Chapter 302

Dong Xinlei shrunk his neck, looked at Xiao Fang, and said with wide eyes, “If you want to call my name, just do it. Why grit your teeth? We’re all old friends now, right…”
Xiao Fang was so angry that his eyes almost popped out. He took two deep breaths to calm himself down before pointing at the man in white on the ground and saying coldly, “This is all your doing, right?”
Dong Xinlei shrugged and said, “What you’re saying is nonsense. Besides me, are there anyone else around?” “Right, right!” Xiao Fang nodded repeatedly. “Then pay with blood for your crimes!” Dong Xinlei widened his eyes in surprise and laughed, “I didn’t hear that wrong, did I? A defeated foe who didn’t even know how to run away from Nanjing now comes here and talks big again. I really can’t believe you…” The crushing defeat in Nanjing was a lifelong pain for Xiao Fang. Before Dong Xinlei could finish speaking, he roared, waved his hand, and shouted, “Don’t let a dog from the North Hongmen escape!” Dong Xinlei kicked over the first Nan Hongmen disciple who rushed at him and laughed maniacally, “A defeated foe—whether I live or die is still uncertain!” After saying that, he kicked and slashed, injuring four or five strong men. Suddenly, Dong Xinlei raised his hand. Just as everyone thought he was about to give an attack order, he unexpectedly shouted, “Retreat!”
Regardless of others’ reactions, he turned and ran first, using his long legs to dodge trucks along the way, employing a fleeing tactic he wasn’t very good at but often used in Shanghai. Xiao Fang didn’t expect him to run away so quickly. Thinking he would fight back, he was surprised when Dong Xinlei actually fled.
Wu Chang glanced at the running Dong Xinlei and then at the sea of Nan Hongmen disciples charging toward them. Filled with resentment, he stomped his foot, sighed, and rushed in the same direction as Dong Xinlei. With their leader fleeing, the others lost their fighting spirit and put down their weapons. The members of the North Hongmen followed closely behind Dong Xinlei and Wu Chang, running frantically. It took a long time for Wu Chang to catch up to Dong Xinlei. Panting as he ran, he said, “Brother Lei, we just won a battle. Why are we running?”

“Hehe!” Dong Xinlei laughed. “It’s stupid not to run! Who knows how many more reinforcements Nan Hongmen has yet to arrive? Once a fight starts, we’ll really be as Xiao Fang said—none of us will be able to get away.” “Xiao Fang is nothing but…” Wu Chang snapped. “Even if they have many people, I’m confident I can capture Xiao Fang. By then, no matter how many people Nan Hongmen has, we won’t fear them.” Dong Xinlei shook his head. “Xiao Fang isn’t a fool. What you can think of, they might have thought of too. Do you think he’ll just stand still for you to catch him? Stop talking—we need to run; otherwise, we might get hurt!” Wu Chang sighed again and silently followed, puffing his cheeks with effort.

By the time Xiao Fang organized his men to push the large trucks out of the way, Dong Xinlei and the others had already run far away. Unconcerned at all, he opened the car door and sneered, “I wonder how far you can run?!” Getting into the car, he ordered his men to accelerate and chase after them. How could human legs outpace a car with four wheels? Soon, Dong Xinlei faintly heard the roar of the engines behind him. He slapped his head, realizing something was wrong. But it was too late to cry out again. Two disciples from Bei Hongmen who were lagging behind couldn’t dodge in time and were hit head-on by the speeding car. They let out screams and flew forward, but before they could get up, the merciless cars rolled over them. Then another car came… By the time all the cars passed, there were only two pools of blood and flesh left on the ground. To avoid the cars, the disciples of Bei Hongmen took cover on both sides of the road against the walls, which slowed them down. The disciples of Nan Hongmen then rushed out of their cars, and the two groups fought again. With similar numbers and equal strength, the battle turned into a fierce, life-or-death struggle.

Seeing his own men trapped by the enemy, Dong Xinlei stamped his foot in frustration. He wanted to call for help, but after some thought, he decided against it—there were no more people left at home; most had been taken by San Yan and Ren Changfeng to launch a surprise attack on Yongsheng. He didn’t want to distract those two. Just as he was thinking this, a man in white ran toward him, over 1.8 meters tall and thin as a horse pole, with one eye covered by dark cloth. After taking a closer look, Dong Xinlei inwardly cursed—this man was Tian Fangchang, one of the Eight Heavenly Kings of the Nan Hongmen. The two of them knew each other all too well; there was no need for words as they immediately engaged in combat. Neither would yield, fighting head-on with clashing swords that sent sparks flying and a constant ringing sound. In terms of strength, Tian Fangchang might not be Dong Xinlei’s match, and it wouldn’t be easy for the latter to take him down quickly. With other matters on his mind, Dong Xinlei had to keep an eye on his surroundings while fighting, which temporarily kept the fight even.

The streets were filled with fighting crowds—black and white, like colors that could never be blended; upon contact, one side would always fall and disappear. From afar, Wu Chang saw Xiao Fang giving orders and shouting loudly behind him. Wielding his enormous saber, Wu Chang first ran toward Xiao Fang. Once he thought he was within striking range, he let out a sharp cry and accelerated like lightning, rushing at Xiao Fang. Xiao Fang was surrounded by no less than ten elite members of the Nan Hongmen as guards. Seeing this, they drew their swords to protect him and confront Wu Chang. Before Wu Chang reached them, they raised their swords high, ready to strike anyone who came near. With the weight of the swords plus the force of their swings, the swords made a howling sound as they cut through the air.

The Nan Hongmen guards, fearing his unstoppable momentum and unable to dodge sideways, raised their swords almost simultaneously to withstand his fierce attack. With each clash came a piercing sound, followed by three screams. When Xiao Fang and the Nan Hongmen members saw what had happened, they all shuddered inwardly.

Wu Chang swung his blade in one fierce strike, sending the three burly men with broad shoulders and thick waists who were blocking with their swords flying three meters into the air. They lay on the ground, their arms numb and their heads spinning, unable to get up for a while. How much strength must that take?! Xiao Fang secretly stuck out his tongue; he wasn’t even sure he could block such a strike himself. Looking up carefully at his opponent, Wu Chang was of average height and didn’t seem particularly muscular, though his shoulders were slightly wider than average. Still, from the rolled-up sleeves, it was evident that his muscles were bulging like small hills, with veins standing out prominently. His arms were as thick as a child’s calves. After observing this, Xiao Fang parted the crowd and walked slowly toward Wu Chang, asking, “Brother, who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” Wu Chang was one of the outstanding young members promoted after Xie Wendong became the leader of the Northern Hongmen. He had previously been in charge of Jin Peng’s security, so during the intense battles in Nanjing, he remained in City T. Xiao Fang had never met him. Later, when the Northern Hongmen entered Shanghai, Xie Wendong, realizing he had few reliable subordinates, mentioned it to Old Master Jin, who immediately sent over a group of young but strong disciples—Wu Chang was one of them. Xie Wendong also valued him highly and made him the deputy of Dong Xinlei as soon as he arrived in Shanghai. Wu Chang glanced up and down at Xiao Fang, frowned, and snapped, “Enough nonsense!” With a wave of his arm, he sent a whirlwind of wind from his blade toward Xiao Fang. Xiao Fang usually stayed low-key and rarely fought, but not fighting didn’t mean he couldn’t. He slipped back two steps to avoid the blade, placing his sword across his chest as he said, “Brother, I think you’re talented. Why not join me instead…” Before he could finish, Wu Chang’s eyebrows furrowed, his mouth opened wide, and he cursed, “I’ll join your damn mother!” He didn’t give Xiao Fang another chance to speak. He struck again and again, faster and faster, the heavy blade in his hand seeming weightless. Xiao Fang dodged left and right, too busy to speak. His gaze turned cold, filled with murderous intent. If such a formidable opponent couldn’t be brought on his side, it was better to get rid of him sooner rather than later. He changed his fighting style and intensified his attacks, slashing repeatedly to disrupt Wu Chang’s assaults.

Soldier against soldier, general against general—no one left idle between the north and south; everyone joined the battle. Just as the two sides were evenly matched and the fight was close, the sound of cars came from behind the South Hongmen, with dozens of headlights shining their way over. Dong Xinlei was shocked and quickly swung his knives a few times, forcing Tian Fangchang back several steps. He raised a hand to block the strong light and looked closely—several cars were approaching from the end of the street. The car models were unfamiliar, the license plates were unfamiliar, and the people inside were also strangers. Dong Xinlei’s heart sank—it seemed the reinforcements from South Hongmen had arrived! Sure enough, Xiao Fang jumped out of the circle, turned around, laughed loudly, pointed his knife at Dong Xinlei in the distance and Wu Chang right in front of him, and said arrogantly, “Surrender now, and you might suffer less. Otherwise…” Wu Chang seemed to have a habit of interrupting others. Before Xiao Fang could finish speaking, his knife was already at him again. Xiao Fang was so angry that his eyelids twitched, but he couldn’t do anything to him for now. Dong Xinlei realized this situation wasn’t sustainable—there were more and more people from South Hongmen, and he was alone with no help. There was no time to think too much; he had to run as fast as he could. With all his strength, he swung his knife violently, pushing back Tian Fangchang who was charging at him, and shouted, “Brothers, follow me and retreat!”
Tian Fangchang wasn’t willing to let him go. Seeing him try to escape, he chased after him desperately, waving his knife and shouting, “Dong Xinlei, you can’t fly away today!”
Before the reinforcements from South Hongmen could reach the scene, the police sirens wailed from the other end of the street, with flashing police lights speeding toward them. Everyone’s expression changed instantly, especially those from South Hongmen. They looked at each other, confused as to why the police had arrived at this moment. Xiao Fang’s face turned dark, his eyes darting around, clearly lost in thought. Someone stepped forward and asked, “Brother Xiao, didn’t we already contact the police? How come they…” Xiao Fang glared and snapped, “You ask me? Who else am I supposed to ask?”

No matter how powerful or arrogant the North and South Hongmen were, with the police present, they had to restrain themselves and hide their knives. Dong Xinlei heaved a sigh of relief—being caught by the police was still better than being completely surrounded and wiped out by the South Hongmen. In no time, police cars arrived. As the doors opened, dozens of fully armed officers and riot police with batons and shields stepped out. The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties with a moustache, who ignored the hundreds of bloodied, ferocious men—black and white—and walked to the center of the scene to check on the fallen. There were at least thirty or forty of them. His expression turned cold as he glanced at the crowd of the South Hongmen, finally fixing his gaze on Xiao Fang and saying calmly, “Brother Xiao, you’ve gone a bit too far this time.”

Xiao Fang found the middle-aged police officer familiar but couldn’t recall where he had seen him, so he didn’t pay much attention. He stepped forward and said softly, “You came too fast!” The middle-aged officer smiled indifferently and replied, “The phones at the police station were being flooded with calls. How could I just sit still?” “Damn it!” Xiao Fang punched the car roof and asked, “So what do you suggest we do?” The middle-aged officer said, “One, all of you come with me; two, I’ll only take the people from the North Hongmen, but you still need to pick out a few unlucky ones, otherwise, I won’t be able to explain it.” Xiao Fang nodded repeatedly, understanding, and waved his hand, saying, “No need to say more. I know!” He turned to his men and asked, “Which brother wants to go to the police station for a couple of days?” As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people stepped forward. This was nothing new to them—they saw it as no different from going on vacation. There was food and drink inside, and someone from above would surely release them in a few days. Xiao Fang pulled the middle-aged officer aside and whispered, “What plans do you have for these people from the North Hongmen?”

“What else can we do? We have to do what needs to be done and punish those who deserve it!” the middle-aged officer laughed. “Hmm…” Xiao Fang rubbed his chin and said, “The lower-ranking guys can be released. Let Xie Wendong pay to get them out—it’ll bring in a decent amount of money for you. But two people must not be let go,” he secretly pointed at Dong Xinlei and Wu Chang, adding, “Keep a close eye on these two!” Frustrated by Xiao Fang’s interference, the middle-aged officer frowned and said coldly, “I know what needs to be done!”

“Mm!” Xiao Fang, perhaps accustomed to ignoring the police, failed to notice the dissatisfaction in the middle-aged officer’s voice. He nodded, patted the officer’s shoulder, and said with a smile, “Go back and tell your chief I say hello! Hehe!” The middle-aged officer gave him a glance, ignored him further, turned, pointed at the members of the North Hongmen gang, and shouted, “Take them all away!” At that command, the armed police lined up, raised their shields, and advanced step by step. Seeing the police approaching, the members of the North Hongmen gang turned to look at Dong Xinlei, who had already raised his hands high, appearing indifferent. Wu Chang sighed helplessly, threw away his large knife, and stood with his head lowered. Seeing this, the gang members immediately lost their fighting spirit and raised their hands, giving up resistance. There were many members of the North Hongmen gang—enough to fill over a dozen police cars. Xiao Fang led his men away, and soon after, ambulances arrived. Doctors and nurses cleaned up the mess. It was estimated that there were at least fifty casualties. Dong Xinlei and Wu Chang were placed in the police car where the middle-aged officer was sitting. The officer used his walkie-talkie to give an order, and the convoy slowly headed south. Dong Xinlei was puzzled and asked, “This doesn’t seem to be the direction to the police station?!”