Pei Qiao was walking down to his home after yet another awful day at "Speedy Zee," a local chop shop. His boss, Ze Feng Yun, had been driving Pei to the bone, only because he was not "native enough" to Luhan City. "Not native enough, my ass," Qiao thought. He was born and raised in Luhan, living among other twelve million people. But just when he left Luhan only for a few years to do... stuff, suddenly, now he wasn’t "Luhan" enough. So much "not Luhan," that the only one willing to hire Pei Qiao was that loser Ze Feng Yun, with an ego of five shechu herders but no brains to back it up.

"Well, screw him," thought Qiao to himself, lighting up a cigarette. He looked up, only to be greeted by stories and stories of concrete buildings, gaudy billboards, metal meshes of "anti-litter" nets, and wires. The sky itself was barely visible over all that visual cacophony and smog, but it was still better than looking down at all those droves and droves of people, cars, bikes, and trash. Luhan never truly sleeps, but Qiao sometimes wishes it did.

He tried to cut his route through a nearby alleyway, thinking about grabbing pork buns, when he heard an unpleasantly familiar metallic voice behind him:

- Hoi, Qiao-boy, long time no see~

"Oh, fuck," Pei panicked and slowly turned towards the voice. Twenty million people, and he just happened to find the worst bunch of them. Behind him stood about six people dressed up in techno-flash trash: ripped synthetic leather, tight pants and skimpy skirts, studs and spikes everywhere, outlandish hairdos with toxic colors to match, unnecessary gas masks, and welding goggles. All of them were armed with baseball bats, knives, and probably a piece or two hidden somewhere. And among them stood the slab of a man, more metal than flesh, grinning with his glowing shark-like teeth.

Jose Jao Shun from Da Ghoulz, a thorn in the side for Pei Qiao.

- Hoi there, Jose, what brings you here? - Pei continued smoking as if he wasn't in danger. – I thought you were hanging on 13th Street.

- Oh, we usually are, but things fucking changed. We decided to go on a little fucking vacation, - Jose wildly articulated, speaking in fake merriment and getting closer to Pei. – Just fucking stroll around, sample local fucking cuisine, treat our fucking selves, and take the fucking selfies, like the fucking tourists that we are.

Jose roared in ugly laughter.

- But then Yu saw your pretty face, and I must greet my favorite vei. You know, “What’s good?” and shit.

He then turned serious, and all the fake merriment disappeared from his voice.

- Where’s my fucking nyas, Qiao-boy? You promised to pay us last week!

- I don't know what you are talking about, Jose. - Pei lied through his teeth. - I thought you received my…

- I didn't get a fuck from you! - Suddenly, Jose exploded, grabbing Pei by the throat. Looking closely, Qiao realized that Jose was high on cheats; his face was twitching, his bloodshot eyes, and his distant look said it all. - You better have our fucking cash, vei, NOW, or else we...

Suddenly, something dropped into the nearest garbage pile so hard that most of the bags literally exploded, spraying gangsters with trash and bits of chains. In that ruined pile lay a half-naked giant man with red skin, wearing only half-ripped pants and a strange belt that looked like two arms, making a palm in a fist gesture.

One of the gangsters, a short girl in an oversized trench coat and glowy green cornrows, looked up but didn't see anything out of the ordinary: no trail of ruin; nothing was broken; this man fell down almost too perfectly. From where did this body appear? How?! WHY?

- Uh, Boss, what the fuck is that? - asked the gangster with a mohawk, peeling away with disgust a sticky candy wrapper and used condoms off him.

- The fuck do I know?! It looks like a corpse to me! - Barked Jose in irritation, - now, Qiao-boy, cash or your metal arm, your cho…

- Boss! Boss! It’s moving! - A trenchcoat girl practically panicked after seeing how this red-skinned man began to move. After all, from the looks of it, nobody could survive that fall! It’s like from that movie, "Battle Cyber-Zombie Carnage 2"!

Lao Qing Tao didn't truly remember his fall. One moment, he was gazing upon Heaven’s stars and golden gates, and the next, he fell face down into the pile of shiny sacks filled with all sorts of filth. Lao tried to stand up, which was a monumental task for him, not only because he was groggy but also because he was slipping on a melon rind.

Before his sight came back to him, his other senses were assaulted by a cacophony of smells and unfamiliar noises. The air was full of strange, unnatural scents, and Lao heard all sorts of commotions—metal humming, blaring horns, weird music-like noise, and people everywhere. However, after his vision returned, Qing Tao realized that he was standing in some sort of ravine… no, alleyway. Alleyway for sure, but at the same time, it was nothing like a typical alleyway of a city he was used to: walls were too smooth, pavement was nothing like stone, strange contraptions on the walls, obscene paintings plastered in a chaotic fashion, and trash everywhere.

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Lao then noticed that he was surrounded by six weird-looking human-like creatures dressed up in shiny, vulgar garments, and their hair, if you can call it that, was of unnatural colors. Their faces were hidden behind weird-looking masks, and most of them held some sort of club. Everyone looked as confused as Lao himself. One of these people-like demons held a rectangle-like thing in his hands, pointing towards Lao, like some sort of protective talisman. A girl-looking thing in an ugly-looking coat and tiny green braids shrieked and babbled something about the undead. And behind them, a behemoth with the face of a man was holding someone by the throat. While light was everywhere—all sorts of lights—the alleyway itself felt dark and dangerous.

It was all surreal to Qing Tao. This was NOTHING like the Jianghu he grew up in. Everything felt like some kind of bizarre hellscape. Did Xiang Ling send him into the Hell Pits instead of the Middle Realm?! Betrayal! When Lao comes back, that snake Ling will suffer more!

The behemoth threw a man against a wall and walked towards Lao.

- Well, well, well, the [fak] we have here?! - Suddenly, the behemoth spoke in Jianghu, but his speech sounded rough and guttural. - The [fak] u lookin at, [power]?!

- Where am i? - Lao tried to speak, but his speech was still slurry. Despite not being hurt by the fall, he felt weak and tired. Damn Qi drainage. - Is this the Dark Mansion?

A girl-like figure in a coat suddenly stopped her incoherent panic, and everyone looked at Lao as if he had said something stupid. Awkward silence hung in the air. Someone chortled, but the behemoth took offense to that laughter and glanced at the offender, who quickly shut up. He then looked at Lao.

- The [fak] u talking, [power]?! Are u high?! Get the [fak] out, dis is [ghouls] [turf], before we [fak] u up!

Lao barely understood this behemoth’s speech. It's like if someone taught a monkey to speak wrongly, as a joke.

- I'm sorry, I didn't understand you. Could you please repeat what you’ve said? - Lao asked as patiently as possible. He didn't have patience before and was quickly losing his composure. Even in his broken state, he could easily dispatch these thugs.

This humble request infuriated Behemoth even more:

- U think I'm an idiot?! [Fak] him up! No one messes with [ghouls]! - The behemoth roared and rushed Lao at an inhumanly fast speed, clenching his fists.

Lao barely dodged this punch in time and was surprised. Was he always that slow? Before he could continue this thought, one of the gangsters came behind him and struck him with a club beneath the knee. Lao began to fall, and he felt someone strike him in the back of the head. As Qing Tao fell to the ground, he was battered by clubs and steel-toed boots. Worst of all, Lao felt the pain, a sensation he almost forgot after hundreds of years of a cushy life in Heaven. And it made him mad.

He quickly jumped back, grabbed one of the clubs attacking him from the left, aimed at his stomach, and pushed the gangster into another, punching the falling man with his right hand palm. He then used his left elbow to plant it into an enemy's face, shattering his mask. Lao quickly jumped and spin-kicked a man behind him. It was over in a second, and the only ones left standing were Lao Qing Tao and the behemoth.

The behemoth roared and delivered a right uppercut into Lao’s guts. The sheer strength of that punch blew the air out from Lao, but he quickly restored his stance, just not quickly enough. Behemoth’s left fist drove right into Lao’s face, pushing him back. Lao’s face, thankfully, wasn’t broken, but this punch, unlike other thugs, hurt badly. It was as if Lao had been kicked by a metal ox. How could this man go toe-to-toe with a trained martial artist like Lao? He probably was a martial artist himself, but from what school? His stance and punches were unfamiliar to Lao.

But before he could finish this thought, Behemoth was quick to assault the red man. Despite his large frame, he moved deceptively quickly, delivering a series of jabs that Lao barely blocked. Lao saw an opening and delivered a punch directly toward Behemoth’s face.

Behemoth didn't even flinch, and Lao felt like he had hit a rock. Behemoth quickly grabbed Lao Qing’s arm, pulled him close, and simultaneously made a headbutt, which made Lao fall down again. Behemoth pinned the red man to the ground with his massive frame and pummeled Qing Tao. Lao’s battered body, still recovering from the fall, didn't put up much resistance, and lost consciousness.

- Yeah, Boss, fuck him up! - yelled a man with a phone, watching with amazement how Jose quickly punched Lao into a bloody mess. He filmed the whole fight; this will surely bring tons of likes!

The girl, however, watched this scene in horror. She didn't join this gang to murder people; she just wanted to make her mom mad! Sure, booze and cool swag were also nice bonuses, but mostly to piss off her parents! They were always yapping about school, responsibilities, and shit, but this was too much for her. One thing is shaking down suckers for booze money, but the other is literally turning someone into minced meat!

Jose stepped away from the red man and glanced around. Four on the ground, only Yu Yan, a new girl, and that phonehead Cruz were standing, unharmed. Weaklings, all of them! He is strong, unlike these weak flesh sacks. An unknown power was coursing through him, clouding his mind. He slowly walked towards Yu and Cruz, blood dripping from his hands. Yu was practically shaking from fear, which Jose approved; everyone must fear his might. Cruz, on the other hand…

- How many times, - Clenching his teeth, Jose grabbed Cruz’s phone. - HOW MANY TIMES I FUCKING HAVE TO TELL YOU, STOP FILMING ME!!!

He flung Cruz’s phone at a wall, immediately shattering into many small pieces, and with another hand, he grabbed Cruz’s head and slammed him into the ground. Yu Yan screamed in horror as Cruz’s head turned into paste. She backed against a wall, watching Jose and his glassy look. Cheats completely took over his mind, Yu realized.

- SHUT UP, YOU STUPID BITCH!!! - Jose roared at the terrified girl. Her shrieking was irritating to him.

He tried to punch the girl, but someone diverted his punch into the wall, driving his hand deep into the building. Jose looked at the one who dared to stop him.

It was Lao Qing Tao, brutalized but unrelenting. His smile with his bloodied teeth delivered an uppercut to Jose’s jaw, which staggered him.

- One number rule, - Lao spitted out some of his blood on the ground. - Until you are done with the enemy, never turn your back!