In the early hours of June 25th, the Year of the Tiger, a multitude of riot police flooded into Nine Dragons City shantytown. Dragon Ferry Road, cleared of smoke, resembled a ghost town.

That afternoon, Chief Detective Li Yao Guang of the Hong Kong Police Force, a man of Chinese heritage, faced the press. He announced that the force had dismantled a major drug trafficking group in Fortress Village, apprehending over fifty criminals without any casualties among the officers.

On the same day, the Organized Crime and Triad Investigation Department (O Department) arrested over three hundred individuals, including a muscular figure, in a sweeping operation against the Consecutive Victories syndicate.

By noon on June 26th, Chang Shen, Head of the Guild of Consecutive Victories, arrived at Fuk Yee Mansion, seeking an audience with Taisui, and left twenty minutes later.

On June 27th, south of Fortress Village near Kai Tak Airport, at Lihua Hotel.

"Li Yan, over here."

Li Yan, dressed in a sky-blue denim shirt, holding a pale yellow shopping bag between two fingers, turned towards the direction of the call.

"Wow, new clothes? Looking sharp! Just got back from a date with Judy?"

"Brother Red Ghost, where's the restroom? I need to change."

"Why change? Clothes are made for wearing. Come with me." Red Ghost grabbed Li Yan and led him to a table laden with drinks.

"This is Uncle Zong."

The man with graying temples extended his right hand.

"Liao Zhizong."

"Uncle Zong." Li Yan shook Liao Zhizong's hand, responding with neither servility nor overbearing pride.

"And Ruan Hongzhi, you know him, Little Zhou's manager."

"Wow, Red Ghost, don't remind me. Because of that boxer of mine, Fortress Village has been turned upside down."

Ruan Hongzhi, with his naturally aquiline nose, had a somewhat sinister appearance, but once he spoke, it was clear he was quite the conversationalist.

"Brother Zhi."

"No need for formalities. I've had my eye on you for a while, it's just that Red Ghost beat me to the punch."

"And this is Ah Mei, another manager from the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring."

"Ah Mei, sister."

Li Yan nodded in acknowledgment.

The woman crossed her arms over her chest, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "You fought Martial Two so hard he ran back to his mainland hometown. The boxing ring lost millions in a flash, and you even caused me to lose He Changhong, a major high roller. How do you plan to compensate me?"

"Eh, that Martial Two I fought last time left Fortress Village?" Li Yan feigned surprise.

"Weren't you chatting up a storm with that kid in the infirmary? How do you not know he left Hong Kong?"

Yu Shu shook the water droplets from his hands and took his seat with casual grace, seemingly offhandedly asking Li Yan.

"Taisui."

"Taisui."

"Taisui."

...

Apart from Liao Zhizong, everyone promptly stood up.

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"Please, have a seat."

Yu Shu responded casually.

Li Yan asked, "Taisui, why did you specifically ask for me today?"

Yu Shu put down his chopsticks, looking straight at Li Yan.

"Apart from Xu Tianci, there's no one else on the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring who can fight like you. That kid came just for kicks, no matter how the fight between you two turns out, the title of Arena Champion for the sixth ring is yours to claim. Of course, I have to look after the future pillar of the Nine Dragons Boxing Ring."

"Taisui, you jest. I'm hardly qualified to be the Arena Champion. Besides, the arena is no place for the faint-hearted; I plan to save up enough for my wife's dowry and retire to the countryside."

"Hong Kong is a good place. Stay a while, fight a few years, then retire. Take up a stable job at Fuk Yee Mansion, make money from the commissions. Or is it that..."

Yu Shu's eyebrows quirked, "you're unwilling to work with me?"

Li Yan fell into silence for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"How could that be?"

"Then that's settled. Let's eat."

As the wine and dishes graced the banquet, Ah Mei inquired, "Taisui, is it true that tonight Chang Shen is treating the Elder of the Triad to accompany you for the Harmony Head Wine?"

"When the time comes, I'll have Uncle Zong handle the talks. I just need to show up," Taisui replied, followed by a cold chuckle. "Consecutive Victories underestimated Wu Haoxi's counterattack, leaving their foundation unstable. Now, they want to join forces with other Triad Associations to pressure me, unaware of how much flesh they'll have to cut."

As early as the late Qing dynasty, Hong Kong was already home to a plethora of societies and associations. In the first year of the Xuantong Emperor's reign, the original Mount Zion Azure Blood Hall's Red Flag Fifth Brother Black Bone Lad, along with over a dozen other branches, convened the Grand Assembly of the Triad. They proposed prefixing all Triad branch names with the character '和' (harmony), symbolizing the value of peace. Since then, Hong Kong saw an endless emergence of societies beginning with '和'.

On the side, Red Ghost posed a question to Li Yan.

"Tonight, do you want to see for yourself what this Chang Shen, the Head of the Guild and Consecutive Victories, looks like?"

Li Yan's gaze darkened as he pondered for a while before shaking his head and counter-asking.

"Brother Red Ghost, do you know which hospital Little Zhou is in?"

...

Meanwhile, in a refined villa on Dragon Ferry West Gate Street, Chang Shen sat opposite an elderly man dressed in a robe.

"Ah Le has made quite a name for himself in this fight."

"Heh, and in doing so, nearly cost you and Consecutive Victories your lives."

Chang Shen, now sixty-one, had thick black eyebrows that could not hide the weariness in his demeanor.

"Bone Grandpa, he's my only son."

The man across from him spoke with a hint of mirth in his tone, "What's the rush? Could Yu Shu really flay and dismember your son and swallow him whole? You don't need to play dumb. The sudden entrance of Consecutive Victories' men into the city may seem like the impulsive act of hot-blooded youth, but their meticulous planning belies that impression. The Committee, the Vietnamese Gang, even the Police Force O Record were all taken care of well in advance. In just two days, the largest drug-dealing power in Hong Kong and Kowloon was reduced to ashes. Are you telling me this was your son's doing?"

Chang Shen's expression grew even more bitter.

"I'm practically buried up to my neck. At this point, if I don't support my own, should I just watch idly as Consecutive Victories crumbles apart?"

"With Wu Haoxi gone, do you think you and Consecutive Victories can take over the Disk of the Thai Hexagonal Buddha of Guangtai?"

Chang Shen, well-versed in the ways of the world, immediately grasped the other's meaning.

"Probably around seventy percent."

"Let's say sixty percent, and we'll allocate the rest to the other He-Initial Brotherhood Associations. That way, I can speak on your behalf."

Chang Shen furrowed his brows, and after a moment, he sighed, "Sixty percent it is..."

He didn't wish to talk further. Instead, after bidding farewell to Bone Grandpa, he got into a black Ford car. The engine roared to life, and he left the villa.

"My boys fight to the death, and with just one word from you, White Bone Mark, you claim forty percent. Alright, very well."

Chang Shen's gnarled fingers caressed the leather sofa. A pyrrhic victory was still a victory. By tossing out such a large bone—forty percent of the profits—he was not only reclaiming his own but also silencing the greedy mouths of other Triad members. As long as they were connected to the Thai Hexagonal Buddha, Consecutive Victories would soon recover the lost manpower. These "loving" Triad brothers could be dealt with later. Currently, Consecutive Victories was severely weakened; it was not the time to entangle with the desperados of Nine Dragons City. But this Taisui...

Through the car window, Chang Shen caught sight of an old tree, its branches and leaves pressed low by the wind, and a trace of an indescribable, ineffable emotion flitted across his eyes. He tightened his coat around him and suddenly remembered his younger days as a coachman, when he loved to copy verses from the various books at the newsstands. Two lines, in particular, he had never forgotten:

In places of resentment, I grit my teeth, remembering old grudges; at Grand Arrival, I write new topics with a flourish.

Born without displaying the ambition of wind and cloud, I have failed to live up to my innate eight chi body.

**********

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