Chapter 243

He didn’t care how others called him; in fact, he even hoped they thought him stupid. These three days had been the most relaxed he’d had in years—no scheming or deceit, no life-threatening battles, only endless leisure and ease. This was also the main reason he hadn’t made contact with the organization; after all, he was just a young man who needed rest sometimes, just like anyone else. During this time, he thought about various things. His disappearance must have caused a huge uproar outside, and chaos within the Wendong Gang was expected. But who was behind the attack on him? He went through everyone who had had conflicts with him, yet came up with no answer. Someone who could find hundreds of skilled fighters in City H must be a highly influential and powerful person there. Under the Wendong Gang’s control, however, such powerful individuals were few—no more than five—and they certainly didn’t have the courage. Who could it be? It seemed he was destined for hard work; his vacation might end early. It was time to say goodbye. Xie Wendong sighed deeply and walked slowly around the room.

“Why are you sighing for no reason?” Li Yingnan stood at the door at some point, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

Xie Wendong turned and looked at the girl. Every time he saw her, he felt the warmth of youth radiating from her—vibrant and bright. He smiled faintly, nodded, and continued walking, lost in his thoughts. Li Yingnan bit her lip, sat on the kang, swinging her long, strong legs, and followed Xie Wendong with her gaze. “Do you have a lot on your mind?” Before he could respond, she added, “Otherwise why are you always frowning? You’re not old, but you look like an old man!”

An old man? Xie Wendong chuckled. It seemed those words didn’t apply to him right now. Li Yingnan reminded him of someone—a girl he hadn’t seen in a long time who always called him “big brother.” The same beauty, the same carefree spirit. As if remembering something, Xie Wendong picked up his coat from the kang. Although Li Gensheng was stingy, he was honest. After carrying Xie Wendong home, he changed his clothes for him, leaving all his belongings untouched—cash included—placed neatly beside him, along with Xie Wendong’s life-saving weapon: the golden knife. Xie Wendong took out a metal card from his pocket and handed it to Li Yingnan.

Li Yingnan looked at him strangely and asked, “Is it for me?” Xie Wendong nodded and said softly, “Thank you!” “Oh!” Li Yingnan took the card. The front was engraved with a landscape painting, vivid and exquisitely detailed. On the back were two big characters: Wendong, followed by a string of phone numbers. She had never seen anything like this before. She studied it carefully for a long time, unable to put it down. Xie Wendong said gently, “If you need help, call me.” “Huh?” It was then that Li Yingnan realized the young man, whom she had thought was mute, had suddenly spoken to her. Surprised, she asked, “So you’re not mute?”
Xie Wendong chuckled and said, “Did I ever say I was mute?” “Then why didn’t you speak all this time?” Li Yingnan was confused. Xie Wendong’s expression darkened instantly. He gazed out the window silently. Li Yingnan was startled. She lowered her head and asked cautiously, “Did I say something wrong?” Her expression was like that of a frightened rabbit. Xie Wendong shook his head, stroked her black hair, and murmured, “We belong to different worlds. Now, I have to go!”
Hearing that Xie Wendong was leaving, Li Yingnan quickly raised her head and asked, “Where are you going?” Xie Wendong put on his coat, took out a stack of crumpled banknotes that had been soaked by river water and then dried, placed them on the kang, lifted the curtain, and said, “I’m going to where I should go, to find the person I should find!” “But…” Li Yingnan didn’t want him to leave but couldn’t think of a reasonable reason. After all, they had only met by chance. Although her brother had saved his life by accident, she couldn’t force him to stay just because of that. “But my brother hasn’t come back yet!” She still came up with a flimsy excuse. Xie Wendong apologized, “Please convey my apologies and goodbye to Brother Li! If you encounter difficulties or troubles, remember to seek me out. No matter how far away, I will definitely come.” With that, Xie Wendong disappeared outside. By the time the girl rushed out, there was no one in sight.

To be precise, there was no sign of Xie Wendong. Not far away, three men in khaki military coats were walking toward them, scanning the surroundings. When they saw Li Yingnan, their eyes lit up with surprise and admiration. One of the men with a bulbous nose glanced at Li Yingnan inside the walled yard and whispered to his companions, “Who would have thought such a dump could have such a pretty girl! Hehe!” The other man with round eyes was also surprised by her beauty but remained sober and scolded, “Stop thinking dirty thoughts. We’re here to do some serious work.” “I know!” the man with the bulbous nose replied indifferently, pulling up the collar of his fur coat and snorting, “In this cold weather, falling into an ice hole—even a god wouldn’t survive, let alone him, Xie…!” Hearing this, the man with round eyes widened his already round eyes even more, as if they might pop out at any moment. He snapped, “Can you shut your damn mouth?” Realizing he had said too much, the man with the bulbous nose swallowed the rest of his words. Another shorter, lean man quickly tried to defuse the situation, saying, “Third brother, you always talk without thinking.”

As the three talked, they approached Li Yingnan’s house. Behind a half-human-height fence that was so withered it resembled just sticks, the man with round eyes smiled politely and asked Li Yingnan, who was curiously watching them, gently, “Little girl, why are you standing outside in this cold? What if you get frostbite?”

Li Yingnan didn’t know what these men were up to, but she instinctively felt they weren’t good people, especially that man with the red, large nose, whose eyes kept staring at her like hooks. The girl pouted unhappily and retorted rudely, “What’s it to you?!” “Oh, you little brat… Ouch!” Seeing Li Yingnan’s beauty and the lack of people nearby, the man with the bulbous nose was struggling to find an excuse. When she spoke in such a harsh tone, he pretended to get angry and reached for the fence door. The man with round eyes was furious and kicked him hard in the shin. The heavy military boot caused the man with the bulbous nose to cry out in pain and jump high into the air. “That’s so rude!” the man with round eyes snapped angrily, his mood shifting instantly. Then he turned to Li Yingnan again with a kind expression and asked, “Little girl, have you heard of any family in this area who rescued a drowning young man?”

Li Yingnan was startled. She wasn’t sure if he was referring to the young man saved by her brother. Most people who grew up in the village were simple and honest; although the girl was clever, she was far inferior to the slick city dwellers. She reacted quickly, swiftly hiding the golden card given to her by Xie Wendong behind her back, and asked, “Who are you?” How could such a small action escape the three men’s notice? Their eyes lit up with joy, and the burly man tried to suppress his excitement. Grasping the fence with both hands, he trembled with emotion as he spoke in a calm tone, “We’re his friends. Three days ago, we went to the riverbank together. Unexpectedly, my friend accidentally fell into an ice hole. We tried every means to save him, but failed. His family is frantic after hearing the news. Sigh!”

Perhaps his acting was too poor, or perhaps Li Yingnan was too clever—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed unlikely that these three and Xie Wendong could be on the same side. Their natural nobility was worlds apart from his, incomparable. The girl grew wary and said, “I don’t know anyone you’re talking about, and no one around here has ever saved a drowning youth.” With that, she turned and walked back inside. Garlic-Nosed Man could no longer hold back. He glanced around; there was no one on the road. Most of the village men had gone fishing in the ice caves, while the women had gone to the city to sell frozen fish. The entire village was silent. Without hesitation, he leaped over the fence, which was more than half his height, as his special training made it easy for him to get in. He moved like lightning to Li Yingnan’s back. Before she could react, her mouth was covered, and an overwhelming force pushed her into the room. The man with ringed eyes and the short man exchanged a glance and, without further delay, swiftly entered the yard. Inside, Garlic-Nosed Man held Li Yingnan’s hands with one hand while covering her mouth with the other. The man with ringed eyes cautiously peeked out, scanned the area, and seeing nothing, quietly closed the door. He pulled out a shiny dagger and waved it in front of Li Yingnan. Meanwhile, the short man quickly checked every room in the house. When he came out, he shook his head at the man with ringed eyes and said, “Boss, nothing here!” The man’s expression darkened as he looked at Li Yingnan and pretended helplessness, saying, “Sigh! I really don’t want to use force, but you just won’t cooperate. What can I do? Now tell me, where is he?” Seeing her mouth covered, he leaned in and growled, “If you dare to shout, don’t blame me for being ruthless!” He even lightly scratched her face with the dagger before looking up and signaling to Garlic-Nosed Man that he could release her. Garlic-Nosed Man slowly removed his hand from Li Yingnan’s mouth, brought it to his nose, and sniffed it with a satisfied look. Li Yingnan glared at them but neither shouted nor spoke. The man with ringed eyes suppressed his anger and asked politely again, “Where is he?” “Who?” Li Yingnan pretended to be clueless.

“That young man who fell into the water!” the man with ringed eyes said patiently. Li Yingnan shook her little head like a rattle and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The man with ringed eyes sneered, grabbed her wrist without hesitation, pulled her up high, and seized it tightly with his fingers. Li Yingnan screamed in pain as the golden card slipped from her hand, leaving five clear blue marks on her wrist. “What’s this?!” The man with ringed eyes bent down to pick it up, glanced at it, and smiled. The two big characters “Wen Dong” were particularly striking. He gently stroked Li Yingnan’s cheek and said in a dark voice, “You’re really not honest. Don’t force me to torture you in inhumane ways. Just tell me!” As he spoke, his scorching gaze swept over her bulging chest. Li Yingnan shook her head and cursed, “You shameless wretch!” “Damn you, brat!” The man with a garlic-shaped nose didn’t have the patience of the man with ringed eyes. He raised his hand, ready to slap her. But his hand stayed in the air—a very thin silver thread had somehow wrapped around his wrist, pulling tightly, with blood trickling slowly along the trace left by the thread. “You shouldn’t be rough on such a lovely girl!” A soft, feminine voice came from above. Everyone in the room was startled and looked up. There was someone perched on the windowsill—not very old, with slightly long bangs covering his forehead. His face was ordinary and rather plain, so he would hardly draw second glances among a crowd. Yet his pair of dark eyes sparkled brilliantly, like two sharp knives that could pierce deep into a person’s heart, or like endless black holes that captured one’s gaze the moment they looked at them. The young man leaped down from the windowsill, glanced at the silver thread in his hand, and said calmly, “I’m the person you’re looking for. Let her go! I’m Xie Wendong.”

A person’s name, the shadow of a tree. When the three burly men still had full confidence, swaggering around with high hopes of capturing Xie Wendong, his sudden appearance instantly made their hearts race. Half of their fighting spirit vanished the moment he showed up, and when he was less than five steps away, with that noble aura mixed with a hint of wildness surrounding him, the remaining half of their spirit was also almost completely extinguished. The man with circular eyes slowly moved his hand to his back and said in a hesitant voice, “You… you’re Xie Wendong?!” Yes! This young man was indeed Xie Wendong. As he stepped out of the room, he immediately noticed the three burly men approaching from afar. Though they were far away, he could still make out their clothes. It was true that rural people wore military coats, but those with fur collars were rare. With just one glance, he realized these three came from the city. If it had been anyone else, he might not have paid much attention—having a few city folks in the countryside wasn’t unusual. But Xie Wendong, being cautious by nature, reflexively leaped into a snowdrift in the corner of the yard. Otherwise, given Li Yingnan’s speed of running out, even if he had run faster, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid seeing them at all.