Chapter 260

Du Tingwei laughed uncontrollably. After entering the room, he pinched Peng Ling’s cheek and said triumphantly, “It’s better if you stay honest. He’s a top fighter in the special forces. It would really hurt me if he got hurt, wouldn’t it?!” If not for her mouth being covered, Peng Ling would have cursed loudly. Unable to speak, she could only glare at Du Tingwei in frustration. With a fake smile, Du Tingwei paced back and forth in front of her, his lecherous eyes roaming over her body. Perhaps thinking her thick cotton coat was in the way, he took further action and reached out to unbutton it.

Peng Ling let out a muffled cry as if bitten by a toad. In a moment of desperation, she suddenly raised her leg and stamped hard backward. She was wearing a pair of black leather boots with not very sharp but extremely thick soles. Her foot landed right on the person behind her. “Ow!” The man cried in pain. Ignoring Peng Ling, who was still held by him, he gritted his teeth, released her, and knelt on the ground, clutching his foot. Freed, Peng Ling didn’t miss this chance. With a swift motion, she pulled out the pistol hidden at her waist, aimed it, and the dark barrel was precisely pointed at Du Tingwei, who realized the situation was dire and tried to rush forward. The tip of the gun was pressed against his forehead, sending a chill down from his head to his feet. Most people couldn’t bear such pressure when faced with a gun to their head—it felt as though their lives were no longer in their own control but in the hands of the other person. Worst of all, a slight tremor in their fingers could mean the end of their lives. Du Tingwei had been pampered since childhood, growing up under the protection of his powerful father. He wanted to live more than anyone else. Suddenly, he stood there frozen, his mind blank, though his face was even paler than his mind. Peng Ling sneered inwardly and deliberately said harshly, “Let my father and other innocent people go, or I’ll kill you first!” Du Tingwei blinked, taking a while to react. Though scared, he refused to back down. Gathering his strength, he declared loudly, “Do you dare shoot? If you kill me, neither your father nor you will be able to leave here alive!”

“Hmph!” Peng Ling ignored his bluff. She gently pulled the trigger and said coldly, “I won’t say it a second time. If you don’t believe me, try it!” Sweat poured down Du Tingwei’s back. He heard the ‘clicking’ sound of the gun’s spring tightening, like a sharp knife cutting back and forth through his heart. Finally, he gave in. Like a deflated balloon, his shoulders slumped, and he said weakly, “You win…”

Peng Ling was overjoyed—she hadn’t expected to solve Du Tingwei so easily. She didn’t dare be careless, as this place was under their control. Keeping a cold expression, she said, “Go out.”
“What?” Du Tingwei was momentarily stunned. Peng Ling rubbed his forehead with the gun and shouted, “Walk out slowly!”
Gritting his teeth, Du Tingwei obeyed reluctantly, raising his hands as he slowly stepped out of the room. Peng Ling followed closely, the gun barrel always pointed at his head. The man who had initially subdued Peng Ling also came back to his senses, though his feet were severely swollen. If not for his military boots, his bones might have been broken. He limped forward a few steps, but with Peng Ling holding Du Tingwei at gunpoint, any mistake could cost him his life. If Du Tingwei died, the company commander responsible for his safety would also be implicated. Even if he wanted to retaliate, he couldn’t. Peng Ling’s mistake was leaving the room—she forgot there was another person outside, one she couldn’t handle.
When Peng Ling and Du Tingwei were less than two meters from the woodshed door, a shadow darted over like lightning. Its speed was beyond imagination. Peng Ling didn’t even see who it was—she only felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck, then everything went dark. Her eyes closed, and she lost consciousness, the gun slipping from her hand to the ground.
That shadow was the man Du Tingwei called Cang Lang. He exuded a lifeless aura, his face showing no expression. With his hands in his sleeves, he stood straight, staring blankly at a point. The cold wind blew, yet he didn’t blink, like an ancient statue that hadn’t moved in centuries. Du Tingwei hated this man deeply, finding him lifeless and unsettling to be near. Yet he had to admit that Cang Lang was a top-tier expert—spending money on him was worth it. He glanced at Cang Lang, then at the fallen Peng Ling, and laughed heartily, giving a thumbs-up. “Cang Lang, truly impressive skills! That strike was incredibly fast—I barely saw it…”
Before he could finish, Cang Lang turned and left without saying a word. Du Tingwei’s smile froze, his body trembling. At that moment, the company commander hurried over, concerned, “Mr. Du, are you okay?!” After a while, Du Tingwei regained his composure. He grabbed the company commander’s neck and whispered, “As long as Xie Wendong is killed, once he’s dead, you must find a way to get rid of this Cang Lang right away. Understand?”

Du Tingwei grew angry, while the company commander stared blankly, not understanding why this young master was so upset—after all, they had just saved him. With a sigh, he nodded in agreement.
Du Tingwei let out a breath of relief and glanced down at the unconscious Peng Ling. He immediately regained his composure, lifted her up, and carried her back to the bedroom. This was even easier! he thought to himself. He carefully placed Peng Ling on the kang and then closed the door. Just as the door was about to be shut, a pale hand reached in and grabbed the doorframe. Du Tingwei shuddered in fear and stepped back several steps. The door opened, and someone he least wanted to see entered. His long-suppressed anger could no longer be controlled. Without caring about anything else, Du Tingwei shouted, “Canglang, what the hell do you want?” Canglang didn’t even glance at him; his eyes swept over Peng Ling on the kang before scanning the room. In a tone devoid of emotion, he said, “There’s someone in the room.” “Damn it, nonsense!” Du Tingwei was on the verge of losing his temper. Pointing at his own nose, he snapped, “Am I not a person?”
“There’s a living person!” Canglang passed by Du Tingwei and entered the room. A strange weapon, three fingers wide and half dagger, half sword, appeared from his wide sleeve—rarely used sleeve swords. “Is it her?” Seeing his serious expression, Du Tingwei realized he wasn’t joking and grew nervous. Pointing at Peng Ling on the kang, he stammered. Canglang said nothing and slowly walked toward the kang. His nostrils flared as he suddenly raised his arm and stabbed at Peng Ling lying on the kang. “You…” Du Tingwei tried to stop him but was too late. He could only utter one word before the sleeve sword in Canglang’s hand had already pierced deep into her. “I… you’re crazy…” Only when Du Tingwei rushed forward did he realize the sword hadn’t hit Peng Ling but had stopped just an inch away from her. The sword, over a foot long, hadn’t penetrated the kang at all. Canglang pulled the sword out numbly, shook his head slightly, and scanned the rest of the room.

Just as he turned around, the quilt on the kang suddenly stood upright as if coming to life, covering the gray wolf’s head completely. The quilt was huge when unfolded, and due to the suddenness of the attack, even though the gray wolf tried to be cautious, it was too late to react. As the quilt fell, a figure appeared behind it—a woman with a delicate appearance, dressed entirely in black. She grabbed Peng Ling without much effort, easily pinning her under her arm, then kicked the back window near the kang to shatter it before leaping out through the window. The woman was not tall, at least half a head shorter than Peng Ling, but Peng Ling weighed nothing in her arms. It happened in the blink of an eye. Before Du Tingwei could react, two sword tips emerged from the center of the quilt, and with a rustling sound, a large gap appeared in it, allowing the gray wolf to burst out. It glanced around and jumped out through the broken window.

At that moment, the door opened, and several people rushed in from outside. The leader was the company commander. He first scanned the room to see that Du Tingwei was unharmed, then sighed in relief and asked, “Mr. Du, what happened?” “What happened?” Du Tingwei slapped him across the face, his eyes red, and said, “I should be asking you what happened! Do you know there was another person in this room? How could you guys guard so poorly? You bunch of idiots. It’s thanks to that gray wolf; if it were just you fools, I would have died long ago.”

The company commander couldn’t even lift his head after being scolded, with four red handprints clearly visible on his face. He thought for a moment and said, “Since there were ambushers, this place isn’t safe either. Mr. Du, I think we should leave right away!” “Hmm!” Du Tingwei sighed deeply, thought for a while, and said, “Okay!” “What about Peng Shulin and that woman?” “No matter what, Peng Shulin must not survive. His words still carry some weight in the central government. As for the woman, take her with us. If we can’t get Peng Ling, we’ll make her pay for it.”

The mysterious woman, carrying Peng Ling, kept moving swiftly. With two quick steps, she reached the fence, grabbed it with one hand, and jumped over it cleanly and effortlessly. Her movements were fast, but the gray wolf chasing behind her was even faster. Although it was a step behind her, it was already less than seven or eight meters away in the blink of an eye.

Without needing to look back, she could tell how far the other person was by the crunching sound of footsteps on the snow. She was secretly surprised—the “dead man” behind her was much faster than she had imagined. Earlier, when she had hidden under the quilt and watched the Gray Wolf stab into the kang as if cutting tofu, she already knew she was no match for him. So when the Gray Wolf was covered by the quilt, she didn’t even think of launching a sneak attack and simply chose to run. But running wasn’t enough to outpace him either. Forced to act, the girl exerted all her strength, running swiftly along the road upward. The Gray Wolf followed closely behind. The girl’s face was red, and she was slightly out of breath, while his face remained terrifyingly pale. Just as she seemed trapped with no way out, a row of cars—big and small—raced toward her along the road, coming like lightning. With a screech, the first car stopped, its door opened, and a man got out. He wasn’t tall but extremely sturdy. Seeing the girl rushing toward him, he smiled and shouted, “Get out of the way!”

The girl reacted instantly. When he was close enough, she leaped forward. At the same time, a bolt of lightning flashed above her head, striking the Gray Wolf right behind her. With a loud clang and sparks flying, the Gray Wolf blocked the powerful strike with his sword. After clashing briefly, they both stepped back a few feet. The man who swung the sword looked down at his three-inch-wide axe, which remained intact, and marveled, “What a great sword! A three-eyed sword truly lives up to its name.” This man was Jiang Sen, and of course, Xie Wendong was also in the car.

Xie Wendong’s arrival was thanks to the mysterious girl who had saved Peng Ling just earlier. She was familiar with Xie Wendong and even closer to Jiang Sen—she had been trained by Jiang Sen himself and assigned by Xie Wendong to stay by Peng Ling’s side to protect her secretly. When Peng Ling went to the hotel to meet Du Tingwei, Wen Zi watched from afar. Not knowing what was happening, she called Xie Wendong out of caution. Later, she followed quietly, entering the village and using her agile skills to climb over the fences and sneak inside unnoticed. The only thing she couldn’t figure out was how the Gray Wolf knew of her existence. What she didn’t know was that the Gray Wolf’s reputation for being cold-hearted and skilled stemmed not only from his ruthless nature and sharp skills but also from his nose, as sensitive as a wolf’s. Although Wen Zi wasn’t wearing makeup, her natural feminine scent still caught the Gray Wolf’s attention.

Jiang Sen and Cang Lang exchanged blows with their swords. It was then that he understood why Gao Qiang had almost died at the hands of this man. Cang Lang had managed to defend himself despite Jiang Sen’s sudden attack, and now, Jiang Sen’s entire arm was numb as if electrified, leaving him unable to muster any strength. Several cars stopped behind them, and their doors opened as Gao Qiang, Li Shuang, Ren Changfeng, and others got out. Xie Wendong also slowly stepped out of the car, took Peng Ling, who was still unconscious in Wen Zi’s arms, and checked for any injuries. His expression grew increasingly grim. Without even glancing at Cang Lang, he simply said, “Kill him!” After that, he gently placed Peng Ling back in the car and took out a cigarette from his pocket to light it.

Jiang Sen, along with Gao Qiang and the others, slowly surrounded Cang Lang. The latter seemed unconcerned, head lowered as he stared at the two swords in his hands, saying calmly, “You can all attack at once.”

Ren Changfeng’s pride felt trampled upon. With a proud grin, he said arrogantly, “Do I need anyone else to kill you?” With that, he drew his Tang sword, not even removing the scabbard, and swung it at Cang Lang’s face. Using the sword like a club, Ren Changfeng’s moves were always unexpected. Cang Lang’s eyes flashed as he raised his sword to block. Just as the blades were about to collide, Ren Changfeng suddenly pressed a hidden spring, causing the scabbard to fly out and strike his raised swords. At the same time, he changed his attack from a swing to a thrust, the Tang sword shooting like a venomous snake toward Cang Lang’s chest.

This sudden change in tactic was even more unexpected than the rest—both cunning and vicious. Jiang Sen and the others nodded in admiration, speculating that even they might not be able to dodge such a strike with certainty. Cang Lang showed no reaction on his face; his shoulders shifted slightly as he stepped back, not far enough to be out of reach of Ren Changfeng’s sword. His evasion was effortless yet lightning-fast. With a quick reverse swing, he slashed at Ren Changfeng’s eyes.