Chapter 88

Xie Wendong was beaten until he swayed violently, staring at the man in anger. The burly man felt uneasy under Xie Wendong’s gaze and stabbed his head several times with his pistol: “Kid, what are you staring at? Don’t you accept it? If you’ve got guts, hit me! Let’s see if I can shoot you down!”
Xie Wendong gritted his teeth silently, lowering his head as if timid. The feeling of being bullied when he was just an ordinary student years ago returned. His slightly long forehead hair covered his blood-red eyes, which emitted a feral glow. But the burly police officer didn’t see it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared keep poking Xie Wendong’s head with the gun tip like this. None of the other officers stepped in to stop them, only laughing and mocking.
Suddenly, Xie Wendong raised his head, his blood-red eyes glowing intensely. The burly man froze in shock. What kind of gaze was that? A tiger’s? A leopard’s? A wolf’s? It certainly wasn’t human.
With a smile on his lips, Xie Wendong tilted his head to avoid the gun tip and swiftly thrust his left hand toward the man’s chest.
The burly man had graduated from a formal police academy and reacted quickly. Seeing a golden light flash at the tip of Xie Wendong’s hand, he realized there was something strange and hurriedly blocked it with his gun arm.
Xie Wendong’s golden knife pierced the man’s arm. Determined, he released the knife, quickly wrapped his hand around the man’s arm, and then applied force at the wrist. With a sharp sound, the man’s arm was severed right at the elbow.
“Ah!~~~” The man screamed in pain, clutching his severed arm as he hopped around. Xie Wendong watched him coldly, pulling back the golden knife with a silver thread. The other officers were stunned for a moment before rushing forward and surrounding Xie Wendong. A police officer behind them struck him hard on the back of the head with his gun. Xie Wendong felt it, but he couldn’t dodge. His head buzzed, his vision went dark, and he lost consciousness.
Unsure whether Xie Wendong was truly unconscious, the officers stepped forward and kicked him first on the head and then on the body. Even if he hadn’t lost consciousness earlier, they would have kicked him into unconsciousness. It took a while before the officers reluctantly stopped, as the sound of an ambulance could be heard in the distance. They didn’t want others to see state servants beating a criminal, as that would be difficult to explain to their superiors. By then, the man whose arm had been cut off by Xie Wendong had already been taken to the hospital. Two people dragged Xie Wendong’s arm and pulled him out of the alley, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
By the time Xie Wendong was carried to the ambulance, he was barely alive. The medical staff quickly brought out a stretcher from the vehicle and rushed him to a nearby hospital…

In the battle against the Wen Dong Gang, the head of the Soul Group in City H was killed, along with 47 Japanese members of the Soul Group and 20 others seriously injured. On their side, over ten people died as well. In total, more than 40 people from both gangs were captured by the police, roughly half from each side, including Xie Wendong.

After being taken to the hospital, Xie Wendong was saved through emergency treatment, but he suffered multiple injuries and remained in a coma due to significant blood accumulation in his brain. Despite this, the police did not relax their vigilance and transferred him from the Second Hospital to the 711 Military Hospital, assigning multiple guards to watch over him 24/7. Eventually, the military even sent additional personnel to assist.

Members of the Dark Group tried several times to rescue Xie Wendong but failed due to the strict security. The core members of the gang were gathered in City H but were powerless to do anything. Dong Xinlei informed Jin Peng, hoping that through the old man’s connections with the military, Xie Wendong could be saved. In the end, even the person Jin Peng entrusted was unable to help and told him that the incident involving Xie Wendong had resulted in no fewer than 100 deaths and injuries, many of them Japanese people and middle school students. The impact was so severe that even the central authorities were shocked and sent people to suppress news and investigate the matter. Although the entrusted person was from the military, they too could not intervene.

Upon hearing this news, most members of the Wen Dong Gang became enraged. Led by Li Shuanggaoqiang, they planned to storm the 711 Hospital, but were stopped by San Yan and Jiang Sen. San Yan suggested discussing it further with Old Man Jin, while Jiang Sen argued that an attack was necessary but should not be forceful—strategies were needed instead. The entire gang was in chaos.

Mid-December 1998, 711 Hospital.

Xie Wendong lay in a fully enclosed hospital room less than 20 square meters in size. It had been 20 days since he was injured, and he remained in a coma. Only Liu Dexin and Peng Ling visited him a few times. Liu Dexin lamented each time, feeling sorry for Xie Wendong, as he still had a good impression of him and was distressed to see him in such a state. Peng Ling was even more heartbroken; she never expected such an outcome and certainly did not want to see it happen. She hated herself for leaving at that time, otherwise Xie Wendong wouldn’t have been left half-dead. Yet, she also felt a hint of relief, hoping that Xie Wendong would remain in this state forever to avoid legal punishment, as waking up would surely mean the death sentence! Women are strange—always full of contradictions.

Lost in darkness, Xie Wendong’s past experiences flashed through his mind one after another.

“Since I was young, I’ve been a well-behaved child. As the only son in the family, smart and quick-witted, adults said I was destined to go to college. At school, I didn’t have to work very hard to rank among the top in my class, but actually I was a competitive person with a desire to always be number one! And I succeeded—studying hard every day, ranking first in my class, grade, and even the entire city, earning praise from teachers and parents. When I reached middle school, I worked even harder, but it was completely different from elementary school. There were bullies! Many who could bully me at any time. Was it because I was withdrawn? Because I was good at studying? Is it wrong to study hard? Can bullies just bully others arbitrarily? Since no one answered me, well, I’d be the bully! For nothing other than dignity, I’m willing to be a bully for life! The more time passed, the more I realized I was a genius at being a bully. Many things that were clear to me were beyond the imagination of others. I formed gangs, trafficked drugs, killed people—within a year, I became the most respected and legendary criminal in the city. This sense of achievement is beyond what ordinary people can experience, and the absolute power involved is something they can’t even dream of. My ambitions grew even larger—I didn’t want to rule just one city; I wanted to be the underground emperor across the province, the country, even the whole world! There is no god in the world; I am the god! There are no principles in the world; what I say is the principle! No one can control me—not now, and never will. No one can… no one… no one…”

Xie Wendong slowly opened his eyes. Everything around him was white—the sky, the ground, everything. It gave him the feeling of being in heaven, but he quickly dismissed that thought. Even if he died, he could only go to hell; there was no reason he could be in heaven!

How fortunate I am to still be alive! Xie Wendong smiled self-mockingly as he lay in bed, closing his eyes to assess his condition. Aside from slight pain in his abdomen and joints, nothing seemed wrong. It seems being a villain brings longevity! He tried to get up and then realized his wrists were handcuffed to the bed. His mood dropped again. He was alive, but not far from death. Sighing, he lay still, avoiding pointless struggles, and thought about his situation. This must be a hospital. He wondered if there was any chance of escaping.

Time passed slowly, but no one entered the room, not even a doctor.

The more Xie Wendong lay there, the more he felt something was wrong. There wasn’t a single window around—completely enclosed, and the silence was terrifying, as if he were completely isolated from the outside world. This definitely wasn’t an ordinary hospital! Xie Wendong thought to himself. The police must be overprotective of him, assigning him to such a hellish place. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious; his gangmates must be extremely worried!

Xie Wendong couldn’t tell time in the room. Maybe two hours had passed, maybe three… still no one came in. When a person is locked in a strange, enclosed place with no one around, it’s easy for their mind to break down. Unable to bear it any longer, Xie Wendong shouted, “Is anyone there?”

His voice echoed in the room, but there was no response. He shouted several more times, yet still nothing happened. With defeated shoulders, he gave up. After some unknown amount of time, the door finally opened. A nurse in white, with a blank expression, entered carrying a large tray. Seeing Xie Wendong lying on his side, eyes wide open staring at her, she showed no surprise at all. She placed the tray on a small wooden cabinet beside him and then left.

“Hey? Where am I?” As the nurse prepared to leave, Xie Wendong hurriedly shouted. But the nurse acted as if she didn’t hear him, walked out without stopping, and locked the door behind her.

Damn woman! Xie Wendong cursed inwardly, his mind immediately turning to Peng Ling, filled with hatred. Especially the image of her leaning in another man’s arms seemed frozen in his mind, causing him great distress.

After a while, Xie Wendong shook his head to stop thinking about her. He didn’t even know how many days he had left—why worry about anything else? He opened the tray and found food inside. Feeling hungry, and though it was inconvenient with one hand handcuffed, he picked up the chopsticks and started eating heartily.

After some more time, Xie Wendong felt tired and lay down to sleep.

As he was half-asleep, the door opened again. Five burly soldiers carrying submachine guns entered. Xie Wendong reacted quickly, sitting up quickly to look at the soldiers, shocked. How could soldiers be here? He didn’t seem to have any connection to the military!

Ignoring him, the soldiers unlocked his handcuffs. One of the big men said, “You’d better be honest, or don’t blame us if we get rough!” With that, two of them lifted Xie Wendong and carried him out, while the other three followed carefully, guns in hand.

Carried by two men, Xie Wendong wondered, “Where are you taking me?”

No one answered him. The five men led Xie Wendong out of the hospital building with cold expressions. Several cars were parked at the entrance, along with a dozen fully armed soldiers and a young man in a black suit around thirty years old. The burly man who had spoken to Xie Wendong earlier stepped forward to the man in the black suit and gave a standard military salute, “Major, Xie Wendong is here!”
The young man nodded slightly, glanced at Xie Wendong behind him, and said to the burly man, “Take him to the car!” After that, he turned and walked toward a Red Flag sedan.
Xie Wendong grew increasingly puzzled. Where were these people taking him? Who was that young man? With so many questions in his mind, he couldn’t help but shout, “Hey? Who are you? Where are you taking me?”