445: Chapter 445: Mountains Exhausted, Waters Restored, Doubt There’s No Path 445: Chapter 445: Mountains Exhausted, Waters Restored, Doubt There’s No Path Zhang Xiaochuan was a man of deep feelings and loyalty.
At that time, he fell in love with a woman, but she was already married.
He refused to give up, which ultimately led to the woman’s suicide by jumping off a building.
In a fit of rage, Zhang Xiaochuan killed the woman’s husband.
That man was no pushover; he had a group of brothers under him, who then started to pursue Zhang Xiaochuan for revenge.
The adversaries even hired an assassination organization.
One deep night, Zhang Xiaochuan was hiding in a hotel, but unexpectedly, he was discovered, suffering serious injuries while frantically trying to escape, he was finally cornered.
At that moment, he had lost all hope, but he did not want to die.
He fought back desperately, but there were too many on the other side, and he was powerless to reverse his fate.
He cried out in despair, thinking he would die just like that.
At the crucial moment, Tie Sanjiang appeared with his men, not to save Zhang Xiaochuan but because he had a score to settle with those people, and he incidentally saved him.
From that point on, Zhang Xiaochuan followed Tie Sanjiang.
In his heart, Tie Sanjiang was his lifesaver.
His life had been saved by the other man, and he would serve Tie Sanjiang to the death.
That’s what he thought, and that’s what he did.
Several times when Tie Sanjiang was the target of assassination attempts, it was Zhang Xiaochuan who shielded him from the bullets, without any regrets.
Despite Zhang Xiaochuan’s loyalty, Tie Sanjiang never appreciated it.
In his eyes, Zhang Xiaochuan was merely his bodyguard, and all these actions were expected of him.
If not for today, Zhang Xiaochuan would have followed Tie Sanjiang until he died in battle one day.
But now everything was chaos; he was not dead yet, but his boss was.
Standing in front of Tie Sanjiang, Zhang Xiaochuan was filled with deep self-reproach, blaming himself for not charging in earlier.
Why had he been so careless when he clearly felt that something was off about Xiang Mao?
“Ahh…” Zhang Xiaochuan suddenly let out a loud cry.
He wanted revenge; he wanted to kill Xiang Mao.
Zhang Xiaochuan had gone mad.
Clutching his gun, he ran out at a speed that was definitely faster than a rabbit’s.
“Where is he?” Zhang Xiaochuan charged out, screaming frantically.
Outside, there were still people loyal to Zhang Xiaochuan.
Without his command, they would never leave.
“He ran that way,” one of them quickly reported.
Zhang Xiaochuan didn’t need to be told, as he could see many of his brothers gathering in that direction.
Clenching his teeth, Zhang Xiaochuan charged towards that direction, determined to tear Xiang Yu into pieces that very day.
Xiang Yu was wounded, and the things before his eyes were gradually blurring.
If it wasn’t for the shouting behind him, he would have already collapsed, especially after Zhang Xiaochuan’s angry roar, which had sobered him up quite a bit.
Xiang Yu’s strength was waning.
He bit the tip of his tongue to force himself to stay alert while dodging the bullets from behind and pushing forward.
Suddenly, a person leaped out from one side, grabbed Xiang Yu, and pulled him over.
Xiang Yu thought it was one of the enemy’s men.
He clenched his fist, ready to fight.
“Come with me,” the person said, then started pulling Xiang Yu away.
Only then did Xiang Yu see that the person was Zhang Han.
Although he did not fully understand Zhang Han’s background, his intuition told him that this man would not harm him.
Moreover, Xiang Yu was severely injured and had no time to think about anything else.
He followed Zhang Han into Zone Three.
Zone Three was where Zhang Han worked, merely an ordinary hot spring area.
By entering here, it was as if announcing that Xiang Yu had no hope left, only allowing the pursuers to trap him easily.
Xiang Yu didn’t understand why Zhang Han had pulled him into this place with time so pressing that he had no chance to ask any questions.
Zhang Han pulled Xiang Yu to the last hot spring pool, then he stepped in first.
Behind the artificial mountain at the back of the hot spring pool, there was a secret door that was virtually imperceptible unless one looked closely.
Zhang Han, having worked here for a long time, had a crystal-clear understanding of the terrain.
“Go out through here, and it leads straight to the main road.
Hail a car and escape as fast as you can,” Zhang Han said with an expression of grave seriousness.
“Thanks, I’ll definitely return to repay this debt of life-saving grace someday.
Farewell.” Xiang Yu was not one to be overly sentimental, and with his life on the line, he didn’t ponder any further and entered the secret door.
Just at this moment, shouting erupted from outside, especially the frantic yelling of Zhang Xiaochuan.
His voice was laden with a thick murderous intent.
“Xiang Mao, come out!
You won’t escape now, you killed the boss, and today I’ll flay you alive,” Zhang Xiaochuan screamed in frenzy.
A crowd followed him, storming into Zone Three with great momentum.
Zone Three wasn’t very large, consisting of only about a dozen pools, and it would take them just a few minutes to search the entire area.
At this point, Zhang Han emerged from the last pool with an unfazed demeanor.
Zhang Xiaochuan, mistaking him for Xiang Yu, nearly shot him on the spot.
Unintimidated, Zhang Han stood there, calmly facing Zhang Xiaochuan and asked, “Do you want to kill me?”
At that moment, Zhang Xiaochuan had no time to deal with Zhang Han; he merely told him to move aside and then headed towards the last pool.
Zhang Han stepped in front of Zhang Xiaochuan first, coldly blocking his way and questioned, “This is where I work, what exactly do you intend to do?”
“It’s none of your business.” Zhang Xiaochuan, not interested in further conversation, forcefully pushed Zhang Han aside.
Zhang Han tried to intervene again, but at that moment, the crowd surged forward, trapping him.
Given their knowledge of the relationship between Zhang Han and Zhang Xiaochuan, they didn’t mistreat him.
Since someone had seen Xiang Yu heading into Zone Three, Zhang Xiaochuan was convinced Xiang Yu was hiding in the last hot pool.
He tossed aside his handgun and slowly walked in.
Tie Sanjiang had been killed by Xiang Yu breaking his neck, and today Zhang Xiaochuan intended to twist Xiang Yu’s neck as well, to repay Tie Sanjiang for saving his life.
His followers remained armed and on alert for any unexpected moves from Xiang Yu.
However, when Zhang Xiaochuan reached the last pool, there was still no one to be seen, making his heart nearly explode in fury.
Where?” Zhang Xiaochuan yelled manically.
His companions were also puzzled; they had distinctly seen Xiang Yu running in.
Zhang Xiaochuan clenched his teeth in anger, then turned to search the other areas.
Alone and seriously wounded, Xiang Yu couldn’t have gone far.
As the group was about to leave, Zhang Xiaochuan suddenly noticed that Zhang Han seemed to let out a sigh of relief and his gaze inadvertently flicked past the artificial mountain behind them.
Having a meticulous mind, Zhang Xiaochuan also looked towards the artificial mountain.
There, on the mountain wall, was a fine line, almost undetectable without close inspection.
As if he had discovered a new world, Zhang Xiaochuan quickly rushed over.
He grasped the handle and pulled hard, revealing a camouflaged door leading to a two-meter-deep small tunnel.
“Here it is!” Zhang Xiaochuan shouted, stepping in first.
Through the two-meter tunnel, they arrived outside the entire villa.
They were high up, and not far ahead, the main road lay below.
And there, a weary figure was slowly making his way on the main road, a silhouette Zhang Xiaochuan recognized all too well—it was Xiang Yu.
“Xiang Mao, you’re definitely going to die today,” Zhang Xiaochuan bellowed, then madly charged down towards Xiang Yu…