Chapter 137: Gang Warfare

"It seems that the shot you fired earlier made the police realize we kidnapped Hynes and brought him here. We can't go back to the safe house for now. We’re heading straight to grab Liu Liping of the Green Gang."

As the car turned into the street near the safe house, many police officers were seen emerging from the shops on both sides. Listening to Chen Wenqi's analysis, Li Wensheng nodded slightly and continued driving calmly. After a few hundred meters, he reached a fork in the road, turned the steering wheel to the left, and entered the side street.

After turning left and right for over half an hour, they arrived near the Shiliupu Pier. Li Wensheng parked the car in a secluded spot. Chen Wenqi scanned the surroundings, and seeing no one, she turned her head and said, "We need to change the plan for kidnapping Liu Liping. You go alone; I'll stay here to watch Feng Jingyun."

"Alright." Li Wensheng’s face remained expressionless, but he felt a surge of joy inside.

"Be careful. Avoid using your gun if you can. Use a knife to make it look like a gang fight."

"Understood. Wait here; I'll be back soon." With that, Li Wensheng opened the car door and stepped out.

"Hey, stay safe."

Seeing the concern in Chen Wenqi’s eyes, Li Wensheng felt a warmth in his heart and smiled. "Don't worry. If I can't even handle a Green Gang boss, I might as well jump into the Huangpu River."

"Li Wensheng, don't underestimate Liu Liping. Be careful not to capsize in the gutter."

Seeing Chen Wenqi’s serious expression, Li Wensheng grew grave as well. "I'll keep that in mind. I'm off."

*Bang.* The car door slammed shut. Watching Li Wensheng’s back disappear around the corner, Chen Wenqi pulled out her pistol, cocked it, and turned to look at Feng Jingyun, who was lying motionless in the backseat.

Chen Wenqi did not speak, simply staring at her. Under her gaze, Feng Jingyun’s eyelids began to tremble violently.

"Stop feigning unconsciousness. Those slaps weren't enough to knock you out completely; you should have come to long ago."

Feng Jingyun still didn't react, and Chen Wenqi said nothing more, just kept her eyes locked on her.

A few seconds later, Feng Jingyun suddenly opened her eyes, looked at Chen Wenqi, and let out a whimpering, sobbing sound.

"Shut up!"

"Wuwu!"

Chen Wenqi’s reprimand did not make Feng Jingyun stop. After a dozen seconds of continuous whimpering, the sound grew louder. Chen Wenqi glanced around, then reached out and ripped the tape off Feng Jingyun’s mouth.

"Wu, wu, please... please, spare me. I can... give you money. I have three thousand... dollars, wuwu, as long as you let me go, I’ll give you... everything. And, and I have some valuable jewelry, I can... wuwu, give you that too."

Feng Jingyun was so terrified that she stuttered. If this were just an emotional dispute, she wouldn't be so afraid—at worst, she’d just get a beating. But after regaining consciousness, she had heard the conversation between Chen Wenqi and Li Wensheng, realizing this was no mere spat, but a deliberate kidnapping.

"A dance hall girl with three thousand dollars and valuable jewelry? You certainly are wealthy. That three thousand dollars came from the Japanese, didn't it?"

Feng Jingyun’s face stiffened, her expression one of utter horror. "Who... who are you..."

"I didn't want to accept it, but they held me at gunpoint—I had no choice! I just didn't want to die, but I never helped them with anything. They told me to gather intelligence, but I didn't do it! I really didn't do anything, wuwu..."

Watching Feng Jingyun, who had buried her head in her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably, Chen Wenqi felt a surge of irritation. She pressed her gun against Feng Jingyun's forehead. "If you dare make another sound, I will kill you right now."

With that, she used her left hand to seal Feng Jingyun’s mouth with tape again. The threat worked; Feng Jingyun stopped whimpering.

***

After Li Wensheng got out of the car, he walked past the secluded corner and headed toward the front left. Two minutes later, he entered a narrow alley.

Liu Liping was in the opium trade. Li Wensheng hadn't been able to trace the source of his supply, but he knew the opium was brought in through Pier 16 and that the warehouses were nearby. Since both the channels and the warehouses were at Pier 16, Liu Liping lived in the area and conducted his daily business there.

After entering the alley, Li Wensheng walked for a few minutes before making a left turn toward a courtyard. From the outside, the courtyard looked ordinary; had he not seen Liu Liping living there with his own eyes, Li Wensheng wouldn't have believed it was his home.

He looked around and saw a woman hanging clothes on a bamboo pole in the cross-alley. Li Wensheng drew his dagger from his waist, raised his foot, and *bang!*

He kicked the door open. Instead of rushing in immediately, he looked at the woman hanging the laundry. Seeing her staring back in a daze, he strode into the courtyard.

The moment he entered, his sixth sense triggered a warning of danger. Li Wensheng immediately bolted toward the front left.

*Bang!*

A gunshot rang out!

Inside the main hall, fifty-year-old Liu Liping—a burly man with an imposing, tiger-like gaze—immediately moved to a side window and continued firing through the opening.

*Bang, bang...*

Pressed against the wall outside the main hall, listening to the gunfire, Li Wensheng remained motionless. A moment later, the shooting stopped, and Liu Liping pulled a magazine from his coat.

While reloading, Liu Liping shouted, "Little brother, who sent you? Tell me, and I guarantee I’ll let you go and throw in two thousand dollars."

After reloading, Liu Liping didn't fire blindly. He backed away a few steps, holding his pistol toward the door and window, and called out again, "Two thousand dollars, little brother! The person who sent you to kill me wouldn't pay that much, right?"

Seeing there was still no sound from outside, Liu Liping felt a sense of unease. He couldn't explain it, but his gut told him something was very wrong.

Just then, "Boss!" "Boss!"... A group of men carrying axes entered through the courtyard gate.

Liu Liping breathed a sigh of relief and shouted with a dark, angry face, "Shatou, leave him alive!"

Among the group, the bald man in the lead glanced at Li Wensheng, who was still pressed against the wall, and laughed, "Don't worry, Boss, I guarantee..."

Before he could finish, the bald man’s eyes widened, as if he had seen something impossible. The men behind him mirrored his expression, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

"You all saw that, right?" the bald man asked nervously.

The others nodded dumbly.

At that moment, Li Wensheng emerged from the main hall. Seeing him walk out, everyone swallowed hard in fear. What they had just witnessed filled them with terror.

A moment earlier, before the bald man had finished his sentence, Li Wensheng had moved like a ghost, crossing the distance to Liu Liping in the blink of an eye. While Liu Liping was still in shock, Li Wensheng delivered a sharp palm strike to his neck, knocking him unconscious.

"Brothers, attack!" Facing the slowly approaching Li Wensheng, the bald man swallowed again and shouted, though his voice lacked conviction.

The group looked at each other, then gripped their axes and walked quickly toward Li Wensheng.

Facing them, Li Wensheng lunged forward. With a flick of his right hand, the dagger—its blade reflecting the sunlight—slashed across the throat of the man in front. Before that man even hit the ground, Li Wensheng grabbed the handle of an incoming axe with his left hand and plunged his dagger into the attacker's heart with his right.

Next, Li Wensheng dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding several axes swinging down. As the axes struck empty air, he lunged again, reaching the men and letting his right hand sweep through the air in a blur.

In an instant, deep lacerations appeared on their necks, spraying hot blood like high-pressure faucets. Dealing with these Green Gang thugs, Li Wensheng took them down one by one. In the blink of an eye, most of them had fallen, and the bluestone floor of the courtyard was stained with blood.

The few remaining men, struck with terror, turned and fled. Li Wensheng gave chase immediately. They were no match for his speed; within seconds, only one man made it out of the courtyard before the others fell. The one who escaped was struck by the dagger Li Wensheng threw into his neck, and he collapsed in the alleyway.

Li Wensheng walked over, retrieved his dagger, and returned to the house. He searched the kitchen and found two burlap sacks.

A moment later, Li Wensheng walked out of the corpse-filled courtyard, carrying Liu Liping in one sack and the other empty sack in his hand. Having killed over twenty men with his dagger, Li Wensheng was covered in blood. As he walked toward Chen Wenqi, people around him scattered in fear.

Fortunately, the French Concession police were busy with the kidnapping of Hynes, and the officers from Shiliupu Pier had been reassigned there. With no police in sight, Li Wensheng faced no resistance and reached the car.

He threw Liu Liping onto the floorboards of the backseat, sat in the passenger seat, and Chen Wenqi immediately started the engine.