Chapter 1176: The Final Siege

After confirming that Qian Wu Fang's side had no issues for the time being, Weekend began to gradually check the status of the other squads in "Ji Dao."

According to Yan Zhichun, Jiang Ruoxue, and Lao Sun, their locations had encountered various problems, but it seemed like they had been mostly resolved for now—the full outcome would depend on future developments.

Within a few hours, nearly all members of "Ji Dao" had reached their destinations.

Lao Deng led the group to the site of a "Di Niu," which was an open-air stadium that appeared to involve a tug-of-war game.

A remarkably muscular female "Di Niu" was sitting in the center of the square, waiting for them. When the two sides met, they simply nodded to each other without a word.

Tong Yi guided her squad to the site of a tall "Di Tu," where the game was called "Peng Lai." The two sides hit it off immediately and exchanged no further words.

Xiao Xiao and Lin Geng arrived at a glass shop, where they encountered a lazy-looking "Di Gou."

Lin Geng had some acquaintance with it, given the heavy casualties the four girls had suffered during the previous "Zai E Nian." After briefly explaining their purpose, the "Di Gou" immediately let them into the house to take shelter. During this time, it asked about Su Shan's situation, and Lin Geng could only reply honestly, "I don't know."

Finally, there was the captain of the eighth squad, an unknown elder.

It took Weekend half a day to verify the elder's information before finally making contact.

According to the elder, he was leading his squad to the game site of a "Di Ji." That "Sheng Xiao" appeared colorful but would flare up at the slightest provocation, making it quite frightening.

Weekend offered the elder some simple reassurance, but still had doubts in his heart—

Who exactly was this elder?

When the eight squad captains were being confirmed, the elder had raised his hand on the spot to indicate he was one of them.

Although Weekend had questions, seeing that Jiang Ruoxue and Yan Zhichun didn't object, he didn't challenge it in the midst of the chaos. Now, no matter how he tried to recall, he couldn't remember when this elder had joined "Ji Dao."

However, "Ji Dao" was an inherently mysterious organization, and it was normal for members not to know each other well. Fortunately, everything in the plan was now on track.

"Not... there's still one person to confirm..."

Weekend closed his eyes and carefully controlled his remaining "Xin Nian," precisely locating that person among the crowd.

"Tsk, Tian Tang Kou's boss, how are you?" Weekend asked.

"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu's voice came back. "Rare for you to contact me."

"I touched you briefly in the chaos earlier," Weekend said. "Tsk, you sound fine, so good luck to you."

"Ha..." Chu Tianqiu chuckled. "Tell Yan Zhichun she owes me a huge favor. She'll have to think about how to repay it."

Weekend knew exactly what Chu Tianqiu meant, so he paused before saying the two words he almost never uttered—

"Thanks."

"I'm honored," Chu Tianqiu said. "It's more normal when you say nothing at all."

"Tsk, then you might as well drop dead."

...

Chu Tianqiu ended his conversation with Weekend and looked up at the large group of "Can Yu Zhe" surrounding him.

At that moment, all the members of "Tian Tang Kou" were hemmed in at the center, and everyone was injured.

Chu Tianqiu knew this was an inevitable situation, as "Tian Tang Kou"'s task was to cover the retreat of the entire "Ji Dao."

This meant that while "Ji Dao" fled without fighting back against the "Can Yu Zhe," simply trying to blend into the crowd, "Tian Tang Kou" had to keep striking at the incoming reinforcements. It wasn't long before the "Can Yu Zhe" gave up chasing "Ji Dao" and turned their encirclement entirely toward "Tian Tang Kou."

Although over a hundred people were surrounding the twenty-something members of "Tian Tang Kou," not a single one dared to make the first move.

After all, the "Tian Tang Kou" team looked incredibly formidable—all of them were "Hui Xiang Zhe," and several were highly skilled in combat.

Zhang Shan took a deep breath and said, "Chu Tianqiu, do you still have things to handle?"

Chu Tianqiu glanced at the sky and replied, "Yes, that arrogant Qi Xia wants me to board the 'Liet Che' for some task. The time is about right."

Xiao Yanjing adjusted his glasses and scanned the crowd. "Mr. Chu, why don't you go first? Being held up here doesn't seem like your style of decision-making."

Chu Tianqiu thought for a few seconds and said, "I should prioritize the bigger picture, but for some reason, there's a voice in my head telling me to make sure you're all safe before I leave."

"That's quite flattering," Xiao Yanjing said. He paused for a moment, then glanced back at the others and asked, "I haven't seen Lao Lü in a while... Is he already dead?"

"I don't know," Chu Tianqiu said. "We can't worry about the dead right now. Let's focus on breaking out."

Zhang Shan flexed his muscles and said, "How about I hold them off while you all try to escape?"

"Don't be foolish," Chu Tianqiu said. "'Yi Yi Dang Bai' is impossible in reality. You can't use 'Tian Xing Jian' right now, so even if you're tough, you'd just get swamped by the crowd."

"'Yi Yi Dang Bai' might not work..." Zhang Shan scratched his head. "But I remember some braggart telling me he could retreat while fighting and take down thirty-seven people bare-handed."

"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu chuckled. "Was that really not just bragging?"

"The hell if I know?" Zhang Shan said. "I can't even remember who said it."

"Don't show off," Chu Tianqiu said. "You just fought Bai Hu and survived by sheer luck. Let's find a way to break out together."

Li Xiangling examined the wooden stick in her hand, then planted it on the ground. After a moment, she kicked the end of it with an inch kick, breaking it to reveal a sharp point, turning it into something more like a spear.

"Weapons are all about killing techniques, and I promised my grandfather I wouldn't initiate harm..." Li Xiangling looked up and said, "Unless I'm about to die."

She spun the wooden stick in her hand a few times and pointed it at the surrounding circle—

"liu He Da Qiang to drive back enemies, Liu He Xiao Qiang to take lives."

Before the encirclement could react, Li Xiangling stepped forward, spun the stick at her waist for half a circle, and thrust it out, immediately drawing blood from several people.

As the saying goes, "strike first to gain the upper hand," so Li Xiangling had to break through the circle before more could respond.

The brawl erupted in an instant. Zhang Shan stepped up and grabbed two people who were trying to counterattack Li Xiangling.

Seeing this, the entire encirclement charged in, engaging the "Tian Tang Kou" members in close combat. Chu Tianqiu wanted to join the fight but was held back by those around him, so he kept Wen Qiao Yun behind him, doing his best to avoid getting hurt in the melee.