The situation was very special, and before he was fully confident, Luo Yang wouldn't act rashly.
He did not recognize any of these young men.
The bread van passed Xiaoshulin Market and turned at the crossroads onto another road, which led to the reservoir, in the opposite direction of the slag dump site.
Luo Yang thought that once the bread van reached its destination, there would be even more enemies waiting there. If he was going to make a move, it had to be on the road.
He sat at the very back of the van, with a young man seated on either side of him, and what satisfied him was that his hands and feet were not bound.
Whether these young men were called by Lang Yifeng or by Zhang Xingkai, he would only know by asking.
"Could I make a call to Brother Kai?" Luo Yang asked.
"Don't rush, you'll see him when you arrive. Blame yourself for not drinking the toast and suffering the penalty instead. Just take care of yourself!" said one of the young men coldly from the front.
It was important to understand who the instigator behind the scenes was for the sake of future retribution.
Luo Yang was confident that with one elbow strike to each of the young men on his left and right, two elbow strikes should basically take care of them. The crucial part was the man in the front with the firearm; knocking down the two beside him would definitely alert the two in front.
The one driving may or may not have a firearm, but he was driving the car and would have difficulty joining the fight as quickly as the other three men.
As his thoughts raced, Luo Yang already had a plan. If he dealt with the man with the firearm in the front first, that would indeed be better, but then it would be difficult to get rid of the two young men beside him.
"Gentlemen, could you stop the car for a moment so I can urinate? I drank a lot of water at home and can't hold it in much longer; I'm going to pee in the car," pleaded Luo Yang.
"Wait another ten minutes!" retorted the young man in front coldly.
"I'm really sorry. I can't hold it in. I'm going to pee right here," Luo Yang said urgently.
"If you dare pee in the car, I'll kill you!" threatened the young man in front after turning to look, then after a pause, he ordered, "Stop the car."
The bread van slowly came to a stop by the side of the road.
At this critical juncture, Luo Yang took a deep breath to encourage himself, knowing that if he messed up, there would be absolutely no chance of survival.
"Move quickly! Don't try anything funny, or I'll blow your head off!" urged the young man in front.
"Thanks, brothers. Here, have a cigarette," said Luo Yang as he took out a pack of cigarettes, handing one to each of the young men on his left and right, then stood up, bent over and walked forward, offering a cigarette to the young man in the front as well.
With True Qi within his body, though not much, a full-powered strike could deliver a force of hundreds of pounds. He thought if he struck the head of the young man in front, he must knock him out.
"Get out of the car!" the young man in front, holding a weapon, did not reach for the cigarette that Luo Yang was offering.
However, Luo Yang insisted on offering the pack of cigarettes to him.
At that moment, the young man reached out with his left hand to take the cigarettes. His right hand was holding a weapon, but it was not pointed at Luo Yang.
Seizing the opportunity, Luo Yang channeled his strength into his right fist and brutally smashed it into his opponent, pounding relentlessly on the young man's head to ensure that he was knocked out.
With several hundred pounds of force behind the punch, even if the young man had been wearing a helmet, he couldn't have withstood it, not to mention that his ability to take a hit wasn't strong. His head shook wildly from the blow, his body swayed, and then he slumped onto the seat.
By the time the two young men in the back realized what was happening, the young man in the front was already limp and motionless.
The narrow aisle in the carriage made it impossible for the two young men to rush at Luo Yang at the same time; coming at him one by one was akin to lambs walking into the lion's den. Luo Yang kicked out, sending them sprawling onto the seats, then he quickly advanced, swinging his fists without any particular technique, relying on his youth and strength to ensure that even a wild punch could be lethal.
Bang, bang, bang...
Rage turned into a barrage of punches that rained down on the heads and torsos of the two young men, each punch faster and heavier than the last.
Soon, the carriage was filled with the thick scent of blood.
Luo Yang didn't have time to check if they were dead or not. There was still a driver to deal with. He walked towards the front of the carriage. The driver had initially left his seat, likely intending to confront Luo Yang, but after hearing the beating his accomplices were receiving, he hurried back to his seat, planning to keep driving forward.
As Luo Yang reached the driver's side, he threw a punch, intending to knock out the driver, but then he remembered he needed someone to drive back, so he pulled his punches, just enough to make the driver cower, hands over his head, begging for mercy.
"Hand over your phone!" Luo Yang demanded.
The driver reluctantly handed his phone to Luo Yang, who threw it outside the vehicle; the driver didn't dare utter a word.
Only then did Luo Yang finally take a deep breath, his tension easing slightly.
First, he tied up the hands of the other three young men, searched them to make sure they had no weapons, and then sat in the passenger's seat, commanding, "Go to the rubbish dump."
The driver flinched, thinking Luo Yang wanted to kill him, and said with a trembling voice, "Big brother, I'm just the driver, please spare me."
Seeing Luo Yang glance at him, he knew better than to ask again and risk a beating, so he just turned the vehicle around and headed back, taking a different route to the Xiaoshulin Market before heading to the dump.
That night was the Ghost Festival, also known as the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Some places celebrated it on the fourteenth. On this night, lights were kept on all night in homes to, supposedly, ward off evil spirits.
In the past, the rubbish dump was only active during the day with construction trucks coming in and out; there were no street lights on the road leading to the dump, which made it quite dark after sunset.
Since the rubbish dump had been abandoned, hardly anyone went there during the day, let alone at night.
Now, Luo Yang wanted to go there, so it was normal for the driver to be worried.
The van wound its way to the top of the rubbish dump, and Luo Yang instructed the driver to go back down. The driver nodded frantically and quickly drove down.
"Stop here," Luo Yang commanded.
"Big brother, there's neither shops in front nor a restaurant behind, why stop here? How about I take you for a meal at Xiaoshulin Market instead?" the driver said, attempting to ingratiate himself.
Before he could finish his sentence, the driver was knocked unconscious by several punches to the head. Luo Yang used packing rope to tie his hands, then dragged him to the back seat, securely binding the four young men to their seats.
After completing all this, Luo Yang settled in the van to wait. The silence around him was profound, broken only by the sounds of insects. He wasn't feeling anxious.
He'd missed class that evening and felt a twinge of guilt thinking about the promise he had made to his head teacher, so he sent her a message, explaining that something had come up at home and he needed to take leave.
Suyun replied to his message, which said, "I know you wouldn't skip class without good reason. Hang in there."
Soon after, he received a message from Hong Jiaxin. She asked him what difficulties he'd encountered; he replied it was a minor issue and thanked her for her concern.
He had thought of calling Zhu Li, but considering the situation was under control and he didn't need her help, he decided against it.
The more he thought about how close he had been to being thrown into a reservoir by the four young men, potentially ending up dead or at least severely injured, the angrier he became, silently swearing to exterminate Zhang Xingkai to avenge the bitterness in his heart.
About an hour and a half later, the sound of an approaching car caught Luo Yang's attention. His mind tensed with the thought that it must be Tang Jie and Zhang Xiangqian coming to the rubbish dump to extract the bank card PIN from the kidnapped person.