BODYGARD

Chapter 27: Assassination in the Dead of Night!

Jack followed Lucy into the grove.

It was late evening.

The journey from Houston had brought them here under a high-hanging moon, its white light adding a quiet stillness to the grove. The occasional sound of insects from the direction they came from, or the crunching of twigs underfoot as they walked through the forest, was all that could be heard.

Lucy led the way.

Jack closely followed her.

Lucy was silent.

And Jack didn't dare speak.

He clearly remembered the first time they met, when he spoke out of turn and ended up with a 'gloriously' reduced salary.

All was quiet—

In the silence, the few sounds accompanied Lucy and Jack to their destination.

Only they were in the grove.

They arrived at an old bridge over a stream.

"Is this Meihu River?" Jack wondered silently to himself.

He was unsure.

But seeing Lucy standing on the bridge, hands behind her back, gazing at the water below, he could surmise that the river under the bridge was indeed Meihu River.

"What's so special about Meihu River?" Jack pondered internally.

He had heard from Anita that Lucy would come here once a month to look at Meihu River. She would watch it for an entire night, not sleeping at all, eyes never closing.

He was too lazy to think too much about it.

But he could see that this woman carried a lot within her.

Lucy stood quietly, watching Meihu River, not uttering a word. Standing on the bridge, her clothes fluttered with the night's cool breeze. Her figure was slender, well-proportioned, not overly voluptuous but perfectly so.

She dressed casually with a black hat that was a new addition to her usual attire. The hat sat upon her, harmonious in appearance.

Even without any particularly eye-catching outfit, her aristocratic presence was undeniable.

She stood on the bridge.

Her face, focused.

With just one glance, you could be intoxicated, unable to pull yourself away.

The beauty of the scene, the beauty of the person.

The small river babbled on.

Rushing over the stones in the water.

Lucy seemed to find such pleasure in a scene that might not inspire much comfort in others.

"Beep beep!"

At that moment, Jack's phone rang.

He checked it to find a text message, blinking as he read.

It was from Diana.

"Trouble," Jack thought with a wry smile.

The whims of the wealthy.

Diana seemed to have her hooks in him now, but he couldn't blame her. After all, hadn't he given in and taken a necklace from her?

"Hey handsome, your big sister has been alone at home all evening, why haven't you come by? Seems like the flowers are willing but the river is uncaring, huh? What, are you with your beautiful 'sister' instead? Oh, lol, then I guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

Seeing this message, Jack felt as though he could hear Diana's voice.

Diana's text seemed ordinary enough.

But he couldn't shake the feeling—

It felt sinister.

Was that woman freaking out?

Jack couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and dismay.

He sent a text back.

"Sorry, urgent matters today!" Jack replied and sent the message.

Lucy was admiring the scenery on the bridge while he was there potentially spoiling the moment.

After replying to the text, Jack stood not too far from Lucy but still maintained a distance.

He always had to remember that he was a bodyguard and the person before him was the employer.

He too looked at Meihu River, unsure what was so extraordinary about it.

He tried to observe what made Lucy so engrossed in the river, but couldn't figure it out.

Lucy was silent.

He was silent, too.

It wasn't that he chose not to speak.

For the sake of his wage, he had to stay silent.

As for Diana's text, there had been no reply for a long time.

"Did that woman really get mad?" Jack thought.

After all, he had refused her more than once.

No longer interested in Meihu River, his mind recalled the book on bodyguard protocols he had read.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Jack suddenly furrowed his brows, and the next moment, turned around.

A shadow!

It passed by swiftly.

Quickly.

"Who's there!" Jack's eyes scanned the area.

He was not mistaken.

No—

To be precise, he saw it clearly.

Although he seemed engrossed in his thoughts a moment ago, he would not let any movement around him go unnoticed.

"I should check it out!" Jack said.

"Don't go!" Lucy's voice came slowly, soft and pleasant to the ear, yet there was no detectable sentiment in her tone. "Your job is to protect me, not to chase."

That was her first sentence.

To chase and to protect had entirely different meanings.

Jack nodded.

After careful consideration, he understood that his job was to protect Lucy, and as long as she was not harmed, his duty was considered fulfilled.

But he couldn't help but wonder—

That shadow.

Was it a person, or something else?

The night always brings a sense of insecurity.

"Aren't you worried?" Jack asked, puzzled.

Though they were still standing in the same spot, that shadow had indeed appeared.

"You are the one who should be worried!" Lucy spoke.

Lucy remained calm, quietly observing Meihu River, as the bright moonlight cast a silvery sheen across the water. It seemed as if the recent event hadn't caused any ripples in her emotions.

Jack found it hard to comprehend how she could remain so composed.

A sense of unease grew faintly in his heart.

Anita had mentioned that once they were at Meihu River, they wouldn't face much danger,

but now——

"Hmm?"

Right then, Jack suddenly froze in place.

A chilling sensation crept up his back.

"Something's wrong!"

Jack shuddered at the thought, devoid of any hesitation or time to ponder, he took a large stride forward, grabbed Lucy's right arm with one hand and caught her back with the other. With a swift motion, he scooped Lucy into his arms and leaped into Meihu River.

"Splash!"

Jack and Lucy plunged into the river, water splashing everywhere.

In the silent night.

The sound of a sniper rifle equipped with a silencer rang out.

The shot struck where Jack and Lucy had been just moments before.

Jack, holding onto Lucy's pale arm, had dived into the river.

There was a sniper.

"Damn it!" In the darkness of the grove, a man whose face couldn't be made out clenched his teeth and muttered, "How did that kid spot me? I've taken down so many targets and never had anything this strange happen!"

"For an expert, aiming a gun at his back without immediately firing is a critical mistake!"

"I needed a moment!"

"But it was in that moment that he sensed the danger!"

Two figures in the grove were discussing heatedly.

One of them, a sniper with black hair and eyes unlike those of someone from Hua Xia country, a hooked nose, wearing a set of black tight clothes, with a dagger at his waist.

The other, a muscular man with arms covered in hair.

"Just like Scarface said, this bodyguard is trouble!" the burly Bull said.

"The old fox distracted the bodyguard's attention, and I still missed the shot. We don’t have much time. Contact the old fox, Lucy and her bodyguard have jumped into the water. We'll all go in and take them down fast!" Eagle spoke with a stern voice.

Their infiltration here wasn't easy.

"Old fox, get ready to go in!"

"Eagle, shoot into the water!"

Eagle smiled grimly, "I know. My sniper rifle has been specially modded, sound minimized to the extreme. Within three shots, the people outside won't notice us!"

"Then hurry up!"

"This is a good opportunity!"

"We only have a minute!"

"Let's do it, don't make Black Knife personally step in!"

That first shadow Jack had spotted was indeed the old fox.

There were at least two of them, no more than three.

Old fox, Bull, Eagle!

Jack, with Lucy in tow, plunged into the water of Meihu River, which was not very deep. Jack bit his teeth in frustration, wasn't it said that coming to Meihu River meant they should be safe from harm?

If it weren't for the intuition honed in him since childhood, he might have been initially distracted by that shadow and completely unaware of someone aiming a sniper rifle at him from behind!

Experts.

To infiltrate these woods unnoticed and get past a host of bodyguards, these people had to be highly skilled.

Jack did not know the exact number of adversaries, but he estimated there could be three, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

One against three?

Jack's mind raced with thoughts.

He had said—

He wasn't good at thinking, but he focused on what he excelled at.

In this situation.

"It's so cold—" Jack, gripping Lucy's right arm, swam forward in the water.

It wasn't the water that was cold.

But rather—

Lucy's body was cold.

At least, he couldn't feel much warmth from this woman's body.

Why was this woman's body so cold?

"Gurgle..."

Bubbles emerged from Lucy’s mouth as they swam, her hair fanning out attractively in the water.

Jack wanted to ask if she could swim.

But given the current circumstance.

It seemed she couldn't.

"What to do?" Jack clenched his teeth.

Lucy couldn't swim.

Yet, unlike others, Lucy remained expressionless even in such a terrifying situation.

How many times had this woman faced such dangers to become this calm?

"Let's gamble!"

Jack looked into Lucy's eyes and said through a covered mouth, buzzing, "I'm going to take you up for air shortly. After you take that breath, hold it as long as you can underwater. I will deal with that person as quickly as possible."

Lucy's expression unchanged, nodded in agreement.

Jack knew—

There might be danger ahead.