"Hmm, give another hug. This is the reward I can give you." Koizumi Katsuko stretched out her arms, stood on tiptoe, and pulled Gu Weijing's body forcefully into her graceful and undulating embrace.
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Bang!
Bang!
The continuous sound of two gunshots startled a large flock of birds into flight.
The woman, dressed in a blue gauze dress with a wool sunhat, sat on a chair, skillfully breaking open the 1899 model "Delakang" double-barreled antique hunting gun, adorned with a walnut grip and silver-plated crown double-headed eagle.
With fingers wrapped in silk gloves, she extracted two warm copper-clad steel shell casings from the dark barrel, letting them bounce onto the lawn below, then pushed two new bullets into the chamber.
She locked the barrel, broke open the firing lever, and rested the ivory-embedded shoulder plate against her shoulder.
The woman gently inhaled, aimed, exhaled.
At the instant her long breath reached its end, she pulled the trigger.
