Chapter 163

Three-Eyes asked, “Have they arrived?” Xie Wendong nodded and stood up, saying, “I’ll feel relieved as soon as they show up. No matter when, it’s always best to have people of one’s own side.” By “people of one’s own side,” Xie Wendong meant Jiang Sen, who had come from the northeast. Not only him but also the elite force of the Wendong Gang—Xue Sha—was with him. Jiang Sen was a cautious man, ruthless and cunning, and with Xue Sha under his control, it was enough for Xie Wendong to leave for a while without worry.

Upon seeing Jiang Sen, Xie Wendong couldn’t help but laugh. After not seeing him for some time, Jiang Sen had gained quite a bit of weight. He was already not very tall, and with his rural demeanor and kind, honest appearance, he looked like a plump businessman. Xie Wendong spoke first, “Old Sen, you must have been living it up lately.”

Jiang Sen tried to suppress his excitement and sighed, “Without Brother Dong around, I worried every day. When I worried, I wanted to drink, but the more I drank, the more worried I became. Now, I’m covered in fat from all that worry.”

“Haha!” Xie Wendong laughed heartily, spreading his arms to hug Jiang Sen—their bond speaking volumes. Jiang Sen’s face turned red as he said, “It was really tough after you left. I didn’t know what to do; it felt like I’d lost my direction all of a sudden.”

“Yes!” Three-Eyes sighed. “On a dark path, without a guide, we really don’t know how to move forward.”

Xie Wendong frowned slightly and said, “I won’t be your guide for life. In the world, accidents are inevitable.”

Three-Eyes’ expression changed; he didn’t understand why Xie Wendong said that. Jiang Sen quickly laughed and said, “No matter what happens, Brother Dong can handle it.”

Dong Xinlei also laughed and said, “Old Sen is right. What in the world could Brother Dong not handle? I really can’t think of anything!”

After three days of revelry, Xie Wendong fell ill—severely ill, to the point where he had to be hospitalized for observation. Some in the Hongmen were worried, while others took pleasure in his misfortune. Some feared the Southern Hongmen might take advantage of the situation to attack, while others wanted to watch the chaos. All their reactions were under Jiang Sen’s surveillance, as members of Xue Sha kept reporting on the activities of the Hongmen’s key leaders to Xie Wendong. Meanwhile, he, along with Three-Eyes and Zhou Yu, was already on his way to Yunnan.

Sitting in the car, Three-Eyes was overjoyed. He had never been so honored in his life. Dozens of fully armed soldiers escorted the car from front and back. Just thinking about it made him smile. Turning to see Xie Wendong’s calm expression, he exclaimed, “Brother Dong, now I understand why everyone wants to be a general.”

Xie Wendong smiled without saying a word. Sanyan closed his eyes and said, “It feels like being in the air, even more like flying.” Xie Wendong laughed and said, “If you get the chance to go to the Golden Triangle someday, you’ll definitely feel like you’re flying really high.” Sanyan was surprised and asked, “So we’re not going to the Golden Triangle this time?” Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “It’s enough to just get the goods across the border; the Golden Triangle will handle the rest. I don’t want to waste too much time this time.” Sanyan knew he was worried about trouble with the Hongmen and said with a smile, “With Laosen around, there shouldn’t be any problems.” Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes and said, “Don’t underestimate those old hands in the Hongmen. They’re experienced foxes—you might not even realize you’ve been tricked by them.” Sanyan frowned and said, “But we’re already well-prepared.” Xie Wendong replied seriously, “It’s always better to be cautious.”

They stopped and moved along the way. With military escort, they safely passed through the territory controlled by the Southern Hongmen and arrived in Yunnan after three days. Zhou Yu had planned to rest in Kunming for a day, but Xie Wendong refused, saying, “You can rest whenever you’ve delivered the goods, but not now.” Since the arms worth tens of millions were already arranged with the Golden Triangle, there couldn’t be any mistakes. Although they had military escort, it was still something that couldn’t be exposed—any mishap could put them in trouble. Xie Wendong understood this well and had to be careful. There was also a mortal enemy here whom he couldn’t afford to ignore.

Xie Wendong’s judgment was correct. Even before he arrived in Yunnan, Ma Feng had already received news. The last attempt to assassinate Xie Wendong had cost him his wife and his troops, with none of his three brothers who had joined him in his adventures returning. His hatred for Xie Wendong was deep-rooted. In Yunnan, he tried several times to take action but failed to find the right opportunity. Those dozens of soldiers were a factor he had to consider. Even if he had great influence in Yunnan, fighting against regular troops required more than just courage and strength. Without a guarantee of victory, he wouldn’t take such risks lightly.

The convoy passed straight through Kunming and headed straight for the town of Dalo. Once inside Xishuangbanna, there were more checkpoints, and the questioning by armed police increased accordingly. But because Xie Wendong had military passes and was escorted by regular troops, few armed police dared to inspect the goods inside the containers.

The car moved slowly forward, and another checkpoint appeared not far ahead. Having experienced this many times, Sanyan was no longer as nervous as at first and leisurely watched the beautiful scenery outside. Xie Wendong, sitting next to him, had already fallen asleep; he had barely slept throughout the journey. Now that they were approaching Dalo, his tense nerves relaxed, and the fatigue he had been suppressing surged back.

The armed police at the checkpoint waved to stop the convoy, glanced around, and asked, “What’s inside the container?”

A soldier jumped out of the lead vehicle and said arrogantly, “It’s classified. Let us pass quickly.” With people from the Political Department accompanying them this time, the soldier stood taller and spoke in a condescending tone.

The armed police sized him up, curled their lips, and shouted, “Let us pass? Fine, but I need to check first.” With that, they waved, and five or six armed police rushed over to open the container for inspection.

The soldier shouted at them, glaring, “Bro, I already said it’s classified. Without orders from our officer, no one is allowed to look.”

The armed police replied coldly, “We just received orders from higher-ups saying that some people are trying to smuggle weapons through here, so every vehicle passing by must be inspected.”

The soldier snorted angrily, “We’re part of the military. Do you think we’re smuggling weapons? Get lost!” With that, he pushed the armed police away.

Accustomed to being domineering, the armed police at the border station, having endured such insults before and regardless of whether the other party was a military soldier, stepped forward and kicked the soldier in the abdomen. The soldier didn’t expect the armed police to attack him and was caught off guard. The kick was strong, forcing him to retreat four or five steps before he could steady himself. His face turned red as he rolled up his sleeves and roared, “How dare you!” He stepped forward aggressively, ready to fight back.

As the two started fighting, the soldiers in the convoy and the armed police at the border station all rushed out. Dozens of people stood facing each other, ready to clash, almost to the point of drawing their guns.

Such incidents had happened before, with frequent conflicts between soldiers and armed police. In the northeast, there had even been cases of soldiers accidentally killing police officers.

Xie Wendong’s car was at the back of the convoy. Realizing something was wrong, Sanyan quickly woke Xie Wendong and said, “Bro Dong, things aren’t good. The armed police want to inspect the container.”

Xie Wendong looked through the window at the situation ahead, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and said calmly, “Why panic? It’s fine. We just need to wait and see.”

At that moment, Zhou Yu stepped out of the car and walked slowly to the center of the crowd. She glanced at the armed police and said coldly, “Is that you who hit someone?”

The armed police officer sized up Zhou Yu. Seeing that he was young but dressed in a suit and appeared very poised, he didn’t dare take chances and asked, “What do you do?”
Zhou Yu showed him his ID and said, “I’m from the Political Department. The contents in the car are classified secrets of our department. Not even you, nor even the general guarding this place, have the right to inspect them. Aren’t you going to let us pass?”
The armed police officer lowered his head and hesitated for a while. Glancing sideways, he saw that the other officers were watching him. Allowing them to pass would be embarrassing for him, so in the end he gritted his teeth and said, “No. I’m the company commander here, and I must fulfill my duties. Without orders from higher-ups, no one can pass without inspection.”
Zhou Yu stared at him coldly for a long time, stepped aside, and said coldly, “I’ll say it again—what’s inside are classified secrets of our Political Department. You’ll bear the consequences if you open it.”
Seeing that the other party was backing down, the company commander felt proud. He strode past Zhou Yu and said arrogantly, “I can take responsibility for that myself.”
After passing the first three cars, he stopped at the fourth, looked at the container, and waved his hand at his subordinates, saying, “Open it for me.”
The other armed police officers were still standing opposite the soldiers. Hearing the company commander’s order, they were about to step forward when Zhou Yu gestured, and his soldiers blocked the officers who tried to move. The company commander sneered at this and said, “I’ll do it myself!” He pulled open the container door with his hands, grabbed the handle, and pulled hard—the iron door of the container swung open.
When the company commander saw what was inside, he was stunned. Boxes of ammunition were neatly arranged throughout the container, with only some space near the door. There stood two fully armed soldiers, each holding a new type of Type 97 rifle with the safety off, their dark barrels aimed at the company commander’s body. The soldiers inside had already received orders: without Xie Wendong or Zhou Yu’s permission, anyone who opened the door would be shot on the spot.
The company commander was shocked by the soldiers before him. Before he could react, the soldiers pulled the triggers. Military orders are absolute—even if a general or marshal were to open the door now, they would shoot without hesitation. That’s the discipline of soldiers.
“Bang, bang, bang!” Gunfire rang out, and the company commander cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, with six bloodied holes in his body.
The armed police officers were stunned by the gunshots and took a long time to react. One by one, they raised their guns, not knowing what to do.

Zhou Yu said coldly, “The secrets of the Political Department are related to national security. Anyone who dares to investigate them will be executed without mercy!” With that, he flicked his sleeve and returned to his car.
The soldier who had been beaten by the company commander became even more defiant upon seeing this. He picked up his gun and shouted, “Everyone who doesn’t want to die, get out of here! You don’t want to end up like that company commander, do you?”
The armed police officers glanced at each other, lowered their guns, and stepped aside. The soldier snorted triumphantly, waved at the others, said, “Let’s go!” and got into the car.
The convoy slowly passed through the checkpoint. The car Zhou Yu was in stopped as it went by. He poked his head out, glanced at the corpse carried aside by the armed police, sighed, and said, “He was a good armed police officer. Let’s record him as having died in the line of duty.” With another sympathetic sigh, he drove away.
Sanyan, who had watched the entire scene from behind, gasped in shock and said to Xie Wendong, “They just killed him like that?”
Xie Wendong smiled calmly and said, “This is the power of the Political Department.”
Sanyan sighed, “What a terrifyingly high level of power. If even a low-ranking lieutenant can do this, then Dongfang Yi’s power must be even more terrifying.”
“Indeed terrifying!” Xie Wendong said. “That’s why I need to help Zhang Fanyou and push him down.”
“Zhang Fanyou?” Sanyan was unfamiliar with this name and asked doubtfully, “Who is he? Are you sure?”
Xie Wendong shook his head and sighed, “In the Political Department, you’ll never find someone you can trust. Everyone is just using each other.” Sanyan asked, “Brother Dong, what do you think of Zhou Yu?” Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes and smiled, “He’s not an ordinary person either.” How could there be ordinary people in the Political Department? Not to mention entering it, even if you did, you’d die quickly.