Chapter Thirty-Six: The City of Chaos

Inside the rented room, before Matt could grasp what "now" truly meant, a familiar heartbeat sounded close by.

"Sean?" Matt's expression shifted dramatically, his voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes, it's me." Gu Zhongyan nodded and stepped in front of Matt.

He was in a wretched state—his face, unprotected by a helmet, was battered and bruised, the swelling and blood at the corner of his mouth shocking to behold. His armor, crafted from special materials, was slashed open in several places, stained with dried, dark red blood—whose, it was hard to tell. On his shoulder, several black marks revealed where bullets had struck; had the steel bands of the armor not absorbed the impact, the scapula of this Daredevil might have been pierced through.

Yet even more battered than Matt was the Stick. The frail old man lay helpless on the floor, his plain work clothes soaked with blood, their original color lost. Several gunshot wounds marred his chest, mingling the odors of gunpowder and blood, making the stifling air inside the room nearly unbearable. His shrunken chest no longer showed any sign of breathing. If not for the peculiar "qi" within him preserving a shred of life, this elder would already have been declared dead.

"Wait, how did you—you’re not—?" Matt stammered, at a loss, unable to comprehend how Gu Zhongyan had suddenly appeared in his apartment without warning or sign.

"A bit of magical means. There’s no time to explain. Let me treat the Stick first," Gu Zhongyan replied, shaking his head. He frowned and knelt beside the barely-breathing old man.

Drawing his wand, he gave a gentle wave toward the Stick. "Bullets, fly out!"

With a painful groan, the Stick’s body convulsed as if shocked by electricity. With wet, dull pops, several bullets deeply embedded in his flesh flew out at once. The forced extraction worsened his wounds, and dark blood oozed anew from several points.

Hearing the Stick’s suddenly ragged breathing and seeing the alarming loss of blood, Matt’s face grew visibly panicked. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak, Gu Zhongyan waved his wand again and uttered another incantation.

"Heal as before!"

A milky white light burst from the wand’s tip, bathing the Stick. The bleeding, which had threatened to drain him dry, was instantly stemmed by an invisible force. The torn flesh at his wounds began to regenerate at an astonishing rate, as if time had sped up a hundredfold; the feeble heartbeat surged as if bolstered by a powerful stimulant.

Matt’s jaw dropped, unable to believe what his ears were telling him. Just moments ago, the Stick had been on the very brink of death. Now, his heartbeat was steadying, his wounds closing, and though not fully restored, he was no longer in mortal danger.

Combined with Gu Zhongyan’s sudden appearance, Matt finally realized that this self-proclaimed young wizard could no longer be regarded as he once had been.

Watching the Stick gradually return to normal, Gu Zhongyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had crafted a wand; with it, his repertoire of spells and their power had greatly increased. Otherwise, he might not have been able to pull the old man back from the brink.

Turning to the equally battered Matt, Gu Zhongyan flicked his wand and sent a "heal as before" spell his way as well, not withdrawing the wand until every wound on Matt’s face had vanished.

"All right, your wounds are more or less healed. Now, can you tell me what happened?" he asked.

Feeling the sudden lightness in his body, Matt collected himself and nodded.

"I don’t know the details, only that the Hand has begun a wholesale rampage through Hell’s Kitchen—indiscriminate and all-consuming," he said. "The Chaste were caught off guard and attacked. If I hadn’t happened by and pulled the Stick out, who knows what would have happened."

"In short, Hell’s Kitchen is in utter chaos now. It won’t be long before it spreads to here. You should check the news; they clearly have no scruples left."

As he spoke, Matt opened his laptop and tuned to a random news channel. On the screen, a group of masked ninjas—like locusts swarming a field—rampaged through residential buildings, searching aimlessly for something. They showed no fear of death, advancing even under gunfire.

Most of the NYPD had been deployed to Hell’s Kitchen, but against these agile, almost supernatural ninjas, the police stood little chance of stopping them in the city’s crowded streets.

"What about the military? With things this bad, haven’t they been deployed?" Gu Zhongyan frowned at the police, powerless to stop the ninjas rampaging through Hell’s Kitchen.

"I hear the army’s being mobilized, but it seems to be happening slower than expected," Matt replied.

Gu Zhongyan’s brows knit tighter at this, his eyes narrowing as he pieced the situation together.

No surprise—the Hand surely wielded some influence over the military. It might not be enough to stop their deployment completely, but a little delay was well within their power. After all, for those in high places, going to open war with assassins who specialize in the shadows would make it hard to sleep at night.

Still, even a brief delay could give the Hand enough time to turn Hell’s Kitchen inside out. Judging by how fast the district was falling on the news, both Matt’s apartment and Gu Zhongyan’s own place would soon be found by the Hand. Even with the Muggle-Repelling Charm, Gu Zhongyan couldn’t guarantee the Hand wouldn’t discover them. If they found Su Yan, things would become dire indeed.

"We can’t let this go on," Gu Zhongyan said gravely.

"What do you plan to do?" Matt asked, frowning with concern.

Watching the chaos erupt across Hell’s Kitchen on the screen, Gu Zhongyan’s voice grew cold. "If they want to make a scene, let’s give them an even bigger one. Rather than sit and wait, it’s time to strike first. The Hand has plagued this world for centuries—it’s time to settle the score. Today, let’s wipe out the Hand and the Beast together."

As he spoke, Gu Zhongyan suddenly looked into the distance. "Jessica, I need your help!"

On the other side of the city, in an apartment building, Jessica Jones was startled awake by Gu Zhongyan’s voice. She sprang from her bed in alarm, scanning the room warily.

"Who’s there? Who’s speaking?"

Then, she saw a plain green leaf on her nightstand glow with silvery light, and a familiar voice sounded.

"It’s me. Remember? Sean Gu, the wizard."