Chapter 10

The grass stirred and then a figure flew out of it.

It was Ken and he was coming at us, hands holding two balls of blue energy, in an attack mode.

"Adam!" He cried

"Ken! Not so easy this time." I shouted

With my palms, I was ready to take him on. He parried hard and I found an opportunity to kick him in the waist on the left. He quickly somersaulted backwards

"Good one. It seemed you improved over the past few hours." He spoke.

I felt the strain in my body, but my proud voice spoke first.

“Deceit is not a reliable weapon, Ken. I can beat you any day.”

At this moment, I used my hands to execute the Kuji-in Hand Seals and then focused my mind.

I felt heat in my hands, and soon a ball of electricity brewed between my palms. The strain built up

in my biceps, but I held on.

Ken, in the meantime, put a horse stance and flipped both his hands to raise both palms and raised

a flame. He lunged forward but I raised my hands first.

The impact of contact repelled all of us. I fell backwards and quickly regained my stand.

Kelly has also managed to land safely, metres behind me.

I dashed towards him with my sword fingers mustering two balls of energy but Ken parried it nicely.

We fought on, bout after bout. Ken's moves were swift but I was steadier with my strokes. Finally, I saw the opportunity and locked his arms.

He tried to break free with his legs.

Kelly took the opportunity to execute her Kuji-Kiri. Then she used her pointer finger to immobilize Ken on the key meridien points. She hit him below the inner arm and instantly, Ken froze, dropping his arms like a doll with broken limbs.

Instantly, I let him go as he cursed, “Despicable. Two of you against me?”

“It is to repay you for what you've done to us last night!” Kelly retorted.

I grabbed Ken by his shoulder and dragged him to a side

“Do you know two policemen have been sacrificed because of you."

“That’s none of my business. They came to look for trouble."

“Why do you need the Orange Rabbit? Where is it now?”

Kelly ran over and began to search him. The move incensed Ken who began to curse aloud.

“ Bekana! You silly woman. Do not touch me.”

“After a thorough search, Kelly shook her head

“Where is it?” She demanded but Ken remained expressionless.

“Thanks for letting us have it.” He pronounced with a smug smile.

“Where is it? You know I can destroy you with a palm"

“ You think I fear death? We, Black Robes, welcome death." Ken added.

At that moment, I realized something was amiss. The man in black, the White Eye, was missing.

He was lying just behind Ken a moment ago.

Then I smelled sulphur.

I looked up to see a tiny ball of fire descending on us. The sudden attack threw us into disarray.

My instincts led me to pull Kelly away with my other hand while holding onto Ken tightly.

However, the impact of the crashing fireball threw me off-balance. I felt a presence behind me

and quickly swerved to tackle the threat. I felt a firm kick on my shoulder and was sent tumbling

forward to the ground, with Kelly falling just metres away.

The assailant was White Eye! The fireball was a Qi technique used solely by the Kuroi Robu.

It was foolhardy to use the element of fire amid a grassland.

I had lost grip of Ken, and in the blink of an eye, White Eye had grabbed Ken and

leaped into the wall of tall grasses.

Like spirits, they disappeared.

Kelly got on her feet and wanted to give chase, but her injury had restricted her movements.

She dropped to her knees.

"Kelly, let him go. It's too dangerous."

"But it will be hard to nab Ken again."

I looked around us as some grass had caught fire from the sparks

of the fireball.

"The fire!" I said. She looked around and reluctantly agreed

“Let us carry the policemen out of here."

I shook my head.

"You cannot manage it, we all will end up being trapped here."

I explained, "Let us bring the injured man out first and then return for the other."

I said. Reluctantly, she relented

With much difficulty, we lifted the injured policeman and trudged through the tall grass

towards the road. When we emerged from the tall grass, there was already a group of police waiting.

“There they are,” Vishnu said as he rushed over, and together, other police came over to help me with

Kelly and the injured policeman. In the group, I noticed someone familiar.

"Adam, this is Inspector Catherine Ng. She happens to be on duty tonight."

Visnu explained.

I nodded in acknowledgment. It was an awkward moment for us. Catherine was

my ex-girlfriend, and we have not spoken to each other for almost six months.

That story for another day.

As we walked, I observed Visnu had recovered from his earlier injury. He spoke

with clarity and his demeanour was steady.

“It looked like something bad had happened,” Visnu said.

“I found the people who had kidnapped Kelly."

"Great, are they inside?" He pointed to the tall grass.

"Your men - I found them. One of them is dead.”

I said as we handed over the injured police to the awaiting colleagues.

“And who started the fire?”

“The very people who kidnapped Kelly. I wanted to nab him but he had an accomplice.

It was frustrating. They sprang an attack and caught us unaware."

"They seemed a tricky bunch."

" He is trained in using traps, darts, and all sorts of crafts.”

“I will track them down for all this."

Saying Visnu turned and raced back towards the tall grass.

“Where are you going?"

"I am going for the other policeman?”

In the air, I could smell the intense incineration, and the flames lit up the skies.

The growing fire set him to pause, but only for a minute.

“Catherine! Call the fire brigade. Inform all traffic police to set up stops on roads

to stop any civilian cars from coming into the area.”

“Got you!” Catherine rushed to make the necessary calls.

Then, without any warning, Vishnu dashed in, swiftly followed by a couple of police.

I wanted to join, but this time, Kelly held my hand

“The more hands, the worse it gets.” She said sternly, "I need you with me. In case Ken returns."

I could not disagree and helped Kelly back to my car.

Now in the car, I had the opportunity to study her condition. There were blue-black marks on her cheeks and forehead. The sleeves were torn which showed a laceration on her right shoulder. It was still bleeding.

“What did he use?” I asked

“Short knife. Japanese.” She said blandly. “It was an attack from the back."

"Nasty."

"I took down three of his men. Then he came from behind.”

“He is sick. Somehow, nothing has changed with these people.”

“They are trained that way. Remember?”

I leaned closer and realized the shoulder wound needed urgent care.

I reached for my bag and pulled out a sachet of medicine that carried the tag Hira - the healer powder.

I sprinkled it on the wound, and that elicited a cry. She slapped me on the shoulder

"Hey, give me a warning." Kelly grimaced

“Sorry. Just bear with it.”

“What’s that?” Katherine asked.

“Hira. The antidote medicine I got from Headquarters. It is very effective.”

“You are lucky. He could have stabbed you the back."

"He probably wanted to keep me alive to know the secret of the Orange Rabbit."

"He will return."

“Ken has grown stronger.” Kelly remarked, “I sent him a back kick, but he quickly swerved to the side.

I nodded, grudgingly, “He planned all these.”

“The ambulance is on the way.” Catherine came over and informed

I nodded, and after she had walked away, Kelly asked

"You have not spoken to her since the breakup?"

I shook my head

"You stubborn mule. She looked like she was still single."

Kelly teased

"With your injuries, you could still tease me. Can we not get into that now?" I said.

Then I looked to the tall grass

"Should I go help Visnu?"

Kelly protested and held my hand. “ Use your instincts. What if Ken has another trap for you?”

I paused and reflected.

“If there is a trap, I cannot allow others to die on my behalf.”

In the background, I heard the fire engine sirens in the distance.

“Adam, Ken has targeted us.”

We barely had time to argue when Visnu and his colleagues emerged with their fallen colleague.

Vishnu was carrying the front while another police officer was holding the legs.

In seconds, all four of them emerged from the tall grass. Their faces were wet with fatigue and sweat.

At this moment, there was a huge explosion, which served as a warning for us to leave before the fire

brigade arrived.

After we had shifted the car further down the road by a few hundred meters,

Vishnu came over to check on Kelly.

“Kelly, how are you feeling?"

"They regret taking on me, I guess." She said with her usual confidence

"We probably need your help with a facial description. I will have to nab this fellow who planned all these.”

Visnu’s sense of urgency touched me. His concern for Kelly was an extension of his support for me.

Though he was not good with words, his actions spoke.

“Adam, you have to get some treatment." He said, studying me carefully.

I had forgotten about my injuries.

I checked and realized there were many cuts on my body, with the torn section on the right portion of

my jacket. There was also a cut on my lower chin.

The blood has dried.

"When the ambulance is here, but I am fine," I said.

Visnu then looked pointedly at the fires.

“This villain better have a reason to commit such crimes in Singapore.” He muttered.

I looked at Kelly. “ We let him escape. It will mean certain consequences for us.”

“We must capture him.” She lamented as her eyes grew wet.

“I will check with Headquarters if they have any intel on the movements of the Black Robes in

Singapore and Japan." She added

"Let me do it later. I will need to start tracking them in the morning. They may be hatching a bigger

scheme.” I said

“I will personally bring him back." She clenched her fists

"Where do you think his next move is?" I asked.

"He will leave Singapore?" Kelly guessed.

"Or maybe he will contact some people in Singapore? He could be here to meet someone?"

I said.

Kelly was silent

"What do you think? I asked.

Again, there was silence. I turned and realized Kelly had passed out.

I touched her hands, which were chilled, and her pulse was weak.

Kelly had exhausted herself.