Chapter 214

Qian Xixi’s eyes turned red. Gritting his teeth, he snapped angrily, “I’m fine! This isn’t my blood!” He took off his shirt and threw it forcefully on the ground, then stomped at the small building and cursed, “Xie Wendong, if I don’t tear you to pieces, I’ll take your surname from now on!” He raised his sword, ready to enter the building, but Xiao Fang quickly stopped him. Before he could say anything, a light laugh came from inside the building. Then someone said, “Qian Xixi, trying to kill me is nothing but daydreaming. But you can’t take my surname—your face is so long and ugly that anyone with a son like you must have suffered bad luck for eight generations. Just looking at you gives you nightmares at night.”

“Ah…!” Hearing this, Qian Xixi was furious. His face turned from white to red, then to blue. Ignoring Xiao Fang’s attempts to stop him, he shook his shoulder hard, pushing him aside, and charged into the building with his sword. Just like before, as soon as he reached the door, a white figure flew at him. Without thinking, Qian Xixi swung his sword, and the white figure collapsed, blood spraying all over him. Glancing over, he saw another of his men dead at his hands. His heart churned. As he paused, another white figure flew at him. This time, he was smarter—he dodged to the side, reached out, and grabbed the figure. A person weighing over a hundred pounds felt as light as nothing in his hands. He shook the figure slightly, then looked up—its face was pale with fear, its mouth stuffed with something, eyes wide open. Qian Xixi threw it outside. Just as he turned around, another white figure flew past. Fuming, he growled, “Xie Wendong, if you’ve got guts, come out! Hide…!” As he shouted, he caught the flying figure, thinking it was still one of his men. But the moment his hand touched the figure’s clothes, a cold light shot out from the figure and struck his chest. Qian Xixi screamed and instinctively dodged to the side. The cold light didn’t pierce his chest but cut a four-inch-long wound under his ribs, deep enough to reach the bone. He staggered, almost fainting from the pain, and retreated. The white figure raised its sword and tried to stab him in the throat. Qian Xixi, unwilling to continue fighting, endured the pain to block the attack and fled the building. His men, seeing him stagger out covered in blood—unable to tell if it was his own or someone else’s—quickly stepped in front of him. The white figure sighed in regret, then vanished back into the darkness of the building.

The white-clad figure was Ren Changfeng in disguise. Xie Wendong first used the captive captured in the earlier battle to test Qian Xixi. Seeing him slay two men in a row, Xie deduced he wouldn’t dare kill further. Sure enough, when the third man was thrown at him, Qian Xixi didn’t lift his sword again but caught him skillfully. Xie Wendong gave a signal to Ren Changfeng, dressed in the Nanhongmen attire, who immediately rushed forward. As he approached Qian Xixi, he thrust his sword, but missed by a hair’s breadth. Thanks to the Wolf King’s exceptional agility and reflexes, he narrowly avoided the fatal strike.

Ren Changfeng took off his white clothes and joined Xie Wendong, saying regretfully, “What a shame—just a little short.” Xie Wendong smiled and replied, “If we killed Qian Xixi so easily, it would be a disservice to his title as one of the Eight Heavenly Kings.” His expression turned serious as he added, “Next, Xiao Fang might launch a full-scale attack.”

No sooner had he spoken than chaos erupted outside the building. Xie Wendong was right—Xiao Fang had launched a full-scale assault. Thousands of men poured in through doors, windows, and any other entrance possible. Their overwhelming force made the entire building tremble.

At this point, even clever as he was, Xie Wendong couldn’t think of a good solution. His greatest fear was a direct confrontation—200 men against 5,000. No matter how elite those 200 were or how advantageous their position, winning seemed impossible. He could only fight bravely. This battle might be the toughest of Xie Wendong’s life. At first, he and Ren Changfeng led everyone to block the main entrance. The attackers outside were like an endless tide; each group defeated was quickly replaced by more. Xie Wendong swung his sword frantically, his body covered in blood. Suddenly, a loud noise came from a nearby window—someone had thrown a huge stone, shattering the glass. A man grabbed the window frame and jumped in. Realizing danger, Xie Wendong dashed over in an instant and slashed at the man’s face. The man shrunk back in fear and dodged to the side. Xie Wendong changed his attack from a slash to a chop; with a flash of light, his blade struck the man’s neck. The blade didn’t go in more than halfway, but the man screamed as his head drooped lifelessly. Gritting his teeth, Xie Wendong pulled out his sword, and blood gushed forth.

Just as that person was dealt with, several more climbed in through the window, shouting as they charged at Xie Wendong. He rushed forward and fought against the newcomers, while more and more people poured in from outside. Xie Wendong glanced around and saw that his men were either dead or injured, with only forty or fifty left holding their ground desperately. Ren Changfeng was not far away; his clothes were no longer their original color, stained dark red. With no choice, Xie Wendong launched several fierce attacks, pushing back the enemies around him, then shouted, “Back to the second floor!”
Xie Wendong led everyone back toward the stairs, thinking that at least on the second floor they could gain an advantage and hold off for a while. But as soon as they reached the stairs, countless disciples of the Nan Hongmen rushed down from above. It turned out that while the battle raged on the first floor, a group of people had already climbed up to the second floor through the broken windows. Xie Wendong’s heart sank, and he shouted, “Kill them!” He and Ren Changfeng took the lead, swinging their swords at the enemies descending from above. One of them froze for a moment before shouting loudly, “That’s Xie Wendong!” As he spoke, he raised his sword to strike.
Xie Wendong grabbed his wrist, narrowed his eyes, and thrust his other sword into the man’s abdomen. The man let out a pig-like scream, clutching his stomach as he fell to the ground. Xie Wendong had used all his strength in that strike; the entire blade was buried, and his hand was covered in blood. With a cold smile, he then swung his sword with all his might at a burly man approaching from the side. The man was startled and quickly raised his sword to block, but there was a sharp clang, followed by a muffled groan. Xie Wendong’s force had been too great, and combined with his blood-covered hands, the two swords collided and flew apart. The hilt hit the man’s forehead, causing stars to flash before his eyes. He swayed and collapsed to the ground, with a large bruise forming on his head from the hilt.
Xie Wendong reacted quickly. As soon as his sword flew away, he rolled aside, picked up a dagger abandoned by someone else, and rushed up the stairs. It took Xie Wendong and Ren Changfeng nearly ten minutes to climb the less than thirty floors, and only about twenty of their original two hundred men remained—proof of the intensity of the battle. While blocking the Nan Hongmen disciples at the stairs, Ren Changfeng turned anxiously and asked, “Brother Dong, what should we do now?”
Xie Wendong also wanted someone to tell him what to do. He looked around and his gaze fell on the window leading to the back of the villa. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “Let’s run through the back window!”
Ren Changfeng was stunned. He quickly swung his sword twice to push back the enemies in front of him, then took the rare opportunity to ask, “But didn’t you say there might also be an ambush in the dense forest behind?”

Xie Wendong said helplessly, “There’s no time to worry about that now. All I know is that if we stay here any longer, we’ll all be killed by those knives!” He walked to the back window, pushed it open, and looked down—everything was in darkness. Gathering his courage, he shouted, “Let’s go!” Since Xie Wendong had said so, even if it was a pit of fire ahead, Ren Changfeng would jump in without hesitation. He swung his sword with all his strength several times, then waved at his more than twenty subordinates. In a few quick steps, he rushed to the window and leaped out. Immediately after, Xie Wendong also jumped out, and the others didn’t dare delay—they all jumped as well. The disciples of the South Hongmen had seen that Xie Wendong was trying to escape and rushed up frantically. A few of the North Hongmen disciples, who were injured and moved more slowly, tried to jump down, but those who caught up grabbed their clothes and pulled them down from the windowsill, followed by a barrage of knife attacks.

Xie Wendong and Ren Changfeng, along with a dozen others, jumped down, climbed over the courtyard wall, and entered the dense forest. They hadn’t gone far when gunshots rang out, and instantly five or six people fell to the ground, shot in the forehead. Xie Wendong and Ren Changfeng were prepared for this. As soon as the gunshots started, they quickly hid behind trees. Ren Changfeng shouted, “Everyone, hide quickly!” Before he finished speaking, those dozen people had all fallen, each killed by a single bullet to the forehead. Just as the gunshots stopped, there was loud noise coming from the villa behind them. Someone shouted, “Xie Wendong ran through the back yard! Chase after him!”

Then, there was a flurry of chaotic footsteps, clearly coming toward the courtyard wall. It was truly a situation with wolves in front and tigers behind—neither able to advance nor retreat. Xie Wendong sighed inwardly. At that moment, a bright light appeared in the jungle, followed by another. In just a short while, numerous bright lights illuminated the forest like daylight. The Red Leaf members hiding in the darkness were wearing night vision goggles. The sudden bright light was too intense for their eyes, and several of them screamed in pain as they quickly removed their goggles, tears streaming down their faces.

The bright lights were fireworks set off by Jiang Sen. The Red Leaf had focused all their efforts on Xie Wendong and hadn’t expected an attack from behind. Jiang Sen wouldn’t miss this opportunity. Through the light from the fireworks, he saw dozens of people hiding behind trees or perched on tree trunks. He shouted, “Kill them all…” He originally wanted to say “kill them now,” but before he could finish, dozens of Red Leaf members retreated into the northern forest in perfect coordination. Their speed and unity were astonishing. In less than ten seconds, not a single trace of them was left—they disappeared deep into the forest. Jiang Sen and Liu Bo exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement, muttering, “Impressive!”

At that moment, someone shouted, “What a big deal!” Jiang Sen looked up and saw Ren Changfeng limping out from behind the trees, with Xie Wendong smiling behind him. Both of them looked terrible—their clothes were torn in various places, mixed with blood and dust, making them look like true refugees. Jiang Sen rushed over and asked, “Brother Dong, are you okay?” Xie Wendong looked down at his clothes, shook his head, and said with a bitter smile, “I’m fine, but it’s a pity none of those 200 men were brought out!”

Just as they were talking, disciples of the Nan Hongmen climbed over the courtyard wall and charged at them. Jiang Sen took a look and was so scared he stuck out his tongue. How could the Nan Hongmen send so many people? He said emotionally, “It’s already a miracle that Brother Dong managed to escape!” With so many enemies, and despite the presence of Blood Killers and Secret Teams, Xie Wendong couldn’t afford to be careless. The group dived into the dense forest and fled.

It wasn’t until they had gone down the mountain and run a long distance that Xie Wendong and the others could finally breathe easily. Looking back, the mountain was still gray, with faint cries coming from afar. Xie Wendong felt as if he had gone through hell. After a fierce battle with Ren Changfeng and a long run, they were exhausted and sat on the ground, gasping for breath. After a while, they met eyes and suddenly burst into laughter. Lying on the ground, Xie Wendong said, “That was really refreshing!” Ren Changfeng replied, “There’s more embarrassment than refreshment!” Xie Wendong laughed again and said, “I really want to see Xiang Wentian and Xiao Fang’s expressions now!” Ren Changfeng shook his head and said, “It’s better not to. I imagine it must be nauseating.”

Jiang Sen watched the two of them with a bitter smile. At such a miserable state, he wondered how they could still laugh. He took out his phone and asked his subordinates to bring the car. Before long, Jiang Sen’s subordinates hadn’t arrived, but Nie Tianxing brought people there. Upon seeing Xie Wendong, he let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart.

Xie Wendong stood up, patted Nie Tianxing on the shoulder, and said, “You’ve worked hard, Tianxing!” He then turned to look at the four men behind Nie Tianxing. All four shuddered in fear, feeling guilty. They had seen Xie Wendong’s tactics before—the Wan Family was a living example. All four lowered their heads, too ashamed to look up. Xie Wendong smiled narrowly and didn’t scold them. Instead, he said, “There’s no need for you four to feel embarrassed. If it were me, I might have made the same choice. That’s only human.” He chuckled, turned back to look at the mountain, and pointed, saying, “Today, with Xiang Wentian and Hongye, along with their thousands of followers, they failed to hold me back. It’s a pity that two hundred of our brothers were lost, but I’ll recover that loss doubly. Our brothers’ blood won’t be shed in vain. I hope everyone will join forces with me to fight against the southern invaders and uphold the legitimacy of the Hongwu dynasty!”
The crowd’s morale soared, and they shouted in unison, “We swear to follow Brother Dong to the death and uphold the legitimacy of the Hongwu dynasty!” Seeing that Xie Wendong wasn’t pressing further, the four men secretly wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
Xiang Wentian was extremely intelligent, far beyond Xiao Ke. This battle was the best proof—few in the world could trap Xie Wendong. Yet in the end, they still failed to capture him. Although more than two hundred of his men were killed, it was actually Xiang Wentian who lost. He risked all his assets in the urban area, only for them to be taken away by Dong Xinlei, and Xie Wendong still wasn’t captured. It was all in vain.