Chapter 161
It turned out that Xie Wendong never jumped at all. After leaping out, he quickly grabbed the edge of the window sill with both hands, hanging outside. When the two burly men rushed out one after another, he used his arms to swing back in and kicked the man with thick brows in the face. His series of movements were incredibly light, pushing human limits to the extreme. Gunfire rang out outside the window. Xie Wendong lightly jumped down from the window sill and smiled as he looked at the man covering his face. After a while, the man with thick brows regained some strength, glared at him through his fingers, and demanded angrily, “You didn’t jump out?”
Xie Wendong smiled and said, “If I had jumped out then, wouldn’t it have been easy for me to die under the crossfire from you and the police?”
The man with thick brows glared fiercely without saying a word. Xie Wendong looked at the gun in his hand and said calmly, “Two hours ago, someone else tried to kill me, but I didn’t kill her.”
The man with thick brows replied coldly, “I know.” Xie Wendong said, “I didn’t kill her because I didn’t want something beautiful created by heaven to be destroyed by my hands. But you’re different. If you didn’t die, I wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep in peace. Tell me, should I kill you?” The man with thick brows sighed, “If I were you, I would definitely take action.”
“Mm!” Xie Wendong nodded and said, “I’ll ask just one question. Answer me, and I won’t kill you!” The man with thick brows shook his head and said, “No matter what you ask, I won’t tell you.” Xie Wendong sighed. He knew that someone like this would keep his word and wouldn’t lie. He listened to the gunfire outside; it was still intense, with shouts coming from time to time. Xie Wendong’s expression grew colder, and he said helplessly, “That’s really a pity.” The muscles on the man’s face twitched as he said coldly, “Indeed a pity. I failed to kill you at the best opportunity!” Xie Wendong shook his head with a bitter smile, raised his gun, and shot through the man’s head. Looking at the body falling straight down, he sighed, “I hope Ma Feng doesn’t have too many subordinates like you.” He stood beside the corpse in deep thought for a while, then suddenly remembered something. He bent down, took out a phone from the man’s pocket, redialed, and pressed it to his ear.
Within five seconds, the other party answered the call. A deep, slightly hoarse voice came through, “Lao Si, is everything going smoothly?”
Xie Wendong was familiar with this voice. Even over the phone, he could tell it was Ma Feng. He smiled calmly and said, “Brother Ma, it seems you’ve missed me a lot after not seeing each other for days. You even sent beauties and bodyguards to escort me.” There was a clear pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a doubtful voice, “Are you Xie Wendong?”
“That’s right! It’s me,” said Xie Wendong. “I remember the gift you gave me. I’ll repay it doubly in the future. But the guys you sent seem to be in trouble—dozens of police officers are talking to them.” Ma Feng could clearly hear gunshots over the phone and knew he was telling the truth. The three of them seemed to be in grave danger. His heart ached, and his eyes turned red. But having seen much of the world, he gritted his teeth and said calmly, “I know you’ve always been lucky. But you can be lucky once or twice—I don’t believe you’ll always have good fortune. One day, I’ll get back what you owe me.” Xie Wendong sighed. “Some things are fate. I may not believe it, but you must!” With that, he sneered and threw the phone out of the window. Just as he was about to go out, Qiu Ningshui rushed in, sweating profusely. She froze for a moment upon seeing the bodies on the ground, then carefully scanned Xie Wendong from head to toe. Seeing he was unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief and glared at him, “Weren’t you going to jump out with me? How did you climb back in by yourself?” Xie Wendong laughed. “I realized I forgot something right before jumping out.” “Oh?” Qiu Ningshui frowned in confusion. “What did you forget?” Xie Wendong picked up a piece of clothing and draped it over her, smiling. “Your pajamas are too thin. There are so many men outside. I wanted to give you a coat to cover up, but that guy didn’t jump out, so it took me a lot of effort to knock him down.” Qiu Ningshui felt warm inside and blushed as she lowered her head. Seeing this, Xie Wendong laughed and said, “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’ve said I’m not interested in women much older than me.” Qiu Ningshui, who had been feeling happy, immediately turned cold again. She glared at him angrily and said, “People like you should never get married.” Xie Wendong sighed. “But there are quite a few who like me! By the way, what happened to those two assassins?” “They’re dead!” Qiu Ningshui replied irritably, tossing her hair and turning to walk into the bedroom. “Dead?” Xie Wendong scratched his head and looked up at the night sky outside the window. Clouds covered the moon, and he murmured to himself, “What a shame.” It was unclear whether he was referring to the moon covered by clouds or the three dead men. City T. The sun was still bright, and the city remained calm, like a vast ocean with no waves on the surface but turbulent currents beneath, as a sense of danger slowly enveloped the city.
The old man’s condition was gradually improving; he could now walk slowly with someone’s assistance. Though still weak, his complexion was much redder than before. That day, the five elders summoned all the members of the Hongmen gang for a meeting. Almost all the important figures within Hongmen were called upon, for a simple reason: the new leader had disappeared, leaving Hongmen leaderless, and it was necessary to elect someone to take charge. Various opinions were expressed during the meeting, and after more than two hours of debate, no conclusion was reached. The five elders shook their heads in frustration.
At 3:30 a.m., inside the hospital building. Early in the morning is when people are most prone to drowsiness and when their spirits are at their lowest. Several guards stationed at Jinpeng’sward ward door stood listlessly either against the wall or dozing on benches nearby. Originally, Dong Xinlei was supposed to be in charge of guarding here, but he had to return to the headquarters due to the elders’ meeting. Without Dong Xinlei to keep an eye on things, the guards became more casual. At that moment, a man in a white coat and glasses approached slowly, speaking in a soft voice. Yet the guards, being elite members of Hongmen with exceptionally sharp ears, sensed someone approaching despite being in a semi-asleep state from fatigue.
The guards opened their eyes and glanced at the doctor approaching. Before they could speak, the doctor said, “Please step aside. I need to check on the patient.”
A guard in his thirties frowned and asked, “Are you a doctor? Why have I never seen you before?”
The doctor replied calmly, “I just finished my leave and arrived at the hospital yesterday. I’m taking over Dr. Li’s night shift today.” The guard nodded, then shook his head and said, “In that case, have Dr. Li bring you here tomorrow. We won’t let a stranger in alone.” The doctor’s expression changed, and he raised his voice, “What’s the problem with you? There’s no reason to stop a doctor from seeing a patient.” The guard replied helplessly, “For the old man’s safety, I have no choice.”
“Safety?” The doctor raised his eyebrows coldly. “Are you suspecting I might harm the patient?”
The guard shrugged. “Until I can confirm your identity, I have to be cautious.”
The doctor’s expression darkened again, and he fell silent. He turned as if to leave, but suddenly, a surgical knife over three inches long appeared in his hand. Without looking back, he swung his arm violently, plunging the knife into the guard’s neck artery. When the knife was pulled out, a gush of blood sprayed against the white wall, the contrast between red and white being strikingly vivid.
The guard widened his eyes and stood there rigidly before finally collapsing to the ground. Without hesitation, the doctor pulled out his knife and rushed upstairs. It was then that the other guards came to their senses; they drew their guns and chased after the doctor, leaving only four to guard the ward. They knelt down and pressed handkerchiefs on the guard’s wounds, shouting for the doctor. But the handkerchiefs couldn’t stop the blood from flowing, and soon they were soaked through.
Hearing their cries, two doctors ran upstairs. Just as they were about to ask what was happening, they saw the guard lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. They quickly stepped forward and pressed their fingers on his wound, saying to the others, “Go get a hospital bed quickly—he needs surgery. If we delay, it might be too late.”
The four of them exchanged glances. One of them, a man with a round face and a cheerful expression, looked at the two doctors. He recognized one of them, which reassured him slightly. He said, “You two stay here and guard the old man. Liu and I will go get a bed.” With that, he and the man named Liu rushed out. The doctor pressing the wound said to the remaining two, “Help me hold his wound while I get the anesthetic.” The two men nodded and knelt down to press on the guard’s wound. But something felt wrong. Upon closer inspection, their faces paled, and they raised their heads urgently, saying, “Doctor, his pulse isn’t beating!”
When they looked up, they saw the dark barrels of guns and the doctor’s suddenly grim expression as he said coldly to them, “Is that so? It seems he’s already dead. Why didn’t you go with him?” With a smirk, he fired two shots right between the two men’s eyes without hesitation.
The doctor who had come up with him turned pale and said tremblingly, “I’ve done everything you asked. Can you let my wife and child go now?”
The man sneered and said slowly, “You can go find them.” The doctor asked urgently, “Where are they?”
“In hell!” the man laughed maniacally. “Your wife smells good. Too bad she doesn’t know how to cooperate in bed!” Before the doctor could react, a bullet shattered his heart. Without even looking at him, the man stepped over the doctor’s body, opened the ward door, and entered. He walked over to the hospital bed, looked at the old man lying there, slowly removed the silencer from his gun, took a deep breath, and said coldly, “The leader of the North Hongmen is about to die at the hands of my gun. What an exciting moment.”
The old man on the bed seemed to be fast asleep, not moving at all. The man chuckled, tapped Jin Peng’s forehead with the gun tip, and said, “Old fellow, you really sleep soundly! But it’s time you opened your eyes and took one last look at this world.” Jin Peng’s eyelids twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes. Seeing a stranger standing in front of him, he was stunned and asked, “Who are you?” The man replied smugly, “The one who’s come for your life!” Jin Peng’s expression changed, and he asked, “Was someone sent to do this?”
The man said, “You probably don’t need to know that.” Jin Peng replied, “I don’t want to be a fool.” The man pressed the gun tip against Jin Peng’s temple and sighed, “You were once a notable figure, but sadly, you’re too old now, and your eyes are weak—you can’t even see clearly.” Jin Peng’s expression darkened, and he said dejectedly, “You should tell me who that person is.”
The man sneered, “I can’t reveal his name—that’s the rule for assassins.” He was right; a good assassin not only needs to be calm and skilled but also must have a mouth as unyielding as steel. But this man was too arrogant. After a pause, he added, “He holds a high position in the Hongmen, but his power is limited. That’s all I can say.” As he spoke, he heard faint footsteps outside. The man shook his head helplessly and sighed theatrically, “I wanted to give you more time, but your men are returning too quickly. Blame them if you must.” Then, he slowly pressed his finger on the trigger. Jin Peng closed his eyes; he could even hear the sound of the spring being pulled in the pistol—the call of death.
At that moment, someone suddenly spoke from the window sill of the ward, “You’re right. I also wanted to give you more time, but it seems impossible now.”
The assassin was startled by the sudden voice. Instinctively, he turned to look and saw someone crouched on the window sill, dressed in black, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. The person had thick, bold eyebrows, hair that fell at an angle, and a prominent scar right between them, which looked like a slightly open eye when viewed coldly. A smile played on their lips, revealing white, gleaming teeth. The assassin swore that he truly saw those teeth shining the moment he turned his head. Trembling, he asked, “Who are you?”