Chapter 83

Although Xie Wendong claimed to make a grand withdrawal, he actually withdrew his men secretly, one group after another returning to City J quietly, without the other gangs in City H even noticing. However, both the Soul Group and the Soul Reclaiming Gang noticed it, but neither made a fuss, wanting to see what tricks Xie Wendong had in store. It wasn’t until he left quietly that the Soul Group finally confirmed he intended to abandon City H and return to City J.

For this reason, the Soul Group held a special meeting to decide whether to let Xie Wendong go or pursue him. The final decision was—to give up! City J was Xie Wendong’s domain; it wouldn’t be easy to take it from him. Since he had already returned and posed no threat, there was no need to risk further losses for the organization!

Before leaving, Xie Wendong specifically went to bid farewell to Jin Peng and Jin Rong. The elder said sadly, “I had planned to stay in City H for a few more days, but it seems unnecessary now. I’ll return to City T in a few days. You need to be more careful from now on. Remember, there are no eternal enemies, nor lasting friends!”

“Yeah, I remember!” Xie Wendong replied. “Elder, once things here are settled, I’ll go to City T to see you!”

“Good, that’s a deal! I hope to see Rongrong too then. Whether you can bring her away from her parents depends on your ability! Haha!” Jin Peng laughed. Xie Wendong smiled at Jin Rong without saying a word.

In November 1998, after being away from City J for nearly three months, Xie Wendong finally returned. Sitting in the car and looking at the familiar surroundings, he was filled with emotion. He had succeeded in City J too easily, which inevitably made him a bit arrogant. But it was in City H that he realized his own insignificance. If it weren’t for his act of mercy in saving Jin Rong back then, he would likely have died at the hands of the Soul Group’s hidden attacks. Good deeds do bring good rewards—seems the ancients were right!

Everyone in the gang had already returned to City J, leaving him as the last to leave City H. Xie Wendong first went home and lay down. On the first floor was a small store run by members of the Secret Group. Since Xie Wendong’s status was now extraordinary and he knew well the tricks of the underworld, he had long been secretly protecting his parents. Threatening his relatives was a tactic Xie Wendong had used many times—how could he not be wary of it himself!

Xie Wendong leisurely walked into the store. The brothers inside saw it was him and quickly stood up to greet him. Xie Wendong signaled them not to worry and asked, “Has anything unusual happened recently?”

A thin young man replied, “Nothing major. Just some strangers showing up frequently a while back, but the brothers sent them away. They haven’t been seen lately!”

Xie Wendong nodded in relief after hearing this, gave a few more instructions before going upstairs to home. When he entered, there was no one at home, and the furnishings remained unchanged. Xie Wendong put down his backpack, left a note to let his parents know he had returned, then hurriedly left again.

Ma Wu should be arriving soon. Although Xie Wendong didn’t take him seriously, he still needed to make some preparations. As soon as he went downstairs, he saw Li Shuang driving over, leaning out of the car window and shouting, “Brother Dong, get in the car!”

Xie Wendong sighed inwardly and walked over, saying, “Why did you come? Are you afraid the neighbors won’t know I’m from the underworld?”

Li Shuang’s face turned red as he remembered Xie Wendong having said not to let gang cars or people approach his house. Muttering, “Brother Dong, I won’t do it again! Oh, right, Ma Wu is almost here. We’re less than five li from the city now!”

“He arrives quickly!” Xie Wendong sneered.

“Yes! As soon as he heard about the goods, he rushed over,” Li Shuang replied. Xie Wendong was surprised and got into the car, asking, “What goods?”

As Li Shuang drove out of the residential area, he said with a smile, “San Yan is too ruthless. He says even if we’re going to take care of Ma Wu, we can’t let him off easy—we have to steal some goods from him first!”

Xie Wendong leaned back in his seat and laughed, thinking to himself that San Yan was indeed thorough, but it was a good idea. “Hmm, that’s good! It’ll also bring in some income for the gang! Haha!”

Li Shuang drove to the Northern Hotel and said, “Brother Dong, San Yan has reserved a room here. Ma Wu will be here any moment!”

“Oh!” Xie Wendong asked, “Has Brother Zhang gone to pick up Ma Wu?”

“Yes. He said to take the goods first and deal with Ma Wu afterward!” Li Shuang said unhappily, “Brother Dong, isn’t this going too far? After all, we’ve also benefited a lot from him. It would be unethical to just kill him like that!” Seeing Xie Wendong’s serious expression, he added quickly, “Brother Dong, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I just…”

Xie Wendong interrupted him, saying, “I know! This isn’t right, but it depends on who the other person is! Three years ago, I went to his lair. There were over a dozen women trapped there for their entertainment, including Jin Rong.” Xie Wendong seemed to relive that scene from three years ago and sighed, “You didn’t see those women’s desperate, dazed, and numb eyes back then. If it weren’t for his goods, I would have dealt with him long ago. Ma Wu is lucky to still be alive today. There’s no need to be ethical with him!”

Li Shuang’s expression turned dull. Though he felt Xie Wendong made sense, he still couldn’t understand. He was a straightforward person and disliked many of Xie Wendong’s actions. Yet Li Shuang never said anything, as he had an instinctive trust in him, believing that everything Xie Wendong did was right, though his methods were somewhat cunning. Li Shuang said shyly, “Brother Dong, stop talking. Anyway, I’ll always listen to you!”
Xie Wendong smiled and said, “There are many things I don’t want to do either, but this is the underworld we live in. Even if we see people we dislike, as long as they’re still useful, we should greet them with a smile. When they become useless, it’s their bad luck! Only by doing this can we survive. Don’t forget, we’re in the criminal world—we’re gangsters. Morality is heaven to us!”
Li Shuang didn’t understand, but he nodded as if he did. Xie Wendong smiled and said nothing more. Perhaps it was because of Li Shuang’s personality that Xie Wendong trusted him the most.
When they arrived at the private room, many people were already there, all the leaders of various factions. Seeing Xie Wendong, they quickly stood up. He Haoran and Liu Bo had stayed in City J to keep watch and hadn’t seen Xie Wendong for some time, so they chatted with him excitedly. As they were talking, one of his subordinates came in and said, “Brother Dong, Ma Wu is here!”
“Hmm!” Xie Wendong smiled at everyone and asked, “Who’s going to ‘start it’?”
Gao Qiang chuckled, glanced at the others, and said loudly, “Brother Dong, leave it to me! I’ve wanted to experience what it’s like to kill someone for a long time, haha!” After saying that, he showed his white teeth at Li Shuang, making the latter grunt in annoyance.
“Okay, act according to my signals later!” Xie Wendong nodded.
Soon, the door to the private room was opened, and Ma Wu, weighing over 200 pounds, walked in with a bulging belly. Seeing Xie Wendong, he grinned widely, laughed heartily, and hugged him, saying, “Brother, it’s been a while since we last saw each other—almost two years, right? Haha!”
As Ma Wu hugged him, a foul smell hit Xie Wendong. Suppressing his disgust, he smiled and said, “Yes! Almost two years! Every time Brother Wu comes, he always has something on his mind. Today, I’ll drink to make up for it!” Then, Xie Wendong pushed Ma Wu away and downed a glass of beer in one gulp.
“Haha, that’s the spirit, brother!” Ma Wu also poured himself a glass of alcohol and said with a smile, “I heard you’ve been hanging around City H lately. How’s it there?”

Xie Wendong pulled Ma Wu to sit down. Seeing two more people following him, though he didn’t care, he still found it troublesome. Smiling, he said, “H City is the provincial capital, but compared to J City, it’s not much better except for being larger.” Then he glanced at the two people behind Ma Wu and said, “Brother Wu, tell your companions behind you to rest too. There’s another table of guys eating over there—have them go and eat something, so they can get to know my men!”
“Oh…” Ma Wu hesitated. These two were experts he had hired at great expense to protect his safety. Accustomed to having them around, he felt uneasy without them.
Xie Wendong sneered inwardly but showed an unhappy expression on his face. “What? Does Brother Wu think my place isn’t safe enough, or is he afraid I’ll harm you?”
Ma Wu quickly replied, “How could I think such a thing? Brother, you’re being too rude!” He turned to the two people behind him and said, “Go over there. Drink less, okay?”
The two were overjoyed. They had been in the car for over two hours and were already tired. Standing behind Ma Wu and watching him eat was even more uncomfortable! Hearing Ma Wu’s words, they nodded repeatedly and vanished outside immediately, afraid he might change his mind. Ma Wu shook his head in dismay.
Xie Wendong let Ma Wu sit next to him and talked while they drank. Since entering the room, Ma Wu hadn’t stopped talking—from arms to drugs, and from drugs to women. When it came to women, he became animated. Smiling at Xie Wendong, he said, “Brother, your mind is too dull! In these days, making money with women is so much faster! And officials these days don’t care much about money. If you give them women, they’ll do anything you ask! Haha!”
Xie Wendong asked, “Brother Wu, I remember seeing over a dozen women at your place last time. What happened to them?”
“Oh… you mean them? They’re long gone. New ones have taken their place, haha!” Ma Wu laughed triumphantly.
Xie Wendong’s expression darkened. “Ma Wu, do you remember that girl I was given back then?”
Ma Wu was stunned. Seeing Xie Wendong’s serious expression, he quickly asked, “Brother, what’s wrong? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong! She’s fine. It’s just that I promised to avenge her. Please help me out with that!”
Ma Wu didn’t understand and asked, “Avenge? Avenge whom?”
Gao Qiang, who was standing nearby, stepped forward, placed his hands on Ma Wu’s shoulders, and said, “Who else could you avenge but ‘Brother Wu’ himself?”

Ma Wu finally understood what was going on. He tried to stand up but was firmly pressed down by Gao Qiang, unable to move. Turning angrily, he glared at Xie Wendong and said, “Brother, what do you mean by this?” Before Xie Wendong could speak, Gao Qiang used both hands to press Ma Wu’s upper body onto the table and said, “Haven’t you understood yet? Let me tell you—there’s no intention of letting you leave alive today!” With that, Gao Qiang picked up a chopstick and aimed it at Ma Wu’s temple. Ma Wu roared in anger, shook his head violently, and dodged the fatal strike. Although the chopstick didn’t hit a vital spot, it pierced Ma Wu’s cheek, going through it and knocking out one of his front teeth. In pain, Ma Wu let out a cry, gathered all his strength to push Gao Qiang aside, and ran toward the door with a chopstick still stuck in his cheek. Gao Qiang’s face turned red in shame at failing such a simple task; cursing himself as worthless, he was about to chase after him when a flash of golden light passed by.