Chapter 195

Not good! Wei Zidan thought to himself. He turned to wave at Ren Changfeng, telling him not to come over. But when he turned, his hand was already raised before he lowered it again—Ren Changfeng had already brought his men following. Wei Zidan said urgently in a low voice, “Run! There’s an ambush here!” As soon as the words left his mouth, the once-dark building was instantly illuminated, casting bright light in front of it. At the same time, countless burly men rushed out of the building, wielding swords and charging at Ren Changfeng and his group. Realizing there was an ambush, Ren Changfeng was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. He thought to himself, I wonder what’s so special about your Nan Hongmen! He shouted, “Brothers, kill them!” As he spoke, he drew the battle sword at his waist. The sword was three feet long, made of pure steel, with a black blade that was less than two fingers wide, a slight curve, and deep blood grooves—it was a genuine Tang sword.

Chinese Tang swords and German cutlasses could both be considered top-notch swords, but genuine ones were rare, especially Tang swords. It was hard to find sellers, so one had to rely on experienced blacksmiths to craft them specially. Japanese wakizashi looked very similar to Tang swords. There’s no need to explain how that happened—how many things in Japan were created on their own?

Waving his Tang sword, Ren Changfeng felt confident. This sword had accompanied him for years, helping him win countless battles and kill countless enemies. With it in hand, nothing in the world could scare him. He charged at the approaching enemies with a slash. The man, seeing the narrow blade, didn’t take it seriously and tried to block it with his own sword. But the Tang sword, though seemingly light, was actually quite heavy and extremely sharp—his ordinary sword couldn’t withstand it. With a crisp “clang,” Ren Changfeng’s sword split the man in two, from head to toe. Hot blood and brain matter sprayed all over him. Ren Changfeng kicked the corpse aside and continued charging into the crowd. Seeing this, Wei Zidan felt helpless. Dongge had warned him repeatedly to retreat quickly if they encountered enemies, no matter how many there were. But now, it seemed Ren Changfeng had forgotten all that, his eyes red with fury as he fought recklessly. Since he couldn’t stop him, Wei Zidan couldn’t just stand by. Sighing, he drew his sword and rushed forward, following behind Ren Changfeng.

As the two sides were locked in a fierce battle, Xie Wendong and Ling Min led over a thousand elite fighters to the scene as well. Still some distance away from the hotel building, they heard deafening shouts of combat and continuous sounds of metal clashing. It seemed Ren Changfeng had already taken action, Xie Wendong thought to himself. He exchanged a glance with Ling Min and planned to sneak around to the back of the building to strike the enemy from behind. But as soon as they reached the back, before they could steady their feet, voices emerged from the grass that was over half a person tall—more than a thousand people surged out. At the front was a tall, thin man with a donkey-like face and a rough complexion, wielding a sword with murderous intent. This man was Li Wangye, one of the Eight Heavenly Kings of the Southern Hongmen. His eyes were sharp as an eagle’s, and he spotted Xie Wendong at a glance. Though it was their first meeting, he had seen his photos countless times. Li Wangye roared, “Xie Wendong, you think you can escape today?”

Xie Wendong’s heart stirred. It seemed Xiao Fang had been preparing in advance, and continuing the fight would bring him no advantage. Without hesitation, ignoring Li Wangye’s shouts, he shouted, “Retreat!” Orders were like an avalanche. Although the Hongmen were not an army, their internal rules were no less strict than military laws. Strict discipline was a hallmark of the Hongmen. Even if the disciples wanted to fight, they dared not disobey his orders. They drew their swords and turned to retreat just as they had come. Seeing this, Li Wangye was overjoyed. Xie Wendong and the Northern Hongmen were nothing special—they ran away at the sight of him without even daring to fight. He couldn’t let them off easily. Swinging his sword, he shouted, “Chase them! Rewards for those who catch them, and strict punishment for those who flee!”

At the mention of internal punishment, the disciples trembled with fear. Without a word, they chased frantically forward. Soon, they were almost in a line, with those at the back of the Northern Hongmen disciples able to hear the heavy breathing behind them. One of them saw a fat man from the Northern Hongmen falling behind, right in front of him, and swung his sword at him. The fat man sensed danger and rushed forward two steps. Though he wasn’t hit, his pants were torn. The disciples of the Southern Hongmen laughed loudly, saying, “The Northern Hongmen are really something—coming out wearing open-crotch pants. Must be Xie Wendong who taught them, haha!” The fat man turned red with shame but had no choice. What could he do? Better to run! With these two thousand people, some running ahead and others cutting off escape routes from behind, the scene was chaotic and lively.

The group of over a thousand led by Xie Wendong was chased in disarray. On their way back the same way, they didn’t even have time to get into the cars parked by the road—they just ran past them.

Seeing that the other party was prepared, Xie Wendong hesitated not at all and took off running, while Ren Changfeng was still fighting fiercely in front of the inn. As he was in the midst of the battle, a young man with a fair face rushed towards him. Handsome and graceful, even in such a chaotic situation, his extraordinary demeanor was hard to conceal. The young man stopped in front of Ren Changfeng and said, “Your skills are quite impressive. Why not take a name for yourself?” Ren Changfeng sneered and replied, “You’re not even worthy of knowing my grandpa’s name!” Before his words faded, his sword was already above the young man’s head. The young man remained calm, shifted slightly to the side, and easily dodged it. Smiling upward, he said, “I get it now. You must be Ren Changfeng!”

Ren Changfeng was stunned, puzzled. Seeing his expression, the young man became even more certain and said with a smile, “There aren’t many proud people in the Northern Hongmen, but Ren Changfeng is definitely an exception.”

Ren Changfeng smiled arrogantly, sheathed his sword, and asked, “Who are you then?” The young man replied calmly, “Zhang Jufeng.” Hearing this, Ren Changfeng was secretly shocked. This refined-looking young man was none other than Zhang Jufeng, one of the Eight Heavenly Kings of the Southern Hongmen! He became more cautious inwardly but acted as if nothing had happened. With a wild laugh, he said, “Great! Today, I’ll use your blood to sacrifice to my sword!” With that, he swung his sword and made three consecutive cuts. Ren Changfeng’s swordsmanship shared the same origin as Dong Xin’s, both taught by Jin Peng, but their styles differed due to their distinct personalities. Dong Xin’s style was bold and domineering, while Zhang Jufeng’s was intricate and cunning—swift as lightning when needed, deadly like snakes and scorpions, with no unnecessary moves, each strike capable of ending a life. Since Zhang Jufeng had managed to make it among the Eight Heavenly Kings, he surely had superior skills. Yet against Ren Changfeng, he wouldn’t dare be careless. With a flick of his arm, two short knives appeared in his palms. No longer than a foot long, their blades were as wide as a palm, with blood grooves carved in dragon shapes and the words “Hongwu” engraved below.

Zhang Jufeng fought alongside Ren Changfeng with his twin knives. The more they fought, the more astonished he became, secretly marveling at Ren Changfeng’s unparalleled swordsmanship—insidious and deadly, impossible to defend against. Meanwhile, Ren Changfeng grew more and more enthusiastic. As Zhang Jufeng had said, he was a proud man, an extremely proud one who looked down on ordinary people. Among the Hongmen, aside from Jin Peng and Dong Xin, he felt that no one else’s skills were comparable to his, not even worthy of being his sparring partner. Meeting such a master today filled him with excitement and agitation, his blood almost boiling. Ren Changfeng fought with great enjoyment and focus, his eyes fixed solely on Zhang Jufeng, oblivious to the changes around him.

He didn’t notice, but Wei Zidan was keeping a close eye. There had been a commotion behind the building just now, and he felt delighted, thinking it was Xie Wendong leading the main force. But his joy lasted no more than three seconds before he faintly heard someone shouting, “Xie Wendong, where are you running to?!” Followed by the rumbling sound of people fleeing, then everything returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

Wei Zidan was puzzled by the sounds and thought to himself that Brother Dong must have run away. At first, he wasn’t convinced and wanted to go check behind the building, but there was no gap for him to pass through—everyone in front of him were disciples of the Nan Hongmen. After a while, his phone rang; it was Xie Wendong, who was still fleeing, telling him to retreat quickly. Before he could say anything, the call was cut off. Sighing in anger, Wei Zidan muttered, What kind of battle is this? He even didn’t hear Brother Dong take action before they had to run! Looking at the 300 people he had brought with him, only over a hundred remained by his side; the rest had been scattered by the Nan Hongmen disciples. Time to retreat! he thought to himself. Seeing Ren Changfeng engaged in a fierce fight with a young man, he couldn’t afford to delay any longer. He stepped forward, grabbed Ren Changfeng’s sleeve, and started running, shouting loudly, “Brothers, retreat! Everyone, retreat!”

Ren Changfeng, in the midst of the fight, suddenly had his sleeve pulled. Glancing over, he saw it was Wei Zidan and grew angry. “What are you doing? Why are you pulling me along?” Wei Zidan replied with a wry smile while running, “Why run? If we don’t hurry, we won’t be able to get back today.” “What?” Ren Changfeng was stunned. “What happened? Has Brother Dong not arrived yet?” Wei Zidan said, “It’s better he hasn’t arrived. But even if he has, he’s already run away.” What did that mean? Ren Changfeng was confused and looked at Wei Zidan, who shook his head. “Forget it. We’ll talk about it when we get back. Let’s break through first!” The two of them, along with about a hundred brothers, used every ounce of their strength to barely break through the encirclement. After running for a while, they stopped to count their numbers—there were now less than eighty left. Wei Zidan wanted to let everyone rest for a moment, but before he could speak, hundreds of Nan Hongmen disciples charged at them with gleaming swords and fierce momentum. With no other choice, Ren and Wei had to keep running with their remaining troops.

Speaking of Xie Wendong, he led a group of over a thousand people toward the city area. Running away was his strength—at least in the underworld, few could match his speed and endurance. But his subordinates didn’t have his “ability”; they were all exhausted, sweating profusely, with their knives no longer at their waists, their removed shirts in their hands, and the black cloths covering their faces nowhere to be seen. The members of the South Hongmen weren’t much better either; they were gasping for breath, their clothes drenched in sweat, looking like drowned chickens. Though in a sorry state, they kept talking nonstop. “You guys can really run, huh? Are you guys born in the year of the rabbit?” “Damn it, did the North Hongmen grow two legs just for running away?! China’s long-distance running team just got more strong members!”
Some of them were just talking nonsense. Since they couldn’t catch up, it was fine to mentally demoralize the opponent.
Li Wangye had never run like this in his life. He could see that he was only ten kilometers away from the city area, yet Xie Wendong still had plenty of energy. He wondered if Xie really came from a sports academy—otherwise, how could he run so well? As he ran, he panted loudly, “Xie Wendong, I really admire you. With those short legs of yours, you still manage to keep up.”
Hearing this, Xie Wendong laughed heartily and didn’t respond, just kept running forward.
The city area was already faintly visible. Li Wangye grew anxious. If Xie Wendong reached the city, all his efforts would be in vain, and those ten kilometers would have been for nothing. After all, that was North Hongmen’s territory. No matter how bold Li Wangye was, he wouldn’t dare rush in recklessly. He waved his hand, stopped running, bent down, and supported his knees as he caught his breath. Seeing that their leader had stopped chasing, his subordinates also slowed down and waited for his orders. After a while, Li Wangye took a few deep breaths, slowly straightened up, feeling like his lungs were about to explode and his throat was burning. He said, “Forget it. We can’t chase anymore. The city of Nanjing is right ahead, and there are many North Hongmen allies there.” With a sigh, he regretted missing the perfect opportunity to catch Xie Wendong. He added, “Let’s withdraw. When day breaks, I’ll treat everyone to a good meal as a reward.”
At this point, he wanted to retreat, but for some reason, Xie Wendong ran back and stopped about ten meters away from Li Wangye, smiling at him.

Damn it! Li Wangye was furious. If he didn’t chase after him, how dare he run back? Without thinking, he drew his sword and charged at Xie Wendong. Seeing him coming, Xie Wendong neither drew his gun nor used his knife; instead, he ran away again. Li Wangye’s eyes were narrowed in rage, his teeth gritted as if he wanted to swallow Xie Wendong whole. Yet he couldn’t even touch or grab a corner of his clothes. Seeing their boss chasing again, Li Wangye’s more than a thousand subordinates had no choice but to follow, cursing their misfortune and cursing Xie Wendong’s ancestors through and through in their minds.

After chasing for another mile into the outskirts of the city, Xie Wendong’s figure disappeared into the darkness. Li Wangye could no longer run and simply sat down on the ground, taking off his shirt and breathing heavily with his chest exposed. His subordinates arrived one after another, all exhausted and weak. Less than half a minute after Li Wangye sat down, Xie Wendong reappeared. This time, he didn’t even get up; he just pointed at Li Wangye’s nose and snapped, “Xie Wendong, if you’ve got guts, stop running! I’ll tear you to pieces!”

This time, Xie Wendong spoke, smiling as he looked at the enraged Li Wangye. “I’m here to send you ‘on your way’.”

“Tch!” Li Wangye’s nose almost twisted from anger; his lips trembled, but he couldn’t speak. Xie Wendong laughed. “What? Don’t you believe it?”

Li Wangye said, “I only believe that I’ll take your life today!” With that, he stood up unsteadily, though his legs were already weak and numb.

Xie Wendong watched him with a smile and clapped his hands lightly. “Clap, clap, clap!” With three claps, hundreds of people emerged from the dark forests along the road—so many that their numbers were impossible to count. Dressed in black, with masked faces, they seemed to blend into the darkness, their only visible feature the gleaming steel knives in their hands, blinding to the eye.