Chapter 87

Xie Wendong knew he couldn’t wait any longer. If the police arrived, things would get complicated—after all, there were dozens of lives at stake! Taking advantage of the chaos, Xie Wendong gave Jiang Sen a signal, rushed forward, and arrived at a thin student before the latter could react. He punched the student in the abdomen and snatched the wooden stick from his hand. Almost simultaneously, Jiang Sen shouted, “Everyone, go!” and charged at Xie Wendong with his Japanese sword, while the others also drew their weapons and attacked the crowd.

Hundreds of people engaged in a brutal, raw fight at the fiery entrance, wielding swords and sticks amid cries of battle. The onlookers, who had never seen such a scene before, stood twenty meters away, watching. Xie Wendong swung his stick, trying to break through, but there were too many enemies, and fewer and fewer people remained by his side. In the end, only Jin Yan and four others were left to protect him, while Jiang Sen and the rest had scattered and were nowhere to be seen. From time to time, gunshots from the rooftop could be heard, and with each shot, someone would cry out and fall to the ground.

Xie Wendong didn’t know how many people he had knocked out; he only felt his strength fading, with the intense pain in his vulnerable areas keeping him from collapsing. The five people beside him were in similar condition, all injured and at their limit. Gritting his teeth, Xie Wendong realized that if things continued like this, all of them would die here. With that thought, he shouted, “Brothers, stop being merciful! They’re no longer students—let the Japanese kill them!” Holding his stick in one hand and his pistol in the other, he shot a student who was charging at him. The bullet blew a huge hole in the student’s head. No longer holding back, Xie Wendong threw away his stick, picked up a knife, and started swinging it frantically at his opponents—completely different from before. Jin Yan and the four others, being killers by profession, lacked experience in close combat and suffered heavy losses. Moreover, seeing that their opponents were students, they hesitated to kill them. Hearing Xie Wendong’s words, they drew their pistols and fired several shots at those charging at them.

The students immediately panicked. Those who were shot didn’t survive; their heads were blown apart. Xie Wendong shouted, “Everyone, break through!” and led the way toward the end of the crowd. Some tried to stop him, but he shot them down. The others didn’t dare take risks and retreated.

As Xie Wendong ran out, the deafening sound of police sirens came from not far away. He cursed inwardly. Turning back, he saw the Five Elements Brothers, Jiang Sen, and dozens of others also running out. He shouted, “Scatter! The police are here!”
Jiang Sen said, “Brother Dong, let’s go together!”
“No need. I can handle it alone! Everyone, scatter quickly! Remember to go alone—don’t gather in groups!” With that, Xie Wendong adjusted his wrinkled suit and ran into an alley. The others followed his example, hiding their weapons and walking away casually. Students feared the police the most; as soon as they heard the sirens, they scattered without anyone needing to tell them.
This violent incident had alarmed the provincial authorities, with even the deputy director arriving in person. They resolved to crack down hard on the troublemakers, and the entire area was sealed off by the police.
After entering the alley, Xie Wendong let out a long sigh. He felt cold—he heard it was a sign of excessive blood loss. He tightened his belt again; his wound had gone numb and no longer hurt. Xie Wendong knew he needed to treat his wound quickly—this wasn’t a good sign.
Less than 200 meters later, he encountered two police officers on patrol. Both sides noticed each other. Xie Wendong’s heart trembled—he wasn’t confident he could defeat these two in his current state, but he walked forward calmly.
As they got closer, the two officers stared at Xie Wendong, noticing that aside from his pale complexion, something seemed off about him.
As they passed each other, one officer suddenly asked, “Kid, did you see a fight ahead?”
Xie Wendong froze, then nodded. “I did. What’s wrong?”
“You saw it? You’re so calm despite that. Are you one of those who were fighting?” The officer pushed Xie Wendong, not very hard, but it still sent him stumbling back several steps until he leaned against a wall. The officer was surprised at first, but then realized what was happening when he saw blood dripping from Xie Wendong’s pants. Xie Wendong knew he couldn’t hide any longer. With a quick motion, he drew his golden knife and rushed at the officer about to pull out his gun, stabbing him in the neck.
The other officer pulled out his gun, but before he could raise it, Xie Wendong kicked him in the wrist, sending the gun flying far away. Before the officer could shout, Xie Wendong punched him in the neck, knocking him out with a muffled groan. The officer who had pushed Xie Wendong had a small hole in his neck from the golden knife, bleeding profusely as he lay on the ground, unconscious.

After knocking out the two men, Xie Wendong leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. Just these simple actions had left him drenched in sweat, as if he had used up every last ounce of his strength. After a long while, he felt a bit of strength returning and slowly moved forward, supported by the wall. Blood dripping from his pants left a trail behind him. Before he could go far, a woman’s voice came from behind: “Don’t move! Raise your hands!” Hearing her voice, Xie Wendong felt dizzy. Without turning around, he knew who it was—Peng Ling, the last person he wanted to face at this moment! Slowly turning around, he saw her tense face and felt a sense of disappointment. “Are you here to arrest me?” Peng Ling’s heart ached upon seeing Xie Wendong’s pale face. Biting her red lips, she said, “Yes! I said it before—if the police get evidence of your crimes, I’ll be the first to arrest you!” Xie Wendong clenched his fists secretly. If he threw a flying knife now, he might be able to subdue her, but… “Sigh!” After a long pause, he let out a deep sigh, his expression darkening. He didn’t have the courage to attack Peng Ling. He lowered his head in silence, cursing himself for being incompetent! Unaware of what Xie Wendong was thinking, Peng Ling tried to persuade him, “Wendong, come with me to the police station! That way it will count as surrender, and your sentence will be lighter!” Xie Wendong sneered, “Really? Do you know how many people I just killed? One, two, five, ten. I can’t even remember. Going with you will only lead to my death. If you…” He shook his head. He was extremely dizzy, losing blood rapidly, with little time to waste on Peng Ling. He said urgently, “I hope you’ll let me go, as if you never saw me!” “No! I can’t just watch you continue like this. If you can kill ten people today, you’ll kill a hundred tomorrow. I’m a police officer—I can’t and won’t tolerate such things! So…” “So you definitely have to arrest me today?!” Xie Wendong snapped, “If you want to arrest me, just shoot!” With that, he turned around and walked step by step toward the end of the alley. Watching his figure grow farther away, Peng Ling’s heart sank. She was conflicted—neither wanting Xie Wendong to continue like this nor wanting to arrest him, as he had said it would result in the death penalty. What to do? A strong sense of helplessness arose in Peng Ling. The duty of a police officer felt like a sharp knife cutting through her heart. Five seconds passed, but to Peng Ling it felt like five years. Finally, reason overcame emotion, and she shouted, “Xie Wendong, stop! If you take one more step, I’ll shoot! I really will shoot!”

Xie Wendong kept moving without slowing down and replied, “It’s better to die from your gun than from someone else’s!”
When Xie Wendong’s figure was about to disappear at the end of the alley, Peng Ling murmured, “I’m sorry!”
“Bang~~~”
The gunshot shattered the quiet sky. Xie Wendong stopped in his tracks; a bullet hole appeared in the wall behind him, so close that the small stones ejected from it nearly scratched his face. Damn it, she really shot! Xie Wendong cursed inwardly and turned to glare at Peng Ling. She said firmly, “Take one more step, and the next bullet will be for you!”
“Are you really going to watch me die?” Xie Wendong felt heartbroken. He couldn’t bear to hurt her, yet she could treat him like this. Did he mean nothing to her? Had he been overthinking things all along? Suddenly, he felt an urge to laugh—laugh at himself for not killing her with a golden knife earlier! Why had he been so self-righteous?
Peng Ling’s hand holding the gun trembled slightly. Seeing Xie Wendong’s resentful gaze, she seemed on the verge of crying, but she held back. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and shouted, “I’m a police officer! This is my duty!”
At that moment, countless police officers in green uniforms appeared behind Peng Ling, all armed. They had rushed over after hearing the gunshot. Seeing Peng Ling pointing a gun at a young man in the distance, they figured out what had happened—the man must also be involved in the fight. When they saw their two fallen colleagues, they realized things were serious and shouted, “Don’t move! Raise your hands!”
A few officers quickly carried the injured away from the alley.
Xie Wendong watched these officers with a cold smirk, his gaze finally settling on Peng Ling’s face as he sneered, “Officer Peng, are you satisfied now?”
Peng Ling slowly lowered her pistol and leaned helplessly against the wall on one side of the alley, her face eerily pale. A young officer rushed over to support her, asking worriedly, “Xiao Ling, are you okay?”
Peng Ling silently shook her head; her heart was bleeding. The young officer put an arm around her shoulders and said, “I’ll take you to the hospital. Your face looks terrible!” Then he glared fiercely at Xie Wendong before the two left the alley, whispering to the other officers who had come with them, “Take good care of this kid! Don’t be polite with him!”

So that’s how it is! Seeing the two of them huddled together, even a fool could understand what was going on. He mocked himself in his heart: You’re the stupidest idiot in the world! Watching the police officers approach ever closer, Xie Wendong resolved to fight to the end—dying under a hail of bullets was better than kneeling and letting someone shoot him in the back of the head! With that thought, he slowly moved his left hand behind his back, and the golden knife came into his hand naturally. The police officer, less than five meters away, a tall and strong man, stepped forward and slapped Xie Wendong across the face. “Damn it, didn’t you hear I told you to raise your hands?”