Chapter 118 - She Did Not Burn

Back in the car, her mother was still seething. "I had felt this before but I thought you and your father are not going to do this to me. THEN I FOUND OUT IT HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR TWO YEARS ALREADY?! You, young woman, are never going to touch another knife unless it was for cooking!"

Feng Xuan only rolled her eyes. She didn't get it. She did everything her mother wanted to make her more 'female'. She had spent time in the kitchen, in the garden, and contributed her ideas regarding the house's new furniture. She had even planned her father's birthday the year before which turned out to be a complete success. It was not like she was lacking in either field.

Feng Xuan knew she had power in her, something special. There was some odd sense of calm in her when she just let her body move. The weapons felt like extensions of her arms. There was peace in using fists and feet, to let them takeover.

Feng Xuan closed her eyes. "I just don't see why you won't let me."

"What do you mean you cannot see?! You're going to get yourself killed! Do you want to die young?"

"That's exactly why I am training! So I don't die!"

Her mother was shaking her head as she took a hard turn and into an emptier road. Feng Xuan knew it was a shortcut but was still in the middle of construction. The road was still mainly soil that was why only a few chose to get here. "You think you know your father's mafia? You think that was it? Pointing guns at people and taking their money?"

Feng Xuan laughed. "Oh, mother. I know what I need to know."

Her father and his men never shied away with the guns in the house. Her father frequently cleaned his favorite pistols right after dinner and Feng Xuan would watch as he tore it apart and bring it back together. She knew what guns do.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into." Her mother's hand tightened on the steering wheel and her gaze seemed to break the asphalt. "I'm just trying to keep you safe, rosebud. Away from danger."

But just then her mother had pressed hard on the break—hard enough that if Feng Xuan had not been wearing her seatbelt she would have flown out of the windshield. "Mom," she rubbed on the back of her head. "What are yo—"

Her mother's eyes shot daggers at her. "QUIET!"

Feng Xuan's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes squinted against the dust. Finally when the air cleared a little, she saw the silhouette of a car blocking their exit. She felt her whole body jolt awake. "Mom—"

"I said quiet!" her mother shifted the gears and the car went backwards. At the rearview mirror, she saw two headlights flashing on them. Yang Baozai swore under her breath.

Feng Xuan looked back and saw what was happening. Her fingers immediately fumbled for her cellphone and started to dial her father's number but it would not connect. She noticed that there were no bars. Then it was Feng Xuan who was cursing.

She pulled a loose drawer under the glove compartment and pulled out a pistol. She inserted the magazine. "Drive," she told her mother. "I'll shoot."

Her mother's hand clasped her forearm. "Stop. They might just want to talk." She stopped the car and waited for someone to come near them. A man went out of the car from behind. A pair of sunglasses concealed his eyes. Feng Xuan's body froze when a gun was used to knock on her mom's window. 

It was bulletproof glass. Her mother only rolled it partially. "What do you want?"

"We want to have a word with Mr. Feng. It was about his association with Enigma."

"We don't know what you're talking about," her mother sternly said. "I had just taken my daughter out of her gymnastics class. If you need a message sent to my husband I can pass them for you."

Feng Xuan could hear the tremble in her mother's voice. The fear in her chest tripled when the man grinned. "Oh, I'll send him a message, alright." The man raised his gun and started shooting.

Both Feng Xuan and her mother yelped. She had wanted to get out of the car and shoot the man but that was beyond her. Her mother stepped on the gas pedal and the car started to lurch forward, away from the shots.

With pure adrenaline coursing in her veins, Feng Xuan started to roll the window down.

"Don't you dare!" her mother said as the car hurled forward, increasing speed.

Feng Xuan braced herself on the seat. "Mooom…"

Her mom was not talking. She was going to drive past through the car in front of them.

"Mom, I don't think that's going to work," she said when the headlights lighted up and the car in front started to gain speed. "We're going to die!"

"We're not going to die. Not today," her mother answered, a determined look on her face.

"Mom! This is madness!"

They were going on in a full collision. How were they going to survive? Sure their car was bigger but it would be far too destroyed before they could get away. Feng Xuan's mind was screaming HOW?! But her mother was not listening.

Two men suddenly popped out of both windows and aimed at them. Even at the distance, she knew it was a machine gun and an RPG. The bullets rattled at their windshield. Feng Xuan took cover even though she knew it would hold. But not for long. The glass started to have cracks. Soon enough it would shatter and the bullets would hit their bodies.

They were getting close, too fast, too hard. The RPG was finally aimed. "Mom!" Feng Xuan shouted but her mother's eyes were focused on the car. The rocket was launched. At the last second, Feng Xuan grabbed the wheel and pulled to the right.

For a moment her ears were filled with the sound of explosion and of metal against the side of the road as they hit a tree. She felt that her head hit something but she didn't feel it until she opened her eyes. Her vision was tilting. Her mother was there beside her, blood was pouring out of a huge patch on her forehead. Her dark hair like cracks against the marble of her skin.

"Mom!" she shouted. Her chest was of smoke and dust. She was met with silence. Feng Xuan tried to shake her. "Mom!"

Her mother did not wake up.

No one came for them. Not yet at least. Feng Xuan unclipped herself and tried her mother's. But her mother's would not budge.

What happened was very much like Feng Xuan's dream—or rather, her memory. The smoke of the car was rising from under the hood. It was going to explode. She was pulling her mother out of the driver's seat when someone had gotten hold of her, taking her away—leaving her mom to burn in the car.

But no. She did not burn.