Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
Half of an arm flew through the air in an arc and sent droplets of blood flying before landing on the ground with a splat.
“Hack these sons of b*tches to pieces!”
One of He Lian Sheng’s bosses, Yang Hao, also known by the nickname “Acid,” shouted angrily. Behind him was a hoard of men with red cloth tied around their wrists.
He Lian Sheng had over fifty thousand men and over a dozen bosses across Hong Kong. Today there were ten in Kowloon Walled City!
“Bang! Bang!”
One of Wu Haoxi’s men clutched his throat. Blood flowed uncontrollably from his mouth. In discomfort, he fell slowly to the ground.
The man in the black coat with two tigers tattooed on his arms spat. He reloaded his pistol, shouting, “F*ck! Have you gone mad, Acid? Going in with two choppers? Is that gun on your waist a toy?”
Acid stared back wide eyed. “What are you afraid of? We have over two thousand men here in Kowloon. We’ve got that old coot Wu and his measly hundreds of men surrounded!”
A sound of joy interrupted them.
“Younger Brother got him!”
At these words, He Lian Sheng’s bosses were shocked.
“The old coot Wu is dead? This is a glorious day for our He Lian Sheng.”
Suddenly, the man in the black coat frowned. “How come there’s still no news from Brother Le’s side?”
Like a bad omen, a thunderous explosion followed by the thick smell of smoke drifted over.
“Ratatatatatat…”
The incessant sound of machine gun fire came closer and closer. The He Lian Sheng thugs who had rushed to the front were penetrated by hundreds of incoming bullets, sending them flying like rag dolls.
The greasy, black gun shone with a cold light. It was a German model produced in Hong Kong, the MP5K submachine gun.
Acid had no time to react. A grenade rolled in front of his feet leaving a trail of white smoke.
“Get down!”
With a bright flash, numerous pieces of shrapnel blew out of the grenade!
Afterwards, the smoke dissipated.
The man with the tiger tattoo struggled to his feet. He shook his head and a trickle of blood flowed from his ear. He looked around himself only to see pieces of Yang Hao’s body strewn everywhere.
Amidst the white smoke, a few men were advancing toward them.
The tattooed man roared and got to his feet, cocking his guns. A sudden wind blew away the smoke and revealed his enemies.
They were undoubtedly Wu Haoxi’s men. One had an RPG-17 rocket launcher aimed directly at him.
“F*ck…”
Even the tattooed man did not notice that his own voice was shaking with fear.
…
Hualalalala.
Metal beads poured out of the machine. Li Yan grabbed a handful and let them fall through his fingers. He was deep in thought.
Li Yan noticed something was off by the hoards of He Lian Sheng thugs flooding into the Walled City.
He Lian Sheng was Kowloon’s biggest gang. They would never be stupid enough to make enemies of both Wu Haoxi and Grand Duke at the same time. When he brought Xu Tianci out from Fuyi Tower, there had been very little resistance. The moment they left the building, He Lian Sheng would have gotten the news. If Taizi Le and Huashan Jiu wanted to get back at Xu Tianci, they should have immediately sent their men after him once he escaped. There was no need to fight things out with Grand Duke. Nothing could be gained, and only harm could come by doing so.
But in reality, the moment they stepped out of the Walled City, they did not see a single person coming after them.
Tonight’s situation would either become a three-way brawl, or Zhou was just an excuse and Taizi Le’s true motive was to get rid of Wu Haoxi.
Thinking of Huashan Jiu’s somber expression that day, Li Yan began to think that the latter was more likely.
He had no idea what tonight in Kowloon Walled City would be like. Perhaps it would be a lawless night, obscured by all the leaking pipes that covered the crowded streets and blocked out the light.
Li Yan was not afraid of things getting messy in the Walled City. Rather, he was more worried that things would not get messy. Right now, the Walled City was like a pot of boiling water. Such a night belonged to bullets and gunpowder. Even if Li Yan wanted to take advantage of the confusion, he still had to be wary of stray bullets. He would have the best chance after the storm in the Walled City settled, before a new order could be established.
Li Yan pressed down on the knob and shot another metal ball into the game. He paid no attention to the score. The cigarette in his fingers was almost burnt to the end.
If the leaders of Kowloon Walled City were reshuffled tonight, then where would the transcript fragment in the association’s office end up? What about the guy who had been spying on him with unbelievable patience all this time? Where was he now?
He had once thought that that person was a fighter in the Kowloon Rings like him and Zhang Mingyuan. After all, both of them had the requirements to reach the level seven ring for their Yanfu cases. But after running through all the fighters, Li Yan could not think of any possible candidates.
Li Yan had suspected Xu Tianci initially. He had kicked Xu Tianci partly because he did not like that rascal, but also partly to test him. If he were the one spying on him, he would naturally be wary of him. But even when Li Yan had hit him, he saw no lapses in Xu Tianci’s act.
Furthermore, both Li Yan himself and Zhang Mingyuan had identities of either a foreigner coming to Hong Kong, or an orphan fighting in the ring to make a living after his parents died. Meaning, there wasn’t anybody else too familiar with them.
Li Yan had heard Judy mention Xu Tianci. His story was quite impressive. He was the grandson of Xu Shangtian, a fourth generation master that could call Ip Man his grand-master. Li Yan couldn’t think of how the Yanfu could arrange for someone to take over that identity. Changing habits and behavior would never fool the people close to him.
If his foe was not a fighter in the Kowloon rings, their mission must be different from his own. All of this to say, it was not a Fellow Walker.
In a scenario as mysterious as this Yanfu Case, Li Yan could not think of a nicer way to address other Walkers like himself.
If it was not a Fellow Walker, the conflict would be even greater.
It was already deep into the night. Li Yan suddenly remembered that when he was sent here by the Mo Tapir, it was also such a night, with a viscous kind of air in the night sky. In just over a dozen days, he had slowly gotten used to life in the Kowloon Walled City.
Along the dirty but bustling Longjin Road, the crowded skyscrapers were practically right next to each other, and the barefooted children running on the concrete floor had smiles on their faces.
Red Ghost, Judy, and even the shy little girl next door.
How strong must one’s will be to not feel fatigued in this endless flow of time? As Mo Tapir had said, this was a road of no-return, and he himself was only just a passerby in the end.
“It’s still pretty early,” he said matter-of-factly as he spat out a cloud of smoke and ground the cigarette butt under his heel.
…
Fuyi Tower.
“The smartest thing you did was not use any firearms in my territory? Achoo! Uncle Zong, turn down the air-conditioning a little.”
Yu Shu was wearing a black jacket, but she still sneezed.
Chen Minhong, also known as Red Ghost, had bloodstained fists. He was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt and He Lian Sheng’s men were scattered on the floor around him, knocked out cold.
“The bosses of Kowloon’s gangs are getting worse with each generation. How do you expect to put up a fight with this little skill?”
“If you dare to make a move on He Lian Sheng, the Kowloon rings will never have a day of peace.”
Huashan Jiu argued back fiercely. He was on the ground, the meniscus of both his knees broken by Red Ghost. His metal belt that never left his side was long gone and blood from his head was dripping down his neck. Across the entire dozen floors of Fuyi Tower, hundreds of gang thugs were lying on the ground, none able to get to their feet.
A man in a suit walked up to Red Ghost.
“Brother Red Ghost, Taizi Le brought over three hundred of his men. Those that were in Fuyi Tower have all been taken care of. What shall we do with them?”
Chen Minhong looked towards Yu Shu.
“Throw that bunch of riff-raff onto the streets. Leave Taizi Le. We’ll wait for his old man Chang Shen to come bail him out.”
Liao Zhizong walked over, frowning.
“It’s a mess outside. Wu Haoxi’s men have even brought out rocket launchers. We haven’t had firearms used in the Walled City for almost ten years. With things escalated this much, the Hong Kong government will never let this matter rest.”
“Any issue with our guests that just left?” asked Yu Shu.
“They’ve all been sent out of the city.”
“That will do.”
Yu Shu stepped forward to address the VIPs who were quietly watching the show from their private cabins. “You have heard about the situation in the Walled City right now. May I trouble you all to stay here in Fuyi Tower for the time being? I will personally send each of you out of the city first thing tomorrow morning. If there is any inconvenience, I hope you can understand.”
“Whatever you say.”
He Changhong’s face was red. The Walled City was not a big place to begin with, and he could hear the faint sound of explosions over on Xin Street. In front of his very eyes, a brawl involving hundreds of men had just taken place. It was so overwhelming that his kidneys were secreting adenosine, making this rich young master speechless at the lawlessness of the people in Kowloon Walled City.
Judy’s face looked worried.
“If you keep Taizi Le, aren’t you afraid that He Lian Sheng will return to the city and retaliate?”
Grand Duke shook her head and said, “He Lian Sheng has their hands full.”