1 The Spy's Last Breath

BANG!

The gunshot echoed through the dimly-lit alleyway as Bai Yunshu kept moving forward, her face etched with grim determination. Nothing and no one would stop her from completing her mission tonight. After working as a spy for ten years, this was the most important assignment she had ever embarked upon. She felt fearless, panting as she stood by a corner, a smirk playing on her lips. With practiced ease, she loaded her gun and opened fire.

"She went that way!" she heard the men shouting, their footsteps thundering towards her direction. 

Swiftly, Bai Yunshu gripped the pole she had been hiding behind and propelled herself upward, landing atop it with feline grace. As the men approached, now standing at a high vantage point, she unleashed a hail of bullets upon them. By the time they realized she was perched right above them, it was too late. She jumped back down and continued her pursuit, undeterred.

Five years ago, Bai Yunshu had implanted a small tracker on her younger brother, Bai Chengling. She wanted to always know his whereabouts, for her job as a spy was a perilous one. After attempting to call her 20-year-old brother and receiving no answer, she knew instantly that something was amiss. They led vastly different lives, yet they maintained daily contact, no matter how busy Bai Yunshu was. She made sure to call him and check on him, for he was all the family she had left.

Bai Yunshu had practically raised her brother. Both their parents died in a car crash when she was ten and he was five. They lived with relatives, but when one of them mistreated Bai Chengling, Bai Yunshu decided to take her brother and flee. They spent a harrowing year on the streets before a kind woman running an orphanage took them in. It was there that an organization took an interest in the then 13-year-old Bai Yunshu, training her until she was ready for her first mission at 15.

The pay was substantial, and she managed to get her brother out of the orphanage, securing a house for them with live-in maids and every amenity. Bai Yunshu ensured Bai Chengling attended the best schools, wanting for nothing. Now, at 20, he was in his second year of college, pursuing a degree in Computer Engineering.

Back in the present, Bai Yunshu followed the direction the tracker pointed her towards, until finally, she came across a small room, and there he was. She kicked the door open. "Chengling, wake up!"

Bai Chengling's eyes fluttered open, and a smile formed on his face. "Gosh sis, what took you so long?"

Bai Yunshu smiled back. "Sorry for the delays, bro. I had a few things I needed to take care of outside."

"Are you hurt?" Bai Chengling asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Not yet. You?"

"Just a few broken ribs. I'll survive."

"Come, let's go home." Bai Yunshu handed Bai Chengling another gun. "I'm pretty sure you haven't forgotten how to use this, right?"

Bai Chengling grimaced. "I hate guns, but what choice do I have?"

"Just for tonight, little bro. Let's go."

As she was helping him up, a familiar voice rang out, "I knew this had something to do with you."

Bai Yunshu froze for a second, recognizing the voice of her colleague, Zhang Kai. They had trained together as kids, but she knew he had always been jealous of the praise she received from their superiors.

"I suppose all this has something to do with you?" Bai Yunshu said, her tone hard.

Zhang Kai laughed. "You're giving me too much credit, Yunshu. Someone up there wants you gone, and of course, we knew you would go on a suicide mission for this brat."

Bai Yunshu's fist connected with Zhang Kai's face. "Don't call him a brat!"

Zhang Kai laughed again, raising his own gun. "I would love to stay and chat, but I have other things to attend."

Bai Yunshu's teeth clenched, shielding her brother with her back. "Who is it? Who planned all this?"

"It won't help telling you. You're dying here tonight anyway. Just know that the order came from someone high up. You already know too much, Bai Yunshu. They can't risk just allowing you to leave the team."

Zhang Kai leveled his gun at them, his finger tightening on the trigger. Bai Yunshu tensed, ready to move, but the bullet still grazed her shoulder as she dodged. She cried out in pain but fought through it, engaging Zhang Kai in an intense clash.

Bai Chengling cocked his gun and fired at Zhang Kai, but before they could make their escape, they found the door surrounded by guards. Without warning, they opened fire.

Bai Yunshu watched in horror as her brother crumpled to the ground. She tried to fight, but they had the advantage of numbers and firearms. Already injured, she eventually fell.

Dragging her body to her brother's side, she cradled him in her arms. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," she whispered, her voice thick with anguish.

Zhang Kai, clutching a gunshot wound to his abdomen from Bai Chengling's earlier shot, snatched a gun from one of the guards. With a cruel smile, he aimed it at Bai Yunshu.

As the bullet found its mark, Bai Yunshu felt her eyes closing. She had resigned herself to her fate, for she was better off dead than living with the knowledge that her brother had died because of her. Everything eventually went black.

In that final moment, as her life ebbed away, Bai Yunshu's last thoughts were of her brother and the fierce love she had for him - the one thing that had kept her going through all the darkness she had witnessed in her years as a spy. At least now, she thought with a sense of peace, they would be together again, in whatever awaited after this life.

But fate, it seemed, had other plans.

As her soul slipped from her body, instead of the endless oblivion she expected, a brilliant light engulfed her. She felt herself being pulled, hurtled through a kaleidoscope of colors and sensations unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Just when she thought she could bear no more, it stopped.