Suddenly.
Dozens of young men dressed in identical black suits stormed into the bar, startling all the patrons inside.
Before anyone could even process what was happening, a chubby young man standing at the entrance raised a megaphone and shouted, "Listen up, everyone! Hands on your heads and squat down! Men on the left, women on the right, and those who can’t decide—drag ‘em out and deal with ‘em on the spot!"
A few troublemakers in the bar who had initially thought about standing in the middle quickly abandoned that idea and obediently took their positions.
Still, they couldn’t help but grumble under their breaths:
"Damn, this is so undemocratic! Why can’t we stand in the middle?!"
"Yeah, what’s the big deal?!"
"Freedom! We demand freedom!!!"
Of course, they were all bark and no bite—no one dared to actually stand up and fight back.
Mainly because these mysterious men in black looked downright terrifying.
Lai Pihou and his crew, however, were more compliant. They squatted down without protest, whispering among themselves.
"Who the hell are these guys? Never seen ‘em before."
"Think they’re here to take over Brother Bing’s turf?"
"Could be. Things have been tense around the train station lately. Brother Bing’s lost a few of his spots already."
"No surprise. This area used to be peaceful, but now everyone’s gotta pay ‘protection fees’ to Brother Bing. No way people are just gonna swallow that."
"I heard this turf was actually taken by Scarface Brother from the Yi Lian Society."
"Scarface Brother’s a real snake. He seized the territory, dumped it on Brother Bing, then turned around and became the Yi Lian Society’s new hall leader. Meanwhile, Brother Bing’s left holding the bag. Genius move, honestly."
"Rumor has it Brother Bing’s fuming. Lost his shot at the big seat."
"Honestly, even without the title, Brother Bing’s got enough power and turf to rival a hall leader, right?"
"True, but in this world, status matters…"
"Hey, aren’t we getting off track? Shouldn’t we be figuring out which gang these black suits belong to?"
Meanwhile, Little Dao and his crew remained standing, their faces dark as they glared at the intruders.
Little Dao suddenly recognized them and blurted out, "Wan Long Hui!"
The name sent a ripple of shock through the bar. Even Lai Pihou and his buddies froze.
"Wan Long Hui? Which Wan Long Hui?"
"The one from the university district! You seriously don’t know? Those guys are ruthless! No wonder they looked familiar—black suits, black pants. Who else dresses like that?"
"Oh right, I remember now. They’re brutal. Heard they’ve even killed people right in front of the cops. And they beat up regular folks just for buying too little at their supermarket."
"Yeah, that’s true. My uncle saw it happen."
"What the hell? That’s straight-up banditry! Buying too little gets you a beating?"
"Remember that big star Ding Yingyao? Crossed Wan Long Hui once and got blacklisted. Ended up in prison."
"But the news said he broke the law?"
"You believe that? Coincidence he got busted right after pissing off Wan Long Hui? Think about it."
"Yikes… that’s terrifying."
"..."
As the whispers about Wan Long Hui’s "legendary" exploits spread, the bar patrons grew increasingly uneasy.
Sure, many of them had minor underworld ties, dressed in edgy, rebellious styles, and loved to brag. But faced with a gang this ruthless, they all turned into obedient little lambs.
And given the way things were going, tonight might end in bloodshed.
Ma Da led his men through the crowd of squatting patrons, stopping in front of Little Dao’s group. He eyed them and said, "Why aren’t you squatting? Special treatment?"
Little Dao lifted his chin defiantly. "You’re out of line. This is Brother Bing’s turf!"
Ma Da dug his pinky into his ear lazily. "Brother Bing? Who’s that? Never heard of him."
Little Dao snapped, "Yi Lian Society! You’d better back off now, or none of you are leaving here alive!"
Ma Da flicked a bit of earwax onto his palm and smirked. "Oh yeah? Yi Lian Society’s so scary? You think I’m some rookie?"
"Look, I’m not here to pick a fight with you clowns. We’re just looking for someone. Cooperate, and we’ll leave you alone. Don’t, and I’ll send you flying."
With that, he blew the earwax straight at Little Dao.
Disgusted, Little Dao stepped forward, ready to throw down—but before he could move, a massive hand seized his collar.
The next thing he knew, his feet left the ground. Wind roared in his ears as his body sailed through the air… and then he was crashing through the bar’s front door.
Did… did he just get thrown out?!
Ma Da: "..."
Bar patrons: (⊙ˍ⊙).
Little Dao’s crew: W(ﾟДﾟ)W!
After a beat of silence, Ma Da quickly distanced himself. "Not my fault. I didn’t touch him. Blame him." He pointed at Ji Yu, who had just finished his pitching motion.
If Little Dao had a problem, he could take it up with Ji Yu. After all, the guy had "connections."
Ji Yu: "???"
What did I do wrong, Ma Da?
Was the throw not stylish enough?
Still, Ji Yu’s display of raw strength had its effect—the bar fell dead silent. No one dared to make a sound.
Even Little Dao’s men quietly dropped to the ground, hands on their heads.
They weren’t cowards. They were just being… cooperative. The guys said they weren’t here to cause trouble, just to find someone. Squatting was a courtesy.
As for their boss getting yeeted out the door? Well, the leader himself said it wasn’t his doing.
And, you know, none of them wanted to test their luck against a human tank who could probably punch out a grizzly bear.
One guy stole a glance at Ji Yu’s hands—each one looked big enough to crush a skull like a walnut.
Absolutely insane.
Satisfied with the bar’s newfound obedience, Ma Da had his men disable the security cameras before pulling out a photo provided by the "young miss" to start searching.
Lai Pihou and his buddies were sweating bullets by now.
Especially Lai Pihou. For some reason, his gut was screaming at him.
But after mentally reviewing his life, he was sure he’d never crossed Wan Long Hui. That thought let him breathe a little easier.
Still, just to be safe, he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, "None of you have pissed off any of the big shots from the Ten Thousand Dragons Society lately, right?"
Everyone shook their heads. "Nah."
"Lai Pihou, relax, they’re definitely not here for us. None of us have even been near the university district."
"Yeah, we don’t mess around over there. How could we have crossed their boss?"
"Unless we kidnapped their boss’s little brother or something, but come on—that’s impossible. If that were the case, we might as well go buy lottery tickets, haha!"
"Seriously, don’t worry…"
Lai Pihou thought about it and figured they were right. None of them had set foot in the other gang’s territory, so how could they have offended their boss, let alone messed with his family or friends?
He must’ve been overthinking it.
Honestly, for a moment there, he’d been tempted to duck out the back door and make a run for it.
The only reason he hadn’t? He didn’t want to let a golden opportunity slip away.
Ten grand!
Even after paying off his debts, that was enough to live large for a while.
Just then, one of his buddies suddenly pointed at his right eye and exclaimed, "Hey, Lai Pihou, when’d you get eyelid surgery? And only on one eye? Looks kinda uneven, man."
Lai Pihou was about to snap back—who the hell gets just one eyelid done?—but before he could speak, a young man in black approached their booth.
His gaze swept over them before settling on the unconscious guy sprawled across the small couch.
After double-checking something, the young man turned and called out, "Brother Ma, we found him!"
Lai Pihou and the others felt their hearts drop.
Damn it.
Could their luck really be that bad?
