Chapter 20
"Alright, alright! All of you, stop it!" A rough shout suddenly came from the living room.
Yu Congyi pulled the dagger from under one man's ribs, freeing his neck. Air rushed into his throat, stinging painfully. He gasped for breath and leaned against the wall to stand. From Jiang Fengming's perspective, he was truly covered in blood.
"Big Brother!" Jiang Fengming's voice trembled, "Stop... How can you fight alone..."
Yu Congyi wiped his face, kicked away the two corpses at his feet, and walked over to meet the gazes of the group of people in the living room.
There were three people standing in the living room and two sitting on the sofa. They had been watching the whole thing with a watchful eye, but when they saw Yu Congyi walking over, they all became wary and slowly composed themselves.
Behind Yu Congyi, four more men who hadn't been killed formed a circle around him.
"I'm leaving those guys from the North Point gang!" Jiang Fengming panicked when he saw that Yu Congyi was outnumbered and chose to compromise.
"Your brother here has quite a temper," the leader chuckled awkwardly, patted Jiang Fengming on the shoulder, and walked over to check the aftermath of the earth-shattering battle. He kicked the two corpses, then looked back at Yu Congyi. "They were just a bunch of apprentice scoundrels. They're dead, so be it. Boss Jiang, I'm not joking with you. Since you're young, I'll teach you some manners."
He slowly strode over to Yu Congyi, then reached out and gripped Yu's wrist, which was holding the dagger, like a vise. The man was incredibly strong; Yu Congyi frowned instantly and tried to push back with his arm, but failed. The dagger clattered to the ground.
"Boss Jiang?" The man glanced back at Jiang Fengming, then quickly turned back to Yu Congyi, grinning maliciously.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving..." Jiang Fengming staggered to his feet, his bound hands unable to lift the phone on the living room table, so someone answered it for him. Jiang Fengming's voice was muffled on the other end, "Xiao Qian, you take your men... and... leave immediately..."
The leader still held Yu Congyi's wrist, staring at him like a tiger. Yu Congyi heard about Jiang Fengming's situation and knew what the other was thinking. He lowered his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Brother Jiang, about Miss Yang's matter, I still..." The leader was about to push his luck when suddenly a henchman ran in from outside the courtyard to report that the two gunshots had alerted the police station.
The mess inside, with people sprawled out here and there, was clearly the result of the boss's reckless behavior. Having committed many evil deeds in the underworld, he had no desire to be arrested and imprisoned. He turned back and glared fiercely at Jiang Fengming. Without saying a word, he made a gesture, and the group abandoned the bound Jiang family servants, taking Jiang Fengming and Yu Congyi with them as they fled in disarray.
Just as they stepped out of the villa's gate, the Jiang family's bodyguards, having heard of the trouble at their home, rushed back from various places and happened to run into this group of thugs. Some sharp-eyed men saw Jiang Fengming being dragged into a car by two men, and the bodyguards immediately swarmed forward, blocking the vehicle.
As the police convoy drew closer, the boss knew he couldn't delay any longer. But seeing his men still locked in a fierce struggle with the bodyguards over Jiang Fengming, seemingly deaf to their pleas, he yelled hoarsely, "You bunch of idiots! Get rid of that kid and run!" He then leaped into the car, floored the gas, and sped away.
The bodyguards managed to rescue Jiang Fengming from the thugs, but Jiang Fengming was stunned as he fell to the ground—because he realized that while he was saved, Yu Congyi had been taken away by the thugs. How could Yu Congyi, all alone, possibly escape?
“Boss,” a bodyguard tried to help him up, but Jiang Fengming immediately kicked him away and cursed, “Where the hell were you all? My brother has been taken away by them! Hurry up and chase after them! You bunch of bastards, you’d better die if you don’t find my brother!”
This Green Gang leader, surnamed Zhao, had a full head of bushy beard, muscular arms, and a build that could take on two people at once; he looked exceptionally fierce. In that leap, he pushed Yu Congyi into the car as well. Now that they were out of the police station's sight, his panicked, desperate demeanor had completely vanished, and he had reverted to his ruthless, brutal bandit self.
"Boss, where are we going now?" someone in the car asked in a muffled voice. The car sped along a dark road, all four windows tightly shut. The temperature was low in Tianjin's winter nights, and a thin layer of condensation covered the windows. Yu Congyi didn't know how many other people were crammed around him. The car was pitch black, and he leaned against the window, trying to endure the pain, his chest rising and falling with his uneven breathing. During the escape, someone had stabbed him in the abdomen in the chaos. The depth of the wound was unclear. He pressed hard on it first, then lifted his hand and shone it against the light from the window, seeing his hand covered in blood.
Yu Congyi's other hand, which was gripping his wrist, trembled violently, and cold sweat poured down his face. However, the sharp pain then gradually turned into a dull ache, accompanied by throbbing pulsations in his flesh and nerves. Only then did his heart seem to settle down—the knife probably hadn't actually pierced the interior; it was just a superficial wound. He didn't want his physical condition to become a fatal factor hindering his actions under these circumstances.
Suddenly, a hand reached out, interrupting Yu Congyi's thoughts on his current situation. The leader, surnamed Zhao, had moved to the back row at some point. Yu Congyi turned his head to look and saw the other man turn his shoulder, his leopard-like eyes gleaming menacingly in the light from the window.
“Young brother,” Zhao Laoda was originally the fifth son in his family, so he was simply called Zhao Laowu. This man had an extremely fierce face, and even when he spoke normally, it sounded like he was grinning. “Brother Jiang, I can’t care about your life or death for the time being. Tell me, you killed two of my men, how do you plan to repay me?”
Yu Congyi was never good at being hypocritical or saying anything nice. He looked at the other party calmly and admitted that what the other party said was true. He was indeed temporarily unable to get away, just as the other party had wished.
He lowered his head and wiped his palms, unsure of his current state. "You want me to pay with my life?" he murmured softly.
Looking through Zhao Laowu's eyes, one could see that although Yu Congyi's face was covered in blood, resembling Yama, his features were deep and handsome, with a look that was both gloomy and dashing. The flickering streetlights outside the window cast shadows on his eyes and nose through his blood-soaked hair, making his face appear both bright and dark, a very beautiful Yama.
Zhao Laowu had already seen through his appearance at the Jiang family villa, and now he could see it clearly even without the light. As if possessed, Zhao Laowu reached out a hand to the other man, his voice lowering involuntarily. Having witnessed the man's extraordinary skills—like a wildcat—he dared not act rashly. "Sleep with me," he said, "and I'll let Brother Jiang go."
As he said this, he let out a loud gurgling sound, startling his henchman who was driving him. Their boss had no history of homosexuality; what was wrong with him today? Besides, was letting Jiang Fengming go after just one night's sleep a bit too much of a joke? What had gotten into their boss?
“Okay.” Just then, Yu Congyi answered softly. Before Zhao Laowu could speak, his voice lowered, “You and Jiang Fengming have never had any life-or-death grudges. Today, the loss of these two lives was due to my recklessness, and it is all my fault. But since you have already spoken, you cannot disobey. If you said you would let Jiang Fengming go after a good night’s sleep, you must let him go.”
"It's a deal." Zhao Laowu's eyes gleamed, a sinister grin spreading across his face. He didn't ask Yu Congyi how he knew there was no real conflict between him and Jiang Fengming, but it didn't matter. It was all just trivial business dealings—you take a few of my territory, I steal a few truckloads of your goods, it was all the same. While it wasn't exactly fair, it wasn't a matter of life or death. His disturbance at the Jiang family tonight was simply because he was furious that Jiang Fengming was about to marry Yang Shu, his distant cousin, whom he had secretly coveted. He wasn't about to let her go; he was just taking advantage of the situation to teach Jiang Fengming a lesson, not actually intending to kill him. Yu Congyi had walked right into the line of fire; he should take responsibility for his actions—that's how things are in the underworld, isn't it?
He hadn't truly intimidated Jiang Fengming, but he'd managed to abduct such a delightful man, exactly the kind of man Zhao Laowu found appealing, the kind he'd been craving for a long time. Wasn't this a perfect opportunity to deflate Jiang Fengming's arrogance? He wasn't particularly fond of men, but occasionally indulging in some fun wasn't a problem. Thinking of this, Zhao Laowu seemed to immediately drool and become aroused, grabbing Yu Congyi's left arm without a second thought. At the same time, he reached out and pinched the other's chin.
Yu Congyi had never liked a man before, nor had he ever slept with one, yet he knew exactly what was going on. Forcing himself to calm down, he considered his options while glancing sideways at Zhao Laowu's hairy chin, the stubble extending deep into his neck in two thick, patchy strands. He sighed. The other man, clearly still angry with Jiang Fengming, was using this opportunity to humiliate and toy with him. He then shifted and pressed Yu Congyi against the corner of the car seat, almost squeezing him against the door. Then, a hand slipped under Yu Congyi's shirt, the rough, calloused palm covering his waist. The fingers stroked his waist, then suddenly pinched hard. Yu Congyi gasped, his hair standing on end. For a moment, he had the urge to stab the man to death.
However, he still swallowed his anger and lowered his voice again, "Are you going to start sleeping right in the car?"
Zhao Laowu was stunned by his words for a moment, then laughed twice, grabbed Yu Congyi's chin again, and forced him to turn his face to look at him. Suddenly, he stuck out his tongue and licked Yu Congyi's short hair and sideburns, his tone lewd and sarcastic, "You look like a slutty wild rose seed, I'll sleep with you, but I can't touch you? Don't try to act like a virtuous woman, afraid I'll fuck you if I'm not in the car?"
Yu Congyi shuddered as the man licked him, goosebumps rising all over his body. He shivered with disgust, feeling a tingling hatred welling up from deep within his chest, coursing through his veins. To distract himself, he had to temporarily look out the car window. "Where are you driving to now?"
"Don't worry about it." Zhao Laowu touched his thigh again, while Yu Congyi sat up slightly and looked back in the left rearview mirror. He was surprised to find that there were no other cars following his vehicle. He wondered if the henchmen had gotten separated from Zhao Laowu and his men during their winding escape, or if they had simply split up and fled in two directions. Yu Congyi suddenly had a bad feeling. Just then, as if to confirm his guess, the car he was in slowly slowed down and then stopped. "Boss," the driver said, leaning out of the window to look back, "Xiao Lian and the others haven't followed."
“Nonsense,” Zhao Laowu said, “You were driving like a foreigner on a plane about to take off. How could they possibly keep up? Don’t go back to Shidong tonight. Go to Lu San Wharf and find Boss Li.” Yu Congyi listened silently, remembering that Lu San Wharf was the southernmost port in Tianjin. All the port areas, big and small, were controlled by Boss Li of the Green Gang, with shipping day and night. If these bandits wanted, they could even leave Tianjin by boat tonight. Thinking of this, Yu Congyi knew that if he remained unmoved, the consequences would be unimaginable. Forget about getting a good night’s sleep; given the current situation, if he left it to fate, he didn’t know where he would be tomorrow morning. For a moment, he had naively believed that sacrificing himself could protect the Jiang family—a ridiculous notion now. Fortunately, he had never truly trusted the other party, nor had he given up on escaping his current predicament. Yu Congyi calmed himself.
"Boss, about that matter with Boss Zhan," the underling turned around and said, half-reminding and half-hesitating, "don't forget about it."
"Do I need you to teach me?" Zhao Laowu stopped what he was doing, took out a cigarette, and said nonchalantly, "Since that old bastard Zhan Chu has spoken, I will do what I promised. It's just that the Tang guy is in the limelight these days, so it's not a good time to make a move. We need to lay low for a while and not walk into the line of fire ourselves, understand?"
The two men chatted back and forth, but stopped after a few words because of Yu Congyi's presence. Although Yu Congyi hadn't heard everything, he still guessed what was going on. It turned out that the merchant Zhan Chu seemed to have a long-standing, tacit cooperation with certain gangs in the British concession. Recently, Zhan Chu had been planning something that would be very detrimental to the Tang family. He was hosting the event, and these small gangs like Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li were among those cooperating with him. He had previously thought that Tang Zefei, after Boss Tang's death, was just secretly at odds with Zhan Chu. It turned out that Zhan Chu had long harbored the intention to take over the Tang family in the concession, and this intention had already spread to the point that almost everyone in the Green Gang in the concession knew about it. It was just that the opponent was too big and too difficult, and Boss Zhan had not yet achieved it. When two tigers fight, one will surely be defeated. Yu Congyi thought about it carefully. In fact, whether the people on both sides live or die is not of much concern to him or Jiang Fengming. Since Tang Zefei has a handle on him and asks him for help, he will do it. He will not implicate Jiang Fengming because of this. As for the rest, it is none of his business. He can easily get away unscathed.
The car remained stationary for a moment, but the so-called Xiao Lian and his group didn't appear. The driver then extinguished his cigarette and started the car. In that instant, in the darkness, Yu Congyi removed the dagger from his leg wrappings, gripped it in his backhand, and swung it forcefully at Zhao Laowu's face!
Zhao Laowu, being a trained fighter, was agile and didn't hesitate. He ducked and dodged, but the cramped space inside the car left him nowhere to avoid it. He then raised his leg to kick Yu Congyi's elbow, trying to block the powerful attack. However, Yu Congyi raised his right arm and took the blow, then forcefully pulled him towards himself. The car's interior was mostly made of leather, making it slippery. Caught off guard, Zhao Laowu roared in anger as a blade, carrying fury, approached his throat in the blink of an eye. The driver fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a gun, and fired wildly at the back of the car without warning.
"Fuck your grandpa!" Zhao Laowu cursed loudly, though it was unclear who he was cursing. His henchman was a terrible shot, missing his target several times. A bullet grazed Zhao Laowu's shoulder and flew towards the glass behind him, shattering it into pieces with a loud crash. Yu Congyi slashed open Zhao Laowu's arm and chest with his knife. Zhao Laowu picked up the shards of glass to use as a dagger and lunged at him fiercely.
Yu Congyi caught the tiger-like attack, and the two grappled together before Yu Congyi crashed through the car door and fell heavily to the ground. The driver hadn't been able to join the fight at all, as the two were locked in a fierce and evenly matched struggle, making it almost impossible to distinguish friend from foe. After several rounds, Zhao Laowu gained the upper hand in terms of size, pinning Yu Congyi beneath him. Yu Congyi was now being choked by Zhao Laowu's hands, nearly suffocating, while a short metal knife was deeply embedded in Zhao Laowu's back, almost piercing his body. "I'll strangle you to death—" Zhao Laowu's eyes were bloodshot, and a large amount of blood gradually seeped out from the fabric of his back. Even so, the force in his hand did not lessen at all. Yu Congyi knew how quickly a person could go from suffocation to death, so he also struggled desperately to kick and punch the other man. The burning pain in his throat and the nausea of his breathing gradually becoming sluggish made him pull the knife out of the other man's back without thinking. In an instant, he swung the knife at Zhao Laowu's cheek, and blood gushed out like a lush morning flower. Hot blood droplets fell all over his head and face. He shook off the knife as if he had escaped, and gasped for breath of the stinging air.
Zhao Laowu let out a bloodcurdling scream, covering his eyes with his hands. Yu Congyi quickly rolled over from under him, picked up the knife, and stood up. Just now, he had blinded the man in both eyes; two long lines of blood flowed down Zhao Laowu's tightly closed eyelids, resembling tears of blood. Yu Congyi's hand holding the knife trembled slightly, blood dripping from his fingertips. He walked back to Zhao Laowu's side, grabbed his hair, and plunged the bayonet deep into his neck, slashing it in a circle, almost severing Zhao Laowu's neck at the root.
Yu Congyi knelt on the ground and turned to look at the driver. The man was holding a gun, but his whole body was convulsing. Yu Congyi didn't know if he was really having an attack or not. He walked over to the man, snatched the gun from his hand, and then pointed it at his forehead.
With a muffled thud, all was silent. With a clang, the knife fell from his hand, and Yu Congyi collapsed to his knees as if all his strength had been drained. His hands braced against the ground, he suddenly gagged, his entire body convulsing and trembling. He vomited up all the alcohol he'd drunk that evening. He gasped for breath, feeling his senses slowly returning to normal. First, his throat stung, as if he couldn't breathe; at the same time, the wound in his abdomen throbbed with pain, as if it had been torn open even more during the beating, the pain becoming unbearable.
Yu Congyi looked down and found that the entire hem of his clothes was stained black with blood. He pushed himself up and staggered back, clutching his wound. These injuries were nothing to him; since they weren't fatal, he was able to continue walking. However, he had lost too much blood and needed to find a clinic to get bandaged as soon as possible, otherwise he might faint from excessive blood loss.
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