Chapter 178: Ambushed and Pursued on the Road!

Liu Zong knows Yang Shao's capabilities.

It's not that Yang Shao himself is that great; at most he's just a prodigal son.

But he can't hide the fact that his paternal uncle is a high‑ranking, powerful national‑level big shot.

Even though that big shot has never shown up in Xinghan City, nor ever helped Yang Shao and his father, just that kinship alone is enough for the two father‑and‑son to serve as a protective charm.

Otherwise, given what Liu Zong's subordinates did today, how could they have been released so quickly?

Even when Su Qiang brandished a prohibited weapon, some officials saved Yang Shao's face and suppressed it, lest the incident drag Yang Shao in.

Clack—

Yang Shao pulled out a lighter, lit a cigarette, and smoked unabashedly in Liu Zong's ward.

He exhaled a smoke ring, glanced sideways at Liu Zong's injured arm, and suddenly let out a laugh.

Liu Zong, startled by the sudden laugh, drew his neck back and said, "Yang Shao... I... I'll figure it out myself from now on, no need to trouble you."

"That won't do; your hand, it's so useless," Yang Shao sneered with a dangerous cold smile.

Liu Zong was a bit bewildered, "What do you mean?"

Yang Shao shook his head and said:

"Even in the underworld, you need a legitimate pretext. Previously I couldn't deal with Wu Sanye myself because I couldn't find a suitable excuse, so I let that fool Su Qiang go stir up trouble."

"Now it's different. My men have become crippled in Wu Sanye's shop; whatever I do to him isn't excessive. This also gives me a chance to assert authority, lest a bunch of old cronies who once followed my father still resent me. Moreover, let everyone in Xinghan City see what fate awaits those who offend me."

"My father gets more timid as he ages; otherwise, using my uncle's name, he would have dared and already seized all of Xinghan City long ago. So why is he now stuck in this limbo?"

"You didn't see earlier when I came to rescue you, the chief in the precinct bowed and nodded to me, hahahaha!"

Hearing this long‑winded speech, Liu Zong quickly flattered him.

"Still, Yang Shao has the guts! In the future, Xinghan City will surely be trampled under your feet!"

"Yang Shao is mighty! Yang Shao is domineering!"

Yang Shao knew Liu Zong was just echoing compliments, but it pleased him, so he solemnly vowed to make Wu Sanye and that woman die in a disgraceful way.

Liu Zong hurriedly said, "Yang Shao, then... considering I contributed a hand for you, could you leave that woman for me?"

"You old lecher!" Yang Shao laughed scornfully, "Fine, I'll make her half‑dead and send her to you."

"Thank you, Yang Shao, thank you!" Liu Zong was so excited it seemed his wound no longer hurt.

At that moment someone entered to report the situation to Yang Shao.

"Young master, Wu Sanye just stepped out of the precinct, and our men immediately seized him; he's now locked up somewhere."

Yang Shao nodded, "Good, let him suffer some flesh‑and‑blood pain first."

The subordinate continued reporting, saying that through traffic surveillance they located the girl surnamed Ning; she was driving toward the outskirts.

"Excellent!" Yang Shao's eyes flashed with excitement as he crushed the cigarette, "Let's go! I want to see if that girl can still fight, whether she can block my car's front!"

Liu Zong concernedly said, "Yang Shao, you must be careful. That woman is truly formidable... I suspect she knows martial arts, the kind from wuxia novels!"

Yang Shao almost laughed, "Why the hell didn't you say she has special abilities?"

"At least it's some kind of hard qigong," Liu Zong, racking his brain, urged, "Anyway she's powerful! If you go handle her yourself, I can't guarantee your safety!"

Seeing Liu Zong both worried and anxious, Yang Shao, no longer taking it lightly, thought and said, "Just in case, I'll bring my Shotgun. I don't believe that a thing that can fell a bear with one shot can't handle her."

Afterwards, Yang Shao left the hospital.

On the other side.

Wu Sanye was taken by a group of thugs into a room.

He had just finished his statement at the precinct last night when someone suddenly put a sack over his head and dragged him to a car.

So he didn't know where he was; the windows were sealed and blocked, preventing any view outside.

When the sack was ripped off, Su Qiang's smug face appeared before him.

"Why are you out here?!"

Wu Sanye was greatly startled.

He had clearly filed a report, yet Su Qiang and his crew were also taken into the precinct.

Not to mention, Su Qiang actually produced a gun!

Even if it was a homemade pistol, it was a genuine contraband!

How could they be released like that?

They even got out earlier than him; otherwise how could they have been waiting outside the precinct to ambush?

Su Qiang swung a punch at Wu Sanye's stomach, "You messed with me, that's like kicking a steel plate!"

Wu Sanye was hit in the liver, clutching his abdomen in pain, his face turning pale; he gritted his teeth, ready to fight Su Qiang.

Then four men from behind pounced, pinning him to the ground on his knees.

Su Qiang crouched, slapped Wu Sanye's face, and sneered, "I really thought I was done for this time, but I didn't expect Yang Shao to have such sky‑piercing abilities; even the precinct folks have to greet him with smiles."

"Yang Shao?" Wu Sanye snarled, "Which Yang Shao."

"You don't even know Yang Shao; seems you've been out of the underworld too long," Su Qiang grabbed Wu Sanye's hair, "Nowadays, everyone in Xinghan City's underworld knows Yang Shao, and he has backing."

"Surname Yang... has backing..." Wu Sanye's mind raced, eyes wide, "So it's him. His father is Yang Laoer, right? Yang Laoer's elder brother is a national‑level big shot, right?"

"Yo, you actually know something!"

"I used to know Yang Shao's father; we got along well, and Yang Shao has dined with me twice, Su Qiang, you give me—"

Slap!

Before he could finish, Su Qiang slapped him.

Wu Sanye's glasses were knocked off.

"Still trying to pull strings?" Su Qiang cursed, "Yang Shao's dad retired ages ago; even if they were close, that was back then! Just because Yang Shao dined with you twice doesn't make you close. Let me tell you, my superior Liu Zong is Yang Shao's right hand, but Ning Jingli turned someone into a cripple; that debt still needs to be settled with you."

Without waiting for Wu Sanye to speak further, Su Qiang grabbed a nearby wooden stick and began beating Wu Sanye savagely.

…… (just ellipsis? It's a line with "……". We need to output translation. Probably just "……" as is? The Chinese line is "……". Should translate as "……"? Usually ellipsis remains same. We'll output "【61】 ……"

Right now, Ning Jinli, following the address Lao Yang provided, was driving her car along the road heading to a villa area in the suburbs.

Lao Yang had someone check last night; his younger brother, after handing over all his business to his son years ago, had been living in a suburban villa to enjoy his retirement, rarely going out.

So we can go straight there; there's no need to worry that nobody will be home.

As the distance to the destination grew shorter, Lao Yang became increasingly nervous, his rough hands constantly rubbing the gift box.

"Miss Ning," Lao Yang said, gazing at the scenery constantly receding outside the front window, his voice uneasy, "you said... I didn't contact him in advance; if I just show up before him later, will he chase me away?"

Ning Jinli also didn't know what the situation would be like, so she could only comfort him with one sentence: "It won't happen; no matter what, you two are still blood brothers."

"Sigh..." Lao Yang sighed, "I only hope that after all these years he can understand my difficulties."

Lao Yang appeared to be a fifty-something man whose heart was filled with guilt toward his relatives.

A tense, helpless, and forlorn expression intertwined on his face.

"Right turn ahead, please slow down," the navigation voice reminded.

At that moment there were no other vehicles on the road; it was quite quiet, but Ning Jinli still reduced her speed, after all, dense and tall greenery lined both sides of the road, and without being able to see the road segment on the navigation map, one wouldn't even notice the upcoming intersection.

However, just as Ning Jinli was driving through the intersection.

A modified Hummer off-road vehicle burst out like a beast!

With a bang, it slammed hard into the right side of Ning Jinli's car!

Fortunately she was also driving an off-road vehicle; otherwise, at the moment of impact, the right side of the body would have been crushed and deformed, killing Lao Yang on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, Ning Jinli quickly adjusted the accelerator and steering wheel, doing her utmost to stabilize the car.

However, the other vehicle came at a ferocious speed too fast.

Ning Jinli's Mercedes G-Class was eventually pushed off the road; after breaking through the guardrail, the front end became wedged between two large trees.

"Lao Yang! How are you?!" Ning Jinli shouted.

The front and right-side window glass had completely shattered, and Lao Yang's face was bruised.

Fortunately both were wearing seat belts; otherwise they would have been thrown from the car just now.

Lao Yang clung tightly to the gift he had brought for his brother, gritting his teeth and saying, "My right leg... seems to be stuck..."

Ning Jinli hastily unbuckled her seat belt and leaned over to check.

It turned out that the right door and front end had suffered some deformation and twisting; Lao Yang tried to exert force, but he couldn't pull his right leg free.

"Let me do it!"

Ning Jinli circulated her Internal Strength, pressing her palm against the deformed door.

Suddenly, the engine roared.

That black Hummer vehicle came crashing again!

Boom!

This time, the Hummer's modified heavy bumper directly dented the entire right side of Ning Jinli's car inward.

Shortly after, two other model off-road vehicles arrived at the sides of the off-road vehicle.

Several strong-built bodyguards got out of the vehicles.

Yang Shao also stepped out of the Hummer, lit a cigarette, and waved his hand, signaling the bodyguards to go check.

"Young Master! There's no one in the car!" a bodyguard shouted.

"No one?!" Yang Shao's face filled with surprise; he hurried over, gripping the right side of the Mercedes G-Class with both hands to take a look.

Only then did he notice that the left-side driver's door was open.

"Over there!" a bodyguard pointed forward.

Yang Shao lifted his head, narrowed his eyes, and spotted two figures running toward the woods on the left side of the road.

"You really have some skill," Yang Shao remarked, "to actually get out of the car in time when I hit it the second time—interesting."

"You few, flank from both sides; I'm going to start the hunt."

At his command, several bodyguards also rushed toward the woods.

He unhurriedly returned to the Hummer, took out a shotgun, and skillfully loaded it with bullets.

Ning Jinli narrowly escaped with Lao Yang, avoiding the recent deadly blow, but Lao Yang's right leg was injured, and being elderly, he could run only slightly faster than walking.

Both realized that someone wanted them dead.

But there was no time now to analyze who the enemy was.

Ning Jinli circulated her Internal Strength, hoisted Lao Yang onto her back, and out of the corner of her eye saw the figures approaching from both sides to flank them.

She had originally intended to open a Time-Space Gate to take Lao Yang and leave directly.

But opening a new Time-Space Gate and establishing a passage with other Time-Space Gates requires some time.

Right now, there's clearly no time for that.

At the very least, we need to evade their pursuit and find a place where we can hide temporarily.

Ning Jinli was completely unfamiliar with this area; once inside the woods she was like a headless fly, able only to quicken her steps and keep running forward.

With the support of powerful Internal Strength, shaking off those flanking figures was not difficult.

Soon, she could no longer see those people.

"Sorry, Miss Ning," Lao Yang said guiltily, "I've dragged you into this."

Ning Jinli replied, "How could it be you dragging me in?"

Lao Yang's expression grew grave: "The other side is out for our lives, striking so ruthlessly—it's unlikely aimed at just a little girl like you; it must be aimed at me. It seems my whereabouts have been leaked."

Ning Jinli knew that someone of his stature, a high-ranking national figure, would indeed have many hostile elements wishing him harm.

But the other side wouldn't be so blatant, would they?

In broad daylight, driving a modified vehicle and just ramming?

"Yang Shao, the exact situation is still uncertain," Ning Jinli set him down, lowly saying, "Wait a few minutes, I'll transfer you first, then I'll capture them and interrogate them thoroughly."

Yang Shao nodded, "Thanks for your trouble."

Ning Jinli focused her attention and began to activate the Tian Xuan Heart Method.

Bang!

Suddenly, deafening gunfire erupted.

A spray of weeds and soil burst around Ning Jinli's feet, and the air filled with a thick smell of gunpowder.

She could only abort opening the Time‑Space Gate and hurriedly shield Yang Shao.

Whoosh—

A flock of birds was startled into flight by the gunfire.

Yang Shao, gripping a Shotgun, also appeared in Ning Jinli's view at that moment.

"Who are you?"

Ning Jinli stared at the opponent warily.

Yang Shao wore a cold smile, with a click loaded a Bullet, "I'm here to take your life. Didn't expect that after a car crash you didn't even get a superficial wound; your life is pretty tough, but unfortunately I'm too familiar with this terrain; I could chase you even with my eyes closed."

Ning Jinli and Yang Shao both showed surprised expressions.

So it wasn't aimed at Yang Shao after all?

"Did I offend you?" Ning Jinli frowned, "Is it necessary to mount such a big show to kill me? Even using a Shotgun."

The two were only a few meters apart.

The opponent held a latest foreign model Shotgun, with great killing power and a wide coverage area.

Within this range, no careful aiming was needed; it could easily turn Ning Jinli into a sieve.

Even Yang Shao behind her could not escape.