A forearm, dripping with a string of blood beads, spun through the air, tracing an arc before thudding to the ground with a splat.
"Cut down those Flops!"
Bellowing with rage was Yang Hao, also known as King Water, a compatriot of the Consecutive Victories crew, his wrist and those of his followers bound with red cloth strips.
Boasting over fifty thousand members across all of Hong Kong, the Consecutive Victories had ties in over a dozen districts. Today, at the Nine Dragons City stronghold, ten of their number had gathered.
"Bang! Bang!"
One of Wu Haoxi's men clutched at his throat, blood pouring from his mouth, eyes filled with resentment as he slowly collapsed to the ground.
The man in the black windbreaker, his arms tattooed with twin Fierce Tigers, spat disdainfully. As he reloaded his pistol, he cursed, "Damn it! King Water, have you lost your mind, brandishing machetes like targets? Do you think the Short Dog at your waist is just firewood?"
King Water's eyes bulged with fury, "Afraid of what? Right now, at least two thousand of our Fortress Village Trend brothers are here. We'll surround and crush the few hundred Flops under Old Ghost Wu!"
An excited voice cut through the tension.
"Little brother has succeeded!"
At this news, the spirits of the Consecutive Victories crew soared.
"Has Old Ghost Wu really fallen? Fortune and glory are destined for me and Consecutive Victories."
Suddenly, the man in the black windbreaker furrowed his brow, "Why haven't we heard anything from Brother Le?"
As if on cue, a violent explosion tore through the air, the smell of gunpowder thickly spreading.
"Ratatatatatata..."
The relentless gunfire inched closer, and the Consecutive Victories scoundrels at the forefront were shredded by a hail of bullets, their bodies torn apart like String Puppets by the sheer force.
The Black Shine of the guns gleamed coldly, German-made HK MP5K submachine guns.
King Water was still in shock when a Hand Grenade, trailing white smoke, landed at his feet.
"Get down!"
Brilliant flashes of light and razor-sharp shrapnel burst outward in all directions!
After the smoke cleared.
The Fierce Tiger Tattooed Man struggled to his feet, shaking his head to clear it, blood trickling from his ears. He looked around in a daze, his eyes landing on the dismembered corpse of Yang Hao...
Through the lingering smoke, several figures slowly advanced.
The Fierce Tiger Tattooed Man, roaring with fury, rose and pulled his trigger. A gust of wind suddenly dispersed the smoke, revealing the full visage of the approaching foes.
Unquestionably Wu Haoxi's men, one of them shouldering an RPG-17 Rocket Launcher, aimed icily at the Fierce Tiger Tattooed Man.
"The Pick of the Stars..."
Even the Fierce Tiger Tattooed Man himself didn't notice the quiver of terror in his voice...
...
"Clatter, clatter, clatter."
Steel marbles rolled out in torrents within the machine as Li Yan absentmindedly grabbed a handful, letting them slip through his fingers, lost in a trance.
It was the influx of madmen into the Nine Dragons City stronghold and the Consecutive Victories Scoundrel that alerted him to the anomaly.
The Consecutive Victories, known as the largest syndicate in Hong Kong and Kowloon, had no reason to be so foolish as to provoke enemies like Wu Haoxi and Taisui simultaneously. As he and Xu Tianci left the Fuk Yee Mansion, they encountered little resistance. Logically, the moment they exited the building, the Consecutive Victories should have been informed. If Prince Le and Floral Shirt Nine were indeed out for Xu Tianci, they should have immediately sent pursuers upon learning of his escape, negating any need to further provoke Taisui—a move that would be all detriment and no benefit.
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Yet in reality, as they made their way out of the Nine Dragons City stronghold, not a ghost's shadow trailed behind them.
Tonight's situation would either escalate into a three-way melee or Little Zhou was merely a decoy, with Prince Le's true objective being to flatten Wu Haoxi.
Recalling the grim countenance of Floral Shirt Nine, Li Yan increasingly felt the latter was more probable.
He didn't know what Nine Dragons City would look like tonight; perhaps it would be obscured by the cramped, leaky pipelines that blocked out the sun, a night of impasse.
Li Yan didn't fear chaos in Fortress Village; he feared its absence. The current Fortress Village was like a pot of boiling water, and such a night was destined for guns and gunpowder. As Li Yan sought to fish in troubled waters, he also had to be wary of stray bullets. His opportunity would come after the chaos subsided and before a new order was established.
Li Yan turned the knob, launching the steel marbles without paying attention to the numbers on the machine, the cigarette between his fingers burning to its end.
If tonight the Nine Dragons City stronghold was reshuffled, then the fate of the Fragmented Manuscript at the Committee's office was uncertain, as was that of the person who had been watching him with inconceivable patience—where was he?
He had wondered if that person, like Zhang Mingyuan, was a fighter from the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring. After all, both he and Zhang Mingyuan had the same requirement in the Yanfu Incident: to fight in the Seventh Arena of the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring. But after much thought, Li Yan couldn't pinpoint any suitable candidate.
Li Yan had his suspicions about Xu Tianci; the kick he delivered to Xu was partly because he found the young fellow irritating to look at, and partly a test. If Xu were the spy, he wouldn't be completely unguarded against Li Yan. And after Li Yan had made his move, there was no flaw in Xu's performance.
Furthermore, whether it was Li Yan himself or Zhang Mingyuan, their identities were either that of a newcomer from the mainland in Hong Kong or that of an orphan who had recently lost his parents and was now seeking a livelihood at the Boxing Ring. In any case, there would be no one too familiar with them.
Li Yan had heard Judy mention Xu Tianci. The grandson of Xu Shangtian, he could address the Grandmaster Tai, Ye Wen, as his elder in the Fourth Generation of Martial Arts. Li Yan couldn't imagine how Yan Fu managed to arrange such a cover for him; not to mention, the changes in habits and temperament could hardly be concealed from others.
And if the other party wasn't a boxer from the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring, it meant his mission was different from Li Yan's. In other words, he was not a fellow traveler.
In the midst of the strange and mysterious Yanfu Incident, Li Yan could think of no gentler term for the other operatives than "fellow traveler."
If he wasn't a fellow traveler, the conflict would only become more pronounced!
Night had fallen deep, and Li Yan suddenly remembered how he had been brought here by the Tapir into this dense, indissoluble night. In just over ten days, he seemed to have gradually adapted to the life in the Nine Dragons City stronghold.
The mottled yet bustling Dragon Ferry Road, the cramped high-rise buildings almost touching each other, and the children running barefoot on the concrete rooftops with their faces slightly lifted in joy.
Red Ghost, Judy, even the shy girl from next door.
What strength of will it took to wander endlessly through time and space without growing weary. As the Tapir had said, there was no turning back on this road, and he, after all, was just a passerby.
"It's still early," he muttered.
He exhaled the last ring of smoke, crushed the cigarette butt under his foot with force, and so he spoke.
...
At the Fuk Yee Mansion
"The smartest thing you did was not to use firearms on my turf, huh? Achoo! Uncle Zong, turn down the air conditioning a bit."
Yu Shu was wrapped in a black jacket, yet he still sneezed.
Chen Minhong, known as Red Ghost, had blood on her fists. She wore a gray short-sleeved shirt and lay surrounded by four or five people who had been knocked out cold, all from the ranks of those with Consecutive Victories.
"The Red Stick of the Hong Kong Nine Prefix is diminishing in prowess with each generation. Is this level of skill even worth mentioning in a fight?"
"If you dare mess with Consecutive Victories, the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring will never know peace again," Floral Shirt Nine declared with a strong voice, collapsing to the ground, his menisci shattered by Red Ghost's grip, his inseparable metal baton long gone, blood from his head flowing down to his neck. At a glance, over a hundred gangsters from various societies lay strewn across the tenth floor of Fuk Yee Mansion, none able to stand.
A man in a black suit approached Red Ghost.
"Brother Red Ghost, Prince Le has brought over three hundred of the Four Nine Lads. They've cleaned out everyone in Fuk Yee Mansion. What's the next move?"
Chen Minhong cast her gaze towards Yu Shu.
"Throw these scoundrels out onto the streets, but keep Prince Le. We'll wait for his father, Chang Shen, to come and ransom him."
Liao Zhizong approached, frowning.
"It's chaos outside. Wu Haoxi's men have even brought out rocket launchers. Fortress Village hasn't seen firearms in nearly a decade, and with all this commotion, the Hong Kong British Government won't let things slide."
"Were the departing guests unharmed?" Yu Shu asked.
"They've all been escorted out of the city."
"Then that's settled."
Yu Shu took a few steps forward and addressed the Several Wealthy Guests who had been silently watching the drama unfold from a private room, "You've all heard about the current situation in Fortress Village. Please, stay inside the mansion for now. First thing tomorrow morning, I will personally see you out of the city. I hope for your understanding should there be any inconvenience."
"What you say goes."
He Changhong's face was flushed with excitement. The explosions from New Street could be faintly heard even here in Fortress Village, which wasn't very large. The recent weapon duel involving hundreds had stimulated his adrenaline, leaving the young master in awe of the locals' unbridled actions.
Judy looked worried.
"Aren't you afraid that by detaining Prince Le, He Liansheng, who entered the city, will come at you with a Returning Horse Spear?"
Taisui shook his head, "After dealing with Consecutive Victories, he no longer has the strength for that."
**********
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