Chapter 20

Sanyan smiled and said, “Fatty, you’re not really cut out for guns. I think a knife would be more suitable for you. Besides, there are only three guns for now—just wait!”
Li Shuang looked unhappy and muttered, “You all have pistols but I don’t! It would be so cool to have a pistol!”
Zhang Yanjiang laughed and said, “I don’t have one either! It doesn’t matter whether we bring guns now or not; we’ll definitely get them later! Besides, the Tigers Gang must have guns—then we can just have more of them!”
Li Shuang sighed, “Sigh! There’s nothing else we can do.”
Xie Wendong and the others picked up their pistols and started practicing. Li Shuang pouted beside them, idly shooting at sparrows with a shotgun. It wasn’t until evening that they returned by car. In this way, Xie Wendong and his brothers practiced repeatedly for five days. Although they weren’t yet very familiar with their shotguns, most of them had grasped some tips.
Five days later, Xie Wendong gathered all the brothers who had been practicing with guns and met with Xin Xin to outline the plan in detail. Everyone listened and nodded in agreement. After making the arrangements, Xie Wendong told them to rest for a while. He, along with Sanyan and Zhang Yanjiang, reviewed the plan once more to ensure nothing was overlooked, and only then did Xie Wendong feel relieved.
Xie Wendong was especially cautious about this operation because he knew who their opponents were. They had Russian mafia backing, so their strength was unimaginable. That’s why he put in the greatest effort into planning this operation.
At 5 p.m., everyone got ready to set off. Xie Wendong reminded them again, “No matter who they are—men, women, old or young—be ruthless. Leave no survivors!” Everyone knew how dangerous this mission was and agreed in unison.
At 6 p.m., Xie Wendong led forty of his brothers in a Great Liberation truck to an abandoned factory in the suburbs. The truck stopped about a mile away from the factory. Xie Wendong left Zhang Yanjiang and a few others to watch over the vehicle, instructing them to head over immediately upon hearing gunshots. He then went with Sanyan and the rest to approach the factory slowly.
When they were about fifty meters away, Sanyan stopped and whispered, “There are guards over there. Be careful!” He pointed to a large tree ahead. Xie Wendong looked closely and indeed saw two people standing there, seemingly talking. Although it was midsummer, it was still a bit dim after 6 p.m., and it would be hard to spot the two people under the tree without careful observation.

Xie Wendong gave a signal to Sanyan and Gao Qiang, who understood immediately. They handed their guns to the people nearby, drew their daggers, and silently crept forward. The two men under the tree were unaware of the approaching danger and were chatting merrily. In their minds, this was the territory of the Tiger Gang; anyone who dared to cause trouble must be seeking death.

Sanyan and Gao Qiang tried to keep as low to the ground as possible as they sneaked up behind the two guards. When they reached range, they nodded at each other and suddenly fired at the guards, taking one down each. Gao Qiang covered one of the guards’ mouths with his hand while using the other to stab him in the abdomen repeatedly. He kept stabbing until he felt the man stop struggling before stopping. When he released him, the man’s abdomen was a mess of wounds, and his clothes were stained red with blood. Gao Qiang checked the guard’s breath—there was no sign of life—and confirmed he was dead. Turning to look at Sanyan, he saw that the guard Sanyan had killed had several stab wounds in his neck, with blood gushing out.

The two exchanged smiles. Sanyan raised his arm and signaled to Xie Wendong, indicating that everything was taken care of safely. Xie Wendong understood and led the group forward. They slowly approached the factory, where voices could be heard from inside. Sanyan walked at the front, reached the factory gate, hid behind the wall, and peeked inside.

There were two groups inside—one of ten people and one of two. The larger group was led by a blond foreigner, and Sanyan guessed they must be from the Tiger Gang, while the other two were likely those doing business with them. Four large boxes were placed beside those people, and two trucks were parked in a corner of the factory. Xie Wendong came behind Sanyan and bent down to look inside. After a while, he turned to signal to the others, who understood and scattered around the factory.

Five minutes later, one person cautiously approached Xie Wendong and whispered in his ear, “Brother Dong, everyone is ready!”

Xie Wendong nodded, wiped the sweat from his palms, and showed three fingers to his teammates. They knew this meant to count silently to three before firing together. Xie Wendong held a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other, leaning against the wall.

To Xie Wendong, those three moments felt like three years. When the time came, Xie Wendong let out a loud shout and rushed in through the main gate. With a snap of his hand, he fired a shot into the crowd, ignoring whether he hit anyone, pulling the trigger repeatedly until his gun was empty in an instant. The others at the gate rushed out almost at the same time as Xie Wendong, firing at the crowd inside the factory. In a flash, the twelve people involved in the deal were reduced to five. Since the Tigers Gang was facing away from the gate and closest to it, the five who were hit were all their members.

These men were desperate criminals. As soon as they heard the gunshots, they knew something was wrong and quickly took cover. The Russian leader of the Tigers Gang cursed loudly, while his subordinates grabbed the two middle-aged men they had been dealing with. “Damn you, Wang Laoer, you’re trying to cheat us!” As soon as he said that, the Russian pulled out his gun and fired wildly at the two men. Poor Wang Laoer was killed by the bullets before he could even let out a fart.

The Tigers Gang members, hiding behind cover, began firing back at Xie Wendong and his men at the gate. Seeing that they couldn’t break through, Xie Wendong and his men moved to the sides. Both sides started shooting at each other. At that moment, the brothers who had circled around to the back of the factory heard the gunshots and took action. They quickly climbed over the factory wall and struck the Tigers Gang from behind. Although the shotguns weren’t as powerful as those used by the Tigers Gang, their range was wide, allowing them to cover a large area with just one shot.

Caught off guard by this sudden attack from behind, the remaining five members of the Tigers Gang were all hit. Only the Russian and one of his men with glasses didn’t fall. The man with glasses said a few words in Russian to the Russian, then shouted and rushed toward his men behind him, firing his gun from time to time as he ran.

The man with glasses, who was exposed, had only run two steps before being riddled with bullets from both sides of the factory, his body covered in small holes.

Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the man with glasses, the Russian dashed across to the nearby factory wall. Despite his injuries, he was still agile. He climbed over the wall and got out. Seeing that things were going wrong, Xie Wendong shouted, “Don’t let him get away!”

At the same time Xie Wendong spoke, Sanyan rushed after him quickly.

The Russian climbed over the wall and ran into the grassy area. Sanyan and the others chased closely behind, firing a few shots at him from time to time, but due to nervousness and the distance, they missed. The Russian displayed extraordinary burst of speed and soon left them behind. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a car horn on the road nearby, felt hopeful, and rushed toward it. Seeing an old truck approaching, he stood in the middle of the road and shouted for help. The truck stopped beside him, and a young man jumped out, smiling and asking, “Need help?”
The Russian could understand Chinese and understood what the young man meant. He shouted, “There… someone… is killing me! Save me!” While speaking, he kept looking back. Unexpectedly, the young man took advantage of his distraction to pull out a blade over two inches wide from his back and viciously stabbed him in the abdomen. By the time the Russian turned around, it was too late—the entire blade was buried in his lower abdomen, with the tip sticking out from his back.
Seeing the Russian staring at him with a pale face, the young man pulled the blade back forcefully. “I don’t know who you are. If you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck for running into me!” After saying that, he glanced at the Russian writhing on the ground, then added, “We didn’t intend to kill you, but the price you offered was unreasonable, so we had no choice but to do this.” Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he kicked the Russian into the bushes by the road. Then he got back into the truck and told the driver to wait a moment.
The Russian lay on his back, eyes wide open, feeling blood slowly flowing out of his body and his body growing colder. Using his last bit of strength, he raised his hand and wrote a few words in Russian on the ground beneath him.
At that moment, Sanyan and the others arrived from behind. Seeing the truck, they shouted, “Yanjiang, did you see a Russian?”
The young man in the truck laughed and said, “Let me hang up!” It turned out that the one who had killed the Russian was Zhang Yanjiang. It was quite coincidental. Zhang Yanjiang had stayed in the truck to keep watch. At first, he heard bursts of gunshots, but later the noise subsided to occasional shots. Worried that Xie Wendong and the others might be in trouble, he rushed over in a hurry. Unexpectedly, he encountered a bloodstained Russian looking panicked along the way. Smart as he was, Zhang Yanjiang guessed what had happened and struck him secretly when he wasn’t looking.
Sanyan was overjoyed and asked, “Where’s the body?”

Zhang Yanjiang pointed at the thicket with his spear. Sanyan saw this and strode over, with Zhang Yanjiang following closely behind. He stepped forward to check the Russian’s breathing; Sanyan nodded and smiled in relief. Zhang Yanjiang stared at the ground where the Russian’s men were, smiled slightly, said nothing, and then went to the factory with Sanyan and the others.

At that moment, Xie Wendong frowned deeply. The Russian had underestimated the appearance of their group, and letting him escape would always be a threat to them. Just as he was worried, he saw Sanyan and the others returning. Xie Wendong quickly asked, “Brother Zhang, did that guy escape?”

Sanyan laughed heartily, “He did escape! But in the end, Brother Yanjiang took care of him!” Xie Wendong gave Zhang Yanjiang a deep look and said, “Well done!” Then he said to everyone, “Brothers, hurry up and load the stuff onto the car. We can’t waste any more time!”

Everyone worked together to load the four large boxes onto the car. Li Shuang ran over with a black leather bag and handed it to Xie Wendong. When Xie Wendong took it, it felt heavy. He wanted to open it to check, but it was a locked, password-protected bag. Without time to examine it closely, he threw the bag onto the car. After ensuring all four boxes were loaded, he ordered everyone to get into the car and leave.

At that moment, Gao Qiang ran over and asked, “Brother Dong, what about those who aren’t dead?”

Xie Wendong hesitated for a moment before making a decision. “We can’t leave any survivors!” Gao Qiang nodded and said, “Understood!” Then he drew his knife and headed toward those who were still alive. The large truck could easily hold forty people, but after loading the four boxes, some people couldn’t get in. In the end, some brothers had to climb onto the boxes, allowing the rest to barely get in as well.

As soon as the car reached the city area, Xie Wendong ordered some people to get off. With so many people in the car, they would draw too much attention. He told those who got off to take taxis to an area near Xinxin and meet up there later.

The battle at the rundown factory was fierce, but it lasted no more than ten minutes. There wasn’t a single survivor. The members of the Tigers Gang were among the first to arrive at the scene. They were extremely shocked and angry. Losing the goods was one thing, but having them stolen right in front of their own doorstep was deeply humiliating. Later, the Tigers Gang found the Russian’s body, with a few words in Russian written beneath him. The Tigers Gang didn’t reveal what those words were. But afterward, they launched a fierce attack on the Axe Gang, along with two other major gangs in City J, with the Brotherhood also getting involved.

Xie Wendong and the others never expected their actions to trigger such a massive upheaval in the underworld. The police in City J mobilized in full force for a city-wide patrol. When the provincial capital learned of the chaos in City J, it ordered the local police to crack down on criminal activities with severity. The “crackdown” in City J started several months earlier than planned. But that’s another story.

Back to the story: Xie Wendong and the others arrived at Xinxin, covered the boxes with pre-prepared gray cloth, and carried them into the Xinxin Billiard Hall. Someone was already waiting inside to help carry the four boxes into the back room. Only then did everyone relax a bit. The guys sat on the ground and started smoking to ease their tension. As soon as Xie Wendong entered the room, he said, “Forget everything that happened today. Don’t mention it to anyone, not even your own parents. This isn’t just about our own lives and property—it’s also about the survival of the entire gang! Did you all hear that?”

Everyone replied in unison, “We heard it, Brother Dong! We won’t say a word!” Li Shuang stood up and shouted, “Whoever leaks what happened today, I’ll kill him!”

Xie Wendong glared at Li Shuang, who quickly sat back down and said, “It’s as if I never said anything!” Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed. Xie Wendong said to Sanyan, “Brother Zhang, open one of the boxes and take a look. See what the Mighty Tiger Gang is dealing in.”

Sanyan nodded, found a screwdriver in the toolbox, and slowly lifted the lid of one of the boxes along the seam.

Everyone gathered around, curious about what was inside. Gao Qiang stood aside and said, “What’s there to rush to see? It came from Russia—what else could it be except weapons?!”

Everyone found Gao Qiang’s reasoning sensible and sat back down.

It took Sanyan a lot of effort to lift the lid of one of the boxes. He peered inside and said after a pause, “Qiangzi was right. But this doesn’t seem like ordinary weapons!”

Everyone was stunned. They gathered around and gasped when they saw what was inside. Someone couldn’t help but say, “The Russian devils want to fight in China?!”

The boxes contained rocket launchers, submachine guns, pistols, grenades, and even landmines. Everyone was amazed, realizing now why they were so heavy. Xie Wendong took out a pistol from the boxes. It was silver in color, less than half a foot long, and felt comfortable in the hand. Although Xie Wendong didn’t know its name, he was sure it couldn’t be bought on the black market.