"I told you not to bite me!"
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The bald man slapped Cuicui across the face with such force that her head snapped to the side.
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Cuicui gave a muffled groan. Her body went limp as she crumpled down, her gaze unfocused and her consciousness fading in an instant.
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"Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd listened from the start?"
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The bald man sneered, reached out, and hoisted Cuicui over his shoulder like a sack.
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The bearded man ran a hand over her face and grinned, showing two rows of yellow teeth:
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"Didn't manage to get that kid, but this little chick's got soft, tender skin, and she's a top student at Public Middle School, too. It's not a bad deal."
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Li Tong stood to one side, watching it all with an expressionless face.
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His gaze lingered on Cuicui for a moment, regret flickering in his eyes, but he quickly looked away.
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He took a Hademen cigarette from his pocket, put it between his lips, struck a match, and lit it. He took a deep drag, then blew smoke from his nostrils.
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"Let's get her into the car, and quit dawdling here."
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The bald man bent over and tossed Cuicui onto the handcart. The bearded man followed behind him, and the three of them immediately headed deeper into the alley.
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They soon arrived at a narrow alley.
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It was long and deep,
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with towering walls on both sides and only a sliver of sky overhead.
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They had barely taken a dozen steps when the bald man, walking in front, suddenly stopped.
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"What's wrong?" the bearded man asked.
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The bald man didn't answer. He stared fixedly at the shadow near the alley entrance ahead.
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Someone stood there.
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In the darkness, only a vague silhouette was visible.
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Not tall, and rather thin.
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The person stood there quietly. If the bald man hadn't glanced that way just now, he wouldn't have noticed him at all.
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The bald man narrowed his eyes and barked,
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"Who's there?"
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No one answered.
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The figure remained standing, as if he hadn't heard.
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The bald man started toward the entrance, his pace steady, neither hurried nor slow. Each step landed firmly, and he was ready to strike at any moment.
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He had the foundation of Three-Sound Bone Crack and had spent seven or eight years with the Wild Wolf Gang. He'd seen blood and gotten into fights more times than he could count.
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Some half-grown kid was nothing to him.
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"I'm talking to you, damn it! Are you deaf?"
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He stopped seven or eight meters from the figure.
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In the faint moonlight from the streetlamp, he could see that the other person wore a blue-and-white school uniform, washed pale with age. He was tall and slender.
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The face was indistinct, but a pair of eyes glinted coldly in the dim light.
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The bald man felt an inexplicable chill.
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"Who the hell are you? Quit pretending to be some ghost!"
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The bald man raised his voice again. As he tested the stranger, his hand had already found the short knife at his waist.
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The man wasn't answering. He was clearly here to cause trouble.
###
While staying cautious, the bald man was already preparing to attack.
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But just before he struck,
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the man finally moved.
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He didn't step back. Instead, he reached inside his jacket.
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Before the bald man could make out what he was pulling out, a handful of white powder burst into the air like a cloud.
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"Shit! Lime!"
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The bald man shouted and instinctively squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head.
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But he was half a beat too slow.
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Fine white powder flew into his eyes. A searing, burning pain exploded through them, and tears poured out like floodgates opening.
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His vision blurred until he couldn't see a thing.
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"Fuck!"
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The bald man roared and slashed wildly with his short knife, its blade whistling sharply through the air.
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But just then, a fierce rush of wind came at him from the side.
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Strange and tricky, it came in from his blind spot.
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The bald man only had time to turn his head slightly before a right fist crashed squarely into his temple.
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"Bang!"
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The dull impact boomed through the narrow alley.
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The bald man's head snapped to the side. His whole body flew sideways as if struck by an iron hammer, slamming hard into the wall.
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His eyes were still open, but his pupils had already gone blank.
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His body slid down the wall and crumpled to the ground, limp and motionless. He had stopped breathing.
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One strike, one kill.
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Fang Shuwen withdrew his fist and shook the blood from his knuckles.
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His gaze passed over the bald man's corpse and fell on the two people behind him.
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The bearded man's mouth hung open. His expression had changed from confusion to horror in less than a second.
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It had happened too fast. He still hadn't even come to his senses.
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"B-Brother Wang?"
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"You—you killed Brother Wang! Do you know who his big brother is?"
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His voice trembled. Eyes wide as saucers, he stared at the figure rushing toward him, trying to distract him with his words.
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But his ploy was doomed to fail.
###
Fang Shuwen ignored him completely and lunged at the bearded man.
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He moved astonishingly fast. The bluestone slabs boomed beneath his feet, and the bricks shattered one after another.
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The bearded man's pupils contracted. He instinctively stumbled backward and frantically reached for the dagger at his waist.
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But Fang Shuwen was faster.
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The three-meter gap disappeared in the span of a breath.
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Snake Fang Thrust.
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His fist tore through the air with a sharp crack.
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The bearded man didn't have time to move before Fang Shuwen's fist smashed into him.
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"Crack!"
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The sound of breaking bone rang out, sharp and clear.
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The bearded man's left forearm bent at an unnatural angle. White bone jutted through his skin.
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"Ah—!"
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Before the scream had fully forced its way from his throat, Fang Shuwen's second punch had already arrived.
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This time, it was his left fist, cutting in from the right and aimed straight at the bearded man's temple.
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His right arm was still intact, and he raised it with all his strength to block.
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But Fang Shuwen's fist suddenly changed direction midair. Like a snake's head abruptly turning, it slipped around his arm and smashed squarely into the side of his neck.
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"Bang!"
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The dull impact boomed through the narrow alley.
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The bearded man's eyes flew wide, and his mouth opened.
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A garbled "Hrk" came from his throat, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't get a word out.
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His body froze for a moment, then pitched forward stiffly.
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From the moment Fang Shuwen struck until both men were dead, no more than a few breaths had passed.
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The alley fell silent once more.
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Fang Shuwen shook the blood from his hands and slowly turned around.
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Li Tong was still standing where he was.
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His face was as white as paper, his lips trembling. The Hademen cigarette in his hand was almost burned down, and he hadn't even felt it scorching his fingers.
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His gaze shifted slowly from the two corpses to Fang Shuwen's face.
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His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.
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"You... you're a Bright Force martial artist... Don't come any closer!"
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Li Tong's face was white with terror.
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He backed away, begging frantically for his life.
###
Soon, Li Tong had backed into a corner. There was nowhere left to go.
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His face was as white as paper, his lips trembling.
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"Mister, what good would killing me do you? The Wild Wolf Gang won't let you get away with it. The bald man's big brother is a hall master in the Wild Wolf Gang, a martial artist at the peak of Bright Force!"
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"You can't afford to offend him. Spare my life, and I'll cover this up for you. He'll never trace it back to you."
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Fang Shuwen looked at him without speaking, but his footsteps stopped.
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Seeing this, a glimmer flashed in Li Tong's eyes, too subtle to notice.
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Slowly, inch by inch, he lowered himself, bending his knees as if he were about to kneel.
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"I still have money, lots of it. Just let me go, and I'll give you everything I have..."
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As he spoke, he used his body to hide his hand as he quietly reached for his waist.
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"I really know I was wrong. Give me one chance, just one..."
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"A chance? A bastard like you still thinks you deserve to live?" Fang Shuwen's icy voice rang out.
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Whether in his past life or this one, human traffickers were what he hated most.
###
If he hadn't run into one, so be it. But now that he had, he would never let him go.
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His voice had barely fallen when, at that very moment,
###
Li Tong suddenly laughed.
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It was a vicious laugh rising from the depths of his being, long suppressed and finally released.
###
His right hand snapped up from his side, the pitch-black muzzle pointed at Fang Shuwen's chest.
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"Kid, remember this in your next life: never give someone a chance to beg for mercy!"
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"Even a Bright Force martial artist can't stop a bullet!"
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"Die!"