Chapter 45 Falling into a Trap
A black sedan sped off Portland Street, and Ah Gui's hands gripping the steering wheel showed prominent veins.
Li Hanzhou sat in the passenger seat, his face calm, but only those who knew him well could see the murderous intent surging in his eyes.
"What exactly happened?" Li Hanzhou's voice was cold.
Xi Rong sat in the back seat, her face pale as she clutched a black call watch.
“At three o’clock in the afternoon, Amin took five children to do ‘garbage sorting publicity’ on the two streets of Ma Wang.” Xi Rong’s voice trembled. “They were supposed to meet at the recycling station at five o’clock. But at four fifty, Amin’s watch sent a signal, only the words ‘surrounded’ and the location. When I called back, all the signals were lost.”
Fang Che's heart tightened.
These watches are old but stable; they will not collectively lose contact unless they are damaged or blocked.
“The junkyard…” Li Hanzhou stared ahead. “That’s where Ma Wang deals with ‘problem vehicles.’ Ah Gui, tell Ah Biao to take some men and flank them from the Kwai Chung direction.”
"Yes!" Ah Gui drove the car with one hand and picked up the mobile phone with the other.
Fang Che looked out the window at the receding street scene, his palms sweating.
Amin is only fourteen years old, and the other children are even younger.
If they get into trouble because of their investigation...
“Brother Li,” his voice was hoarse, “I was the one who sent them to keep an eye on Ma Wang. If the children…”
“Now is not the time to blame yourself.” Li Hanzhou interrupted him, glancing at him through the rearview mirror. “The fact that Ma Wang made a move means we’ve found the right direction. He’s panicked.”
Even so, Fang Che still felt a burning pain in the wound on his left shoulder.
The car braked suddenly and stopped at the entrance of an alley 300 meters outside the junkyard.
The junkyard was shrouded in twilight.
Piles of wrecked cars, like rusted mountains, gleamed a dark red in the afterglow.
Li Hanzhou got out of the car, and A Gui and his six brothers quickly surrounded him.
"Brother Li, Ah Biao will be here in ten minutes," Ah Gui whispered.
Li Hanzhou glanced around, his gaze settling on the half-closed iron gate.
There was no one guarding the entrance; it was unusually quiet.
"It's too quiet." Fang Che lowered his voice. "If the children were inside, they wouldn't be completely silent."
“A bait,” Li Hanzhou said incisively. “Horse King wants to lure us in.”
"Then we should..."
"Go in." Li Hanzhou pulled out a gun from his back waist. "But in a different way."
He looked at Fang Che: "You have an injury on your left shoulder, so stay outside. Ah Gui, take three people and climb over the wall from the west side. I'll go through the main gate."
"Brother Li!" Fang Che and A Gui exclaimed at the same time.
“I am Ma Wang’s target,” Li Hanzhou said calmly. “He kidnapped the child to lure me in. He will only show his face once I go inside.”
He looked at Fang Che: "You take Xi Rong and the rest of the men and stay outside. If you hear gunshots, don't come in. Contact Uncle Chen and Thirteen Sister immediately."
"No!" Fang Che exclaimed urgently, "This is clearly a trap! You can't!"
“Ah Che.” Li Hanzhou interrupted him, his eyes deep. “The Horse King wants me. If I don’t go in, the children will be in greater danger.”
Before Fang Che could say anything more, Li Hanzhou had already turned and walked towards the iron gate.
Ah Gui gritted his teeth and quickly led the three of them to disappear behind the side wall.
Xi Rong grabbed Fang Che's arm, her nails digging into his skin: "Brother Che... Ah Ming and the others..."
Fang Che forced himself to calm down.
He stared at the iron gate, his mind racing.
wrong.
If Ma Wang really wanted to use the child to threaten Li Hanzhou, why didn't he just negotiate the terms directly?
Why use such crude bait instead?
Unless... he doesn't care about the child's life or death, and has no intention of negotiating.
What he wanted was to eliminate Li Hanzhou "legally" on his own turf!
For example, Li Hanzhou's unauthorized entry sparked a shootout, and casualties were inevitable.
Then he could explain to the elders of the gang that Li Hanzhou had attacked first and that he was only acting in self-defense.
“Xi Rong,” Fang Che suddenly spoke up, “where in the junkyard were the children’s watches finally located?”
Xi Rong quickly accessed the watch's backend settings!
Fang Che had Chen Bo install it; it could record movement trajectories.
The light spot on the screen flickers on the junkyard map, eventually disappearing at...
"In the southeast corner! That old repair shop!" Xi Rong pointed to the map.
Fang Che stared at that spot, then glanced at the main entrance that Li Hanzhou was about to enter.
To get from the main entrance to the repair workshop, you have to pass through the entire stacking area, which is the best place to ambush.
Climbing over the wall to the west leads to an open dismantling area with good visibility but few cover options.
"Luring the tiger away from the mountain..." Fang Che murmured.
Ma Wang had correctly predicted that Li Hanzhou would split his forces into two groups.
The main force is lying in ambush in the stacked area to deal with Li Hanzhou, while A Gui on the west side will be surrounded and attacked in the open area once he is exposed.
The children... might not be in the repair shop at all, or there might be a more deadly trap there.
"Xi Rong!" Fang Che made a decisive decision. "Take two people and go towards the back gate to meet A Biao's men. Have them circle around from the north side, don't take the main road!"
"And what about you, Che-ge?"
"I'll go find the children," Fang Che gritted his teeth. "I know a way..."
He recalled that he had walked around this junkyard during his last inspection.
A drainage ditch extends from outside the site and leads directly to the back of the repair workshop.
The ditch was very narrow, difficult for an adult to enter, but with his physique...
"No! Your injury hasn't healed yet!" Xi Rong exclaimed anxiously.
"I can't worry about that now!" Fang Che had already run in the direction he remembered. "Do as I say! Quickly!"
...
Inside the junkyard, Li Hanzhou pushed open the iron gate.
He walked slowly, his gun hanging at his side, his gaze sweeping over the mountains of wrecked vehicles piled up on both sides.
The setting sun peeked through the gaps in the car windows, casting distorted shadows on the ground.
After walking thirty meters, a sound came from ahead.
"Boss Li, you really keep your word."
Horse King emerged from behind an abandoned bus.
He was wearing a dark Tang suit, twirling walnuts in his hand, and smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
He was accompanied by seven or eight people, including the scarred man from the dock.
"Where are the children?" Li Hanzhou stopped in his tracks.
"Children?" Ma Wang feigned surprise. "What children? Boss Li, are you mistaken? This is my territory. You've barged in without permission and are asking about my children?"
Li Hanzhou looked at him and suddenly smiled.
The smile was cold, causing several of Ma Wang's men to instinctively take a half-step back.
“King Ma,” Li Hanzhou slowly raised his gun, aiming at the chassis of a car suspended on a stack of racks above his head, “my godfather was tired of these tricks of yours twenty years ago.”
Before he finished speaking, he pulled the trigger!
"Bang!"
Gunshots rang out!
The bullet struck the chain fastener securing the car, sending sparks flying.
The car wobbled twice and then crashed down, landing in the open space between Li Hanzhou and Ma Wang, kicking up a cloud of dust!
Almost simultaneously, the sound of gun bolts being pulled back echoed from every corner of the stacking area!
At least a dozen people emerged from their hiding places, guns pointed at Li Hanzhou!
Ma Wang's expression changed slightly; he hadn't expected Li Hanzhou to see through the ambush at a glance.
"Li Hanzhou," he said, his fake smile fading, his voice turning icy, "Do you think you can get out of here all by yourself?"
"Who said I'm a person?"
A roar came from the west, followed by a brief exchange of fire!
Ah Gui's side also encountered an ambush, with dense gunfire and a considerable number of enemies.
King Ma laughed: "Your Ah Gui is indeed a formidable fighter, but I've prepared twenty men to 'entertain' him. As for you..."
He clapped his hands.
The metal door of the repair shop slowly opened.
Amin and five children were pushed out with their hands and feet tied and their mouths stuffed with rags.
They had injuries on their faces, but were conscious. When they saw Li Hanzhou, Amin shook his head desperately.
Behind the children stood two muscular men with dark skin and fierce eyes!
It's from Thailand.
One of them said in broken Cantonese, "Mr. Li, it's an honor to meet you. My boss asked me to give you his regards."
Jiang Tianqi's men also got involved.
Li Hanzhou's gaze darkened.
Ma Wang has completely broken off relations and intends to use Jiang Tianqi and the Thais to eliminate him here.
“Ma Wang,” Li Hanzhou said slowly, “colluded with outsiders and harmed fellow disciples. According to the rules of the sect, he should be punished with three cuts and six holes.”
"Hall rules?" Ma Wang laughed. "Li Hanzhou, your father is dead, and Uncle Long is dead! It's not certain who's in charge of Heyi Hall now! After today, I'll tell the elders that you colluded with the police to try and wipe out the hall, and I'm cleaning house for the sake of the gang!"
He pointed at the Thais: "I'll say you brought these people here! As for the children..." His smile was sinister, "They are witnesses, proving that you didn't even spare the children to silence them!"
A vicious scheme.
Li Hanzhou tightened his grip on the gun.
He's in a dilemma!
If we take action, the children could die instantly!
If he doesn't act, the Horse King will never let him go.
The gunfire from Ah Gui's direction was fading, clearly being suppressed.
"Brother Li! Don't worry about us!" Amin suddenly broke free of the gag in his mouth and shouted, "They're lying to you! In the workshop..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Thai man behind him delivered a karate chop, and Amin collapsed to the ground.
"Amin!" the other children cried out.
A murderous intent suddenly flashed in Li Hanzhou's eyes!
Before anything could be done, a sudden change occurred!
"boom--!!!"
An explosion was heard from the side of the repair shop!
It didn't look like explosives; it looked more like a gasoline drum exploding.
Flames shot up and thick smoke billowed.
Everyone was taken aback.
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