Chapter 142: The Furious Wang Kangnian

Wang Jun’s group of four and one rickshaw had successfully escaped danger.

At this moment, the four of them were approximately three huali away from their previous residence, about 1.5 kilometres (~0.9 miles).

Although it was only three huali, the area was crisscrossed with streets and alleys.

Whether secret agents or constables, it would take quite some time for anyone to search their way here.

“Old Kang, has the gunfire stopped?” Wang Jun asked.

Before Kang Erniu could answer, an explosion suddenly boomed in the distance.

The expressions of the four men changed immediately.

One minute passed.

Then two minutes.

The silent group continued forward.

Their ears remained alert, their hearts full of hope.

Yet they heard no more gunfire.

Wang Jun, pulling the rickshaw, stopped and looked toward the northwest.

His eyes reddened as he struggled to suppress his grief.

The other three wore sorrowful expressions as well.

Like Wang Jun, they all came to the same conclusion:

That brave comrade had perished together with the enemy...

The smoke and dust from the grenade explosion gradually dispersed.

Wang Kangnian climbed up from the ground and brushed the dirt from his body.

He spat out a mouthful of mud.

His face darkened as he looked around.

The scene was a complete mess.

He had brought nine reinforcements.

Now, looking around:

One man lay on the ground with his neck torn open by shrapnel.

A large pool of blood had accumulated beneath him.

He was clearly beyond saving.

Two others had been struck by shrapnel, one in the leg and one in the buttocks.

One lay on his back, the other face-down, both screaming in agony.

They had not even laid eyes on the enemy.

Yet a single grenade had already cost them three men.

Most importantly, the enemy was nowhere to be seen, and the gunfire had stopped.

That meant Ding Naifei’s unit had failed to continue pursuing the man.

There was only one explanation.

Taking advantage of the grenade explosion, the enemy had already escaped.

“Ding Naifei! Are you still alive, damn it?” Wang Kangnian roared furiously.

The six surviving subordinates exchanged glances.

All of them trembled and dared not speak.

Their section chief was usually refined and courteous.

He rarely swore.

This time, he was truly enraged.

Before Wang Kangnian had even finished speaking, he saw Ding Naifei emerging from the alley ahead.

Holding a pistol and supported by a subordinate, he staggered forward covered in dust and grime.

Just these two?

Ding Naifei had originally brought thirteen men.

In addition, Wang Kangnian had earlier dispatched two men on bicycles, who could travel faster, to reinforce him.

Including Ding Naifei himself, that made sixteen men.

Even Wang Kangnian, who was normally unflappable, was stunned.

His gaze shifted hopefully behind Ding Naifei.

About a minute later, Ding Naifei arrived before him, supported by his subordinate and looking utterly dejected.

Wang Kangnian ignored him and continued looking behind him expectantly.

The alley remained empty.

Only faint screams occasionally drifted from farther away.

“Where are they?” Wang Kangnian looked as though he wanted to devour someone. “Where are the Communists? Where is everyone else?”

“They escaped. They all escaped.” Ding Naifei looked ashen, his head hanging low. “The brothers are either dead or wounded. The only ones who can still walk are the two of us.”

“Why didn’t you die instead!”

Wang Kangnian slapped him across the face.

Ding Naifei accepted the slap without resistance and remained standing motionless.

Wang Kangnian let out a cold snort.

Ignoring Ding Naifei, he left one subordinate behind to care for the two wounded men and led the others toward the alley.

Before even entering the alley, they smelled the heavy odor of gunpowder mixed with the pungent scent of blood.

Five bodies lay at the entrance of the alley.

Four had been shot in the head.

One had been shot in the chest.

Several subordinates hurried over to inspect them.

Then they shook their heads.

All five men were already dead.

Wang Kangnian’s face darkened further.

Continuing deeper into the alley, he found another horrific scene at the far end.

Ding Naifei clutched his wounded shoulder as he ran about checking the casualties.

Of his six subordinates, four had been killed.

Only two remained alive.

One looked unlikely to survive.

The other had been shot in the shoulder and lay wailing beside the wall.

“You truly are talented, Ding Naifei,” Wang Kangnian said through gritted teeth.

“Section Chief, we had already surrounded three Communists. We were just about to wipe them out completely.” Ding Naifei felt deeply uneasy but forced himself to continue. “Then another Communist appeared from nowhere. He was a hard target, carrying two pistols and grenades...”

“So over a dozen of you got taken down by a single Communist?” Wang Kangnian’s gaze was terrifyingly cold.

“No, two of the brothers were killed by those three...”

Smack!

Consumed by fury, Wang Kangnian slapped him again.

And you still have the nerve to say that?

Leaving the rear of the alley and taking a detour, they arrived at the Communists’ residence.

There they saw two Party Affairs Investigation Department agents lying dead beneath the courtyard wall.

Wang Kangnian felt as though the anger and humiliation inside him would drive him mad.

How long had it been since the Party Affairs Investigation Department had suffered such a disastrous defeat?

“Search!”

Wang Kangnian gritted his teeth and waved his hand.

The men cautiously approached the open gate.

The tragic sight of their dead and wounded comrades had frightened them badly.

Some secretly felt fortunate.

Had they been part of Ding Naifei’s original arrest team rather than reinforcements, they would certainly have been among the dead or wounded.

“Clear!”

“Reporting to Section Chief, it’s clear.”

After conducting a careful search, the subordinates reported back.

With a cold expression, Wang Kangnian entered the house.

It was a residence containing four rooms.

Two of the rooms showed signs of being occupied.

The other two were fairly clean but appeared uninhabited.

One of the bedrooms was somewhat disordered.

A brazier sat on the floor.

Inside it was ash left behind by burned documents.

The ashes had been stirred with a wooden stick or something similar and then doused with water.

Clearly, the Communists had hurriedly burned important documents before breaking out and had taken measures to destroy the remains.

“Xiao Si.”

Wang Kangnian crouched down and stared at the ashes.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Xiao Si was examining his camera.

During the grenade explosion, he had protected the camera with his own body.

The camera was his most treasured possession.

“Thank goodness. Thank goodness.”

Seeing that the camera was undamaged, Xiao Si breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, his hand instinctively reached into his shoulder bag and produced a pair of tweezers, which he handed to Wang Kangnian.

One of the agents glanced at Xiao Si.

He seemed unable to understand how Xiao Si, despite not being told anything by the section chief, could respond so naturally and skillfully.

Wang Kangnian carefully used the tweezers to pick up a partially burned scrap of paper from the brazier.

After examining it, he discovered it was merely a blank piece from the edge of a document.

It held no value whatsoever.

Wang Kangnian frowned and was about to stand up.

“Section Chief, don’t move!”

Xiao Si suddenly shouted loudly.

The shout startled the subordinates.

Some immediately drew their pistols and looked toward Wang Kangnian’s side.

Some cared only about themselves and hurriedly crouched down in search of cover.

Others thought Xiao Si was about to attack and decisively pointed their pistols at him.