Chapter 397 - This Is Poor Planning

As soon as Qing Chen turned, Qing Lok reached out a hand, stopping his brother, "Hey!"

Qing Lok could not believe that his brother was really going to leave their mother to her death. He knew that he was not the best fighter and there was barely anything that he could do other than watch their mother die.

It was not something that he would want to experience and it he would, he would want his brothers with him.

But when Qing Chen met his eyes, he knew that his brother was not really going to leave. Then Wuming was in motion and the next thing that Qing Lok heard was the gunshot and their mother's wailing.

Both of them immediately dove for their guns.

Wuming saw that Checks was already pointing at their mother who had curled to the ground. Another knife had been released from his fingers and it hit home.

The hilt of the knife protruded from the back of Checks' hand. It went through the meat and bones and he screamed in pain, losing the gun.

But the fight was not over in Checks' perspective. He reached for the gun with his other hand. His chances of shooting the target decreased as this was not his dominant hand, but it was better than having no chances at all.

Before his hand could enclose on the grip, it had been shot away, making it clatter a few feet away from him. Then the next gunshot went to his leg and she struggled to stand up.

"THIS is poor planning," said Qing Chen, telling Wuming.

"No," said Qing Lok, looking down at the grimacing Checks at the ground. "This is called being overconfident."

Wuming crouched down, looked at the knife that went through Checks' hand, and smiled. "That feels nice, doesn't it?"

Checks' mouth moved but he didn't say a word.

"What did you think was going to happen to you tonight, really? You had a death wish?"

Qing Chen suggested, "Maybe he was going to kill mother then he was going to kill himself. Or, he would kill mother in front of us then he would have us kill him. Either way, they would be both in the afterlife. Is that the plan?"

Checks' eyes moved to Qing Chen. "I was going to take your mother away. None of you deserved her. None of us do."

Qing Chen rolled his eyes. "Oh please, if you wanted her you could've just taken her. I would've given her to you. But our father is going to kill us if we're not going to bring her home."

"She does not belong in this world."

Qing Chen laughed, looking at the silhouette of a heap which was the person who bore him. "Sure." He sighed and turned to Qing Lok. "Want to do the honors?"

Qing Lok shook his head.

"Alright, I'll do it," said Wuming. "I'm not very picky with the people I kill anyway." He smiled. "So how do you plan to die, Checks? Are you gonna jump off or do you want to make this a crime scene?"

Qing Chen looked at his watch. "We don't have much time. Some people probably heard the shots and called the police."

"Tik tok," said Wuming. "If you don't decide in five seconds, I'm gonna push you off."

When the five seconds were up and Checks had not spoken, Wuming hauled the bleeding man to his feet. "Die without honor then." He pushed him against the barrier. "Any last words?"

Wuming probably had heard every last word there was. And he was not surprised that Checks used one of the more often phrase that people used. 

"I'm finally free," he said.

"Alright," said Wuming. "Sayonara." 

It was strange for Qing Lok's eyes, seeing someone getting hauled from a rooftop like it was not a person—like he was a mere bag of rice. It was strange to him how this person just accepted his death. 

Maybe he really did have a death wish when he came here.

He knew that Wuming had the least conscience with killing. But it somehow bothered Qing Lok just how easy it was for Wuming to toss the man over the barrier. His brother looked back at them as soon as the man was out of their sight and shrugged his coat like nothing happened.

"So…" said Wuming. "Shall we go home?"

**

They heaved their mother back in the car and nobody was speaking. Qing Chen knew that if he opened his mouth, he would be saying things that he would not be able to take back later.

Honestly, it was against his wishes to be bringing back his mother. Everything that was happening around him was unbelievable.

Wuming, relaxed as ever, had the audacity to turn on the radio and quietly sing along from the passenger's seat.

When they got home, everyone huddled over them and after assuring that they were all alright except their wounded mother, they went to dinner.

Dinner was also a quiet event save for Wuming's exaggerated recounting of the events. He made it seem like they were from an action or a superhero movie of some sort. 

A couple of doctors went to check in their mother and once she was finally asleep, their father met them in the living room. Everyone had packed up their things to rest as their mission with the mother was already done.

"Thank you," began their father. "For bringing your mother home."

"You were going to let her die," said Wuming. "You knew she went there to end things and you let her. I honestly don't know what the hell is wrong with the both of you. Now I kind of get it why you're together."

"I wasn't going to let her die," answered their father, his shoulders hunched. "She told me that she had to do it."

Qing Chen sucked on his teeth. "We should have let her die then. Do you agree?"

His father's eyes flared.