The man’s strength and speed were indomitable. Lin Huai thought that of all the people on campus, only Li Kandao could possibly match up with him. As he rolled to the side and avoided that terrifying attack, the blade tore the blanket in two and the mattress itself with a large, audible tearing sound.
When he saw Lin Huai rolling in bed the moment he swung the knife down, he too lunged forward and, with several more slashes from his long knife, he managed to block Lin Huai’s exit route.
His face contorted in rage and his eyes were bloodshot; it was as though he wouldn’t rest until Lin Huai died by his blade.
By then, Ran Ran was paralyzed and yelled only when she noticed the knife was about to hit Lin Huai, “Stop it, Big Brother Wu! Stop!”
Lin Huai threw a punch from a lying position. With a thunk, the blade slashed his fist, giving Lin Huai a large gash on the back of his hand but also breaking the knife. Nevertheless, Lin Huai’s fist kept going until it hit the man’s chest, resulting in the audible crack of a broken rib and blood spewing out of the man’s mouth. In that instance, the man flew backward and hit the ground hard.
Several students rushed into the room upon hearing the commotion, each scrambling to help the attacker up with a concerned “Boss!”.
“Boss, are you alright?”
Lin Huai took a look at the wound on his hand and cursed internally. Damn it, I came all the way here, only to nearly die at the hands of these college students.
A normal person would have died under the circumstances; the man before him was no expert in wielding knives, but he certainly had the skills to be a martial artist, not to mention that his attack was so sudden that a normal bodyguard would have either sustained serious injuries or died right away.
When Lin Huai got up, he roared, “Leave me, all of you! Just finish this guy off!”
His subordinates all rushed toward Lin Huai at the same time. They were clearly students from the campus since they did not look that old, but they all had decent reflexes; even the weakest of the six people that surrounded him were on Wu Jun’s level. Just as they had him cornered, more voices called out from outside, “Damn, what the hell happened?!”
“Wu Shanhe, are you f**king nuts? How dare you look for trouble in our territory?!”
Footsteps thundered closer and closer, and the sound of people cursing could be heard every now and then; it seemed that there were quite a lot of people heading straight toward their room.
Lin Huai couldn’t help but do a double take; so the man was Wu Shanhe. But because his subordinates were attacking relentlessly, he had no time to ponder what his actions meant.
Meanwhile, Wu Shanhe was still staggering from Lin Huai’s self-defensive punch, who had no time to identify the person he was hitting, which resulted in a punch so powerful that straightaway broke one of Wu Shanhe’s rib bones.
Upon hearing the footsteps, Wu Shanhe’s face darkened and he panicked. Scooping up the broken knife in one hand and Ran Ran in the other, he dragged her off the bed and yelled, “Come with me!”
Ran Ran didn’t look very pleased as she turned back to Lin Huai, but she was dragged out of the room before she could explain anything.
A crowd of lackeys were already swarming the hallway, but Wu Shanhe simply hardened his expression, brandished his knife and roared as they charged toward him. “Step forward if you want to die!”
He had only half a knife, but looked like he was ready to fight till death; his every move aimed to kill. These lackeys were used to fighting as well but in the end, they weren’t fighting for their lives since they had people to go home to—and other concerns in their mind—and that was how Wu Shanhe managed to fight his way out with Ran Ran.
Instead of taking the elevator, Wu Shanhe took the stairs down. By the time he reached the first, he was sweaty and weak in the knees.
Past the karaoke lackeys, Wu Shanhe figured that they wouldn’t be pursued as fiercely now that they were out in the streets. Only then did he turn to Ran Ran with a grim face and asked, “Ran Ran, who let you come to a place like this? Did you come here because Lin Huai forced you?”
“What do you mean, Lin Huai forced me?” Ran Ran was confused and hurriedly explained, “This has nothing to do with Lin Huai. It was Chen Gang, he took me to Mr. Hu and said that if I did not obey and help him earn money, he’d get someone to kill you off. He even mentioned a past traitor from Yulan’s Four Tigers that he killed. I was so scared at the time, so I came.”
Wu Shanhe’s expression darkened as he asked, “It was that bastard Zhou Minghu?”
“Yes. It was my first time with a customer, and I got Lin Huai. For some reason, he didn’t even touch me. All he asked was that we share a bed fully clothed for the night, and he’ll get me out of there in the morning. I was so touched, but then you barged in.”
Wu Shanhe took a deep breath, cogs turning in his mind. “Li Ming told me that Lin Huai kidnapped you here for the night. If that’s not true… then Li Ming lied to me?”
“Mm-hmm.” Ran Ran wiped her tears and continued explaining, “At first, I refused to obey Mr. Hu, but then he called Li Ming out and that was when I realised he was betraying you. Mr. Hu said he had plenty of spies working for you, and that you’d be dead if I didn’t obey him.”
“Zhou Minghu!” Wu Shanhe’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, in a rage he yelled, “I’m going to kill him! Come with me first, I’m taking you home!”
They had only walked several steps past a tiny alley when a cold voice called out, “Who did you say you are going to kill?”
The veins in Wu Shanhe’s eyes nearly popped; his murderous aura could be felt as he gritted his teeth and yelled, “Zhou Minghu!”
Zhou Minghu stepped out of the alley, wearing a plain shirt and long pants with a pair of travelling sneakers. At first glance, he seemed normal but his gaze had a terrifying intensity to it. Because of this, anyone who looked into his eyes would get a chill down their spine, as if they were stripped of all defenses in front of him.
Zhou Minghu smiled. “I knew that you never liked me, Wu Shanhe. The world is enough for only one of us, yet here we are.”
Wu Shanhe was fatally wounded, but he held onto his bloodstained knife and glared at Zhou Minghu in indignance as he said, “Zhou Minghu, we’ve never interfered with each other and I’ve never looked for trouble with you sports majors. Aren’t you taking this a bit too far?”
“No.” Zhou Minghu shook his head. “Everyone says that there are three overlords in Yulan College: you, me and Miss Gao. There’s no way that I’ll be going against a lady first, so it has to be you. I think Yulan College is too small to have more than one person calling the shots, don’t you think so?”
Wu Shanhe gritted his teeth. “Well, aren’t you ambitious? But you’re already in your 4th year, graduating in less than a year. What’s the point of fighting for the Big Boss title now?”
“Of course there’s a point.” Zhou Minghu smiled as he continued, “I’m about to finish my last year and graduate, so it’s almost time for my application.”
Wu Shanhe took a deep breath; he finally understood Zhou Minghu’s sudden bid for power. No one would expect Zhou Minghu to disrupt the peace on campus but because he was graduating, his chances of succeeding would be much higher. And like what Zhou Minghu said, he was planning to submit his application—or the gangster equivalent of a report card—as a way of proving himself to the off-campus gangs. If he successfully took over Yulan College, with his reputation and competence, it wouldn’t be hard for him to become a gang leader straight out of college.
Zhou Minghu smiled as he continued explaining, “I think you get what I’m saying. Actually, Gao Mengchao seems to be planning the same thing. She had contacted that lucky bastard Lin Huai a few days ago, thinking that I’d never notice. It’s a pity that I’ve managed to account you all in my plans. First I’ll get you out of the picture, then Lin Huai, and after that it’ll be just me and Miss Gao in Yulan College. And let’s be honest, a woman like her would be no match for me.”
Zhou Minghu’s schemes were bone-chilling.
Wu Shanhe’s heart turned cold. First, Zhou Minghu forced Ran Ran to work at the karaoke lounge, then asked that traitor to feed him lies about Lin Huai kidnapping her. After he and Lin Huai tore each other apart, he’d step in to clean up the mess. Zhou Minghu’s plan was like a stack of dominoes, and all the pieces were falling into place.
Wu Shanhe lost spirit more and more. Just then, a bunch of sports major students surrounded them. Wu Shanhe was a good fighter, but he needed to be in peak condition to fight his way past so many people. Even then, it was a tall order to fight while protecting a girl by his side in peak condition, let alone that fact that he was seriously injured.
Wu Shanhe seemed to deflate all of a sudden, his sunken eyes no longer containing the spirit to fight as he sighed, “Let us go, and I will disband all of my men. I’ll no longer be an Overlord of Yulan College.”
“It’s not that simple.” Zhou Minghu’s tone turned grim as he continued, “Letting someone troublesome like you walk free? Who do you think I am?”
Wu Shanhe waved his knife stump and yelled, “Are you really going to force casualties on both sides?”
“There will be no casualties on my side.” Zhou Minghu fixed his intense gaze on Wu Shanhe and declared, “There is a second option where no one gets hurt, and your girl can leave safely.”
Wu Shanhe was breathing heavily, still trying to make up his mind.
Zhou Minghu said, “Let my men stab you once. After that, you and your boys will be safe. If you resist, both you and your girl will die here tonight. Make your choice.”
Ran Ran shook her head furiously, choking on her own tears as she begged, “Big Brother Wu, leave me and run!”
Wu Shanhe laughed aloud. “Run? Where to? Come on, it’s just a stab, right? What man would choose the gangster life without getting stabbed? Just let my woman leave first!”
With a wave of Zhou Minghu’s hand, the students parted to form a path. Then, Zhou Minghu looked to one of his subordinates, who shakily held a knife as he approached Wu Shanhe step by step. Then, he stabbed Wu Shanhe hard.
Wu Shanhe fell to the ground in pain, and a delighted smirk surfaced on Zhou Minghu’s face when he turned to the student, “Go turn yourself in, and I’ll take care of the rest. Hey, girl! Are you still here? Clear a path, boys, let her back through. Wu Shanhe, I promise that I won’t touch your girl, but as for you? Whether you live or die, I”ll leave it up to fate.”
The student who’d stabbed Wu Shanhe was shaking uncontrollably, his pants getting wet in the crotch area. Just as Ran Ran ran back to Wu Shanhe’s side and sat down while wiping away her tears, the student called for an ambulance in a trembling voice, “Hello? Is this the ambulance? Come quickly, I’ve stabbed someone.”