Chapter 204

Xie Wendong bent down to pick up the broken knife, shook his head, and sighed, “What a good knife—such a shame.” Jiang Sen glared fiercely at Chen Baicheng, snorted coldly, and fired his gun. How could the people in the nightclub compete with Xie Wendong’s group, especially those trained in bloodshed and covert operations? Though none of them said anything, they were all eager to prove themselves. This was especially true for Jiang Sen and Liu Bo; despite being close friends, neither would admit defeat and used the nightclub patrons as practice. Half an hour later, over 200 people in the nightclub were either dead or injured, or scattered in all directions. After leaving, Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes and ordered a massive fire to burn down the Haicheng Nightclub to the ground. Yamada was also in the nightclub, but seeing the situation turn bad, he didn’t even lift a hand and fled with a few of his loyalists. With Ma Feng dead, Xie Wendong’s lingering worry was gone, and his mood cleared up. Sitting in the car, he looked at the broken knife in his hand with pity and sighed, “The knife is broken. If there’s a chance to repair it, it can be fixed. But once a person dies, they can never come back to life.” With that, he threw the broken knife at Chen Baicheng, startling him. Chen Baicheng picked up the knife, instantly drenched in cold sweat. Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Fix this knife for me. It’s a good knife—too bad to discard it.” Chen Baicheng breathed a sigh of relief and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Yes, Brother Dong. I’ll definitely find someone to fix it.” Xie Wendong suddenly narrowed his eyes and asked, “If the knife can be fixed, what about your heart?” Chen Baicheng had just relaxed when these words struck him like thunder. His vision went dark, and he almost fell out of the car seat, mouth agape, not knowing what to say. Xie Wendong turned his head to look out the window and said, “One must have the right mindset. Strangely enough, I always somehow know what others are thinking.” Chen Baicheng hurriedly said, “I’m absolutely loyal to Brother Dong. I swear on heaven…” Xie Wendong shook his head, interrupting him, “Loyalty is proven through actions, not words. Do what you’re supposed to do!” With that, he closed his eyes. Chen Baicheng lowered his head, cold sweat streaming down his neck onto the ground.

Xie Wendong hadn’t been in DL for three days when calls of emergency from Nanjing kept coming in one after another. Xiao Fang led no less than seven thousand men to besiege Nanjing, and key positions fell one after another, putting Tangkou in grave danger. Lingmin felt alone and unable to cope, so she asked Xie Wendong for help. After hanging up the phone, Xie Wendong sighed—higher status meant greater sacrifices. As both the leader of the Wendong Gang and the head of the Northern Hongmen, he was envied by many, but few understood the hardships involved.

Before leaving, Xie Wendong wanted to say goodbye to the two sisters, but he thought better of it, realizing that meeting them would only increase the pain of separation. He quickly wrote a letter and asked his subordinates to deliver it to the Gao sisters,simultaneously ordering Wang Liang to lead a team to protect them secretly. After making all the arrangements, he boarded an afternoon flight to Nanjing with Jiang Sen and Liu Bo.

In fact, the situation in Nanjing wasn’t as bad as Lingmin had described. She had over three thousand men on defense, so fighting against seven thousand wasn’t difficult. However, there were rumors that Xiang Wentian might lead a large force there himself. This left Lingmin uncertain, fearing she couldn’t bear the responsibility if anything happened in Nanjing, so she urgently asked Xie Wendong to return.

As soon as Xie Wendong arrived in Nanjing, Lingmin took him back to Tangkou. Ren Changfeng also arrived in a hurry. He was very observant; although he was in City T, he kept an eye on Xie Wendong’s every move. Especially when Nanjing was in crisis, he nodded silently—no need to ask, Brother Dong must go to Nanjing. The more time he spent with Xie Wendong, the more dependent he became. Working under him meant no need to worry about other things, no need to consider others’ feelings, just… one word: freedom! Absolute freedom. Ren Changfeng loved this feeling and was willing to follow Xie Wendong into battle, capturing cities and breaking through defenses.

As soon as Xie Wendong saw Ren Changfeng, his shoulders slumped in embarrassment. “Changfeng, it seems I can’t return your sword,” he said. Ren Changfeng was stunned and asked, “What’s wrong?” Xie Wendong took out a photo from his pocket and handed it to him, saying, “Well, it’s become like this.” Upon seeing the photo, Ren Changfeng almost cried. He tapped his lips and sighed deeply, “My poor sword!” Xie Wendong was very thoughtful; he knew Ren Changfeng cherished his sword greatly. If it weren’t for him borrowing it, no one else would have even dared to touch it. But now that the sword was broken in half, he felt guilty and took a photo for Ren Changfeng to remember it by. Lingmin smirked sarcastically from the side, “It’s just a sword!” She rushed out of the room like a whirlwind and soon returned just as quickly, carrying no less than ten Tang swords of varying lengths and styles. She placed them on the table and said proudly, “Choose one!”

Ren Changfeng examined them while grinning, muttering from time to time, “Is this even a sword? It’s far inferior to mine.” He picked up one at random, weighed it in his hand, and said with a sigh, “This is only good for cutting watermelons.” “This one looks decent, but in actual combat, humph!” “This… this one is too absurd; it could be used as a cutting knife.”

Lingmin’s expression grew darker. She picked up the swords again and said, “If you don’t want them, forget it!” Ren Changfeng hurriedly said, “I was just joking! Who said I don’t want them?!” At that moment, Xie Wendong also braved it and stepped forward, looking at each sword before saying with a smile, “How about I choose one too?” “No!” Lingmin and Ren Changfeng replied in unison. “Hehe, you two are quite in sync. Are you…?” Hearing this, both of them blushed. Seizing the opportunity, Xie Wendong quickly snatched a sword from Lingmin’s arms, startling her. She stamped her foot and shouted, “How can the boss steal a subordinate’s sword?!” Then she rushed after him. The subordinates below peeked at these three influential figures in the Beihongmen fighting each other, with no sense of urgency from an impending threat—uncertain whether to laugh or cry.

Although Xie Wendong was at a numerical disadvantage, he seemed completely at ease. Xiao Fang, on the other hand, had twice as many men as him but still couldn’t afford to be careless. Spies in the city had already reported that Xie Wendong was back in Nanjing. Hearing the name Xie Wendong, Xiao Fang felt a sense of dread. He had been 90% confident of taking control of this place upon arriving in Nanjing, but now that Xie Wendong was here, that confidence dropped to 10%. His base remained in that dilapidated hotel on the outskirts of the city, and he ordered most of his men to return there and avoid fighting for now. But staying out of battle indefinitely wasn’t a solution—it would not only dampen morale but also prevent them from passing the next challenge. Xiao Fang understood this, and so did Zhang Jufeng. After pondering all night, Zhang Jufeng came up with a plan to deal with Xie Wendong and hurriedly went to discuss it with Xiao Fang.

When he entered Xiao Fang’s room and saw him frowning and staring blankly at a map of Nanjing, Zhang Jufeng asked with a smile, “Brother Xiao, have you come up with a plan?” Xiao Fang frowned. “You’re asking this on purpose, aren’t you? Do I look like I’ve figured it out?” He looked up at Zhang Jufeng, who was smiling cheerfully and appearing very relaxed. Intrigued, Xiao Fang asked, “Could it be that Brother Zhang has a good idea?” Zhang Jufeng laughed and said, “It’s not necessarily a good idea, which is why I came to discuss it with you.” Xiao Fang perked up, only to slump again instantly. What good idea could Zhang Jufeng possibly have? His wisdom was far inferior to his own, and if even he was at a loss, then Zhang Jufeng was even less likely to have a solution. Seeing Xiao Fang’s thoughts, Zhang Jufeng didn’t mind and said with a smile, “I think we should use their own tactics against them!”

Xiao Fang raised an eyebrow and asked, “How exactly do we use their own tactics against them?” Zhang Jufeng smiled broadly and said, “Last time, Xie Wendong defeated us with a feint tactic and even killed Brother Li. This time, we’ll use the same trick—simulate an attack on their stronghold, fight for a while, then pretend to retreat, luring Xie Wendong to our pre-arranged ambush site. We’ll surely be able to kill him in one fell swoop!” After hearing this, Xiao Fang lowered his head in thought for a long time before raising it again and asking, “But will Xie Wendong fall for it? He’s more cunning than a fox!” Zhang Jufeng smiled and said, “It depends on how well we execute our setup. If we attack their stronghold every day, he might be wary and not chase at first, but after repeated attacks, even a god would find it hard to control their emotions, let alone him!”

Xiao Fang thought about it over and over in his mind, then nodded in approval and said, “Brother Zhang, this plan is good—truly a brilliant idea. Let’s go for it. Tonight we’ll confront Xie Wendong!” Seeing him regain some of his usual vigor, Zhang Jufeng patted his shoulder and sighed, “Don’t let Xie Wendong cast too long a shadow over you. Remember, you, Xiao Fang, the Heavenly King, are also known as the ‘Genius Heavenly King’ within our Hongmen!” Xiao Fang let out a long sigh, looked at Zhang Jufeng with gratitude, and said, “Thank you!”

When Xiao Fang showed signs of activity, his secret team immediately informed Xie Wendong right away. Xiao Fang gathered his men—it seemed an attack was imminent that night. Xie Wendong chuckled to himself and said, “With friends coming from afar, we must welcome them properly. If we don’t treat them well, the others in the gang will laugh at us for being stingy!”

Just after 11 p.m., Zhang Jufeng led three thousand men straight toward the North Hongmen headquarters, with a fierce momentum. Even before they arrived, the killing intent was palpable. Standing on the rooftop terrace, Xie Wendong looked down through binoculars and said with a smile, “What a strong presence! I hope it’s not just an act!”

As soon as Zhang Jufeng reached the entrance, the gates opened, and Ren Changfeng led his men out to fight. They had clashed before with no clear winner, and this time there was even less talk—without even exchanging greetings, both drew their swords and fought. With the leaders engaging, the others couldn’t stay idle. Thousands from both the North and South Hongmen engaged in a brutal melee with bare weapons on the streets in front of the headquarters. Darkness couldn’t hide red, and the night couldn’t conceal blood. The battle among thousands was utterly fierce—swords and guns flew, and blood flowed like rivers. Their own blood continued to flow, yet they fought desperately to take others’ blood. Humanity was completely trampled and despised here; people fought to kill every living being in front of them. Those injured and exhausted struggled not to fall, and in the chaos, those who did fall met only one fate: being crushed to death by either the enemy or their own allies.

Xie Wendong looked down at the fierce battle beneath his feet, red light flashing from his eyes from time to time—blood filled with vigor. He picked up the phone and dialed it calmly, saying, “Third Place, it’s your turn to act!” Then he hung up. In private, Xie Wendong was a friend, but on the battlefield, he was absolutely a demon. Lingmin led hundreds of people into the battlefield, giving the people of Beihongmen a huge boost in morale. At the same time, they were all eager to see Lingmin’s skills—this young generation’s “Third Place,” whose combat skills were said to only be surpassed by Dongxinlei, and whose wisdom ranked second only to Nie Tianxing. Lingmin’s weapon was a very thin knife, thinner than paper, yet astonishingly sharp. Her movements were even more elusive than Ren Changfeng’s—no sound when she struck, no trace when she left, with flashes of light as fast as lightning, killing anyone in her path.