Chapter 273 - 265: Encircle and Kill, Unleashing

The sky hung so low it felt like it might collapse.

Beneath the arcades lining the streets of the Ten-Mile Foreign Field, cigarette vendors had packed up their stalls early. Across the road, at the entrance of the Xianshi Department Store, several clerks in blue cotton shirts were hurriedly fitting wooden planks into the doorframes.

It was nowhere near closing time, yet you couldn't find so much as a stray dog on the whole of Starlight Road. At either end of the street, dozens of men in short jackets had appeared at some point, standing there silently, just looming.

A rickshaw puller tried to turn onto the street. The moment he poked his head around the corner, he was pinned in place by a pair of sharp glares and scurried away, abashed. Anyone with sharp instincts could sense it: something big was about to happen on this street today!

On all of Starlight Road, only the Xianlido's neon sign flickered. A man in his forties, dressed like a nightclub manager in a thin, navy-blue wool suit, strode quickly out of the Xianlido's main entrance.

His wary gaze swept across the long, empty street before he finally waved at a man in a flat-brimmed hat who was standing and smoking beneath a lamppost.

"He's here?"

"Here. In the innermost private room."

"Alone?"

"Just him."

"Good."

After this brief exchange, the man in the flat-brimmed hat, having received a clear, affirmative reply, nodded, stubbed out his cigarette, and departed swiftly.

After the man in the flat-brimmed hat left, the man who looked like a manager remained standing beneath the neon sign. Before long, the sound of urgent, dense footsteps arose from both ends of the street.

Lifting his gaze, he saw two dark masses of people surging toward him from either end of Starlight Road.

Like two dense thunderclouds closing in, they made the already gloomy street seem even darker, creating an intense feeling of suffocation and oppression.

The two groups reached the entrance of the Xianlido. The manager-like man took a deep breath, then threw open the main doors. A torrent of people flowed past him on either side like a black tide, pouring inside....

On the second floor of Buye Heaven, directly across from the Xianlido, several people now stood before a massive, floor-to-ceiling enameled window, coldly watching the scene unfold.

Chen Qingyuan sat in a wheelchair, both his wrists wrapped in thick bandages. His face was paler than the bandages—so white it was almost translucent, and his lips were devoid of color.

He stared at the entrance of the Xianlido across the street, watching the unceasing flow of people pour inside, his eyes unblinking.

"I've asked around,"

he began, his voice hoarse. "The reason Fu Lingjun acts so fearlessly is that he relies on his own Extraordinary martial prowess.

He has an extremely high Talent for martial arts, and he inherited the techniques of a master from some hidden Martial Arts sect. Before, when Wen Zhiqiu was escorting Li Mingyi out of the city, it was him who single-handedly slaughtered his way through Vermilion Bird Street, hogging all the glory..."

"A master... Heh..."

A scoffing laugh came from behind him. Luo Chengying, a gold hoop in his left ear, slowly emerged from the shadows and walked to the window, stopping beside Chen Qingyuan.

Behind him stood three or four men who looked like bodyguards. Aside from a black-haired man with a vacant expression, the rest were all Westerners with deep-set eyes and high-bridged noses.

"What master can possibly compare to... If it weren't for my father, I would've crushed him long ago! How could I have let him run wild for this long?!

But now that he's dared to come after you—"

Luo Chengying looked down at Chen Qingyuan and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. His expression softened as he said, his voice gentle, "In that case, even if it means my father will be furious and give me a beating, I will make sure you get your revenge."

In his wheelchair, Chen Qingyuan shuddered slightly but said nothing.

Luo Chengying took two steps forward, his gaze returning to the window outside. The tide of people was still surging into the Xianlido, as if it would never end.

"Let's say Fu Lingjun's martial prowess is god-like."

Luo Chengying continued in a slow, deliberate tone, "But as long as he's human, he will get tired, and he can get hurt.

He likes to kill, doesn't he? Well today, I'll let him kill until he's had his fill!"

Luo Chengying looked down from his high vantage point, staring through the enameled window at the entrance across the street that continued to swallow the human tide. A wicked, cruel smile slowly spread across his face.

"If ten men aren't enough, we'll send a hundred. If a hundred isn't enough, we'll send a thousand... The Woodcutter Gang has three thousand men. Will that be enough for him to kill?!

Without Ding Moshan, Fu Lingjun is all alone, with just his Big Cat and a kitty or two under his command.

And he dares to come to a banquet of blades by himself?"

He paused, then let out a laugh.

"Then I'll just have to break him, bit by bit."

With that, he turned around. His gaze swept over the modified men who looked like Westerners, finally landing on Chen Qingyuan.

He walked back to the wheelchair and bent down, his voice as soft as if he were placating a child. "Yuebai, I've asked about your hands.

The Westerners my father is working with have brought in some new technology—it's a minor issue. They can be fixed.

When the time comes, I'll go with you to pick some out. We'll find you a pair that's identical to your old ones and have them attached..."

He straightened up, and the smile on his face faded somewhat.

"As for that bitch Jiang Yingqiu—

I sent men to kill her entire family."

Luo Chengying's tone was flat. "Then I sold her to a brothel in Zhabei. I told them to make her service customers for free, until she works herself to death."

Chen Qingyuan sat in his wheelchair, his face completely blank.

Only his eyes blinked, just once, when he heard the name "Jiang Yingqiu." Then his face returned to that wooden, indifferent mask, like a wax figure.

Luo Chengying watched his reaction, silent for a moment. Then he began to smile again, this smile even gentler and more satisfied than before.

"...From now on, it'll just be you and me, brother.

As long as I'm around, no one in all of Shenghai will be able to lay a finger on you.

Today, I'm going to chop this Fu Lingjun into pieces and feed him to the dogs!"

Chen Qingyuan sat before the enameled window. After a long moment, he let out a heavy grunt of acknowledgement.

The smile on Luo Chengying's face slowly bloomed even wider.

...

「Meanwhile, atop the bell tower of a Western church not far from Starlight Road.」

Big Cat stood at the top of the bell tower, expressionlessly gazing down at the tide of Woodcutter Gang assassins pouring into Starlight Road.

Xu Hengjiang stood beside him, forcefully working the bolt of his gun. He frowned. "Even if it's to lure out that little bastard Luo Chengying, isn't the Young Master being... a bit too reckless?"

"This is the fastest and most effective way to find Luo Chengying."

Big Cat's voice was flat, without inflection. "The Young Master finds all other methods too troublesome."

He paused, then added, "More importantly—the Young Master has been in a very bad mood lately.

He needs to... blow off some steam."

Hearing the phrase "blow off steam," Xu Hengjiang seemed to recall something. He shuddered, and his expression grew complicated.

After a long moment, he spoke. "Then what can we do?"

"Nothing. We just need to watch quietly."

Big Cat's gaze roamed slowly over the street, finally settling on a particular spot. "Of course, we need to keep a close eye on Luo Chengying.

If he gets away...

The Young Master will be very unhappy."

"Right."

Xu Hengjiang nodded, picked up his machine gun, and strode quickly down from the bell tower, leaving Big Cat standing alone.

.....

Inside a vast, luxurious private room at the nightclub, a spinning disco ball scattered multicolored light as a jazz melody drifted from a record player.

Fu Juemin, dressed in a suit, sat on a sofa holding a glass of whiskey, quietly watching a woman with a sultry voice who was singing on the small stage in the center of the room.

Fu Juemin sat in silence, the amber liquid swirling gently in the square glass. The colored lights cast a mosaic of light and shadow across his handsome face.

Only he and the woman were in the private room. After finishing her song, the woman trotted down from the stage, picked up a drink from the table, and squeezed in beside him on the sofa.

"Young Master Fu, I'd like to propose a toast."

The woman spoke to Fu Juemin with a beaming smile, and without waiting for a response, tilted her head back and downed her drink in one gulp.

The woman was beautiful: red dress, red lips, and big, wavy hair. Her skin was as smooth and white as porcelain.

As she spoke to Fu Juemin, she seemed to incidentally but persistently press the softness of her chest against his arm. Her neckline was cut very low, revealing a wide expanse of snow-white skin.

Fu Juemin lifted his glass and took a small sip.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Zhu Zhu."

The woman's eyes darted toward the door of the private room for a split second before returning to him. "The 'Zhu' in 'jewelry,'" she answered with a giggle.

"Zhu Zhu..."

Fu Juemin repeated the name under his breath, then suddenly spoke. "You must know me, know what kind of person I am, don't you?

Yet you still dare to keep me company, and even drug my drink... What did Luo Chengying promise you?"

The smile on the woman's face froze instantly. She slowly got up from beside Fu Juemin, her expression strained. "Young... Young Master Fu, you must be joking. I... I don't know any Luo Chengying or Young Master Luo..."

"In Shenghai, there might be people who don't know me, Fu Juemin, but how could anyone not know Luo Chengying?"

Fu Juemin shook his head.

Just then, the door to the private room swung open silently behind Fu Juemin. One by one, members of the Woodcutter Gang filed in, brandishing sharp axes or pistols, their faces radiating killing intent.

The woman seemed to let out a great sigh of relief at their appearance. The smile returned to her face, much brighter this time, and her speech became more fluent.

"My apologies, Young Master Fu."

The woman took two discreet steps backward. "It was indeed Young Master Luo Chengying who sent me.

Young Master Luo promised that after this was done, he would make me a movie star..."

As more and more men flooded into the room, the woman's courage swelled.

"You know, it's not easy for people like us to get a chance.

I dream of becoming a huge star like Hu Yu. I heard that during the last Movie Empress competition, you, Young Master Fu, even sent a thousand light-up signs for Hu Yu..."

A look of yearning appeared in her eyes.

"I really wish I could receive some of those signs from you, Young Master Fu.

Too bad..."

She watched the Woodcutter Gang thugs stride forward, their faces savage. They raised their short axes in unison and swung them down at the back of Fu Juemin's head.

A trace of sympathy, mixed with a hint of pity, appeared in her eyes. She looked at Fu Juemin and sighed softly.

"It looks like I won't get that chance after all."

The axe blades cut through the air, but Fu Juemin, as if he hadn't noticed, remained seated on the sofa, his eyes downcast, still holding his glass.

"You want to be in movies that badly..."

he murmured to himself.

Half a breath later.

"BOOM—!"

Along with a deafening roar, an invisible shockwave erupted from within the private room.

The room's door instantly shattered, sending splinters flying. The Woodcutter Gang assassins crowded in the hallway were thrown about like paper cutouts by the blast, slamming into walls and tumbling to the floor in a heap.

In the devastated hallway, the faces of the remaining Woodcutter Gang assassins were etched with horror as they scrambled backward.

Soon, the clear, unhurried sound of footsteps rang out.

Fu Juemin, dapper in his fine suit, emerged from the private room at a slow walk. He had one arm around the beautiful woman, who was now rigid, her expression blank with shock.

He casually glanced at the assassins huddled together before him, drained the last of the amber liquid from his glass, and tossed the cup aside.

He leaned close to the ear of the woman in his embrace. His warm breath, smelling of whiskey, washed over her face, making her eyelashes quiver.

"Then today..."

Fu Juemin's voice was soft, as soft as a lover's whisper. "We'll let you be the leading lady."

With that, he held the woman close and walked forward, his expression serene.

After a moment of tense stillness, an enraged roar shattered the silence.

"KILL HIM!!"

In an instant, the long corridor was filled with battle cries thick with excitement, nervousness, terror, and madness!

And at the entrance to the Xianlido, figures continued to pour in without end...