Just as Hu Yuanyuan and the others were facing the black-clothed men charging in from the back door of the convenience store, a woman in red stood coldly watching the shop from the front. She was the leader of these black-clothed men, the very same woman in red that Blood Shadow had met in the basement last time.
This time, in order to kill Hu Yuanyuan, her companion was at Blood Shadow’s side, so the woman in red had no choice but to appear in person.
“Boss, the third squad has already stormed in from the back of the convenience store,” a black-clothed man reported as he approached her.
“Very good.” A sharp glint flashed in the woman’s eyes. She spoke in a low voice, “The security from Fengyuan Group should be arriving soon, right?”
“Yes, less than five hundred metres away,” another black-clothed man behind her stepped forward and replied.
“Fifth squad, go eliminate them,” the woman in red ordered coldly.
“Yes.” One of the men behind her acknowledged the command, then led more than ten black-clothed men away.
“Report…”
At that moment, another black-clothed man came running up in a panic. “Boss, twenty more people are coming from the direction of Tianya Pavilion. They’re less than five hundred metres away.”
“What?” The woman in red’s expression changed slightly. She said gravely, “You’re telling me twenty more are coming from Tianya Pavilion?”
The arrival of Fengyuan Group security was within her expectations, but people from Tianya Pavilion… had not all of them arrived earlier?
“Yes.”
The woman in red pondered for a moment, then said, “Clear a path. Let them through.”
“What?” The surrounding black-clothed men paled. They had assumed she would order them to intercept the reinforcements from Tianya Pavilion. Letting them pass would only strengthen the enemy.
“Do as I say,” the woman in red said coldly.
“Yes.”
“You, go to Lord Blood Shadow right now and report the situation here,” she pointed at one of the men and ordered.
“Yes.” The man responded at once and left immediately.
The woman in red stared at the convenience store, gave a cold laugh, and said, “Perfect timing. Once they’re all inside, I’ll blow the whole place up. Everyone in there will die.”
Five hundred metres from the convenience store, more than ten Fengyuan Group security guards were sprinting down the road clutching batons. A theft had occurred at Fengyuan Group earlier that night, and these guards felt they had seriously failed in their duty. When they received news that Hu Yuanyuan was under attack, everyone except a few left to guard the company rushed over.
Since the attack site was more than ten minutes away by car and none of them had vehicles, they could only run. By the time they reached this point, they were already gasping for breath.
Still, they were not particularly worried. In their view, anyone daring to assault the president of Fengyuan Group in downtown Tianhai City was nothing more than desperate criminals. With so many of them arriving, the thugs would probably flee in terror.
But when they reached the spot where Hu Yuanyuan’s group had first been attacked and saw the ground covered with corpses and blood, they froze in horror.
They were ex-military, yes, but this was a time of peace. Their military service had only involved training in barracks. They had never experienced life-or-death combat, nor had they ever seen dead bodies. Several of them felt their legs give way at the sight.
“Everyone, Director Hu is just ahead. Let’s go save her,” a burly man spoke up at that moment. He was Huang Xiaolin, captain of Fengyuan Group’s security team. A retired special forces soldier, he had fought drug traffickers during his service, so although he was shocked by the bloody scene, he was not paralysed by fear.
“Captain Huang, you go if you want. I’m not going,” a young guard said. His face had turned deathly pale at the sight of the blood, and he kept backing away.
He had taken the security job at Fengyuan Group to earn money to support his family, not to die for the company. Three thousand yuan a month was not worth risking his life.
“What did you say?” Huang Xiaolin’s expression darkened. He stared coldly at the young man.
“Captain Huang, I don’t want to lose my life for Fengyuan Group. I can find another job if I lose this one, but if I lose my life, who’s going to compensate me?” the young man replied bluntly. Only a fool would throw his life away for three thousand yuan a month.
“And the rest of you?” Huang Xiaolin turned his gaze to the other guards.
“Captain Huang, we…” The others lowered their heads, unable to meet his eyes. Like the young man, they were unwilling to die for their jobs.
“Fine. Those who want to leave can leave. Anyone who wants to save Director Hu, follow me.” Huang Xiaolin did not force them. He understood this was human nature. These guards had wives and children. They would not throw their lives away for Fengyuan Group.
“Let’s go.” The young man turned and left without hesitation.
Several others exchanged glances, then followed him. In less than half a minute, only three of the dozen-plus guards remained.
“Why didn’t you two leave?” Huang Xiaolin asked the pair who had stayed.
“I’m a Fengyuan Group security guard. If something happens to the company president, it’s my responsibility,” one young man answered.
“Same here. I’m an orphan anyway. What do I have to be afraid of?” the other replied.
“Good. Let’s go save Director Hu together.” Huang Xiaolin started walking forward. From their position, they could clearly hear the sounds of fighting ahead.
They had taken only a few steps when a squad of black-clothed men appeared in front of them. The leader fixed a murderous glare on Huang Xiaolin and the two others, pointed his machete, and barked, “Kill.”
“Kill!”
The black-clothed men behind him roared in unison and charged, swinging their machetes.
“Kill!”
Huang Xiaolin and his two companions paled at the sight, but they did not retreat. They shouted in response and rushed forward.
The two sides clashed instantly.
On the road, Li Feng was driving at breakneck speed. Although he was in the city centre, his anxiety pushed the car past 120 km/h. If not for his exceptional driving skills, he would probably have crashed long ago.
He ignored the torrent of abuse from other drivers. While speeding, he had already phoned Eagle Eye, the person in charge at Tianya Pavilion, and learned that Hu Yuanyuan’s situation was extremely dangerous. Zhong Shuhui had already mobilised everyone from Tianya Pavilion.
Two squads of the Black Eagle team, plus Zhong Shuhui and Xu Jie, were still not enough to handle the attackers. Clearly, the trouble Hu Yuanyuan faced was far worse than he had imagined.
Li Feng had considered calling the Black Eagle team members at the training base, but they were in the suburbs and would need at least half an hour to arrive. That was too slow to help. So he gave up on the idea.
Besides the Black Eagle team, who else was there?
His first thought was Old Lu, an innate-realm expert. With him protecting Hu Yuanyuan, she would be safe. But ever since the press conference, Old Lu had been appearing and disappearing unpredictably. He had no phone, and Li Feng had no way to contact him.
Moreover, Old Lu was not truly one of his people. Even if he found him, there was no guarantee the man would help. Li Feng remained deeply wary of this powerful expert whose motives he could not control. If Old Lu had ulterior motives and Li Feng let his guard down, he would be the one to suffer.
Li Feng believed there was no free lunch in this world, and unsolicited kindness was either deceitful or thievery. Someone as powerful and mysterious as Old Lu could not be trusted lightly unless Li Feng had the strength to deal with him.
After acquiring the Divine Control Technique, Li Feng had once considered using it to control Old Lu. If successful, he could use the man with peace of mind. But Old Lu was too strong, and Li Feng was unsure whether the technique would work on him. More importantly, innate experts possessed divine sense. To control someone with divine sense, one’s own divine sense had to be stronger. Until he knew more about Old Lu, Li Feng dared not risk it. A failed attempt could backfire and turn a powerful expert into a dangerous enemy. So he abandoned the plan.
Apart from Old Lu, the only others he could mobilise were the Blood Kill Twin Eagles. However, after dealing with Zhao Xiu and the others last time, Li Feng had given them a large amount of resources so they could focus on cultivating before the Boxing King Championship and try to reach the eighth level of the post-natal realm. They were currently training in a hidden location and probably could not be reached by phone.
Moreover, interrupting them at a critical moment of cultivation might cause harm. Li Feng decided it was not worth disturbing them.
After thinking it through, Li Feng concluded that he himself was the only one who could save Hu Yuanyuan. He had to get to the scene as quickly as possible.
Because he was coming from the direction of the Imperial Hotel, his route took him past Fengyuan Group.
As his car sped past the company building towards the attack site, he spotted several men in Fengyuan Group security uniforms fleeing down the road in panic. His heart sank.
Had something already happened to Hu Yuanyuan and the others?
But he did not stop to ask. He was now very close to the scene. Questioning the fleeing guards would only waste time.
Whoosh!
The car shot forward. When he was about five hundred metres from the crossroads, Li Feng saw several Fengyuan Group security guards fighting black-clothed men up ahead. The guards were already covered in wounds.
At the sight, Li Feng slammed on the brakes. The car screeched, leaving deep skid marks on the road before stopping. At the same moment, Li Feng leapt out and charged towards the black-clothed men like lightning.
“You all deserve to die…”
