Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In · Chat

Shin stood on a water pipe, watching the stranger barge recklessly through the lowest level of the Walled City. Wearing a ribbed tank top and a military buzz cut, his face was tense like a stone ready to crash at any moment. He didn't even stop when he knocked over an old lady's vegetable basket—he was being chased. Behind him, seven or eight thugs from the fruit market, carrying knives and clubs, squeezed into the narrow alley one after another. Shin didn't move. He reached for the butterfly knife in his pocket first, then let go. He squatted and watched for a moment, then jumped off the water pipe and began running along the tin rooftops, the rain shelters clattering beneath his feet. As he passed Seven's Cafe, Ah Tsat happened to lift the curtain to pour out some water. Seeing Shin, he nudged his chin toward the back—there was an exit in the alley behind the cafe, and Cyclone was waiting in the barber shop. Shin waved his hand, signaling he would handle it himself. He caught up with Chan Lok-gwan at the second-floor turn. The man was slamming his elbow against a jammed iron door. He had a scar on the back of his neck, old injuries on his hand, and the way he clenched his fists showed he was clearly a trained fighter. Shin switched his butterfly knife from his left hand to his right, tapping the point downward twice against the iron railing. Chan Lok-gwan whipped his head around, and Shin saw the shadow of fatigue under his eyes—the kind of color only found on someone who hasn't slept soundly in a long time. Twelfth Master was squatting in front of the arcade opposite, sipping a Vitasoy. He smiled in Shin's direction and gestured with his finger. Yon pushed the clinic window open a crack, showing only his eyes beneath his black mask as he looked down silently. Three floors further up, Cyclone, with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, leaned against the frame of the barber shop door, spinning a lighter in his palm. He did not come down. Chan Lok-gwan stared at Shin. Shin pointed his knife at the path on the left—leading deeper into the Walled City, and toward the direction Chan Lok-gwan wanted to go. He said, "Don't stop, keep going. Someone upstairs has your back." Chan Lok-gwan looked at him for three seconds, then turned and dashed into the dark alley. Shin slipped his butterfly knife back into his pocket and tilted his head toward Twelfth Master, signaling it was done. Twelfth Master crushed the Vitasoy carton, threw it into the trash, and squatted back down. Yon closed the window. Ah Tsat came out carrying a bowl of herbal tea, leaning against the cafe door. "This outsider, he's tough." "What's the use of being tough?" Shin said, walking toward the barber shop. "Once the kite is flown, someone's got to hold the string." Ah Tsat glanced at him and said nothing. The clotheslines above the Walled City swayed in the wind, and a wok on the lower floor sizzled loudly, splashing sparks of oil. <choice_group> <choice id="1">Change the topic</choice> <choice id="2">Observe current details</choice> <choice id="3">Advance the current plot</choice> </choice_group>