Investigation

North City, Nanshan Ward.

Inside a courtyard, a scar-faced man sat in the main room, drinking.

Just then, a young man with a horse-like face hurried over.

"Gang leader, bad news! Something's happened."

At the urgent shout, the scar-faced man frowned and looked at the young man rushing in. "What's got you so worked up?"

"Xiao Lin and Xiao Liu are dead. The authorities are investigating, and they're almost at one of our establishments."

"What?"

The scar-faced man shot to his feet, his face darkening.

Dead...

They were dead already.

Hadn't he told them to tail someone? How had things gone wrong so quickly?!

The scar-faced man's eyes shifted as his brows knitted tightly.

"Any other information?" The scar-faced man composed himself and asked the horse-faced young man.

"Other information?" The young man froze, then shook his head. "I haven't heard anything."

The scar-faced man frowned at him. "Besides those two being dead, there's nothing else?"

The horse-faced young man shook his head.

At that, the scar-faced man's expression grew even darker.

"Gang leader, what should we do? If they shut down the place, we'll take a huge loss."

The scar-faced man looked outside the courtyard, then stood. "Take care of things here. I'm going out."

What?!

I'm supposed to handle it?

The horse-faced young man stared in bewilderment, but before he could say anything, the scar-faced man strode away.

Watching the gang leader leave, the horse-faced young man grimaced and sighed. Then he, too, left the courtyard.

Outside a gambling den in Nanshan Ward.

Fang Xing arrived with several constables.

It was still early, and the gambling den had few customers. A man stood at the entrance. When he saw Fang Xing and his group, he hurried over with a smile.

"Gentlemen, what brings you here so early?"

Fang Xing glanced at the young man, his gaze cold. "There's been a murder. Where's the person in charge?"

The young man froze, but quickly recovered, smiling broadly.

"Gentlemen, our boss is still resting."

"Take me to him. Now." Fang Xing didn't waste a word.

The young man's expression stiffened. Just as he was about to speak, a horse-faced young man hurried over from nearby.

"Gentlemen, I'm in charge here. What can I do for you?"

Fang Xing glanced at the horse-faced young man and sized him up.

"You're the one responsible here?"

The young man nodded ingratiatingly. "That's right, I am. Why don't we go inside and talk?"

Fang Xing nodded, then entered the gambling den.

The den was dim.

There were no customers in the morning, so it was quiet. The air reeked of smoke and sweat, but Fang Xing and the others were used to it.

Once inside, Fang Xing sat down at a gambling table. The horse-faced young man immediately had someone bring over several cups of hot tea.

Fang Xing got straight to the point and explained the situation.

After hearing him out, the horse-faced young man fell into thought for a moment.

Fang Xing looked at him. "According to our investigation, those two were members of the Black Tiger Gang, right? Don't tell me you're going to deny it."

The horse-faced young man's heart sank at Fang Xing's question, but he kept smiling. "Sir, they were our men, yes. But usually, they just watched over the place. The rest of the time, they were free to do as they pleased. I don't know much about them."

"You don't know?"

"Then we'll shut this place down," Fang Xing said coolly. He looked toward one of the constables and met his gaze. The constable understood at once.

He immediately took out a closure notice.

Before leaving the County Yamen, Fang Xing had ordered them to bring one along.

At the sight of the notice, the horse-faced young man's expression changed. He hurriedly said, "Sir, can't we talk this over? There's no need to rush. Here's a little something for you."

As he spoke, the horse-faced young man took out a small pouch and placed it in front of Fang Xing with a grin.

Fang Xing weighed the pouch in his hand and looked at the young man. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

The horse-faced young man froze, then immediately smiled. "Sir, it's just a little tea money. How could you call that a bribe?"

"Tea money..." Fang Xing tossed the pouch onto the table and stared at him. "A life is at stake, and you think this little bit of money will make it all go away?"

So he thought it was too little...

The horse-faced young man smiled and leaned toward Fang Xing, lowering his voice. "Then what would you like to do, Constable?"

"Bang!"

Fang Xing suddenly reached out and slammed the horse-faced young man's head down onto the table.

"You're questioning me? I suspect the Black Tiger Gang has some unspoken secret, and that you secretly killed those two to cover it up."

"Answer me. Is that true or not?!"

The horse-faced young man's face flushed red as his head was pinned to the gambling table. He couldn't move at all. Shocked, he felt his mind go completely blank.

"Sir, no... Nothing like that happened. Absolutely nothing," the horse-faced young man stammered, struggling as he answered in a panic.

Xu Le and the others stared at the scene, stunned. Weren't they just supposed to go through the motions?

This looked like Fang Xing meant to get serious!

They exchanged glances, surprised.

They'd dealt with these underworld forces plenty of times before. When something like this happened, usually they just took a few benefits and left it at that.

After all, North City was a lawless place where the underworld was tangled together. It wasn't unusual for people to die.

They were just a couple of thugs.

If they were dead, then they were dead.

If it was a gang fight, it wouldn't be unusual for even more to die.

But they couldn't interfere with what Fang Xing chose to do.

He was now the second-ranking officer in North City, and he had also stepped into Bright Force.

A new official always lit three fires.

Maybe Fang Xing simply wanted to start a fire. That would be understandable.

The Black Tiger Gang was a small-time outfit. Fang Xing was a martial artist now, too. Even if he faced the Black Tiger Gang's leader, they had nothing to fear.

"Where's your gang leader?" Fang Xing asked coldly.

"Th-the gang leader has some business to take care of. I'm... I'm in charge for now," the horse-faced young man replied.

Fang Xing released him at once. The horse-faced young man stood up, his face full of fear.

"Where does your gang leader live?" Fang Xing asked.

"Not far. He lives nearby," the horse-faced young man replied.

"Take me to him."

"Th-this... Sir, the gang leader isn't home right now. He went out," the horse-faced young man replied.

"Notify your gang leader immediately. I'll wait here," Fang Xing said coldly.

"...Yes."

The horse-faced young man nodded, then called someone over to deliver the message.

Fang Xing sat in a chair, sipping tea. He glanced at the pouch on the table and casually tossed it to Xu Le.

"This might be stolen money. Hold on to it for now."

At that, Xu Le and the others understood at once and took the pouch.

Stolen money meant it was theirs.

That was a perfectly good reason!

The constables were pleased. There wasn't much in the pouch, but whatever they could split was still something.

The horse-faced young man watched, his expression sour, but he didn't dare say anything. He could only stand there and wait.

Before long, a tall, burly man walked into the gambling den.

A scar stretched across his face like a centipede, grotesque and vicious.

"He's here." As the scar-faced man entered, Fang Xing narrowed his eyes and slowly set down his teacup.

This scar-faced man was the Black Tiger Gang's leader.

Xu Hu!

A Bright Force martial artist!

Xu Hu entered the gambling den and swept his gaze around. When he saw Fang Xing sitting in the chair, his eyes lingered for a moment.

Their gazes met. Fang Xing's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Gentlemen, may I ask what's happened?" Xu Hu asked, feigning surprise.

Fang Xing stood and looked at Xu Hu. "You're the Black Tiger Gang's leader?"

Xu Hu paused, but quickly nodded. "That's right. What happened?"

"You all wait outside," Fang Xing said to Xu Le and the others.

Xu Le and the others nodded, then left the gambling den.

"Everyone else, leave too," Fang Xing said indifferently.

At that, the people in the gambling den looked to Xu Hu. Xu Hu gave a slight nod, and they obediently filed out.

Soon, only Xu Hu and Fang Xing remained in the gambling den.