Everyone in the warehouse turned toward the entrance in unison.
Qi Licheng’s hand, still gripping the knife, froze in midair. The expression on his face shifted from shock to anger, then from anger to wariness.
“Who the hell are you? How dare you barge into my territory!”
Zhao Tianyi adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and walked in unhurriedly. The group of men in black behind him streamed inside like a black tide.
Nearly a hundred men, all dressed in black suits and wearing dragon-shaped badges.
The aura. The oppressive presence. It was every bit as intimidating as a gang shootout in a movie.
No—it was even more frightening than anything in a movie.
Qi Licheng’s men swallowed nervously one after another at the sight.
It wasn’t that they were cowards. The other side’s show of force was simply too damn terrifying.
A Jiu swallowed and leaned close to Qi Licheng’s ear, whispering, “Young Master Cheng, they’re from the Ten Thousand Dragons Society.”
Although Qi Licheng was a little slow to react, he recognized them soon enough.
The man surnamed Yang he had met at Jinchuan Pavilion that day had been dressed exactly like this.
Black suits, dragon-shaped badges, the same intimidating style.
What he never would have expected was that the Ten Thousand Dragons Society would dare barge directly into his territory—and bring nearly a hundred men with them.
They had hidden their strength well.
Most importantly, he had brought too few men today. For now, he could only swallow his pride.
“What exactly do you want? Don’t tell me you’re planning to make a move against me. I’m warning you, that’s illegal! This is a society governed by law!”
When Qi Licheng said this, not only Zhao Tianyi but even the underlings behind him almost failed to react.
Seriously, Young Master Cheng? Those are words you can say with a straight face?
Have you even looked at what you’re doing?
Zhao Tianyi laughed when he heard that.
“Young Master Qi, you want to talk to me about the law?”
He slowly pulled his lawyer’s license from the inner pocket of his suit, opened it, and waved it gently in front of Qi Licheng.
“Take a good look. This is my license. Zhao Tianyi, Tianyi Law Firm. Completely legal.”
“By the looks of it, I’m actually more qualified than you to talk about the law, aren’t I?”
“Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll explain it to you. Based on the evidence we have, you’re suspected of unlawful detention, intentional assault, provoking trouble, organizing a criminal gang, and…” He paused. “Oh, right. Drug-related offenses as well.”
“You’ll probably be eating peanuts before long.”
Qi Licheng’s expression changed dramatically. “You’re talking out of your ass! When the hell have I ever been involved with drugs?”
Zhao Tianyi pointed at Wumao and Jia Dan, who were tied to chairs.
“Young Master Qi, you really went all out on them. Unlawful detention and intentional assault are both serious crimes. Add drug-related offenses and organizing a criminal gang on top of that, and with all the charges combined…” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I’d estimate the metal content in your cremated remains will be quite high.”
“You…”
Qi Licheng wanted nothing more than to tear this lawyer apart, but when he saw the nearly hundred men in black behind him, he forcibly suppressed his rage.
One who cannot bear the small troubles will never accomplish great things.
More importantly, he had no confidence that he could beat them.
“Fine. So you’re the Ten Thousand Dragons Society? You’re ruthless!”
“But don’t forget, this is Jinchuan. This is the Qi family’s territory! If you dare lay a finger on me today, my father will never let you get away with it!”
Zhao Tianyi smiled again.
“Young Master Qi, you’ve misunderstood.”
“We’re legitimate businessmen. We never do anything illegal. We simply enjoy helping those in need and following the example of Lei Feng by doing good deeds.”
As he spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something and smacked his forehead.
“Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell you—the police should be here any minute. You can tell them whatever you have to say.”
Qi Licheng’s face instantly turned pale.
“You… You called the police?”
“Of course.” Zhao Tianyi nodded solemnly. “When you encounter illegal activity, you report it to the police at once. It’s every citizen’s duty. Young Master Qi, don’t tell me you don’t even know that. They taught it in elementary-school civics.”
Qi Licheng: “…”
You barged into my territory with over a hundred men in black, then had the nerve to tell me you’re law-abiding citizens?
You people look even more like gangsters than I do!
But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
The police would arrive any moment, and he had to get out of there immediately.
If the police caught him on the spot—and if the evidence the other side mentioned really existed—he might actually end up with several pounds of peanuts before being sent to the crematorium.
Qi Licheng secretly gave A Jiu a look, signaling for him to lead the men out through the back door. Once they were outside, he was to find his father and report everything.
As long as the old man stepped in, any problem could be solved.
A Jiu understood at once and nodded. He was a professional when it came to running away. Otherwise, after all the vile things he had done, he would have been behind bars long ago.
However, he had barely turned around and taken a few steps when a dark figure blocked his path.
“Move!”
A Jiu instinctively tried to attack.
Then…
Crack!
In an instant, his wrist was twisted behind his back. It felt as though his entire arm might have been torn right out of its socket.
“Ahhh!”
A Jiu doubled over like a shrimp, howling in pain.
“Assaulting a police officer… Ah, no, my mistake. Assaulting a law-abiding citizen carrying out a mission of civic heroism is also a crime,” Zhao Tianyi added lazily from across the room.
A Jiu, drenched in cold sweat: “…”
Damn it, why was this lawyer’s mouth so vicious?
He could turn black into white! My arm is practically broken, for crying out loud!
But all A Jiu could do was curse him silently in his heart.
Qi Licheng’s expression had become uglier than ever.
In Jinchuan, Qi Licheng had always been the one bringing men to surround others. Since when had anyone dared surround him instead? And these people were outsiders—a group of dragons crossing the river—who had broken one of his men’s arms right in front of him, on his own turf.
If word got out, how was he supposed to keep his standing in Jinchuan’s underworld?
“Damn it, this is going too far!”
He spun around and roared at the dozens of men behind him, “What are you waiting for? Get them! Take these outsiders down!”
“Whoever knocks one of them down gets a hundred thousand! Whoever kills the leader gets five hundred thousand!”
With enough money on the line, even cowards became brave.
The men who had been glancing uneasily at one another suddenly had greed shining in their eyes. Then, as if injected with adrenaline, they charged toward the men in black at the entrance, shouting wildly.
Five hundred thousand!
That was enough to let them spend freely in Jinchuan for years!
Taking advantage of the chaos, Qi Licheng quietly began retreating.
He didn’t expect his useless underlings to defeat the Ten Thousand Dragons Society.
All he needed was for them to hold the enemy off. Even one or two minutes would be enough. As long as he could escape, he would still have a chance to turn things around.
Zhao Tianyi watched the gangsters charging toward him, shouting at the tops of their lungs. There wasn’t the slightest trace of tension on his face.
He calmly took one step backward, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and placed it between his lips. Then he lit it with a lighter, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
After that, he raised his right hand and gave it a slight wave.
“Move!”
“Yes!”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Nearly a hundred men in black drew their batons in perfect unison.
Then they moved.
The thug leading the charge had just raised his baseball bat when his wrist suddenly went numb. The bat flew from his hand, and before he could react, a kick struck the back of his knee. Then blows rained down on him with sharp smacks until he collapsed to the ground, screaming.
Just as he was about to get back up, a large hand pressed down on the back of his head.
“Holy shit!”
The thug instinctively tried to struggle, but both his arms were already twisted behind his back. A moment later, a pair of handcuffs snapped shut around his wrists.
Wait.
Handcuffs?
The thug was stunned.
Were these people gangsters or cops? Why the hell were they carrying handcuffs?
Could they be police officers in disguise?
Before he could figure it out, his fellow gang members had already started dropping one after another.
They fell in all sorts of positions, but the result was the same: every one of them was pinned to the ground and handcuffed.
The whole thing took less than thirty seconds.
The dozens of men brought by A Jiu had all been taken down.
Not one of them was still standing, yet not a single one was bleeding.
These men in black knew exactly how much force to use. Every blow landed in a place that caused excruciating pain without resulting in any serious injury that would show up on an examination.
And their movements were unbelievably clean and efficient!
Jia Dan had witnessed everything from start to finish, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
He recognized them.
These men in black were the exact same group of underlings Wumao had lent him that night!
They were wearing the same black suits; the only difference was that they weren’t wearing the dragon-shaped badges.
That night, they had merely taken photos and videos without actually lifting a finger. Today, Jia Dan finally got to see what they were truly capable of.
Dozens of men—wiped out in less than thirty seconds.
What the hell kind of combat ability was that?
Zhao Tianyi glanced at the gangsters groaning across the ground and nodded in satisfaction.
“All right. Hand them over to the police later.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men in black immediately began wrapping things up and collecting evidence.
