20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 789 The Fan Gang Suffers a Great Loss of Strength

The two young brothers were seriously injured, and in that brief moment of distraction, they died on the spot.

Li Zhengxi squatted down, reached out to check the person's breath, and confirmed that the person was completely dead. The snow that had fallen on his face had stopped melting. Only then did he sigh and silently shake his head without saying a word.

Looking around, the rest of the group were not in good shape either. Even those who were not injured were exhausted and looked extremely disheveled.

When they arrived, there were 120 brothers, but now only 30 or 40 remain.

Of course, not all of them died on the spot. The battle was quite fierce, and some got lost, some were tied up, and some were wounded and escaped.

In the darkness of night, chaos reigned and the brothers scattered, making it impossible to reunite them.

The fan-wielding gang has already done their utmost.

Perhaps even Xifeng himself didn't realize that most of his "dumbest," "stupidest," and "most naive" underlings were now either dead or crippled, their vitality greatly diminished.

"Everyone, let's take a break!"

Li Zhengxi said in a deep voice, "You two come with me later. First, carry them to my place. After tonight, we'll figure out a way to bury them."

"Third Brother, what about the others?" Stone pressed.

Li Zhengxi's face suddenly twitched, and he said hatefully, "Try to find them as much as possible. If you really can't find them, bury Lao Dou and the others alive to pay with your lives!"

The group nodded slightly, panting heavily, and fell silent.

Li Zhengxi then stood up again, turned around and walked to Zhao Guoyan and Hai Xinnian, asking, "Old Zhao, why are you two back?"

Zhao Guoyan and Hai Xinnian both sighed, raised their hands to direct the west wind to a quiet corner, and explained their purpose and reason for coming.

The three met and briefly recounted their respective experiences.

Upon hearing that Xu Ruqing had been shot and wounded, Li Zhengxi became furious and hurriedly asked, "Where are they? Are they around here?"

Hai Xinnian hurriedly lowered his voice, pointed out the approximate location of the foreign company store, and said, "My godfather said that his hiding place must be kept strictly secret, and there is no need to send anyone to support him. He only told me to tell you two, as well as Master Yuan and Yang Lazi. No one else can be told. We'll talk about everything after tonight."

"Should I go?" Li Zhengxi was a little worried. "It's so chaotic outside right now, we have to send someone to keep an eye on things!"

Zhao Guoyan waved his hand and said, "Forget it, too many people will attract attention. If you go to the boss now, you might just attract your enemies instead."

Then, turning to Hai Xinnian, he pressed, "What else did your godfather say?"

Hai Xinnian briefly explained to the two their tasks: hiding the human head package, summoning Yuan Xinfa to pick up the old lady and take her home, and protecting the outer residence in the south city.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guoyan immediately suggested, "It's the New Year, and I can ride a horse fast, so why don't you give me your bundle?"

"No way!" Hai Xinnian refused decisively. "This is a task my godfather gave me. If I lose it or get robbed halfway through, I'll take responsibility myself. What kind of nonsense is it to give you the burden?"

This kid is a bit stubborn.

But being stubborn isn't necessarily a bad thing. In a chaotic situation, the worst thing is for your subordinates to have their own ideas.

The more ideas you have, the more uncontrollable the situation becomes.

Zhao Guoyan understood this principle and did not insist. However, the situation was urgent, and time was of the essence. After careful consideration, he changed his mind and said:
"How about this, the mansion in the north of the city is closer, you go there to find Old Yuan, and I'll go to the mansion outside the south city to find Yang Lazi. We'll both go and call people, so that if something goes wrong, we won't waste time going back and forth, and we might end up leaving our job behind."

Hai Xinnian's reflection makes sense.

If trouble were to break out at the Jiang family mansion, and I had to travel from the north of the city to the south and then back to the commercial district to meet my godfather, I would be walking until the wee hours of the morning on my own two legs!

Upon hearing this, Li Zhengxi chimed in, "Old Zhao, you go ahead! I'll take some men to escort Xin Nian to the north of the city!"

Zhao Guoyan frowned, seemingly troubled, but said in a low voice, "Xifeng, I think you should go back first!"

"go back?"

“Yes, you can go around from the northern suburbs to Tiexi, find a gap there, cross a few railway lines, and even enter the concession. If you are alone, no one should notice you. Although the journey is a bit long, I have already gone through it and did not encounter any danger.”

"Old Zhao, what are you talking about?" Li Zhengxi said, slightly annoyed, pointing to the group behind him. "My brothers haven't even found a place to stay yet, how can I run away first?"

"Xifeng, you still have a wife and children at home!" Zhao Guoyan sighed. "Guyu is quite worried about you!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhengxi waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No matter how worried she is, I can't abandon my brothers and run away!"

You'd better think this through.

"I know, I've thought it through clearly enough."

Although Li Zhengxi was stubborn, he had his own reasons for his actions.

"Don't say I don't care about my wife and children. If it weren't for the brothers behind me, my wife and children would have been hacked to death just now!"

In this world, for every gain there is a loss.

Those who frequent the underworld mostly adhere to one principle: brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes. This is not a heartless statement, but rather a saying based on experience.

Being attached to romantic love will inevitably damage one's sense of brotherhood; to command a large following online, one can never live a life like an ordinary person, enjoying the comforts of a wife, children, and a warm bed.

Ultimately, everyone chooses their own path.

Destiny is in your own hands, fortune is your own doing, and a man who has no regrets is a true man!
Zhao Guoyan knew Xifeng's temperament all too well. Upon hearing this, he stopped trying to persuade him and simply said, "You decide for yourself." Then he turned to Hai Xinnian and said, "Don't delay any longer, hurry up and get down to business!"

After saying this, he immediately mounted his horse, nodded to the two men, then cracked his whip and galloped away alone.

Hai Xinnian was stunned for a moment, lost in thought, and suddenly felt that he didn't seem to dislike Zhao Guoyan as much anymore.

Meanwhile, Li Zhengxi turned and walked towards the brothers of the Fan Gang, calling out loudly, "Everyone, stop resting and come with me to the north of the city. Let's go now!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed.

Several of the younger brothers hurriedly asked, "Third Brother, can we call it a day now?"

Li Zhengxi shook his head and then explained, "I still have to go to the mansion. After I finish my business, you can go to my place to rest!"

After he finished speaking, the fan-wielding gang did not respond.

Everyone remained silent, exchanging glances with somewhat ambiguous expressions.

Li Zhengxi frowned slightly.

Just as he was about to ask a question, Shi Tou spoke up first, "Third Brother, the brothers are all tired."

Although the others didn't say anything, they all hung their heads, seemingly acknowledging what Stone had said.

Li Zhengxi was not angry, but felt a little sorry for them. So he said, "How about this? Anyway, my home is in the north of the city. You can come with me first. If you are injured or too tired, I won't force you. You can rest at my house first, and I will come back to find you later!"

After a moment of silence, a dozen or so members of the Kao Shan Gang suddenly stood up and quickly walked to Xi Feng.

"Alright, let's see this through! If it weren't for Third Brother, none of us would be alive today. What other jobs are there? Let's all take care of them together!"

Li Zhengxi felt quite gratified upon hearing this.

However, upon closer inspection, these dozen or so people were all wounded brothers, some with split brow bones, others with bruised and swollen faces, looking utterly foolish and dazed.

On the contrary, those brothers who were uninjured but looked slightly tired all kept quiet and hid in the back, neither nodding in response nor shaking their heads in refusal.

Ultimately, they were only willing to risk their lives for the West Wind.

Although there would be no Xifeng without the Jiang family, and no Kaoshan Gang without Xifeng, to be fair, they do not consider themselves members of the Jiang family, and similarly, the Jiang family does not truly consider them brothers within the family.

The bond between the two rests entirely on West Wind alone.

Li Zhengxi wasn't unaware of it, but at this moment, there was no time to delve too deeply into it.

As they were talking, Hai Xinnian leaned over and urged, "Third Uncle, it's getting late, aren't you leaving?"

"Let's go!" Li Zhengxi quickly called to his brothers to get up and escort them.

Although the fan-wielding gang was somewhat reluctant, seeing the west wind give the order, they dared not disobey. They all thrashed about, stood up from the snow, and, enduring the cold and wet, followed closely behind Hai Xinnian, trudging hurriedly toward the Jiang family mansion.

In Fengtian City today, the western part of the city is the most chaotic.

Because Xiaoxiguan Street leads directly to the South Railway Concession and is a bustling area in the city, it is crowded with refugees and bandits, making it difficult to travel even with the current, let alone against it.

If Hai Xinnian and the others wanted to return to the Jiang family mansion, this route was definitely not an option.

Fortunately, after more than a decade of development, the inner city wall of Fengtian City is well preserved, but the outer city wall has long been dismantled into pieces to facilitate the movement of vehicles and people.

Hai Xinnian and his group set off from Dashangbu, bypassed Xicheng, headed straight for Dabeiguan, and then walked south along the road to reach the Jiang family mansion.

At the beginning of the Jiang family's escape, several cases of open robbery had already broken out in Dabeiguan. Old Chai ignored them. Many shops along the street were damaged, and the road was naturally in a mess. But perhaps because it was late, there were not many people to be seen around at this moment.

According to Xifeng, when he led his men back to the mansion, Yuan Xinfa and the others were fine and told him that the master had already left. That's why Xifeng led his men to Xiaoximen, where they encountered Zuantianying blocking the way.

Now, two or three hours have passed, and it is unknown whether the Jiang family mansion is still safe and sound.

The group hurried on their way, and after less than half an hour, they finally arrived at Jiangjia Hutong.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived, I heard a great commotion in the alley. Shouts of killing, sounds of breaking, and cries for help filled the air like a biting north wind.

Li Zhengxi and Hai Xinnian felt a pang of anxiety, quickly drew their sidearms, and strode away.

Fearing that Xifeng might be in trouble, the fan-wielding gang naturally followed suit.

Rushing towards the vicinity of the mansion, they found corpses scattered throughout the alley; the black iron gate was wide open, its surface riddled with bullet holes; looking beyond the courtyard wall, they heard the sounds of smashing and looting, the mansion already in complete chaos…

(End of this chapter)