Fire

"Ah!"

Yan Shan let out a miserable scream. Though he had shut his eyes in time, some of the quicklime still got into them.

Blinded, he staggered back in panic, throwing wild punches in an attempt to stop Su Ti from taking the chance to attack.

But Su Ti had no intention of advancing. He simply stepped aside, grabbed a bottle of high-proof liquor, and smashed it viciously against Yan Shan.

Hearing the whistle of the incoming blow, Yan Shan instinctively threw a punch. The bottle shattered beneath his fist, and the liquor splashed all over him.

"AAAAH!!"

Thin wisps of white smoke rose from Yan Shan's face, and his screams grew even more agonized. Su Ti had specifically obtained this quicklime from a construction site; when it met water, it heated up and released temperatures of several hundred degrees.

Yan Shan's face was instantly scalded by the heat. Blinded, he wildly swung his fists and roared like a beast driven into a corner. But it was not over yet.

Su Ti pulled another lighter from his pocket and tossed it at Yan Shan.

Bang!

Soaked in high-proof liquor, Yan Shan's upper body instantly became a blazing human torch. He screamed in unbearable pain!

This was the final straw. Yan Shan's will could no longer withstand the pressure, and he completely lost his mind!

He charged wildly around the private room like a madman, and everyone else scrambled away in terror.

Only Su Ti lunged forward in a single stride and threw a punch.

By then, Yan Shan had been burned by the flames until he had lost all ability to resist. He looked crazed, but in truth his movements had become completely disordered. Su Ti's punch met no obstruction and struck Yan Shan squarely in the chest.

With a crack, Yan Shan's ribs caved in. A large section of his chest collapsed inward, his legs lifted off the ground, and he flew backward. He slammed heavily into the private room's wall before slowly sliding down and crumpling onto the floor.

Blood poured from his mouth as the flames hissed over his body. Yet Yan Shan did not move again. He had gone completely silent.

He was dead.

The moment Yan Shan died, Su Ti turned his gaze toward Li Mingyuan.

Li Mingyuan screamed. With Yan Shan down, the men in black suits were all rolling around on the floor. No one remained to protect him.

Overwhelmed by terror, he reached into his clothes with both hands and actually pulled out a silver handgun.

Gun control in Xiya Country was extremely strict. Even these gangsters only used gray-market stun guns. The fact that Li Shao had managed to acquire a handgun for protection showed just how well-connected he was.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

This gun was Li Shao's final means of self-defense. It had long been loaded; he only needed to flick off the safety to fire!

But his hands were shaking so badly from fear that he could barely hold the gun. Still, perhaps by sheer luck, he fumbled with it and actually disengaged the safety!

Bang!

The gun fired, but it did not hit Su Ti.

Because before Li Shao could pull the trigger, Su Ti had kicked over the liquor table in front of him.

The heavy marble tabletop flew into the air and blocked Su Ti. The bullet struck the surface, scattering sparks before ricocheting away to some unknown place.

The gunshot made the KTV hostesses scream in terror and drop to the floor. Li Shao, seated on the sofa, had no time to dodge. With a thunderous crash, the hundred-pound table slammed directly onto him.

It felt as if he had been hit by a car. His whole body was nearly crushed flat, and unbearable pain made him let out a pained whimper.

Still not satisfied, Su Ti leaped up and kicked the tabletop. The marble table was covered in tempered glass, hard enough to stop bullets. Even Su Ti's full-force kick only created a few cracks and did not shatter the table.

Even so, Li Shao suffered terribly. Pinned between the table and sofa, he took the full force of Su Ti's kick. With a crack, both his arms snapped, and his ribs broke with a series of popping sounds.

Su Ti braced both arms and lifted the tabletop. What he saw was Li Shao's already misshapen body.

Li Shao could not even speak. Whenever he opened his mouth, blood gushed out. Gone was the contempt and arrogance he had shown Su Ti at the underground boxing ring. His eyes were filled only with fear and pleading.

"You're still alive?"

Su Ti was somewhat surprised. Then his entire body exploded with strength as he lifted the hundred-pound marble-and-glass table and smashed it down on Li Shao!

Smack!

Blood splattered everywhere, as though a tomato had been violently crushed. Yet even then, Li Shao was still moving. His body twitched faintly in reflexive spasms.

Seeing that he was not dead, Su Ti lifted the table and smashed it down again. He struck four or five times in a row, until a huge spray of blood burst from where Li Shao had been sitting. Only then did he toss the table aside with a bang.

Li Shao was now completely mangled beyond recognition, nearly flattened and stuck to the sofa. Anyone would have believed he had just been run over by a truck against a wall.

With his great vengeance fulfilled, Su Ti swept his gaze around the room. He gave each of the moving men in black suits a kick to the temple, sending them completely limp and motionless on the floor.

With the strength in his legs now, kicking someone in the temple like a soccer ball meant one kick, one death.

Besides, these men in black suits had helped Li Shao commit evil deeds. They were accomplices in abducting and murdering innocent passersby, so Su Ti simply killed them all.

As for the KTV hostesses who had witnessed his brutal killings and were too terrified to even scream, crouching in the corners with their hands clamped over their mouths, Su Ti did not spare them a glance. He pushed open the private room's door and walked out.

After leaving, Su Ti did not slow down. He had already planned his escape route.

Li Shao's premium private room was on the top floor of Great Wealth KTV. Few people normally came there. Outside the corridor, there was only one elevator and a locked fire exit.

The room's soundproofing was top-notch, and there were no cameras. So despite the commotion Su Ti had caused, no one noticed.

Su Ti first took the elevator down to the third floor and entered a storage room. At the very back lay the unconscious waiter whose clothes he had taken. Su Ti stepped around him, retrieved the clothes he had left there, changed into them, and went downstairs to leave.

The entire way was silent. No one noticed him.

After leaving, Su Ti deliberately chose back streets without surveillance cameras. He changed clothes several more times along the way. By the time he appeared beneath his apartment building an hour later, he had completely changed back into his original outfit.

When he got home, it was already one-thirty in the morning. The living room was pitch-black, and his parents had gone to sleep.

Before acting, Su Ti had deliberately sent his parents a message saying that he was having barbecue with friends and might return late. So although he came home late, they had not worried.

Returning to his room, Su Ti removed his mask and clothes, then collapsed heavily onto the bed and let out a long breath.

From preparing all the tools, infiltrating Great Wealth KTV, knocking out the waiter, changing into his clothes to sneak in disguised as a waiter, launching the attack, killing people, and escaping afterward, he had done everything cleanly and decisively. But it truly was Su Ti's first time doing something like this.

Only after returning home did the weight in his heart finally lift, leaving him with a sense of relief.

Staring at the ceiling, Su Ti's gaze drifted.

Normally, after doing something this major, anyone would be filled with unease—excited yet terrified, worried that the detectives would uncover what they had done, worried that Li Shao's backers would retaliate, constantly wondering whether they had overlooked something, and unable to sleep all night.

But Su Ti did not have many such worries or feelings. He had been nervous at first, but after feeling the immense power within his body, he no longer worried about anything. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Su Ti got up and washed up when he heard his father's voice from the living room.

"Great Wealth KTV caught fire on the top floor. Seven people died overnight, and the KTV's largest shareholder also died in the fire. Tsk, tsk. This just goes to show how important fire safety really is. Honey, maybe we should get a fire extinguisher for our home too."

"A fire extinguisher? The biggest fire hazard in this house is you. You start smoking first thing in the morning. You're choking us to death."

Under Su's Mother's complaints, Su's Father awkwardly smiled and stubbed out his cigarette. He had smoked for many years and had tried to quit several times at his family's urging, but each attempt had lasted only a few months. His most recent attempt had lasted just two weeks, yet over the past few days, he had started showing signs of relapsing.

Su Ti sat at the dining table and picked up the newspaper Su's Father had put down. It was the Mingguang City Daily, and its headline was about the fire at Great Wealth KTV.

An ordinary person might have believed it was truly a fire, but Su Ti had carried out what happened yesterday. As someone involved, how could he not know? It had unquestionably been murder and a criminal case.

Su Ti put down the newspaper and thought to himself.

There are two possibilities. First, the detectives deliberately released false information to catch the killer and calm the public. But that seems unlikely. A major case this vicious can't be covered up. So it has to be the second possibility.

The force behind Li Shao deliberately suppressed the matter, calling an intentional murder a fire. Their purpose is probably to handle it themselves.

This outcome did not surprise Su Ti.

The underworld handled its own affairs. Li Shao and the force behind him were gangsters; they could not withstand an investigation. For the security of their organization, as well as its reputation and prestige, they had to settle this matter themselves.

Although Su Ti had left no flaws for the detectives, he had left a major clue for Li Shao's side.

Those KTV hostesses were not much of a problem, since none of them had seen Su Ti's face. The flaw Su Ti had left behind was the two men in black who had gone to capture him and whom he had killed.

The men in black disappeared, and Li Shao was murdered immediately afterward. Though there was no direct evidence, once they figured out the sequence of events, Su Ti would be the prime suspect!

Before long, once the force behind Li Mingyuan discovered that the two men in black had vanished, they would follow the trail straight to Su Ti.

So although Su Ti had killed Li Mingyuan, the organizer behind everything, the matter had not ended. Instead, it had brought him even greater trouble!

Su Ti had anticipated this before he acted.

But he did not regret it. From the moment Li Mingyuan sent people to follow and capture him yesterday, it was clear that Li Mingyuan would never let him go easily. Given Li Mingyuan's lawless nature and his crimes all over Mingguang City, if he had sent people after Su Ti once, then even if they failed, there would definitely be a second and third attempt. Once a second-generation gangster like him felt his dignity had been insulted, he would not back down just because Su Ti was difficult to handle. If he could not catch Su Ti, he might even target his family as leverage. For dark forces like theirs, such methods were all too common.

That was why Su Ti acted decisively. Before Li Mingyuan could react and make his move, Su Ti struck first and went straight for the heart of the problem. Even if it brought greater trouble, he did not care.

"I'm full. I'm heading out."

After quickly finishing breakfast, Su Ti put down his chopsticks and bowl and walked toward the door.

His gaze was steady, without much panic. He had considered his current situation before acting. He seemed safe now, but in reality, he had caused enormous trouble. So before the other side made its move, he needed to find protection first.

"That kid is never home. Who knows what he does outside every day? You should talk to him sometimes. He can't just waste the entire summer vacation like this. Tell him to find some work."

Watching Su Ti's back, Su's Father grumbled in dissatisfaction.

Su's Mother rolled her eyes at him.

"If you want to say it, you say it. Our son just went through something, and you won't even let him have a few days to relax?"

"I'm full too. I'm going out to practice kendo."

Su Ling said this and hurried out as well, slamming the door shut with a bang.

Su's Father's face broke into a broad smile.

"Take it slow, sweetheart. Look at our daughter—after practicing kendo, she really has gotten much stronger. She even runs faster now."