"If you're not dead, get up and run. Do you want to be chopped into mincemeat by those with Consecutive Victories?"

Xu Tianci wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, the smile finally fading from his face.

"I will return this kick to you."

"I'll be waiting."

Li Yan's tone was cold and hard as he turned to walk downstairs, his pocket suddenly buzzing with a vibrating sound.

He glanced at his phone, coughed twice to clear his throat, and answered the call with a softened voice.

"What's up, Sister Judy?"

The woman on the other end spoke with a lingering complaint.

"Where the hell did you disappear to, Flop?"

"I'm... I'm on a job."

Xu Tianci glanced at Li Yan, whose face was now sporting a smile, and both men quickened their pace.

Two men squatting near the stairwell entrance, who were with Consecutive Victories, smoked their cigarettes while surveying the exit. They saw the two men walking out side by side, one still on the phone.

"Buying a car? What kind of car, Sister Judy? You're so generous, might as well just give me the cash."

"Even without family wealth, one still needs money, eh~"

"Wow, how could I dare? No, definitely not."

The man murmured softly into the phone, his voice gentle and tender.

The two Four Nine members exchanged a smile, bowed their heads, and stopped watching them. As the two men walked three or four steps away, one of the onlookers suddenly blinked and sprang to his feet.

"Hey, buddy, wait up."

He hurried forward a few steps to grab Xu Tianci's shoulder. The man on the phone suddenly spun around, delivering a fierce side kick to the jaw of the pursuer, sending his body crashing to the ground at an angle.

The other man dropped his cigarette butt and instinctively reached for the Dogleg Machete at his waist, only to be met with a blur of a shadow accompanied by a whooshing sound striking his face!

"Sound? Oh, I'm working, of course there's noise."

Li Yan pinned the blade of the dogleg knife under his foot, flicked the weapon up with the other foot, and grabbed it in his hand. He grabbed Xu Tianci's arm and ran down to the lower floor.

"What's going on, Ball Kid?"

A group of Four Nine Lads, hearing the commotion, rushed up from the stairwell and came face to face with Li Yan.

"Damn, how sharp are his ears? Ah, no, Sister Judy, I wasn't talking about you."

Li Yan tossed the Ericsson to Xu Tianci, grabbed the stair rail with his left hand, and launched himself into the air, sweeping his legs like a steel whip across the crowd. His right foot slammed into the chest of a Four Nine member, then he flipped over like a sparrow turning in the air, his backfist slamming hard onto the man's cheek!

Xu Tianci stood to the side, the Ericsson still ringing in his hand:

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Yan, what the hell are you doing? Why is it so noisy around you? I didn't see you near Taisui. Wow, it's quite lively this time. Prince Le doesn't come to the fortress often, thinking that bringing a few hundred of the Association Four Nine Committee would make him untouchable. Is Taisui out of his mind? He's making so much noise here, today he probably won't be able to leave Fuk Yee Mansion. Are you listening to me?"

Xu Tianci hesitated with his mouth agape, staring at his phone.

"Of course I heard," Li Yan said with a flick of his fist into his sleeve as he walked up, snatching the phone away and shooting Xu Tianci, who was eager to try, a glare.

"Sister Judy, I'll be done here soon. I'll call you back in a bit."

Li Yan hung up the Ericsson and gave Xu Tianci a meaningful look.

"Let's go."

...

"Brother Yu, we've been sitting here till our backsides are sore. Are we really gonna wait for someone?"

Black-Tooth Tai swatted at the vicious mosquitoes around him and spat a wad of thick phlegm into the filthy puddle.

The man gave him an annoyed glance and responded curtly, "Shut up."

"But, Brother Yu," Black-Tooth Tai persisted, "it's not every day Prince Le comes to the citadel. Now that there's been an incident, you've called us here to be mosquito food, while everyone else is crowding into Fuk Yee Mansion trying to curry favor! Whole Family Be Bulldozed! And that good-for-nothing Chicken Dung Qiang knows to stick close to the powerful—always the first to flee when trouble hits."

Though the others remained silent, it was clear they shared Black-Tooth Tai's sentiments.

Aside from Black-Tooth Tai, who had been around for over four years, the rest were fresh out of school, mere Little Flyers.

But one shouldn't underestimate these youngsters who'd thrown their textbooks into the fire to join the fray. While a few reveled in the prestige of tattoo-covered bodies, thinking they could dine without paying and collect protection money while gaming, spouting the lofty principles of the Jianghu, the majority of these Little Flyers had joined the underworld ranks to scrape out a living and chase fortune.

Thus, they were often ruthless, daring to risk their lives for a chance at prominence. Now that the son of the local boss was in Fuk Yee Mansion, these Low-level Ruffians naturally wanted to ingratiate themselves with him.

The man took a deep drag of his cigarette, snuffed out the butt underfoot, and let out a cold laugh.

"This mess has gotten so big, did you see the Student who sliced up Brother An until his guts spilled out while you were at Fuk Yee?"

Black-Tooth Tai was taken aback. "No, I didn't."

While it's true that Taisui's influence in Fortress Village is the least significant, its reputation for toughness is well-earned! Staying there is more of a curse than a blessing. As for that student..."

The man revealed a ghastly white smile, "It's obvious that Fuk Yee Mansion would want him out of the city in a hurry. I'll just wait at the gates of Nine Dragons City, capture him, and deliver him to Brother Le. Who do you think will get the credit then?"

After the man finished speaking, the others around him nodded in agreement.

Perhaps it was the long wait that prompted the man to casually ask Black-Tooth Tai a question.

"By the way, Tai, that gambling addict who wanted to exchange toilet paper for cash at your Gambling Stall last time, has he been back?"

Black-Tooth Tai shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum: "Brother Yu had asked me to keep an eye out for him, but he hasn't shown up lately."

"I see."

The man responded indifferently, reaching for his cigarette case in his pocket. Catching a glimpse of something, he dropped the case with a clatter.

"They're here!"

Black-Tooth Tai shouted excitedly.

Rustling sounds filled the air as about a dozen men stood up, each brandishing shiny weapons in their hands.

"Brother Yu, there are two people..." A member of the Four Nine Lads turned around, but was startled by the man's expression.

The man known as Brother Yu swallowed hard, his eyes flickering with a mix of tension and wild joy, "Tai, didn't I tell you to get a Black Dog (handgun) from the Vietnamese, just in case? Bring it here, quick!"

Black-Tooth Tai was taken aback. In his mind, although the other party was a skilled fighter, he was seriously injured. He had seen with his own eyes Little Zhou's Nine-ringed Broad Sword slash the young man's abdomen. With over a dozen of their own men, armed and even equipped with a hunting Hook Lock, there was no reason they couldn't handle this youngster.

Under the almost murderous gaze of the man, he stammered a response: "Brother Yu, getting a gun from the Vietnamese takes time. You've been pushing too hard, I..."

Without a word, the man's gaze lingered on the tall, slender figure standing beside the metal sign of Nine Dragons City.

He turned back, his eyes sweeping over the excited yet uneasy young faces, his own expression twisted with conflict.

"We didn't get the gun, did we?"

"I think..."

"Is there one or not?"

"...No, there isn't."

The man finally fixed a piercing stare on Li Yan. A sentence burst from between his clenched teeth.

"Retreat!"

**********

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