Chapter 157: Protecting the Dao

The Yu Estate.

"Boss, the City Guard has mobilized. Wei Ge is leading the team personally and is currently exchanging fire with our people in the Wuguang District!"

A subordinate said to Yu Hu.

A flash of killing intent crossed Yu Hu's eyes.

He did not fear the City Guard, nor was he worried about being labeled a rebel by Gu Zhenhui.

If one had no connections in the official government, even walking down the street carrying a lantern could be called rebellion.

Conversely, even if the Tiger Blade Gang were to openly exchange fire with the City Guard today and set the entire North City Main Street ablaze, there would still be a way to spin the narrative afterward.

If Gu Zhenhui were to suddenly mobilize the City Guard, he would immediately be questioned by a Deputy Chief and several Department Heads; in this Xingcheng, he was not the only one who had the final say!

If the City Guard could simply wipe out the Tiger Blade Gang whenever they took action, the Tiger Blade Gang would have been destroyed long ago.

Just as Yu Hu had once said, the Tiger Blade Gang was not a criminal syndicate; they represented Xingcheng itself!

Today's battle was not a fight between officials and bandits, but a fight between officials and officials!

"Have everyone remaining in the gang rush to the Wuguang District, and call over everyone in the Martial Arts Hall as well!"

Yu Hu ordered.

The experts of the Tiger Blade Gang in Xingcheng, besides those within the gang, also included those in the Stop-Weapon Institute and the Martial Arts Hall.

More than half of the senior instructors at the Martial Arts Hall were members of the Tiger Blade Gang, and two of the special-grade instructors were as well.

Senior instructors were Body-Breaking Realm martial artists, while special-grade instructors were Qi-Transformation Realm martial masters; for Yu Hu to mobilize even the people from the Martial Arts Hall meant he no longer intended to hold back!

Zhang Mingze had been publicly killed today; if the Tiger Blade Gang were to show even the slightest bit of concession, the outside world would truly believe they had lost their momentum, and they would only be pushed back step by step in the future, with no room to breathe.

Therefore, Yu Hu intended to be tough to the end, not retreating even half a step!

He turned and walked back into the room, picked up the receiver of the rotary phone, and dialed a number.

Soon, the call connected:

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Yu Hu."

"... o it is Gang Leader Yu."

"Bring your men to the Wuguang District immediately and intercept the City Guard for me!"

"... nderstood."

The Inspectorate.

In the Inspector General's office, Wu Yihua hung up the phone with a complex expression.

In the past, when Yu Hu called him, his tone was always very polite, addressing him as Lord Wu.

But today, Yu Hu's attitude was extremely tough, directly ordering him to do things!

Although Wu Yihua was annoyed, he ultimately agreed to Yu Hu's request.

He knew very well that with Zhang Mingze dead and the City Guard mobilized, that tiger had completely unleashed its killing intent.

If Wu Yihua dared to be even slightly ambiguous at such a critical moment, Yu Hu would truly turn against him!

Having climbed from an ordinary clerk to where he was today, Wu Yihua was already too deeply tied to the Tiger Blade Gang; he couldn't even be sure which of his trusted aides and personal bodyguards were people arranged by the Tiger Blade Gang.

Whether Yu Hu wanted him dead or wanted to ruin his reputation, it would be an easy task.

Therefore, he dared not turn against Yu Hu, nor did he dare to refuse the other party's request.

"Someone come in!"

Wu Yihua shouted.

Someone immediately entered from outside: "My lord?"

"Pass on my order: within five minutes, everyone is to be fully equipped and assembled!"

Wu Yihua commanded.

Soon, van after van drove out of the Inspectorate, heading toward the Wuguang District.

The Inspectorate had joined the battle!

Wuguang District.

After Li Fei finished his call with Shangguan Xiao, he intended to return to the Martial Arts Hall to find Hao Yi, but before he could even walk out of the Wuguang District, he saw vans from the Inspectorate driving over.

He stood still, a look of worry appearing on his face:

"Even the Inspectorate has come? Is the Tiger Blade Gang planning a full-scale war against the Chief's faction?"

If that were the case, Li Lei's First Battalion would definitely have to join the fight, which made Li Fei worry about the other man's safety.

Just then, a van suddenly drove toward Li Fei, who was standing on the side of the road, and stopped in front of him.

The passenger-side window rolled down, and the person sitting inside was none other than the Li Lei whom Li Fei was worried about.

"Xiao Fei, why are you here? Didn't you go to the Martial Arts Hall today?"

Li Lei frowned as he looked at Li Fei.

"Master asked me to come here to buy some medicinal herbs that aren't available at the Martial Arts Hall."

Li Fei said without hesitation.

"There is large-scale fighting here today! Leave immediately!"

Li Lei said.

"Uncle Li, I..."

Li Fei was just about to say something when Li Lei suddenly changed his tone:

"Forget it, don't run around. Get in my car."

At this time, the entire Wuguang District was not safe; one could encounter the warring parties at any moment. Li Lei was worried that Li Fei would encounter danger if he went back alone, so he simply had the other man follow him.

Having the First Battalion's men protecting him was safer than Li Fei being alone.

"Okay!"

Li Fei was overjoyed to hear this and quickly ran to the back door of the van, getting in shortly after.

His thoughts were similar to the other man's: with his own personal protection, Li Lei would be much safer.

The convoy drove toward the area where the fighting was most intense. Along the way, they could see many corpses—some from the Tiger Blade Gang, some from the City Guard, and many ordinary citizens of the Wuguang District.

The Wuguang District was a bustling commercial area with high foot traffic. With the Tiger Blade Gang and the City Guard exchanging fire on a large scale, involving hundreds of guns between the two sides, there were naturally many civilians hit by stray bullets.

Neither side cared about this, and they did not specifically avoid civilians during the fighting.

Soon, the convoy arrived at the scene of the fighting, and the men from the Inspectorate disembarked one after another.

"Intercept all the City Guard members and stop both sides from fighting!"

Wu Yihua ordered.

Of course, he couldn't openly help the Tiger Blade Gang fight the City Guard; he could only stop the fighting in the name of maintaining city safety.

At this moment, the Tiger Blade Gang was already at a disadvantage; the Inspectorate calling for a ceasefire was, in fact, a disguised form of help for the Tiger Blade Gang.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The inspectors, armed with Tiger-style rifles, rushed out and fired into the air.

"Cease fire! Everyone cease fire!"

"The Inspectorate is on duty! Everyone cease fire immediately!"

"Fuck your mother, I'm with the City Guard! Try firing that gun and see what happens?!"

"I said, cease fire immediately!"

"Cease your mother! I only listen to the orders of the Garrison Commander and the Chief!"

"If you take another step forward, we will open fire!"

"You dare?!"

"..."

In the area where North City Main Street was located, the men from the Inspectorate soon clashed with the City Guard.

The City Guard was independent of the Six Bureaus system and had always been accustomed to being overbearing; they did not give the Inspectorate any face.

However, the City Guard did not dare to actually engage in a fight with the men from the Inspectorate.

Although the orders from above were to kill anyone who dared to resist, the men from the Inspectorate were, after all, part of the official government; without explicit authorization, the City Guard did not dare to act recklessly.

Thus, the two sides stood in a standoff, shouting at each other, and the City Guard's offensive was forced back.

Soon, Wu Yihua brought his men to find Wei Ge, who was already covered in blood.

"Garrison Commander Wei, stop!"

Wu Yihua shouted loudly.

Because the Third Battalion was rushing over from the Qingyuan Fist Stronghold, Wu Yihua currently had only his dozen trusted aides responsible for his safety, along with Li Lei's First Battalion.

Although he did not trust Li Lei, he knew Li Lei was not the type to stab someone in the back, and since he had gradually sidelined Li Lei, he wasn't worried about him playing any tricks.

Li Fei was mixed in with the crowd of the First Battalion, watching quietly from the back.

Wei Ge, whose black armor was now stained with blood, turned his head to look over. His gaze was like a physical force, as if two blades were slashing through the air toward Wu Yihua. The intense killing intent made Wu Yihua subconsciously take a step back.

"Stop?"

Wei Ge flicked the giant blade in his hand and stuck it vertically into the ground beside his feet:

"Since when do you have the qualifications to issue orders to me?"

Wu Yihua said sternly:

"Opening fire in the street and killing people at will—is your City Guard planning to rebel?!"

Wei Ge sneered: "Are you blind? Can't you see that everyone I killed is a rebel? Illegally possessing firearms and daring to openly attack the City Guard—who is the one rebelling?"

Wu Yihua felt very angry at Wei Ge's rudeness, and flames of fury ignited in his eyes:

"Wei Ge! The security within this city is the responsibility of my Inspectorate. Even if there is a shooting incident, it should be my Inspectorate that makes the arrests. What right does your City Guard have to overstep your authority and handle this?!"

"These people have already seriously threatened the safety of Xingcheng. My City Guard's duty is to protect the city's safety, so naturally, we have the right to act. Furthermore, this is an order issued personally by the Chief. As the Inspector General of Xingcheng, do you dare to disobey the order of the Xingcheng Chief?"

Wei Ge questioned loudly.

"When those above issue chaotic orders, those below can offer clear remonstrance—this was said by the Grand Secretary of our Great Lan Dynasty himself! This Xingcheng is not decided by any one person. The Chief has an order? Has it passed the review of the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Does it have the official seal of the six ministries of the Administration Hall? Even if Chief Gu were here in person today, I would still say his order is unreasonable and illegal!"

Wu Yihua spoke with resonant force, pointing out the Chief's wrongdoing with righteous indignation; he appeared awe-inspiring and commanded respect.

If Wei Ge were on the battlefield, he would definitely be a fierce general who could charge enemy lines alone, but when it came to sharp words and the skill of verbal sparring, he was far inferior to Wu Yihua, an Inspector General who had started as a civil servant.

Seeing that he could not out-argue Wu Yihua and not knowing how to retort, he let a fierce glint appear in his eyes. He picked up the giant blade stuck by his feet and walked toward Wu Yihua, a powerful killing intent rushing toward him!

Wu Yihua panicked instantly. He had not expected Wei Ge to dare to take action directly, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated.

As he retreated, the dozen or so confidants beside him also retreated one after another.

"Block him for me!"

Wu Yihua turned his head and ordered Li Lei.

Li Lei gritted his teeth upon hearing this.

He could not openly defy the order, otherwise, his career as a Captain would be over.

But ordering the brothers below to block Wei Ge made him worry that Wei Ge would truly go on a killing spree!

So, he stepped out from the crowd and blocked the way himself.

At the very least, Wei Ge would definitely not dare to kill him, a Captain!

Wei Ge walked to within five meters of Li Lei, holding his blade, and said sternly:

"Move aside!"

A powerful aura and killing intent erupted from his body, causing all the ordinary people present without implants to instinctively feel fear.

But Li Lei was, after all, a veteran who had been on the battlefield, so he did not flinch; instead, he raised the revolver in his hand and pointed it at Wei Ge:

"If you take one more step forward, it will be viewed as threatening the life and safety of law enforcement personnel, and the Inspectorate will retaliate!"

"Oh?"

Wei Ge looked at Li Lei with disdain. "Nowadays, any kind of trash dares to threaten me. Do you believe that at this distance, my blade is faster than your bullet?"

Li Lei remained expressionless and did not respond, only staring fixedly at Wei Ge, prepared to pull the trigger at any moment.

The killing intent in Wei Ge's eyes grew stronger, and he swung the giant blade in his hand violently toward Li Lei.

He decided to sever one of the opponent's arms!

Today, Gu Zhenhui was being so forceful in having the City Guard move against the Tiger Blade Gang; it might not necessarily be to crush the Tiger Blade Gang in one go, but the attitude of suppressing the Tiger Blade Gang's arrogance was very clear.

If Wei Ge were stopped by the Inspectorate's people at this moment, how could he fulfill Gu Zhenhui's wishes?

Therefore, he acted decisively against Li Lei.

He appeared arrogant and bloodthirsty, but in reality, he was meticulous and knew exactly where the bottom line was.

The epaulets on Li Lei's shoulders showed he was a Captain, so he would not kill Li Lei, only wound him; afterward, it would be nothing more than a demotion and a fine. With Gu Zhenhui there, it wouldn't be long before he could atone for his crimes and be restored to his original position.

And as long as he wounded Li Lei and intimidated the people of the Inspectorate, the subsequent matters would be easy to handle.

This strike was extremely sudden. Li Lei only felt a blur before his eyes; the distance of over five meters seemed not to exist, and the blade light was about to touch his arm.

Clang—

Bang!

"Watch out—"

In the blink of an eye, the crowd was in an uproar.

Li Lei pulled the trigger subconsciously, then was pulled backward by a great force.

Before he could react to what had just happened, he saw a familiar figure standing in front of him.

In the past dozen years, he had countless times shielded this figure from the wind and rain.

Now, it was this figure's turn to shield him from the wind and rain.

Li Fei stood in front of Li Lei, holding a blade!

In that instant just now, among everyone present, he was the only one who could react in time. He had drawn the sidearm blade from an inspector's waist and stepped forward, using the Rolling Thunder Style to deflect the giant blade Wei Ge had swung.

Although the opponent's strength was high, the strike against Li Lei was just a casual one, so even without using 'Blood Rage', Li Fei could block it with his already proficient blade technique.

Once, this figure had shielded Li Fei from the wind and rain; now, it was Li Fei's turn to stand before Li Lei.

Today, it was his turn to protect Li Lei for a stretch of the journey!

Seeking monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)