Chapter 49

Upon hearing this, Li Shiming’s forehead broke out in sweat, his mind growing blurred. He laughed maniacally, “Haha! I lost! So what if I lost? I’ll take you down with me when I die!” With that, he firmly pulled the trigger.
With a gunshot, Xie Wendong remained seated without moving; only Ying stood in front of him, a blood hole appearing in her chest. Ying didn’t utter a single cry, as if it weren’t her who was injured. She quickly drew her gun and aimed it at Li Shiming. Startled by Ying, Li Shiming hadn’t expected the beautiful girl behind Xie Wendong to save him from that shot. Filled with resentment, he thought, “If you want to die, I’ll fulfill your wish!” Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger again.
Gao Zhen watched clearly from the side. The wound on Ying’s chest felt as if it were on him. The moment Ying was injured, he screamed and rushed forward to hold her.
Two gunshots rang out—“Bang!” “Boom!”—time seemed to stop, and everyone in the conference room stared in shock. Ying was hit by Li Shiming’s first shot, feeling intense pain and numbness in her chest as her consciousness grew blurred. Yet she still gritted her teeth and fired back almost simultaneously. Ying’s bullet penetrated Li Shiming’s head, while Li Shiming’s bullet lodged in Gao Zhen’s back.
The three slowly collapsed. In her moment of unconsciousness, Ying saw Gao Zhen’s pale smiling face and realized he had taken the bullet for her. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
Xie Wendong stood up, unsure of his feelings. The Triad elder Li Shiming was dead, and Gao Zhen’s fate was unknown. The Triad was now like a dragon without a head, and it would be easy for Xie Wendong to take control of it. He should have been happy, but he couldn’t feel joy. He walked over to Gao Zhen, took off his coat, and pressed it against the wound on his back. Then he turned around and shouted, “What are you waiting for? Hurry and take Gao Zhen and Ying to the hospital!”
The people in the conference room snapped out of their daze and rushed outside, carrying Gao Zhen and Ying on their backs. Xie Wendong wanted to follow to the hospital to see if they were alive, but he couldn’t leave—he still had important matters to attend to. Letting out a deep sigh, he calmed himself down and said to his subordinates, “Get rid of Li Feng’s body. Remember, clean it thoroughly—not even a single hair should remain!”
His subordinates agreed and immediately carried Li Feng out. Xie Wendong continued, “Leave Li Shiming’s body here. Don’t touch it! You can all leave now.” With that, he sat down and waited quietly for one person.

After a while, a group of police officers came in, led by a man in his early forties, tall and muscular, with sharp eyes and a neatly fitted suit. After entering, he looked around; there were only two people in the conference room—one of them was dead, and the other, a young man, was sitting in the middle of the table. The man said to the police behind him, “Go wait outside for me. I need to talk to him!” The police agreed and left after glancing at Xie Wendong.

The man walked over to the table and sat across from Xie Wendong, saying seriously, “You must be Xie Wendong! I couldn’t believe it when I heard about you before, but now that I see you, you’re even younger than I imagined.”

Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Director Cheng, I’m not sure if you’re complimenting me or insulting me, but it doesn’t matter. I’m who I am, with a name that you’ll surely remember!”

Director Cheng smiled and pointed at the corpse on the ground, saying, “I’m not here to discuss your age! Li Shiming died at your hands after all. It seems the day you take over the Qing Gang isn’t far away, is it?”

“Hehe!” Xie Wendong sneered. “I hope Director Cheng won’t test me any further. I’m sorry about Li Shiming’s death. I didn’t want to kill him, but he tried to kill me—I was just defending myself! There’s nothing you can do to me legally!”

Director Cheng stared at Xie Wendong and snorted without saying anything. Xie Wendong continued, “It seems you caught quite a few people outside just now. There must be a lot of weapons seized as well. Such a perfect case will be a huge achievement for the province. Shouldn’t you show some gratitude to me, the one who informed you?”

Director Cheng looked at Xie Wendong and realized this man was truly extraordinary. He had seen many powerful gang leaders before, but few like Xie Wendong, who could sit across from him and talk so casually, as if everything was under his control. Director Cheng sighed and asked, “What do you want?”

Xie Wendong smiled and said, “What I want is very simple—just one word from you, Director Cheng!”

Director Cheng replied, “Go ahead. As long as it’s not illegal, I’ll do my best!”

Xie Wendong shook his head. This man was really stubborn, always bringing up the law. Such people were rare these days. He said softly, “I can handle things that aren’t illegal on my own. Why bother you, Director Cheng? Actually, my request is simple—just turn a blind eye to me in the future!”

Director Cheng sneered and said, “That’s impossible. Xie Wendong, remember this—as long as I’m still the director of City J, no one can break the law right under my nose. Others can’t do it, and you, Xie Wendong, certainly can’t! Don’t think just because you’re a gang boss I’m afraid of you. If you like me, I welcome you to ‘come find me’ anytime!”
Xie Wendong said, “Director Cheng! It’s good that you know I’m from the gang. It’s fine if you’re not worried about your own life, but don’t you care about the safety of your family?”
Director Cheng stood up angrily and said, “I thought of that as soon as I became the director of City J. You don’t need to threaten me with my family. If that were the case, it would only make me hate you more. If you make me hate you enough, you won’t end up well!”
“Damn it!” Xie Wendong cursed inwardly. He’d never met someone like this! He stood up too and said, “My proposal is beneficial for everyone. If you let go of me, the entire underworld of City J will be mine. I guarantee there will be no more conflicts among the gangs, and City J will become the city with the lowest crime rate and the most peaceful in the province. You’ll have a good record with the provincial authorities, and promotion will be just around the corner. What reason do you still have not to agree?”
Director Cheng smiled and said, “There’s only one reason—I must be true to my conscience and my duties!”
Sigh! Xie Wendong was speechless. After a long while, he slowly asked, “Do you really not care about money or power?”
Director Cheng replied calmly, “It’s not that I don’t care, but as I said, I must be true to my conscience!”
Xie Wendong laughed. In fact, Director Cheng had a very similar personality to his own—both were people who valued principles, but they chose different paths: one kept his conscience, while the other abandoned it. Xie Wendong knew that if he were Director Cheng, he would make the same choice. But he wasn’t; he was the boss of the gang. With Director Cheng in the same city, there could only be one outcome—one of them had to back down! Xie Wendong also knew that it would never be him who backed down, because he had abandoned his conscience.
Xie Wendong said regretfully, “Director Cheng, it seems there’s nothing more to talk about. Arguing further won’t lead to anything.” With that, he left the meeting room, stopped at the door, and said calmly, “I hope one day you won’t regret your persistence!”
Watching Xie Wendong’s retreating figure, Director Cheng said softly and firmly, “Never!”
Xie Wendong went to the hall and saw Li Shuang waiting there. He walked over and asked, “Xiao Shuang, do Sister Xiaoyu and the other know about Gao Zhen being shot?”

Li Shuang shook her head and said, “They don’t know! I think they’re tired and sleeping. I didn’t ask anyone from the gang to disturb them. There have been quite a few incidents today. If they found out something happened to Gao Zhen, I’m afraid…”
Xie Wendong nodded. “You did right! Let’s go to the hospital first to check on Gao Zhen and Ying!” Xie Wendong called to find out which hospital it was, then went there with Li Shuang by car. When they arrived at the emergency room, the entrance was crowded with people. Seeing Xie Wendong, they all greeted him. Xie Wendong asked Jiang Sen, “How is Brother Gao?”
Jiang Sen replied, “Gao Zhen and Ying have just gone into the operating room. We don’t know yet if they’re in danger. Hopefully, they’ll pull through! I think Ying is much more seriously injured.”
Xie Wendong nodded solemnly and said, “This is the second time she’s saved me. I really don’t know how to repay her kindness. I hope we’ll have another chance in the future.”
Jiang Sen said seriously, “Brother Dong, you don’t need to blame yourself. Since you joined the Wendong Gang, you should have expected this day. We’re in the underworld; we make much more money than others, but we’re also playing with our lives!”
“Mm!” Xie Wendong leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette. Jiang Sen lit it for him. The group waited in silence at the entrance of the emergency room. Xie Wendong was conflicted—hoping that Gao Zhen would survive while also wishing he’d die, because sooner or later they would end up fighting. With Xie Wendong’s personality, he would always aim to be number one; there was no such thing as second place. Conquering the Qing Gang was only a matter of time.
After almost two hours, the door to the emergency room opened, and a young nurse with blood spots on her clothes rushed out. Li Shuang quickly stepped forward and asked, “Doctor, how are they in there? Can they be saved?”
The nurse walked away while saying, “We don’t know yet. The surgery isn’t over. Please wait a bit longer!” As she passed by Xie Wendong, she saw a cigarette butt on the ground and complained, “Smoking isn’t allowed here. Don’t you know?” Xie Wendong glanced up at her without saying anything. Suddenly, everyone around him stood up, scaring the nurse into running away with a cry of “Oh my god!” They looked at each other and burst into laughter. The atmosphere was no longer gloomy.
It wasn’t until nearly 2 a.m. that they finally heard exciting news: Gao Zhen and Ying were both safe. Gao Zhen’s injuries were minor, and the doctor said he’d be fine after resting for a while. Ying’s situation was more serious; she might suffer lasting complications.

The next day, Xie Wendong brought the Gao Hui Mei sisters to the hospital to see Gao Zhen, who had regained consciousness. Outside the ward, there were members of the Qingbang, all looking worried. With the Qingbang’s elder having died in rebellion and Gao Zhen seriously injured, the once-mighty Qingbang was now leaderless, and everyone within the gang was anxious. These were all loyal core members of the Qingbang, and most of Li Shiming’s confidants had been captured by the police the previous day, so the situation within the Qingbang had basically stabilized. When they saw Xie Wendong approaching, they were initially stunned but quickly reacted, nodding at him in greeting. After all, Xie Wendong was Gao Zhen’s good friend, and he had also killed Li Shiming, providing great help to the Qingbang. Most importantly, because it was Xie Wendong, no one in J City’s underworld dared to underestimate this young man anymore.