Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
“I must say, I didn’t expect that this would be your type. No wonder you didn’t react when I introduced you to Judy…”
Red Ghost was looking at Xiu who sat to the side, keeping her head low.
“She’s my neighbor. You were the one who handed me the keys to the room, don’t you remember?”
“Oh, the apartment at Sumiao Street,” Red Ghost suddenly remembered.
Li Yan picked up the kitten circling the table legs and placed it on Xiu’s lap. “When do you get off work? I’ll send you home and apply some ointment. You’ll be alright the next day.”
Xiu bit her lip and nodded.
“Oh right, Yan.” Red Ghost fished out an Ericsson phone from his pocket and handed it across the table.
Li Yan took a look and exclaimed exaggeratedly.
“Wow! Brother Red Ghost, you treat me so well. You give me an apartment, and now a phone? Let me make things clear… I’m not gay.”
Red Ghost rolled his eyes. He replied, “You don’t have to go to the ring tomorrow. Go buy yourself a nice suit and wait for my phone call to meet Judy. If you dare go missing on me, I’ll dump you in the sea.”
“Loud and clear,” Li Yan grinned as he received the mobile phone.
The two of them ate until late at night, before Li Yan decided to send Xiu back home to the apartment at Sumiao Street. Li Yan looked at the number 412 by the door next to Xiu and said gently, “It’s late and you’re not home. Your mom must be worried. Off you go, see you tomorrow.”
Xiu raised her head to look at Li Yan for a brief moment. She opened her mouth and spoke with a bright voice, “Thank you, ah… Brother Yan.”
Li Yan shook his head, smiled at the girl, then opened the door to his room and walked in.
Bang.
As the door shut, the lighting in the corridor was halved. The remaining light shone on the girl’s face, half illuminated and half in shadow.
…
“Ssssssss.”
By the time he closed the door, Li Yan was sweating from the pain. He stuffed a few candies haphazardly into his mouth, but they did nothing. The pain was bone-deep and Li Yan’s face into a look of insanity.
From the moment he stepped out of the ring, Li Yan had felt waves of pain in his bones, which was the reason he had rejected Red Ghost’s initial offer. Sitting down, the white wine had helped to control the pain, but now that he was back in his apartment, the pain came back with added interest.
After a long while, the bone pain finally subsided. Li Yan, drenched in cold sweat, finally relaxed a little.
After a short rest, he took out the roll of notes from his breast pocket and counted them.
Judy was indeed Red Ghost’s great sponsor. The money she tossed out for Li Yan to buy a good set of clothes amounted to over thirty grand. If he counted in the fifty grand that Red Ghost would give him for his winnings, the amount of Yanfu points he would have on hand would come to a total of thirteen.
As a precaution, he decided to exchange it for the ES Hematopoietic Stem Cell Booster right away.
If his condition was triggered in the ring, he would be in deep trouble. Furthermore, he still had no clue where “The Probe into Ancient Novels” transcript was.
Lying in bed and thinking of these things, he soon fell into his dreams.
The next morning, Li Yan went to a photo studio in Repulse Bay to rent a full suit. The bus he boarded took a roundabout route, allowing him to fully enjoy something that future generations would find very hard to see – the view of 1986 Hong Kong.
If Li Yan wanted to take it easy a bit, he could go watch an Anita Mui or Leslie Cheung movie, maybe even get their autographs. The photo of Alan Tam’s “Journey in Space” concert that he had kept for a long time in his own video shop was happening today. The rock band Beyond was only three years old and would be releasing their first album “Goodbye Ideals” this year. 1986 Hong Kong had so many bright moments that had passed and would never be re-lived…
Unfortunately, Li Yan still had to fight for his very life. All of these thoughts would just have to remain on his to-do list.
By the time, Li Yan returned to Sumiao Street, it was already two in the afternoon. Kowloon was still the same dark, crowded place. Along the sidewalks, the frequent sight of pale, smoke-spewing junkies stood in stark contrast to the extravagance of Repulse Bay.
As he walked down the corridor and turned the corner, a rushing figure walked right into Li Yan.
Li Yan instinctively grabbed onto the person’s wrist. To his surprise, the other person reacted in the exact manner as well. From the way that his wrist was caught, he noticed a hint of the joint capturing technique that was widely used in the military.
Li Yan looked at the person in surprise.
The man was in his thirties and wore a checked suit. His brows were thick, his eyes were large, and he had a rather good looking face. The only thing was that his eyes were bloodshot, as though he had not had a good night’s sleep in a long while.
“Apologies.”
The man let go and smiled sincerely at Li Yan.
“It’s alright.”
Li Yan continued walking, then turned around as he thought of something.
“Brother, where are you from?”
The man was stunned and replied after a brief moment.
“I’m from Hebei, a small place called Wen’an County.”
Li Yan exclaimed in joy, and gave the man a heavy pat on his shoulders. “My old home is in Hejian, not far from there. I’ve even taken a piss behind the old broken temple at Wen’an County!”
Li Yan had definitely been to Wen’an County, which was also coincidentally the hometown of the founder of Eight Trigram Palm, Dong Haichuan.
“Oh, a fellow northerner?” Hearing Li Yan’s words, the man’s eyes also lit up.
“My name is Li Yan. What’s yours, brother?”
The man shook Li Yan’s hand, smiling brightly.
“He Andong, they call me Dong.”
…
One hour before, Fuyi Tower.
“Longjin Road and the area to the north is Grand Duke’s territory. Although public order within Kowloon is my responsibility, for something like a manhunt in Grand Duke’s territory, it’s better that you send someone to do it, Red.”
Si Lizheng adjusted his wooden framed spectacles. The icy cold look on his face was plain and emotionless.
Red Ghost smiled coyly back and said, “Uncle Zheng, you can save the pleasantries. How would we fight promoters and have the extra hands to help the police with a manhunt? You can search wherever you want, Uncle Zheng. As you don’t turn things upside down, there won’t be a problem.”
The way Red Ghost agreed so easily made Si Lizheng rather uneasy.
“How about you go ask Grand Duke first. I’m in no hurry.”
Of the five members in the Kowloon Association Executive Committee, Chairman Wu Haoxi was in charge of drugs; he was actually the biggest drug lord in all of Hong Kong. Of the remaining two, one did human trafficking and the other dealt in business of the flesh, leaving Si Lizheng in charge of the gambling dens. Grand Duke on the other hand, was involved only with the fighting rings and had the least territory among them.
But even Wu Haoxi, with the most arrogant temperament, had to show some face to Grand Duke. Because Grand Duke was crazy… crazy enough to be truly feared.
In the end, this was just a small matter, and one Si Lizheng didn’t think was worth getting on Grand Duke’s bad side.
“If I have to trouble Grand Duke with something like this, I’m asking for my legs to be broken. Uncle Zheng, you just do whatever you want.”
Red Ghost’s tone was relaxed, clearly stating that the ring promoters have no business in conflict with the rest of the world. They were not like Wu Haoxi who did drugs, constantly in conflict with various organizations and gangs.
“Then it’s settled.”
Si Lizheng nodded his head. Outside, someone who looked like a bodyguard marched in quickly.
“Boss, we’ve found them!”
Si Lizheng heard the news and put down his cigar, giving Red Ghost a smile.
“It seems like there’s no need to trouble Grand Duke after all.” He turned and asked, “What’s the news?”
“They found a familiar Chinese medicinal hall. The doctor there secretly called the police. The police are already here in Kowloon!”
“Where’s the medicinal hall?” Si Lizheng asked.
Minding his own business, Red Ghost took out his own cigar and lit it.
“Inside an apartment at 22 Sumiao Street.”
Red Ghost nearly set his brows on fire with his lighter. He jumped to his feet and asked, “The f*ck did you say?”
…
“To think that I would meet a fellow Northerner here… what are the odds? What are you doing here in Hong Kong?” Li Yan asked curiously, handing over a cigarette.
Although Li Yan had only been in 1986 Hong Kong for a few days, being in a foreign and distant place made him feel rather lonely. Or perhaps his strong will just would not let that side of him show easily.
Hearing the familiar accent of his hometown from He Andong, Li Yan felt a great sense of closeness.
He Andong’s expression darkened after hearing the question.
“I brought a few of my fellow countrymen here to Hong Kong hoping to make ourselves rich, but in the end…”
“There are other Hebei people here?”
“Oh, they don’t live here.” He Andong’s gaze shifted for a moment and he said, “Enough about me… why have you come to Hong Kong?”
Li Yan shook his head, “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you, so forget it.”
He Andong smiled, showing his clean white teeth. “What’s so hard to believe? Could it be that you robbed a bank and the whole Hong Kong Police Force is after you?”
Li Yan Looked him in the eye, and replied, “It’s even more unbelievable than that. But that’s enough of that for now. It’s still early, and I know a place with a pretty good dog meat hotpot. My treat.”
He Andong waved his hand, “Nah, it’s alright.”
The urgent sound of a phone ringing broke the warm atmosphere between the two.
“Let me answer this,” said Li Yan.
He Andong nodded for him to go ahead.
“Hi, Brother Red Ghost. It’s only two o’clock. What’s the rush?”
“Where are you now?”
Red Ghost sounded anxious.
“In my apartment.”
Li Yan frowned. He could hear from the tone of voice that something urgent was going on.
“You son of a b*tch! Hide in your room and don’t move! There’s a gang of mainland thugs in your apartment, and the Special Duties Unit is already on their way there. Don’t get caught in the crossfire!”
“What?”
Li Yan couldn’t process this in time.
“There’s a gang of murderous mainland robbers hiding in your apartment! Their leader is called Dong, he’s an inhumane killer!”
“Ah, when you put it like that, I understand.” Li Yan heaved a heavy sigh. “But Brother Red Ghost, can I suggest something?”
“What could you want to tell me at a time like this? Speak.”
“Next time you’re on the phone, speak a little softer. If you speak so loudly, the person next to me can hear everything. It makes it really awkward for me.”
“What are you saying?”
Beep.
Li Yan ended the call and quietly turned to look at Dong.
“Brother, tell your friend to mind his language. You can’t just call someone inhumane, it’s an unpleasant thing to say,” Dong said with a smile.
“Meow.”
The kitten crawled out of nowhere, clumsily latching on to Li Yan’s trousers.
“Ah Mi, you’re being naughty again.”
The little girl ran down the stairs and picked up her orange kitten. She looked up at Li Yan with a rare smile on her face.
“Brother Yan.”
“Whether or not someone is inhumane isn’t something that can be proven with words.”
Interestingly, Li Yan, who had been speaking to Dong in a Mandarin-like Hubei dialect, now switched back to his accented Cantonese.
“Good girl. Xiu, do you have any spare change with you?”
Li Yan patted the girl on her head.
“Yes,” Xiu nodded.
“Help me out for a bit. Can you go out to the street and buy me a packet of candy?”
The little girl nodded her head obediently and turned to leave. And then she turned around again.
“You have to wait here for me.”
“No problem.”
Li Yan smiled and nodded, watching the girl leave with the kitten in her arms.
Then he slowly turned back around.
In front of him was the black hole of a gun barrel and an intense, blinding red light.