Chapter 168

“Don’t know?” Zhou Yu sneered and swung the gun handle at the man’s head. The man screamed and fell to the ground, blood instantly covering his face. Zhou Yu grabbed his hair again, lifted him forcefully, and said darkly, “What now? Do you remember now?” The man still shook his head and said, “I really don’t know.”
“Damn it! Your bones are really tough, huh!” Zhou Yu gritted her teeth in anger and ordered the soldiers nearby, “Hit him until he confesses.”
The soldiers responded and, already enraged by the earlier battle, struck mercilessly. Seven or eight soldiers rushed forward, surrounding the man. Within two minutes, his head was covered in five or six deep wounds, with red flesh exposed—a terrifying sight.
Xie Wendong and Sanyan returned to find this scene. After taking a look, Xie Wendong asked, “Was this guy captured?”
“Yeah!” Zhou Yu sighed in relief. “This guy has really tough bones. He just refuses to tell us where their hideout is.”
Xie Wendong said, “There’s no need to ask. This ambush is related to the Soul Group.” Zhou Yu was shocked and exclaimed, “The Soul Group? Have their forces spread to Yunnan already?”
“I don’t know if they’ve reached Yunnan,” Xie Wendong sighed. “But at least they’ve found a proxy here and colluded with local criminal gangs in Yunnan.”
Hearing it was related to the Soul Group, Zhou Yu’s confidence dropped by half. She asked, “Brother Xie, then what should we do?”
Xie Wendong replied, “Ignore them for now. Clean up the battlefield and keep moving.” Zhou Yu nodded in agreement, then pointed at the man who was barely alive. “What about him?” Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Keeping a useless person around isn’t a hassle for you?” “Yeah!” Zhou Yu nodded. “That’s true.”

The man was covered in wounds, with blood and dust stuck to his body. To anyone who saw him, he seemed like a broken man with only half a life left. Yet, even such a broken man’s eyes suddenly lit up when he saw Xie Wendong appear—just for a moment, unnoticed even by Xie Wendong. While Xie Wendong was talking to Zhou Yuzheng, the man, who had been lying on the ground, somehow mustered strength and rushed at Xie Wendong through the gap between the soldiers. At the same time, he reached into his mouth and pulled out a steel ring from the grenade. By the time Xie Wendong reacted, the man was already close, spreading his arms as if to embrace him. Xie Wendong realized it was too late to dodge. When he glanced at the steel ring in the man’s hand, even he, usually so composed, paled. The man’s fingers touched Xie Wendong’s clothes, and a strange smile appeared on his face. But that smile lasted less than a second, as a long leg suddenly appeared beside Xie Wendong and kicked him squarely in the abdomen.

The kick was powerful. The man screamed, flew backward, his eyes filled with anger and disappointment. He tried to get up again but was quickly held down by a soldier nearby. Just as the soldier prepared to punch him, there was a loud noise, followed by darkness—nothing was known anymore.

Everyone present was stunned by what they saw. Two living people suddenly exploded like deflated balloons, their bodies shattering into pieces. A red mist rose into the air, followed by fragments of bone and flesh flying everywhere—landing on the ground, hanging on trees by the road, and hitting the people in the area. “Wow!” Someone started vomiting first, and it seemed contagious—soldiers after soldiers bent over and vomited. It was like a nightmare; they had only seen something like this once in their lives, and they wished they would never see it again.

Xie Wendong’s face turned pale. He turned to look at Sanyan, who had saved his life with that kick, sighed, and asked, “How did you notice it?”

Sanyan also looked pale but spoke calmly, “When that man was being beaten, I couldn’t find fear in his eyes—only a killing intent.”

Xie Wendong nodded and said calmly, “Thank you.” Sanyan grinned, his face turning red, and said, “Sanyan is not just Brother Dong’s soldier—he’s also his brother!”

“Slap!” Xie Wendong clapped hands with him and said slowly, “Brother!”

There must be many subordinates like Sanyan under Xie Wendong. Zhou Yu felt deeply moved as he realized that Xie Wendong’s rapid growth wasn’t just due to his own exceptional abilities but also because he had a group of highly skilled subordinates like Sanyan. He thought to himself: It’s clear his achievements today aren’t by chance!

Zhou Yu was wary of the Soul Group. What had happened earlier left a deep impression on him—their reckless tactics and determination to perish together with their enemies filled him with disgust and fear. So he bravely insisted on riding in the same car as Xie Wendong. Though he knew well that the Soul Group was mainly targeting Xie Wendong, he still felt safest sitting beside him. Even so, he kept asking, “Brother Xie, the Soul Group won’t attack us again, right?”

Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Put your mind at ease. Nothing will happen on this journey.”

Zhou Yu’s face turned red, but his tense nerves relaxed slightly at Xie Wendong’s words. He said, “It’s not that I’m afraid of them, but I’m worried that if another ambush occurs and we’re unprepared, there could be heavy casualties.” Xie Wendong patted his shoulder and smiled, “I understand!”

As Xie Wendong said, the journey was indeed peaceful, with not a single member of the Soul Group in sight.

The Soul Group was currently in great trouble. Their branches across Southeast Asia had been hit, including those within their own country. In just ten days, over a dozen senior members of the Soul Group in their home country had been assassinated, and five of their bases had been bombed, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries. This was only what happened in Japan; other regions suffered even more severely, with losses unprecedented in history. Even the major conglomerates that supported them were wavering, with two of them clearly stating they intended to withdraw their financial support. The Soul Group had no means of making money; all their funds came from the support of these conglomerates. Without substantial financial backing, they lost their driving force to operate. It wasn’t local governments that attacked them but the Red Army, a terrorist organization from their own country. Xie Wendong understood why the Red Army was targeting them, and so did the well-informed Soul Group. As a result, they hated Xie Wendong fiercely. The leader of the Soul Group—a right-wing member of the Japanese military—issued a death order to eliminate Xie Wendong, this scourge, and remove this thorn from their hearts. At the same time, they pressured the government to intensify its attacks on the Red Army.

Xie Wendong was unaware of these things. He never imagined that the words he had said to Wu Ming back then would cause such trouble for the Soul Group, nor did he realize how important Wu Ming’s status was within the Red Army. He thought it was normal for the Soul Group to attempt to assassinate him because he believed they still resented his iron-fisted suppression in Province H. In truth, Xie Wendong didn’t really care about the Soul Group—it was after all an external organization with many restrictions in China. More importantly, if he fought against them, the government would secretly support him. What truly worried him were Ma Feng, and of course, Xiang Wentian, the leader of the South Hongmen, whose power was a hundred times greater than Ma Feng’s. These two—one was a thorn in his side, the other a splinter in his flesh. Unless he removed those thorns and splinters, he would never feel at peace.

There was no conversation along the way. The return trip was even faster than the trip there, and he didn’t bother to appreciate the scenery. Zhou Yu wished he had wings on his back to fly straight back. It wasn’t until he arrived in City T that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. This was Xie Wendong’s stronghold, and he felt like he had returned home. But he had no idea that a crisis in City T had already emerged, with hidden turmoil ready to swallow both insiders and outsiders at any moment.

Along the way, Xie Wendong had received news from Jiang Sen: twelve officials within the North Hongmen were stirring up trouble, gathering their followers with the intention of rebelling. Five elders were trying their best to suppress them, but with little success. By the time Xie Wendong returned to City T, those twelve officials had gathered over a thousand people to blockade the hospital where Jin Peng was, demanding that he appoint a new leader. Dong Xinlei confronted them with hundreds of young disciples from the Hongmen, and the two sides were poised for battle, swords drawn, ready to clash at any moment.

When Xie Wendong arrived at the hospital by car, the entrance was crowded. At a glance, it was clear there were two groups: one group stood on the left side of the gate, the other on the right, separated by about five meters. Everyone had fierce expressions, radiating murderous intent. Xie Wendong stopped the car at the entrance and walked over slowly, with San Yan following closely behind.

Before he could enter, a burly man stepped forward, blocking his path, and asked in a stern tone, “What are you doing here?” The man clearly didn’t recognize Xie Wendong. In fact, few people within the North Hongmen knew him. He usually kept a low profile and rarely showed himself in public, only revealing his true face once when he obtained the leadership token, but it was dark at that time, so not many people could see his face clearly.

Xie Wendong replied calmly, “I’m here to visit an elder who is ill.” The man curled his lips and said, “Come another day. The hospital is closed to the public today.”

Xie Wendong said nothing and simply passed by the burly man. Angered, the burly man grabbed his shoulder and shouted, “Kid, are you deaf?” Before Xie Wendong could react, Sanyan, seeing the burly man’s rudeness, glared and kicked him in the face. Though he didn’t use his full strength, it was enough to hurt the burly man, who groaned, covered his face, and fell to the ground, blood streaming from his hand. The burly man was one of the men brought by the Twelve Cadres. With their numbers, they stepped forward when they saw their ally in trouble. Sanyan stood to the side, a glint in his eyes as he held his machete in his palm. Facing over two thousand angry gazes, he remained unperturbed and smirked slightly. Sanyan could be considered Xie Wendong’s top warrior, having gone through countless battles and already possessing an extraordinary aura of dominance.

At that moment, someone shouted, “Xie Wendong!” Immediately, a wave of surprise and gasps filled the area. The burly men blocking the hospital entrance didn’t know what to do when they saw Xie Wendong walking in slowly—neither stay nor back away. Walking forward calmly, Xie Wendong said, “Those who are Hongmen disciples, make way.”

The men brought by Dong Xinlei stepped aside, leaving mostly the Twelve Cadres’ men, who stared at Xie Wendong in confusion. Sanyan sneered, raising his knife to advance, but Xie Wendong stopped him. Narrowing his eyes, he said to the men, “What, have you all stopped being Hongmen disciples? Anyway, I’m still the leader, right?”

The men exchanged glances and lowered their heads, stepping aside. Xie Wendong walked in proudly, heading toward Jin Peng’s ward.

Jin Peng’s special ward wasn’t small, and he even found it a bit empty when he was alone. But now, he really wished it could be bigger. The ward was packed with people—the twelve cadres who had come to “suggest” that the old man change leaders, five elders, Dong Xinlei and Nie Tianxing, four local bosses, and over a dozen powerful cadres within the Hongmen. Dozens of people crowded in the room, arguing and debating, their chaotic noise almost making the ward explode. No wonder Jin Peng thought it was too small.

When Xie Wendong pushed the door open, the noise stopped instantly, and everyone’s gaze turned to him.

Without even looking at them, Xie Wendong walked straight up to Jin Peng, nodded, and said, “Elder, I’m back. Are you feeling better these days?”

Jin Peng said with a smile, “Ah, Wen Dong, you’re finally back. If you hadn’t come back, my head would have exploded from all the noise. Everyone here is gathered, shouting for me to step down as leader—it’s really annoying.” Xie Wen Dong patted Jin Peng’s hand and said, “It’s okay, I’ll handle it.” Jin Peng nodded and closed his eyes, ready to sleep.

Xie Wen Dong glanced at the crowd and said, “The old man needs rest. If you have anything to say, talk to me. Let’s go to the rooftop to discuss it.” With that, he headed outside.

The people looked at each other in surprise. Most of them had heard that Xie Wen Dong had been hospitalized due to excessive drinking and lust, which was why the twelve officials dared to try forcing Jin Peng to step down. But now, seeing his appearance, it didn’t seem like he was sick. With mixed feelings, they followed Xie Wen Dong to the rooftop.