Chapter 84

That golden light shot straight for Ma Wu’s neck. By then, Ma Wu had reached the door and was about to turn and pull it open when he caught a glimpse of the flying golden light out of the corner of his eye. Realizing it was nothing good, he quickly turned his head to dodge it.

Xie Wendong saw that Ma Wu hadn’t been struck in a vital spot by Gao Qiang and knew something was wrong. He moved his wrist slightly, causing the golden knife to fall into his palm as a precaution. Sure enough, Ma Wu pushed Gao Qiang away and tried to run out of the private room. With murderous intent now, Xie Wendong wouldn’t let him go. With a flick of his wrist, the golden knife flew straight at Ma Wu’s neck. Seeing him dodge it, Xie Wendong sneered and used the technique taught to him by the old man—pulling his wrist slightly back. The flying knife, affected by this reverse force, bounced back and circled around Ma Wu’s neck.

Ma Wu felt a tightness around his neck and quickly reached out to touch it, only to realize a thin thread was wrapped around it. Not daring to move rashly, he yelled at Xie Wendong, “Xie Wendong, you bastard have made quite a profit from me. After all this, is this how you treat me? Are you even human?!”

Xie Wendong sneered, “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. It’s just that you were useful to me back then. But unfortunately, you’re no longer of any use!”

Ma Wu still held out a sliver of hope and said, “Don’t forget, I was the one who bought all your goods for you. Without me, I don’t see how you’ll find such cheap supplies! Even if you kill me today, someone else will come for your revenge…!”

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Wendong smiled and said, “There’s no need for you to know that! Let me tell you one last thing—no one can control me, and no one can force me to make any decisions!” With that, Xie Wendong pulled his wrist back forcefully.

“Gurgle, gurgle…” Everyone in the room saw a flash of red before Ma Wu’s head, the size of a melon, rolled to the ground, spewing blood everywhere. They were so shocked they couldn’t speak for a moment. Who among them hadn’t killed before, but this was the first time they’d seen a head fall off someone alive. What surprised them the most was that they had no idea how Xie Wendong had done it—after all, Ma Wu had dodged the knife, yet the golden knife miraculously returned. In fact, it was because the silver thread was so thin that no one had noticed it.

Xie Wendong was also stunned for a while, not expecting the silver thread to be so powerful. He usually used large trees as targets during training, so using a real person made him nervous, and he used too much force.

Li Shuang stared at Xie Wendong in disbelief, murmuring, “Brother Dong, how did you do that? Could it be some special ability?!”

Gao Qiang rolled his eyes. Though he didn’t understand what was going on, he absolutely refused to believe in any supernatural abilities. “Fatty, have you watched too many action movies? Superpowers? You really believe that?!”
Li Shuang retorted, “If it’s not a supernatural ability, then what is it? Prove it to me!”
Gao Qiang opened his mouth but said nothing. He truly didn’t understand. When Li Shuang said it had run out of power for the first time, he muttered softly, “It’s definitely not…”
Xie Wendong finally realized what was happening and let out a sigh. Seeing everyone staring at him in astonishment, his expression turned unpleasant. “Qiangzi is right. This isn’t a supernatural ability; it’s mainly achieved through this!” With that, Xie Wendong pulled back the silver thread, whose end had turned red, as tiny blood droplets slowly rolled along it. Only upon closer inspection did everyone realize it was a very thin silver thread connecting to the golden knife, and they were all amazed. Xie Wendong carefully wiped the silver thread clean, then stored the golden knife back in his wrist guard. Seeing the corpses of Ma Wu at two places on the ground, he felt disgusted and said to everyone, “Clean them up thoroughly—leave no traces!” After saying that, Xie Wendong quickly left the private room.
Once outside, Xie Wendong took a deep breath and thought to himself, “I need to be more careful using the golden knife in the future. It’s truly a powerful weapon that can turn the tide in battles!”
At that moment, someone standing at the door stepped forward and said, “Brother Dong, Ma Wu’s two henchmen have been dealt with!”
“Mm!” Xie Wendong replied, “Make sure everything is cleaned up. Be careful when carrying them out—don’t let anyone notice!”
“Understood, Brother Dong!” The man answered before entering the next private room.
Thus, Ma Wu, who had cooperated with Xie Wendong for three years, ultimately died at the hands of his own men. As Xie Wendong had said, Ma Wu was no longer useful and knew too much about the Wen Dong Gang’s drug dealings. Even without Jin Rong, Xie Wendong would still have gotten rid of him, but with Jin Rong around, he could do so more justifiedly!
Xie Wendong greeted the people in his gang and took a car home. Wen Zi came back with him, while Xiao Cang stayed at the store downstairs.
No one was home yet, making the room feel somewhat empty. Xie Wendong only felt safe when he got home, where he could drop all his defenses. He took off his clothes, took a comfortable hot bath, then lay in bed under a blanket watching TV, his mind still on matters in City H.
He wondered how Jiang Sen was handling things with the Soul Group. Worried, he called him and asked, “Lao Sen, any updates from the Soul Group?”
“The Soul Group hasn’t shown any signs of activity. It’s still the same as before. The Soul Reclaiming Gang went to New Century not long after you left, took a look around, and left. They probably wanted to see if we’d cleaned up thoroughly!”

“Did you stay behind without being detected by the Soul Squad?”
“Probably not! We all hid in H City in groups and scattered around; our plan is flawless. If we’re really discovered, it can only be blamed on bad luck!”
“Good! Still, be careful and listen more to Old Lei. After all, he’s a former assassin and knows how to hide his identity!”
“Hehe, Brother Dong, don’t forget—I’m a scout. I’m even better at hiding my identity!” Hearing Jiang Sen’s words, Xie Wendong was about to say something when the other end of the phone said, “Alright, Brother Dong. I know what to do. I’ve already discussed it with Old Lei! Don’t worry! If nothing goes wrong, we’ll take action in three days.”
“Fine. Call me before you act. I need to stay updated on the surprise attack!” “Yes!”
Xie Wendong slowly hung up the phone, thinking that with Jiang Sen and Dong Xinlei working together, there shouldn’t be any problems. Besides, Old Jin wasn’t gone yet, so even if something went wrong, he would help! With that thought, Xie Wendong lay back on the bed for a while, recalling the process of killing Ma Wu. He realized how powerful the golden sword Jin Peng had given him was—in some aspects, it even surpassed his own silver spear—and it was even harder to defend against, which filled him with confidence.
Excited, Xie Wendong stood up unconsciously, put on his wrist guards, and started practicing. He had already mastered some techniques, so his backhand wasn’t easily scratched by silver threads anymore. However, his control over the golden sword wasn’t ideal. He still couldn’t make it spin in his palm without it falling, let alone use it to cut an apple with one hand. As he practiced, thinking about the techniques taught by the old man, before he knew it, it was already dark.
A knock interrupted Xie Wendong’s focus. Thinking it was his parents returning, he quickly hid the golden sword, phone, silver spear, and other items—things he couldn’t expose in front of his parents.
When Xie Wendong came out of his room, he saw it was his mother. Smiling, he said, “Mom, you’re back!”
“Huh? Wendong, aren’t you going to school? Why are you back?” “Oh… school is on break for a few days. Since there’s nothing to do, I came home for a few days!”
“Wendong, you can’t skip class without permission…” Xie Wendong listened silently to his mother’s nagging, occasionally responding. Sometimes, listening to his mother’s chatter was also a comforting thing!
In the blink of an eye, five days passed. Xie Wendong stayed at home most of the time these days, rarely going out. The gang in J City was now on track, with not much for him to handle. Due to his genuine interest in the sword techniques taught by Jin Peng, he kept practicing at home.

That day, Xie Wendong was practicing knife handling and spinning when he received a call from Jiang Sen. “Brother Dong, the security at Huohong has loosened these past few days. There aren’t as many people watching over it as before! I want to seize this opportunity and take action tomorrow!”
Xie Wendong asked, “Are you sure?”
“I can’t say 100%, but both me and Lao Lei think the chances of success are over 80%!”
“Let me think!” Xie Wendong pondered for a moment, feeling uneasy. If something went wrong, the consequences could be disastrous. “Lao Sen, wait for me. I’m currently on a taxi to City H. Where can I find you?”
“Brother Dong, I don’t think you need to go in person. Both me and Lao Lei are confident!”
“No! Only by being with you guys can I feel at ease. Stop talking. I’ll call you once I arrive in City H. Don’t take any rash actions until then!” After hanging up, Xie Wendong quickly called Sanyan. “Brother Zhang, move the brothers from the gang to City M to create the illusion that we’re planning to invade City M!”
“Brother Dong, we’ve already withdrawn from City H. Haven’t the Soul Group members relaxed their vigilance yet?”
“No, it’s mainly to cover for me. I plan to go to City H in person to direct things. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease!”
“That’s not good. It’s too dangerous!” “I know what I’m doing! Do as I say. Once you’re in City M, don’t just hang around. Pretend to be busy—first take out one or two small gangs. We’ll decide further based on the situation!”
“Okay. Should I bring other brothers along?”
“Oh, have Yanjiang and you go. With him around, he can give you some advice!” “Okay, got it…”
That afternoon, the entire Wendong Gang, along with Longtang, set off for City M. Over a thousand members of Longtang traveled in several groups by vehicle. Meanwhile, Xie Wendong went alone, wearing sunglasses and carrying just a few bags. He took a taxi to City H, not even bringing Wenzi to avoid drawing the attention of the Soul Group.
There was no conversation during the trip. After five hours, they arrived in City H’s downtown area. Xie Wendong called Jiang Sen, asked for his address, and told the driver to drive there.
Jiang Sen lived in a residential area of shabby houses. The roads were in terrible condition, full of potholes. It was autumn, and rain had turned the roads into mud pits. The driver cursed the damned roads, complaining that driving on them would shorten his car’s lifespan by five years! Xie Wendong smiled inwardly. Jiang Sen really knew how to pick a place—though it was dilapidated, it was indeed hard to spot.