Chapter 132: Survival is Nothing But Deceit and Treachery

Wujue finally saw A-Hu appear. Hearing what he had to say, he couldn't help but sneer, "Very good. Finally, someone interesting has arrived. You want to know who killed your older brother? I can tell you."

He pushed Xue Zhong forward. "It was him!"

A-Hu glanced at Xue Zhong. Xue Zhong didn't dare meet his eyes, but with his head bowed, he said in a low voice, "Brother Bao wanted to violate my sister. You all know that. I was forced into this. What would you have me do? Offer my sister up? She is only a teenager. You can all stand on the sidelines and watch the show, but I couldn't."

"Very good!" Upon hearing his retort, A-Hu didn't say another word. He simply took a gun from one of his men, pointed it at Xue Zhong, and said, "Then go to hell. As for your sister, I’ll gladly accept her!"

He fired without hesitation. The bullet streaked past the crowd, aimed straight for Xue Zhong's forehead. Wujue watched this scene calmly. Instead of intervening immediately, he drove his right foot half a foot deep into the ground.

An invisible force surged beneath Xue Zhong's feet. With a snap, Xue Zhong collapsed backward, a spray of blood erupting as he instantly lost consciousness.

Everyone was shocked by A-Hu’s ruthless execution.

Wujue and Xiulun watched it all in silence, sensing that this A-Hu was no simple character; he possessed a cold, decisive air of lethal efficiency.

In the midst of the tense atmosphere, A-Hu suddenly spread his hands, handed the gun back to his subordinate, and greeted Wujue and his companion. "Alright, the trouble is solved! Now, let’s have a proper talk. Are you staying, or are you dying?"

Looking at his arrogant attitude, Wujue sneered, "You’re quite conceited. Do you think you can order me around just because you killed a man? How many people do you have here? How small is your territory? And you want to keep me? Why don't you go collect your brother's corpse first?"

A-Hu didn't respond for a long time. He simply stared fixedly at Wujue, then suddenly reached up to tie back his messy hair. "Fair enough. Men, bring my brother in."

The sudden silence that followed terrified the crowd; everyone thought A-Hu was about to snap.

As the tension between the two sides temporarily eased, two of A-Hu's men went to retrieve Brother Bao's body. Someone noticed that Xue Zhong was still breathing and shouted, "This guy isn't dead yet. How should we handle him?"

"Lock him up for now. I'll have questions for him later." A-Hu scratched his head and walked over to Wujue. He squinted as he looked him up and down, then suddenly said, "No one has ever dared to stand up to me before. You’ve got guts. Do you dare to go grab a drink with me?"

Wujue was looking for an opportunity to get into their inner circle, so he sneered, "I brought your brother back; you should at least thank me! As for the drink, consider it a way to settle my nerves. Right, Old Xiu?"

He glanced at Xiulun, who had the same intention. Just as he was about to nod, A-Hu suddenly paused, pointed his gun at Xiulun, and asked, "Your name is Xiu? Which Xiu? Is it the 'Xiu' from 'divorce' (xiuqi), or the 'Xiu' from 'Ikkyu'? Ah, no, wait, I think they’re all the same character."

Wujue bluffed, "You're wrong. The 'Xiu' in Ikkyu is the 'Xiu' from 'it is over' (xiuyi)."

"Is that so?" A-Hu, confused, led them to his room on the farm.

Dismissing his men, only A-Hu, Wujue, and Xiulun remained. A-Hu sat unceremoniously on a slightly worn leather sofa and patted it, saying, "Well? Not bad, is it? Few people get to come directly into my room. You know how it is in this situation—whoever has the hardest fist lives the most comfortably."

He stood up, took half a bottle of red wine from the cabinet, and shook it. "A stranded wealthy merchant ran here a few days ago to curry favor with me and gave me this."

He grabbed two glasses, poured for the others, then took a large swig directly from the bottle. "That old bastard thought that by bribing me with good things, he could live comfortably. I squeezed him for a little bit every day, gave him a hard time whenever I was bored, and in a few days, everything he owned was in my hands. Then, I slit his throat."

"Do you think I'm a real bastard for doing that?" A-Hu gripped the bottle and grinned hideously at them. His expression changed instantly as he added, "But this is the apocalypse. I don't have to worry about taking responsibility for anything. I can do whatever I want. Now it's your turn. Who is responsible for my brother’s death?"

He smashed the bottle on the floor and lunged at Wujue. Wujue had sensed the move the moment he took the glass, so before A-Hu could strike, he threw a heavy punch into A-Hu’s face.

The terrifying part was that A-Hu had no intention of dodging. He took the blow, unhindered, and launched a wild counterattack. "Good hit! Can you put more effort into it? Can you make it more satisfying?"

The man was like a madman, striking out at Wujue with reckless, chaotic ferocity. After taking two hits, Wujue nimbly dodged the rest and realized this guy was just looking for a thrill.

Wujue clamped his hands around A-Hu’s wrists, spun him around, and before A-Hu could kick, Wujue unleashed his immense strength, hoisting A-Hu into the air and throwing him out the window.

At the same time, A-Hu's men waiting outside heard the commotion and burst in. They seemed prepared; without a word, they opened fire on Xiulun and Wujue.

Xiulun was already prepared. He leaped to the ceiling, drew his pistol, shot two or three of them, and then dove forward, shoving the rest of them out the door.

Meanwhile, Wujue nodded to Xiulun, jumped out the window, and aimed for where A-Hu had landed. He pounced on him and used the techniques of the Dalin Grappling Art to deliver a series of strikes, snapping two of A-Hu's ribs.

After the struggle, A-Hu climbed up with difficulty, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. He laughed wildly, "Well done! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a fight this satisfying. If you've got the guts, kill me, and this place is yours."

Wujue glanced at him, drew his pistol without warning, and fired. The bullet pierced A-Hu’s chest, sending him flying backward.

"I killed your brother; I have no interest in killing you too," Wujue said, silently holstering his gun. "I’ll give you two hours to run for your life. If you survive, come back and seek your revenge."

With that shot, he was confident he had crippled at least half of A-Hu's capability; the rest was up to fate.

A-Hu stubbornly tried to get up and lunge at Wujue again, but Wujue fired another clean shot, grazing his scalp and knocking him unconscious.

Leaving him be, Wujue let A-Hu fend for himself. When he returned to the farm, Xiulun had single-handedly cowed the brothers' men into submission.

Seeing Wujue return alone, they became even more panicked, clearly realizing that A-Hu’s fate was sealed.

Wujue intentionally didn't speak right away. He walked grimly into the courtyard and grabbed the middle-aged man he had dealt with earlier. "Where is Xue Zhong, who was brought back earlier? And bring his sister out, too!"

"This..." The man was confused for a moment, stunned by Wujue's sharp command. Before Wujue could even glare, he hurried to have two men go release them.

A moment later, Xue Zhong was helped out. When he arrived in the courtyard and saw the situation, he realized Wujue and Xiulun had succeeded. He stumbled, pushed away the person supporting him, and shouted, "Where is my sister? Hurry and bring my sister, Xue'er, back!"

Soon, a young girl's voice answered, "Brother, you're back!"

A small girl in tattered clothes ran out from the crowd and threw herself into Xue Zhong’s arms, weeping, "They all said you were dead. I thought I’d never see you again. Brother, is this a dream?"

Xue Zhong cupped his sister's face, tears streaming down his own. "It's okay, I'm not dead! Both of the Leopard brothers are finished. Sister, did they bully you? Did anyone..."

Seeing how tense he was, one could only imagine what would have happened if Xue Zhong hadn't met Wujue and Xiulun.

Wujue watched the reunion, fully aware of what Xue Xue and the other women here had endured. He scanned the dozen or so men present and finally said the words that would crush their remaining hope.

"A-Hu is dead, too. If you don't want to die, you have only one choice: from now on, you listen to me."

As Wujue finished speaking, the middle-aged man was the first to come forward and kneel. "Brother, the winner takes all. You’ve taken down both the Leopard brothers, so from now on, you are the boss here. I have no objections to whatever you say. I only hope that the past..."

"The past? Of course, that can't be forgotten!" Unexpectedly, Xue Zhong lashed out. He rushed forward, snatched a pistol from the middle-aged man's waistband, pointed it at his head, and yelled, "How did you treat me? How did you treat everyone else? Keeping you alive is just inviting disaster. I have to kill you!"

"Enough. Who is calling the shots here?" Wujue looked grim. He lunged forward and grabbed the barrel of the gun in Xue Zhong's hand. Killing A-Hu was enough to strike fear into the rest; continuing to kill would only drive them to desperate measures.

Prevented from firing, Xue Zhong seethed in silence for a long time. Finally, he looked up and forced a smile, "Of course, it's you. I just couldn't swallow my anger; I was acting on impulse."

He finally let go and reluctantly handed the gun to Wujue.

But as he turned away, the look he gave Wujue was filled with a trace of resentment.