Chapter 34 - 32: The Free Yang Xiao

Chapter 34: Chapter 32: The Free Yang Xiao

Jin Meiting was flabbergasted by Jiang Chaosheng’s words.

Yang Xiao despised concepts like benevolence and righteousness; he would give up anything for a Taboo Item.

How could he end up trading a Taboo Item he so desperately coveted for something so useless?

She trusted Jiang Chaosheng’s judgment, but she didn’t understand it.

Jiang Chaosheng stared at the shadow on his wrist—the one he had taken from Yang Xiao in their trade.

The shadow slithered across his left hand like a venomous snake.

Jiang Chaosheng had three reasons for wanting to trade for Yang Xiao’s shadow.

First, with Yang Xiao’s shadow in his possession, he had the means to control Yang Xiao’s life and death, so he didn’t have to worry about betrayal.

He could even devour Yang Xiao’s shadow to acquire his power.

Although Yang Xiao was a complete weakling right now, his potential for growth was immense once he had the Ghost Shadow Gloves.

Second, every time the Ghost Shadow Gloves were used, the wearer’s own health would be consumed.

With Yang Xiao’s shadow in his hands, and within the confines of Antique Shop Zero, Yang Xiao wouldn’t die, even if his physical health deteriorated to its absolute limit.

Jiang Chaosheng actually valued Yang Xiao to some extent.

After the Ghost Government Office incident, Jiang Chaosheng’s desire to build the Cleaner Fish System had grown even stronger.

The Ghost Shadow Gloves were perfectly suited for Yang Xiao to use in establishing this Cleaner Fish System.

Jiang Chaosheng closed the book, rose, and walked toward the stairs, saying:

"Let Yang Xiao get some experience. Bai Litang will do."

After Bai Shasha’s death, Bai Litang had been searching for the master behind the ’Sea Demon Jue Pearl’ to get his revenge.

Jiang Chaosheng wasn’t concerned about Bai Litang, seeing him as nothing more than a trivial nuisance.

However, even the finest steel needs to be whetted; otherwise, it will remain forever unrefined, never becoming a sharp blade.

Jiang Chaosheng would actually feel a bit bad about killing an innocent person, so Bai Litang was the perfect whetstone.

Jiang Chaosheng also wanted to see if Yang Xiao could do a clean job.

Killing is simple. If Jiang Chaosheng just wanted an assassin, he wouldn’t need a Cleaner Fish organization at all.

Making an underworld boss like Bai Litang disappear from the South Sea without a trace—that would be a passing grade for a ’cleaning.’

Jin Meiting nodded.

"Alright, I’ll contact him right away."

...

Nighttime. In the back alley of Rasputin Bar, East District.

A woman with big, wavy hair stood with one hand on her hip and a cigarette between the fingers of the other, her eyes filled with disgust.

"Bitch, you bitch! Fucking pervert! Trying to steal my clients!"

Four thugs covered in dragon and tiger tattoos were kicking and punching a person lying on the ground.

The person being beaten was wearing a black dress.

Their chestnut curls were tied back at the nape of their neck, with a few strands falling across a fair, pretty face, obscuring one eye.

They were very thin and beautiful, but the burly men showed no mercy.

The ’beauty’s’ chest was flat, their hips weren’t very full, and upon closer inspection, they had an Adam’s apple.

Not only did they not find this ’beauty’ attractive, they were actually disgusted.

The woman with wavy hair, still not satisfied, walked over and viciously kicked the ’beauty’ twice, cursing,

"Fucking shemale, you fucking shemale! That’ll teach you to steal my clients!"

They all worked at the same Nightclub.

The woman with wavy hair had been on the verge of becoming this month’s top liquor seller.

If she could just close the deal with President Wang tonight, she would get the year-end bonus.

The woman with wavy hair had pulled out all the stops and was just about to have President Wang open a tab with her.

But in a single moment of carelessness, this fucking shemale, Sun Jie, had appeared.

Who knew rich people had such strange tastes, actually falling for this "modified ride"?

The top-seller title was now out of her reach.

The woman with wavy hair threw her cigarette butt at Sun Jie’s face and said viciously,

"You like pretending to be a woman, don’t you? Cripple that thing for me!"

The thugs snickered.

"You got it, Sis. Don’t you worry."

"This dumb thing is disgusting to look at anyway. Crippling it sounds good to me."

Fear appeared in Sun Jie’s eyes.

"Don’t. Please don’t."

Sun Jie’s family was very poor.

His mother had died young, leaving him and his father behind.

His father was disabled, having been in an accident years ago when he was a truck driver.

He himself had a condition: congenital gender identity disorder.

This condition was caused by a combination of factors, including genetics, hormones, and brain structure.

Perhaps because of excessive estrogen production, Sun Jie had looked like a little girl since childhood. His voice was also androgynous, leaning toward feminine, and his classmates and neighbors called him a sissy.

Sun Jie was deeply ashamed and despised his condition, trying hard to "correct" himself.

He exercised, deliberately spoke in a coarse voice, and did his best to be a real man.

He originally thought he would live his life like a normal man, getting married and having children.

But fate always had a cruel sense of humor.

His father fell ill, so Sun Jie dropped out of school and started working at a Nightclub. The money was fast.

He forgot who it was that said, "If this young man dressed up, he’d be much prettier than most of the Princesses here."

For the money, Sun Jie gave it a thought, and that’s how he became what he was now.

Sun Jie had worked at the Nightclub for so many years and endured so many insults that she was already used to it.

’She herself didn’t think there was anything wrong with it; she felt it was what she deserved.’

’After all, who was she but a... pervert, grandstanding for money!’

The thugs paused for a moment when they heard Sun Jie’s voice.

They had to admit, this little thing’s voice was actually quite pleasant.

It was very feminine. With that pitiful look, like a frightened little rabbit, it was enough to make one feel protective.

If they didn’t know the whole story, they would have really thought this was a slender beauty.

The disgust in the wavy-haired woman’s eyes deepened.

"What’s this? You’ve gone soft on ’her’?"

A chill of disgust ran down the thugs’ spines, and their gazes toward Sun Jie filled with anger.

’Damn it, we almost became perverts ourselves!’

One of the thugs picked up a brick from the ground and furiously swung it at Sun Jie!

Just then, a shrill, grating voice came from down the alley:

"Do you guys know where Bai Litang is?

I owe him money, hehehe, I’m looking for him to pay him back."

Everyone looked toward the end of the alley.

They saw a young man with hair like a bird’s nest, staggering toward them.

His steps were unsteady and his face was deathly pale, like a zombie.

The thugs exchanged glances.

How could they not know who Bai Litang was?

He was their big boss, the top dog of the South Sea’s underworld.

Rasputin Bar was one of Bai Litang’s businesses.

The woman with wavy hair crossed her arms, looking the young man up and down.

He was plain-looking, and his clothes, which looked like they hadn’t been washed in ages, were covered in white dust.

The woman with wavy hair said contemptuously,

"Where did this Drunkard come from? You drunk? This is none of your business, scram!"

The young man continued to stagger forward, letting out a constant, unpleasant, and strange laugh.

The laugh was evil and bizarre, enough to cause a visceral sense of discomfort.

The thug with the brick pointed at Yang Xiao and roared,

"Fuck your mother, get lost! Watch out, or I’ll cripple you too!"

For people in the underworld, crippling another person from the underworld like Sun Jie wasn’t a big deal, as long as they didn’t kill him.

Sun Jie would be too afraid of their methods to call the police.

Besides, ’she’ wasn’t exactly clean herself.

But being seen by an ’outsider’ was not a small problem.

A do-gooder might call the police.

This was a society of laws; assault and battery was no minor crime.

...

This young man was none other than Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao had come for Bai Litang.

He was once the Crown Prince of Liancheng’s underworld; finding people was second nature to him.

To Yang Xiao, Jiang Chaosheng was a god—a god who had given him ’carefree freedom.’

Therefore, anyone his god disliked did not deserve to live in this world.

Having lost his shadow, every step Yang Xiao took was a struggle. The weakness felt as if he had been seriously ill for months.

"Fuck! You really aren’t afraid of dying, are you, motherfucker!"

The thug was enraged. He walked toward Yang Xiao with the brick, swinging it at his shoulder, intending to scare him off.

Yang Xiao had grown up running with thugs; his skills were still decent.

With a slight dodge, he nimbly avoided the brick and placed his left hand on the wall.

The thug grew even angrier, raising the brick to smash it into Yang Xiao’s head.

Suddenly, the thug saw something unbelievable and his eyes widened in terror.

He saw Yang Xiao grab his shadow, which was cast on the wall by the streetlight!

Yes, he had grabbed it, just like that!

"Urgh... Ah... AHHH!!!"

The thug’s eyes were filled with horror. The brick fell from his hand, and he collapsed onto his rear.

The other thugs didn’t know what had happened. Thinking their companion had been beaten, they walked over, cursing.

"You’ve got some nerve, motherfucker."

"Looks like you’ll be getting crippled here tonight too."

The woman with wavy hair looked at the fallen thug with disgust.

"You let this skinny monkey do that to you?

You’re always bragging about how tough your fists are. Turns out it’s just your mouth that’s tough, huh?"

Yang Xiao slowly turned his head, chewing on something with a look of pure enjoyment.

When the others got a clear look, their faces instantly turned deathly white.

The woman with wavy hair slowly opened her mouth, her eyes filled with terror.

What were they seeing?

Yang Xiao was... eating... a shadow!

They could tell at a glance that it was their companion’s shadow!

The hairstyle, the body shape—it was identical!

The shadow struggled, letting out a silent, agonized scream.