Chapter 35

Later, it was still Xie Wendong who reassigned the members, and only then were all the sect leaders satisfied. Three days after this incident, Xie Wendong gathered everyone for another meeting. First was the issue of reorganizing the gang. The four original sects—Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, and Law Enforcement—remained unchanged, with a new Feiying Sect added, led by Gao Qiang. There was also a Heilang Sect, headed by Liu Bo, who also served as the gang’s training instructor. The former An Sect, previously led by Gao Qiang, was taken over by Jiang Sen and officially renamed the An Group. The fifteen affiliated groups under Xie Wendong’s gang were overseen by the Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Feiying, and Heilang sects, with the Law Enforcement Sect providing supervision. The An Group was responsible for intelligence gathering; if they detected someone posing a serious threat to the gang, they could carry out assassinations directly without going through the gang leadership. After this reorganization, the gang became more systematic, with clearer divisions of labor among the sects. This youth-driven gang organization was moving toward maturity. Soon after, both the Qingbang and the “Tiger-Fighting Alliance” led by Xie Wendong launched attacks on the Menghu Gang almost at the same time. Twenty out of the thirty affiliated groups under the Menghu Gang were attacked. Li Chenglong, the leader of the Menghu Gang’s branch in City J, could no longer stay idle. He launched several counterattacks but all failed, and he must have been scolded countless times by Yakov. Although Li Chenglong was the leader of the Menghu Gang in that area, he was still considered an outsider in the eyes of the Russian gangs. They specifically assigned a Russian named Yakov to accompany him, ostensibly to assist but actually to monitor him. Li Chenglong understood that he couldn’t offend this man, so despite being berated, he had no choice but to endure it. At night, Li Chenglong sent 500 of his gang members, divided into two groups, led by his trusted subordinates Tang Lei with 300 men to launch a surprise attack on the Qingbang headquarters, and Wu Xingtao with 200 men to attack Xie Wendong’s gang, in an attempt to strike at the core of the “Anti-Tiger Alliance” and reverse the gang’s crisis. But soon after sending them out, they were detected by the An Group, who promptly informed Xie Wendong. Wu Xingtao was a notorious outlaw from Province H, in his early thirties, physically imposing, and ranked among the top three in combat and killing skills within the Menghu Gang. He didn’t take the newly rising Xie Wendong’s gang seriously at all. He had thought his leader would let him attack the Qingbang, but Tang Lei got there first, which made him somewhat displeased. Wu Xingtao led 200 men out of the Menghu Gang. Realizing that such a large group would attract attention, he ordered his men to act separately, meeting at the entrance of the garden park near Biannan Guiwei Di Hall. He himself went with a dozen men on a van.

The van sped toward Biannan. Wu Xingtao, sitting inside, was in a foul mood and shouted, “Damn it! What the hell is Tang Lei anyway? With those pathetic skills of his, he still thinks he can ambush the Qing Gang? Fuck!”
Wu Xingtao had a temper, and none of his subordinates dared to provoke him. Someone nearby cleverly took out a cigarette and offered it to him, “Brother Tao, have a cigarette! Don’t get angry. If Tang Lei fails in this attack, won’t you have an excuse to get rid of him?”
Wu Xingtao thought for a moment before slapping him, “Damn, do I need you to tell me? Do you think I don’t know?! Right, right, right! I was wrong!” “Damn it, drive faster! Don’t move like an ox pulling a cart!”
Half an hour later, the van reached the Biannan area, where there were fewer pedestrians on the road. Although it was still part of the city, the population density couldn’t compare to that of the city center. It was Wu Xingtao’s first time in Biannan. Sitting in the van and looking outside, he said, “Is this damn place already rural? What a shitty spot—even birds won’t shit here. Fuck!”
The driver chuckled and said, “Brother Tao, don’t be fooled by its poor appearance. There are plenty of criminals here. I heard Xie Wendong can make millions here in a month without any problem!”
“Damn, you can make millions here in a month? No wonder Xie Wendong is so arrogant now! Fuck!” As he spoke, the van stopped because two Songhua River minibuses were blocking the road ahead. The driver turned to Wu Xingtao and asked, “Brother Tao, it seems someone crashed ahead. We can’t pass.”
Wu Xingtao stuck his head out to look and then said to the people beside him, “Damn, this is troublesome. Two of you, get out and move those cars aside!” Two of his subordinates nodded and got off the van.
“Hey, hey—move aside! Are you guys blocking the road and not letting others pass?!” they shouted as they walked forward.
The doors of the Songhua River minibuses opened, and four people stepped out. Short, dark-skinned, and muscular young men walked at the front. They approached the two men and asked, “Is Wu Xingtao in the van?”
The two men were stunned, not knowing how the others knew Wu Xingtao was in the van. They asked suspiciously, “Are you friends of Brother Tao?”
The young men glanced back at the three people behind them and smiled, “That’s right, they are!” Then, almost simultaneously, all four pulled out pistols from their chests and fired at the two men. The distance was too close, and they were completely unprepared. Wu Xingtao’s two subordinates didn’t understand what was happening before two big holes appeared in each of their heads. Without stopping, the four men stepped over the corpses and headed toward the van where Wu Xingtao was.

Sitting in the car, Wu Xingtao could see everything happening outside clearly. As soon as the gunshots rang out, he realized he had fallen into a trap. He quickly shouted at the driver, “Back up the car! Now!” His cry woke the driver, who was stunned, and he quickly drove the car backward, ignoring his own men lying on the ground.

The short young man who had fired first saw them trying to run and smiled at the three people behind him, saying, “When facing the enemy, stay calm under any circumstances. Just like now—when the enemy wants to run, we don’t need to panic. Hold the gun firmly, focus only on the enemy, and hit them with one shot!” With that, the young man raised his gun, stood in the middle of the road, and aimed it at the retreating van. The strong night wind blew against him, but he remained motionless.

“Bang~” A spark appeared from the gun barrel, and a bullet pierced through the windshield of the van, twenty meters away, creating a large hole in the driver’s head. The driver didn’t even make a sound; his body slumped over the steering wheel as blood flowed from his head, and the car crashed into a tree by the roadside. The people in the car screamed in terror and rushed out of the car with their guns drawn.

The four young men fired their guns at those who had gotten out, giving them no chance to breathe. After the gunshots, Wu Xingtao’s dozen or so subordinates, who had just run out, fell to the ground. The four men slowly walked up to the car, and the short young man tapped the car with his gun, saying, “Get out, Wu Xingtao!”

Sitting in the car, Wu Xingtao now understood what death really meant, even though he had killed many people before. His hand holding the gun trembled uncontrollably. Swallowing hard, he asked in a trembling voice, “Who… who are you?”

The young man laughed and said, “Someone so bold in Biannan—who do you think we are? But you can be proud, because you’re going to die at the hands of the Secret Group!” With that, the young man bent down and pulled Wu Xingtao out of the car, while another person took his gun away. Wu Xingtao knelt on the ground and cried out, “Don’t… don’t kill me!”

The young man laughed and said, “I heard Wu Xingtao from the Tiger Gang was a tough guy. But today, I see he’s just ordinary!”

No longer showing the confidence he had at first, Wu Xingtao crawled on the ground and pleaded, “Where are you taking me? Please don’t kill me! I beg you—just treat me like trash and let me go!”

The young man smirked and took out a black card from his pocket. “Wu Xingtao, do you recognize this?”

Seeing the black card in the young man’s hand, Wu Xingtao couldn’t help but shudder and mumbled, “A death warrant!”

Nodding, the young man said, “I’m glad you know its name. I suppose you also know its purpose! No one who takes that black card has ever survived in this world!” With that, the young man relaxed his grip, and the black card floated in front of Wu Xingtao—undoubtedly a death sentence. In a dazed state, Wu Xingtao reached down to pick up the black card from the ground, let out a scream, and ran frantically back the way he came. “I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I…”

The young man nodded at the three people beside him and turned toward the Songhua River. Three gunshots were heard behind him, and Wu Xingtao’s frantic screams ceased. The young man returned to the car. The door of another car opened, and San Yan stepped out, smiling as he said to him, “Not bad, Lao Sen! Tough and decisive. Dong Ge was right to assign you the secret team!”

That short young man was Jiang Sen. He laughed and said, “Don’t praise me. I just learned these tricks in the army!” The two got back into the car and headed to the Garden Park.

Li Chenglong waited for news at the Tiger Gang’s headquarters. First, Tang Lei returned, covered in wounds—his ambush had failed, and he had instead fallen into a Qing Gang trap. Of the 300 men he had taken with him, less than fifty returned. Furious, Li Chenglong kicked Tang Lei far away, almost pulling out his gun to shoot him. He still held a glimmer of hope that Wu Xingtao might wipe out the Wen Dong Gang, at least removing one of his rivals. But after waiting all night with no news, he learned the next morning that Wu Xingtao had been killed on a road in Biannan, with 200 of his men killed or injured.

Feeling that the situation was lost, Li Chenglong didn’t wait for Yakov to speak and proposed returning to the Tiger Gang’s headquarters in City H to accept punishment. Yakov pointed at Li Chenglong’s nose, too angry to speak. He knew his responsibility was much greater than Li Chenglong’s, so he first called the headquarters and recounted the situation of the Tiger Gang in City J. It took ten minutes for a reply from headquarters, which simply removed Li Chenglong from his position and ordered Yakov to lead the remaining members of the Tiger Gang back to the headquarters in City H, with City J’s problems to be dealt with later.

That afternoon, the once-mighty Tiger Gang in City J called back all its members and withdrew from the city’s underworld. That evening, all the gangs that had joined the “Tiger-Fighting Alliance” held a large gathering at the Qing Gang’s headquarters, mainly to discuss how to divide up the Tiger Gang’s territories. Many smaller gangs that hadn’t joined the alliance also showed up to establish connections. The presence of Shan Xiaoyun and Zhang Hong surprised Xie Wendong. When Zhang Hong saw Xie Wendong, he laughed heartily from afar and walked toward him, saying, “Young man, you really tricked me hard!”

Xie Wendong sneered inwardly, but put on a puzzled expression. “What does Brother Hong mean by that?”
Zhang Hong pretended to be very familiar with Xie Wendong, stepped forward to shake his hand, and said, “We met at Dongsheng last time. You only said it was the Wendong Club, but why didn’t you tell me you were Xie Wendong? I, as the host, failed to fulfill my duties!”
“Hehe, those are trivial matters. I had urgent business and had to leave at the time.”
“Oh, hehe. When will Brother Xie visit my place? I’ll treat you well then!”
Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Since Brother Hong has invited me, I’ll definitely go in the near future. I’m just worried Brother Hong might not welcome me.”
Zhang Hong pretended to be angry, patted Xie Wendong’s shoulder, and said, “Brother, that’s too rude of you. Now that our places are close, we should get along closely, right? Ah? Haha!!”
Xie Wendong glanced at the hand on his shoulder, feeling disgusted. He thought to himself, I’ll ‘visit’ you—you’ll be the next on the hit list! Though he thought this, he didn’t show it on his face and continued to chat with Zhang Hong with a smile. Soon, Shan Xiaoyun joined them too. Xie Wendong wasn’t idle throughout the gathering—some came to chat, others to get close to him. Gao Zhen, knowing Xie Wendong wasn’t in good health, was worried he might not handle it, so he found an excuse to take him to an empty room.
Once in the empty room, Xie Wendong lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, sighing in relief. Seeing this, Gao Zhen laughed and said, “Brother, you’re already exhausted so soon. You need to practice more in the future. Learning how to deal with others is also an essential skill, haha!”
Xie Wendong nodded in understanding and asked, “Brother Gao, now that the Tigers Gang is gone, it must have relieved a burden from your heart. You can relax for a while now!”
Upon hearing this, Gao Zhen’s smile vanished. He sighed and said, “Although the Tigers have fled, there are still other gangs eyeing the Qing Gang. Besides… I’m afraid you’ll laugh at me, but my position as leader isn’t very secure either!”
Xie Wendong looked at Gao Zhen skeptically. “Brother Gao, are there conflicts within the Qing Gang too?”
“Sigh, the elders in the gang look down on me because I’m young. I have to get their approval for any decision I make. Take declaring war on the Tigers Gang this time— they obstructed me even more. If it weren’t for my order as gang leader to scare them… Sigh!”
Gao Zhen lowered his head in sighs.
Xie Wendong didn’t expect there to be conflicts within the Qing Gang and asked, “So, Brother Gao, have you thought of a solution?”

“To be honest, bro, don’t laugh at me! I initially proposed an alliance with you because I saw that Wen Dong’s strength was growing, and I wanted to find a good ally for the Qing Gang. The main reason, though, was my own selfish desire—to gain your support and strengthen my position.” Gao Zhen lowered his head and continued, “I don’t know why I’m telling you so much today, revealing my secrets. If you blame me, then do so; I’m really worthless!”
Xie Wendong got up from the bed and looked at Gao Zhen, feeling an indescribable emotion. He said, “Do you know why I agreed to form an alliance with you? It’s because being with you gives me a sense of closeness, and I trust your character. Just as we said back then, from the day we formed the alliance, we should treat each other as brothers, support one another, and never go back on our word!” With that, Xie Wendong stretched out his hand to Gao Zhen. Gao Zhen’s eyes reddened as he shook Xie Wendong’s hand and said, “As long as I’m alive, I will regard Xie Wendong as a true brother, and I will never go back on my word!” Their hands were tightly clasped together.