Zhao Xing'er was getting more and more frenzied, and the whole thing was about to spiral out of control. With no other choice, Yue Wen grabbed her arm mid-swing.
"Stop hitting him!" he snapped.
But with her attack cut short, Zhao Xing'er whirled around and swung a backhanded fist at him.
At close range, Yue Wen caught a glimpse of her eyes: crimson light surging in them like fire, all clarity gone. She plainly couldn't tell friend from foe anymore.
Thankfully his reflexes were fast. He crossed both arms and blocked the punch. Meeting resistance, the red glow over her entire body erupted at once, and the force of her fist burst out, surging like ocean waves.
Boom—
A burst of crimson light and flame erupted. Yue Wen was blasted across the room and slammed into the far wall, smashing a ring of deep cracks into it.
Fortunately, he had already gathered pure true qi into a barrier, so he wasn't hurt.
He was just left dizzy for a moment.
What a vicious punch.
Once the blow landed, the red light around Zhao Xing'er slowly faded, and her eyes cleared.
"Boss." Seeing she had knocked him flying, she hurried over to check on him.
"I'm fine."
Yue Wen let out a breath and landed lightly, shaking out his arm. Aside from a sore, swollen forearm, he didn't seem to have any injuries.
"You took my full-strength punch and you're fine?" Zhao Xing'er was surprised.
"You almost sound disappointed," Yue Wen said with a laugh.
"I'm sorry." She apologized at once. "I... I really do have a bit of a problem."
"I can see that." Yue Wen steadied his breathing, then asked, "Didn't your résumé say Second Realm cultivation? That punch just now didn't look like the work of the lower three realms."
"I told a little lie on my résumé." Zhao Xing'er smiled sheepishly. "Actually I'm at the mid Third Realm. And... my constitution is unusual — I have an innate martial-dao sacred body, just slightly mutated."
Yue Wen had of course heard of the innate martial-dao sacred body. It was one of the many immortal bodies: those born with it were guarded by a martial spirit red glow and were extremely formidable.
He'd just never had the chance to see what one actually looked like, let alone a mutated version.
"My anger turns into martial spirit red glow," Zhao Xing'er explained. "The angrier I get, the brighter the glow. Once I can't hold it back, it bursts out, and I have to release all of it before I can calm down. When I get angry enough, I can't keep the glow suppressed — sometimes I can't even tell friend from foe..."
Yue Wen looked at the girl's fair, gentle face and thought: what a contrast.
She looked like a sweet, gentle girl, but the moment she lost her temper she turned into a bloodthirsty berserker.
"You two." Guo Yang, on the verge of a breakdown, asked timidly from the side, "Should I call an ambulance for Boss Chen? He seems... a little dead."
"We'll deal with your business when we get back." Yue Wen waved a hand at Zhao Xing'er, signaling that they should take care of the main task first.
Zhao Xing'er turned and apologized to Guo Yang. "I'm sorry. I forgot to ask where your son is."
Looking at how flattened Boss Chen was, there was no getting anything out of him for a while.
"It's fine. We've still got two living ones here." Yue Wen walked over and hauled up one of the burly men in sunglasses. "Open your eyes! Cut the act!"
"Ahhh, spare me!"
The man hadn't been unconscious at all. He had simply seen the way Zhao Xing'er was beating Boss Chen — who would have dared move a muscle?
"This guy probably hands all his dirty work to you two, doesn't he? Did you kidnap Brother Guo's son?" Yue Wen asked. "If you don't come clean—"
He glanced at Zhao Xing'er, and she immediately flexed her biceps.
"I don't know!" the man shouted at once. "My boss gives us a job and I go. Whether he sent other people to do other things, I really don't know!"
"Where's your boss?" Yue Wen frowned. "Take us to him."
"Huh?" The man's face fell. "If the boss finds out I led outsiders in, he'll never let me off!"
Yue Wen glanced again at Boss Chen's flattened head. "Maybe we should have the ambulance bring a couple of extra stretchers. One for him, and one for—"
The man leapt three feet straight up, brushed the dust off his shoulder, and stretched out an arm. "Right this way, Your Excellency!"
Yue Wen called over to Guo Yang. "Brother Guo, we're going to bring your son back now. You go home and wait. Leave it to me — don't worry."
"Ah."
Guo Yang stared blankly as they left, then looked at the mess all around him, unsure whether he should feel reassured.
...
The world these days was calm on the surface and chaotic underneath. There was no city without gangs lurking in the shadows.
The most powerful gang on the southern outskirts of Seventh City was the Tiger Head Gang.
Ten years ago, the Tiger Head Gang's boss had appeared out of nowhere in this area. He had few men under him, but every enemy who stood against him was found dead in the wilderness the next day. Gradually he became Brother Tiger, whom no one dared provoke.
There were plenty of bosses like Boss Chen on the southern outskirts, and every month they paid the Tiger Head Gang a hefty protection fee. In return, whenever they needed someone to do the dirty work, the Tiger Head Gang would handle it.
Such as dealing with workers like Guo Yang who came demanding compensation.
"Our headquarters is very well hidden. That three-story building above ground is just a disguise. There are always plenty of brothers lying in wait inside, ready for an attack — more than once, enemies who tried to go straight for our boss have died in there."
"Where our boss actually lives is a basement at the bottom of the building. It's a big space, and very well hidden. I've been with the boss for years, one of the old hands, and I only know the place exists. I've never been inside."
"But I know where the entrance to that basement is. I can take you straight there. How to get the door open, though — that'll be up to your own skills."
"..."
The little white electric scooter wove along a path on the outskirts strewn with fallen leaves.
Zhao Xing'er still sat behind Yue Wen, while the captured bruiser sat in front of him... in a manner of speaking, in Yue Wen's arms.
There wasn't much room at the front of the scooter. Rather than sitting, he was more like a lump of muscle crouched there.
He looked burly, vicious, and utterly helpless.
Yet the man was in high spirits now, going on and on about the layout of the headquarters, as if afraid they might carelessly stumble into an ambush.
As they neared their destination, Yue Wen asked, rather puzzled, "I did ask for your help, but aren't you being a little too helpful? It's like you're afraid the Tiger Head Gang won't be wiped out."
"Of course." The man grinned. "Bringing you to headquarters already makes me a traitor. If you wipe out the Tiger Head Gang, fine. But if you fail, then I'm the one who's finished."
"Oh—"
Enlightenment struck Yue Wen, and he suddenly understood the mindset of history's bootlicking collaborators.
The Tiger Head Gang's building was ringed by a courtyard wall, and inside, men in black suits patrolled in groups of two and three. The security was tight. Without a mole, it really wouldn't be easy to get in.
Parking the scooter outside, the man straightened his clothes, put on that cold expression again, and swaggered inside with the two of them.
He hadn't been lying: weak as he was, his seniority in the Tiger Head Gang was genuine. Every junior member they passed greeted him along the way.
"Brother Six, you're back."
"Mm. Bringing two people to see the boss," the man said with a nod.
"Brother Six."
"Brother Six."
"..."
With the mole leading the way, they met no obstruction. They reached a stairway inside the building that descended partway underground, and the man turned and pointed.
"This is as far as I go," he said. "The boss is usually down there. Unless something important comes up, he doesn't show himself easily."
Yue Wen stepped forward and probed. "There are multiple formations layered on the door. Brute force might not open it, and it would likely alert the people inside."
"Then what do we do?" Zhao Xing'er asked. "Wait here for him to come out?"
"That's too passive." Yue Wen thought for a moment, then asked the man, "Do you have your boss's phone number?"
"You want me to lure him out?" The man shook his head. "That's hard. The boss is very wary. Me handling a little factory matter — even if something went wrong, it wouldn't be worth him showing up in person."
"Just give it to me," Yue Wen said.
The man had no choice but to open his contacts and show him a number.
Yue Wen glanced at it and dialed it on his own phone. "Hello? Sir, your delivery is here."
"How is that supposed to fool our boss? That's way too hasty!" The man's eyes went wide.
Sure enough, a cold voice came from the other end. "I didn't order any delivery."
Yue Wen suddenly started cursing. "You dumbass, if you didn't order it, who did? You think I'm your daddy, coming special delivery to feed you? I've dumped it at your door. Don't want it? Then take it to your mother's grave!"
"No trick at all — he just skips straight to cursing him out?" The man stared, dumbfounded. "That's filthy!"
The other end clearly hadn't been prepared for abuse that began on frame zero. It went silent for several seconds before a roar came back: "So you're at the door, are you? If you've got the guts, don't you move! I want to see who's so brave!"
A moment later, a clattering came from behind the basement door, and the door swung open.
Bam!
The man covered his face with a hand, unable to believe it. "He actually fell for it?"
Chapter 18