Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
Splash.
A shoe stepped in a mud and caused a murky splash.
A rat nearly the size of a cat was startled, and it scuttled past Li Yan.
The stench of decay drifted through the air, coming from the fishball factory behind the building.
No matter how future generations may paint colourful fantasies out of the lives of these slum-dwellers, the reality of this place was filth and dilapidation. The places within Kowloon that were dazzling with riches were not yet within Li Yan’s reach.
Li Yan had a key around his thumb that belonged to one of the rooms with mottled walls in the apartment ahead with.
The keys had been given to him by Red Ghost as a kind of welcome gift. Something that would save him from squeezing into a room with all the other lower class ring fighters. This place was only a fifteen minute walk away from Longjin Road, where the Kowloon fighting rings were, and was pretty convenient for Li Yan.
As a fighter in the Kowloon rings, one had to find a suitable manager, or as they were called here, a leader. When a fighter steps into the ring, the rules of the fight are all arranged by the manager. Before, Li Yan’s manager was the small-eyed man called Fatty Po. Now, his manager was Red Ghost.
Compared to Fatty Po, who could only make his living at the level four rings, Red Ghost was famous in Kowloon’s underground fighting scene. At age thirteen, he went in the ring under the name of Chen Minhong. At twenty-one, he was the ring champion at a level six, and known for his ferocious punches, kicks, and heavy blows that showed no mercy. That was when his moniker “Red Ghost” became famous. After he retired, he began to work under Grand Duke, becoming one of his most trusted advisors. Even the Kowloon Association’s President, Wu Haoxi, would smile and greet Red Ghost when they met. To someone like Fatty Po, being able to fight under Red Ghost was a great thing worthy of celebrating with firecrackers and a fat roasted goose.
But Li Yan, who in Fatty Po’s eyes had struck gold, was currently feeling the few tens of dollars in his pocket with an unpleasant expression on his face. There was no hint of joy there.
“Three hundred Yanfu points would take a whole three million Hong Kong dollars. Why don’t I just rob a bank?”
Although Mo Tapir had given Li Yan three Yanfu cases to put together three hundred Yanfu points, he clearly did not have time to wait that long. In his mind, the first priority in that first month was to earn three million Hong Kong dollars!
“Meow!”
Li Yan looked down to see an orange kitten circling his feet, occasionally rubbing its nose on his trousers.
“Ah Mi!”
A young girl’s voice came from upstairs. Following the direction of the voice, Li Yan saw a young girl of thirteen or fourteen, barefoot and wearing a worn-out white shirt. She looked meek and frail, and her expression said that she was afraid of most people.
“Meow!”
The kitten heard its owner call and leapt to the girl’s side in three quick hops. It began to purr.
“Sorry sir, Ah Mi is always running off.”
Li Yan smiled. “Your cat is really cute.”
With that, he stepped into the apartment to look for the room number Red Ghost had told him earlier.
“Miss, do you know where room 413 is?”
The girl nodded, picked up her cat, and motioned for Li Yan to follow her.
After a minute or two of walking, she stopped. She pointed to the room number.
“It’s over here.”
“Thank you, miss. Here, big brother will treat you to a sweet.”
Li Yan fished out two milk candies from his pocket. He had bought the sweets walking along Longjin Way to relieve his pain.
“Xiu, who are you talking to so late at night?”
The voice came from the room behind him. It was a woman’s voice, a little hoarse and clearly very out of breath.
“No Ma, I just went downstairs to look for Ah Mi.”
Seeing the sweets in Li Yan’s hand, the girl had paused for a moment. But after hearing the voice from the room, she hurriedly said goodbye to Li Yan and returned home.
Li Yan unwrapped the sweet wrapper and popped the milk candy in his mouth. Without thinking, he took out his keys and entered the room.
So, living opposite him were the mother and daughter pair, which was probably better than someone troublesome like a prostitute. Trouble was the last thing that Li Yan was looking for right now.
The room was cramped, but could at least be considered clean. The only problem was the fishball factory behind the apartment and its thick, pungent odor that reeked even with the windows closed. But Li Yan was just looking for a roof over his head, and wasn’t too picky. After a quick tidying up, he fell into a deep sleep.
…
Late night, at a gambling den.
“Open! Twelve points, big!”
As the dice stopped rolling, the middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a crumpled suit fell into a heap on the ground. There was a faint smell of alcohol coming off of him. Some people surrounding the gambling table raised their eyebrows and some gritted their teeth, but none bothered to take another look at him. It was as though the middle-aged man, who had a terrible expression and looked like he was having a heart attack, was no more than a piece of trash on the road.
“Come, come, come. Hands off when you’ve placed your bets.”
The one shaking the dice with his hair in a mess was Black Teeth Tai. His stained black teeth were chewing on a half smoked cigar and his face was flushed from shouting.
“Wait! Wait a moment, I bet on small again.”
The middle-aged man with bloodshot eyes shouted in a raspy, high-pitched voice.
“Then get your money out, old man.”
Black Teeth Tai spat out a wad of thick phlegm and shouted arrogantly at the middle-aged man. His eyes were trained and sharp, and he could clearly see that this man no longer had a single cent. If this man had the gall to say anything stupid like betting his own fingers, Black Teeth Tai would surely call his men to drag him out back, strip him, and toss him into the ocean to feed the sharks.
The man’s lips trembled as he took out a flat wooden box from his pocket.
“How much is this worth?”
The wooden box was opened to reveal a piece of faded yellow rice paper. On it, gold foil patterns intersected to form a beautiful illustration of the mountain demon, Kui Bull. Each golden hair on its body could be seen clearly, and its lone foot was firmly on the ground, propping it up as it roared towards the skies. Along the back were rows of tiny text instead.
Without further thought, Black Teeth Tai smashed the paper along with the box right into the man’s face.
“Screw your mother, trying to exchange this toilet paper for money? I have hell notes, you want that? Get lost if you have no cash!”
The man stumbled back from the hit. Two streams of blood flowed from his nostrils, past his lips, and onto the ground. He got to his feet and walked pathetically towards the exit mumbling.
“You don’t know this stuff… it’s an antique.”
Dusting himself off, he stumbled his way out. But little did he expect that walking drunkenly along the cramped streets of Kowloon would catch the eyes of certain people…
“Scum, talking rot…”
Still grumbling, he didn’t notice the suspicious figure behind him closing in. Caught unaware, he was struck by a cement brick on the back of his head!
The middle-aged man grunted and fell to the ground. The other man bent down and went for his pockets, frantically searching but finding nothing. As he became frustrated, he noticed from the corner of his eye the rather impressive golden foil rice paper in the middle-aged man’s hand. Without further thought, he grabbed it, looked to see that no one was around, and turned to leave.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed tight to the leg of his trousers, tripping him to the ground.
The middle-aged man’s head was covered in blood, but his mouth was still moaning.
“Help, help me. Help…”
The thief trembled and kicked against the middle-aged man’s chest with all his might, trying to get him to release his grip. But the middle-aged man seemed to hold on even tighter, not letting go as though his life depended on it.
He was breathing heavily, and rage began to build up along with boldness. He reached for the blood-stained cement brick he threw away earlier and raised both his hands high. And then a heavy smash!
……
Bang!
Li Yan’s palm chopped downwards, smashing straight into his opponent’s face, causing him to lose consciousness immediately.
“This young man is pretty good. Five straight wins in a row tonight.”
“What’s the big idea? This guy is definitely beyond level four. Why is he still allowed to fight here?
Red Ghost was leaning against the ring. He motioned for Li Yan to get down.
“What’s the matter, Brother Red Ghost?” Li Yan asked jokingly.
Red Ghost laughed bitterly.
“If you carry on like this, even idiots will know they don’t stand a chance against you. You’re causing me to lose all my earnings. Come with me. For your last fight of the night, you’re going to fight on the big stage.”
“Alright, where are we going?”
Red Ghost tossed his cigarette on the ground.
“Fuyi Tower.”