Chapter 162: Wiped Out

Chapter 162: Wiped Out

The crew-cut man understood that these men had come for him specifically.

And he could guess who had sent them.

Li Ruotai.

They were obviously men from Donghai’s underworld, and they answered to Li Ruotai.

But knowing it was Li Ruotai did not tell him why.

How had the information leaked?

It should have been impossible.

The operation had been arranged at short notice.

More than that—

He was an outsider. The men handling the final operation had only reached Donghai within the last two days. They were not the same people who had been investigating and tailing Wu Chen.

Both groups answered to the same man in the end, but they shared nothing.

Only the “boss” knew the whole picture.

There was no possibility the boss had sold them out. He was Young Master Ding’s absolute confidant.

The crew-cut man did not dare move again.

He could fight extremely well. But however good you were, you could not beat a gun.

“Take him.” The slightly overweight man tilted his head.

Several young men stepped up. They took the crew-cut man’s phone first, then searched him.

At the same time.

A near-identical scene was playing out on another road, in another direction near the CBD.

A little after nine in the morning.

A villa in Donghai’s West District.

Jiang Chuan sat on a sofa scrolling through his phone, waiting for a call. A scar like a centipede ran across the top of his head, and the outlaw hung heavy on him.

Six or seven bodyguards stood around the sofa. All of them his own.

At Ding Ruilong’s side, Jiang Chuan was the trusted lieutenant who got things done, and something of a bodyguard besides.

But coming to Donghai in person this time, he had brought a good many men of his own.

He had been cautious to a fault.

Very little frightened him. What worried him was Li Ruotai learning where he was.

If Jiang Chuan had done nothing yet, Li Ruotai probably would not hurt him.

But he would certainly hold him in Donghai.

Even with the Li and Ding families allied now, effectively on the same side.

Because Li Ruotai would know perfectly well that if Jiang Chuan had come to Donghai, he had come on Ding Ruilong’s orders, and whatever he was doing was bound to involve Li Ruobing.

Given how fiercely Li Ruotai guarded his sister, if Jiang Chuan were held here, even the Ding family would have trouble getting him back.

And that was supposing he had done nothing at all.

This time he had come to do something very large indeed.

On the sofa across from him sat two middle-aged men, one to the left, one to the right.

On the left, Meng Junhao.

On the right, another of Ding Ruilong’s men in Donghai, Cao Feng, who owned a mid-sized real estate company in the city.

The villa’s living room was very quiet.

Meng Junhao looked unable to settle. He kept drinking water, and after drinking he kept going to the bathroom. He had been several times already.

Jiang Chuan had noticed him more than once and given him a few extra looks, but said nothing.

He knew Meng Junhao had been taken by Li Ruotai once, had lied and promised to spy for him, and had then turned around and told his boss Ding Ruilong everything.

So Jiang Chuan understood why the man was so on edge. If anything happened to Wu Chen today, Li Ruotai would certainly hold Meng Junhao to account for failing to warn him.

Which was exactly why Jiang Chuan was guarding against him.

He was afraid Meng Junhao would crack under the pressure and tip Li Ruotai off.

So he had never let Meng Junhao meet the operatives he had brought with him. Meng Junhao had only overheard him making calls and setting the operation up.

There was no way for him to know who else had come to Donghai.

Even if he tried to warn Li Ruotai, he could give him nothing actionable.

The arrangement also served as a test of the man’s loyalty.

If Meng Junhao did tip Li Ruotai off but could not say who was going to act, Li Ruotai would be unable to seize anyone directly or deal with the threat on the spot.

He would certainly call Li Ruobing.

And Li Ruobing…

She would certainly call Ding Ruilong straight away and curse his ancestors back eight generations.

She had done exactly that before. Every time something happened, she would—

In other words.

As Jiang Chuan saw it, if his boss Ding Ruilong suddenly rang to say word had leaked, then there was a traitor, and there would be no need to wonder who.

Conversely, if none of that happened, Meng Junhao was loyal.

Time passed.

Jiang Chuan glanced at the clock on his phone and frowned faintly.

It had been a long while.

Earlier one of the operatives had called to say Wu Chen had abruptly changed routes and gone to Xinmao Shopping Center near Shangmao East Road, though whether he was buying something at the supermarket or doing something else, they did not know.

For a moment Jiang Chuan had wondered whether the operation had been exposed.

But thinking it through, that made no sense.

If Wu Chen had suddenly learned someone meant to assassinate him, the normal reaction would be to get as far away as possible and go straight to Li Ruotai.

He would not stop at a shopping center along his original route.

On that call Jiang Chuan had told the operatives to withdraw and stand by. He had also ordered other men into Xinmao to keep Wu Chen under watch.

So he was still waiting for a call.

He wanted to know whether he still had a chance today.

And if there was no chance, he would make one.

Because his boss Ding Ruilong had given him three days.

Today was the third day.

Jiang Chuan frowned at the phone. He judged that enough time had passed, and was already thinking of calling to ask what was happening.

Just then—

Ring, ring…

The phone rang. Jiang Chuan looked at the incoming call and answered without hesitation.

“Are you back yet?” he asked at once.

“Brother Jiang, I’m being followed… I—fuck!”

The man spoke fast and urgently, and before he could finish he cried out.

A tremendous crash came down the line, then a burst of chaotic noise. It sounded as though the phone had been dropped.

Jiang Chuan shot to his feet.

He could tell.

A collision. A crash.

Followed? And then a crash?

That was deliberate.

The call had not disconnected. Jiang Chuan could faintly make out shouts of “Get the fuck out!” and “I’ll put one in you!” along with repeated bangs as someone smashed at the vehicle’s windows. It sounded as though the truck had been penned in somewhere isolated, no other cars or pedestrians nearby, and the attackers were battering their way in without a care.

After another burst of noise, the call ended.

Jiang Chuan called back.

Nothing.

His face went dark.

He immediately called several of the others.

The same. Not one call connected.

Something had happened.

Every operative had been taken.

These men had not made a move before today.

The operation itself had been decided two hours ago.

And now, just like that, wiped out entirely.

Who in Donghai had that kind of reach?

Li Ruotai.

Jiang Chuan could not understand how Li Ruotai had seized them so precisely. The operation had been called off; they had not even done anything.

But there was no time to think.

Jiang Chuan made another call.

To Ding Ruilong.

It connected quickly.

“Young Master,” Jiang Chuan said.

“Is it done?” Ding Ruilong asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

“…They were all taken by Li Ruotai.” Jiang Chuan said it after a brief silence.

The other end went completely quiet.

Then came heavy breathing.

Two seconds or so later, Ding Ruilong forced the words out through his teeth.

“Say. That. Again.”

“They were all taken by Li Ruotai.” Jiang Chuan repeated it word for word.

He had no choice. The call had to be made. Once word leaked that they were trying to kill Wu Chen, there would be no further opportunity; Li Ruobing would surround the man with bodyguards, and Wu Chen himself would go quiet until the storm passed.

And some decisions were not Jiang Chuan’s to make.

Again only the heavy breathing came down the line.

Then a sharp crash—there was no telling what Ding Ruilong had thrown or smashed.

After that, only the breathing.

A long moment.

“Who leaked it? Meng Junhao?” Ding Ruilong asked, pressing the fury down.

“No. Impossible. He didn’t know who the operatives were,” Jiang Chuan said.

“I fucking… I… fuck!”

Rage had left Ding Ruilong without even the words to curse. He broke off, then screamed like a madman.

“Kill him! Kill him right now! Send men and hack Wu Chen to death! Now!”