Beneath Blood Ape Gang Headquarters.
There were several cells enclosed by rough iron bars, crammed with prisoners who looked haggard and wounded.
Among them were old porters from East Third Street's Porter Guild, distant relatives connected by marriage to the Yang Family, and Wu Xian, the proprietor of Wu's Grocery Store, along with his elderly father, Uncle Wu.
Their clothes were ragged, their bodies marked with whip lashes or bruises. Their eyes were dull and lifeless as they huddled in the corners.
Only two people seemed out of place amid the surrounding despair.
One was Wu Xian.
Though his face bore a few scrapes and his clothes were torn, his back remained straight.
He was carefully supporting his father, Uncle Wu, whose old ailment had flared up again due to fright and the damp surroundings, and quietly comforting him.
The other was a man locked alone in a small iron cage farther inside.
He wore manacles on his limbs and around his neck, etched with runes that suppressed qi and blood—restraints specially designed to subdue martial artists.
This man was Zhao Tie, the Porter Guild's chief instructor.
Zhao Tie was the adopted son of the previous head of the Porter Guild. With his Tendon Changing cultivation, he was a notable figure on East Street.
He was fiery by nature and prized loyalty above all.
The day the Blood Ape Gang stormed the Porter Guild to seize people, its owner had been so frightened that his face turned ashen and he could only stammer in submission.
Only Zhao Tie had slammed a hand on the table and risen to his feet.
During the ensuing clash, he had wounded several gang members, but in the end, one pair of fists could not withstand four hands. He was eventually subdued after exhausting his strength, then thrown into this lightless dungeon alongside Wu Xian and the others.
Zhao Tie's gaze swept over the prisoners' sighing faces before settling on Wu Xian. He couldn't help speaking up.
"Young Master Wu, you're quite an exception.
Everyone else is afraid, but you remain calm. Aren't you scared?"
Hearing him, Wu Xian raised his head and looked at Zhao Tie.
"You're joking, Instructor Zhao.
Afraid? Of course I am.
But what good will fear do?"
He paused, then continued in a clear, steady voice:
"We all know why the Blood Ape Gang captured us.
They're after only one person: Yang Ning."
At his words, many of the prisoners' eyes flickered. Some lowered their heads, while others wore complicated expressions.
Wu Xian continued:
"But think about it. Given the Blood Ape Gang's usual arrogance and brutality, if they could simply capture Yang Ning, would they need to use us to threaten him and vent their anger?
They captured us, yet still haven't killed us. What does that tell you?"
His gaze swept across the prisoners.
"It means they can't deal with Yang Ning for now!
At the very least, the price of capturing him must be so high that even the Blood Ape Gang considers it too steep!"
A glint flashed in Zhao Tie's eyes, and he nodded slightly.
"Yang Ning must have gained some backing that makes the Blood Ape Gang wary."
Wu Xian's tone grew even more certain.
"Nothing will happen to us. As long as we're alive, the Blood Ape Gang can use us to hold Yang Ning in check.
On the other hand, if they really did kill us..."
Wu Xian's voice lowered.
"Then they'd have completely burned their bridges, leaving no room to turn back.
From what I know of Yang Ning, he's no one to swallow his anger and let others push him around."
He looked at Zhao Tie, though it seemed he was speaking to everyone.
"So what good will fear and blaming each other do, other than make us feel worse and give the guards a laugh?
Yang Ning managed to reach a point where even the Blood Ape Gang fears him in such a short time. I believe in him!
He's no heartless, disloyal man. He's surely doing everything he can to rescue us right now."
Zhao Tie fell silent for a moment. Then he suddenly burst into hearty laughter, making his chains rattle.
"Good! Well said, Wu Xian!
You always seemed like a mild-mannered man who valued making peace and money. I never expected you to have such a backbone!"
Wu Xian waved a hand, unwilling to say more about his own affairs.
But just as the group finished talking, the dungeon's deathly silence was suddenly shattered by a commotion above!
At first, the sounds were indistinct, like the shouts of many people, mixed with the clash of weapons and screams.
Soon, they grew clearer and more violent, as if rapidly closing in on the dungeon entrance!
The prisoners sprang up and crowded against the iron bars, staring fearfully at the only entrance: a flight of stone steps.
Even Wu Xian stood up, shielding his father behind him as he fixed his gaze on the entrance.
"What's going on?"
"Are they fighting up there?"
"Has someone come to rescue us?"
A faint spark of hope stirred in someone.
"Rescue us? Who would dare come to Blood Ape Gang Headquarters to save anyone?"
Most of the others were doubtful and afraid.
The gang members guarding the dungeon had initially been shouting at the prisoners to quiet down, but as the noise outside grew louder, their faces changed too.
One of them ran to the stairs to look, then came rushing back, his face deathly pale as he stammered:
"B-bad news! They're... they've broken in! It's the Patrol Bureau!"
"What?"
The other guards were horrified, instantly losing their heads.
"Quick! Hold the entrance!"
A burly man who looked like a gang leader managed to shout, though he himself instinctively took several steps backward.
But it was already too late.
The clatter of forceful footsteps pounded down the stone stairs like a drumbeat!
Torchlight flickered, illuminating the entrance in a blaze.
"Drop your weapons! Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
A commanding shout rang out.
Soon, several bloodstained Patrol Bureau patrolmen in black uniforms charged down first and immediately subdued the guards.
As the torchlight shifted, a tall figure entered the gloomy dungeon, surrounded by a group of patrolmen.
He wore black-scaled soft armor beneath a Patrol Bureau cloak. A lustrous, immaculate white jade mask covered his face, leaving only his calm eyes visible.
In his hand was a long, gray-blue saber. Blood still stained its blade, which gleamed with a cold, eerie light in the fire.
That saber... it's that saber.
Wu Xian's heart finally settled.
It was Yang Ning.
Every prisoner in the dungeon, whether they had clung to hope or sunk into numb despair, stared blankly at the young martial artist who had suddenly appeared.
Yang Ning said nothing. He went straight to the cell where Wu Xian and the others were imprisoned.
He raised the saber in his hand. It flashed like a streak of cold light as it came crashing down from above!
"Clang—crack!"
The heavy iron lock on the cell snapped apart, and the saber's momentum carried through, leaving a deep slash in the bars.
Yang Ning lifted his foot and kicked the cell door open.
He stepped inside and carefully looked over Wu Xian and Uncle Wu behind him. After confirming that, despite their haggard appearance, neither had any life-threatening injuries, he seemed to breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
"Brother Wu, Yang Ning came too late.
You and everyone else have suffered."
As he spoke, he turned slightly to display the gray-blue saber in his hand and said, each word clear and distinct:
"Today, Yang Ning came bearing the saber Brother Wu gave him.
When this is over, the Blood Ape Gang will cease to exist."
His voice wasn't loud, but it crashed through the dungeon like thunder!
"The Blood Ape Gang... will cease to exist?"
Someone murmured the words over and over, as though unable to understand their meaning.
Wu Xian looked at the young man before him, who still addressed him as "Brother."
He looked at the familiar long saber in Yang Ning's hand.
He had spent all his savings and placed all his hopes on finding this weapon to protect him. His eyes couldn't help but grow hot.
Suppressing the surge of emotion, Wu Xian smiled sincerely and nodded with all his might.
"Good! You're here. That's all that matters!"
Only then did the prisoners in the other cells come to their senses. Their joy at surviving the ordeal erupted into crying and shouts.
Wu Xian helped his father to his feet. As he passed Yang Ning, he said quietly, "I knew you'd come."
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