The Ghost Doctor

So, it was just how Yang Yi had expected. The hitmen had their eyes on him and Kate all the way from Pearl Liang restaurant to Southampton. Yang Yi didn't want to act too upset, but he just couldn't contain himself when he thought about all the instances he could've died while being bait. Not just that, though. What really angered Yang Yi was that Danny seemed like he almost didn't care.

However, as emotional as he was becoming, Yang Yi eventually calmed down once he reinforced to himself the fact that he was the one who chose to be bait.

Seeing that Yang Yi had suppressed his emotions, Danny nodded in approval, "Good to see that you can still keep yourself under control. I thought you were going to leave straight away."

Yang Yi sighed helplessly, "I finally understand. There is nothing I can trust you people to do."

However, Danny didn't seem to care much about the bitter remark directed at him. Rather, he seemed oddly glad for Yang Yi. "Congratulations. You were able to learn an important lesson in such a short period of time," Danny said.

"F**k it, I'm not going to talk about it," Yang Yi rubbed his head as if in pain, then continued, "What do we now? We don't have to be bait anymore, right?"

"Now? Obviously, we make that hitman tell us where the other Destroyers are. Once he tells us, we'll try to catch all of them as fast as we can. You are right though. We caught one of them alive, so there is no need for you to be bait anymore."

"Are you sure one is all we need to learn everything about the Destroyers?" Yang Yi asked doubtfully.

"Hopefully. There is no way these hitmen work independently. So if we can get one, we can get another and so on. It's great now that we had a breakthrough. There's no rush here, we can take things slowly."

"Would you mind telling me what this place is? Everyone here seems like a…" Yang Yi pointed towards the nurse who had been going in and out of a room and asked in a hushed voice, "seasoned expert."

"Oh, Dr. James here is a ghost doctor from the urban myths." Danny replied as he suddenly revealed a mysterious smile.

"Ghost Doctor?"

"Get this. There are a lot of injuries that are not suitable to be treated in a hospital. As people who work in the dark side of society, we generally avoid dealing with the police as much as we can. By the way, Chinese call them ghost doctors, but Westerners call them back-alley doctors."

"So," Yang Yi lowered his voice, "Dr. James is more than just a normal doctor?"

Danny continued, "If you consider yourself a genius, just take a look at Dr. James's resume. He had passed the judicial examination, holds a medical license and is a relatively famous painter. His most well-known identity is a specialist in providing interrogation services. If you want to open someone's mouth, Dr. James is the guy to go to."

"Damn. He's a genius, no doubt about it then," Yang Yi eyes widened, "But why is he here torturing people for us when he has so much expertise?"

"It mostly has to do with his hobbies. Dr. James used to create false alibis when he was a lawyer. He became a doctor after one of his clients ratted him out, and let's just say that some of the things he did as a doctor were 'questionable.' His license hasn't been taken away yet, but working in a hospital couldn't exactly fulfill his, uh, sick fetishes. That's why he decided to open up his very own clinic."

"What do you mean by sick fetishes?" Yang Yi asked in an even lower voice.

"He, well, enjoys hurting people. He enjoys torturing people from the bottom of his heart. I have to say, it's always good to combine your interest and what you do for a living. What do you think?"

"Uh, sure that's good…" Yang Yi responded awkwardly, he couldn't help but sneak a peek at Kate, whose face was turning paler even though she had been silent the entire time.

"So do the Destroyers not know about this place?" Yang Yi asked.

"They don't. Dr. James is very well aware of the fact that the more famous he gets, the quicker someone is going to come after him. Technically, we happened to be one of the few long-term partners he has."

"Are you sure this interrogation is going to work?"

"No question about that. There are more sick things Dr. James can do to a person than you could ever imagine. Hold on, let me get rid of my goosebumps."

Just when Danny started rubbing his arms, the nurse walked out again and announced emotionlessly, "Captain, Dr. James wants you over."

"Okay, thanks," Danny then looked at Yang Yi as he stood up, "See? Ten minutes! Is that fast enough? Alright now, you might want to come and have a look if you want to become one of us. I think it's good that you first have an idea of how you might be treated. Better for you even, you might just give up on being a spy."

Yang Yi gulped down his sliver, "Sure, I'll go and take a look…"

"I'll go too," Kate suddenly stated.

"You? I wouldn't recommend it, but sure," Danny said, then proceeded to walk in front of Yang Yi and Kate into the operation room.

Standing inside the operation room was Dr. James who, as cool and collected as usual, was looking rather displeased with whatever feat he had just accomplished.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Just get this psychopath away from me! Get him out of here!" the captured hitman screeched as soon as Danny stepped in.

Yang Yi decided to turn his head away after taking his first glance. Kate, on the other hand, closed her eyes and dry-heaved.

Honestly, the torture was a lot less bloody than expected. It's just that apart from the few minor injuries here and there, the hitman had one of his testicles in his mouth.

"What a shame. He broke much quicker than I anticipated," Dr. James said disappointedly.

"Sorry for stopping your fun here," Danny apologized, then walked towards the hitman.

"How do you feel?" Danny looked him in the eye, "Now, tell me everything you know, or there will be a repeat of what was done to you."

"I'll tell you everything! There are six of us. One injured and one dead. Because I haven't shown my face yet, I was the only one sent to spy on you people."

"Who are the ones that harmed my brother then? Where are they?"

"They left London already! They left England and I have no idea where they are! For now, I'm the only one left in London. I acted alone because they couldn't make it on time!"

Danny paused in contemplation for a while before he said, "Do you have a headquarters? How about the name of your leader and where he is right now? If you tell me, I can promise you a quick death. Otherwise," Danny pointed towards James, "See that doctor over here? He can't wait to go for round two."