Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
Li Yan seized the chance to chase the moving golden fire point on the map. After running through some alleys, he heard a deep, raspy voice.
“Tracking ended. The report lasted one minute.”
Li Yan stopped suddenly and sighed. He didn’t gain anything. At least he knew that there were two remaining pieces in Kowloon, in an area not too big. It woldn’t take long until he found them.
Li Yan scanned through the faces in front of him. When the tracking ended, he was only about fifteen meters away from the target. He may have only needed to turn around or enter a restaurant to find the remaining pieces.
“Hello, my friend. We’re closed today. Get out of the way,”
A few fierce gangsters with the word “thug” written on their faces spoke to Li Yan, trying to chase him away.
They blocked a tent that had the curtains closed. He couldn’t see what was going on inside.
This must be one of the drug dealing points. There were a lot of tents or slum-dwellers like this in Kowloon that host drug addicts inside. Li Yan wasn’t sure whether or not his target was inside, but this wouldn’t stop him from entering.
Li Yan sniffed and swallowed some saliva, like a drug addict would, and walked up to them.
“Brother, I know the rules. Entrance fee is $7.50 and I’m willing to pay 10 bucks.”
One of them was a bit impatient and waved at him. “We’re out of stock. Go somewhere else, brother.”
Li Yan was amused by the fact that they sold out when he acted like an addict. How odd!
“Why is it so noisy out here? Jiu was just scolding you guys.”
A man with short hair looked out from the tent and saw Li Yan.
“Oh, it’s you?”
Li Yan was shocked to see him here.
“Hi, Mr Zhou.”
…
“Wow, what brought our famous King of Hell here at such a late hour? The Grand Duke didn’t feed you enough? Do you want to join me?”
The tent was pretty empty. Huashan Jiu teased Li Yan as he entered the tent.
Huashan Jiu was Li Yan’s first boss when he came to Hong Kong. Li Yan couldn’t even afford to buy “A Strong Impression” when he fought with He Andong. Although he sounded rude, Li Yan didn’t really feel offended. He answered, “Jiu, stop making fun of me. How could I claim to be the King of Hell in Kowloon? I just want to be alive. A thief stole my wallet, and I chased him all the way here. I was wondering whether or not he hid in here. I didn’t expect to bump into Jiu.”
“Your kung fu is extraordinary. Who could possibly steal your wallet?”
Zhou didn’t trust what he said.
“That’s not true. Thieves always have their ways,” Li Yan answered vaguely.
“What do you want, Mr Zhou? Do you want to fight with me and make your dream come true?”
“There’s no need for that now. We’ll meet in the boxing ring soon,”
Zhou replied indifferently.
“Our Zhou has only been fighting for a few days, and he’s already won four matches in a row. Those guys from Vietnam were all scared of his Chinese kung fu. Don’t overestimate yourself.”
Huashan Jiu backed him up. He loved watching boxing. Although he had embarrassed himself in front of Red Ghost, the achievements by Zhou cheered him up and he forgot about his unhappiness earlier.
Being the person in charge for He Lian Sheng, Huashan Jiu was easy to get along with. People would be amazed at how he used to lead his gang of nearly a hundred people to fight with the big shots at Yao Ma Tei.
Li Yan didn’t really care about Huashan Jiu’s words. He couldn’t tell how strong Zhou was, but he also didn’t think he would lose. Especially with the help of “A Strong Impression,” he was 90% sure that he could beat Zhou. The last thing he wanted was to be defeated by Zhou and end his life here in Hong Kong.
“But why is Brother Jiu so free at night? There’s no one here in the tent.”
Though Li Yan mentioned this briefly, it hit Huashan Jiu’s nerves. “Wu wants to destroy all of my places. He makes it so hard, damn it! I want him dead.”
Li Yan didn’t respond, but it seemed like Wu Haoxi was giving him a tough time.
Huashan Jiu looked at Li Yan.
“What does The Grand Duke want? How much can she earn from the boxing ring? Wu has been bossy for long. How could she not feel it after working with him for so long in the committee?”
Li Yan waved at him and tried to joke about it. “Jiu, I only came here for a few days and I haven’t even gotten the chance to meet The Grand Duke yet. Don’t scare me.”
Huashan Jiu laughed, not caring much about him. Neither Wu Haoxi nor He Lian Sheng wanted to create drama and involve other committee members of Kowloon, especially nuts like The Grand Duke. Huashan Jiu was only kidding. Moreso, he didn’t even think that Li Yan, being an outsider, had the capability to change Kowloon, even with his manager Red Ghost.
“By the way, are there any famous pawn shops in Kowloon?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I came here from the mainland with a few treasures, and I want to know how much they’re worth.”
Li Yan was very good at telling lies. He was confident he could cover himself even if Huashang Jiu kept digging.
However, Zhou answered his question without him needing to use his skills.
“There’s the Li Xing pawn shop across the street. The prices are still reasonable and the owner will take almost anything, because he has ways to sell it. There aren’t a lot of people doing business now because sellers won’t trade anything good here. If you want to sell at a higher price, you should sell it outside of Kowloon.”
Li Yan was delighted and excused himself.
“Mr Li!” Zhou stopped Li Yan and looked intensely at him. “See you in the boxing ring.”
“See you in the boxing ring.”
Li Yan laughed and walked towards Li Xing Pawnshop.
……
“There have been so many new fighters recently. The Grand Duke must be very pleased.”
Liao Zhizong was one of the top managers of the boxers in Kowloon and the closest subordinate of The Grand Duke. He looked at Li Yan’s picture and Xiao Zhou’s profile.
“It’s been a long time since the Sixth Stage attracted so much attention,” he said.
“Yes. When I was still a fighter, there weren’t all of these things.”
Red Ghost took a look at the man wearing a ferocious green mask.
“Wu Erlang, haha. What a funny name.”
Red Ghost scoffed. Though the new fighter had decent records, he always looked down on the useless tricks played by elementary boxers.
“Alright, Uncle Liao, where is The Grand Duke?”
Liao Zhizong took a look at Red Ghost.
“We have a special guest here. The Grand Duke went to meet him.”
“Special guest?”
Red Ghost looked curious.
Liao Zhizong took out one of the profiles and showed him.
“That’s him.”
The Red Ghost took a look at the profile.
“Xu Tianci.”
He was looking at a teenager about eighteen years old.
Red Ghost frowned.
“The Grand Duke went to meet this kid?”
“He was one of the new recruits in town. Hasn’t lost a single match so far.”
“Uncle Liao, as you said, he just came to join us. It’s not unusual that he hasn’t lost a match yet. Even if he keeps winning, there’s no reason for The Grand Duke to meet him personally.”
Liao Zhizong stopped him.
“The Grand Duke agreed to meet him. Not because of his results, but because of his grandfather…”
Red Ghost almost said, “Is his grandfather Hong Kong’s prime minister?” But instead, he asked,
“Who is his grandfather?”
Liao Zhizong got serious, a rare occurrence, and said in a deep voice,
“Xu Shangtian.”
Xu Shangtian was Yip man’s direct junior, and one of the top four Wing Chun practitioners in Hong Kong, also known as the king of intentions. He once won thirty two matches in a row, and nobody dared to fight him anymore.