Hong Kong variety show: From being bitten by a cockroach to becoming a legend

Chapter 54: The Big Circle Gang

Wu Jiandong didn't even look up, his voice low: "Ding Xiaoxie has investigated. Song Zhaowen is a Red Pole (a high-ranking official) in Tsz Wan Shan. He hasn't been officially appointed for long and has opened a beef ball factory in Tin Shui Wai. He probably only has a dozen or so capable fighters under him; the rest are just workers."

"Just a gangster, how much can he amount to?" Chen Wu interrupted in a deep, gruff voice, his tone full of disdain. "When we were in Team X, what tough nut didn't we crack? When the time comes, Ah Peng and I will charge in from the front, Dong Ge and Ah Hui will block the back, set the warehouse on fire, and chop down anyone we see. It'll be quick and easy, half an hour will be enough."

"Brother Ju is right." A Peng licked his lips, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. "Five hundred thousand! After we pull off this job, we can go back and build a house and get married."

Wu Jiandong stopped cleaning his gun and looked up at his three companions: "Don't underestimate them. Ding Xiaoxie is willing to pay 500,000 and even provide us with weapons, which means this Song Zhaowen is not someone to be trifled with. Besides, this isn't the mainland; it's Hong Kong, a place we don't know well. Let's finish this quickly, take the money, and leave immediately, without causing any further trouble."

He paused, then added, "The operation plan will involve Ding Xiaoxie cooperating with a local guy called Dongguanzai. We just need to go in, set fires, and kill people; they'll handle the perimeter and the escape route. Remember, once inside, focus solely on your targets, don't get bogged down, and be quick."

"Understood, Brother Dong," the three replied in low voices.

Chen Wuju picked up a machete, waved it in the candlelight, and grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "I heard there are quite a few female workers in that beef ball factory? Hehe, Brother Dong, when the time comes..."

"Shut up." Wu Jiandong's eyes flashed sharply. "We're here to do business, not to pick up women. Finish up and leave immediately. Don't fucking cause me any trouble. This isn't Foshan; if something happens, no one's going to bail us out."

Chen Wuju was reprimanded and reluctantly put down his knife. He didn't say anything more, but a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.

Just then, a very faint "click" sound came from outside, like a dry branch being broken.

The sound was very soft, but in the quiet night, especially for someone like Wu Jiandong who was rigorously trained and highly vigilant, it was like a thunderclap.

"Something's wrong," Wu Jiandong jumped up, instantly blowing out the candle, plunging the room into darkness. He swiftly grabbed a black star-shaped lamp from the table, lowering his voice, "Grab the weapon, Ah Hui, go check the window."

Ahui immediately reached for the sealed window, peered cautiously through the cracks in the wooden planks. The moonlight outside was dim, with only a few scattered lights in the distance. The village was quiet, seemingly without any unusual activity.

"Brother Dong, we didn't see anyone, it might be a stray cat..." Ahui reported as he turned around.

"Whoosh~"

A very faint whooshing sound suddenly rang out.

Then came a muffled "plop," and Ahui's body stiffened abruptly. A "hoarse" sound came from his throat as he clutched his neck with both hands, warm liquid gushing out between his fingers. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at his companion in the darkness, then he slumped to the ground.

"Ah Hui," Chen Wuju roared, grabbing his machete and rushing toward the window.

"Don't move!" Wu Jiandong shouted sharply, his heart pounding. It was a crossbow, and a silenced one at that. The other side was prepared, and definitely not an ordinary person.

He instantly realized that their whereabouts had been exposed.

"Grab your weapons, stand back to back, find cover." Wu Jiandong quickly gave the order, then rolled behind a dilapidated wooden table, pointing his gun at the door and window.

Chen Wuju and A Peng also realized what was happening. They leaned against the wall, holding a knife and a hunting rifle respectively, and nervously stared at the doors and windows in the darkness.

Outside, there was a deathly silence. The only sounds were the whistling of the night wind blowing through the cracks in the dilapidated house and the faint twitching of Ahui lying on the ground.

This silence was more terrifying than any shout of battle.

"Friend, which gang are you from?" Wu Jiandong suppressed his heart palpitations and asked in a low voice into the darkness, "Is there some misunderstanding? We're just passing through and asking for the night..."

no answer.

There was only one soft "whoosh" sound.

"Pfft." Chen Wuju groaned as a crossbow bolt pierced his right arm, which was holding the knife, and the cleaver clattered to the ground. He was in so much pain that the veins on his forehead bulged, but he gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.

"Damn it, come out if you dare!" Ah Peng was both shocked and furious. He raised his hunting rifle and fired a shot in the direction from which the sound was coming.

The roar of the shotgun was particularly jarring in the silent night. The shotgun shells pierced through the wooden wall, leaving a hole the size of a washbasin, but no sound of hitting the target could be heard.

The gunshots seemed more like a signal.

"Clang!"

The front and back doors were flung open from the outside almost simultaneously, and several dark figures pounced in like ghosts.

By the light of the moon and the faint glimmer of light from outside, Wu Jiandong could barely make out that the people who had broken in were wearing rough, strange wooden masks—dogs, rats, cows, tigers… like cheap toys bought at a temple fair, but now appearing incredibly ferocious in the darkness. They worked in perfect coordination, two to a group, rushing straight for their respective targets.

One guy, in particular, wearing a dog mask, was incredibly fast.

"Bang! Bang!" Wu Jiandong didn't have time to think and fired two shots at the dog-masked man who was lunging at him.

However, the man's movements were incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, he rolled to the side, the bullet grazing his body and striking the wall, sending up brick fragments. The next second, Wu Jiandong's wrist, holding the gun, was struck by a heavy elbow strike; a sharp pain shot through him, and the Black Star flew out of his hand.

He roared, drew his dagger from his waist with his left hand, and stabbed at the attacker's ribs with a backhand thrust. But the opponent seemed to have anticipated his move, parrying, grappling, and executing a joint lock in one fluid motion!

"Snap!"

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and Wu Jiandong's left arm bent at an odd angle, the excruciating pain causing his vision to go black.

Immediately afterwards, a heavy punch slammed into his temple, plunging the world into darkness.

On the other side, Chen Wuju, enduring his arm injury, swung a chair with his left hand at the masked man who was lunging at him, but the man easily dodged it and delivered a low kick to Chen Wuju's supporting leg. Chen Wuju's massive body crashed to the ground, and before he could struggle, a cold blade was already pressed against his throat.

Apeng fared even worse. Before he could reload his shotgun after firing, a man wearing a monkey mask closed in on him and delivered a precise chop to the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious without a sound.

The battle, or rather, the one-sided crushing defeat, ended in less than a minute.

Four "dragons from across the river" who, in Ding Xiaoxie's eyes, were enough to raze a small factory to the ground, were like lambs to the slaughter in front of this group of silent and efficient assassins wearing zodiac masks, utterly powerless to fight back.

The candles were relit.

The dog-faced man removed his mask, revealing himself to be Wu Zhaoyong. He crouched down and checked on the unconscious Wu Jiandong and the other two men, confirming that they were all incapacitated before whispering his report into the miniature walkie-talkie:

"Brother Wen, target four, eliminate them all, one dead and three captured."

The walkie-talkie crackled with Song Zhaowen's emotionless command: "Clean up the scene, leave no survivors, burn it all."