Old Ninth Arrived

"Xiao Kui, Xiao Kui, motherfucker, where the hell did you go?"

The heavy snow obscured the surveillance cameras. Alone in his office, Old Xie felt an inexplicable pang of dread and hurriedly called for his henchman.

The henchman outside knocked on the office door. "Boss, Brother Kui went out to take care of something."

"Fuck, at a time like this? What could be more important than my fucking life?"

Watching the snow-whitened surveillance feed, Old Xie asked uneasily, "How are San'er's preparations coming along?"

San'er was about the same age as Little White Tiger and his crew, and Old Xie had raised him from childhood too. But his crew never got along with Little White Tiger's.

Back when Little White Tiger was still around, the two sides were always at each other's throats. Neither would bow to the other.

Only Old Ninth and Little White Tiger's viciousness had kept San'er's crew in check.

Now that Little White Tiger had been driven out, these young men had naturally risen through the ranks, with San'er firmly established as the gang's number three.

"Brother San and his guys are all ready."

The henchman shouted through the door.

"What are they doing right now?"

"Eating hot pot."

Old Xie flew into a rage.

On the eve of battle, his personal henchman was nowhere to be found, and the newly promoted San'er was eating hot pot. None of them gave a damn about his life.

At that thought, Old Xie couldn't help missing the days when Little White Tiger was still around.

Back then, Old Xie had been at the height of his power. Across the surrounding blocks, who wouldn't respectfully greet him as Brother Xie?

Little White Tiger and Old Ninth might have been unruly, but they had real ability and genuinely treated their boss well.

"Fuck!"

Old Xie cursed under his breath, then got up, pulled on a thick padded coat, and tucked his neck down as he opened the door and headed for the warehouse.

He had no choice. With no reliable brothers left at his side, he could only seek safety in numbers.

"Come on. Take me to the warehouse."

Old Xie exhaled a cloud of white vapor and rubbed his frozen hands together.

As the two trudged through the deep snow, they looked toward the main gate and jolted in alarm.

There wasn't a soul at the guard posts that should have been manned.

"We're fucked. Old Ninth's slipped in."

Old Xie instinctively drew his gun and ran toward the warehouse under the protection of several henchmen.

"Move! Fuck, you useless bastards! Old Ninth's already fucking inside, and none of you noticed!"

Despite the bitter winter cold, terror left Old Xie drenched in a cold sweat.

The wolf cubs he had raised were finally turning on him.

Bang!

Old Xie kicked the warehouse door open.

San'er and his crew were gathered around a charcoal fire, eating hot pot.

With Little White Tiger gone, these were the only capable fighters Old Xie had left. Even though he was seething, he didn't dare lash out.

"Having a bite?" Old Xie greeted San'er with a hollow smile.

Still oblivious to the problem, San'er got up and greeted him casually.

"Boss, have a seat. The boys were freezing, so we're getting something to eat. We'll stay up all night today. Old Ninth's not getting in."

Old Xie's mouth twitched. Old Ninth was already fucking inside.

While plotting to find an opportunity to get rid of San'er once this was over, he sat down and made small talk.

"Why's everyone at the gate disappeared?"

Old Xie deliberately prompted San'er, hoping he would go take a look.

But San'er looked bewildered. "Those are all Xiao Kui's guys. I don't know either."

Clueless. Can't take a fucking hint.

Old Xie shook his head inwardly.

"Brother San, you should still send some guys out to check."

Fortunately, another of Old Xie's henchmen spoke up.

"In weather this cold, who the hell would launch a sneak attack? The boys aren't dressed for it," San'er grumbled, then shouted at his underlings, "A few of you, go see what's going on."

"Don't worry, boss. With us here, if Old Ninth steps inside, I guarantee none of them are getting out."

San'er poured Old Xie a cup of hot liquor to reassure him.

As far as San'er was concerned, Old Ninth was already spent. This was nothing more than a cornered beast's last struggle.

So he didn't take Old Ninth seriously at all.

Old Xie couldn't voice his misery. For now, he had no choice but to rely on these men for protection.

Vroom...

Engines roared outside the warehouse.

Old Xie and San'er exchanged a look. "Your guys?"

In this bitter winter, even sitting in a cab with the heater running could get someone frozen to death.

If a vehicle broke down or developed a problem, the driver was almost certain to freeze to death on the road.

Who would drive out this late at night?

San'er sent two henchmen outside to see what was happening.

Crash!

The two had barely reached the warehouse entrance when the doors were violently smashed open.

Two heavy trucks charged straight into the warehouse.

The two unlucky members of San'er's crew were struck and sent flying more than ten meters.

Screech...

The trucks barreled into the warehouse with a blast of bone-chilling wind and stopped in front of Old Xie.

Old Xie had guessed Old Ninth would come, but he had never imagined an entrance like this.

Bang!

A truck door swung open. Hi Dog leaned halfway out against it and waved at Old Xie. "Boss, Brother San, long time no see!"

"You traitor! You've got the nerve to come here?" San'er grabbed a gun from the table and aimed it at Hi Dog.

"Come on, shoot me right here, motherfucker."

Hi Dog jumped down from the truck and yanked up his shirt, revealing explosives strapped all around his torso.

"Go on, shoot." Hi Dog stepped forward, grabbed San'er's gun barrel, and pressed it against his own chest. "Know how to pull the trigger? Need me to fucking teach you?"

"Beibei."

"Coming."

The young driver of the other truck hauled two cylinders of liquefied gas out of the passenger side and ran over to Old Xie.

"You've got numbers. You're fucking tough. There's just two of us, so fucking kill us and be done with it." The youth named Beibei wore a thick braid and aimed a Shotgun at the gas line.

Old Xie and San'er exchanged a look, their faces twitching in unison.

The same old formula. The same way of doing things.

Only Old Ninth's men were this insane.

But it really did intimidate San'er's dozens of brothers.

Dozens of guns behind San'er were trained on the two, yet not a single man dared fire.

As the two sides faced off tensely, the soft crunch of footsteps in snow came from outside.

Everyone turned toward the sound. Two familiar figures approached through the wind and snow.

Click.

Old Ninth calmly flicked his lighter, and Little White Tiger lowered his head to light his cigarette.

"Boss, long time no see."

Little White Tiger and ten other brothers stood in a line at the warehouse entrance.

The moment he saw Little White Tiger, Old Xie couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.

San'er's earlier arrogance vanished without a trace.

That was the kind of hold Little White Tiger had over him.

As long as Little White Tiger was there, his brothers had someone to rally around, and the destruction they could unleash was immeasurable.

Thud, thud, thud.

The eleven brothers marched into the warehouse in perfect unison.

Before the eyes of dozens of men, Old Ninth and Little White Tiger walked straight up to Old Xie.

Scrape.

One henchman dragged two chairs over to the table. Little White Tiger dropped into one and crossed his legs.

"If you don't dare shoot, don't fucking point a gun at me."

With both hands in his pockets, Old Ninth abruptly kicked San'er in the face. "Move. When the two of us are here, you only get to fucking stand."

"Fuck!"

Humiliated in front of his own brothers, San'er pressed his gun directly against Old Ninth's head.

Little White Tiger barely lifted his eyelids as he calmly took two sets of bowls and chopsticks from the table.

"They've got my favorite tofu."

Ignoring the gun aimed at his head, Old Ninth casually picked up a piece of tofu with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

"Here, your favorite pork offal."

Afterward, Old Ninth even made sure to pick up a piece of meat for Little White Tiger.

"Boss, I just got out of prison, and this is how you welcome me?"

Little White Tiger opened the liquor on the table and poured Old Ninth a full cup without asking.

Old Xie knew today's confrontation wouldn't end peacefully, but he wasn't willing to lose face as the boss.

He waved a hand, signaling his men to lower their guns.

Old Ninth hadn't drawn a gun, and neither had Little White Tiger. If his men kept aiming guns at them without daring to shoot, wouldn't that just make him look spineless?

"Little Tiger, I..." After a long hesitation, Old Xie raised his cup. "Welcome back."