In front of the large iron gate of the Hongxing Machinery Factory, the spring rain was torn to shreds by the blinding headlights of cars.

Four rain-soaked jeeps were lined up in a fan shape, their pale beams of light crisscrossing and shining on the rusty iron gate.

The surrounding area was filled with workers who had just finished their night shift and were getting ready for their morning shift.

The early spring night rain was damp and cold, and everyone was shivering from the drenching, but they didn't even dare to breathe. The rising water vapor formed a cloud above the crowd.

Right in the center of the creaking iron gate, Da Niu and Er Ga Zi were like two iron towers, firmly nailed to the mud and water.

Erga Zi was holding a five-shot machine gun, Da Niu was carrying a heavy steel pipe, and a dozen men with bloodshot eyes and iron rods were following behind them.

Across from him, Xu Xiangdong, wearing a crisp woolen overcoat, splashed mud as his leather shoes stepped into the puddle.

He stopped less than five steps from the muzzle of the gun, his hands casually in his pockets, his chin held high, and the cold, cunning look in his eyes behind his glasses.

"What? You've gone berserk, wanting to fight the City Police Department again?"

Xu Xiangdong sneered, his voice carrying far in the rainy night, deliberately letting all the surrounding workers hear: "Last night we forced Liu San'er to jump off a building and die, and this morning we stabbed Sun Changgui to death in the old alley."

"Kill to silence witnesses and destroy the evidence."

"It's been so many years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and you bunch of peasants in the security department of the Red Star Factory still think it's the old society? You've even done gangster-like things like smashing, looting, burning, murdering, and robbing. Are you planning to become a criminal gang and rule the mountains in this area?"

The big ox clenched its teeth so hard they clicked, and its broad chest heaved violently.

He ripped open the collar of his tattered cotton-padded coat, took a heavy step forward with the steel pipe in his hand, and uttered a harsh sentence.

"Stop fucking labeling me!"

"Liu San'er's death yesterday was indeed related to me, and I'll admit it no matter where this goes!"

"But Sun Changgui's matter has absolutely nothing to do with us! We were just about to take some men out to look for him!"

"Looking for him?"

Xu Xiangdong seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He suddenly took a step forward, his voice turning sharp: "The person is lying in the ditch in the old alley, blood soaking the mud! You say you're going to find someone, but I think you're going to destroy the evidence and clean up the crime!"

His gaze swept menacingly across the crowd, but he didn't see the tall figure that sent chills down his spine. His confidence instantly swelled, and a mocking sneer curled at the corner of his mouth.

"By the way, where is your master?"

"With such a serious murder case, where is Zhao Shanhe? Could he have fled?"

Upon hearing this, Erga took a big step forward, holding his five-shot rifle, and pointed the muzzle directly at Xu Xiangdong's nose.

"Stop spouting nonsense!"

The veins on Erga's neck bulged as he roared, "Brother Shanhe left Hongxing Factory half a month ago to take care of business elsewhere! He knows nothing about what happened at the factory, so what does it have to do with Brother Shanhe!"

"They ran away two weeks ago?"

Xu Xiangdong's eyes darted around, and instead of backing down, he seemed to have seized some huge weakness, his smugness growing even stronger.

"Looks like we need to hurry up and close this case."

Xu Xiangdong brushed the water droplets off his coat, his tone laced with malice: "He made an excuse to slip away half a month ago, which means Zhao Shanhe started planning this murder-to-cover scheme half a month ago! That little bastard is cunning enough; he even prepared his escape route in advance!"

He pointed at Ergaizi and shouted sternly, "But it doesn't matter! You can run away, but you can't hide! After we arrest all of you peasants today, we'll handcuff that Dazhuang guy too! Once we're in the interrogation room, we'll pry your mouths open, and you'll naturally know which rat hole Zhao Shanhe escaped into!"

Erga's eyes turned completely red.

He held a five-round burst rifle, its muzzle pointed firmly at Xu Xiangdong, and suddenly spat a mouthful of bloody saliva into the muddy water.

"Xu Xiangdong".

"You brought so many people today, and you're going to such lengths to frame Brother Shanhe and us brothers, isn't it all because of what happened at the hospital last time?"

As soon as those words were spoken, the factory gate fell silent for a moment.

Xu Xiangdong's cold smile visibly froze.

Ergai stared at him, his voice growing hoarse yet increasingly fierce.

"You were terrified, like a frightened dog."

Erga's voice wasn't loud, but it pierced through the rain like a knife, reaching the ears of every worker around him clearly.

"You suddenly knelt on the ground, crying and kowtowing, wetting your pants with yellow urine, begging Brother Shanhe to spare your dog's life."

Xu Xiangdong's eye twitched violently, his gloomy face instantly turning deathly pale. He instinctively reached for the holster at his waist: "Shut the hell up!"

"I'm going to say it anyway!"

Erga Zi suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs and slammed his five-shot rifle forward, forcing the police officers behind Xu Xiangdong to retreat.

"Oh, and those two lackeys of yours, Ma Kui and Liu Haibo!"

Ergazi glanced disdainfully at the jeeps behind Xu Xiangdong, then continued to expose him in his hoarse voice.

"The moment Brother Dazhuang raised his gun, your two subordinates were so scared they didn't dare utter a sound. They kowtowed repeatedly on the ground, scrambling and crawling under the table!"

Erga spat heavily into the puddle and pointed at Xu Xiangdong's nose, making a sarcastic remark.

"Why didn't those two good-for-nothings come with you today?"

"Were you so scared at the hospital last time that you still wet your pants and are hiding under the covers, too afraid to go out?"

Ergazi stared intently into Xu Xiangdong's eyes, his gaze filled with madness.

"What's wrong?"

"You've forgotten the pain of your past wounds and are now trying to cause trouble for Brother Shanhe again?"

Erga Zi gritted his teeth and smashed them into Xu Xiangdong's face, each word dripping with pain.

"Let me tell you, Xu Xiangdong, no matter how many men you bring, if you dare to lay a finger on us today, I'll smash your head into a pulp!"

Dead silence.

The entire entrance to the Red Star Factory was shrouded in a suffocating silence.

The eyes of hundreds of workers were all fixed on Xu Xiangdong's twitching face.

An extreme sense of humiliation exploded in Xu Xiangdong's mind like gunpowder.

A humiliating disgrace.

"You're asking for it!"

Xu Xiangdong was completely broken down.

His face instantly contorted into a terrifying purplish-black, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. He abruptly drew his sidearm, pointed the muzzle at Erga's head, and roared hysterically.

"Publicly insulting and slandering leading cadres!"

"Armed threat! Armed resistance! Take him down!"

"Shoot anyone who resists! Open fire!"

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