Chapter 199

News came from Nanjing: Xiang Wentian remained inactive, never leaving Guangzhou at all. Even Xiao Fang had left, leaving only Zhang Jufeng behind. Jiang Sen frowned in concern and wondered, “Could Xiang Wentian have some other scheme?”

Xie Wendong leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes for a while in thought, then smiled and shook his head. “No! Xiang Wentian is a hero—he wouldn’t associate with the Soul Group. Xiao Fang returned to Guangzhou probably to persuade Xiang Wentian to send troops.” Jiang Sen asked, “So will Xiang Wentian send troops?” Xie Wendong laughed heartily and said, “If he wanted to, he would have done so already. The Soul Group is doomed this time because they’ve run into Xiang Wentian.”

The Soul Group really didn’t expect their leader from the Nan Hongmen to remain inactive. They thought that by trapping Jin Peng and keeping Xie Wendong occupied, the Nan Hongmen would launch a full-scale attack. Even if the Bei Hongmen didn’t perish, it would be severely weakened. But Xiang Wentian simply didn’t send troops. With him not intervening, Xie Wendong had no worries. He could draw troops from the Bei Hongmen’s branches across various regions to reinforce forces in City T. Since the Soul Group was hiding in the jungle and not coming out, they would never be able to escape. Xie Wendong dispatched 5,000 men to encircle the jungle where the Soul Group was hiding completely. He even kept a backup of 3,000 elite troops in case the Nan Hongmen actually attacked, ensuring his side wasn’t caught off guard.

The jungle where the Soul Group hid wasn’t small, but it was insignificant compared to 5,000 strong men. Xie Wendong was determined—this time, not a single member of the Soul Group would escape. At first, the Soul Group didn’t take it seriously, thinking Xie Wendong was just bluffing. Sending thousands of men would cost them resources and attract police attention, so it wouldn’t last long. But they underestimated the influence of the Hongmen in City T. Over the years, they had become intertwined with the local police force. Moreover, Xie Wendong had the Political Department as his backing—his access to that department was also thanks to the Soul Group. It was already impressive that the Political Department hadn’t sent troops to join the siege. Within three days, the Soul Group began to struggle. People need food, and without it, no one could hold out. And Xie Wendong showed no sign of withdrawing his forces. By then, the Soul Group no longer cared about trapping Jin Peng—they were focused on finding a way to rescue themselves.

On the third day of being trapped, the Soul Group launched three consecutive attacks. This time, they sent mostly highly trained assassins for ambushes. Ambushes or surprise attacks might have worked, but charging when the enemy was prepared and had a numerical advantage made it difficult for them to succeed. All three attacks ended in failure, with several casualties.

In the following days, the Soul Group launched several attacks, all of which were repelled by the North Hongmen. The North Hongmen also attacked several times but failed to gain any advantage, leaving both sides in a stalemate. Seeing that this approach wasn’t working, Nie Tianxing said to Xie Wendong, “If we send thousands of brothers out now and keep giving them substantial subsidies daily, the losses will be enormous if this continues.”

Xie Wendong understood this. After calculating the timeline, he agreed and said, “Call the cadres together for a meeting.”

At the meeting, Xie Wendong outlined his plan. They would divide into three groups and launch a full-scale attack at 10 a.m. from the east, west, and north. To ensure the quality of the attack and a numerical advantage, no troops would be sent from the south; instead, Ren Changfeng would lead 200 brothers to guard that area and deal with any who escaped. After making the arrangements, Xie Wendong stood up and said, “This time we need to catch the Soul Group off guard. None of those here may reveal a single word, to anyone, understand?”

Everyone stood up in unison and said, “Understood!”

In the early morning, the mountain winds blew coldly, cutting like knives against the skin, yet their hearts burned with enthusiasm. Thousands of people moved in unison, aiming straight at the Soul Group’s hideout. The fresh air in the jungle couldn’t conceal the fierce fighting spirit, and soon fierce battles broke out. The cadres who weren’t participating in the operation and the two elders stood behind, using night vision goggles to observe. After staring for a while and seeing nothing but trees, Tian Mufeng whispered to Xiang Huishan, “Brother Xiang, do you think we can wipe out the Soul Group completely, as the leader said?”

Xiang Huishan curled his lips, sneering inwardly, but outwardly praised, “Our leader is extremely clever; this battle will surely succeed.” Success? Impossible! He had already secretly informed the Soul Group of Xie Wendong’s plan over the phone, urging them to prepare. If they couldn’t hold out, they could easily launch a counterattack from the south, where there were only 200 men under Ren Changfeng—a man too arrogant to achieve anything great. The Soul Group’s ability to quickly surround Jin Peng also relied on his connections. As Jiang Sen said, Xiang Huishan was indeed Xiang Wentian’s uncle. Yet Xiang Wentian himself didn’t even know about such a close relative serving as an elder in the North Hongmen.

Five thousand men, divided into three groups, advanced with overwhelming force. Though they couldn’t flatten the jungle where the Soul Group was hiding, they came close enough. Looking around in the jungle, it was packed with members of the Northern Hongmen, one after another, with no gaps in between. Each held a gun and a knife at their side, radiating murderous intent as they pressed forward step by step. Fighting against the Soul Group was different from fighting against the Southern Hongmen. Most battles in the martial world still adhered to old traditions, with cold weapons being the norm. Moreover, although the Northern and Southern Hongmen originated from the same group, they had an unspoken understanding—neither side resorted to large-scale use of firearms, partly to avoid attracting the attention of the police or the authorities, and partly because neither side wanted to wipe out the other completely; defeat was sufficient. But fighting against the Soul Group was different. Xie Wendong had issued an absolute order: no one, not even their leaders or ordinary members, was to be spared.

The Soul Group had sent its best fighters this time, but there were only just over two hundred of them. How could they withstand such a massive assault? They resisted for five minutes, just to make a show, before quickly fleeing southward. Just as Xiang Hui Shan had reported to them, they encountered little resistance along the way. Occasionally, a few Northern Hongmen disciples would guard a spot, but upon seeing the main force of the Soul Group arrive, they fired two shots and ran away. The southern area was mostly mountainous with dense forests. The Soul Group was not familiar with the terrain, and coupled with the dark surroundings, they soon lost their way. At that moment, figures moved among the dense trees around them, and gunshots rang out in succession.

Unprepared, more than a dozen members of the Soul Group were shot down in an instant. Their leader was a short, middle-aged man with a round face. As soon as the gunshots started, he realized they had fallen into a trap. He quickly shouted, “Find cover and fight back!” Needless to say, his men were experienced killers who hid behind trees, looking for an opportunity to return fire. It was pitch black in the forest, making it impossible to distinguish anyone who was hiding. Suddenly, someone in the jungle shouted, “Throw them!”

A green light streaked across the pitch-black night sky and landed right in the midst of the Soul Group. Those nearby looked down and saw it was a glow stick—a seemingly unremarkable object that had now become a light guiding them to hell. Shocked, they quickly tried to grab the glow stick and throw it back. But as soon as they stretched out their arms, gunshots rang out; a bullet entered one of their eyes and exited through the back of the head. Despite his strong will, in his final moments, he managed to spot the glow stick’s location and pressed it down with his falling body. Yet his efforts were in vain. As soon as the gunshots ceased, green lights filled the air—hundreds of glow sticks fell on the Soul Group’s hiding place, emitting a faint green glow that was still glaring in the darkness. Gunfire erupted everywhere, leaving no place for the Soul Group to hide. Hiding behind trees couldn’t block shots from the front, nor could hiding in tree holes protect them from attacks from behind; the trunks were instantly torn apart, forcing those inside to roll out covered in wounds.

The middle-aged leader, seeing the situation was hopeless, ordered a retreat. Just a few steps later, Dong Xinlei arrived with five thousand men from behind, full of energy and confidence, their eyes wide open. Some fired guns while others swung swords. The middle-aged man was terrified and instinctively stepped back, drenched in cold sweat.

From afar, Dong Xinlei saw the Soul Group retreating toward him and laughed loudly, shouting, “When will you surrender?!”

Before the Soul Group could respond, a rustling sound came from behind—no less than three thousand men emerged secretly. Leading them was a fair-skinned, handsome young man with a straight back and an arrogant gaze. He held a long, black combat sword that emitted a cold aura. The young man sneered and said, “Hmph, whether you surrender or not, you’re all dead. It’s just a matter of how you die.” This young man was Ren Changfeng, and the three thousand men behind him were exactly those mentioned by Xie Wendong as being there to guard against a surprise attack by the Nan Hongmen.

The middle-aged leader of the Soul Group’s head buzzed with confusion. Surrendering was out of the question. Just as he thought of fighting to the death, a young man stepped forward smilingly behind Dong Xinlei. His eyes narrowed into slits as he stood beside Dong Xinlei and said, “You should understand Chinese, right? But do you know there’s an old saying in China: ‘Deception is never a bad strategy.’ Xiang Huishan is an elder of our Hongmen. Don’t you think about why he would betray the old master? He pretended to work with you just to catch you all at once. You’re truly stupid.”

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man’s mind exploded with realization—he had taken Xie Wendong’s words at face value. In such a situation, anyone would have done the same. Xiang Huishan had called him, saying the south side had the fewest men, but unbeknownst to him, thousands were already lurking there, trapping him in their net. If not for Xiang Huishan’s warning, attacking from any direction would not have led to such a devastating defeat. The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and forced out three words through them: “Xiang, Huishan!”

Xie Wendong had deliberately tricked him earlier, and now, seeing his expression, everything became clear—not only to him but also to all the members of the North Hongmen present. It turned out that Xiang Huishan had brought in the Soul Group to trap the old man; the spy who had been hiding in the shadows was none other than this seemingly upright Elder Xiang.

Xie Wendong chuckled, stepped back, and waved his hand, ordering, “Kill them!” His voice wasn’t loud, but its effect was astonishing. Gunfire erupted as both sides engaged in a shootout. Although the North Hongmen’s individual strength was inferior to that of the Soul Group, they outnumbered them by dozens, attacking from both sides with high morale. The Soul Group, on the other hand, was demoralized and unwilling to fight further, desperate to find an opportunity to escape. In their panic, their marksmanship dropped to less than half of normal, with people falling to bullets from time to time.

Seeing the enemy in disarray and their ammunition nearly depleted, Ren Changfeng threw away his gun and charged forward with his Tang sword. Seeing their leader attack, the others also drew their swords and followed behind him. Ren Changfeng didn’t target anyone else as he rushed into the enemy ranks, his eyes fixed on the middle-aged man. He rushed forward quickly and stabbed at him. The middle-aged man was busy dealing with Dong Xinlei when he heard chaos behind him, followed by a violent gust of wind. Instinctively, he dodged, feeling a chill in his side. He stepped back several times, touched his abdomen, and found a hole on the left side, with blood flowing uncontrollably. Gritting his teeth, he raised his gun to shoot, but Ren Changfeng moved like lightning, closing in swiftly. With a slight swing of his sword, the middle-aged man’s arm, still holding the gun, flew far away, covered in blood. Before he could scream, the Tang sword pierced his carotid artery. His eyes and mouth widened as he slowly knelt down, gurgling. Ren Changfeng pulled out his sword, and a geyser of blood sprayed from the middle-aged man’s neck. His head drooped, and he died on the spot.

Wiping the blood from his sword, Ren Changfeng felt proud. People said Dong Xinlei was stronger than him, but now that he had killed the Soul Group’s leader, his merit should surpass Dong Xinlei’s. In fact, Dong Xinlei had no desire to compete for credit; it was just that Ren Changfeng was too arrogant, unable to tolerate others being stronger—this was both his strength and his flaw.

As the middle-aged man died, the Soul Group was defeated even faster. In less than ten minutes, aside from over fifty people who surrendered, none else survived—either killed by stray bullets or hacked to death. Ren Changfeng glanced at the captives, frowned, then went over to Xie Wendong and asked, “Brother Dong, what should we do with these people?”
Seeing Xie Wendong narrow his eyes, Nie Tianxing hurriedly said, “Brother Dong, spare them if we can. Letting them go poses little threat to us.”
Xie Wendong gave him a cold look and said, “No one from the Soul Group can be spared!” As soon as he finished speaking, Ren Changfeng leaped forward, snatched a knife from one of his subordinates, and ran into the woods to dig a pit. He now admired Xie Wendong deeply—unpredictable in every move and invincible in battle. Such was this man; he would obey him without hesitation even if ordered to die immediately. Conversely, even if offered millions or billions, he would still disregard it.