"These people are really ruthless," Song Qiao spat on the ground, pushing open the airbag and crawling out of the almost derelict car.
Behind him, Deng Yihan also hurried to push open her car door. Her fair and beautiful face had completely lost its color. Recalling the dizzying near-rollover just moments ago, her legs felt weak.
She turned to look. The sedan had crashed through the guardrail and was now mired in the mud by the roadside, completely stuck.
"Mr. Song, what... what do we do?"
"We're finished. They have guns."
Panicked, Deng Yihan lost her composure. Seeing the cars behind them closing in, she pushed Song Qiao in her nervousness. "Mr. Song, you go first, don't mind me. I'm their target!"
"At least one of us can escape."
Despair filled Deng Yihan's beautiful eyes. She no longer cared about the scratches on her shoulder or the mud staining her dress.
Song Qiao, however, grabbed her arm. "Don't be afraid. Since these people want to keep us both here, I'll have a good showdown with them."
Just then, with a sharp screech of brakes.
Not far away, two black sedans screeched to a halt by the roadside. Several people emerged, all with menacing expressions. The leader was a man in his forties.
Upon seeing Song Qiao, his stern face was instantly filled with cold mockery.
*Clap, clap, clap!*
The crisp sound of applause suddenly echoed by the deserted roadside. The leading middle-aged man clapped his hands.
"Song Qiao, I must say, you do have some skills."
"Who are you?" Song Qiao frowned, looking at the man. He vaguely felt that the man's face seemed familiar, yet he was certain he had never met him.
"Do you remember Tao Yingcai?" The middle-aged man's eyes flickered with anger.
"Tao Yingcai?"
"What's your relationship with him?" Song Qiao frowned. He certainly remembered Tao Yingcai, whom Jiang Chuan had called the Young Master of Tongmen, holding a very high position within the sect.
"Heh heh, I am his father, the Grand Master of Tongmen in Shanghai, Tao Fan." The middle-aged man, Tao Fan, revealed his identity. He seemed to believe that the situation was under control and was in no hurry to act.
Song Qiao understood. No wonder this guy looked somewhat like Tao Yingcai. It was indeed the elder coming after the younger.
"Master Tao, are you here to stand up for your unfilial son this time?"
"Then you might be disappointed." His words were provocative, an attempt to understand the other party's true intentions through conversation.
As expected, Tao Fan snorted coldly upon hearing this.
"Hmph, what are you to warrant me making a special trip from Shanghai?" His tone was dismissive, but his gaze swept past Song Qiao to Deng Yihan behind him.
"My target this time is her."
"Someone wants Miss Deng dead, so they hired our Tongmen to handle it." Tao Fan said it lightly, but it made Deng Yihan's face turn pale.
So this operation was indeed aimed at her. Was she really going to die here today? After all, these people looked formidable, and they might even have guns.
"Heh heh, interesting." Song Qiao's voice turned cold, and he took a step forward.
"You want to kill her, did you even ask my opinion?"
"Master Tao, instead of thinking about killing people, you should worry more about whether you can leave here alive today." As he spoke, Song Qiao rubbed his wrists, his expression calm.
Earlier, he had tried to shake them off simply because he didn't want to cause trouble, especially with the defenseless Deng Yihan by his side. But since he had no choice, dealing with these few people wouldn't be difficult.
"Hahaha." These words made Tao Fan burst into laughter.
"Song Qiao, you truly are as arrogant as the rumors say. Just with your 'Xiang Piaopiao' brand, you dare to compete with the Glorious Group. I should have known you were this kind of person." Before coming, he had specifically looked into this Song Qiao, who could only be described as ignorant and fearless.
"But Song Qiao, have you really thought it through, to stand against our Tongmen for the sake of a Deng Yihan?"
"I know you had some friction with our Tongmen's previous master, but that was a minor matter."
Song Qiao smiled. "So if I don't interfere now, will you not come after me in the future?"
By now, he had a rough understanding that the group trying to deal with him and the group trying to deal with the Deng family had joined forces. Their scheme was to chase Deng Yihan while they were being pursued, all to sow discord between the Deng family and himself. In fact, even if he left directly, he would likely be hunted down soon.
Indeed, Tao Fan smiled and said nothing. In his eyes, Song Qiao was already a dead man.
At this moment, Deng Yihan suddenly mustered her courage.
"I don't know who you are or why you want to kill me, but I warn you, if anything happens to me, our Deng family will never forgive you!"
"Then prepare to face the retaliation of the Deng family." The slightly cool breeze brushed her cheeks, and her pale complexion betrayed her forced bravery. If only she could scare these people away with threats.
Alas, Deng Yihan was ultimately a bit too naive. As the Grand Master of Tongmen, how could Tao Fan fear the threat of a Deng family woman?
He pondered for a moment, wanting to complete the task assigned to him by the other party efficiently and avoid complications. He then turned his gaze to Song Qiao.
"Song Qiao, your fate is sealed, but at least my target today is not you. You can leave first. How about we meet another time?" Tao Fan wasn't entirely confident he could keep Song Qiao. From the information he had, Song Qiao had already entered the realm of internal energy, what ordinary people called the innate stage.
Although he might just be a novice who had recently entered the internal energy stage, defeating him wouldn't be difficult, but capturing him would be somewhat challenging. Forcibly detaining him might instead allow Deng Yihan to escape in the confusion.
Deng Yihan, standing nearby, trembled slightly upon hearing this. Stranded in the wilderness, her only reliance was Song Qiao. If Song Qiao left, she would have no ability to resist at all. Would Song Qiao really abandon her? Perhaps abandoning her was the right thing to do. Deng Yihan looked up and quietly at the man beside her.