Chapter 187

Xiao Fang felt a surge of disgust. He Cheng was nothing compared to Dong Xinlei—like one in the sky and the other on the ground. His expression remained unchanged as he said with a smile, “Don’t you have a gun in your arms? Why didn’t you shoot him with it just now?” “A gun?” He Cheng’s mouth dropped open. It took him a while to remember—yes! He did have a gun. Why hadn’t he used it earlier? In fact, he had been too scared. When Dong Xinlei charged at him, he scrambled into an alley to hide, with no time to think about killing Dong Xinlei. As long as Dong Xinlei couldn’t find him, that would be good enough—let alone using a gun! His face turned red as he scratched his bald head and said sheepishly, “Dong Xinlei is too terrifying. In my panic, I forgot about the gun!”

Xiao Fang was so angry he almost spat blood. He really wondered why the boss had promoted this man to leader. Calmly, he said, “It’s good you didn’t pull out your gun just now. I heard Dong Xinlei’s gun is fast and accurate. Even if you managed to shoot him, he could still kill you!” Hearing this, He Cheng shuddered but secretly felt proud. Thanks to forgetting the gun, he might still be sitting in the car right now. Although Xiao Fang had said it as a joke, He Cheng took it to heart—never shooting in front of Dong Xinlei, as he surely wasn’t as fast. That was what King Xiao Fang had said.

Seeing that the opponent was well-prepared and after a fierce battle, his own men were exhausted, Xiao Fang ordered a retreat. At the same time, he sent allies from other areas to help. The followers of the South Hongmen rushed in from all directions upon receiving the order, their numbers swelling to nearly two thousand. They gathered in several nearby strongholds, waiting for orders.

Dong Xinlei also got a chance to catch his breath. With only two hundred men left capable of fighting, it was impossible to hold the building for two days. Unable to come up with a plan to defeat them, he turned to Xie Wendong in desperation. But Xie Wendong was far away in Kunming and, according to reports, injured as well. Dong Xinlei couldn’t help but sigh deeply, “If only Brother Dong were here right now!”

But Xie Wendong wasn’t there, so he had to rely on himself. He ordered most of his men to find rooms to rest, leaving only a small group to continue guarding their positions. He knew the South Hongmen would surely counterattack soon—they wouldn’t miss such a rare opportunity. But people aren’t machines; no one could keep fighting continuously. He himself was no exception. He took off his stiff clothes, covered in blood that had hardened like cardboard. With the slightest movement, blood clots would fall off. In these desperate times, he didn’t even bother to bathe. He wiped his face and lay down to rest for a while. Less than half an hour later, someone rushed in without even knocking, shouting, “Brother Lei, the enemies have attacked!”

So fast! Dong Xinlei jolted awake, leaped out of bed, grabbed the knives and guns under the pillow, and rushed out of the room. This time, Xiao Fang sent even more men—nearly ten times as many as Dong Xinlei’s force. Fearing that time would work against him, he planned to take control of this place in one go. Dong Xinlei’s side simply couldn’t hold back and retreated to the third floor. Corridors and rooms were filled with fighting, with cries of battle echoing everywhere. Holding his axe, Dong Xinlei cleared room after room; he couldn’t even count the number of people who fell under his blade. Yet the enemies seemed endless—for every one he killed, two, three, or even more would take their place. Dong Xinlei was human, not a god. His strength gradually faded over time, his axe grew unbearably heavy, and the gun in his other hand had run out of bullets, lost somewhere unknown. He fought his way back into the corridor and saw nothing but disciples of the Nan Hongmen, a sea of people. His own side was scattered, with one person surrounded by several enemies. With a deep sigh, he swung his axe and charged forward. Almost simultaneously, five men rushed at him. With a swift swing of his axe, he knocked one down, but suddenly a cold blade struck from behind. He felt it but couldn’t dodge, and the blow landed heavily on his back. Dong Xinlei felt as if his back was on fire; he stumbled forward two steps. Seeing the opportunity, the man in front of him stabbed at him. But he forgot one thing: a starving camel is still bigger than a horse! Dong Xinlei lost control and rushed forward. Seeing a blade coming at him, he braced himself, grabbed the blade’s edge, and swung back. The man didn’t expect him to be so fierce. Hit in the face, he screamed and fell backward. Dong Xinlei propped himself on his axe to steady himself, then touched his back—it was sticky with blood. By now, he didn’t even have the strength to stand; his vision blurred. The wound in his back was deep, reaching the bone, but he no longer felt pain. Just then, there was a soft noise from the window behind him, and someone jumped in. Dong Xinlei reflexively stood up. He couldn’t see the intruder’s face and swung his axe, but the blow was weak. The intruder lightly deflected it with his own blade, sending Dong Xinlei’s axe flying. The man laughed, stepped forward, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said, “It’s me!”

Dong Xinlei froze upon hearing the voices, narrowed his eyes, and knocked. The man had dark skin, a short and sturdy build, and an extremely ordinary appearance. After recognizing who it was, Dong Xinlei grinned and said weakly, “Why do you guys always like to climb in through windows?” The man replied with a smile, “As long as it can save people, it’s a good method.” As soon as he finished speaking, Dong Xinlei laughed heartily before passing out. Seeing the arrival of this person, he knew he would be saved this time. His tense nerves relaxed, and all his fatigue and pain surged upon him. His severely exhausted body collapsed due to the lack of mental strength to support it.

This man was Jiang Sen. The Hongmen had many rules and were slow to send help, but Jiang Sen was not under their control. Upon hearing Dong Xinlei’s urgent message, he brought his men over just in time to find the South Hongmen surrounding Dong Xinlei. In fact, he had arrived earlier; he was not far from the building during Xiao Fang’s first attack, but his appearance was so ordinary that no one noticed him. He roughly estimated that the South Hongmen numbered at least a thousand, while he only had about twenty men with him. Although he was confident in his combat skills, he wasn’t confident enough to lead twenty men against over a thousand. He circled the building twice and found that there were South Hongmen in almost every corner. Breaking through wasn’t impossible, but the cost would be high. Actually, Jiang Sen had his own selfish motives—if it were Xie Wendong trapped inside, he would even jump into a fire pit. But Dong Xinlei was different. In Jiang Sen’s eyes, he belonged to the Hongmen and was an outsider. He thought it wasn’t worth making such a great sacrifice to interfere in their affairs. Not only did he think this way, but within the Wendong Club, from the powerful Three-Eyed ones down to the ordinary members, everyone shared this view. Although the Hongmen were closely related to their own group, they were still outsiders. Especially lately, as the Wendong Club’s power grew, its members, though not saying anything outright, unconsciously developed a sense of superiority. To sacrifice their own people’s lives for the Hongmen’s, Jiang Sen curled his lips and shook his head in disapproval. If it weren’t Dong Xinlei trapped inside but someone else, Jiang Sen probably wouldn’t have come at all. But anyway, Dong Xinlei still had to be saved. Jiang Sen wandered around the building, thinking hard about a way to rescue Dong Xinlei without any sacrifices. He racked his brains but couldn’t come up with any idea.

At this moment, Xiao Fang planned to launch a second attack. This time, he was determined to wipe out Dong Xinlei completely. To strengthen his own forces, he moved most of his troops back to the front line, leaving only a few people behind the building to keep him informed of any developments. Jiang Sen had been worried about lacking an opportunity, only to find that most of the guards from Nan Hongmen had been withdrawn. He smirked, thinking to himself, “An opportunity has come!” Yet Xiao Fang’s mind was beyond ordinary people’s, but despite all his calculations, he overlooked the strength of the Wen Dong Hui. Jiang Sen easily dealt with the few remaining guards silently. He and his companions climbed up to the third floor via the wall—after all, it was the only floor bustling with activity!

Coincidentally, as soon as they reached the third floor and peeked in through the window, they saw Dong Xinlei sitting in the room, covered in blood. Someone was bandaging his wounds, but he sat there, eyes vacant, pale, and motionless. Jiang Sen was shocked—undoubtedly, Dong Xinlei was severely injured. What surprised him even more was that Nan Hongmen could have beaten an enemy like Dong Xinlei to such a state; their strength was truly formidable. Without delay, he pushed open the window and jumped in.

Upon seeing his own people, Dong Xinlei relaxed slightly but collapsed from exhaustion. Despite Jiang Sen’s small stature, he had extraordinary strength. He lifted Dong Xinlei, who was over a head and a half taller than him, and handed him to his comrades outside the window. Then, glancing back at the dozen or so people fighting desperately inside, he sighed in regret. Jiang Sen was clever and quick-thinking. It wasn’t that they couldn’t be saved, but who would hold off Nan Hongmen’s forces if they were taken away? With a quick thought, he shouted, “Brothers, hold them off! Reinforcements are on their way!” With that, he leaped out of the window. Hearing about the reinforcements, the dozen men became emboldened, swinging their knives fiercely and refusing to back down.

After rescuing Dong Xinlei, Jiang Sen ran away at full speed. There were no reinforcements—his words were merely to buy time for those men to delay the enemy. After running three blocks and stopping several cars, they headed toward the suburbs. It took them a long time before Xiao Fang learned that Dong Xinlei had been rescued. He was so angry he almost spat blood. He had exerted so much effort to trap that fierce warrior, only to end up with nothing. How could he not be furious? Bald He Cheng, seeing the king’s displeasure, tried to comfort him, saying, “It’s fine. Anyway, we’ve taken control of Nanjing and captured so many enemies from the north. We can consider this battle a great victory.”

Xiao Fang sighed and said, “No matter how many people we capture, none can compare to Dong Xinlei. You’ve seen his bravery firsthand—he will surely become a major threat in the future.” He Cheng wasn’t sure if he would be a major threat or not, but it was true that this man was extremely dangerous. Just thinking of Dong Xinlei’s blood-red eyes made his heart race; having him alive was definitely a threat to him. He Cheng sent everyone to investigate Dong Xinlei’s whereabouts. Two days later, news came in, but at the same time, reinforcements from the Northern Hongmen also arrived.

Dong Xinlei was seriously injured, so as soon as the reinforcements arrived, Jiang Sen sent him back to City T to recover. Taking his place was Lingmin, who was known in the Northern Hongmen as the “third place winner.” Just from her name, one could tell she was female, yet no one in the Northern Hongmen dared to underestimate her. She, along with Dong Xinlei and Nie Tianxing, belonged to the top of the younger generation, but she was low-key and quiet, her brilliance overshadowed by the other two—hence the title of “third place winner.” Lingmin had been in Gansu recently, helping to establish a new branch there, so Xie Wendong had never met her in City T, having only heard of her from Dong Xinlei. She was in her twenties or thirties, and few knew her exact age. If someone was quiet enough not to want others to know their age, then they were truly low-key. That was Lingmin—had Dong Xinlei not been injured, she wouldn’t have rushed from Gansu.

The day after Lingmin arrived in Nanjing, Xie Wendong also arrived. Although he was far away in Kunming, he had always been very concerned about Nanjing. His subordinates advised him to rest for a while longer, but upon hearing that Dong Xinlei was injured, he lost interest in that idea. People from the Hongmen met him at the airport, and he asked them about the situation. He learned that the Northern Hongmen was in a dire state, driven out of the city, with no place to call their own even in such a large city as Nanjing, forcing them to settle in the suburbs. Xie Wendong laughed and said, “It’s thanks to Old Lei being seriously injured this time. Otherwise, even if he returned to headquarters, he’d be punished according to the clan rules.” He then turned to look at the person who met him and asked, “Who’s in charge here now?”

The person below replied, “It’s ‘Tan Hua’, Lingmin.” “Lingmin?” Xie Wendong found the name familiar. It took him a while to recall that Dong Xinlei had once mentioned that among the younger generation of the Northern Hongmen, there were two heroes—one was himself, and the other was Nie Tianxing. There was also a “Tan Hua” named Lingmin. Curious, Xie Wendong glanced around and asked, “She didn’t come to pick me up?” The people below exchanged looks, sighed inwardly, and shook their heads in unison. One of them said, “Sis Min said that picking up the eldest brother isn’t as important as rebuilding the Nanjing branch, so…” The man didn’t dare to go on. That was Lingmin’s temperament—stubborn and unyielding. She would never agree to pick up a young man in his early twenties, no matter what.
Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes and nodded with a smile. “Very good! Very good!” He wasn’t angry; he wasn’t the kind of person to get upset over such a trivial matter. It was just that he felt a bit displeased at being treated so coldly by his own brother-in-arms.