Counter-ambush

"They sent a young couple to keep watch downstairs. Brother Nine spotted them right away."

Hi Dog sneered mockingly. "It's fucking well below freezing, and they're making out in the open downstairs. Aren't they worried their tongues will freeze together?"

In weather this cold, what normal person would stand out in the open kissing in the biting wind?

"Fuck. Useless bastards who only make things worse," Brother Ren cursed under his breath.

Old Ninth and his crew used to stake people out every day. They could tell at a glance who was genuine and who was a plant.

Hi Dog pointed toward the kitchen. "There are some noodles left. Want any? We did work under Old Xie together, after all. Fill your belly before we all head to the afterlife."

Brother Ren stared at the remote in Hi Dog's hand. Hi Dog had already pressed the button. The moment he let go, the whole room would be blown sky-high.

Brother Ren had wanted to snatch the remote, but he had no choice but to give up.

It wasn't worth having so many people die along with Hi Dog.

Hi Dog only pushed further, sneering, "Brother Tiger said it ages ago. All you lot will ever be good for is bullying street vendors. Risk your lives with guns? Can you fuckers even hold one steady?"

Smack!

Hi Dog slammed the table and roared, "Stand up straight, all you fuckers!"

A room full of grown men covered in dragon and tiger tattoos had a teenager pointing in their faces and cursing them out, yet not one dared talk back.

They had all worked under Old Xie before. They knew exactly what sort of person Hi Dog was.

Some people only acted tough. Others would genuinely fight you to the death over a dirty look.

For a while, the only sound in the room was Hi Dog noisily eating his noodles.

"You can dodge us today, but you can't dodge us forever."

Brother Ren was too wary of Hi Dog to make a move, but he still refused to back down verbally.

Old Ninth had tricked them today, but Old Xie could summon one or two hundred men with a word on Red Three Street. In a head-on fight, Old Ninth's dozen or so men wouldn't stand a chance.

The more Brother Ren thought about it, the angrier he became. He lit a cigarette and snapped, "If those lookouts hadn't fucked up, we wouldn't be stuck like this."

"So what now? Want another try? You don't have a fucking respawn token. You lost, so own it. Did Brother Nine come after you yesterday or not? Which of you managed to stop us?"

Hi Dog kept his head down and ate, not even bothering to glance at Brother Ren.

"Heh."

The facts were right there. Brother Ren's refusal to accept them changed nothing.

Dragging over a stool, Brother Ren sat down in front of Hi Dog and threatened him. "Old Xie hired an Awakened this time. Let's see how much longer you can keep this shit up."

"Boss! Boss! We walked into an ambush!"

One of the underlings who hadn't managed to squeeze into the room upstairs hurried down to report to Old Xie.

Old Xie's expression changed. He had already begun to find it strange when Brother Ren charged into the room without opening fire.

He knew the boys he had raised better than anyone.

An ominous feeling rose in his chest.

"Fuck. I should've listened to A Ren and waited until the Awakened got here before making a move."

As he spoke, Old Xie looked back over his shoulder.

It was as if Old Ninth were hiding somewhere, ready to shoot him from the shadows.

Tap, tap, tap.

Faint footsteps sounded.

Old Xie happened to catch sight of a man in a black raincoat approaching briskly in the rearview mirror.

"Fuck, it's Old Ninth!"

Old Xie panicked.

The other underlings drew their weapons and aimed at the approaching figure.

Whoosh.

The newcomer pulled back his hood, revealing the teenager's trademark side-parted hair.

"Fuck you, Old Xie! Stick your head out and catch a bullet!"

Bang!

Facing the dozen or so underlings who had come downstairs to report, Old Ninth opened fire without hesitation.

The van's rear windshield shattered behind Old Xie. At the same time, his underlings drew their pistols and fired at Old Ninth.

Bang, bang, bang!

Rat-tat-tat!

They exchanged fire from over thirty meters apart. Bullets swept past Old Ninth like rain, but he couldn't even be bothered to dodge.

He jogged straight into their gunfire, charging alone with the momentum of an entire army.

"Fuck! Stop him!"

Old Xie was scared out of his wits by Old Ninth. No one knew better than he did how ruthless these little bastards could be.

"Hey, when the fuck are you getting here?"

While urging the driver to get moving, Old Xie pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"What's wrong? I'll reach Ice Prefecture tonight."

A low, smoke-roughened voice came through the phone.

"Fuck, can't you hurry up? I'm surrounded!"

Old Xie looked miserable, his emotions tangled. Dozens of his men were being run in circles by Old Ninth.

If he had waited for the Awakened to arrive before acting, he wouldn't have ended up in such a helpless position.

Listening to the gunfire on Old Xie's end, the man on the phone said calmly, "If you die, the deposit's nonrefundable. How about settling the balance now? That way, even if you croak, I'll still kill that brat for you."

"Fuck your whole damn family!" Old Xie hung up in fury.

"Tiger's boys, come out and say hello to Old Xie!" Old Ninth stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

Several doors on the first floor opened at once.

Seven or eight of Little White Tiger's boys rushed out of the rooms, stood on the steps, and opened fire on Old Xie and his underlings.

Half of Old Xie's men, who had still been putting up a fierce exchange of fire moments earlier, went down in the first volley. The rest forgot all about Old Xie and fled with their hands over their heads.

Fortunately, at the last possible moment, Old Xie's van started up and charged through the hail of bullets toward the main road.

With the Shotgun on his shoulder, Old Ninth led seven or eight boys in a sprint after Old Xie for several hundred meters. They only stopped once they had riddled his van with holes.

"Fuck!" Old Ninth spat out his cigarette butt. "If I knew how to drive, there's no fucking way Old Xie would've gotten away today."

Then he pulled out his phone and called Old Xie directly.

"Hello?"

Having escaped with his life, Old Xie shouted into the phone in a furious panic, "Just you fucking wait!"

"Curse at me one more time. I'll take a cab over there and kill you."

"You fucking-"

Old Xie chickened out.

He wouldn't have believed anyone else who said that, but with Old Ninth, he had to.

"Pay me back for my bullets. I'll give you an account number. Transfer fifty thousand, and make it quick."

Old Ninth really was broke. Buying those guns had already drained all the savings he and Little White Tiger had built up over the years.

After this one fight, Old Ninth didn't even have money left to buy ammunition.

Old Xie looked utterly incredulous, as though he had heard something out of a fairy tale. "You fucking shoot at me, then expect me to pay for your bullets?"

"I've still got twenty or thirty of your men locked in my room. If you don't pay, I'll have Hi Dog take them all with him."

When it came to playing dirty, someone as shameless as Old Ninth had Old Xie beaten hands down.

The twenty or thirty men in the illegal clinic were Old Xie's core crew. If he refused to pay, how could he expect anyone to follow him afterward?

Sitting in the van, Old Xie looked as though he had swallowed a lump of shit. His face had turned green.

"Just wait," Old Xie said through gritted teeth.

"Ten minutes. Hurry up. Brother Five doesn't do business at night."

Brother Five was a well-known arms dealer in the area.

"Fuck!"

Unable to take it anymore, Old Xie smashed his phone.

After waiting a while, he had no choice but to pick up the shattered phone and use his driver's phone to arrange the transfer.

He genuinely feared Old Ninth would blow all those men up.

They were still in the city. Even in the apocalypse, if too many people died, his backers wouldn't be able to protect him.

The battle was over in less than ten minutes.

Back at the illegal clinic, Old Ninth strode into the room, looking travel-worn.

Shuffle.

The lackeys who had spent years on Red Three Street instinctively backed away at the sight of Old Ninth.

Young as he was, Old Ninth's fearsome reputation on Red Three Street was no empty boast.

Seeing Old Ninth return unharmed, Brother Ren guessed that Old Xie had lost.

"Brother Ren, long time no see."

With a cigarette dangling arrogantly from his lips, Old Ninth sat on the sofa and pointed at the room full of lackeys.

"We're all brothers here. Don't stand around. Get on your fucking knees, then we'll talk."