Chapter 73

“Bang!” Xie Wendong forcefully smashed a huge hole in the window, and his body flew out of the second floor along with the shattered glass. He crashed heavily onto the ground—luckily, it was soil rather than concrete. Not daring to stay, he endured the pain and ran toward the corner of the building. The killers on the second floor, seeing Xie Wendong jump out, quickly crouched by the window and started shooting down. More bullet holes appeared on the ground behind Xie Wendong, but he still managed to get away. Xiao Huzi cursed under his breath—there was a bounty on Xie Wendong’s head; he had to be killed, or he would face severe punishment if he failed the mission. Shouting at his men, the killers jumped down and chased after Xie Wendong’s escape route.

Xie Wendong stopped at the corner of the building. Looking around, he saw nothing but open space with no place to hide, so he decided to go all in. Pressed against the wall, he gripped his gun. One of the killers leading the charge just showed up when Xie Wendong shot him in the head from behind the corner, knocking him to the ground. With only part of his head exposed, Xie Wendong fired three shots at the men chasing him. One of them couldn’t dodge in time, screamed, and fell to the ground with blood covering his chest. The other killers dared not advance further and sought cover to return fire.

The gunshots drew the attention of the people around. Seeing a group engaged in a gunfight—something they had only seen in movies, TV, or novels—they screamed in terror and scattered in all directions. Xie Wendong kept holding on, trying to buy time until his comrades arrived to rescue him. The killers also had no immediate solution. With the wall corner as cover, it was difficult for them to hit him. A stalemate ensued. Xiao Huzi grew anxious—the longer it dragged on, the worse things would get for him, as the police and Xie Wendong’s rescuers could arrive at any moment. “Damn it!” he cursed inwardly, calling out to his men, “Hold him down! Two of you, come with me and charge!”

His men nodded and opened heavy fire on the corner where Xie Wendong was hiding, forcing him to stay concealed. Leaning against the wall, he gasped for breath. Then he noticed a reflection on the side of a “4500” vehicle, with figures moving inside. Realizing someone was approaching, Xie Wendong calmly removed the magazine from his pistol to check how many bullets were left. There were less than fifteen bullets in total from both pistols. Gritting his teeth, he didn’t show his head but kept the gun exposed, aiming at the reflection and firing two shots based on instinct.

“Ah!~~~” Hearing a cry, Xie Wendong felt hopeful and fired two more shots.

“Oh!” Another muffled groan. Xie Wendong saw figures moving inside the vehicle and quickly fired three more shots, but there was no response, as silent as the ocean. A bitter smile crossed Xie Wendong’s lips—he was running out of bullets! He slowly retreated, keeping a close eye on the corner of the wall.

Suddenly, someone “walked” out, and Xie Wendong instinctively fired several shots. “Click, click!” It wasn’t until his gun ran out of bullets and emitted an empty-shot sound that he stopped to take a closer look. The person was riddled with bullet holes, yet didn’t fall. Behind him stood a man with a mustache, smiling wickedly at Xie Wendong.

Xie Wendong was shocked—he realized he had been tricked! That man had already been killed by him; it was the man with the mustache hiding behind him, carrying his corpse forward. In other words, Xie Wendong’s last few shots had hit a dead man. But Xie Wendong didn’t have time to react. The man with the mustache pushed aside his bullet-riddled companion and aimed his gun at Xie Wendong.

“Kid! Accept your fate!” the man with the mustache laughed sneerily.

Xie Wendong didn’t understand what he was saying, but it certainly didn’t sound like a greeting. His heart sank, and he closed his eyes.

“Bang!” A gunshot rang out, making Xie Wendong’s heart tremble as cold sweat slid down his neck. But then he realized something was wrong—the other man’s pistol had a silencer; it shouldn’t have made such a loud noise. Xie Wendong opened his eyes and saw a distorted face, with a hole the size of a thumb in its forehead, its muscles twisted unnaturally. The man with the mustache hadn’t even realized who had shot him from behind.

Then, more gunshots followed, along with cries of pain and shouts. Xie Wendong slowly sat down against the wall, too tired to care who had saved him. He felt like a frog in a well—only after leaving City J had he truly seen what the underworld was like. The people he had encountered before paled in comparison.

A tall stranger in a suit approached Xie Wendong and asked, “Are you Xie Wendong?”

Xie Wendong glanced up at him, shocked. This man was definitely the tallest he had ever seen—over two meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, and dark skin. If he had met him in the mountains, Xie Wendong would have shot him without hesitation. He looked just like a black bear! Seeing a gun in his hand, Xie Wendong asked, “Did you save me?” The man shook his head.

“Then do you want to kill me?”

The man shook his head again and said in a deep voice, “Our boss wants to see you!”

Xie Wendong was stunned. “Boss? Who’s your boss?”

“There’s no need to tell you now; you’ll know when we meet!” The man remained expressionless, like a robot.
Xie Wendong tried to lift himself up, but the pain from his wound on his arm made him sit back down. He smiled and said, “Do you think I can still move in this condition?”
The man glanced at Xie Wendong’s wound and said, “We have a car!”
“But I might die from blood loss in a while!”
“We have a doctor!”
Xie Wendong fell silent. Who exactly was this person? Anyway, they probably didn’t intend to harm him, otherwise they wouldn’t have saved him. He smiled at the man and said, “It seems you’ll have to help me up!”
The man nodded, grabbed Xie Wendong by the collar, and pulled him up. The rough movement almost made Xie Wendong pass out from the pain. He cursed inwardly, calling the man an idiot, but on his face, he showed a “very grateful” smile and said loudly, “Thank you so much!”
The man showed no expression and merely grunted in acceptance of Xie Wendong’s thanks, then helped (or pulled) him toward the van parked by the road.
“Brother Dong!” Sanyan had returned somehow and rushed over. Seeing Xie Wendong covered in injuries and being pulled away by a tall man (actually helped, but the man’s way of showing “kindness” was too rough), he thought the man was trying to kidnap Xie Wendong. Shouting, he drew his pistol. When he reached the tall man, Sanyan was slightly surprised. He was almost 1.80 meters tall, but still shorter than this man. The physical difference didn’t scare Sanyan. Staring at the man holding Xie Wendong, he said coldly, “If you don’t want to die quickly, let go of him!”
Sanyan had an indescribable feeling for Xie Wendong—since the first time the latter had knocked him down. He even valued Xie Wendong’s life more than his own, though he had never said it. As he spoke, a murderous aura naturally emanated from him—a tangible sense of killing intent! Even Xie Wendong felt pressured; he had never seen Sanyan like this before. The tall man was also stunned and said nothing.
Seeing no reaction from the man, Sanyan stepped forward again. His blood boiled, and his eyes filled with blood, making the whites glow red. Shouting, he said, “I tell you, let go!”
The man unconsciously let go. It was the first time he had felt what true murderous intent was like. It was a strange feeling—knowing clearly that the other person might not be his match, yet feeling as if he would be shattered if he didn’t obey. This was what murderous intent really was!

The burly man showed a rare expression on his face, looking at Sanyan with a smile before saying after a while, “You’re really good!”
Xie Wendong almost fainted upon hearing this. After struggling for so long, all he came up with was such arrogance! Though the burly man seemed rough, Xie Wendong felt he had no intention of harming him. Reaching for the car, he said, “Brother Zhang, he doesn’t mean any harm. I’ll go meet someone with him!” Blood kept flowing from his wound, making him dizzy. Shouting loudly, he said, “Keep talking for a while longer—I’m about to die!”
Hearing this, Sanyan returned to normal but didn’t know what to do. The burly man said expressionlessly, “Brother, we have a doctor!” Then he told Xie Wendong to get into the car. Suddenly, five men dressed like the burly man appeared nearby, each holding a gun. These were the ones who had dealt with the remaining assassins with mustaches. They nodded at the burly man and said, “Brother Lei, it’s all taken care of!”
The burly man nodded and waved his hand. The men threw their guns into the car and scattered in different directions, instantly becoming strangers.
Watching this, Xie Wendong thought to himself that these people must belong to a well-trained organization. He was far inferior to them. It was only by coming to City H that he realized his own insignificance. Without anyone telling him, he knew he was now a nobody. With a bitter smile, he said to Sanyan, “Go handle things quickly. The police should be arriving soon. Hide the guns and goods well so the police can’t find any clues!”
Still worried, Sanyan asked, “Brother Dong, are you really going with them?”
At first, Xie Wendong was reluctant, but now he had changed his mind. He wanted to see what kind of organization this was and what kind of person his boss was. Nodding firmly, he said softly, “Don’t move the bodies. Wait until the police arrive. Hide the guns and goods carefully. Go do it now!”
While Xie Wendong was speaking, the burly man got into the car. After he finished giving instructions, he nodded at Sanyan and told the driver to drive off. Seeing the car leave, Sanyan didn’t dare stay. His teammates began to follow Xie Wendong’s orders.
In the car, the burly man asked Xie Wendong, “What blood type are you?” “AB!” Xie Wendong replied weakly. The shaking of the car made him feel drowsy.
After driving for some time, the car stopped. Two people got in, carrying a medical kit filled with various medicines. They first gave Xie Wendong an painkiller injection, then checked his wounds. They were all muscle injuries; his bones were unharmed, so they breathed a sigh of relief. The two efficiently transfused blood for Xie Wendong, treated his wounds, and stitched and bandaged them.

Xie Wendong wasn’t under anesthesia; he was fully conscious. He smiled at the two people who were busy and said, “Thank you!”
It was a long time before they finally reached their destination. The car drove into a villa in the suburbs, but Xie Wendong had already fallen asleep. The mental stress, physical exhaustion, and blood loss made it impossible for him to pay attention to his surroundings, and he drifted off into sleep without realizing it.
When Xie Wendong woke up, he still felt a bit tired, with a tingling sensation in the wounds on his arms and shoulders. Suddenly, he saw another person standing in the room, with his back to him, gazing out the window. Xie Wendong noticed that the person had gray hair and asked in confusion, “Are you the old man?”
Hearing this, the person turned around and smiled, “What do you think?!”
When Xie Wendong saw his face clearly, he was shocked: “It’s you!!”