So many black-clothed men.
Zhong Shuhui and the others paled instantly. They had never expected that at this precise moment so many more black-clothed assailants would appear. Dressed identically to the previous attackers, wielding machetes and radiating murderous intent, they were clearly coming straight for them.
Even with eight additional Black Eagle squad members and Xu Jie, Wang Jian and Grey Eagle were gravely wounded and out of the fight. Hu Yuanyuan needed protection, and Zhong Shuhui herself had taken a bullet, her combat strength greatly reduced. How could they possibly hold against this many enemies?
Zhong Shuhui’s face was ashen. She had not realised the earlier attackers were merely an appetiser; the real killing blow was here. Although these new black-clothed men were individually weaker than the first wave, their sheer numbers overwhelmed any chance of resistance.
At this moment, Eagle Eye had failed utterly. They had received no warning whatsoever about this layered ambush.
“Get in the lorry, quick!” Xu Jie shouted.
Despite the enemy’s numbers, if they could break through the encirclement in the vehicle, they might still have a slim chance of survival.
“Too late,” Zhong Shuhui gave a bitter laugh. Several cars now blocked the road ahead. There was no way through.
Xu Jie noticed the same thing and her expression darkened. She had not expected the assassins to be so thoroughly prepared.
“Damn it.” Xu Jie cursed under her breath and leapt from the cab. If the road were clear, the lorry might have smashed through, but trapped inside now they would simply be sitting ducks.
“Zhong Shuhui, what do we do?” Xu Jie asked as she landed beside her.
“Our only option is to fight our way out,” Zhong Shuhui said grimly.
“Fight our way out?” Xu Jie glanced at the approaching black-clothed men and shook her head. Without Hu Yuanyuan to protect and with Wang Jian and Grey Eagle still able to fight, they might have managed it. As things stood, escape was nearly impossible.
“Zhong Shuhui, there are still Eagle Eye Elites at Tianya Pavilion. Order them here at once. If we can hold for five minutes, their arrival will give us real hope,” Xu Jie said. She had no authority to mobilise them herself.
“Very well.” Zhong Shuhui nodded, made a quick call, then said, “The problem is surviving those five minutes. How do we do that?”
“Over there.” Xu Jie pointed to a nearby convenience store. “It’s small. If we get inside, we may be able to use the terrain to hold them off.”
“Good.” Zhong Shuhui nodded again. The store doors were still open. If they could secure the entrance, they might last until reinforcements arrived.
“Move, now!” Without further hesitation, everyone sprinted toward the store.
It was close. In less than half a minute they reached the entrance. The owner had long since fled in terror at the earlier fighting, leaving the dozen-or-so square metres completely empty.
Zhong Shuhui took position at the door and said to Xu Jie, “Xu Jie, stay at the Young Madam’s side and protect her.”
“Understood.” Xu Jie grasped her meaning and did not argue. Four people could hold the narrow doorway. With eight Black Eagle members beside Zhong Shuhui, they could rotate in two shifts.
“Zhong Shuhui, where is Li Feng? Where on earth has he gone?” Hu Yuanyuan asked. Li Feng’s strength would make all the difference if he were here.
“Young Madam, the Young Master had important business tonight. His phone has been unreachable,” Zhong Shuhui replied with a wry smile. She knew exactly why Li Feng was incommunicado and had never even tried calling him.
“I’ve already had people ringing him repeatedly. The moment he switches his phone on, the call will go through,” Xu Jie said seriously.
“Right now, we need to prepare for battle. Five of you stay with me at the door. The rest fall back inside,” Zhong Shuhui ordered, watching the black-clothed men draw ever closer.
“Inside, now.” Xu Jie wasted no time pulling Hu Yuanyuan deeper into the store.
“Kill!”
The instant Xu Jie and the others were inside, the black-clothed attackers reached the entrance and charged Zhong Shuhui’s group with a roar.
In the room where Blood Shadow watched, the black-clothed man looked at him with open admiration. “Lord Blood Shadow, this time Hu Yuanyuan is finished. It’s a pity so few came from Tianya Pavilion. If the entire Black Eagle squad had arrived, we could have wiped them all out in one go.”
A sharp glint flashed through Blood Shadow’s eyes. “This is still not enough. I’m waiting for Li Feng. I want him to watch Hu Yuanyuan die right in front of him.”
The man faltered. “Lord Blood Shadow, will Li Feng really come?”
“His own woman is under attack. Do you think he won’t?” Blood Shadow countered.
The man nodded at once. Of course Li Feng would come. Unless he no longer cared whether Hu Yuanyuan lived or died.
Blood Shadow gave a cold laugh and asked, “What about Fengyuan Group? Why has no one come from there?”
He clearly remembered Fengyuan Group had a large security force from Li Feng’s own company. They were effectively Li Feng’s men. He had planned to eliminate them too, yet none had appeared.
“They’re coming now.” The man pointed toward the road leading from Fengyuan Group.
Blood Shadow raised his binoculars. In the distance he saw a hurried group dressed as security guards approaching. He sneered. “Finally. Now we just sit back and enjoy the show. I hope your people do not disappoint me.”
“Rest assured, Lord Blood Shadow. They will not. Every one of them is doomed,” the man promised quickly.
Blood Shadow laughed coldly to himself. Zhu Yuanyang, when you see this scene, what will you choose?
Two buildings away from Blood Shadow, in another room, Zhu Yuanyang’s face was livid as she demanded of Chang He, “Tell me what is going on! Who are these people?”
The first wave of black-clothed attackers had been hers. Blood Shadow had used the Zhu family to force her to kill Li Feng, and family orders could not be disobeyed. But she had never expected a second, far larger wave to appear after her own men.
Chang He’s expression had also changed drastically at the sight of the new arrivals. At Zhu Yuanyang’s question he hurriedly replied, “Young Miss, these are definitely not our people.”
“I know that,” Zhu Yuanyang drew a deep breath. She knew exactly how many men the family had in Tianhai City and what they were capable of. The appearance of this second force meant only one thing: she had been played.
“Did you pass on the message that I wanted Hu Yuanyuan dead?” she asked gravely. If Li Feng knew about today’s events, why had he not appeared?
Chang He lowered his head in shame. “Young Miss, Li Feng’s phone has been unreachable all evening, so… so…”
“So Li Feng has no idea any of this is happening?” Zhu Yuanyang’s face darkened, her gaze turning icy as she stared at him.
“Yes,” Chang He admitted, not daring to meet her eyes.
“Excellent. Truly excellent, Chang He. You directly disobeyed my orders.” Zhu Yuanyang felt as though she might explode with rage. She had repeatedly stressed that he must inform Li Feng, yet he had done nothing.
“Young Miss, this subordinate deserves death.” Chang He did not truly feel remorse. He believedently believed that using Chen Junyi’s desire for vengeance from the Hongmen was the perfect chance to eliminate Li Feng. After receiving Zhu Yuanyang’s orders yesterday, he had deliberately delayed. The claim about the phone being unreachable was merely an excuse.
What Chang He had not foreseen was that even if he had tried calling Li Feng tonight, the phone genuinely would not have connected.
Of course, another reason for his self-initiated decision was that he did not want Zhu Yuanyang growing any closer to Li Feng.
“Good. Very good.” Zhu Yuanyang’s eyes flashed with cold fury. She pointed downward. “Do you have any idea what will happen if Hu Yuanyuan dies? Did you think I wanted Li Feng informed simply for his sake?”
Chang He remained silent, but his expression said he had thought exactly that.
“Do you even know who Hu Yuanyuan really is?” Zhu Yuanyang asked coldly.
“I know. She is the Li family’s Young Madam,” Chang He answered.
“And?” Zhu Yuanyang pressed.
“And… she is the eldest daughter of the Hu family. The Hu family… the Hu family…” Chang He’s face suddenly drained of colour.
“Finally remembered? Hah. Do you realise what calamity your arrogance has brought? Hu Yuanyuan is the Hu family’s eldest daughter. Do you think Hu Wenhai will let this go if she dies? Is Hu Wenhai’s position truly as simple as commander of the Northwest Military Region? If he investigates and discovers we were involved, what do you think will happen? Does the family have the power to protect us? Chang He, oh Chang He, did you think I was unaware of your little schemes? What you have done is courting annihilation.”
“Young Miss, this subordinate deserves death. I will immediately arrange rescue for Hu Yuanyuan,” Chang He said, face pale.
“Rescue? How exactly do you plan to rescue her? Do you understand the phrase ‘what is done cannot be undone’? Even if we went down there ourselves right now, we are far too few and they are far too many. We would not be their match,” Zhu Yuanyang replied icily.
“Then… what do we do?” Chang He asked, terror finally dawning.
“What is done is done. Regret is useless.” A decisive glint passed through Zhu Yuanyang’s eyes. “Even if Hu Yuanyuan survives, with Li Feng’s abilities he will trace this back to us. Since that is the case…”
A ruthless light flashed in her gaze. “Then when Li Feng arrives, we kill him along with Hu Yuanyuan and pin the blame on someone else.”
