Settling It, Part One (Seeking Recommendations)

Li Yi clutched his stomach, sucking in sharp breaths from the pain.

He still wanted to say something, but the moment he met the other party's fierce gaze, he wisely shut his mouth.

Today, he had arranged to come to the internet café with a classmate to have some fun.

Before this, he had been underage and busy preparing for the college entrance exams.

This was his first time going online at an internet café.

Yet before they could even step through the doors, several people blocked their way.

What angered him even more was that the moment his classmate saw someone looking for trouble.

Not only did he not help, he turned and ran without even saying a word.

"Liu Wei, I've really seen your true colors, damn it!"

Li Yi cursed inwardly.

He had always treated the other man as a good brother. He never expected him to be so unreliable at a critical moment. Fine, running away was one thing.

But he could at least have gone to get a police officer.

Then Li Yi thought of Hu Qi, and worry rose in his heart.

"These people don't look like they're here to play nice.

Who knows what they want with Brother Qi? I hinted at it so obviously—he should understand, right..."

But Li Yi did not dwell on that thought for long.

Very soon, he could no longer hold it together.

Under the lingering glow of the setting sun.

At the end of the street.

A figure rode over alone on a food-delivery electric bike.

Who else could it be but Hu Qi?

Screech—!

Hu Qi squeezed the brakes hard. The wheels carved a distinct track across the road before the bike came to a steady stop before the group.

Seeing this, the white-haired young man gave the people beside him a look, and they quietly surrounded him.

"Brother Qi, my dear brother, why did you come alone..."

Li Yi looked at Hu Qi as though he were about to cry.

Hu Qi swept his gaze around, pausing briefly on the bruise on Li Yi's face before looking at the people closing in around them. He frowned slightly.

"Did you do that to his face?"

"I hit him. What are you going to do about it?"

The white-haired young man gave a disdainful snort.

Hu Qi pointed toward a more secluded alley entrance to the side. Because of the way the buildings were positioned, there were no shops nearby, making it especially deserted.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm your target. Let him go, and we'll go talk over there. How about it?"

The white-haired young man frowned and sized Hu Qi up from head to toe.

Then he sneered.

"Well, you've got some guts. Say, kid, are you planning to go somewhere secluded so you can kneel and beg us for mercy?"

"Haha, definitely."

The people around him burst into laughter, their eyes full of mockery as they looked at Hu Qi.

Although Hu Qi looked somewhat sturdier now because he had practiced Combat Technique.

They were not afraid in the slightest.

For people like them, who fought and brawled all the time, they had seen plenty of people who only looked imposing.

If they rushed him together, what could a few punches do to all that muscle?

He would still be crying for his father and mother.

"Since you said it, let's go. But don't even think about running."

The white-haired young man waved his hand.

This suited him perfectly. It was not as though he feared anything.

But beating someone up on the main road, if they got unlucky and the police caught them, would mean getting locked up for a few days again.

However, they did not release Li Yi. Instead, they surrounded Hu Qi and Li Yi as they headed toward the alley in the distance.

A few passersby seemed to notice that something was wrong, but no one came to meddle. Instead, they quickened their pace and left the area.

Li Yi's face turned deathly pale.

After all, he had only just graduated from high school. Normally, he was either at home or at school.

Where had he ever seen a scene like this?

Soon, they arrived at the alley entrance.

The alley was not deep. It was a dead end.

At its end stood a massive tree so thick it would take two people to wrap their arms around it. Behind it was a tall iron fence, and beyond that was a road bustling with endless traffic.

"Come on. Crawl through my legs now, and I'll consider letting you go."

The white-haired young man spread his legs apart.

He gave a lewd chuckle.

Seeing that Hu Qi said nothing.

He spat. A wad of phlegm arced through the air toward Hu Qi.

Hu Qi shifted slightly to the side and easily dodged it.

At once, the white-haired young man's face darkened.

"Huh? Damn it, you still dare dodge? Brothers, pin him—"

Slap!

Before he could finish speaking, Hu Qi suddenly took a step forward and appeared before him.

He raised his hand, moving so fast it left an afterimage, and viciously slapped the white-haired young man across the face.

In an instant.

The white-haired young man felt his right cheek go numb and lose all sensation.

The force spun him half a circle.

Then, with a bang, he crashed to the ground.

"Brother Bai!"

"Fuck!"

"He dared to sneak attack! Brothers, get him!"

The four young men around them froze for a moment. Then one of them was the first to react.

With a ferocious expression, he charged toward Hu Qi, the rest close behind him.

Faced with this.

Hu Qi's expression remained cold. His right toes dug into the ground, power traveling up along his spine. His left leg bent slightly, and the muscles in it instantly tightened.

Whoosh!

The next second, Hu Qi's left leg flashed like an afterimage as he drove a fierce kick into the chest of the man charging in front.

Crack!

The sound of bone splitting rang out. The man flew backward and crashed into the people behind him.

At the same time, Hu Qi twisted aside, dodging the metal batons swung by the other two.

His hands shot out like eagle claws, accurately gripping the wrists they had yet to pull back.

His five fingers tightened.

Crack!

Their wrists instantly dislocated and fractured, and the steel batons in their hands fell to the ground with a clang.

Pain twisted their faces as they opened their mouths to scream.

But in the next moment, intense pain exploded in their abdomens, and they dropped straight to their knees. The agony was so severe that they could not make a sound.

Their faces contorted with pain, turning incomparably pale.

Everything happened too quickly.

From the moment Hu Qi made his move to the moment they fell.

Only four or five seconds had passed.

By the time Li Yi came to his senses, the people before him were already lying on the ground, wailing in pain.

Watching this scene, he stood there in a daze.

Li Yi looked at the people on the ground, then at Hu Qi beside him, whose expression remained cold.

For a moment, he did not know what to say.

"Xiao Yi, go wait outside first. I have something to discuss with them."

Hu Qi suddenly looked up, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he spoke to Li Yi.

Li Yi froze for a moment, answered, "Okay," then turned and went to stand outside the alley entrance.

Hu Qi withdrew his gaze and looked at the figures still screaming and rolling on the ground.

"Shut up, all of you! If you make another sound, I'll strip off your pants and throw you out onto the street."

Hu Qi's voice was icy to the bone, like a bitter wind scraping across their bones. Their bodies trembled violently, and they did not dare make another sound.

Hu Qi nodded in satisfaction at the effect.

He walked over to the white-haired young man from earlier, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him up with one hand.

"Come on, tell me now. Who sent you to make trouble for me?"

The white-haired young man's right cheek was swollen high, and saliva continued to dribble from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes were unfocused and vacant.

Clearly, he had yet to recover from that slap.

Now that Hu Qi had lifted him by the throat, the powerful sensation of suffocation left him unable to breathe. His face flushed red as he began struggling desperately.

Gradually, his reason returned.

"...Big brother, spare... my... life... I'll talk!"

He struggled to say.

Slap!

Hu Qi released him, letting him crash heavily to the ground.