Chapter 14: Twelve Breaths, Eight Men Down
Lin Fan, under the cover of moonlight, stepped on blue bricks that gradually changed from solid to soft, realizing he had arrived at his living area in the shantytown.
The prosperous center is a place everyone yearns for.
But in reality, very few people can live there.
His living area is the region where the common people at the bottom live. Here, there are no activities to cultivate one’s mind and character; instead, one opens their eyes and immediately thinks of ways to fill their stomach.
Just as he was about to reach home, he happened to encounter two familiar backs.
“Song Ban Tou.” Lin Fan spoke up.
The two with sabers, seemingly on a case, stopped their steps and turned back in confusion. Borrowing the moonlight, they clearly saw that face. Surprise appeared on Song Qing’s serious face, and he then smiled:
“Brother Lin, why are you here?”
Lin Fan walked up to them and pointed next door. “Home is right here. Where are you headed?”
Song Qing said: “We received news that the suspect in the recent string of thefts is around here. We’re preparing to capture him and take him back.”
Hearing this.
Lin Fan looked at the sky, then at Song Ban Tou, who still only had two people.
No.
The Public Security Bureau really has no one left.
Why is it always just the two of them acting?
“Song Ban Tou, I’m quite familiar with the environment here. How about I go with you? You know my skills; if any problems arise, I can still help out.” Lin Fan volunteered actively.
He recalled what his sister said: Song Ban Tou was ostracized at the Public Security Bureau.
“Alright, then we’ll trouble you.” Song Ban Tou clasped his fists.
“Song Ban Tou is too polite.”
Lin Fan wanted to join the Public Security Bureau and make contact with people inside; there was no harm, only benefits.
Song Ban Tou and Yang Ming knew about the Cui Jing Tower incident. They hadn’t expected that what they thought was already overestimating Lin Fan was still underestimating him. Although they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they could still imagine how dangerous the situation was at the time.
One person beating up eighteen gold medal thugs of the Fierce Tiger Gang?
Utterly explosive.
They knew the prowess of gold medal thugs; those were the best fighters, and a regular gold medal thug could handle three or four people without issue.
Soon, Lin Fan arrived with them at the suspect’s location.
Yang Ming appeared much more relaxed, probably because Lin Fan was accompanying them.
Song Ban Tou noticed this change. When his disciple came with him, although it seemed normal, he knew his disciple was very nervous and kept asking him: Master, should we call more people?
Clearly, the murderer from the recent days had left some psychological trauma on him.
He sighed lightly.
Still need to train.
At this moment, their location was very remote, and the suspect was holed up in a ruined temple. There was a bright fire inside, illuminating the ruined temple brightly, indicating someone was there.
“Brother Lin, you wait outside for us. I’ll go in with him. If the suspect runs, I hope Brother Lin can block him.” Song Qing was very confident about this operation.
He felt there wouldn’t be any major issues.
They were capturing not some heinous criminal, just a thief.
“Okay.”
Lin Fan nodded.
Song Qing nodded to his disciple, then headed toward the ruined temple.
Lin Fan, waiting outside, looked around. Yong’an City’s public security wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. For the common people, this environment allowed them to live, but only barely live.
The ground had a club specially used by beggars to fend off dogs.
He picked it up, held it in his hand, and swung it randomly around. When idle, people do this—either picking at the wall or casually grabbing something nearby to fiddle with.
Of course, plenty of people were picking their nose too.
Suddenly.
Bang!
The door of the ruined temple was pushed open.
Two disheveled figures crawled and rolled out from inside.
“Brother Lin, run, run fast.” Song Qing shouted loudly.
Lin Fan looked up and saw Song Qing and Yang Ming with faces full of fear. Right behind them, several figures wielding blades chased out, each looking ferocious and murderous, clearly intent on leaving Song Qing and Yang Ming here.
Are thieves this fierce?
And at that moment, footsteps came from the shady area around them.
No escape.
Several more villains holding blades emerged from the darkness, blocking their retreat.
Song Qing held his saber across his chest, retreating to Lin Fan’s side, warning: “Public Security Bureau on duty. You dare to be so bold, even daring to kill Public Security Bureau people?”
Yang Ming swallowed hard, his hand holding the saber trembling. He had never experienced such a situation before. In the past, following his master on cases, he had never encountered anything like this.
“Hahaha, Public Security Bureau? We’re killing you.” The leading villain looked at Song Qing greedily, his eyes conveying as if he wasn’t looking at a person, but at walking silver.
“Song Ban Tou, these people came prepared; they’ve been waiting for you.” Lin Fan said.
Thieves?
Which thief is this fierce?
This was using the capture of a thief to lower Song Qing’s guard, luring him over.
Song Qing certainly understood by now that the other side had deliberately baited him. He said softly: “Brother Lin, in a bit, you take my disciple and go. I’ll hold them off for you.”
Lin Fan lightly patted Song Qing’s shoulder. “Song Ban Tou, I’m very good at fighting.”
“I know you’re good at fighting, but they have blades.”
“Being good at fighting and them having blades aren’t the same thing.”
For Lin Fan, bare-handed fighting or fighting armed villains was all the same.
Lin Fan looked at this group of villains and counted: a total of eight, all menacing. Clearly not simple villains; they were likely all veterans who had committed killings.
He stepped forward and said: “You know we’re from the Public Security Bureau, yet you still dare to wield blades. Tell me, who sent you?”
“We take people’s money to eliminate disasters for them. Go ask downstairs yourself.”
“Brothers, hack them to death.”
The night was dim, the ruined temple cold. Eight men charged viciously with blades, the blades reflecting the waning moon in fragmented cold light. Their steps were chaotic, swinging their blades wildly, cursing profanities to boost their momentum.
None of them thought killing the three in front would be difficult.
They had a full eight people, after all.
Even random hacking could turn them into meat paste.
The first villain to rush up raised his blade ferociously to chop down.
“Die for me!”
Smack!
Before the blade could fall, a club shadow flashed like lightning. Lin Fan struck the opponent’s wrist bone with one club blow; the wrist bone shattered instantly, the blade flew out spinning and embedded into the mud nearby.
The villain hadn’t even had time to scream.
Lin Fan’s eyes sharp, he twisted his wrist, the club tip striking the opponent’s throat with a crisp crack. The Adam’s apple caved in and shattered; after a few “ugh ugh” sounds, he collapsed to the ground.
Two villains swung blades from left and right simultaneously.
Lin Fan crouched low, swung the club horizontally; the club force was astonishing, smashing into the opponent’s ankle with a crack and snap. The opponent flipped in mid-air and crashed to the ground.
A blade wind approached from behind. Lin Fan didn’t even look, thrusting the club back into the opponent’s abdomen. As the opponent bent over vomiting, Lin Fan grabbed his collar and shoved him forward, blocking an oncoming chop perfectly.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
“Ah, it’s me, it’s me! Who are you chopping?”
Lin Fan kicked the shielding villain right into their midst, startling them into chaos. As the villains steadied themselves, a whistling club wind reached their ears.
They looked up, pupils contracting, mouths agape.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
One club, four heads, every strike hitting true.
Crack!
It wasn’t their heads shattering; it was the club in his hand, pushed to its limit under this high intensity, finally snapping.
One left.
Lin Fan turned to the only remaining villain, frozen in place.
Clang!
The opponent’s mouth hung open, his blade dropping to the ground; the man was dumbfounded.
“Ah… save me!”
The villain snapped back and turned to run.
Monster, monster.
Lin Fan smiled, arm powering forward, hurling the broken club. It tore through the air with a bang, striking the opponent’s back of the head squarely; he collapsed motionless.
Twelve breaths, eight men down.
Life or death uncertain.
Lin Fan clapped his hands, as if he had done something utterly ordinary.
“Don’t be nervous, it’s fine now.”
Song Qing: …
Yang Ming: …
They stared in shock at the scene before them, minds in chaotic turmoil from the impact. If not for seeing it with their own eyes, they would never have imagined someone could be this formidable.
Eight people.
All armed villains.
And just like that, gone?
Godfathers, drop some votes.
