Still Handling It

Hearing that familiar voice, the bald man halted, his body trembling.

Before he could turn around, however, a powerful hand had already clamped around his neck and dragged him back.

After a low, muffled whimper, the courtyard returned to silence.

Lin Sheng stepped out of the courtyard and pulled the gate shut, locking it.

On closer inspection, his hands were trembling slightly.

"I killed someone..."

After locking the gate, he stared at his hands and murmured.

Whether in his past life or this one, this was the first time he had killed someone.

To be honest, the feeling was not pleasant. He did not feel so sick and miserable that he wanted to vomit like in the movies from his past life, but it still felt unfamiliar.

When the bald man had begged for mercy, he had understood that the best thing to do was not let him go.

But as a model young man raised in a society ruled by law, he still could not quite bring himself to do it. He needed a reason, one that would let him feel at peace.

"Did you see? If you do not hurt others, then the one who gets hurt will be you or your family..."

Lin Sheng seemed to have awakened to something.

"So anyone who threatens you must die..."

Soon, his hands stopped trembling, and calm returned to his eyes. His agile figure vanished into the alley.

Crock Street, Flower Willow Alley in the northern part of the street.

Places of vice found fertile ground everywhere, and Crock Street was no exception.

There were always people in the slums who could no longer survive, forced to choose this way of making a living.

Even though it was already deep into the night, lanterns still burned throughout Flower Willow Alley.

From time to time, drunk men could be seen staggering out.

In an alley not far from Flower Willow Alley, two figures cloaked in black hid within the shadows.

"It is confirmed. Liu Ergou is in Flower Willow Alley. I smeared Fish Fat Grass juice on him. Within a hundred li, he cannot escape Little Yellow's tracking. This is the only road he can take home. We only need to wait here and strike once he comes out."

The two people in black were one tall and one thin. The speaker was the shorter one, whose slender body nevertheless had alluring curves. She was clearly a woman.

As she spoke, a small head poked out from her shoulder. It was a yellow weasel, its two soybean-sized eyes glimmering faintly with intelligence.

"Good. Liu Ergou may be a useless piece of trash, but he is Liu Yuanshan's younger brother. Liu Yuanshan is ruthless and vicious, yet he values this useless brother of his greatly."

The other, taller person in black fixed his gaze on Flower Willow Alley and spoke in a rough voice.

"As long as we capture this trash, we can keep Liu Yuanshan in check. It will be of immense help to our return from the ashes."

The woman nodded, took the yellow weasel from her shoulder, cradled it in her arms, and gently stroked it.

"Still, the Tooth Gang's background is far from ordinary. They may be connected to the Chen Family..."

"Hmph, so what if they are connected to the Chen Family? Once the gang leader recovers from his injuries, and Liu Yuanshan supports us from within, we must take away the Fist Gang's accumulations of so many years. At worst, we can simply change locations and start over..."

"That works too."

After that, neither of them spoke again, merely waiting quietly in the darkness.

"Damn it, why has that bastard Fifth Brother not come back yet? He ruined my fun. When he gets back, I will teach him a proper lesson..."

Inside a side room in Flower Willow Alley.

Reeking of alcohol, Liu Ergou cursed. He had an arm around each of two women, his face flushed red and filled with fury.

Besides him, several of the street thugs from the daytime were also there. Each had a woman in his arms, drinking while groping them up and down, their faces covered in lewd, lascivious grins.

"Who knows what is wrong with Fifth Brother today? He has been gone so long and still has not come back. Could he have gotten drunk and passed out somewhere on the road?"

One thug spoke with a grin.

"Yeah, that brat is fucking ruining the mood. He has spoiled Brother Dog's enjoyment. When he comes back, we have to teach him a good lesson."

Another thug echoed him. They had long been unable to hold themselves back while hugging the women in their arms, but Liu Ergou had not said the word, so they naturally did not dare truly do anything.

They all knew about their boss's hidden ailment. Thus, even though they were already starving with desire, they did not dare do anything too excessive. If they provoked him, there would be no good fruit for them to eat. They could only suppress their impulses and pass the time with the wine in their cups.

In their hearts, they had already cursed Fifth Brother countless times.

Seeing Liu Ergou's expression grow increasingly gloomy, someone immediately changed the subject.

"Brother Dog truly has eagle eyes. We actually found such a fat sheep today. We nearly let him slip away."

"Exactly, exactly. Who would have thought that kid had a martial arts manual on him? Even a third-rate technique could fetch several hundred taels of silver on the black market!"

The others also began flattering him.

Hearing their praise, Liu Ergou's face showed some smugness. He forcefully grabbed the two women beside him, drawing cries of pain, while he burst into loud laughter.

"Hmph, do you need to tell me that? I did not expect that kid to have a martial arts manual either. But do not celebrate too soon. Either the kid stumbled into dog shit luck, or he belongs to some force in the city. If he got lucky himself, then us brothers have truly struck it rich this time. But if he belongs to some force in the city, it might only be a fragmentary manual. Its value would be greatly reduced then."

"Brother Dog, do you mean that kid might belong to one of the city's major powers?"

The other men were startled, surprise written across their faces. But upon thinking about it, that was indeed possible.

Seeing the change in their expressions, Liu Ergou grinned.

"What are you afraid of? Cowards! Even if he belongs to one of the city's major powers, so what? He is nothing more than an outer member. As long as we keep our hands clean, who would know? Do not forget, Crock Street is now the Tooth Gang's territory. Once my brother and the chief gang leader finish dealing with those stragglers from the Fist Gang, the Axe Gang will be next. Making someone disappear here is not the simplest thing in the world for me, Liu Ergou."

"The Axe Gang! Brother Dog, I heard the Axe Gang is different from the Fist Gang. It seems to have the shadow of some major force in the city behind it."

"So what? The Axe Gang has people behind it, but does that mean our Tooth Gang does not? That is exactly what we want—the people behind them. What do you know?"

As he spoke, Liu Ergou seemed to realize that he had said too much and quickly changed the subject.

Time slowly passed.

More than an hour later.

Having waited in vain for the bald man, Fifth Brother, Liu Ergou finally lost interest.

Because he had drunk several more cups, the alcohol had gone to his head. He was sleepy and exhausted.

"Damn bastard Fifth Brother, tomorrow... tomorrow I... I... if I do not fucking beat you to death, I will take your surname..."

He stood and pushed away the two women beside him, who were continuously yawning.

He swept his gaze over the others at the table. They were all drunk beyond recognition.

"Let's go, you bunch of trash."

He cursed, and the thugs staggered to their feet.

They were not martial artists, merely ordinary people. Though they had not drunk as much as Liu Ergou, they were thoroughly drunk as well.

The group swayed as they left Flower Willow Alley, with Liu Ergou walking at the front. Even now, he was still thinking about how to deal with that bastard Fifth Brother after returning home for ruining his fun.