Chapter 162: Freedom

"Sorry, but today the Thieves' Sect obeys only one person, and that person is me, Yang Zhi!"

"What! Have you all lost your minds?!"

Liu Feilong stood up from his chair in a fury.

He reached out his hand to grab Yang Zhi's head.

Before his hand could even reach her—

Slap!

"You... you hit me?"

Liu Feilong stared in utter shock at the Yang Zhi standing before him.

This wife of his, who usually didn't even dare to raise her voice in his presence, had actually struck him across the face.

"So what if I hit you, Liu Feilong? From this moment on, you are no longer the leader of the Thieves' Sect."

With that, Yang Zhi exchanged a glance with the disciples standing behind Liu Feilong.

After all, Liu Feilong was a seasoned veteran of the underworld. He spun around abruptly and pointed at those disciples, shouting, "You wouldn't dare!"

The men hesitated for a brief second, but the next moment—acting as though they had planned this long ago—they lunged forward without a word and pinned the slender-framed Liu Feilong directly onto the table.

"Damn it! You bastards, are you staging a mutiny?!"

"We're sorry, Master, but we are doing this for the sake of the Thieves' Sect."

The disciples holding him down offered their justifications one after another.

"Bulls**t! Is this for the Thieves' Sect? You've tied me up, but wasn't the Thieves' Sect founded by me, Liu Feilong? What you're doing is nothing less than treason!"

Yang Zhi walked up to the table with a cold sneer.

She leaned down close to him.

"Stop shouting. Everyone in this room—except for this man surnamed Xu—belongs to me, Yang Zhi."

"You... you wretched woman! Have you forgotten who rescued you from a snowdrift all those years ago?"

"It was you, that's right. Without you, there would be no Yang Zhi today. But I have also made plenty of contributions to the Thieves' Sect! And who among those present hasn't shed blood and put in the effort for this sect?"

As she spoke, Yang Zhi tapped the flat of her butcher's knife against Liu Feilong's face.

"It's only because of this that I haven't driven this blade straight into your body yet. Do you know that? I could have had you killed long ago!"

"Yang Zhi, you... you bitch!"

"Humph!"

Ignoring him, Yang Zhi stood up, signaled the men holding him, and commanded, "Stuff his mouth. I don't want to hear another sound from this man."

Someone immediately pulled out a dirty rag and shoved it forcefully into Liu Feilong's mouth.

"Muffled... mmm-mmph..."

Liu Feilong shook his head violently, but he could no longer utter a single coherent word.

At that moment, Yang Zhi turned to look at Xu Fei.

"Mr. Xu, now let's settle the score between you and our Thieves' Sect, shall we?"

Xu Fei never expected that infiltrating this gang of thieves would lead to such a complicated turn of events.

This woman was truly no good.

From the very moment he stepped through the door, he had felt that the way she looked at people was off. It seemed that the reason these men obeyed this woman wasn't simply because Liu Feilong was indifferent to the sect's internal affairs.

Perhaps...

Inwardly, Xu Fei chuckled, guessing that Liu Feilong's head was likely crowned with a vast expanse of green grass by now.

Outwardly, however, his expression darkened.

"I don't care about your Thieves' Sect. Your people saw it just now, and you saw the Zhu family outside as well. I hardly need to spell out what the Zhu family represents here in the provincial capital, do I?"

Yang Zhi responded with a cold sneer, "Xu Fei, don't try to scare me with anyone surnamed Zhu. My life hasn't belonged to me for a long time. To put it bluntly, I am going to deal with you today to give an explanation to the brothers of ours who fell into your hands!"

With that, she pointed her butcher's knife right at him.

"Brothers, don't you agree?"

"Right!"

Seeing this, Xu Fei felt his heart tighten.

The situation seemed to be spinning out of control.

This woman wasn't even afraid of the Zhu family.

Talk about fearless!

Xu Fei knew he had no choice but to follow the original plan.

He sprang up abruptly from his chair.

With a fierce kick, he aimed straight for Yang Zhi's lower abdomen.

After all, Yang Zhi was a woman, and she never imagined that Xu Fei would dare to strike back under these circumstances.

The kick landed squarely on target.

"Ah!"

Yang Zhi staggered back several steps and crashed into the disciples behind her. Clutching her stomach in agony, she pointed a trembling finger at Xu Fei and shrieked, "Catch him! Grab him!"

By then, Xu Fei had already dashed out of the room.

A few members of the Thieves' Sect swarmed toward him, but Xu Fei met them with a flurry of powerful straight punches that left them utterly disoriented and seeing stars.

By the time the men from inside the room chased after him, Xu Fei had already reached the front door.

Yang Zhi stumbled out into the courtyard.

"Don't let him get away!"

She stamped her foot in frustration.

"It's over!"

Even as she cried out, it was already too late. Several figures clad in green uniforms burst into the courtyard from outside, moving with the terrifying momentum of fierce tigers pouncing on their prey.

"Comrade Xu Fei, are you alright?"

Little Wang stepped forward and asked, eyeing Xu Fei up and down.

"I'm fine. Arrest them all, but watch out for that woman."

Little Wang nodded and gestured to the men behind him.

Ten security guards from the Zhu family instantly surrounded the entrance to the main hall.

In their hands were Type 54 pistols. The compact frames and pitch-black barrels caused the dozen or so people inside the house to exchange uneasy glances.

"Drop your weapons!"

Little Wang commanded in a cold, authoritative voice.

Some of the Thieves' Sect members immediately released their blades, letting them clatter to the ground before Little Wang and his men.

Yang Zhi, however, continued to grip her butcher's knife tightly.

"You bunch of useless cowards! Have you forgotten that you are members of the Thieves' Sect? When you joined, you swore an oath to protect the sect even unto death!"

"Mistress, they've got guns... You, you should drop your knife too."

Yang Zhi glared fiercely at the disciple who spoke.

She offered a chilling, mirthless smile and nodded at him.

"Fine. I'll drop mine too."

As the words left her lips—

The knife in her hand flashed forward, plunging deep into the disciple's stomach.

"Ah! You... you..."

Yang Zhi twisted the blade and thrust it in a second time.

With a miserable shriek, the disciple collapsed to the ground.

"Faithless traitors like you deserve this exact end."

Seeing Yang Zhi acting like a raving lunatic, the surrounding disciples instinctively backed away in terror.

"Have you all forgotten what you whispered to me in bed?"

Yang Zhi demanded, pointing her blood-stained knife at the others.

Just as suspected.

Xu Fei muttered inwardly.

Right at that moment—

A furious roar erupted from the inner room.

"You bitch! You vile bitch! I'll kill you!"

It was Liu Feilong, who had been locked away in the back room.

The next instant—

The curtain was violently torn aside.

Looking completely unhinged, Liu Feilong rushed out of the inner room wielding a butcher's knife.

Yang Zhi was startled by his sudden appearance.

Clearly, she had never expected that Liu Feilong, who should have been securely restrained by her men, had somehow managed to break free.

However...

It seemed it was far too late for her to figure out why.

Thud!

Liu Feilong's butcher's knife pierced straight through Yang Zhi's chest.

With a ferocious, distorted expression, Liu Feilong stared directly into her eyes.

"You bitch! You treacherous bitch!"

Yang Zhi offered a faint, fleeting smile.

"I... I can finally leave you now..."

A look of profound relief crossed Yang Zhi's delicate features. Then her eyes widened sharply before Liu Feilong shoved her heavily to the ground.