Chapter 126

At 10:45, twenty vans stopped at the entrance of Zhongyuan Street. Doors were flung open, and hundreds of people gathered on the street. Chen Baicheng stepped out of the car, holding an axe in one hand and a cigarette between his teeth. Looking at the hundreds of men under his command, he felt a surge of pride. Before, he had been nothing more than a minor troublemaker in a small area, someone even ignored by Guan Delin. But after joining the Wendong Gang, he had risen rapidly to become the head of a branch capable of leading hundreds of men. Upon arriving, Chen Baicheng had made up his mind: he must win this battle brilliantly to establish himself in the gang, possibly paving the way for even higher positions, maybe even on par with leaders like Sanyan.

Chen Baicheng held the cigarette between two fingers and said fiercely, “Brothers, Dongge is injured, and some scumbags are getting reckless. We have no need to be polite with these disloyal people. When you see members of the Baijia Gang, beat them to death. I’ll take all the blame. As long as you give it your all, I, as the branch leader, will never neglect you! Let’s go!”

Hundreds of people roared in unison, pulling out black bands from their pockets to cover their noses before charging toward Zhongyuan Street.

Hearing the chaos outside, someone cursed and opened the door, only to be shocked by the sight of people with their mouths covered by black cloth lining the street. Soon, a few people approached and asked, “Are you from the Baijia Gang?”

“Yes… that’s right! What’s the matter?”

“Great, that makes things easier!” Five or six people rushed at him, swinging their knives. Within five seconds, the first victim collapsed in a pool of blood, screaming in agony. The others didn’t stop; once the front ones finished, those behind rushed in… The last man ended up with at least fifty cuts on his body.

“The Wendong Gang is here!” Shouts echoed throughout the street. Instantly, doors on both sides of the street opened, and countless disheveled members of the Baijia Gang rushed out, taking up weapons and fighting alongside Chen Baicheng’s men. The two sides clashed violently, turning the street into a sea of chaos. There was no trace of humanity here—everyone was blinded by rage, slashing at their own kind.

Leaning against the car, Chen Baicheng took out another cigarette and smoked calmly, uninterested in the fighting ahead. He was waiting—for the person he truly intended to deal with to appear.

A member of the Baijia Gang saw that he had no one around him and seemed to be the leader, so he thought he had an opportunity and charged at Chen Baicheng with a knife. Chen Baicheng shook his head—some people are doomed to die early because fools always die first. He sidestepped the attack effortlessly, quickly drew a pistol with a silencer from his back, and pressed it against the man’s forehead. Seeing the man’s terrified expression, Chen Baicheng laughed and said, “You’ll die the same way pigs die!” Then he shot through the man’s head. Without even looking, Chen Baicheng scanned the crowd for his target. Suddenly, his eyes lit up—he thought, “An idea!” A tall, muscular man about 1.8 meters tall was swinging a machete, killing enemies around him. He was the boss of the Baijia Gang, a fierce fighter, and once a famous “gunman” under Q Si—Lei Jun! Lei Jun’s strength was indeed extraordinary; surrounded by over a dozen men from the Longtang Gang, he showed no fear, dodging their attacks while also injuring them. The members of the Longtang Gang grew anxious—how could more than a dozen of them not handle just one man? If this got out, it would shame the Longtang Gang and make them a laughingstock to other gangs. Lei Jun was even more worried; he didn’t know how many more enemies there were, and there might be reinforcements behind. If he didn’t fight, he might lose his life. With that thought, he roared and swung his knife at a man beside him. The man didn’t dare be careless; he grabbed the knife handle with both hands and blocked the attack. There was a loud clang of metal hitting metal, and even Lei Jun’s own ears buzzed. The powerful swing split the man’s machete in two, creating a two-foot-long wound from his head to his chest. The man cried out in pain, fell to the ground, rolling around as blood stained the ground around him. The others were terrified, wondering if this was even human—how could someone have such strength? Taking advantage of the confusion, Lei Jun swung his knife and knocked down two more men, then broke through the encirclement and ran toward Chen Baicheng. Chen Baicheng had seen everything clearly and was surprised by Lei Jun’s ferocity, but he wasn’t afraid. Instead, it fueled his fighting spirit. He put the pistol back on his back and charged at Lei Jun with his machete. When they were less than five steps apart, they both stopped. Chen Baicheng waved his hand to tell the pursuers behind Lei Jun not to act rashly, then looked straight at him and said, “Lei Jun?”

Lei Jun looked around. There were no less than fifty people gathered around him. Realizing he was about to meet his end today, he instead spoke boldly, “Chen Baicheng, why pretend to be stupid with me? You may have won today, but that doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you. Draw out your rules if you have any, and if you’re a man, fight fairly!”
“Hmm…” Chen Baicheng clapped his hands and sneered, “Good! Really brave! I give you two choices: either come with me to the gang to face punishment according to our rules, or fight one-on-one! Choose!”
“One-on-one?” Lei Jun demanded angrily, “You want to fight me one-on-one?”
“Haha!” Chen Baicheng laughed loudly, “Fight you one-on-one? Haha, yes! I have fifty men around me. Either you fight these fifty men one-on-one, or these fifty men attack you. What do you say?”
Lei Jun was furious and roared, “Damn you! You’re tricking me!” With that, he swung his sword downward at Chen Baicheng.
Chen Baicheng had said this on purpose to provoke him. He indeed intended to fight Lei Jun one-on-one to show off his strength in front of his men. If he could defeat Lei Jun in a one-on-one fight, they would all respect him. But he was afraid he wouldn’t win, so he used this trick.
Seeing the attack coming, Chen Baicheng shouted, “Good!” Then he blocked with his sword at an angle. With another loud clang, he stepped back slightly, his wrist tingling. He checked his sword—it was intact—and thought to himself, “What a good sword!”
Lei Jun was also surprised inwardly, not expecting Chen Baicheng to be quite skilled. He then shouted again and swung his sword again. Chen Baicheng held the sword with both hands and still blocked it.
“Clang, clang, clang…” The loud noises continued as the two clashed, sparks flying from the collisions between their swords, creating a stunning sight in the dark night. Those around them wanted to step in to help, but Chen Baicheng stopped them with a shout. Lei Jun swung his sword twenty times, each strike with full force. Chen Baicheng also stepped back twenty steps, each step heavier than the last. After twenty strikes, Lei Jun was finally running out of strength. Chen Baicheng took the opportunity to counterattack with all his might, forcing Lei Jun to retreat step by step, eventually returning to where the fight began.
The two fought for ten minutes without either being able to injure the other. Both were out of breath and their faces red.

Chen Baicheng had several times wanted to pull out his gun and shoot the other man, but he held back, unwilling to waste this opportunity needlessly. The crowd around grew increasingly impatient, shouting, “Headmaster, kill him! Headmaster, kill him!” More and more people gathered, their shouts growing louder. Hearing their cries, Chen Baicheng felt an unknown surge of strength within him. With a roar, he channeled all his strength into his arm and swung at Lei Jun. Lei Jun was not in much better shape either, panting heavily. Seeing the attack coming again, he quickly tried to block it with his knife. “Bang!” This time, Lei Jun underestimated his opponent; from his wrist to his arm, he was completely numb from Chen Baicheng’s strike, and his knife flew out of his hand.

Chen Baicheng was delighted. He kicked the other man to the ground, stepped forward, and pressed his knife against Lei Jun’s throat, saying harshly, “Lei Jun! You’ve lost!”

Lei Jun lay on the ground, gasping for air, his voice unsteady. “Kill me or torture me—whatever you want.”

“Hehe!” Chen Baicheng said triumphantly, “I won’t kill you. I don’t have the right to.” Then he turned to the crowd around him and said, “Take him back and subject him to family discipline!”

“Roar~~~” Hundreds of people around them shouted in unison, deeply admiring Chen Baicheng as their new headmaster. This was exactly the effect Chen Baicheng wanted. Seeing the convinced faces around him, he laughed triumphantly.

Just as Chen Baicheng had planned, this battle really boosted his reputation. In less than an hour, he had dealt with the Baijia Hui and single-handedly defeated the famous war god Lei Jun. The name Chen Baicheng began to be known in the underworld.

That night, the Wendong Hui mobilized the entire gang to launch a full-scale attack on those who rebelled and those who conspired with them. Chen Baicheng was just part of it. Under the command of Sanyan, the Wendong Hui, with its formidable strength, crushed three out of the five rebel gangs, as well as the five gangs that were secretly supporting the rebellion, as uncovered by Jiang Sen. They also fought a battle against the revived Shouhun Gang. When the two sides first clashed, for some reason, the Shouhun Gang retreated, and the Wendong Hui, puzzled, did not pursue them.

While the outside was in chaos, Xie Wendong also remained restless in the hospital.

It was already tough enough to deal with Peng Ling’s constant questioning, plus Gao Huiyu calling to rush him from time to time. Xie Wendong felt like his mind was about to collapse. In desperation, he resorted to his old trick: rolling his eyes upward and pretending to faint! He didn’t use this trick often, but it always worked every time. Sure enough, it startled Peng Ling, who rushed out to find a doctor. When the doctor came in to examine him, Xie Wendong winked at him while still holding Peng Ling. The doctor immediately understood and pretended to examine him for a while before saying to Peng Ling, “The patient’s injury hasn’t healed yet, and without proper rest, it’s gotten worse. No one should disturb him for now. Please go outside.”