Gu San wore a solemn expression, then a ferocious smile spread across his face as he hoisted the man up and walked deep into the mountain forest.
"Ah..."
Before long, piercing, agonizing screams echoed through the forest, enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
Not long after, Gu San returned to the group, his body stained with blood and his right hand tightly gripping a throwing knife.
"Master, this fellow was indeed stubborn, but after enduring two hundred and eighty slices of lingchi, he finally broke and confessed everything.
Not only that, we discovered that whenever their blood flowed or their body temperature rose, a phoenix tattoo would appear on the backs of them and the others, exactly as you predicted."
"A phoenix tattoo? Master, could these be the members of the Wang Family you mentioned before?"
Hearing Gu San's words, Gu Si, standing nearby, turned grim, clearly filled with deep resentment and hostility toward the Wang Family.
"The Wang Family!"
Gu Chang's gaze sharpened slightly, and he couldn't help glancing back at the high-ponytail woman inside the vehicle.
No wonder the high-ponytail woman had fallen into danger; after all, the Zhang Family and the Wang Family had always been sworn enemies.
If they hadn't run into them today, that woman probably wouldn't have survived.
"Master, this bunch of Wang Family members are utterly lawless. Why don't we just storm their den and wipe them out in one fell swoop?"
Gu San's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and his voice was bone-chilling.
"Where the headquarters of the Wang Family is located remains unclear; they are by no means a target that can be easily destroyed overnight. Besides, we have a more important mission to complete right now."
Gu Gang shook his head. He knew that the members of the Wang Family might be weak, but without knowing the location of their headquarters, any action would be a waste of effort.
Now that they had crossed paths with the Wang Family and wiped out a batch of their elite, he believed there would be plenty of opportunities to fight them in the future. They could settle the score thoroughly once their headquarters was found.
"Very well, let's head to Ganggangyingzi first. Everything else can be discussed later."
"Understood, Master!"
The three men got back into the car, and Gu San drove the off-road vehicle along the winding mountain road.
Although the body was riddled with bullet holes and the windows were completely shattered, the overall performance was still normal, and reaching Ganggangyingzi without incident was not a problem.
They weren't far from Ganggangyingzi, and soon they arrived at a mountain village. The roar of the engine and the glare of the headlights instantly startled the villagers.
For this isolated little mountain village, seeing an outsider was a rare event even over several years, so the sudden appearance of an off-road vehicle naturally caused quite a commotion.
Yet, upon seeing the battered state of the vehicle, the villagers grew even more cautious—those bullet marks were far too conspicuous, involuntarily evoking thoughts of danger.
"Boss Gu?"
As Gu Gang stepped out of the vehicle, someone in the crowd let out a cry of surprise.
...
"Boss Gu, how come you're here?"
At the entrance of Ganggangyingzi Village, watching Gu Gang step out of the car carrying a female in his arms, Wang Fatty couldn't help asking with a face full of astonishment.
"Fatty, you said you recognize these people?"
Hearing this, Hu Bayi furrowed his brow deeply, his tone calm yet tinged with doubt.
"Old Hu, the young man holding the woman is Boss Gu of Gujin Pavilion whom I mentioned to you before—the one who bought my jade pendant for thirty thousand yuan."
"He's the boss of Gujin Pavilion?"
Hu Bayi wore a look of shock, and the furrow in his brow deepened even further.
As a veteran soldier of many years who had been through live combat, how could he fail to see that the so-called Boss Gu before him had just experienced a life-and-death battle? The bullet holes covering the entire car like a honeycomb also stirred an indescribable emotion within him.
"Fatty, this Boss Gu seems to have quite a background. Do you know anything specific about him?"
Hearing this, Wang Fatty could only shake his head. "I only know that he runs an antique shop in Panjiayuan, holding a top-tier status in that line of work.
Yet who would have expected him to show up in a place like this, and moreover, looking as if he had just emerged from the smoke of battle..."
"Xiao Hu, Xiao Wang, do you two know this person?"
At that moment, the village chief suddenly chimed in.
Hearing this, Wang Fatty pondered for a moment before replying, "Old Village Chief, this is a big shot from the Capital. We're not close, but I've met him once."
"Since you're acquaintances, and the woman in his arms is clearly injured, let her go inside and rest first."
The old village chief sighed, then instructed a young woman under thirty standing nearby: "Yanzi, go call Uncle Laoshan over.
He's an experienced doctor and should be able to help examine her injuries."
"I'm on it."
Yanzi nodded quickly, turned around, and ran back into the village to fetch him.
That woman was covered in blood, looking utterly terrifying.
"Wang Fatty, I didn't expect us to run into each other again."
Gu Gang, holding the high-ponytail woman in his arms, nodded at Wang Fatty.
"Boss Gu, what's going on with this situation...?"
Wang Fatty glanced at the unconscious and injured woman in Gu Gang's arms, as if he had something more to say but held back.
"It's a long story!"
Gu Gang forced a bitter smile and shook his head.
"Alright, saving a life comes first. Follow us."
"Sorry to trouble you."
Gu Gang carried the high-ponytail woman, following closely behind the old village chief, Hu Bayi, and Wang Fatty. Soon, they arrived at the old village chief's house and laid the woman on the kang.
"Fatty, I must ask you all to step outside for a moment. If she isn't treated soon, I'm afraid she won't make it through tonight."
"Young man, I've already sent someone to fetch the best traditional Chinese medicine doctor in the village. He should be here shortly."
The old village chief stood leaning on his walking stick and said.
"There's no need to wait. Her injuries are too severe to delay any longer, and besides, I know a thing or two about medicine."
After all, having practiced cultivation for many years, medicine and martial arts were fundamentally one. He had self-taught a fair amount of medical knowledge, and with the aid of True Qi, this minor matter was well within his ability.
After the others were ushered out, Gu Gang began treating the high-ponytail woman.
The three knife wounds on the woman's arms and thighs were relatively easy to handle; the critical issue was the gunshot wound to her abdomen, where her spleen and stomach had been nearly pierced—a fatal injury.
Hum!
He extended the index and middle fingers of his right hand, gathering powerful True Qi at his fingertips.
A mysterious force followed the movement of his fingers, and a blood-drenched bullet instantly flew out from the woman's abdomen.
Afterward, a potent ball of True Qi enveloped her abdomen, spleen, and stomach to treat her wounds.
With the miraculous properties of True Qi, the bleeding in the woman's abdomen stopped at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even the knife wounds on her arms and thighs healed rapidly at that very moment.
After stabilizing the woman's condition, Gu Gang took gauze and medicine out of his System Space to simply bandage her up, and everything was essentially done.
When he walked out, he found that Hu Bayi and Wang Fatty were still waiting outside the door.
"Brother Hu, Brother Fatty, I've brought Uncle Laoshan here."
Right at that moment, Yanzi walked over with a man in his sixties carrying a medical box on his back.
"Who is injured?"
The old man glanced around at the group and asked.
"Old sir, the person has already been saved, but I still had to trouble you to make a trip. Thank you for your hard work."
Gu Gang said politely.
Although the woman had already been cured by him, the old man had also come with good intentions to help, so an expression of gratitude was only proper.
"Cured?"
The old man furrowed his brow, looked suspiciously at Gu Gang, then walked into the room to carefully inspect the injured woman on the bed and check her pulse.
"Oh?"
"Strange, I heard she had a gunshot wound and was on the verge of death. How is her pulse already steady after such a short time?"
The old man turned to Gu Gang with a face full of doubt: "Did you do this?"
"Indeed!"
"I truly never expected a young man nowadays to possess such brilliant medical skills. Very well, since the patient is out of danger, I won't disturb you any longer."
Looking at the young Gu Gang, the old man sighed with emotion and was seen off by Yanzi.