Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Chen Zhan's ears twitched slightly. The footsteps and the rustling of objects being moved in the wonton shop gradually faded away, leaving only the soft sound of rain hitting the bricks and tiles.

Knowing that Wu Qingshan had already led the brothers of the Incense Society to withdraw completely from the tunnel, there was no need to continue fighting with the rabble of the Canal Gang.

The canal gangs had been entrenched in Tianjin for many years, and their numbers far exceeded the dozen or so that had just been dealt with. Furthermore, the foreigners had dispatched police officers and Qing soldiers to join forces in surrounding them. If they were to kill them one by one, it would not only take a lot of time, but it would also delay the opportunity to rescue others.

The most urgent task is to rush to the other strongholds and evacuate Lu Jun, Zhang Laojiao, and Cheng Shaojiu's men. We can't let our brothers die in vain.

Chen Zhan pushed off with his feet, his figure darting out from the shadow of the low wall, sweeping across the street corner like a ghost, and disappearing into the dense shantytown alleys in an instant.

Slums are places where poor people live together, with houses very close together, and low walls, stacks of firewood, and piles of miscellaneous items can be seen everywhere.

With the overcast skies and dim lighting, hiding and escaping would be incredibly easy.

He used the Bagua Wandering Step, his fingertips skimming along the edge of the earthen wall, his body pressed tightly against the wall, his breath drawn into his dantian, his body enveloped in dantian energy, completely concealing his aura.

In less than half an incense stick's time, they completely shook off the remaining surveillance agents in the shadows and escaped the surveillance range set up by the foreigners.

The fact that Wu Qingshan's stronghold was surrounded indicates that the foreigners had already figured out the whereabouts of all the people involved in the operation. Lu Jun, Zhang Laojiao, and Cheng Shaojiu's locations must also have been heavily surrounded by troops. If they had been a step too late, there could have been a bloodbath.

Of the several strongholds, Lu Jun's house was the closest, separated by only three streets.

Chen Zhan stopped trying to hide and suddenly accelerated, pushing off the ground with his legs. Each step covered several meters, leaving shallow footprints on the muddy gravel road, which were quickly washed away by the rain.

Before the person even reached the alley entrance, the crisp sound of gunshots pierced through the rain, followed by a continuous barrage of gunfire.

Amidst the gasps of surprise, the sound made one's heart tighten.

Chen Zhan's eyes darkened, and he increased his speed by three points, rushing towards the source of the sound like an arrow released from a bow.

The houses in the shantytown were low and dilapidated, with earthen walls several meters high everywhere. Chen Zhan climbed onto the top of the wall and looked around. He saw black smoke rising from the alleyway in the distance, which meant that foreigners were setting fire to houses to force people out.

Lu Jun was carrying a seven or eight-year-old girl, dodging left and right in the alley, followed by three blood-stained youths, each holding a short gun.

Xiao Jiu was being held in someone's arms. Her little face was pale with fright, and her eyes were filled with tears. She didn't dare to cry out loud, but just silently shed tears. Her little hands were tightly gripping Lu Jun's collar. She was so obedient that it broke people's hearts.

Chen Zhan's gaze swept quickly around, and there were still several young men scattering and running away. They were all dressed in coarse cloth short clothes, exactly the same as Lu Jun and Qin Ming.

They were all brothers under Lu Jun.

Most of these people had some basic martial arts training and were more agile than ordinary people, but when faced with the foreigners' muskets, they could only barely dodge by relying on their familiarity with the terrain.

Lu Jun also held a gun in his hand, and distributed the remaining four to his brothers. These were all seized by Chen Zhan from the patrol officers. There weren't many bullets to begin with, so he didn't dare to fire indiscriminately. He could only use the wall for cover and wait for an opportunity to return fire.

He hid behind a half-earth wall, holding Xiao Jiu tightly, his body pressed low against the mud and water, rainwater wetting his hair and running down his cheeks.

A young man named A Xiang gritted his teeth, gripped his gun tightly, and said in a low voice, "Brother Jun, Xiao He and I will rush from the east to draw away some of the foreigners. You take Xiao Jiu and run to the west to find Mr. Chen at the Black and White Pawnshop. He will definitely have a way to protect you."

As soon as A Xiang finished speaking, he was about to get up when Lu Jun suddenly grabbed his arm: "You can't go to the pawnshop. We're surrounded here, and the foreigners have definitely been watching the pawnshop closely. Going there would be like walking into a trap. If you rush out to draw their fire, it's no different from courting death."

"What should we do then? If we keep dragging this out, we'll all be trapped here!"

Another young man, Xiao He, was sweating profusely as the footsteps of the foreigners in the distance grew closer and closer, and the encirclement became smaller and smaller.

Lu Jun pointed to a low house a few streets away, where the courtyard wall was intact and looked inconspicuous: "Run that way, Grandma Xu's house has a secret passage that leads directly to the outside of the city."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw more than a dozen armed foreigners rushing into the alleyway where the low houses were, completely blocking the entrance.

They could only get through by passing through nearby houses.

"You can't come inside."

Lu Jun gritted his teeth and said, "The shantytowns are full of poor people. If we barge in, the foreigners will definitely slaughter the entire family. We can't let the innocent get caught up in it."

As soon as the gunshot rang out, the surrounding residents were so frightened that they locked their doors and windows and huddled inside, afraid to make a sound.

If they broke into any house, that family would surely be punished by the foreigners and suffer a tragic end.

Lu Jun's men all came from poor backgrounds and didn't want to do this kind of work.

Ah Xiang cocked his gun, his eyes hardening with determination: "Brother Jun, I'll lead the charge. Even if it kills me, I'll draw the foreigners away."

Before Lu Jun could stop him, he tried to rush out of the shadows.

Xiao He, standing next to him, pried Lu Jun's hand off, saying, "Brother Jun, I'm going to the west. If I survive, I'll still be your brother in the next life."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao He suddenly darted out of the shadows and ran wildly in the opposite direction, firing his gun as he ran, deliberately trying to attract the foreigners' attention.

"Clap clap clap!"

Gunfire suddenly intensified, bullets striking the earthen wall behind Xiao He, splashing up sprays of mud.

Lu Jun only had a dozen or so brothers under his command. Two of them had been killed during the breakout, and the rest scattered and fled, each drawing fire. Now, only a handful of men remained by his side.

Little Jiu in his arms stirred slightly and whispered, her voice barely audible: "Brother, can we still escape?"

Lu Jun looked down at the little girl's red eyes and lowered his voice: "Xiao Jiu, close your eyes and cover your ears. Brother will take you away. Don't be afraid."

Xiao Jiu obediently closed her eyes and covered her ears with her little hands. Lu Jun held her tightly with one hand, pressed the other hand against the wall, and with a burst of strength from his waist, his figure leaped out of the shadows like an old ape, quickly darting through the rain.

Upon seeing the moving figure, the foreigner immediately turned his gun and fired. The bullets whizzed past him, splashing high into the muddy water.

The muskets of that era were crudely made, with slow rates of fire, poor accuracy, and extremely slow reloading.

Using the walls and woodpile as cover, Lu Jun darted back into the shadows, temporarily escaping the gun barrel.

As the approaching foreigners saw young men constantly rushing out to draw away their fire, they had no choice but to allocate most of their forces to pursue them, and the gap in the encirclement gradually widened.

Lu Jun's men were all skilled in martial arts and knew the shantytown's terrain like the back of their hand. Despite dodging left and right, only one of them was hit in the arm, but he still gritted his teeth, got up, and continued running.

However, the number of foreigners was simply too large, with over a hundred men armed with muskets, who surrounded Lu Jun from the four directions of east, west, south, and north, pressing him relentlessly and giving them no chance to breathe. The encirclement grew smaller and smaller, leaving Lu Jun with less and less room to escape.

Seeing that he was still more than 200 meters away from Xu Ying's house, Lu Jun made up his mind. He knew he could no longer hide and had to charge forward.

He took a deep breath, picked up Xiao Jiu, and rushed out of the shadows again, deliberately exposing himself to the foreigners' guns.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Several more shots were fired simultaneously, and this time, Lu Jun was unable to dodge them completely.

A bullet struck his right shoulder hard, and a searing pain exploded instantly, freezing the muscles in his shoulder.

The arm holding Xiao Jiu suddenly lost its strength, and his hand loosened. He quickly used his left hand to catch Xiao Jiu tightly.

If it weren't for his brothers rushing out to draw fire, they would have been riddled with bullets by now. A shrill scream came from not far away; Lu Jun heard it clearly—it was A Xiang's voice.

His eyes instantly reddened, and tears mingled with the rain as they streamed down his face. But he couldn't turn back; he was holding Xiao Jiu in his arms, and his brothers were paving the way for him with their lives.

He couldn't outmaneuver hundreds of muskets, so he could only gamble on speed and the terrain for a chance of survival.

Xiao Jiu felt Lu Jun trembling and spoke softly, her tone unusually calm: "Brother, put me down. I won't walk anymore, you can run by yourself."

The little girl's words were light and airy, without fear or sorrow, only a maturity beyond her years.

Lu Jun's heart ached even more. Although this child was not his biological sister, he had raised her for three years and treated her like his own sister. How could he possibly abandon her and escape alone?

Lu Jun tightened his grip on Xiao Jiu with his left hand, holding her even tighter. Without saying a word, he endured the sharp pain in his shoulder and once again flipped over and leaped toward the low wall on the other side.

He pressed his right hand against the wall, the gunshot wound on his shoulder pulling at his entire body. The moment he exerted force, a sharp pain shot through his mind, causing him to stagger and tumble off the wall, landing in the mud.

The footsteps of the foreigners around him drew ever closer. Lu Jun tried to push himself up, but it was too late.

The sound of the trigger being pulled exploded in my ears, followed by several screams of pain from the foreigners, accompanied by the muffled sound of bones shattering.

The expected pain did not come, and Xiao Jiu in my arms was also unharmed.

Lu Jun struggled to look up and saw Chen Zhan standing in front of him, shrouded in rain and mist, his right hand still smelling of gunpowder.

The two foreigners who had just fired the shots were lying on the ground, their necks twisted at an odd angle, clearly killed instantly.

"Are you alright? If you can walk, get up quickly."

Chen Zhan glanced at his bleeding shoulder, but said nothing more.

Lu Jun gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Chen, there's a secret passage in Grandma Xu's house that leads directly outside the city. Just go that way."

"You go first, I'll cover your retreat."

Chen Zhan scanned his surroundings, his ears twitching as he took in the footsteps of the foreigners and Qing soldiers around him. "How many of your men are still alive? Save as many as you can."

At this moment, the two sides were extremely close, and the foreigners' musketeers were still closing in. Chen Zhan did not delay any longer and suddenly flashed out.

His speed was several times faster than Lu Jun's, reaching the limits of human speed. He left only a blurry afterimage in the rain. The foreigners didn't even have time to see his appearance before the figure rushed up to them.

The narrow terrain of urban warfare, where firearms cannot be effectively used, is precisely the domain of martial arts masters.

Firearms have the advantage at long range, but once you get close, even a large number of people are just lambs to the slaughter.

The man who was punched instantly had his sternum shattered and was sent flying backward, unable to even let out a scream.

In the chaos, a foreigner pulled the trigger, but before the bullet left the barrel, Chen Zhan dodged to the side and delivered a backhand punch, breaking the man's arm holding the gun.

He kept moving, his Baguazhang (Eight Trigrams Palm) technique flowing through him, his figure elusive and unpredictable. The foreigners' gun barrels simply couldn't keep up with his speed; often, just as they were aiming, his figure had already changed position.

In a short while, the foreigners around Lu Jun were cleared away, and Chen Zhan's figure moved through the alley, leaving only screams and fallen corpses in his wake.

Taking advantage of the moment, Lu Jun carried Xiao Jiu and rushed towards Xu Ying's house, leaping into the yard without daring to linger.

Upon entering the house, Lu Jun discovered that Xu Ying was not home.

He walked to the corner of the room and used all his strength to lift the floorboards. A heavy wooden plank was moved aside, revealing a dark tunnel entrance with a simple ladder at the entrance.

This is a secret passage that Xu Ying dug after infiltrating Tianjin. Back then, the Boxers were suppressed by the Qing government and foreigners, resulting in heavy casualties. Xu Ying knew the importance of having multiple escape routes in chaotic times, so he secretly dug several secret passages over the years in order to escape in case of danger.

Lu Jun had helped Xu Ying move earth and rocks and dig tunnels before, which is how he discovered this hidden entrance. He never expected that it would save his life.

Lu Jun didn't rush into the tunnel. Chen Zhan had said he was going to rescue the remaining brothers, so he would wait here.

He looked down at Xiao Jiu in his arms and said softly, "Xiao Jiu, you can cough now. The gunfire outside is too loud, no one will hear you."

Xiao Jiu had been holding back her anger for a long time, her face turning red. Only after hearing these words did she dare to cough softly. Her tense body finally relaxed a little, and she leaned against Lu Jun's chest, breathing gently.

Less than half an incense stick's time later, a heavy thud was heard in the courtyard. Lu Jun leaned to the window and peeked out, only to see two young men thrown in, covered in wounds and their clothes stained with blood. They were A Xiang and Xiao He.

"Ah Xiang, Xiao He, over here!" Lu Jun called out in a low voice.

The two fell into the mud and water, wincing in pain, their gunshot wounds still bleeding, but they remained conscious.

Just moments ago, they were surrounded and thought they were doomed, but Chen Zhan suddenly appeared, like a divine soldier descending from the sky.

The dozen or so foreigners were like paper in his hands, flying away at the slightest touch. Some even had their arms torn off with a mere flick of his arm, completely powerless to resist.

Still shaken, the two heard Lu Jun's shouts and hurriedly dragged their injured bodies, limping, into the house.

As soon as they entered the house, they heard a loud crash as the courtyard wall was smashed open. Chen Zhan rushed in carrying two unconscious young men, his body covered in rain and blood, his face terrifyingly grim.

The people inside the room were dumbfounded. They had only heard Lu Jun mention it before, but they never expected it to be this fierce.

Chen Zhan put the young man in his hand on the ground, his voice cold and hard: "These are the only four survivors. The rest of our brothers are all gone."

One sentence instantly plunged the atmosphere in the room to rock bottom.

Several young people had red eyes, but dared not cry out loud, and could only grit their teeth.

The loss of these lives was ultimately related to Chen Zhan's plan. Although it was a foreign ambush, it was indirectly caused by him. This guilt weighed on his heart, making his aura grow increasingly cold.

Suppressing his grief, Lu Jun quickly replied, "The tunnel leads directly to the City God Temple outside the city. Going out from there will take you to the outskirts, making it less likely for them to catch up."

"Wu Qingshan has already retreated outside the city. After you leave the city, go directly to the small station to meet up. Xu Ying will meet you in the countryside there. The countryside is remote and easy to hide in." After giving his instructions, Chen Zhan turned to leave.

Lu Jun quickly called out to him, "Mr. Chen, there are still a few brothers left at the Black and White Pawnshop, including Qin Ming!"

"I know."

Chen Zhan stopped in his tracks. "I'll go to the pawnshop and get the person out. You guys go first, don't delay."

"And what about you? The foreigners must have deployed a large number of troops at the pawnshop!"

Lu Jun looked worried. Since the foreigners had surrounded the other three strongholds, they would never let the Black and White Pawnshop go. It was bound to be a dead end.

Chen Zhan didn't turn around: "You can just leave, this matter isn't over yet."

The figure vanished in an instant through the rain. (End of Chapter)