Long Xiao listened at the door for a few minutes. The movements inside grew more intense, as if they intended to continue until dawn.
Long Xiao pushed the door open. It wasn't locked.
The room was pitch black. Long Xiao walked directly to the bedside.
Sensing someone had entered, the gasps stopped. The man jumped off the ground, ready to flee.
Long Xiao grabbed the man's arm and said, "Don't run, I need to talk to you."
Upon hearing Long Xiao's voice, the man immediately stopped struggling. He looked at Long Xiao strangely and asked, "Who are you? How did you get in?"
Long Xiao chuckled and said, "I've been here for a while. You two were so engrossed, I didn't want to wait any longer, so I came in."
Knowing Long Xiao wasn't there to capture them, the man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Brother, scaring people like that can give them a heart attack."
Long Xiao chuckled again, "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that you were acting guilty."
The woman, wrapped in a quilt, watched Long Xiao and the man talk from the bed.
After listening for a moment, she asked, "Young man, you broke into my house. What do you want? I don't have any money."
"I'm passing through your village and have an urgent matter. I need to borrow your phone to make a call."
The woman breathed a sigh of relief. "It's just a small matter, borrowing a phone. I don't have one."
Long Xiao felt the woman was playing with him and was about to get angry when the man said, "Brother, I have a phone if you need one."
The man fumbled around, pulled a phone from his clothes pocket on the bed, unlocked it, and handed it to Long Xiao.
Long Xiao made a call, reported his safety to Luan Jiping, and then detailed the situation at the stronghold. He also sent her the location of a small village.
The stronghold had over three hundred people, about fifty to sixty guards, over forty support staff, and approximately two hundred instructors and trainees.
"Sis, the stronghold guards are armed. Notify Director Lu and have the police intervene."
"Long Xiao, what's the strength of those martial artists?" Luan Jiping asked.
Long Xiao told Luan Jiping that, based on his observations, the martial artists here were all strong. To apprehend them, experts from various forces in Donghai would need to be mobilized.
"Take care of yourself and Yuelan's safety. I'll notify others immediately and try to gather a group of experts before dawn."
After ending the call, Long Xiao returned the phone to the man and patted his shoulder. "Sorry to disturb you, brother. You two carry on, pretend I wasn't here."
The man took the phone, thinking his good mood had been ruined and what was the point of continuing? Although he thought this, he didn't dare say it.
Someone who could appear silently at your bedside in the middle of the night was definitely not an ordinary person. The man just wanted to get rid of Long Xiao as soon as possible. As for continuing or not, that would depend on his and the woman's mood.
Long Xiao turned and left the room, closing the door with a wave, and climbed over the wall to leave.
The woman watched the closed door and said, "That person is really strange. What does he do?"
The man shook his head and said, "I don't know. He's definitely not ordinary. He's probably related to that training base down the mountain."
Soon, the room was filled with light once more, and the sounds of thrashing grew faster and more forceful again.
When Long Xiao returned to the stronghold, he went directly to his room and fell asleep.
The next morning, Luo Yan entered with breakfast and medicine.
"Brother Long, are you feeling any better?" Luo Yan asked with concern.
Seeing that Luo Yan was alone and the doctor wasn't there, Long Xiao sat up and said, "I'm fine. You don't need to feed me anymore."
Luo Yan looked at Long Xiao in surprise. Yesterday, Long Xiao was seriously injured and bedridden, but today he was like a new person.
After watching Long Xiao finish his breakfast, Luo Yan handed him the medicine. Long Xiao waved it away. "Throw it away. I don't need to take medicine."
Luo Yan went to the window and looked outside. She whispered, "Brother Long, your injuries are healed. Why don't we escape together?"
Long Xiao shook his head. "There's no need to escape. Why should we run? I still have things to do."
"Brother Long, you want to save Ji Yuelan?" Luo Yan asked.
Long Xiao nodded. "Yes, I want to save Ji Yuelan, and I want to destroy this stronghold."
"Brother Long, the people here are very powerful, and they are all ruthless. Even the police can't destroy this place," Luo Yan whispered.
Long Xiao smiled. "Don't worry. The police can't, but someone can."
As dawn broke, the training ground became lively. Some were running, some were training in combat, and some sat in corners practicing breathing exercises.
Around 8 AM, a rumbling sound was heard. Everyone on the training ground looked nervously towards the main gate.
Suddenly, a crisp gunshot rang out. The armed guards at the gate were hit, and two armored personnel carriers smashed through the gate and drove into the stronghold.
Following the armored personnel carriers were eight anti-riot vehicles. The police officers who jumped out were fully armed, their muzzles pointed at everyone on the training ground.
Seeing the large contingent of police officers, the people on the training ground quickly gathered together. A sturdy middle-aged man walked towards the police.
"This is the Donghai Security Training Base. You have no right to enter," the middle-aged man said calmly to the police.
Lu Tianxing, dressed in combat gear and carrying a submachine gun, stepped forward and asked, "Who is in charge of this base?"
The middle-aged man said, "I am the chief instructor, Zhao Dongfu. You can talk to me about whatever it is."
"This place has been shut down. You must come with us to the police station for investigation."
Zhao Dongfu sneered. "What will you do if we refuse?"
"If you resist, we have the right to shoot."
Zhao Dongfu burst into laughter. "Shoot? You're dreaming. Do you think a few dozen police officers can take down hundreds of martial artists?"
Before Zhao Dongfu's laughter had even died down, more than a dozen luxury cars stopped at the entrance, followed by more than a dozen buses.
Zheng Dongyang and Zheng Yuelan alighted and walked to Lu Tianxing's side. Following them were experts from various families and a large number of martial artists from the Martial Alliance, who disembarked from the buses and surrounded the police.
"If the police can't deal with you, can Zheng Dongyang and the Donghai Martial Alliance?" Zheng Dongyang asked.
Zhao Dongfu glanced at Zheng Dongyang and shook his head. "You, Zheng Dongyang, are no match for me. The Donghai Martial Alliance can't touch us."
Luo Tianshui, carrying 'Blood Blade', walked with Luan Jiping to Lu Tianxing's side. Following them were Chen Meijia, Bao Tie, and Zhang Eryong, and even Xin Yifei and Xin Sihai had arrived.
"Surrender for investigation, or will you put up a futile resistance?" Lu Tianxing asked.
Before Zhao Dongfu could answer, Chachai arrived with Qian Yun, followed by over a dozen middle-aged men not wearing training attire.
"Director Lu, I, Chachai, have never surrendered, and that includes the police," Chachai said coldly.
Lu Tianxing waved his hand and shouted, "All police officers fall back and surround this place."
All the police officers quickly retreated, setting up a perimeter at the main gate and along the walls. The experts from the Martial Alliance and various families swiftly advanced, encircling the martial artists on the training ground.