How Could One Man Have Such Guts?

The instant Jin Dapao struck, he was like a wild beast bursting from its cage!

His back arched, his muscles bulging.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every punch whistled through the air and cracked against Director Ruan's face.

Every kick hammered into Director Ruan's belly, doubling him over and drawing scream after scream.

Clang!

The gun slipped from his hand and hit the ground.

In that moment, Jin Dapao cast off every restraint.

Discipline?

Rules?

He threw them all to the winds, as though he were young again—the artillery platoon leader who had charged a bunker with a pack of explosives in his arms!

"Spineless shrimp!"

"Gutless coward!"

"Kept man!"

Jin Dapao seized Director Ruan by the collar, hoisted him like a chick, then slammed him hard onto the ground.

"A coward like you thinks he deserves to wear that uniform?"

"When you were climbing the ranks on your father-in-law's coattails, did you ever stop to wonder whether you had any real ability?"

"Send you into the field and you're too scared to go. Give you a case and you start shaking. Can you do anything besides suck up to people?"

"When I lay hidden in the snow for three days and nights at thirty below, you were sipping tea and reading the paper in a heated room!"

"When I risked taking a bullet to rescue a hostage from a drug traffickers' den, you were clinking glasses at a banquet!"

"Today you're going to find out what a real man's fists feel like!"

Not far away, Yue Xiaofei stared, dumbfounded.

Was this Uncle Jin?

He had thought Jin Dapao's temper was fierce enough when he dealt with those two thugs!

He had never imagined this was his true nature.

This was a real man!

Even facing someone with a gun, he dared to charge straight at him!

How lucky was I to have an uncle like him?

His father's old comrades really were men of iron!

Yue Xiaofei clenched his fists. Even the pain from his wounds seemed to fade, and he felt as if the blood in his veins were burning.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to Black Tortoise Manor,

Hou Tao and his hundreds of men were utterly stunned.

They stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

None of them had expected Jin Dapao to actually strike—let alone attack Director Ruan while he was holding a gun!

One man!

How could one man have such guts?!

By then, Jin Dapao was swinging Director Ruan around like a battered sack.

His white shirt was smeared with dust and blood.

His gold-rimmed glasses had flown three meters away.

How was this a fight?

It was a one-sided beating.

Director Ruan had no chance to fight back!

Even though they were on the opposing side, everyone felt genuine admiration and respect for Jin Dapao.

"Bureau Chief Hou, should we go stop him?"

A team captain swallowed as he asked, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Hou Tao shuddered and shook his head again and again. "F-forget it. Without guns, who could stop Madman Jin?"

He stared at Jin Dapao, sweat pouring down his back.

That was no man. He was a human-shaped tyrannosaur!

With him in a rage, no one could probably get near him.

Go up and stop him?

That would not be breaking up a fight. It would be walking to their deaths!

Hou Tao hunched his shoulders, privately grateful that he had not acted rashly.

"Director Jin, take a breather!"

At last, a Flying Tiger Team member could bear it no longer. He stepped forward and shouted, "If you keep hitting him, Director Ruan really will be meeting his great-grandmother!"

"Pah!"

Only then did Jin Dapao stop. He gave Director Ruan a kick where he lay.

Director Ruan lay like a dead fish, blood running from his nostrils. His face was bruised black and blue and swollen like a steamed bun.

"Wimp!"

Jin Dapao spat. "I haven't even warmed up, and you're already done?"

He took out a pack of cigarettes, put one in his mouth, lit it, and blew out a cloud of smoke.

Despite giving Director Ruan a thorough beating, he had barely broken a sweat.

"Old soldiers never die, and they don't fade away either!"

He blew a smoke ring, his voice hoarse.

In all the years since transferring to a civilian post, he had never let himself slack off. He still kept his old habits.

Every morning at five, without fail, he ran five kilometers cross-country.

The punching bag in his office had been battered until its stuffing came loose!

At the shooting range, his shots always hit the bull's-eye.

Dealing with Director Ruan?

It was as easy as squeezing a lump of clay!

"You... you bastard, Jin Dapao..."

At last, Director Ruan struggled up from the ground and pulled out his phone with trembling hands.

The screen was cracked from the fall. After fumbling with it for ages, he found the number saved as "Father-in-law" in his contacts.

"I'm calling my father-in-law right now!"

"I'll have you fired!"

"I'll have you arrested!"

"I'll make you regret this for the rest of your life!"

The Flying Tiger Team members immediately grew anxious.

"Director Jin!"

One veteran stepped forward. "Don't let him make that call!"

Not far away,

Yue Xiaofei's heart was in his throat. Guilt washed over him, and his eyes reddened. "Uncle Jin, if you hadn't come to save me, you wouldn't be in so much trouble!"

"Kid! Your uncle has never regretted anything he's done!"

Jin Dapao ground his cigarette butt beneath his foot and grinned, showing two rows of bright white teeth.

"Even if it weren't for you, I've wanted to beat this spineless coward for ages!"

"At worst, I'll quit and go fishing back in the countryside!"

"It's not like that would kill me!"

Just then, Director Ruan's call connected.

"Hello, Dad... boo-hoo..."

He started crying the moment he spoke. The wound at the corner of his mouth made his words slur together.

"Someone beat me up... at Black Tortoise Manor. It was that bastard Jin Dapao!"

"He disobeyed orders... and even assaulted his superior in public. He thinks he's above the law..."

"Dad, you have to stand up for me..."

A grown man was sniveling like a child.

Quite a few people there looked at him with contempt.

But from the other end of the call came an aged, authoritative voice.

"Outrageous!"

"Attacking a superior! Utter lawlessness!"

"Just wait! I'll call Jiangcheng right now! Five minutes at most!"

Director Ruan clung to those words like a lifeline, nodding and bowing repeatedly.

"Yes! Thank you, Dad! Thank you!"

With all that fawning, he looked like a palace eunuch attending an emperor.

But once he hung up,

Director Ruan's expression changed. He straightened his back, pointed at Jin Dapao, and gave a vicious laugh.

"You're finished, Jin! My father-in-law said that in five minutes, you'll be begging me in tears!"

The Flying Tiger Team members' faces darkened.

Everyone knew Director Ruan's father-in-law was a veteran power broker in the province, with influence everywhere.

If he decided to use it, Jin Dapao would not be able to withstand it.

"Director Jin!"

Sweat beaded on one team member's forehead. "Should we pull back for now?"

"Hmph!"

But Jin Dapao stood tall and declared, "Yue Xiaofei's father, who was also my old team leader, once said, 'A soldier's spine must never bend, and he must never lose his backbone!'"

"I own what I do. The word 'run' isn't in my dictionary!"

"Besides... this spineless coward has someone backing him. You think I don't?!"

At those last words, Jin Dapao suddenly raised his head and glanced at the sky.

Ten thousand meters above,

a bank of ink-dark clouds churned.

It was as though some ferocious beast roared within them, on the verge of bursting out!