brother Guding?”

Guizai was staring intently at Liang Kefeng. In fact, his eyes hadn’t left her face the entire time.

In all his years, he had seen many women, but never one as beautiful as this.

Her delicate face, her innocent and helpless expression—it made her seem pitiful, stirring a sense of affection.

“Oi!” Fenchang nudged Guizai.

Guizai gritted his teeth. “Forget telling Brother Guding.”

Fenchang licked his lips. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman.

He glanced at the girl wrapped in the blanket. Her pure and innocent eyes made him hesitate again. “Uh, how should we handle this?”

Guizi said, “I’ll give you 300. Let me have her…”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Take her home.” Guizi had made up his mind. A beautiful, pure mainland girl like her—wasn’t she better than those women outside?

Fenchang looked at Guizi in disbelief. “You’re not thinking of making her your wife, are you?”

Guizi, who had a faint knife scar on his face, wasn’t particularly handsome, but he had that unmistakable gang member vibe. With a grin, he shot back, “Why not?”

“You’re stepping over me! I’m your cousin, and I haven’t even gotten married yet! You brat!”

Liang Kefeng glanced at them incredulously. Both men looked to be in their early twenties, likely low-ranking members of a gang. They didn’t seem to be entirely wicked, even a little naive.

Guizi walked over, holding a piece of bread, and squatted in front of her.

“You must be hungry, right? Here, have some bread.”

Seeing that the woman didn’t respond and instead stared at him fearfully, her eyes fixed on the hole in his army-green pants, Guizi chuckled awkwardly. “Still cold? You’re from Guangdong, right? Can you understand Cantonese?”

“I’m not too poor to buy clothes. I just accidentally ripped my pants earlier.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you.”

Liang Kefeng shivered again, and Guizi, concerned, stood up. “Fenchang, keep an eye on her. She still seems cold. I’m going to find some clean clothes.”

“Hey, are you really treating her like your wife already?”

“Fast, huh?” Guizi darted off like an arrow.

Fenchang muttered to himself, grumbling about the absurdity of rescuing someone only to end up with a sister-in-law.

As he was lost in his thoughts, suddenly his waist felt lighter. Alarmed, he reached down to check, but it was too late.

The gun was gone.

He turned around, only to find the barrel pointed right at his forehead.

The woman who had been trembling just moments ago now stared him down with icy, piercing eyes. Her entire demeanor exuded a chilling, lethal aura.

“What… what are you planning to do?” Fenchang stammered.

Liang Kefeng ignored his question and asked, “Who is Babi?”

“Babi?” Fenchang was confused for a moment before quickly glancing aside. “He’s Zhashu Tian’s nephew.”

“He’s the one who blew up our boat?”

“What boat?” Fenchang asked, but then immediately realized she was talking about the smuggler’s boat that had been sunk.

Could this girl be the snakehead (human smuggler)? But she looked too young for that kind of business.

Afraid of Babi’s revenge, Fenchang hesitated. “I’m not sure if he’s the one who—”

“You didn’t say that earlier! Don’t waste my time.”

Liang Kefeng pressed the gun harder against his forehead.

Nervously swallowing, Fenchang was forced to admit the truth. “He’s the one who did it… threw two grenades.”

“Why?”

“He… he probably thought it was fun!”

For fun?! Tossing grenades onto someone’s boat, causing her injury and costing Liang Ke’er and another innocent person their lives?

“Where is he now?”

Fenchang pointed outside. “He’s on the big boat with Brother Guding.”

Taking advantage of the moment when Fenchang pointed outside, he leaned back and swept his leg, hoping to subdue Liang Kefeng and reclaim the gun.

Being held hostage by a little girl—if word got out, people would die laughing.

Fenchang’s kick missed, but he managed to grab the gun, and he couldn’t help but sneer, “You think you can fight me? You’re still too green.”

But just as he finished speaking, his hand, along with the gun, was violently yanked back—

Liang Kefeng used the momentum to deliver a swift kick—

Bam! Fenchang’s head slammed into a post, and he saw stars.

The dark muzzle of the gun was once again aimed at him.

It wasn’t that she was particularly strong, but her movements were too fast!

Fenchang immediately started pleading, “Pretty lady, heroine, I was the one who saved you from the sea.”

The implication being: don’t repay kindness with enmity.

Liang Kefeng shot him a glance. “Who asked you to save me?”

Fenchang: “!”

A piece of bread was shoved into his mouth, and he was tied up to the post, tightly bound.

Liang Kefeng searched the cabin and found half a bag of bullets, four or five small knives, a sharp Gerber knife, some antibiotics, and bandages.

She couldn’t properly deal with the wound on the back of her head, so she simply applied some antiseptic to the bandage and wrapped it around her head twice. Then she threw on a large men’s windbreaker.

*

Guizi came back, excitedly carrying a bag of women’s clothes he’d half-bought, half-stolen, but when he entered the cabin, he was startled to see Fenchang tied to the post. He immediately reached for his gun, only to feel a cold blade against his neck.

Fenchang shot him a meaningful look, mumbling something incoherent through the bread stuffed in his mouth…

“Hands up!” came the soft voice of a woman from behind.

It was that beautiful woman!

Guizi wasn’t as burly as Fenchang, and if Fenchang couldn’t beat her, he definitely had no chance.

What’s more, he didn’t even have the opportunity to resist. Wisely, Guizi raised his hands.

No sooner had he done so than the gun at his waist was taken.

Liang Kefeng asked him, “Guizi, right? Where do you live? Who’s in your family?”

Guizi hesitated, unable to figure out her intentions. As the pain in his neck increased, he quickly replied, “Uh… Lane 2, Wande Street, 3rd floor, number 14…”

Liang Kefeng coldly responded, “Wrong.”

Fenchang, still gagged with bread, was trying to say something.

Guizi wasn’t dumb; he quickly realized that Fenchang must have already told her his real address. That traitor!

The pain in his neck intensified, and he could feel blood. Panicking, Guizi corrected himself with a whimper, “Fengwei Street, number 20, 3rd floor… Please, pretty lady, watch out… watch out with that knife.”

“Who’s in your family?”

“My grandmother, my mother, my older brother, and his wife,” Guizi’s voice became more and more nervous. He had only wanted to take her home as his wife—he hadn’t done anything excessive. Surely, she wasn’t planning to harm his family, right?

Guizi pleaded, “If you want to do something, do it to me!”

“Who wants to do anything to you?”

“Please, don’t hurt my family.”

Satisfied that she’d sufficiently intimidated him, Liang Kefeng’s voice softened again. “I have no personal grudge against you.”

Guizi quickly agreed, “Yeah, no grudge, no grudge at all!”

“I’ll let you both go, on one condition: You go next door and bring Babi here for me.”

“Babi?”

“Uncle Zhashu Tian’s nephew, Babi. Go bring him here. If you try any tricks, I’ll blow your cousin’s head off first!” Liang Kefeng threatened, causing Fenchang to make panicked noises through his gag.

Guizi knew that if he didn’t bring Babi over, this girl would likely not spare him or Fenchang, and might even go after his family. He had no idea who this woman really was, but she definitely wasn’t just some smuggler’s girl.

She could very well be a cold-blooded killer.

Liang Kefeng reminded him, “Just tell him a girl is looking for him. Ask him to come alone.”

—

**Author’s note:**

Hi, everyone! We meet again ^_^

The city in this story is loosely based on Hong Kong, but the content, the story, the time period, and even the place names are fictional.

The heroine, Liang Kefeng, is smart and prefers action over words. I hope you all like her!