Just as the men from the Wanlong Syndicate rushed forward.
To everyone's surprise, the bald thug holding Zhou Juan'er hostage did not let go. Instead, he was provoked into a desperado-like ferocity, a look of near-crazed ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
"Don't fucking move! Whoever takes another step, I'll chop her up first!"
"Boss! We can't just surrender without a fight. I know who these people are, we'll die!"
With that, he suddenly raised the machete in his hand, making as if to slash the arm of the woman in front of him. He was clearly trying to use this extreme method to force the crowd back and buy himself a chance to escape.
His actions seemed utterly foolish to the onlookers, completely disregarding his own boss's life.
But only he himself knew that he absolutely could not fall into the hands of these men in black.
Because he had spent time in Mingzhu City and knew that these men in black were in cahoots with the cops over there. Once caught by them, he would truly be finished.
He was one of the fugitives on the run from the Mingzhu City arson case early last year, and he even had a murder charge on his back. To evade the police, he didn't hesitate to shave his head bald and get a tattoo on his face, managing to escape capture through this disguise.
Later, because he was a fierce fighter, he started running with Zhao Biao in this small town.
This was why, while the other thugs chose to obediently release their hostages, only he chose to resist to the bitter end.
Of course, no one present knew about this past except him, including Ma Da and his men.
"Wife!" Zhang Tao's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw this.
He shoved Zhao Biao aside and threw himself forward without a second thought.
Zhao Biao was pushed to the ground. Struggling to his feet, perhaps because his underling's words had sparked his own violent nature, he suddenly scrambled up and rammed into Zhang Tao from the side.
"You want to kill me? I'll fucking kill you first!"
Zhang Tao's entire attention was focused on the bald man and Zhou Juan'er, completely unaware of the attack from the side.
Bang!
Zhao Biao crashed heavily into Zhang Tao's ribs.
The massive impact threw Zhang Tao off balance, making him stumble and fall forward to the right, his right hand still gripping the dagger he had snatched from Zhao Biao.
In the moment of his fall, Zhang Tao instinctively held the dagger across his chest. After knocking Zhang Tao down, Zhao Biao continued lunging forward due to momentum, diving right toward where Zhang Tao was falling.
Thwack!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh!
Zhao Biao's eyes suddenly widened. He lowered his head in disbelief, looking at the dagger buried in his own chest, before his body went limp, pinning Zhang Tao underneath him.
On the other side.
Just as the bald man's machete was about to fall on Zhou Juan'er, a massive fist carrying a fierce gust of wind struck toward him.
Clang!!!
The fist smashed against the flat of the blade, emitting a harsh screech of deforming metal. The machete's blade actually caved in abruptly, and the sheer force sent the bald man flying backward.
Crash!!!
The bald thug slammed heavily into the brick wall behind him, instantly passing out. The machete clattered to the side, its blade completely bent and mangled.
Ji Yu pulled back his fist and looked at Ma Da: "It's handled!"
"Badass!" Ma Da gave Ji Yu a thumbs-up.
"Quick! Save them!"
Several men in black quickly stepped forward, shielding Zhou Juan'er and her parents, and swiftly escorted them away from the scene.
After completely securing the scene, Ma Da finally walked over toward Zhang Tao.
When he saw that Zhang Tao was still lying on the ground, he laughed and scolded, "Taozi, why are you playing dead? Hurry up and get up, your wife is fine now."
"Stop lying there." He gave Zhang Tao a light kick.
But when Ma Da saw Zhang Tao's increasingly pale face, his smile gradually faded.
He shoved Zhao Biao off of Zhang Tao. A dagger was starkly embedded in Zhao Biao's chest, blood gushing out, staining Zhang Tao's clothes red and pooling onto the ground.
"Fuck!" Ma Da's expression changed, and he crouched down for a closer look.
Zhao Biao's eyes were half-open, his pupils already beginning to dilate. He opened his mouth as if trying to say something, but only bloody froth spilled from his lips.
A few seconds later, the last rise and fall of his chest stopped.
He was dead!
Ma Da sharply looked up at Zhang Tao: "What happened?"
Zhang Tao propped himself up, caught his breath, and explained what had occurred: "He just rammed into me from the side. I fell down, and then the knife just went in..."
Ma Da took a deep breath, stood up, and looked at the people around them.
The men in black had already restrained all the thugs, but whether it was their own people or the gang members, many had witnessed the scene.
"Listen up, everyone. From now on, nobody says a word out of turn!"
"Call Lawyer Zhao over here."
"Yes, Brother Ma!"
After Zhang Tao regained his senses, he asked with lingering fear, "Brother Ma... am I going to be thrown in the slammer?"
In the outside world, there were always rumors that the Wanlong Syndicate was ruthless and had even killed many people, but the true core members knew clearly that they had never done such things.
Those were all slanders and rumors from outsiders.
This time, Zhang Tao had genuinely killed someone for the first time, even though it was an accident.
Ma Da patted his shoulder: "Don't overthink it. Zhao Biao kidnapped and attacked you first. This is self-defense. When Lawyer Zhao gets here, he'll handle it."
Despite saying this, he knew in his heart that once someone died, things became complicated.
To his knowledge, there seemed to be no precedent in the country for self-defense resulting in death without bearing any responsibility. Zhang Tao would likely have to go to prison for a while.
Thinking of this, he felt somewhat irritated. What a mess this was!
A joyous day had turned into this.
This was absolutely his most failed operation as a team leader. How was he supposed to explain this to the young miss later!
Soon, Zhao Tianyi arrived in a hurry.
After taking a look at the scene, he asked nothing and directly started making arrangements.
"First, preserve the scene exactly as it is. Do not move anything."
"Second, everyone hand over your phones, including our own people."
"Third, immediately go and screen the observing villagers to stop them from calling the police. If anyone reports this, it must be us."
He had a reason for this third arrangement; it was to prevent the villagers, who might not have seen the full context, from spouting nonsense to the cops. For instance, if they claimed two gangs got into a brawl that resulted in a death, that would be troublesome.
Instead, if they called the police themselves, they could report the situation more accurately—that they had acted courageously to save people, rather than simply engaging in an illegal gang fight. Setting the narrative early would save a lot of trouble.
After making the arrangements, Zhao Tianyi finally looked at the groom sitting on the ground, covered in blood.
To be honest, he really felt that Zhang Tao was too unlucky, running into such a disaster on his wedding day.
"Zhang Tao, tell me the detailed sequence of events again."
Zhang Tao recounted the whole incident once more, including the detail of how Zhao Biao collided with the dagger.
After listening to Zhang Tao's statement, Zhao Tianyi's face showed not a ripple of emotion. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and began to meticulously inspect the scene like a detective.
