Chapter 263

“Hehe!” Colonel Huang laughed heartily, his voice loud, and said, “Young man, you’re quite good at speaking.” Xie Wendong shook his head politely and replied, “I’m far from it. There are still many things I need to learn from you.” Hearing this, Colonel Huang laughed again and took him by the arm as they headed upstairs. Seeing the affectionate manner between the two, someone unfamiliar might think they were two old friends reuniting after a long time! After the pleasantries, Xie Wendong got to the point, saying as they walked, “I heard that one of my ‘good’ friends came to you. I wonder if it’s true or not?”
“Oh? Who do you mean?” Colonel Huang was momentarily stunned, unsure whether he was truly confused or pretending to be so. He stared at Xie Wendong with wide eyes.
“My friend’s name is Du Tingwei,” Xie Wendong said slowly, his eyes sharp as eagles as they scanned Colonel Huang’s face. “Surely Colonel Huang can’t pretend not to know him, right?!” His face flushed red, his heart agitated. He hadn’t expected a young man in his early twenties to have such piercing eyes. Colonel Huang laughed to hide his embarrassment and said, “You mean Little Du? He did come here, and he’s here with me now. But he never mentioned having a friend like you.”
Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Whether he recognizes me or not is his business. But I’ve already identified him as my friend. As the saying goes, one should repay a kindness with even greater generosity. I dare not forget his ‘kindness’ for even a moment, so I want to meet him.” There was an underlying meaning in his words, which Colonel Huang could easily discern. In fact, he knew all about the grudges between Xie Wendong and Du Tingwei. When Du Tingwei fled to him, he confessed everything except for shooting Peng Shulin, not mentioning it at all. Colonel Huang’s name was Huang Zhen, with the rank of colonel and command over a full division. He wasn’t close to Du Tingwei, but he had some connection to his father. One could say his current position was thanks to the support his father had given him in the past. As Du Tingwei spoke, he shook his head, thinking it wasn’t worth becoming enemies with Xie Wendong over a woman. Moreover, he believed Xie Wendong was too arrogant and lawless, daring to attack Du Tingwei, who was under the protection of special forces, showing complete disregard for the law. He had long held resentment, and now that Xie Wendong brought it up, instead of getting angry, he laughed and nodded, saying, “Sure, of course. How could I refuse a request from Mr. Xie?!”, paused briefly, then added half-jokingly and half-seriously, “I certainly can’t afford to offend the Political Department!”

Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Then please lead the way, Commander Huang.” The two went up to the fifth floor. Huang Zhen stopped in front of a room and said, “Xiao Du is resting here.” Xie Wendong nodded with a smile and instinctively glanced back. Li Shuang, Jiang Sen, and the others had been stopped by someone at some point and were no longer in sight. Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, he pushed the door open without knocking. The room wasn’t large, about 30 square meters, but it was luxuriously and exquisitely furnished, especially the dark red carpet underfoot, which was soft and plush, as if walking on clouds. There were three people in the room. Xie Wendong recognized two of them. One had a pale face and unremarkable features, yet exuded a sense of death. He sat in the corner by the window, his deadfish-like eyes staring blankly outside, showing no reaction to Xie Wendong’s sudden appearance. He was like a gray wolf—even sitting in a corner, his aura of death and mystery made it impossible to ignore his presence. The other man was in his thirties, good-looking, but with a frivolous air about him. Upon seeing Xie Wendong enter, he instinctively jumped up from his chair, pointing at him with trembling lips. He thought that entering the military district meant entering the safest place in the world. No matter how bold Xie Wendong was, would he really dare come after him?! Du Tingwei wondered if his eyes were failing him, but unfortunately, Xie Wendong had indeed come, and his eyes were fine.

The third person in the room was the company commander who had shot and injured Peng Shulin. He moved extremely fast—before Xie Wendong could even steady himself inside, he had already pulled out his gun. Xie Wendong paid him no attention, merely smiling at Huang Zhen and saying, “I always have my ways of dealing with those who dare to lay a hand on me.” The colonel frowned. He didn’t know how powerful Xie Wendong was, but his survival to this day and his achievements were by no means accidental. If a fight broke out and Du Tingwei got hurt, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to his father. With that in mind, he shouted, “This is a military district, the place with the strictest discipline. No matter the reason or who it is, if anyone dares to fight here, not to mention I won’t show mercy, they’ll be dealt with according to military law!” Those words were effective. The company commander glanced nervously at Xie Wendong before reluctantly putting away his gun and stepping aside.

“Hehe!” Xie Wendong walked smilingly to the center of the room, tapped his fingers lightly, and said, “Brother Du is really fast!”

Du Tingwei recovered from his shock. With Huang Zhen as his commander, he felt reassured and smiled triumphantly, saying, “On Xie Wendong’s territory, you’d better run fast!” Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “I’m not that powerful. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have killed someone right under my nose.” “Killed? Who?” Huang Zhen took over the conversation, staring at Du Tingwei thoughtfully. Before Du Tingwei could deny it, Xie Wendong immediately said, “Peng Shulin, and an innocent fisherman too.” “Wh… what?” Huang Zhen was stunned. He naturally knew who Peng Shulin was—a special envoy sent by the central government, three ranks above ordinary officials. He couldn’t believe Du Tingwei would do such a thing. Seeing his thoughts, Xie Wendong sneered, “Don’t doubt it. Killing a special envoy—what’s that to Brother Du? Right?”

Du Tingwei hurriedly said, “Uncle Huang, don’t believe him blindly. I’ve never killed anyone, let alone Peng Shulin. Besides, he’s the father of my beloved. How could I do such a thing?” He said it calmly, acting as if he were being wronged. Huang Zhen nodded, thinking he had a point—there was indeed no need for him to do such a thing.

Xie Wendong didn’t bother arguing and continued, “You shouldn’t have killed Peng Shulin because he’s Peng Ling’s father. Nor should you have killed that fisherman, because he’s my savior.” Anger surged in Du Tingwei’s heart, and he shouted, “I’ve never killed anyone!” As if not hearing him, Xie Wendong said, “Don’t think just because you have a powerful father you can do whatever you want. Here, whoever crosses me becomes my nightmare. As long as they’re alive, the nightmare continues. Even the emperor won’t help. Don’t take my words as a joke. I only joke with friends. Do you think you could be my friend?” Xie Wendong’s arrogance and dominance crushed Du Tingwei’s spirit and made him jealous. He didn’t understand why, despite having a much stronger backer, he was still inferior to Xie Wendong. Whenever he saw him, he felt overwhelmed. In anger, he slammed the coffee table and roared, “Who do you think you are? Do you really think you’re that great?”

Finally, Xie Wendong looked at him directly and sneered arrogantly, “At least I’m someone who dares to take responsibility. As for you, you don’t even have the courage to admit it.”

Although Du Tingwei was filled with rage, he retained his composure and refused to back down. Forcing a smile, he said, “I’ve never killed anyone. What do I have to admit? It’s you, Xie Wendong—your motives for killing Peng Shulin are far greater than mine, right?!” Xie Wendong waved his finger in front of Du Tingwei and laughed, “Do you know why Peng Ling chose me instead of you? Because you’ll never be able to compare to me.” Du Tingwei gritted his teeth, seemingly eager to bite Xie Wendong. His weaknesses had been exposed barefaced by Xie Wendong. Xie Wendong continued, “I’ll take on all the consequences of my actions, no matter what. But you can’t! Because you rely on your father—you’ll never have such courage.”

Du Tingwei’s eyes widened, gradually turning bloodshot, and his body trembled uncontrollably. From childhood, he had always been respected, indulged, and protected. Who would dare speak such words to him? Seeing the situation worsening, the company commander secretly pulled at his coat from behind, trying to remind him not to lose his sanity. But Du Tingwei couldn’t listen at that moment. He swayed violently, shoving the commander’s hand aside. His voice was strained, almost unrecognizable as he shouted, “Xie Wendong, don’t act so impressive in front of me! You’re just a thug. The number of people you’ve killed is probably beyond even ten fingers…”

Xie Wendong replied calmly, “That’s true, but you’re undercounting. The number of people I’ve killed is even greater—more than ten pairs of hands could count. So what? Haha…” He laughed wildly, looking up at the sky. “I’m Xie Wendong. Who can do anything to me? Who dares? What about you, Du Tingwei?” After a pause, Xie Wendong said coldly, “You’re just a rat. Well, a rat backed by a tiger! Worthless.” Du Tingwei’s body trembled violently. His remaining sanity was burned to ashes by his raging anger. Suddenly, he let out a howl, rushed forward, grabbed Xie Wendong by the collar, pointed at his own chest with one hand, and screamed, “I killed Peng Shulin! I did it! If you’ve got the guts, Xie Wendong, come and kill me! Do you dare?” Time seemed to stop. Amidst Du Tingwei’s furious screams, the room fell dead silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

The madness on Xie Wendong’s face gradually faded, replaced by calm. He said indifferently, “There’s no need to doubt. One day, I’ll put an end to your nightmares, but not today.” He waved his arm, shoving away the hand on his collar, and sighed, “I truly feel sorry for your remarkable father.” He turned slowly and said to Huang Zhen, “Everything is clear now. You should know what to do. If you’re afraid his father will blame you, I don’t mind using my position in the Political Department to take him away.”

After a long while, Huang Zhen finally exhaled deeply. His heart had been in his throat the whole time, and now it had finally settled—only to shatter completely. Du Tingwei simply couldn’t match Xie Wendong! There was too big a gap in their determination. Huang Zhen shook his head in frustration. Of course, he couldn’t let Xie Wendong take Du Tingwei away. If Du Tingwei fell into his hands, it would indeed be a nightmare, as Xie had said. If anything happened to Du Tingwei, Old Mr. Du would surely punish Xie Wendong, but he wouldn’t spare Huang Zhen either. Shaking his head, he pulled open the door, ready to call in the guards to temporarily hold Du Tingwei and send him to Beijing as soon as possible for the central authorities to handle. Then it would have nothing to do with him anymore. It was a wise move to protect himself, but someone objected. Seeing the plan fail, the company commander was furious. Killing a special envoy wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Du Tingwei had his father to back him up, but who could he rely on? The company commander hated both Xie Wendong’s cunning and Du Tingwei’s incompetence. What a useless fool! He cursed under his breath, bent forward, and rushed at Xie Wendong like an arrow, his fingers hooking around his throat. Xie Wendong was no ordinary person—he was prepared. He had thought Cang Lang would act in desperation, but the latter had sat there motionless like a log the whole time. With a quick dodge, Xie Wendong avoided the company commander’s grab. Before he could retaliate, the company commander darted past him, his grip unchanged, and firmly pressed it around Huang Zhen’s throat. With his other hand, he instantly pulled out a pistol and pressed it against Huang Zhen’s temple, saying apologetically, “I’m sorry, sir. If you have to blame someone, it’s Xie Wendong!”

Xie Wendong looked relaxed and smiled, saying, “This is a military camp. Do you think you can escape?” It was then that Du Tingwei realized he had spoken too much. He regretted it deeply and immediately lost his composure. Yet he still couldn’t resist taking pleasure in his misfortune, saying, “Xie Wendong, I admitted just now that I killed Peng Shulin, but you also said you’ve killed people—more than one could count with ten pairs of hands. Today, you won’t be able to escape either.” Xie Wendong shrugged and cast a sad look at Du Tingwei, saying, “Do you really believe that? I said that just to trick you into revealing the truth. How could I possibly kill someone? I’m from the Political Department, and I’m also a businessman. Things like killing and breaking the law are beyond my imagination—how could I do such a thing?!”
Hearing this, Du Tingwei almost spat blood. Pointing at Xie Wendong’s nose, he took a long time before speaking, “Are you… are you even a man? Did you just dismiss what you said as nonsense?” Xie Wendong replied helplessly, “I’m sorry. I won’t admit something I didn’t do.” Facing someone like Xie Wendong could make even a healthy heart sick. That was Du Tingwei’s situation—he felt his heart pressed tightly, almost unable to breathe. A hoarse voice, like glass being cut, suddenly rang out, “Forget it. You can’t beat him.” Cang Lang, who had remained motionless, had somehow appeared beside Du Tingwei. He gave him a pitying glance and added, “How can you, a son of high-ranking officials, compare to Xie Wendong’s cunning?!”
Xie Wendong looked at Cang Lang and smiled faintly, but the hairs on his body stood on end as he approached, tightening every nerve in his body. Every time he got close to Cang Lang, he felt as if he were on the brink of death. He hated this lingering sense of powerlessness and was extremely wary of Cang Lang. Similarly, Cang Lang was staring at Xie Wendong, searching for any flaw in him, aiming to kill him in one strike if possible. The two stared at each other for five full seconds. In the end, Cang Lang was disappointed. He couldn’t find anything in Xie Wendong’s smiling face; instead, those narrow, slitted eyes shone with a sinister and cold aura that pierced straight to the heart.