The Tiger Head Gang

Seeing Zhao Xing'er grow increasingly frenzied, with the situation about to spiral out of control, Yue Wen had no choice but to step in and grab her raised arm.

"Stop hitting him!" he barked.

But when her attack was blocked, Zhao Xing'er abruptly spun around and threw a backhand punch at him.

At close range, Yue Wen caught a glimpse of her eyes. Crimson light blazed in them like fire, all clarity gone. She could no longer tell friend from foe!

Luckily, Yue Wen reacted fast enough to brace both arms and block the punch. Meeting resistance, Zhao Xing'er instantly unleashed all the red light around her, her surging, tidal-wave punch exploding outward.

Boom-

Crimson flames of light burst apart, and Yue Wen was hurled hard into the opposite wall, leaving another web of deep cracks.

Fortunately, he had already gathered his pure true qi into a protective barrier, so he escaped injury.

Still, the impact left him dizzy for a moment.

What a vicious punch.

Only after throwing that punch did the red light around Zhao Xing'er slowly fade, and clarity returned to her eyes.

"Boss." Seeing that she had sent Yue Wen flying, she hurried over to check on him.

"I'm fine."

Yue Wen exhaled, landed lightly, and shook out his arms. Aside from soreness and swelling in his forearms, he seemed unhurt.

"You actually took my full-strength punch without getting hurt?" Zhao Xing'er sounded surprised.

"You sound pretty disappointed." Yue Wen chuckled.

"I'm sorry," Zhao Xing'er hastily apologized. "I... I do have a bit of a problem."

"I noticed." Yue Wen steadied his surging blood and qi, then asked, "Didn't your résumé say you were at the second realm? That punch didn't look like something from the lower three realms."

"I told a little lie on my résumé." Zhao Xing'er smiled sheepishly. "I'm actually at the middle stage of the third realm. And... I have a special constitution, an innate martial saint physique, only it's mutated a little."

Yue Wen had naturally heard of the innate martial saint physique. It was one of the many immortal physiques, born with the Martial Spirit Red Light protecting its bearer, and exceptionally powerful.

But he had never had a chance to see what one actually looked like, much less a mutated version.

"My anger turns into Martial Spirit Red Light. The angrier I get, the stronger the light becomes. Once I can't suppress it anymore, it erupts, and I have to release all of it before I can calm down," Zhao Xing'er explained. "When I get angry enough, I can't hold the Martial Spirit Red Light back. Sometimes I can't even tell friend from foe..."

Looking at the young woman's fair, gentle face, Yue Wen thought, Talk about a contrast.

She looks like a sweet, pretty girl, but the moment she loses her temper, she turns into a bloodthirsty berserker.

"Excuse me, you two," a somewhat distraught Guo Yang ventured cautiously from the side. "Should we call an ambulance for President Chen? He looks a little dead."

"We'll discuss your problem when we get back." Yue Wen waved to Zhao Xing'er, signaling that they should deal with the business at hand first.

Zhao Xing'er turned to apologize to Guo Yang. "I'm sorry. I forgot to ask where your son was."

Judging by how flattened President Chen looked, they probably wouldn't be getting any answers out of him for a while.

"It's fine. We've still got two live ones here." Yue Wen walked over and hauled up one of the burly men in sunglasses. "Open your eyes! Stop pretending!"

"Aaah! Spare me!"

The burly man had never been unconscious in the first place. But after watching Zhao Xing'er beat President Chen like that, who would dare move a muscle?

"Whenever this guy needed something illegal done, he came to you lot, didn't he? Did you kidnap Guo's son?" Yue Wen asked. "If you don't tell the truth..."

He glanced at Zhao Xing'er, who immediately flexed her biceps.

"I don't know!" the burly man shouted at once. "Our boss assigned us this job, so I came! I really don't know whether he sent anyone else to do anything else!"

"Where's your boss?" Yue Wen frowned. "Take us to him."

"Huh?" The burly man looked troubled. "If the boss finds out I led outsiders there, he'll never let me off."

Yue Wen glanced at President Chen's flattened head again. "How about we ask the ambulance to bring two extra stretchers? One for him, and one for..."

The burly man promptly sprang three feet into the air, brushed the dust off his shoulders, and extended a hand. "Right this way, honored sir!"

Yue Wen called to Guo Yang, "Guo, we'll go bring your son back right now. Head home and wait. Leave it to me. You can rest easy."

"Ah."

Guo Yang stared blankly as they left, then looked back at the wreckage strewn around him, unsure whether he should feel reassured.

The world was peaceful on the surface these days, but chaos lurked beneath. No city lacked underworld gangs operating in its shadows.

The most powerful gang in City Seven's southern outskirts was the Tiger Head Gang.

Ten years ago, the Tiger Head Gang's boss had burst onto the scene in this area. He hadn't had many men, but every enemy who opposed him would turn up dead in the wilderness the next day. Gradually, he became Brother Tiger, a man no one dared cross.

There were plenty of business owners like President Chen in the southern outskirts. Every month, they paid hefty protection fees to the Tiger Head Gang. In return, whenever they needed dirty work done, the gang would handle it.

Dealing with workers like Guo Yang who demanded compensation, for instance.

"Our headquarters is extremely well hidden. That three-story building aboveground is just a front. There are always plenty of our guys lying in wait inside in case someone launches a surprise attack. Several enemies who tried to go straight for our boss have died there."

"Where our boss actually lives is the basement beneath the building. It's a huge space, very well concealed. Even though I've been with him for years, I only know it exists. I've never been inside."

"But I know where the entrance is, so I can take you straight there in a moment. Getting the door open will be up to you, though."

"..."

The little white electric scooter traveled along a suburban lane carpeted with fallen leaves.

Zhao Xing'er still sat behind Yue Wen, while the captured burly man sat in front of him... in a sense, he was in Yue Wen's arms.

And there was so little room at the front of the scooter that rather than sitting, he was more like a lump of muscle squatting there.

He looked strong, fierce, and helpless.

His attitude was very enthusiastic, though. He kept explaining the layout of headquarters to Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er, as if terrified they might accidentally walk into an ambush.

As their destination came into view, Yue Wen couldn't help asking in puzzlement, "Sure, I asked you to help, but aren't you being a little too helpful? Why does it feel like you're scared we won't wipe out the Tiger Head Gang?"

"Of course I am." The burly man chuckled. "By bringing

"you to headquarters, I've already made myself a traitor. If you wipe out the Tiger Head Gang, everything's fine. But if you fail, I'm screwed."

"Oh-"

Understanding dawned on Yue Wen. He suddenly grasped the mindset of all those filthy traitors throughout history.

A courtyard wall surrounded the Tiger Head Gang's small building. Men in black suits patrolled inside in groups of three or five, and security was tight. Without an insider, breaking in really would have been difficult.

After they parked the scooter outside, the burly man straightened his clothes, resumed his cold expression, and led Yue Wen and Zhao Xing'er brazenly inside.

He hadn't lied. Although he wasn't much of a fighter, he really was a longtime member of the Tiger Head Gang. The underlings they passed all greeted him.

"Sixth Brother, you're back."

"Yeah. Taking these two to see the boss." The burly man nodded.

"Sixth Brother."

"Sixth Brother."

"..."

With an insider leading the way, they encountered no obstacles and reached a stairway inside the building that led down toward the basement. The burly man turned and pointed.

"This is as far as I can take you," he said. "The boss is usually down there. Unless something important happens, he doesn't come out."

Yue Wen stepped forward to examine it. "There are multiple formations on the door. Brute force might not open it, and it could easily alert whoever's inside."

"Then what do we do?" Zhao Xing'er asked. "Wait here for him to come out?"

"That leaves us too passive." Yue Wen thought for a moment, then asked the burly man, "Do you have your boss's phone number?"

"You want me to trick him into coming out?" The burly man shook his head. "That'll be hard. Our boss is very cautious. I was only handling a minor issue at the factory. Even if something went wrong, it wouldn't warrant him showing up in person."

"Just give it to me," Yue Wen said.

The burly man had no choice but to open his contacts and show him a number.

Yue Wen glanced at it, took out his own phone, and dialed. "Hello? Sir, your food delivery is here."

"How could that possibly fool our boss? That's way too slapdash!" The burly man's eyes immediately widened.

Sure enough, an icy voice came from the other end. "I didn't order any food."

Yue Wen suddenly swore at him. "You fucking idiot, who ordered it if you didn't? What am I, your dad, coming here just to feed you? I've dumped it outside your door. If you don't want it, take it to your mother's grave as an offering!"

"If he doesn't fall for it, you just start cursing?" The burly man listened in bewilderment. "That's filthy!"

The man on the other end clearly hadn't processed the insults hurled at him without the slightest warning. Several seconds passed before an angry roar came back. "You're outside my door, are you? Don't go anywhere if you've got the guts! Let's see who's got balls like that!"

Immediately, a series of rattling sounds came from behind the basement door, and it swung open.

Bang!

The burly man covered his face, utterly incredulous. "He actually fell for it?"