Chapter 104

The man ran outside shouting. After taking just a couple of steps, a gunshot rang out, and his cries ceased. Evgeny, holding a smoking pistol, looked down at the corpse on the ground with mockery, spat on it, and said harshly, “From today on, we’ll be the absolute bosses of City H! Haha! Haha!~~~”

Few ofXia Kui’s gunmen were still standing beside him. Realizing the situation was dire, they helpedXia Kui retreat to the second floor.

The chaos here also changed the dynamics of the battlefield. Most ofXia Kui’s gunmen had guns, while the rest used knives to fight. Although the leaders of the various gangs were at a disadvantage in terms of weapons, the removal of the gun threat allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief as they fought against the remaining men underXia Kui’s command.

SeeingXia Kui retreat to the second floor, Xie Wendong felt slightly relieved. He stood up and retrieved his golden sword, which was still covered in “debris.” Xie Wendong took a piece of clothing from a corpse to wipe clean the silver wire on his sword. Sanyan, Gaoqiang, and Jinyan all came over, looking at him worriedly and asking, “Brother Dong, are you okay?!” The situation had been extremely dangerous, and they were afraid Xie Wendong might be injured. Only when they saw him smiling and shaking his head did they relax.

Looking back at the battlefield, only over thirty people were still fighting. The ground was covered with dead and dying people, stained dark red. More than five of the leaders of the various gangs had fallen and could not get up. Xie Wendong sighed inwardly. Great changes were about to unfold in City H, which might not be a bad thing for him after all.

Sanyan rolled up his sleeves and asked, “Brother Dong, what should we do now? Should we go help them?” He pointed toward the battlefield.

Xie Wendong thought for a moment before nodding and saying, “Help them!”

Sanyan nodded in agreement, turned aside, and threw his knife. The knife flew and hit someone in the head. That person, seeing that Xie Wendong and his group were discussing something, had tried to seize a gun. As soon as he bent down, Sanyan noticed him and smashed the knife into his head. The man lost consciousness immediately.

Sanyan then picked up a gun from the ground and fired several shots atXia Kui’s men. The others also picked up weapons to fight back. In no time, all ofXia Kui’s men were dead.

The surviving bosses sat on the ground, breathing heavily, and cast grateful looks at Xie Wendong. One middle-aged man, slightly overweight with a shaved head, stepped forward and bowed to Xie Wendong, saying, “Brother Xie, thank you so much for your help this time. Otherwise, I would have lost my life. If you need anything in the future, I, Luo Gang, will never refuse!” Luo Gang was a well-known gang leader in the XF area, the same area where Xie Wendong ran his casino.

Xie Wendong had his own motives. Waving his hand politely, he said, “Brother Luo, don’t say that. Having scum like Xie Kui in the underworld is a shame for our city. I wonder if you still have the strength to fight. Let’s go upstairs and settle accounts with him!”

Shui Jing added, “He’s been poisoned by my needle; he can’t escape!”

Luo Gang straightened up, picked up a pistol, and shouted angrily, “Let’s go, Brother Xie! We’ll go upstairs and settle accounts with him!” Then he turned to the others, “Are you coming? Do you want to avenge your fallen brothers? Those who want to go, follow Brother Xie!”

These were all respected gang leaders used to commanding respect. They had never suffered such humiliation before. They grabbed their weapons and shouted, “Let’s go! Kill this scum!” “Damn it! I lost five good brothers. I’ll skin him!” “…”

“Great! Follow me!” Seeing everyone’s high morale, Xie Wendong shouted loudly and secretly signaled his men to follow behind the bosses, conserving their strength and ammunition. He knew this wasn’t over yet. Although Xie Kui had been defeated, Yevgeny still hadn’t shown up. Though he didn’t know why, his intuition told him this wouldn’t end so easily.

The group went upstairs. The design was similar to the first floor—there was a large hall as soon as they arrived, with a corridor on one side containing seven or eight small rooms. As soon as Xie Wendong and the others entered the hall, three gunshots rang out. Everyone became more cautious. As soon as the shots were fired, they crawled to the ground to hide, found their targets, and fired back. Xie Wendong rolled to the corner between the stairs and the hall and peeked out. At the far end of the hall, behind the sofa, three burly men were shooting from time to time. As for his own men, despite their earlier determination, they now lacked the fighting spirit, hiding behind cover and shooting randomly from time to time, some not even knowing where the enemies were.

Xie Wendong shook his head at the group, thinking to himself that they wouldn’t achieve much. He then waved at Sanyan and the others and said, “There are three people behind the sofa ahead. Xie Kui must be in one of the rooms in the corridor—kill those three quickly!” Xie Wendong was eager to find Xie Kui because there were still many things he didn’t understand.

Jinyan nodded in agreement and gave Mu Zi and Tushan a thumbs-up. “Follow me!”

The three of them went downstairs, dragged three corpses back to the corner where Xie Wendong was, and exchanged glances. Without any signals, they almost simultaneously threw the corpses aside. Then, Jinyan gave a silent command and rushed out.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!…”

After a burst of gunshots, the hall fell silent. Jinyan got up from the ground, brushed off the dust, and said from the corner, “Brother Dong! It’s done!”

Hearing the voice, Xie Wendong stepped out from the corner and went behind the sofa. The three men guarding the hall each had a bullet in their forehead, precisely placed. Xie Wendong secretly gave a thumbs up, impressed by Jinyan and the others’ marksmanship. He thought to himself that if he had a killer like Jinyan working against him secretly, his fate would be the same as these three!

Sanyan and the others also came over, looked at the corpses on the ground, and praised, “Good!” The bosses reevaluated Xie Wendong’s strength. No matter where he was placed, everyone agreed: it was better to avoid him.

Xie Wendong glanced coldly at the group, feeling disdain. He clapped his hands to get their attention and shouted, “Xie Kui is in one of the rooms in the corridor! Split up and look!”

The bosses quickly nodded and obediently followed Xie Wendong’s orders, starting to search room by room down the corridor.

Xie Wendong approached Shui Jing and asked, “Jing, what poison is on your steel needles? Is it powerful?”

Shui Jing hesitated for a moment before whispering, “It’s very powerful! The poison is called ‘Chasing Heart.’ If nothing goes wrong, Xie Kui is already dying! Unless he can cut off his own arm, there’s no hope—but I don’t think he has the courage!”

Xie Wendong nodded. He wasn’t afraid of Xie Kui dying, but he wanted to resolve his doubts before that happened. He shouted, “Hurry up! It’ll be troublesome if the police arrive soon!”

At the mention of the police, the bosses were shocked and sped up even more. Xie Wendong sneered—there was no way the police would show up here! Just as he was thinking this, a gunshot rang out. One of the bosses who had just opened a door was shot in the chest and slowly collapsed. Xie Wendong knew they had found Xie Kui! He shouted at the others, “Go!”

Gunfire rang out again, tearing through the sky that had just fallen silent. At some point, over thirty more people appeared outside the building, armed with guns and surrounding it completely.

Yevgeny leaned casually against a car, smoking. Beside him, in addition to two old Russians, there was also a Chinese man—strong-built, with a full beard, and his small eyes moving constantly. His name was Qin Songjun, the honorary leader of the Tigers Gang, a loyal watchdog kept in China by Battle Axe.

Qin Songjun stood bent beside Yevgeny, trying to please him. “Mr. Yevgeny, can we clean up the mess now? It seems like things inside are almost over. If the police arrive, we won’t have an explanation!” (Russian)

Yevgeny sneered coldly. “I know what to do! Wait a little longer!” (Russian)

Inside the building, the few remaining men under Xia Kui lay in pools of blood. He himself was leaning against the window, his body convulsing continuously, with a faint blue tint on his face—the poison of Pursuing Heart had spread throughout his body. Xia Kui felt extremely cold; his dwindling willpower kept him from collapsing. He still held onto a last glimmer of hope, believing that Yevgeny was his ally and would come to save him.

Xie Wendong came over to him with a gun, glancing out the window out of the corner of his eye. His heart shuddered—countless figures were moving outside. “Damn it!” He pulled Xia Kui’s hair, forcing his dull eyes to look straight at him. “Do you still think that Yevgeny will come to save you? Stop dreaming! You, me, everyone here—we’re all victims of Battle Axe! You’re such an idiot! Look outside! See what your so-called ally is doing! Look carefully!”

Xie Wendong pressed Xia Kui’s head against the window. The latter’s body jerked violently before collapsing like a deflated balloon, with no strength left. He could only stand because Xie Wendong was holding his hair. Xie Wendong said harshly, “Do you see now? He wants to kill us all. You were smart enough to sell yourself out too!”

Tears streamed from Xia Kui’s eyes. It turned out he had been manipulated by Yevgeny from start to finish. Yevgeny had promised to make him the underground emperor of City H if he killed those gang leaders at the party! Xia Kui’s gaze was vacant as he murmured, “It’s all a lie! It’s all a lie! It’s all a lie…”

Xie Wendong slapped him and demanded loudly, “I’m asking you—why do you want me dead the most?”

Xia Kui seemed not to hear, continuing to mutter to himself. Xie Wendong had no time to argue with him; he raised his gun and shot him in the thigh, then demanded, “I’m asking you why you most want me dead!” Xie Wendong couldn’t forget the words Xia Kui had said before shooting at him, guessing it must have something to do with Yevgeny, as there seemed to be some hidden reason.
The intense pain in his leg snapped Xia Kui out of his daze, restoring some of his consciousness. Staring at Xie Wendong, he snapped angrily, “Heh heh, you want to know, right? Well, I’ll tell you. Anyway, no one will survive today! You can’t have forgotten Ma Wu, can you?!”
“Ma Wu is your friend?” Xie Wendong was intrigued and pressed further.