Chapter 72

Jiang Sen gritted his teeth and said, “Brother Dong, I want to capture one of the key members of the Soul Reclaiming Gang. Let’s see if we can get some information from their leader!”
Xie Wendong thought for a moment before smiling and saying, “That’s a good idea, but be careful!”
“Don’t worry, Brother Dong. I know that! I’ll go handle it right away!” Jiang Sen felt that his intelligence work had been poor lately, with almost no information gathered about the Soul Group. This made him feel embarrassed in front of his brothers, and he was understandably anxious.
Xie Wendong nodded in understanding and instructed, “Be extremely careful—don’t let anyone suspect anything!”
Jiang Sen laughed and said, “I’ll bring them back tonight!”
Gao Qiang stood up and said to Xie Wendong, “Brother Dong, let me go with Lao Sen! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a break, and I want to see what this Soul Reclaiming Gang is all about!”
Everyone laughed at this. Xie Wendong nodded and asked Jiang Sen, “Lao Sen, is it okay if Qiangzi goes to help?”
Jiang Sen thought for a while before nodding, “It’s fine! Brother Dong, we’re leaving now!”
“Okay!” Xie Wendong nodded. Li Shuang called out, “I’m telling you, get back soon—we still need to eat tonight!”
Gao Qiang pouted and said, “What idiots, they only think about eating!” Then he pulled Jiang Sen and left. Loud shouting and cursing could be heard in the hallway.
After the two left, Xie Wendong said to everyone, “Well, after sitting in the car for hours, you must be tired. Take your brothers to rest. We’ll meet here again tonight!” Everyone agreed. Xie Wendong asked Sanyan to lead everyone to the pre-arranged hotel to rest. The others didn’t leave right away; they told their subordinates to rest first and then chatted with Xie Wendong about recent news at home.
Around 11 a.m., just as they were about to go out for food, Sanyan’s phone rang. “Hello?” Sanyan held the phone and spoke loudly. Upon hearing the voice on the other end, his expression changed drastically. He quickly said to Xie Wendong, “Brother Dong, Reheat is being attacked by hundreds of people who seem to be middle school students. Our brothers can’t hold on much longer!”
Xie Wendong was shocked but remained calm. He said, “Don’t panic. Brother Zhang and Xiao Shuang, take your brothers to help them first!”
Zhang Yanjiang warned, “Brother Dong, New Century is the top priority. Don’t fall for their trick of luring us away!”
Xie Wendong had already considered this, which was why he sent Sanyan and the others first, staying behind himself. He nodded and said, “I know! Brother Zhang, go ahead. Reheat is also very important to us!”
As he walked away, Sanyan said, “Brother Dong, I won’t take the brothers downstairs. I’ll call them to come back to the hotel!”

Xie Wendong nodded, and Sanyan and Li Shuang rushed out in a hurry. Xie Wendong and Zhang Yanjiang stayed at New Century to wait for news.
Not long after the two left, a riot broke out in the dance hall on the first floor. Several teenagers, for some unknown reason, started fighting. Beer bottles, sticks, and other objects were used in the fierce struggle. Others fled in fear. Some members of Wendong’s gang passed by, cursing, and kicked each of the teenagers: “Damn it, you’re too young to fight. Get lost and go fight elsewhere!” The man who spoke wasn’t old, but his tone was condescending.
One of the teenagers refused to back down and smashed a beer bottle on his head, shouting, “Go to hell, who the hell do you think you are?!”
This angered the members of Wendong’s gang, who rushed over and surrounded the teenagers, kicking them mercilessly.
At that moment, more than a dozen young men wearing sunglasses entered the club. With cold expressions, they scanned the surroundings. After spotting the stairs leading to the second floor, they exchanged glances. The leader gave a slight nod to the others behind him and headed toward the stairs.
As they approached, a man dressed like a waiter blocked their way. With loud music playing and people shouting around, the waiter raised his voice to ensure they could hear him: “Sorry, entry is prohibited here!”
The man with a mustache pretended not to hear, moved past the waiter, and acted indifferent. The waiter shook his head and whispered loudly in his ear, “Sorry, the second floor is not open to outsiders!”
Suddenly, the man with the mustache wrapped his arm around the waiter’s neck and pulled out a pistol with a silencer from somewhere. He shot the waiter in the chest.
“Ah!” The waiter let out a pained cry, but it was drowned out by the loud music. Someone stepped forward, picked up the waiter’s body, and quietly carried it upstairs. The group left two men to guard the stairs while the rest went up one after another.
It all happened in an instant. The members of Wendong’s gang were focused on the fight below and didn’t notice what these men were doing.
Three members of Wendong’s gang were guarding the second floor. When they saw strangers coming up, they were surprised. One of the sub-leaders asked, “Huh? What are you guys doing?”
The man with the gun kept his hand behind his back, smiling without saying a word, and continued climbing the stairs. The sub-leader realized he didn’t seem like he was there to cause trouble but rather like one of their own, though he didn’t recognize him. Knowing that many new members had joined their gang recently, he asked doubtfully, “Which faction do you belong to?”

At that moment, Little Beard went upstairs, looked around, and seeing no one else, he felt relieved. His expression turned cold as he said, “Die, Chinese pig!” (in Japanese). Then, he reached out with his hand behind his back and fired two shots—one hitting the second-in-command in the abdomen and the other piercing his throat. The second-in-command collapsed dead without even making a sound. Almost simultaneously, Little Beard’s men fired several shots at the other two. These were all well-trained assassins, hitting vital spots with each shot, and the other two also fell dead in pools of blood.

After dealing with the three men, the mysterious assassin searched for targets in the rooms on the second floor. Coincidentally, someone came out of a room behind them. Seeing a group of people acting suspiciously in the corridor, he was initially stunned before shouting loudly, “Hey! What are you doing…?”

Before he could finish speaking, a bullet pierced his head, leaving a bloody hole on his forehead. But his shout was heard by Xie Wendong, who was talking with Zhang Yanjiang in the conference room. Xie Wendong reacted quickly, waved at Zhang Yanjiang, and placed his finger on his lips. Realizing something might be wrong, Zhang Yanjiang stopped talking.

Xie Wendong quietly walked to the door of the conference room, slowly opened a small gap, and peeked outside. There were a dozen or so armed strangers in the corridor, checking each room one by one, about to reach the conference room. Several bodies lay on the floor. Shocked, Xie Wendong wondered what had happened to his brothers downstairs—why hadn’t they reacted to all these people coming up? Could they all have been killed?! He quickly closed the door tightly and whispered to Zhang Yanjiang, “Did you bring a gun? There are over a dozen assassins outside!”

Zhang Yanjiang frantically shook his head. He usually didn’t carry a gun and thought it wasn’t necessary—people who used their brains didn’t need such things!

Xie Wendong sighed, waved his hand, signaling him to hide under the table, while he took a gun and hid behind the door against the wall.

The assassins finally found the conference room. They first opened a small gap to look inside and saw no one, so they entered. The open door covered Xie Wendong’s body. After entering, the assassins looked around but found nothing. Just as they were about to check under the table, Xie Wendong kicked the door open and fired wildly at the two assassins who came in.

Xie Wendong knew his own shooting skills were terrible. Even though they were close, he didn’t dare be careless and fired at least eight shots. The two assassins were hit multiple times and slowly collapsed. Realizing more people would come in soon, Xie Wendong closed the door of the conference room again. He picked up the two guns from the assassins and hid aside, whispering, “Yanjiang, catch!”

Xie Wendong threw two pistols at Zhang Yanjiang, who caught them and then remembered that he had only practiced shooting a few times two years ago… Before he could think further, a series of “thump” sounds came from outside, and more than twenty holes appeared in the door of the conference room. Immediately afterward, the door was kicked open.

Zhang Yanjiang had rarely faced such danger before; his heart clenched in fear. Suddenly hearing the door being kicked open, he instinctively pulled the trigger. “Thump!” One of the assassins, with a puzzled expression and eyes still scanning the surroundings, slowly collapsed to the ground, a blood hole appearing in his chest. He had rushed in while kicking the door open, and it was hard to believe the other party could react so quickly—he had been shot as soon as he entered.

Xie Wendong looked at Zhang Yanjiang in surprise and gave a thumbs-up, meaning: Good shooting!

Zhang Yanjiang’s previously pale face turned red. He thought to himself, “Damn, I can do this too!” Rubbing his head, he gave Xie Wendong an awkward smile and winked, saying, “Luck struck!” Xie Wendong opened his mouth and laughed silently.

People downstairs from Wen Donghui heard gunshots on the second floor and panicked. Ignoring the young men, they rushed upstairs. The two assassins guarding the stairway quickly drew their guns and fought against Wen Donghui’s men. The guests in the dance club fled in terror.

At the entrance of the conference room, the outside assassins were shocked to see their compatriots killed with a single shot as soon as they entered. Little Beard exclaimed in shock, “What fast and ruthless shooting!” He said to the others, “There’s a skilled fighter inside—be careful. Time is running out. Let’s charge in together!”

Everyone nodded. Little Beard took a deep breath and waved his hand. Two assassins rolled in first, followed by another two who leaped in. As soon as they entered, they fired wildly in all directions. At that moment, both Xie Wendong and Zhang Yanjiang were hiding under the table, not daring to show their heads. Xie Wendong leaned close to Zhang Yanjiang’s ear and whispered, “I’ll escape through the window later to distract them. You hurry and call for reinforcements!”

Zhang Yanjiang wanted to say something but was silenced by Xie Wendong, who covered his mouth: “Follow my orders. Only this way can we have a chance!” Zhang Yanjiang’s eyes moistened, and he nodded silently.

Seeing the gunshots weakening, Xie Wendong stood up and slithered out from under the table. As he landed, he rolled behind the sofa by the window. A row of small gun holes appeared behind him. Another burst of gunfire followed, destroying the sofa and sending cotton and foam flying into the air.

Hiding behind the sofa, Xie Wendong felt pain in his arms and shoulders and realized he had been shot. If he didn’t leave soon, he would be torn to pieces. Enduring the pain, he let out a loud roar and pushed the sofa forward. Taking advantage of the assassin’s moment of confusion, he covered his head and rushed toward the window.