Chapter 288

At the command, with a rush, no less than fifty people surged forward. The trash can in front of the bar was kicked far away by someone. With a bang, the finely crafted brown solid wood door of the bar was kicked open. The guy who kicked the door suffered badly; thinking it was locked, he used all his strength, but once the door opened, he tumbled in as well. Those behind him didn’t care about that; seeing the door open, they rushed in. The guy who fell hadn’t even had time to get up before being trampled by his own people.

Once inside the bar, chaos ensued everywhere—upstairs and downstairs—yet not a single clue was found. As the saying goes, thieves don’t leave empty-handed. When Liu Shujun entered the bar, the first group of intruders had already started lifting the safe from the second floor. No one there? Had they all run away? Liu Shujun looked around. The bar was in complete disarray, with tables and chairs missing limbs scattered everywhere. Clearly, the intruders had left in a hurry, not even bothering to tidy up. As he was thinking this, chaos broke out outside. Loud noises, cries of pain, and clanging sounds filled the air, piercing the ears. Disaster! Liu Shujun stamped his foot and shouted, “There’s an ambush! Get out quickly!”

Getting out? It wasn’t easy. It was easy to enter, but hard to leave. Both doors of the bar were tightly blocked, and the windows were sealed with shutters. Looking up at the second floor, he hadn’t noticed before, but now he saw that each window had iron bars thicker than two fingers. The entire Tianyi Bar had become a prison, impossible to escape from. To get out, they could only use the two doors. Liu Shujun’s heart trembled, but he calmly ordered his panicked subordinates, “Don’t be afraid. There aren’t many people from the Tianyi Club. We’ll split into two groups—one charges forward, the other attacks from behind. Whoever gets out, kill them on sight!” His calculation was correct—the Tianyi Club indeed had few members. Though they had an advantage in position, they numbered less than twenty in total. They could guard one side but not the other, so they were weak in one aspect. Unfortunately, he hadn’t accounted for Xie Wendong, nor realized that the main forces surrounding them were the Beihongmen and Wendonghui.

The back door was narrow, allowing only one person to enter or exit at a time. The one guarding it was Sanyan, and actually, he alone was more than enough. He took a table leg as thick as a child’s arm and stood in front of the door. Whenever someone came out, he would swing the stick to hit them. It wouldn’t take two encounters to knock them out. Behind him, over twenty brothers from the Beihongmen and Dongxinlei watched Sanyan perform this one-man show, yawning in boredom. Someone on either side of the small door pulled the knocked-out members of the Zhongyi Gang aside. Dongxinlei sat behind them, smoking, and muttered, “If we didn’t want this bar, we could block both the front and back doors and set it on fire—fast, easy, and convenient.”

Sanyan laughed heartily, blocking a sword swing with his stick before kicking fiercely. Inside, there was a clamor of screams as the person hit by his kick pushed his own brothers aside. Sanyan switched the stick to his other hand, stretched his arm, and said, “If you always seek convenience, you become lazy. You won’t have the energy to fight properly.”

Dongxinlei stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and nodded. “So, you should take a break too. Let me do it.” Sanyan clutched the stick tightly and shook his head. “I like to finish things I start. Giving up halfway isn’t in my nature.” Dongxinlei threw his cigarette aside angrily, stepped forward, grabbed the stick from Sanyan’s arms, and shouted, “You shameless bastard! I took that stick off! Give it back!” “Oh, and I forgot to tell you—I also have the bad habit of not returning borrowed things.” “You fucking bastard…”

Xie Wendong stood outside the main door of the bar, watching the members of the Zhongyi Gang fighting desperately to get out. He shook his head and smiled. It seemed the leader of the opposing side was very stubborn. Even though they had fallen into an ambush, he still ordered his men to charge outward—wasn’t that just asking for death? But this suited Xie Wendong’s plans. If they couldn’t charge out effectively, then similarly, he wouldn’t be able to attack from inside either. If the Zhongyi Gang held their ground inside the bar, he really couldn’t think of a better plan right away. Xie Wendong looked up at the sky. The east was beginning to brighten, and the sunrise was approaching. Another day was about to begin. He yawned and said to Jiang Sen beside him, “Lao Sen, it’s almost time. Our brothers haven’t slept all night. It’s time to end this.”

Jiang Sen nodded to show he understood. He raised his hand, and over twenty men in black silently emerged, positioning themselves on either side of him. These men were completely black, with no trace of any other color; they wore black cloth over their noses and blood-red characters reading “Kill” on their arms. They were the elite force of the Wen Dong Hui—the Blood Killers. Jiang Sen said, “It’s almost four o’clock now. We’ll charge in, and by 4:30, no matter what happens, we must withdraw.” There was no response. The Blood Killers quietly checked their weapons and installed silencers on them.

The Blood Killers always acted this way—whatever Jiang Sen said, they did without asking any questions. The twenty-plus men, like twenty ferocious cats, moved swiftly. With a few leaps, they climbed up to the second floor. The iron bars couldn’t stop them. Three guns fired simultaneously at the same bar, and after several rounds, the bar broke. The men slipped in like eels. Hearing noises on the second floor, two members of the Zhongyi Gang came to investigate. As soon as they pushed open the door to the room where the Blood Killers had entered, they saw countless men in black inside. Before they could shout in alarm, their mouths were covered, and two gleaming knives were thrust into their throats. Blood sprayed, and the two men convulsed before dying quickly. With a single command from Jiang Sen, the twenty-plus Blood Killers silently descended from the second floor to kill.

Both sides were dressed in black, making it impossible to tell them apart without close inspection. Even those from the Zhongyi Gang who were prepared found it hard to withstand the onslaught of the Blood Killers, let alone when caught off guard.

People outside began to storm into the bar. Liu Shujun and his men were focused on the outside, never expecting an unexpected attack from within. The Blood Killers, wielding knives in one hand and guns in the other, slashed at anyone they saw, turning it into a one-sided massacre. Under attack from both inside and outside, the Zhongyi Gang was quickly defeated. Realizing they had fallen into a trap, Liu Shujun fought desperately, leading his men in a last-ditch assault to the left. But instead of breaking through, more of his men died. By the end, fewer than twenty men remained by his side, most of them injured but still holding on. While the Zhongyi Gang was indeed strong, unfortunately, they were up against Xie Wendong—the elite of the Beihongmen, the finest members of the Wen Dong Hui. “Stop!” Liu Shujun and his men were cornered with no way to retreat. The enemy’s attacks continued relentlessly. Not wanting to see his brothers, who had fought alongside him for years, die senselessly here, he shouted, stopping his men and buying some time for the Beihongmen and the Blood Killers.

Liu Shujun wiped his face, which was covered in sweat and blood, mixing together to make it grimy. He took a breath and asked, “Could Heaven’s Will really possess such great power? Who exactly are you people?” “Hehe!” Ren Changfeng stepped forward, holding his dark Tang sword horizontally. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped the blade, doing so slowly and meticulously, completely ignoring the dozens of murderous gazes directed at him. Only after ensuring there was no more blood on the blade did he sneer arrogantly and say, “Under the Hongwu Gate, talents abound!”
Ee… ya! Liu Shujun instinctively stepped back, took a deep breath, and asked in a trembling voice, “The Hong Gate?” As soon as these words left his mouth, his men collapsed like deflated balls; some even dropped their knives, losing all fighting spirit. Indeed, the Hong Gate was deeply rooted in Shanghai, with a history spanning over a hundred years, and had become synonymous with the underworld. “I… I think there might be some misunderstanding!” Liu Shujun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a laugh. “Our boss has always been on good terms with Mr. Xiang, and we also do business together…” But it was better not to finish speaking. Before he could finish, Ren Changfeng’s eyebrows furrowed, and without warning, he swung his sword. This strike couldn’t be described as fast—it was both a slash and a thrust, at a tricky angle, like a venomous snake striking, aiming straight at Liu Shujun’s neck and throat. Fortunately, Liu Shujun reacted quickly, leaning back sharply, allowing the blade to cut a piece of flesh from his chin. Ren Changfeng shouted, “Brother Dong once said that those who have connections with Xiang Wentian must be killed without mercy—immediately! What are you waiting for?!”
“Roar!” One stone can stir up a thousand waves. The men of the Northern Hong Gate charged forward with a roar, like a tidal wave, engulfing Liu Shujun and his dozen or so men.

When the bar settled back into calm, Xie Wendong had already finished his second cigarette. He glanced at his watch—less than half an hour had passed in total. Adjusting his clothes, he walked slowly into the bar, with Li Shuang and Gao Qiang staying close by his side. As soon as he entered, the pungent smell of blood hit him. Xie Wendong frowned slightly, covering his nose with a handkerchief. He looked around—everywhere there were severed limbs. Tianyi Bar had become a slaughterhouse akin to an Asura’s realm. Sanyan, Dongxinlei, Jiang Sen, and others were organizing their men to clean up the scene; buckets of clean water poured on the ground immediately turned into bloodwater. Liu Shujun was leaning against the wall, his mouth and nose filled with blood, with a gleaming steel knife stuck in his lower abdomen. He wasn’t dead yet, his legs still twitching. Xie Wendong stepped forward and examined him. Based on his experience, this man wouldn’t survive. “Who… are you?” Liu Shujun, suffering from severe blood loss, could barely see clearly. Sensing someone standing in front of him, he instinctively asked. “The Hongmen!” There was no need to lie. Xie Wendong told the truth in a soft voice, “We might be from the Hongmen in the north.” Ah! Liu Shujun finally understood why the other party had such great strength and why they had attacked him even though they knew he was from the Zhongyi Gang. But it was too late for him to realize this. “Brother… please… end my suffering…” Liu Shujun sighed. His death wasn’t a great loss, but it was tragic for his men below. “Don’t worry!” Xie Wendong noticed his concerns, patted his shoulder, and said, “I’m not heartless. I’ll try to save those who can be saved, and release those who can be let go.” Hearing this, Liu Shujun felt a bit relieved and managed a faint smile. Xie Wendong shook his head and turned to leave. Gao Qiang stepped forward, took out a handkerchief to cover Liu Shujun’s eyes, and simultaneously stabbed him in the heart with a knife in his other hand. “Brother Dong, what should we do with these injured people?” Dongxinlei lined up the injured and unconscious, counting them—there were at least seventy or eighty of them. Xie Wendong looked up and asked, “Can we take them to the hospital?” “Well…” Dongxinlei replied, “I’m afraid not. After all, we’re not well-known in Shanghai yet. If we take them to the hospital and they get questioned, it’ll cause trouble.” Xie Wendong said, “So, take these people to the Zhongyi Gang’s base and let them handle it themselves. Besides, we don’t have the money to cover medical expenses.”

Dong Xinlei scratched his head, unsure why Brother Dong had suddenly become so meticulous. He didn’t understand, but he still did as Xie Wendong instructed. The dead and the injured were packed into two trucks, to be delivered to the Zhongyi Gang’s base by his subordinates. He guessed that by the time the Zhongyi Gang found them at dawn, few would still be alive. The cars brought by the Zhongyi Gang were also legitimately taken over by Xie Wendong. In his words, the Zhongyi Gang was acting out of self-interest, as he was already short of vehicles, so they had just provided some. With Yu Xiaohuan’s help, the license plates were changed, and the cars instantly became property of the Beihongmen. Just as the injured were sent away, news came from the undercover team that police cars were heading in their direction.

“Hmm!” Xie Wendong smiled broadly and said, “The police arrived at just the right time.” Smiling, he got into the car, rolled down the window, and said to Dong Xinlei and Sanyan outside, “Hurry up too. We’ll wait for you to come back for late-night snacks.” The two laughed heartily and said, “Don’t worry, Brother Dong. I guarantee they won’t even catch a hair.”

As the police cars neared the street where Tianyi Bar was located, a tire suddenly burst. When they got out of the car, they saw several wooden boards covered in nails on the ground. cursing, they had no choice but to head to Tianyi Bar. By the time the police arrived, the place was already empty, eerily calm as if nothing had happened. The bar door was half-closed, and a few people dressed like waiters were busy cleaning glasses and tables. A few drunkards were still drinking, looking dazed. Everything seemed normal, no different from an ordinary operating bar.

The police searched the area but found nothing amiss. They could only sigh in frustration, wondering who had filed a false report so early in the morning, ruining their chance to get more sleep.

The next day was clear, with not a cloud in the sky, yet the underworld was shrouded in darkness and menace. The Zhongyi Gang lost over a hundred members overnight, including its second-in-command, Liu Shujun, which caused a huge stir in the underworld. News spread quickly, and soon every gang in Shanghai knew about it. Everyone’s discussions centered on the Zhongyi Gang and the Tianyi Society, marveling at how the Tianyi Society had hidden its strength for so long before revealing it now. Some gangs secretly rejoiced that they hadn’t been too harsh on the Tianyi Society earlier; otherwise, their fate would have been no better than that of the Zhongyi Gang. The leader of the Zhongyi Gang was named Bo Zhanhui, forty years old, of average height, extremely obese—his neck was barely visible, and his plump head resembled a big meatball, with sparse mustache. Throughout the morning, his face remained gloomy as he sat in the gang’s headquarters, saying nothing, his large, fair hands fiddling with a dagger. The subordinates stood on either side, not daring to breathe, knowing full well that he was like an active volcano—any provocation could trigger an explosion. According to the injured, the attackers were not from the Tianyi Society but from the Hongmen. Bo Zhanhui didn’t believe the Xiang Wentian Society would attack him, but with the facts before him, he had no choice but to believe it. In Shanghai, who else but the Hongmen could have the strength to deal such a heavy blow to him?