On that night, Lin Huai brought all of them, including Old Li and his men to a nearby restaurant for a drink. However, he did not drink much before returning home.
The next morning after breakfast and moments after Li Liner left for work, Lin Huai received a call from Chu Wenxing. Chu Wenxing was extremely furious over the phone as he said, “Brother Huai, I noticed that whenever there were customers that came to play, Old Li and his men would go harass them. I heard from my men that Old Li’s men would secretly warn the customers that if they didn’t want to get into trouble, they better get lost!”
Lin Huai sneered. “I knew it! Wait for me to go over there!”
Upon hanging up the phone, Lin Huai left the house right away. He flagged for a cab and headed toward the arcade.
Lin Huai could tell that Old Li and his men were behind all the problems based on yesterday’s situation. Lin Huai’s plan last night was to treat everyone to a drink and if Old Li corrected his mistakes, Lin Huai was not going to dwell on it. However, by the looks of it, Old Li did not plan on changing his behaviour.
When Lin Huai arrived at the arcade, he saw two thugs smoking and standing by the entrance of the arcade. Lin Huai requested for the cab driver to pull over for a moment and sure enough after time, he saw how the customers that planned to enter the arcade got chased away by the thugs.
Lin Huai sneered. I see they have a death wish!
“Here, this is for the cab fare.” Lin Huai paid the cab driver and alighted the car. He walked over to the entrance of the arcade and the two thugs that were smoking while chatting greeted him as Brother Huai. However, it was clear that they had no signs of respect towards Lin Huai.
Lin Huai acknowledged and all of a sudden, he grabbed the thug on the left side by his hair and smashed his head towards the wall. Lin Huai did that for a couple of times and after a few loud banging, the thug was bleeding all over his head. There was a huge cut on his forehead as well.
The other thug was shocked but regained his composure very quickly. With a ferocious look on his face, he swore as he whipped out the dagger tucked to his waist and stabbed at Lin Huai.
The thugs in the underworld were completely different from the students in college. The weapon used during brawls in college were stools and even for the more ferocious students in the sports major, a machete was all they had. As they were rather mindful of how they chopped people up in order to prevent severe injuries. Thus, very few people used daggers as daggers were different from machetes where any minor slip-up could lead to a severe injury.
This guy is crazy. However, Lin Huai could not be bothered as he grabbed onto the thug’s wrist and with a hard twist, a loud snapping sound could be heard. The thug’s wrist was twisted and deformed. Not only that, the muscles on his face twitched as he ghastly screamed. The other thug who was bleeding all over his forehead could not stand such a scene. He squatted and threw up as he was completely spooked.
Lin Huai sneered and asked, “How does it feel right now? Do you all still want to stay behind as a spy and make life difficult for me?”
The thug that had his wrist twisted could not say anything as he was in extreme pain and almost passed out. However, due to such extreme pain, he simply could not pass out which was the most torturous thing he had to suffer through.
Lin Huai could not be bothered with both of them and he walked into the arcade. The arcade was completely silent as everyone was clearly spooked by the screams that came from outside.
Old Li saw Lin Huai and after taking a quick peek outside, he nervously asked, “B-Brother Huai, what happened outside?”
Lin Huai remained quiet as he walked to Old Li before asking, “Old Li, who is the boss here?”
Old Li wiped the cold sweat off and replied, “You are our big brother and you are the boss.”
Lin Huai nodded and said, “Oh. Since I am the boss and you all are my henchmen, let me ask you another question. What is the usual outcome of betraying your own boss?”
Old Li gulped. He clearly heard the screams from outside but had no idea of what happened. At the same time, Lin Huai’s tone and glare made him a little nervous so he wiped his cold sweat off and exclaimed, “Brother Huai, how would I dare to betray you!”
“You don’t dare?” Lin Huai smiled and slapped him hard on the face. He slapped Old Li so hard that half of his face swelled up and two of his teeth got crushed. Old Li flew backwards and fell on the ground. At the same time, he spit out a big mouthful of blood.
The remaining six thugs swarmed forward and surrounded Lin Huai. However, they stopped in their tracks as they realized that there were dozens of people gathering from all directions and surrounded them in a center. Although these people were just students, they were still henchmen hand picked by Lin Huai. Thus, the six of them would not be able to face off about eighty of the students. Even if each thug could go up against ten students, they still could not come up on top!
Chu Wenxing walked to a thug and grabbed him by the hair. He slapped him and asked, “What were you trying to do?”
The thug dared not say another word.
Chu Wenxing slapped him once again and coldly asked, “What were you trying to do?”
The thug still kept his mouth shut.
After many more flags, the thug’s face was almost torn up. Blood was flowing from his mouth and he eventually said, “Y-You all dare to beat us up? Brother Long would not spare you all!”
Lin Huai sighed and said, “So you admit that you are under Brother Long’s orders to stay behind and cause problems for me?”
Old Li struggled to get up and due to a couple of his teeth being broken, he could not pronounce certain words accurately so he vaguely mumbled. “Brother Huai, I-I have no idea of what you’re talking about.”
Lin Huai sneered and said, “We are intelligent people so there is no need to act dumb. Don’t you understand what I’m talking about? I am clear of what you are all up to! The two guys outside threatened the customers that came by. Therefore, how could there possibly be customers in the arcade? You all would also harass and cause problems to the customers that came to play. These are the reasons why nobody comes by to play in the arcade, right?”
The other half of Old Li’s face turned green. He took a deep breath and said, “Brother Huai, you are right. However, don’t forget that even if you caught the attention of Big Boss Lei, our Brother Long was the Red Cane that stuck by Big Boss Lei the longest. A powerful dragon cannot crush a snake in its old haunts. We are Brother Long’s men and stayed to give you a helping hand. If you lay a hand on us today, Brother Long would be furious so are you not going to show respect to Brother Long? How about this, you let us go this time around and we promise to not repeat the same mistake again.”
Lin Huai nodded his head and said, “Alright, sounds logical.”
Old Li heaved a sigh of relief and said, “From today onwards, I will lead my men to help you run this business properly. We are veterans in managing this arcade so we know the inside out of the operations better than anyone else.”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “You make so much sense that I feel bad laying a hand on you.”
Old Li’s expression changed and before he could say another word, Lin Huai gestured to Dao Zi who was next to him and with an ice cold voice, he demanded, “Give me a dagger.”
Dao Zi immediately passed a dagger to Lin Huai.
Old Li was terrified and with a trembling voice, he exclaimed, “Y-You, what are you doing? I am a veteran that has been by Brother Long’s side for a long time. You cannot do this to me, Brother Long would not spare you.”
Just as Old Li was still speaking, Lin Huai suddenly stabbed at him with the dagger. The dagger pierced through Old Li’s left shoulder and the veins on his face popped up as he let out a ghastly scream. Lin Huai pulled the dagger out and stabbed at Old Li’s right shoulder which made him scream out loud again.
Lin Huai pulled the dagger out and got ready to stab Old Li’s abdomen. Old Li kneeled down on the ground and he pleaded in pain. “Please stop. If you continue, I am going to die, I am going to die! Brother Huai, I have succumbed to you. I will no longer dare to go against you!”
Old Li said so while he loudly kowtowed on the ground. Blood was gushing out of his shoulders which sent shivers down his henchmen’s spine as their legs trembled non-stop. Even after many years mingling around in the underworld, they had not seen many people like Lin Huai that was so ruthless. The scenario was too bloody and ruthless.
Lin Huai coldly said, “Any two of you, send Old Li and the two guys outside the entrance over to the hospital.”
Soon after, a few men walked forward and carried Old Li out. Brother Huai glanced at the rest of them and they quickly said, “Brother Huai, I am sorry.”
“We realize our mistakes.”
“Yes, we will never repeat these mistakes ever again.”
Lin Huai nodded and said, “Good that you all realize your mistakes.”
They heaved a sigh of relief as they did not have to be beaten up.
Lin Huai looked at Chu Wenxing and said, “Since they realize their mistakes, beat them up. Beat them till they can’t stand up and throw them onto the streets. From today onwards, never let them into the arcade. Whenever they come, beat them up!”
They were bewildered and before they could say another word, Chu Wenxing and his men had already moved. Many straws may bind an elephant, let alone the fact that Chu Wenxing and his men were no pushover, the thugs were also not powerful elephants. Therefore, the thugs were soon submerged in the crowd of Chu Wenxing and his men and the only sounds heard were their screams.
Lin Huai walked upstairs with his arm around Dao Zi. At the same time, he returned the dagger back to Dao Zi.
Dao Zi coldly said, “I am your follower as well, why didn’t you let me beat them up?”
Lin Huai bitterly smiled and said, “I am merely striking fear into their hearts whereas if you were the one beating them up, their lives might be in danger!”
Dao Zi looked a little unhappy but he kept quiet.
Lin Huai smiled and said, “However, I’m planning to give the challenging enemies to you which is why I will help you elevate your skills. Do you want to learn martial arts? Actual martial arts!”
Dao Zi’s eyes lit up and all of his unhappiness vanished. He asked, “Martial arts?”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Yes, martial arts. The actual martial arts aren’t exactly mysterious per say but they are not easy to be picked up. For somebody like you that has attained a level close to the Observable Energy Stage based on your own talent is extremely rare. Thus, you only have to learn from me for a short while and you would be able to take a step into the Observable Energy Stage. That way even if you face off the four Red Canes of Thunder God, you still have a chance of beating them. You would barely scrape off a win when you went against Li Kandao before.”
Dao Zi took a deep breath and said, “I am willing to learn!”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Alright. From today onwards, I will teach you martial arts everyday. Not only would I teach you, I would also teach Chu Wenxing but you are much more gifted than Chu Wenxing.”
Dao Zi asked, “Are we starting today?”
Lin Huai replied, “In a short while after the thugs are tossed out.”
Soon after, the thugs were beaten up and were in a tragic state. They were then tossed out by Lin Huai’s henchmen. Upon returning back to the arcade, Lin Huai’s henchmen all felt delighted and they laughed. “Brother Huai, we had disliked them from the start.”
“Exactly, these traitors.”
“Well, they weren’t exactly traitors as they were spies right from the get-go. Brother Huai, from today onwards, this arcade really belongs to us.
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Yes, from today onwards, it is ours. Big Boss Lei would not come by and stick his noses so it’s all up to us to manage this arcade. From today onwards, this will be our first base of operations and nobody is allowed to intervene!”