My hometown is far away in Moscow.

023 In a moment of desperation

Before Lu Tao walked into the dead end, Li Baoqing and Peng Song had already turned the corner and stood on the roadside, anxiously waving to flag down a car.

There are not many licensed taxis in Moscow, and they charge extremely high fares. They mainly pick up passengers at upscale hotels and the airport, and almost never solicit customers on the street.

Here, you can mostly flag down private cars. Taking a taxi is a mutually beneficial activity; drivers who are willing to pick up passengers will stop and ask, and if it's on their way, they'll give them a ride. The price is negotiated between the two parties. Most drivers are just earning a small fee for their service, and some don't even charge money. Of course, there are also some who make a living from this.

More than a dozen cars in a row showed no sign of stopping, and Li Baoqing was getting increasingly anxious. Finally, a dilapidated old Lada slowed down and stopped on the side of the road. The driver asked where they were going and then invited them to get in.

Peng Song yanked open the back door and climbed in. Li Baoqing turned around and called out twice, but Lu Tao didn't come over, and no one answered. He told Peng Song, "I'll go call Brother Tao," and hurriedly walked back.

Unexpectedly, after taking only a few steps, the old car revved its engine and sped away. Li Baoqing was both shocked and furious. He turned around and shouted in the direction the car had gone, "Hey! Hey... damn it..." Just as he was at a loss, he suddenly heard the sound of breaking glass and Russian cursing coming from a nearby alley. He quickly turned around and ran over.

He rushed into the alleyway, where two men stood on either side of him: a bald man who looked like the leader, and a tall, thin man in camouflage pants. Li Baoqing quickly stopped and saw a bald man lying stiffly on the snow a short distance away, while another man was being brutally beaten by Lu Tao, who was holding him by the arm. The other man seemed somewhat dazed. Two other bald men were chasing and attacking Lu Tao, yelling, but the space was cramped, and the two men were probably afraid of accidentally hurting their companion, so they seemed to be holding back.

Li Baoqing was filled with fear and anger. Seeing the leader turn around and glare at him fiercely, he had no choice but to muster his courage and walk towards him, shouting loudly, "You, what did you do...?"

Before he could finish speaking, the tall, thin man next to him suddenly turned to the side, baring his buck teeth and grinning maliciously as he swung his baseball bat. Startled, Li Baoqing hurriedly stepped back to dodge, but his foot slipped on the ice and snow, and before he could avoid it, he received a solid blow to his left cheek.

In an instant, golden light shone before Li Baoqing's eyes, as if brilliant sunlight pierced through thick clouds and shone directly on his face. Then, everything went black, and his feet felt light as if he were floating on clouds. His whole body fell sideways like a skyscraper being deliberately blown up, landing heavily on the snow.

The left side of his face was throbbing with pain, and his head was throbbing and numb. His right cheek, which was pressed against the ground, seemed to have touched something sharp; he first felt a chill, then a burning sensation, and then it quickly cooled down again. Li Baoqing struggled to get up, but after digging a few times in the snow with his feet, he stopped moving.

The tall, thin, bald man, who had just blocked the broken bottle Lu Tao threw, was still shaken. He turned his arm and saw that his leather jacket had been scratched by a shard of glass. He cursed angrily and gripped his baseball bat, ready to hit Lu Tao.

Just then, Li Baoqing suddenly ran into the alley and questioned him loudly. The tall, thin man was very close to him and swung his baseball bat forcefully, hitting him squarely in the face.

Seeing Li Baoqing fall to the ground unconscious, the tall, thin man shook his arms, which were numb from the impact, and grinned, showing off his buck teeth as he laughed loudly at the foreman next to him: "Wow! How about that? Didn't that look like a professional strike?"

The foreman glanced sideways at Li Baoqing on the ground and smiled contemptuously: "Under normal circumstances."

"So-so? Let's do it again." The tall, thin man walked up to Li Baoqing, hands on his hips, kicked away the large plastic bag Li Baoqing had dropped, spread his legs in a golf swing stance, and turned to the foreman, saying, "Guess if this one will blow his head off? Want to bet?"

"Are you crazy?" The leader frowned slightly. "Killing someone will cause trouble."

Li Baoqing lay on the ground, his head buzzing. He could hear the conversation between the two bald men, their voices sometimes near, sometimes far, sounding ethereal. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but he vaguely saw the tall, thin man gesturing with a baseball bat in front of him, as if he might hit him in the face at any moment.

Li Baoqing was both shocked and frightened. He tried desperately to get up, but his body was completely out of his control, limp and unable to move at all. In his panic, he fainted.

The tall, thin man raised his baseball bat, glanced at Li Baoqing's face a few times, and grinned, "What are you afraid of? He looks strong, he shouldn't die." With that, he swung the bat high.

The foreman hesitated for a moment, then stopped him, saying, "Wait a minute, Valery..."

Before he could finish speaking, a blur appeared before his eyes, and a small, thin figure darted past him and crashed straight into the tall, thin man.

Despite the punches and kicks coming from behind, Lu Tao unleashed a series of heavy blows at the bald man holding the iron chain. After taking several hits, the man finally couldn't hold on any longer, collapsing limply and ceasing to struggle, his gaze gradually becoming unfocused.

Lu Tao shrugged and shoved him to the ground. Just as he was thinking about how to escape, he suddenly saw Li Baoqing dart into the alley, then be knocked unconscious again, the snow beside his head gradually turning crimson.

The turn of events was sudden. Lu Tao's attention was momentarily distracted when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind and punched him in the cheekbone. Lu Tao staggered a few steps from the blow, quickly suppressing his slight dizziness. He looked up at Li Baoqing and saw the tall, thin man swinging his baseball bat again, while Li Baoqing lay motionless on the ground.

Lu Tao was startled. He swayed rapidly from side to side, elbowing the two men behind him in the ribs, temporarily forcing them back. Then, he rushed forward in three strides, pinning down the tall, thin man's raised arms and slamming his shoulder into his chest. The tall, thin man stumbled, cursing as he wrestled with Lu Tao.

The leader, who hadn't made a move until now, saw Lu Tao's back and seized the opportunity to kick him hard in the back of the knee. Caught off guard, Lu Tao's legs buckled, and the tall, thin man pulled him down to his knees. Then, another knee slammed into his face, blood instantly gushing from his mouth and nose. The two bald men who had been chasing him earlier also rushed forward, cursing, and began kicking and stomping him wildly from behind.

Lu Tao was beaten to his knees and couldn't get up. Seeing the tall, thin man about to kick him again, he hurriedly lunged forward and grabbed the man's raised right leg. The tall, thin man tried to shake him off but failed. Enraged, he grabbed the end of the stick and struck Lu Tao's head several times.

Lu Tao felt a sharp pain in his head. He gritted his teeth and persevered for a moment, but then felt dizzy and on the verge of collapse. In desperation, he used his left arm to pull the tall, thin man's legs tightly into his embrace, while his right hand swiftly reached up and grabbed the man's groin like an iron clamp.

The tall, thin man let out a pig-like scream and pounded the ball down on Lu Tao's head even harder. Blood streamed down his hair and forehead, but Lu Tao ignored it, continuing to strain with all his might. The tall, thin man doubled over in pain, dragging Lu Tao back a step against the wall, the baseball bat falling to the ground.

The bald men next to him cursed and rushed forward, kicking and punching him. Lu Tao took the blows without uttering a sound, while the tall, thin man's cries grew more and more miserable, hoarsely squeezing out a few words from his throat: "Don't...don't move..."

After a moment's hesitation, the bald man, whose arm had been twisted and who had been beaten half to death by Lu Tao, stood up unsteadily, touched the blood on his face, and cried as he picked up the iron chain and rushed behind Lu Tao. He reached out and put the iron chain around Lu Tao's neck, pulling hard backward.

Lu Tao felt a tightness around his neck, and his body involuntarily leaned backward, his right hand pulling backward as well. The tall, thin man let out a heart-wrenching scream, tears streaming from his eyes, and weakly cried out, "Let...let go..."

Seeing his companion in such pain, the chained man became anxious and didn't consider the impact of his actions on the tall, thin man. He just stubbornly kept increasing his strength, trying to force Lu Tao to let go.

Although Lu Tao was having difficulty breathing, the thick collars of his sweater and down jacket cushioned his neck, so he didn't feel particularly constricted for the time being. He knelt on the ground and desperately tried to hold onto the tall, thin man's thighs, but it wasn't so easy for the chained man to pull him away.

The others watched in stunned silence as the chained man kicked with his left leg and straightened his right, pulling forcefully backward. Lu Tao gripped the tall, thin man's crotch tightly; as his body was pulled back a fraction, his grip tightened. The tall, thin man, curled up like a boiled shrimp, weakly and repeatedly pounded on Lu Tao's back, mumbling incoherently, "Let go, please, let go..."

After a brief standoff, Lu Tao's face was flushed red, and the tall, thin man slumped limply against his shoulder, unable to speak. Seeing Lu Tao's stubbornness, the bald man, who appeared to be the leader, probably worried about a potential fatality, quickly stepped forward to stop the chained man and shouted to Lu Tao, "Stop! Everyone stop! It's over, this is the end!"