Chapter 73: She's okay

After getting on the car, Xu Tingsheng briefly told Fang Yuqing and Zhong Wusheng the situation that Old Wai had spoken of. As soon as he learnt of it, Fang Yuqing immediately accelerated his car to an almost uncontrollable speed, breaking past who knew who many red lights in the process.

Xu Tingsheng called Old Wai, but there was no response no matter how many times he tried to get ahold of him.

He knew this meant that…something must really be up over there.

Xu Tingsheng called the police again. Still, when they arrived at the little suburb that Old Wai had spoken of, policemen had still yet to arrive.

"Which block?"

Zhong Wusheng empty-handed and Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing each with a baseball bat in hand, the trio stood on a piece of flat land in that suburb, staring rather blankly at the twenty odd buildings surrounding them that virtually all looked exactly the same.

This was a rather old suburb, containing twenty-five or six blocks of flats with even the highest one only merely standing eight storeys high.

The security of the suburb was terrible. Fang Yuqing had drove his car and shot straight in just now, yet the security guards had not even questioned it at all. Therefore, Xu Tingsheng could not depend on questioning the security guards for an answer.

"What do we do now?" Xu Tingsheng turned around and around, looking at one window after another yet not being able to tell anything at all.

Fang Yuqing walked over, saying, "I've just called my cousin. He's from the vice squad; he'll be arriving with help very soon."

Xu Tingsheng said, "We can't wait. I'm afraid that they might not be in time…Let's split up and knock on all the doors. We'll work our way up."

More than twenty buildings, each having eight storeys, with at least two households on each…Xu Tingsheng's suggestion was virtually like: Let's go find a needle in a haystack.

Yet, there was no way for them to just wait there. They would go crazy if they didn't try to do anything now.

"That block, seventh storey," the silent Zhong Wusheng suddenly said.

Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing looked where he was pointing. Block 11, 7th storey. It appeared pitch black, as if no one was currently at home.

"Just now, someone tried to pull apart the curtains. I saw light and two figures illuminated beneath it, but he must have quickly been pulled away. Therefore, it’s there."

Zhong Wusheng immediately sprinted towards the flat, Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing hurriedly following after him.

Now, there was already no way they could wait for the police to arrive. Perhaps they were still on their way, or perhaps they had already arrived yet were unable to contact Old Wai, currently in the midst of combing the area as they did not know where exactly the flat was located.

Being slower than Zhong Wusheng, Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing were left around a floor's distance behind him.

When they finally arrived at the stairwell of the seventh floor, Zhong Wusheng had just completed his run-up as he stomped down on the dark red wooden door of the house on the left. He did not doubt his judgement in the slightest

…

"Bang…crack!"

With Zhong Wusheng’s immense leg strength, the lock on the door was broken by him in a single stomp, the door opening inwards…But a metal chain was still attached to the door. Having just opened to the angle of 30 degrees, the door then became stuck.

Peering in through the gap that had opened in the doorframe, Xu Tingsheng saw bloodstains staining the floor within.

"Bro Zhong, hurry!"

"Damn it…"

Zhong Wusheng took a few steps back, began his run-up and stomped on the door again.

"Snap!"

The metal chain did not snap, but the mechanism at the other side of the door which held it in place snapped off. With a loud bang, the entire wooden door slammed inwards.

Xu Tingsheng saw Old Wai slumped over by the corner of the room. His clothes and face were covered in blood. The corners of his eyes, the corners of his mouth, the bridge of his nose and so forth had all been broken, unceasingly leaking blood…

His arms were spread wide as he leaned back against the two walls, low snarls continuously emitted from his throat…

Behind him, one of Li Linlin’s legs could be seen…

Other than this leg, she was completely protected behind Old Wai.

Xu Tingsheng did not know how Old Wai had found this house, but he had somehow done so. Next, he might have continuously knocked and slammed down upon the door. Then, he had been dragged into the room as well…

What had happened afterwards was evidently visible from the blood and wounds on Old Wai and the posture he was still maintaining even now.

Other than Old Wai and Li Linlin who was protected behind him, there were three other men in the room. The first, a man in his sixties, had a short stool upraised. The other two appeared to be in their thirties or forties.

"Dad, bro…three more have come. Luckily, two of them are kids…We’ve got no other way out of it now. We'll have to kill them and run," One of the men said to the other two.

These three beasts in human skin were actually father and sons.

"Damn you, this old man will kill you first!"

Fang Yuqing brandished his baseball bat, wanting to rush over. However, he was stopped by Zhong Wusheng.

"Acting bravely for a just cause-I won’t have to go to jail even if they’re crippled, right?" Zhong Wusheng asked Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing.

Fang Yuqing and Xu Tingsheng were momentarily taken aback before the former assured him, "Relax! Just the like of these beasts-I can deal with it for you even if you kill them."

"That’s good then."

And he dashed off towards those three men…

His first target was the man who had just spoken. With him coming too sudden, too fast, the man was only able to lift his arms to guard his face…But it was precisely his face that Zhong Wusheng had been aiming for. His right fist passed directly through the space between the man’s upraised arms, smashing straight into the bridge of his nose.

Blood splattered everywhere as the man collapsed.

The second man brandished his fists, punching out towards Zhong Wusheng. Just straightforwardly punching outwards, it did not seemed like he had trained before, though his speed and power were still pretty good…Zhong Wusheng didn’t block the punch, simply performing a little leap as he crouched and lowered his head to avoid that incoming fist. At the same time, he unleashed two punches, his right fist striking his opponent’s abdomen while the upper hook by his left fist culminated in a heavy uppercut right on his opponent’s jaw.

The sound of bones breaking resounded as the second man collapsed.

The third and oldest man brandished his stool, attempting to smash it down on Zhong Wusheng…Zhong Wusheng did not retreat, swiftly moving forward and completely invading his range. Whilst jamming his left elbow into the man’s armpit to prevent the downward smashing motion of his arm, he simultaneously punched out with his right fist. One punch, two punches, three punches…punches rained down unceasingly on the man’s abdomen.

The third man collapsed, vomitting blood.

In just a little over ten seconds, the baseball bat-brandishing Fang Yuqing who had come forth to help discovered that already no opponents remained before him.

"Damn you…beasts…damn you to hell…" Fang Yuqing cursed as he brandished his baseball bat, repeatedly bringing it down upon those three collapsed on the floor.

"It’s more or less there. Any more and it might be fatal," Zhong Wusheng reached out and put a hand on Fang Yuqing’s shoulder.

Panting for breath, Fang Yuqing looked back, saying as he regained his clarity of mind, "Bro Zhong, you’re too strong, too fast…I can’t vent it all with just these few blows, I’ll explode…goddamnit, they're really goddamn beasts."

Zhong Wusheng shook his head, "Actually, this really was nothing at all. Just normal people like these, just three of them… literally anyone who's seriously trained in their fists or street fighting for a period of time before would easily have been able to take them down."

"I really don’t know what they teach you in those universities of yours. Other than studying, you students don’t even have the least bit of self-defence ability at all."

Xu Tingsheng did not participate in their conversation as he went up to Old Wai, asking him softly, "Old Wai, you okay?"

Old Wai painfully nodded, wanting to cry yet forcibly resisting that urge as he replied with some difficulty, "I’m fine. Bro, is Linlin…"

"She's okay."

Looking at Li Linlin behind Old Wai, Xu Tingsheng saw that her clothes were somewhat broken and disheveled…In truth, there really was no way at all for Xu Tingsheng to determine if Li Linlin was truly ‘okay' in that sense. Actually, he didn't wish to think about it at all, nor was there a need for him to do so…

Therefore, looking at Old Wai, Xu Tingsheng repeated in an incomparably firm manner, "She’s okay."

Old Wai understood, nodding firmly at Xu Tingsheng as he grinned, "Right. It’s good that Linlin’s okay."

Then, he turned and hugged Li Linlin, saying, "Linlin, it’s good that you’re okay. Everything’s alright now; Xu Tingsheng’s here."

Xu Tingsheng’s here. These words would forever remain within the minds of Old Wai and Li Linlin.

Xu Tingsheng took off his jacket and passed it to Li Linlin before saying to her soothingly, "Fortunately, Old Wai was fierce and courageous, protecting you from harm…how’re you doing? …Wanna go over and kick them a few times to vent?"

Li Linlin looked at Xu Tingsheng, tears trickling unceasingly down her face.

She clenched her teeth and nodded, draping the jacket over herself before replying, "Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you, Brother Xu."

This girl was far tougher than most other girls were, or perhaps it should be said stubborn and unyielding. Even having just experienced such a terrifying incident, she was still able to recover and calm her mind.

Xu Tingsheng gave Li Linlin a thumbs up and smiled warmly at her.

"Bang…bang…"

The sound of banging resounded from the room closest to them. Xu Tingsheng, Fang Yuqing and Zhong Wusheng looked simultaneously in that direction. A metal chain was also attached to the door of that room.

"There’s a little kid inside. When I just arrived, there were only an old man and a little kid in the living room, so I didn’t feel wary…then, the other two men came out…and the little kid was locked inside."

Hearing Li Linlin’s words, Zhong Wusheng unshackled the metal chain. The door opened. An eleven or twelve-year-old boy raised his head and looked at them as he stood by the doorway.

The young boy was clean and dressed nearly, not appearing any abnormal at all apart from some signs of fear. It was no wonder that Li Linlin had not suspected anything earlier, just having thought the two to be an ordinary grandfather-grandson pair.

Seeing strangers, the young boy turned and ran into the room. Zhong Wusheng glanced within the room for a moment. A few seconds later, he turned and called Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing over, not saying a word.

However, Xu Tingsheng saw him unconsciously clenching his fists tightly, the tendons all bulging on the surface.

Xu Tingsheng and Fang Yuqing walked over, standing beside Zhong Wusheng as they looked into the room…