Old Ninth

Biodata

Power Progression

The assassins initially mistake his bulletproof defenses for evidence of a second awakening; subsequent narration confirms that he is still at his first awakening before the battle with Old Fifth 26 30 39.

Background / History

Old Ninth and Little White Tiger grew up together in garbage heaps, surviving alongside the children who later formed their crew. Old Xie raised the two for almost ten years, putting them to work stealing and swindling and punishing them when they failed to meet his quotas. They eventually conquered half a street for him, though Old Ninth never truly regarded him as his boss 8 9 12 15.

Three months before their break with Old Xie, the pair discovered that a shipment they were transporting contained children and released them. The shipment belonged to powerful traffickers, who subsequently demanded their deaths. Old Ninth’s own unhappy childhood shaped his refusal to harm children 12.

Appearance

• Youthful face: Despite behaving like a seasoned street criminal, he is described as a boy or teenager 8 11.
• Side-parted hair: His trademark hairstyle before his transformation 11.
• Awakened features: Waist-length hair, scarlet scales, blade-like claws, fangs, and glowing red pupils 26.
• Funeral clothing: Wears an all-black outfit with a strip of white cloth around his left arm when capturing Old Ding 48.

Personality

Old Ninth combines calculated deception with extreme recklessness. Mr. Li finds him harder to read than the more straightforward Little White Tiger: he recognizes surveillance, withholds trust, and constructs elaborate traps, yet willingly attacks forces that vastly outnumber him. The narration explicitly states that he has a mental illness documented in hospital records, without naming a diagnosis 8 11 28 30.

His brothers take precedence over his safety and strategic restraint. He is content to serve beneath Little White Tiger despite being considered equally capable, becomes openly tearful at the prospect of losing him, and refuses to postpone retaliation after Piglet is hospitalized. When pushed into a deadly contest with Old Fifth, he insists on outlasting his opponent even as his scales rupture 9 28 39.

His brutality coexists with a particular respect for loyalty. He orders the killing of Brother Ren and the men involved in child trafficking, but offers mercy to assassins who demonstrate genuine brotherhood. After killing them, he prevents Xiao Feng from shooting their bodies, declaring that death has settled the score 12 26.

Abilities & Skills

Flood-Dragon Scales and Physical Enhancement

His awakened body develops full-body scarlet scales, powerful muscles, claws, and fangs 26 30.

• Blocks sustained handgun fire without moving and catches a bullet in his claw 26.
• Moves explosively enough to crack floor tiles beneath his feet 26.
• Survives a fifth-floor fall and the ensuing encounter with an explosive-wearing assassin 26.
• His defenses are not absolute: A Lang’s peak second-awakening strength cracks his neck scales, and injuries limit how long he can maintain full-body protection 30.

Elemental Absorption

The Silver-Patterned Tiger explains that flood-dragon scales can absorb elemental attacks and turn their energy into the user’s own power. Old Ninth discovers this ability while taking Old Fifth’s fire attack 39.

• Absorbs flames until fire erupts across his own body 39.
• Has a finite absorption capacity; excessive energy cracks his scales and threatens to make his body explode 39.
• Manifests a red flood dragon during his second awakening. When forced out again, it expands and helps intercept heavenly lightning 39 40.

Named Combat Techniques

Illusion

His additional mental-type ability activates as an unconscious defense mechanism, spreading strange energy and a grayish-white mist that conceals his brothers 41.

• Operates while he is unconscious 41.
• Xiao Fei and the Old Man can perceive the energy and identify it as an illusion 41.
• Its deliberate uses and full limitations are not shown in the supplied chapters.

Ambushes, Marksmanship, and Psychological Warfare

Old Ninth uses misdirection to overcome stronger opponents rather than relying solely on awakened power 11 29 30.

• Identifies suspicious lookouts through years of street surveillance experience 11.
• Traps Old Xie’s men at the clinic and extorts fifty thousand from Old Xie to replenish ammunition 11 12.
• Detonates a thrown liquefied-gas tank with a precise shotgun blast 15.
• Uses diversionary raids, taunts, elevator explosives, and hidden charges to unsettle A Lang 29 30.
• Blinds A Lang, then draws him into noisy street traffic to interfere with his ability to locate enemies by sound 30.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Shotgun and other firearms — Used for intimidation, ambushes, precision shots, and detonating gas tanks. Buying the crew’s guns exhausts his and Little White Tiger’s accumulated savings 9 11 15 30.
• Blasting charges — Plants explosive traps during the attack on A Lang’s KTV 29 30.
• Adrenaline — Injects the critically wounded Piglet before calling an ambulance 26.
• Bloodweeping Bow — Temporarily picks up this Wasteland Artifact during the lightning ordeal; the brothers draw it together against the descending strike 40.
• Special police handcuffs — Forces Old Ding to wear restraints that reduce an Awakened to the condition of an ordinary person 48.

Relationships

• Little White Tiger — Childhood companion, sworn brother, and leader. Their bond is described as stronger than that of blood brothers; each repeatedly risks death for the other 8 9 17 39.
• Hi Dog / Yellow Hair — Trusted subordinate who carries out his orders, supports his raids, and returns to rescue him during the fight with A Lang 8 12 14 30.
• Piglet — Crew member who endures torture and detonates a grenade to protect him. Old Ninth saves him upon awakening and retaliates against those responsible 25 26 28.
• Beibei — Childhood brother whom Old Ninth and Little White Tiger took in at age eight. Old Ninth holds him after he is fatally wounded during the warehouse battle 15 16.
• Li Youxian / Mr. Li — Cautiously accepted ally. Old Ninth acknowledges his debt for saving Little White Tiger but resists recruitment pressure and disregards his attempts to delay revenge 8 28.
• Old Xie — Former guardian and gang leader who betrays him and Little White Tiger. Their earlier service becomes a bitter source of grievance 12 15.
• A Lang and Old Ding — Enemies targeted after the assassination attempt on Old Ninth. He helps kill A Lang and later captures Old Ding 26 31 48.
• Xiao Fei — Ally who protects the newly awakened group and remains behind to defend Black Mountain Town. Old Ninth demands revenge after his death 41 42 45.
• Zhang Yang — Police commissioner who initially seeks his arrest, then permits cooperation against Old Ding and protects the group’s departure from Flower Mansion 33 34 49.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Old Xie’s Betrayal

• Takes control of the Black Clinic while Little White Tiger is unconscious, restraining his own men from attacking the people who brought Tiger to safety 8.
• Counter-ambushes Old Xie’s forces and learns that their betrayal stems from the children he and Tiger released. Orders Brother Ren and his men killed after their trafficking involvement is exposed 11 12.
• Reunites with Tiger and reports that their childhood crew has fallen from more than twenty members to twelve 12.
• Helps infiltrate Old Xie’s logistics market, but is impaled during the battle. Tiger saves him with Demon Ancestor’s Blood 13 15 17.

Retaliation Against A Lang

• Awakens during the attack on the apartment where Piglet has been guarding him, kills the remaining assassins, and traces their sole phone call to the person behind the operation 25 26.
• Attacks A Lang’s Joyful Mansion without waiting for Mr. Li or Little White Tiger’s approval 28 29.
• Nearly defeats A Lang through traps and awakened techniques, but is pinned down by returning gunmen. His brothers and Tiger arrive to support him 30 31.
• Restrains A Lang with Tiger while Hi Dog saws through his steel-covered neck, then lifts the severed head 31.

Cargo Heist and Heavenly Lightning

• Helps pressure Young Master Hua into revealing the departure of Old Ding’s child-trafficking shipment 36.
• Joins Tiger and Xiao Fei in ambushing the Three Suns Society convoy, pursuing enemies carrying gold 38.
• Undergoes his second awakening during the fight with Old Fifth. The brothers confront the resulting heavenly lightning together, and Old Ninth emerges with an additional illusion ability 39 40 41.

Black Mountain Town and Flower Mansion

• Is knocked unconscious by Xiao Fei and evacuated before Flower Boss’s forces reach Black Mountain Town 42.
• Demands revenge after Xiao Fei’s death. The town’s Old Man asks Master Bai to arrange for Overlord to accept Old Ninth and Tiger as disciples; acceptance is not confirmed 45.
• Captures Old Ding and brings him to Flower Mansion during Hua Yougui’s funeral, accompanying Tiger with two coffins 48.
• Leaves under Zhang Yang’s protection after denying responsibility for Young Master Hua’s death and urging Flower Boss to investigate who benefited from it 49.

Notable Quotes

“Nothing in this world pisses me off more than someone hurting my brothers.” 26

“Death settles the score.” 26

“I just want to see who dies first today.” 39