Chapter 16 – Underground Fight Ring

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Hai Lian was no stranger to the countless underground fight rings of Jiumeng City. He himself had never participated, but back when the Baihu Gang was at its strongest, Hai Lian had visited nearly every subsidiary ring of the gang. Now that the Baihu Gang was gone, the ring by Hetao Lane was the most powerful; it boasted the largest audience and the most ferocious participants.

From one of the nobodies hanging around the street, Hai Lian learned that Wild Horse would be participating today. In that case, the second person on Hai Lian’s list — Kui Lei — was bound to appear. All he needed to do was figure out who exactly “Kui Lei” was, then quietly deal with him.

The ring was empty when Hai Lian arrived. Dusted with fine sand, the floor was clean and tidy; one couldn’t have guessed that only yesterday, numerous bodies had lain here haphazardly.

Those that frequented this place were more often than not the poor men seeking to fulfill their violent animalistic desires through these bloody displays. Those dressed in simple clothes could also be found; but if one were to get close, they would find delicate patterned shirts under those unassuming gray overcoats. Among the audience, women were few — but not absent. These women were accompanied by other male guests and bodyguards; in order to hide their identities, they wore veils, covering everything except the gleaming gems hanging from their earlobes.

The question was, which one was Kui Lei?

Was it the old man that just bet an entire bag of gold coins without batting an eye? Or was it the one talking animatedly with his companion about Wild Horse’s history of bloody fights? Or maybe it was that masked lady wearing a ring around her delicate finger?

Since Kui Lei was Wild Horse’s loyal supporter and had made it onto Faluko’s list, he must be someone special. Hai Lian noted a couple of rather generous backers and was about to take a closer look when something blocked his movement from behind.

“Good evening.” A voice sounded.

Through his shirt, Hai Lian could feel the cold, hard object digging sharp wrinkles into his clothes. The object continued moving, and a second later would have left a bloody gash along his back. Hai Lian reacted immediately, stepping forward and skillfully shaking off the other’s grip. At the same time, Hai Lian looked back, his assassin’s vigilance and sharpness allowing him to catch the perpetrator’s eyes in the dim light

“You’re aiming for the wrong place. There aren’t any vital organs here; you wouldn’t be able to kill me with a single stroke.”

“Also an assassin?” Hai Lian cocked his head.

“You’ve only got it half right.” The person smiled contemptuously. When he spoke, his blood red tongue waggled inside his mouth like a dormant snake.

Putting his dagger away, the other — perhaps purposefully — let the handle pause beneath the dim lights just long enough for Hai Lian to make out the patterns on it.

The Amber Scorpions. Hai Lian silently cursed his bad luck.

This would be troublesome.

Hai Lian had run into the Amber Scorpions half a year ago while working on a case involving private sale of Tisu weaponry to Moyi1. Any other person would have admitted defeat and retreated, but Hai Lian, for whatever reason, had pinned his hopes on his combat skills, and despite the Amber Scorpions’ heavy guard, finished off the unfortunate soul disembarking the ship. When Hai Lian escaped, he even made sure to whistle cockily towards these assassin lackeys.

Faluko chewed Hai Lian out after that, saying that no one else dared to provoke the emperor’s assassins, and that even the security department would avoid them. He urged Hai Lian to leave the mainland and spend some time at sea if he still wanted to live. Because of that, Hai Lian had spent half a year aboard the Dufeng. But here he was, not even one month back in Jiumeng, and he’d already run into these vicious Scorpions again. He really was unlucky.

“The old fatty you killed last time was the only lead of a case we had been investigating for an entire year.” The man spoke quietly, his tone threatening.

“Our boss was very angry.”

Recalling Faluko’s warnings, Hai Lian immediately apologized.

“That was my bad, I didn’t know you guys needed him. As for today, is your target also here? Then I’ll leave.”

He took a step, ready to leave, but before he even had a chance to turn around, Hai Lian’s arm was grabbed by someone off to the side. It was another Amber Scorpion — a girl this time. Under her mask, her eyebrows curved gently and her nail polish was more vibrant than blood.

“I don’t like fighting girls,” Hai Lian said. “Let me go.”

“You won’t have a chance to fight me.” The girl laughed.

Sure enough, Hai Lian didn’t have a chance to resist before his other arm was pinned down by a third Amber Scorpion.

“Just how many of you are stationed here?” Hai Lian said helplessly.

“Guess?”

The Amber Scorpions hiding in the shadows all smiled; these smiles were just as annoying as the ones from a certain person surnamed Fang. Hai Lian was thoroughly irritated by their gloating and carefree expressions; it was as if he was but a bug struggling in the palm of their hands, his entire life at their mercy.

“And what exactly do you want? You don’t need so many people just to kill me,” he growled.

“Have you ever participated in an underground fight ring?” The first assassin suddenly asked.

“What?” Hai Lian paused.

“You’re not on our list today, so naturally, we won’t kill you. But you humiliated us last time, so… ” He ran his teeth over his snow white teeth and smiled.

“May the odds be in your favor, nameless assassin.”

※※※

“I’d like to give it a try too.”

“You also want to be their entertainment? Smiling stupidly and standing shirtless for the audience like ‘Jackal’ or ‘Sabertooth’? You want to hold up your dirty fist so that the audience might toss you bouquets or coins?”

“I only want to try, just for fun.” Hai Lian repeated, with an innocent grin.

“Only sneaking up on those rolling in wealth makes me feel like I’m picking on the weak; they can barely fight back.”

Blind Eagle Ah’ge gave Hai Lian a push; the boy stumbled from under the lights into complete darkness.

“Stand straight, brat. This is where you belong. Keep your eyes on the ring and don’t cause trouble.” Hai Lian’s teacher fixed the boy with the gaze of his remaining cloudy eye.

“Besides, you think that you fighting in the ring wouldn’t be bullying others?”

※※※

The ring’s boss was bewildered by this pretty young man who had come to register moments before the fights began, but after the two “bodyguards” revealed their Amber Scorpion seals, he changed his tune and immediately agreed. He put on a greasy business smile, amiably ran his hands through his beard, and flattered the two Amber Scorpions while patting the unwilling new participant on his shoulder, pushing the boy backstage.

The back was filled with ferocious men resembling bears and tigers; compared to these human walls, Hai Lian’s delicate figure appeared even more small and weak.

“Uhoh, who let this flat little girl in?” Someone yelled mockingly after he entered.

The others roared with laughter.

Hai Lian wasn’t affected by their words; these superficial taunts didn’t even measure up to a single glare filled with ridicule from the Amber Scorpions outside. He walked to the corner without speaking, intending to just relax for a bit, but unfortunately those men weren’t about to let him. Several of them walked up to Hai Lian moments after the boy sat down.

“Need something?” Hai Lian gave them a look.

“Dongzhou midget, did you gamble yourself into debt?”

“No,” Hai Lian said indifferently, “Someone sent me here to play, so here I am.”

“Play? This isn’t a place for pretty boys like you to play.” Someone reached out a hand towards Hai Lian’s cheek, but was blocked. Said person only found Hai Lian’s resistance amusing.

“You know what’s going to happen?” He laughed. “I’ll break off this skinny little arm of yours, and push that pretty little face of yours into the dust. Nobody will even recognize you by the time I’m done.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man felt his vision go blurry. The boy that had just been sitting moved so quickly he seemed to vanish; the man barely had the time to react before his head was slammed into the wall with a violent thud! A sharp pain in his wrist followed.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any lover who might identify my body,” Hai Lian said, gradually pressing harder.

“As for breaking arms, how about you teach me?”

“Y–You f*cking —”

“I’m not very happy right now, so you and your group of… ” Hai Lian swept his eyes over the other’s shocked companions, “friends should leave me alone, alright?”

The man’s face twisted half in anger and half in fear. He could feel the rock scraping off what should have been his cheek and his wrist was practically crying out in pain. If he couldn’t break free, then he’d be fighting with a broken arm later. So thinking, he furiously nodded, completely disregarding the cuts already in his face. His throat produced something akin to both “en” and “okay.”

Hai Lian had just let the man go when the boss called out.

“Where’s the new boy?”

“Here.” Hai Lian responded and left with the boss.

Though Hai Lian himself had left, his action just now kept his name afloat in the room. The man who had just been pinned grimaced in pain while shaking his hand and wiping the blood from his face. He cursed, saying that it was only because he was taken by surprise, and that later he’d show that little Dongzhou boy. However, his friends looked apprehensively towards the door. A while later someone hesitantly spoke up.

“I think… that person just now seemed familiar.”

“You’ve met him before?”

“In the past, there was a Dongzhou boy in the Baihu Gang. They were Blind Eagle Ah-ge’s student and renowned for their skill. The boy just now seems about the age… but that person should’ve already been killed for betraying the Baihu Gang.” The person frowned, speaking in an uncertain tone.