Chapter 261

Ren Changfeng blocked with his sword, and the two fought side by side. At first, they clashed fiercely, but within just ten moves, Ren Changfeng found it increasingly difficult to cope. Cang Lang was too fast—his attacks effortlessly dodged or parried even Ren Changfeng’s most powerful moves, while Ren Changfeng’s attacks left Cang Lang unharmed. Ren Changfeng had always thought his own techniques were sophisticated enough, but compared to Cang Lang, they seemed trivial. Cang Lang’s attacks were unpredictable, delivered at will, and could land deadly blows no matter the situation or how strained he might be—far beyond Ren Changfeng’s imagination and even beyond that of everyone present. Li Shuang was stunned, mouth agape, murmuring, “Good heavens! Is he even human? He’s definitely the greatest fighter I’ve ever seen.” Jiang Sen and Gao Qiang felt the same way, sighing, “He’s more wolf-like than a wolf itself.”

As they spoke, the battle between the two changed. Ren Changfeng was forced to retreat step by step under the pressure of Cang Lang’s sword-like blades. If he retreated any further, he might fall off the path. Since he began his journey, had he ever suffered such humiliation? With a roar, he fought desperately. Cang Lang thrust his sword diagonally at him. Without dodging or looking, Ren Changfeng gathered all his strength and slashed sideways. The force of the strike was immense, producing a sharp screech in the air. Even if Cang Lang could kill him with one strike, half of Ren Changfeng’s head would still be at risk.

Wolves might perish alongside their enemies in fierce battles, but Cang Lang wouldn’t. He lowered his body, rolled forward, and simultaneously swung both swords, sending two streaks of cold light toward Ren Changfeng’s abdomen. Ren Changfeng swung his sword, and Cang Lang vanished. Realizing something was wrong, Ren Changfeng quickly turned to retreat. He stumbled into a snowdrift by the path. His lower body was icy cold. Looking down, his face turned red, and his nose almost twisted from the cold. The front of his coat and even his underwear were completely torn, with a gaping wound over a foot long, allowing freezing air to blast in. If he hadn’t dodged quickly, he would have been torn apart. Cang Lang didn’t pursue. Pointing his sword at Xie Wendong far behind, he said coldly, “Don’t hide behind others. I’m waiting for you to come out—if you’re a man.”

“Hehe!” Xie Wendong, who had been cold-faced, actually laughed upon hearing his words. Unperturbed, he said, “Even if you don’t say it, I’m still a man. My gender won’t change just because of your words.” Though he said that, he slowly walked toward Cang Lang. Jiang Sen and the others, worried he might be in danger, hurried to stop him, “Brother Dong, you…” Xie Wendong waved his hand to push them aside and shook his head, “He can’t hurt me.” His ability to remain calm in the face of such a ferocious opponent made everyone feel ashamed. He stopped about seven or eight steps away from Cang Lang and said calmly, “I’m here. Draw your technique if you have any.” For the first time, Cang Lang’s expression changed. His lips trembled slightly, his gaze sharp as a knife as it pierced Xie Wendong’s face. With a hoarse voice, he demanded, “Draw your sword!” “Why?” Xie Wendong paid no attention to his murderous gaze. Smiling, he took off his black leather gloves and said, “Tell me who you are. I don’t want to kill someone unknown.”
“Hmph!” Cang Lang laughed—more like his facial muscles twitched unnaturally—as he rubbed the twin swords in his hands, producing a harsh sound that made people feel uneasy. “You can go to hell to ask. Draw your sword!” Xie Wendong sighed helplessly, looking puzzled. “Someone’s eager to meet the King of Hell. What can I do?” With that, he slowly unbuttoned his clothes and drew a sword from his waist. The blade was bright and extremely thin. With a light swing, he warned, “Are you ready? I’m about to strike!”
Jiang Sen glanced at Gao Qiang, and Li Shuang glanced at Jiang Sen, wondering if Brother Dong had lost his mind today. Had they not seen his skills just now? Xie Wendong might have some skills, but he couldn’t be much better than Ren Changfeng. The latter posed no threat at all to Cang Lang—could Xie Wendong? No one could understand his thoughts, not even Cang Lang. Cang Lang’s lips twitched as if in a smile, his eyes sneering as he said coldly, “Go ahead. I really do want to meet the King of Hell!”
“Alright!” Xie Wendong acted immediately. Still about seven or eight steps away from Cang Lang, he gathered his strength, swung his arm, and threw the blade like a flying knife at the other man’s throat.

“Yah!” Everyone gasped. What kind of fighting style was this? Before getting close, he threw away his weapon first. If the Gray Wolf dodged, Brother Dong would be in great danger. Jiang Sen shouted in alarm and rushed forward to protect him, but he was too slow. The Gray Wolf didn’t take it seriously at all. With a slight movement of his upper body, he easily dodged and sneered secretly. Xie Wendong was also so arrogant that he didn’t even consider himself a threat. The Gray Wolf stepped forward quickly, spread his arms, and unfolded his two sleeve swords like wings. Xie Wendong threw them with great force, spinning around due to inertia. By the time he steadied himself and faced the Gray Wolf directly, the latter was already just three steps away. His swords had been retracted, and he gathered all his strength, ready to pierce him through. There was no sign of panic on Xie Wendong’s face; it seemed this had been part of his plan all along. He turned around, and somehow a shiny silver spear appeared in his hand. Without warning, he raised it and shot at the Gray Wolf. It turned out that as he turned, his clothes fluttered in the wind, blocking the view of everyone and the Gray Wolf. Seizing this opportunity, he pulled out the spear.

“Bang!” “Ah!” The sound of the gunshot and the Gray Wolf’s cry came at the same time. The Gray Wolf didn’t pay attention to Xie Wendong and rushed straight into the jungle by the road. With just a few quick movements, he disappeared without a trace. His speed was so fast that Xie Wendong didn’t even have time to fire a second shot. He sighed secretly and shook his head: What a pity! He didn’t kill him today, but he’ll definitely be a trouble in the future. Looking down, he saw a drop of bright red blood on the snow, which gave him some comfort. Although he hadn’t killed him, at least he had injured him—some progress. It was then that Jiang Sen finally ran up to Xie Wendong, let out a sigh of relief, and said, “That was close! Brother Dong, how did you suddenly get a gun?”

Xie Wendong chuckled and said, “Even Ren Changfeng couldn’t survive ten confrontations against him. How could I be his match? If I don’t use a gun, what will I use?! I’m not a fool—I’m not going to die for nothing.” Hearing this, Ren Changfeng was utterly impressed. Although Xie Wendong had used deception, it worked effectively—he not only scared away his fierce opponent but also injured him. Nodding, he said with a wry smile, “It seems that being smart can sometimes be more useful than weapons.” Jiang Sen rolled his eyes and said, “Is that something you just realized?!”

Seeing the Gray Wolf flee wounded, Wen Zi let out a sigh of relief, still shaken. She thought to herself, What a formidable person. Suddenly, she remembered that things weren’t over yet. She rushed to Xie Wendong’s side and said anxiously, “Du Tingwei is at the household that saved Brother Dong last time, and Peng Shulin is there too.”

Xie Wendong frowned, realizing something was wrong—the gunshots earlier must have attracted Du Tingwei’s attention. Not daring to waste time, he hurriedly urged everyone to get into the car and head forward. In the distance, countless people were moving back and forth inside and outside the courtyard, with several cars parked at the entrance. Du Tingwei was standing in front of one of the cars, gesturing wildly and shouting something. They had run into each other head-on; as enemies, they were too angry to talk and immediately engaged in a fierce battle. Du Tingwei stamped his feet in fury, unable to understand why he ran into Xie Wendong even though he hadn’t gone back to work. Pointing at the other party’s convoy, he grabbed the company commander by the collar and screamed, “Tell your troops to attack me! Shoot them to death!”

Without his orders, both sides already started fighting. Although Xie Wendong’s side had more people, few were skilled marksmen, while Du Tingwei’s side was smaller and couldn’t push back the enemy right away. Gunfire rang out like firecrackers nonstop. The two sides were evenly matched, with neither gaining an advantage. Li Shuang organized a few people to break through the enemy lines, but as soon as they stepped out of cover and took a few steps, red mist burst from their bodies accompanied by screams as they fell to the ground. Bullets whizzed past, leaving Li Shuang too scared to even lift his head. He crouched under a car, rubbing his hands anxiously, unable to think of a solution. One of his subordinates snapped angrily, “If not for their better weapons and our inferior ones—just pistols—we would have taken them out already.”

Better weapons?! Li Shuang’s eyes lit up as he slapped his own head. He crawled backward to a van, opened the back door, and took out a black long leather bag. Muttering, “Damn it, if you want to compare weapons, can you even beat a ‘Black Belt’?!” He unzipped the bag and pulled out a small dark green rocket launcher. Loading a rocket, he placed it on the vehicle, adjusted the scope on one side, and, without a specific target, pulled the trigger at the area where the enemy was dense with people and cars.

“Bang! Whoosh—” With a muffled explosion and white smoke billowing, Li Shuang was thrown backward by the powerful recoil. The rocket shot out of the smoke and flew straight into the enemy’s center.

“Boom… boom…” The sound of explosions echoed repeatedly, lasting for a long time. A military vehicle was instantly blown into the air, and the heat wave pushed Du Tingwei, who was the farthest away, rolling several meters. The fragments from the explosion turned several people near the vehicle into meat paste, leaving countless injured. Before they could react, a second rocket landed, creating a hole over a meter in diameter on the ground, surrounded by scattered pieces of flesh. “Du… Mr. Du, they have rocket launchers—too powerful. If this continues, it will be hard for us to gain an advantage. I think we should withdraw first!” “Mm…” Du Tingwei had never seen such a violent scene before. On the battlefield, lives were as fragile as straw, capable of being shattered at any moment. The screams of the wounded cut deep into his heart, leaving him at a loss. He quickly said, “Okay, let’s withdraw. Let’s go.” He clung tightly to the company commander’s sleeve and got into the vehicle, ordering the driver, “Drive fast, hurry up!”
The company commander shook his head secretly—true enough, the son of a hero turns out to be a fool. Du Tingwei’s father was an extraordinary man; even a slight move from him could shake all eight military regions. Yet he had produced such a good-for-nothing who only knew how to play with women. He sighed softly and asked, “What about Peng Shulin and that girl?”
“Kill him! Kill Peng Shulin… No, that won’t work. Peng Shulin can’t die. I still need him to hold off Xie Wendong. With him around, Xie Wendong won’t dare do anything to me!” Du Tingwei suddenly became clever and ordered his men to drag Peng Shulin and the girl into his vehicle. It sounded simple, but it wasn’t that easy. Four soldiers pulled Peng Shulin and the girl out of the woodshed, but Xie Wendong’s men had already closed in. A few stray bullets flew by, and one soldier didn’t even understand what was happening before his head exploded, splattering blood far and wide. The company commander kept sticking his head out to direct his men to get into the vehicle while monitoring the enemy’s attack. Shaking his head, he realized it was too late. He ordered the driver, “Drive!”
Du Tingwei stopped him, “Drive what? Peng Shulin isn’t in the vehicle yet!” “There’s no time!” In battle, the company commander seemed like a completely different person—no longer the subservient wretch he usually was around Du Tingwei, but instead showing the decisiveness of a soldier. Without hesitation, he pulled out his pistol, startling Du Tingwei, who asked in shock, “What are you doing?” The company commander didn’t say a word. He stuck the pistol out of the window and fired three shots at Peng Shulin. Blood sprayed everywhere as Peng Shulin collapsed to the ground without even a cry. The company commander shouted at the three soldiers, “Get in the vehicle quickly!”

Three soldiers abandoned Peng Shulin, who was lying on the ground, and the girl, who had already frozen in shock, and frantically climbed into a military vehicle to flee. In the blink of an eye, the battlefield fell silent. Du Tingwei and the others ran faster than rabbits, leaving behind several bodies scattered across the ground.

“Is there still a chance to save him?” Xie Wendong and the others arrived at the scene. The snow beneath Peng Shulin was stained blood-red, and he was still twitching slightly. Jiang Sen took off his coat to cover him and ordered someone to carry him onto the vehicle. Xie Wendong looked at Peng Shulin, whose face was pale from excessive blood loss, and asked Jiang Sen.

Jiang Sen shook his head while checking his injuries. “It’s hard to say. If his internal organs are damaged, I’m afraid…” Xie Wendong gritted his teeth and said, “Take him to the hospital. Oh, and take care of Peng Ling. Du Tingwei might come back to cause trouble.” With that, he got off the vehicle. By then, someone had already untied the ropes binding the girl. He slowly stepped forward, helped her up, and said apologetically, “I’m sorry for getting you involved in this.” The girl cried softly and threw herself into Xie Wendong’s arms, sobbing, “I don’t know what they’ve done to my brother.”

Xie Wendong comforted her, “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.” Just then, several brothers searching the courtyard carried a man out of the inner room. It took Xie Wendong a long time to recognize who it was. When he saw it was the girl’s brother, Li Gensheng, his head buzzed, and he was unable to speak for a while. Li Gensheng had been dead for some time, with hardly any part of his body unharmed. His face was covered in bruises, and his fatal wound was on his chest, caused by a stab from close range.