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Join the ServerOld Rooster saw me approach and immediately stopped playing.
He silently placed his cue on the rack and walked over to me.
His gaze swept me from head to toe, a mocking smile gracing his lips.
“Oh, you actually dared to show your face here again?” he chuckled. “Come here, let’s have a little chat…”
Several familiar faces were scattered around the pool hall. Many of them, I presumed, recognized me.
They all straightened up abruptly, setting their cues aside and reaching for the collapsible batons in their pockets.
Old Rooster was about to reach out and grab me, but I slapped his hand away. Then, I addressed everyone in the room.
“Is there anyone here with green hair? The one who hit Bai Hailong’s sister with their motorcycle a few days ago?”
“Anyone? Come out.”
Old Rooster turned to glance at the people behind him, a sneer twisting his features. He then raised his hand to slap me.
He always resorted to the same old tricks.
A surge of malicious anger welled up inside me. I blocked his slap and, using the doorframe for leverage, kicked out.
Old Rooster stumbled back several steps, halted only by a pool table. He scrambled to his feet, roaring, “f*ck your mother! They’re crashing the place! Come out! They’re crashing the place!”
I whispered, “Make the call.”
Young Master Feng nodded knowingly, though his hands remained in his pockets. I heard his phone buzz faintly, confirming he’d likely kept his contacts open, ready to dial at any moment.
The pool hall also housed a smoking room and a lounge area where people played cards. Several individuals emerged from these rooms.
Including those already in the pool hall, there were about a dozen of them in total.
A few looked groggy, as if they’d just woken up. I scanned the group, noticing several familiar faces—particularly the tall man with a pockmarked face. I remembered him vividly; he was the one who had slapped Dragon Brother that day.
As they emerged, their eyes held the gleam of spectators. The Pimple Face recognized me, momentarily stunned.
“Damn it, this guy looks familiar,” he said. “Are you here for a beating today?”
I looked around, but the green-haired individual was nowhere to be seen.
“Who hit Bai Hailong’s sister?” I demanded. “Step forward.”
Old Rooster laughed. “He’s not here. He ran off to screw your mother last night. He’s probably washing his d*ck right now, afraid of getting an STD.”
The entire group erupted in laughter.
I remained silent, simply watching them.
Footsteps sounded from behind me.
Their laughter gradually died down.
They fell utterly silent, their gazes fixed on the entrance of the main hall.
Behind me, over thirty burly men stood composed and ready.
The middle-aged man leading them, carrying a bottle of Erguotou liquor, clapped me on the shoulder.
“Damn it, I just went to the convenience store, and you’re already butting heads?” he chuckled.
I nodded. “Still butting heads.”
Old Rooster glared at our group, then at Young Master Feng. “Alright, you invited me to eat today, but looking at this, it’s a damn Hongmen Banquet.”
I desperately wanted to kick him. Dragon Brother was still in the intensive care unit, and because of these societal thugs, she might even be paralyzed for the rest of her life.
I coldly surveyed the room.
“I’ll say this one last time: Who was driving the motorcycle that hit Bai Hailong’s sister?”
“Step forward. I’m going to chop off one of their hands.”
“If they don’t come out, I’ll chop off one hand from every single one of you. You decide… I always keep my word.”
“I’ll give you three seconds. Three.”
Perhaps the expression on my face was too savage, for they all stared at me blankly, utterly speechless.
I remembered a day, after Dragon Brother had transitioned, when she stayed up all night in my room, playing on the computer. She insisted on hugging me for a while. I’d forgotten why at the time, but I asked her, “Do you like me?”
Dragon Brother replied with complete candor, “Of course I do.”
I always felt then that she might have misunderstood the definition of ‘liking’ someone. I preferred to adhere to definitions; liking, to me, implied mutual affection.
But later, I realized that many things in this world couldn’t be encompassed by definitions. Describing certain things with definitions often made them seem dry and lacking. Take brotherhood, for instance, or that simple phrase, ‘Of course I do.’
“Two!” I roared.
It wasn’t Dragon Brother who was wrong; there was only one person at fault, and that was me.
I wasn’t very good at confronting my own heart. I didn’t even know if friendship between different genders truly existed in this world. But I gradually discovered that the day Dragon Brother became a woman, that friendship also changed, transforming into something else entirely.
Well, to be honest, damn it, I liked Dragon Brother.
So now, I desperately wanted to chop off someone’s hand. Anyone’s would do.
“One.”
The hall was eerily silent. The thirty-plus burly men who once chased me through the streets now stood quietly behind me.
I took a deep breath. “Alright, no one’s stepping forward… Then I’ll ask one last time, one last time! Which damn scumbag drove the car that hit her? This is the very last time! Now, immediately! Tell me!!”
By the end, the muscles in my face were twitching.
The group of arrogant, flamboyant punks, who had been so brazen just moments before, now lowered their heads, pretending to be good students.
Especially the Pimple Face, who looked as if he wished he could stuff his head into his pants.
Old Rooster watched me with a gloomy expression. “You think I’d sell out my brother?”
I was so incensed I laughed. “Don’t casually use the word ‘brother.’ You don’t deserve to say it.”
Old Rooster suddenly sneered, then roared, “Then who the hell does?! Does Bai Hailong’s sister deserve to? Or that son of a b*tch, Bai Hailong?!”
“If you curse ‘son of a b*tch’ again, I’ll chop off both your hands,” I warned.
I remembered Dragon Brother once saying that Old Rooster used to be her childhood friend, but now, I was truly too weary to delve into the specifics.
All I wanted was to quickly find that green-haired bastard and turn his hands into spicy chicken feet, then feed them to the dogs downstairs.
Old Rooster glared at me resentfully, falling silent.
I felt a bit tired; this whole thing was like some kind of farce.
Now that I’d brought over thirty bodyguards, these guys had all fallen silent. Why weren’t they continuing their ‘righteous’ stand?
I stepped forward, grabbed Old Rooster by the collar, and pulled him towards me.
Old Rooster didn’t resist, his eyes fixed on me with a chilling intensity.
I stared into his eyes and said in a low voice, “I’m asking you one last damn time, where does that dog-brained driver live?! Damn it, speak up!”
By the end, I was roaring.
He stared at me grimly for a long moment, then suddenly slapped me across the face, cursing, “Go to hell!”
I staggered back a few steps. The thirty-plus men behind me, who had been standing with their arms crossed, now lowered them.
I straightened up and waved a hand behind me. “No, don’t…”
I was absolutely going to kill him today. I was going to chop him up.
I roared and charged forward. He kicked out, and I took the blow directly, pushing through to land a punch on his temple.
He lost his balance and stumbled to the ground.
We wrestled together without any regard for our image. I choked his neck, and he snarled, grabbing at my hair.
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, save for our roars and curses.
Old Rooster’s twenty-something ‘brothers’, watched by thirty-plus men, didn’t dare utter a sound, helplessly observing the battle unfolding.
Old Rooster himself wasn’t a fighter. He usually just put on a tough act in brawls, relying on having many friends. He wasn’t actually skilled in a fight, like a complete novice.
After a few struggles, I pinned him to the ground and relentlessly hammered him.
My face was contorted in a savage grimace as I swung my fists at his head, aiming for his temples and philtrum. I hit wherever it could cause damage, wherever it could kill.
Before long, he was clutching his head and wailing. I gripped the hand he used to shield his face with my left hand, then smashed my right fist into his temple. He let out several miserable cries, desperately trying to protect his head.
I stood up, panting, as Old Rooster still clung fiercely to my collar. I slapped his hand away.
I asked the leading middle-aged man, “Where’s the knife?”
The thirty-plus men, who had been watching from the side, fell silent, their eyes on my savage expression.
The middle-aged man watched for a moment, seeing Old Rooster’s nose bleeding, and asked, “What do you need a knife for?”
Wasn’t that obvious? “To chop off a hand, of course?” I retorted.
The twenty-odd people opposite us all looked up, their faces filled with terror.
The middle-aged man stared at me in silence for a while. “Don’t ask,” he said. “I won’t give it to you.”
I stood there grinning, feeling like a madman. “Never mind,” I said. “It’s fine. You have a knife, don’t you? Go chop off his hand…”
“Think about it. Young Master Feng has your back, right? This whole thing can be covered up perfectly. No one will know you chopped off someone’s hand. It’s like cutting off a tree branch, and you can even earn some pocket money. Come on, lend a hand.”
Young Master Feng was momentarily stunned. “Brother Lu…”
The middle-aged man remained silent, arms crossed, staring at me.
I chuckled, wiping the blood from my face. “How much do you want? How about ten thousand? It’s an easy job, just one swing of the knife.”
The middle-aged man still didn’t speak.
The smile on my face slowly vanished. “Then thirty thousand,” I said. “Chop off his hand.”
Old Rooster, still lying on the ground, had now regained some strength.
For the first time, he called me by name, roaring, “Lu Ren, I’ll f*ck your mother!!”
A baseless fury surged within me, and I jumped up, roaring, “I’ll give you fifty thousand! A hundred thousand! A hundred and fifty thousand! Go chop off his hand for me!! If that’s not enough, I’ll give you two hundred thousand!! Three hundred thousand!! Young Master Liu Renfeng has your back anyway! Chopping off a hand is like chopping firewood, can’t you chop firewood?!”
The middle-aged man watched me for a moment, then, after a long pause, he smiled and pulled a dagger from his pocket.
He weighed the dagger in his hand, then tucked it back into his pocket. “Alright, calm down, young man. You’re talking about chopping hands like it’s chopping cabbage. Give him a chance to live.”
“I won’t let him go…” I murmured. I turned to look at Old Rooster. “If I let him live, who will let Bai Hailong live? Who will let me live? You all forced my hand.”
I turned, looking at the twenty-odd people behind Old Rooster.
They all stared at me in terror.
I walked quickly towards them, extending my hand, asking each one, “Don’t you all love to fight? Don’t you always carry a knife? Come on, give me your knife. I’ll give you ten thousand… If ten thousand isn’t enough, then fifty thousand… A hundred thousand…”
The group looked at me in horror, all retreating backwards.
Among them, a short guy was shrinking back into the crowd, looking like he hadn’t even finished high school.
I suddenly froze, my eyes fixed on his waist.
A gleaming dagger hung at his belt.
The group, seeing me staring at the short guy, also realized what I was looking at. They joined me in staring at the dagger on the short guy’s waist, mouths agape, utterly silent.
“You, come here. Come here,” I said, slowly approaching him.
The boy looked at me in terror and stammered, “Brother, how about we just let this go? I’ll help you find the green-haired guy, okay?”
Old Rooster, still on the ground, suddenly roared, “Damn you, you wouldn’t dare!”
As I slowly approached the boy, my movements were swift and precise. I suddenly snatched the knife and immediately turned, walking towards Old Rooster.
The suddenness of it left them all stunned. The boy was terrified, yet he still dared to wrap his arms around my waist from behind. I stomped on his toes twice, shaking him off.
“Go play somewhere else… Ten thousand, right? Don’t worry, I don’t owe money.”
I muttered, carrying the knife, as I walked towards Old Rooster.
Behind me, several people screamed, “Brother, Old Brother, we’ll help you find him! Let’s just call it even!”
Young Master Feng stared at me, dumbfounded.
I reached Old Rooster and crouched down.
Old Rooster gritted his teeth, glaring at me with intense hatred.
I didn’t know if he had ever imagined this day would come, but thankfully, society’s current climate was decent; he should be able to receive disability benefits later.
I held the knife in my hand, my voice soft, almost gentle. “Come on, give me your hand.”
The short guy shrieked, about to rush forward. The thirty-plus men by the window blocked him. Pimple Face gritted his teeth, quick as a flash, and pulled the short guy back.
The short guy struggled relentlessly, crying out, “Brother Ji! Brother Ji!”
Old Rooster naturally wouldn’t extend his hand. His face was filled with resentment; if looks could kill, I imagined I would have died dozens of times over by now.
But looks, after all, weren’t knives; they couldn’t kill.
I smiled, then abruptly reached out and yanked Old Rooster’s wrist towards me.
Old Rooster shuddered, roaring, and frantically punched my face.
I took several blows, glancing at the knife without even bothering to block. My eye felt swollen from the impact.
I stared at his wrist, raising the knife.
Suddenly, a woman’s scream echoed from the doorway: “Lu Ren!”
The voice sounded familiar.
I flinched, turning my head.
Old Rooster violently kicked me, then scrambled to his feet, rolling back to join his group of twenty-odd men.
A look of astonishment appeared on his face. After a long moment, he whispered, “Sis?”
Xiao Xiu Sister stood at the doorway.
She was still wearing her apron, her hands trembling as she stared at me in terror.
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