The first lesson that Zhang Yong wanted to teach Yang Yi was to respect life and to think clearly before taking one.
Yang Yi decided to take the lesson to heart. For reasons that he himself didn’t know, Yang Yi realized that he did, in some sense, lack respect for life. Actually, it was more than just life that Yang Yi lacked respect for. It was just about anything that could be considered a taboo in human society.
Murder for the average human being would not be as easy as it had been for Yang Yi with the Boxing King, that’s for sure. Even if someone had all the reasons in the world to commit murder, there was no possible way that they could remain as calm as Yang Yi did.
Yang Yi didn’t know why Zhang Yong wanted to teach him to respect life, but Zhang Yong surely had his own reasons, “I’ll remember what you said about holding onto my humanity, but do you mind explaining to me why I should? Not like I disagree with it or anything; I’m just the kind of guy who likes to question everything.”
Zhang Yong nodded, “I was a mercenary before, a hitman a couple times as well. I remember having met people like you during those days.”
Yang Yi decided to stay silent and let Zhang Yong explain himself.
“I started out as a mercenary,” Zhang Yong adjusted his seat, “It didn’t take more than a year for my first mercenary band to split up since half of us died before we really got to do anything. However, that band was the reason I was recruited to the finest mercenary group there was at the time.”
“The finest mercenary group?”
“Yeah, the Saints. Ever heard of them? The world’s finest small mercenary group. Well, they’re second in the world, but they’re first because the number one group hasn’t done anything for years.”
“No, I don’t know anything about mercenaries.”
“Oh,” Zhang Yong sighed. His voice was slightly disappointed when he continued, “I joined the army before I went to other countries.”
“The army? You mean something like the Special Forces? Like the top elites?”
“I was in the Special Forces, but it wasn’t like the ones that most people think about. I was in the Chemical Defence Corp as a pyro.”
“A Pyro? The one that uses a flamethrower? I didn’t know they had pyros in the Chemical Defence Corp.”
“Yes, at least that’s the way it is in China. Our training was tough and the standards were high. You would think that the training in the Chemical Defence Corp was more relaxed than in the Regular Forces, but it was the opposite. You think anyone could be a pyro?”
“No, no. Just asking out of curiosity. Please, do continue.”
“Come to think of it, the story of how I met the Saints is quite interesting. Basically, my group got a mission in South America to take down two local drug lords. It was my first and final battle in that mercenary group. So many of them died and many more were heavily wounded. The worst part was that we were surrounded.”
Zhang Yong remained silent for a while as he sank back into his memories. As though looking through at a screen in a cinema, he stared at the wall and resumed, “That was the first time I saw someone blow up right in front me. Even though I had already been in the army for several years, the most I’d been through were a few military exercises.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I’ve gone off topic, haven’t I?” Zhang Yong suddenly paused and smiled.
“No, no, it’s fine. Keep talking about it. I like hearing stories like this.”
“All six men I was guarding had been injured. We were all mercenaries that nobody cared about, but I couldn’t help myself. I refused to just abandon them and survive on my own. I got along pretty well with one of them, but that’s not the reason I stayed. No, the reason I stayed was that’s just how we Chinese soldiers are; we never give up on our comrades and we never abandon them.”
“And then?”
“Well, I fought for quite a long time all by myself. There were six injured comrades under my care, so I thought I might as well take as many of the other side out that I could before I got taken down. I think I got forty or fifty of them, but the really tough ones never came to face me.”
“Forty to Fifty? That many?”
“It was quite a few, but nothing special, really. Speaking of which, you have no idea how hard it is to fight in a South American jungle. You’re dead the moment you get attacked on more than one side. We were in a small town, though. So even as bad as the situation was, we managed to escape the worst.”
“What happened later?”
“Eventually, someone came out holding a white flag and said that the leader of the Saints wanted to talk to me. Since he had the white flag on him, I decided not to pull the trigger and agreed to talk.”
“Wait, that worked? Weren’t you in the middle of a war?”
“I thought the same thing. Thought the guy was out of his mind, but I agreed to it anyway. I got to meet the leader of the Saints and had a face-to-face conversation with him. He asked me what country I was from and I told him that I had Huaxia blood in me. He then took a liking to me and offered to treat my men if l joined their group.”
“He sure has a great eye for talent.”
Zhang Yong laughed and continued, “Obviously the offer was just too good, I had to accept it immediately. And within no time, Nate came and actually provided treatment for the wounded. Two out of the six survived, which was, believe me, already more than what we could have hoped for. After that, I became a member of the Saints.”
Zhang Yong stopped and looked out over the distance. He then drew a long, deep breath and continued, “It was only a while later that I finally understood; Nate was a complete madman.”
“A madman?”
“Yes. If anything, he and the rest of the Saints were complete nutcases. What do most people become mercenaries for? Money, that’s what! But the Saints fought wars simply for the sake of fighting wars. No reasons. No desires. They just went to any place where there was conflict. Tell me, what do you think they were doing?”
“Umm, I really have no idea.”
“Our leader was called the Mad Hound. He was handsome, sharp and well respected as a leader. With him fighting alongside the rest of us on the front-line, he led us to victories one after another. But he was a madman, sort of like you. I’m telling you about him because you share a lot of similarities. You’re both smart, handsome, and care nothing for the lives of yourselves and others. Lastly, you both have dreams that will never come true.”
Yang Yi responded with a dry laugh, “Is that right? So what happened to the Saints?”
“No idea. I quit a while ago.”
“How come?”
Before giving his answer, Zhang Yong stared intensely at Yang Yi for a long time, “Because they were nutcases, that’s why, and I’m talking about every one of them. They would sacrifice everything they could for a dream that wouldn’t come true. After getting injured during one of the missions, I decided that enough was enough and left the Saints right after the mission was over.
“But even so,” Zhang Yong paused and said proudly, “Nate sure had a good eye for talent. After working with him, he told me I was the finest soldier there was. He said I was brave, stern, obedient and that I was a capable man even in the most brutal forms of battle. As a former mercenary, I suppose I should feel honored because he said that.”
“Uhh, hang on,” Yang Yi asked in a slightly timid tone, “He just let you go? Just like that?”
“Nate didn’t care for keeping members within the band; his pride wouldn’t let him do that. And another reason was that from his point of view, I was nothing more than a tool that could help make the Saints operate better. But Nate didn’t care if I was still in the Saints or not. Either with or without me, they would still be out there doing god-knows-what.”
The first lesson that Zhang Yong wanted to teach Yang Yi was to respect life and to think clearly before taking one.
Yang Yi decided to take the lesson to heart. For reasons that he himself didn’t know, Yang Yi realized that he did, in some sense, lack respect for life. Actually, it was more than just life that Yang Yi lacked respect for. It was just about anything that could be considered a taboo in human society.
Murder for the average human being would not be as easy as it had been for Yang Yi with the Boxing King, that’s for sure. Even if someone had all the reasons in the world to commit murder, there was no possible way that they could remain as calm as Yang Yi did.
Yang Yi didn’t know why Zhang Yong wanted to teach him to respect life, but Zhang Yong surely had his own reasons, “I’ll remember what you said about holding onto my humanity, but do you mind explaining to me why I should? Not like I disagree with it or anything; I’m just the kind of guy who likes to question everything.”
Zhang Yong nodded, “I was a mercenary before, a hitman a couple times as well. I remember having met people like you during those days.”
Yang Yi decided to stay silent and let Zhang Yong explain himself.
“I started out as a mercenary,” Zhang Yong adjusted his seat, “It didn’t take more than a year for my first mercenary band to split up since half of us died before we really got to do anything. However, that band was the reason I was recruited to the finest mercenary group there was at the time.”
“The finest mercenary group?”
“Yeah, the Saints. Ever heard of them? The world’s finest small mercenary group. Well, they’re second in the world, but they’re first because the number one group hasn’t done anything for years.”
“No, I don’t know anything about mercenaries.”
“Oh,” Zhang Yong sighed. His voice was slightly disappointed when he continued, “I joined the army before I went to other countries.”
“The army? You mean something like the Special Forces? Like the top elites?”
“I was in the Special Forces, but it wasn’t like the ones that most people think about. I was in the Chemical Defence Corp as a pyro.”
“A Pyro? The one that uses a flamethrower? I didn’t know they had pyros in the Chemical Defence Corp.”
“Yes, at least that’s the way it is in China. Our training was tough and the standards were high. You would think that the training in the Chemical Defence Corp was more relaxed than in the Regular Forces, but it was the opposite. You think anyone could be a pyro?”
“No, no. Just asking out of curiosity. Please, do continue.”
“Come to think of it, the story of how I met the Saints is quite interesting. Basically, my group got a mission in South America to take down two local drug lords. It was my first and final battle in that mercenary group. So many of them died and many more were heavily wounded. The worst part was that we were surrounded.”
Zhang Yong remained silent for a while as he sank back into his memories. As though looking through at a screen in a cinema, he stared at the wall and resumed, “That was the first time I saw someone blow up right in front me. Even though I had already been in the army for several years, the most I’d been through were a few military exercises.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I’ve gone off topic, haven’t I?” Zhang Yong suddenly paused and smiled.
“No, no, it’s fine. Keep talking about it. I like hearing stories like this.”
“All six men I was guarding had been injured. We were all mercenaries that nobody cared about, but I couldn’t help myself. I refused to just abandon them and survive on my own. I got along pretty well with one of them, but that’s not the reason I stayed. No, the reason I stayed was that’s just how we Chinese soldiers are; we never give up on our comrades and we never abandon them.”
“And then?”
“Well, I fought for quite a long time all by myself. There were six injured comrades under my care, so I thought I might as well take as many of the other side out that I could before I got taken down. I think I got forty or fifty of them, but the really tough ones never came to face me.”
“Forty to Fifty? That many?”
“It was quite a few, but nothing special, really. Speaking of which, you have no idea how hard it is to fight in a South American jungle. You’re dead the moment you get attacked on more than one side. We were in a small town, though. So even as bad as the situation was, we managed to escape the worst.”
“What happened later?”
“Eventually, someone came out holding a white flag and said that the leader of the Saints wanted to talk to me. Since he had the white flag on him, I decided not to pull the trigger and agreed to talk.”
“Wait, that worked? Weren’t you in the middle of a war?”
“I thought the same thing. Thought the guy was out of his mind, but I agreed to it anyway. I got to meet the leader of the Saints and had a face-to-face conversation with him. He asked me what country I was from and I told him that I had Huaxia blood in me. He then took a liking to me and offered to treat my men if l joined their group.”
“He sure has a great eye for talent.”
Zhang Yong laughed and continued, “Obviously the offer was just too good, I had to accept it immediately. And within no time, Nate came and actually provided treatment for the wounded. Two out of the six survived, which was, believe me, already more than what we could have hoped for. After that, I became a member of the Saints.”
Zhang Yong stopped and looked out over the distance. He then drew a long, deep breath and continued, “It was only a while later that I finally understood; Nate was a complete madman.”
“A madman?”
“Yes. If anything, he and the rest of the Saints were complete nutcases. What do most people become mercenaries for? Money, that’s what! But the Saints fought wars simply for the sake of fighting wars. No reasons. No desires. They just went to any place where there was conflict. Tell me, what do you think they were doing?”
“Umm, I really have no idea.”
“Our leader was called the Mad Hound. He was handsome, sharp and well respected as a leader. With him fighting alongside the rest of us on the front-line, he led us to victories one after another. But he was a madman, sort of like you. I’m telling you about him because you share a lot of similarities. You’re both smart, handsome, and care nothing for the lives of yourselves and others. Lastly, you both have dreams that will never come true.”
Yang Yi responded with a dry laugh, “Is that right? So what happened to the Saints?”
“No idea. I quit a while ago.”
“How come?”
Before giving his answer, Zhang Yong stared intensely at Yang Yi for a long time, “Because they were nutcases, that’s why, and I’m talking about every one of them. They would sacrifice everything they could for a dream that wouldn’t come true. After getting injured during one of the missions, I decided that enough was enough and left the Saints right after the mission was over.
“But even so,” Zhang Yong paused and said proudly, “Nate sure had a good eye for talent. After working with him, he told me I was the finest soldier there was. He said I was brave, stern, obedient and that I was a capable man even in the most brutal forms of battle. As a former mercenary, I suppose I should feel honored because he said that.”
“Uhh, hang on,” Yang Yi asked in a slightly timid tone, “He just let you go? Just like that?”
“Nate didn’t care for keeping members within the band; his pride wouldn’t let him do that. And another reason was that from his point of view, I was nothing more than a tool that could help make the Saints operate better. But Nate didn’t care if I was still in the Saints or not. Either with or without me, they would still be out there doing god-knows-what.”
