Cao Yang had known Liu Yilong couldn't be saved, but he hadn't expected him to die so quickly.
He bore no personal grudge against Liu Yilong. He hadn't meant to kill him. The man was simply unlucky—he had run into Cao Yang when Cao Yang was in a foul mood.
Cao Yang intended to kill Iron Bear, but he had never killed anyone before. Liu Yilong had merely become the one he used to test his nerve.
They all said life or death in the cage was fate. Anyone who stepped in had to be prepared to die. So he felt little guilt.
The car stopped outside Mingzhu Nightclub. Cao Yang and Mountain Eagle went up to the third-floor office.
Iron Bear smiled when he saw him. "What did you want to talk about?"
Cao Yang stared coldly. "I remember the first time we met—you forced my sister to kneel and apologize to you."
Iron Bear froze for a moment, then laughed. "Why bring up unhappy things? I'll introduce you to some friends in a bit."
"I'm not interested."
"They're interested in you," Iron Bear said with a grin.
"You know," Cao Yang said quietly, "I hate when people force me to do things I don't want to do."
Iron Bear finally heard the hostility in his tone and stared back coldly. "So what if I forced you?"
He knew Cao Yang wouldn't survive anyway, so he didn't bother keeping up the friendly act.
"Forcing me… comes with a price."
Cao Yang suddenly lunged, grabbing for his throat.
Iron Bear quickly dodged.
Cao Yang's strike missed. He looked surprised. "Didn't expect you to have some skill."
"If I didn't, how would I become a leader of the Hunan Gang?" Iron Bear sneered, signaling Mountain Eagle with his eyes to call reinforcements.
He knew he wasn't a match for Cao Yang at all.
Mountain Eagle finally understood and rushed toward the door.
But Cao Yang would never let him get away.
Before he reached the exit, Cao Yang caught him from behind, seizing him by the neck and lifting him clean off the ground. Then—
BOOM!
He slammed Mountain Eagle headfirst onto the concrete floor. Half of Mountain Eagle's skull collapsed into his neck. He died instantly.
While Cao Yang dealt with Mountain Eagle, Iron Bear opened a cabinet and pulled out a handgun. He aimed at Cao Yang's back and pulled the trigger.
But Cao Yang had sensed the danger a moment earlier. He leaped aside just before the gun fired, dodging the first bullet by a hair.
BANG BANG BANG!
Iron Bear kept firing.
A burst of white mist blossomed from Cao Yang's back—he'd been grazed. The office was too small to evade completely.
Iron Bear grinned and emptied the rest of the magazine—three more shots.
But none of them hit.
As he reached for a spare magazine, Cao Yang shot forward like a hunting leopard, so fast his figure blurred. His kick slammed into Iron Bear's stomach, sending his two-hundred-pound frame flying into the wall.
Without waiting a second, Cao Yang stormed forward, kicked the gun from Iron Bear's hand, and clamped his fingers around his throat.
For the first time, Iron Bear felt death creeping toward him.
"Cao Yang, brother… let's talk. If you kill me, you won't get out of Guan City alive!" Iron Bear pleaded, though inwardly he cursed Cao Yang as a monster.
A normal person hit by a bullet would at least lose strength, if not die outright. But this guy—shot and still moving like nothing happened.
Cao Yang smirked. "If I want to leave, no one can stop me."
"The Henan Gang wants you dead! Let me go and I can protect you!"
"No interest. Die."
Ignoring his nonsense, Cao Yang squeezed harder. Iron Bear's breath came in ragged gasps.
Cao Yang's right fist gathered strength—his fist the size of a sand pot—then came crashing down on Iron Bear's face.
SPLAT!
Blood sprayed across Cao Yang's face. Iron Bear's nose and mouth shattered, his face collapsing inward like soft clay.
CRACK!
Cao Yang's left hand tightened—and snapped his neck.
Iron Bear was dead.
Wiping the blood from his face, Cao Yang bent down, picked up the gun and magazine, and stuffed them into his jacket for later use.
Though it seemed dramatic, from the moment he struck Mountain Eagle to the moment Iron Bear lay dead, barely a minute had passed.
Downstairs, no one noticed a thing. Even the gunshots were drowned out by the nightclub's deafening music. And even if someone heard them, they wouldn't think twice. This was Mingzhu Nightclub—if someone fired a gun, it was probably "Brother Bear teaching someone a lesson."
A large group of men stormed into the club, their faces cold and fierce—clearly here with bad intentions.
The lobby manager—a flamboyant, effeminate man—hurried over with a sycophantic smile.
"You must be brothers from the Henan Gang?"
The leader nodded, expression icy. "Where's Iron Bear? Where's Cao Yang?"
"Third-floor office," the manager said. Iron Bear had instructed earlier not to hinder them.
"I'll take you—"
"No need." The leader shoved him aside and charged upstairs with his men.
Cao Yang had planned to leave, but hearing the footsteps, he loaded the gun and glanced at the window.
It was the third floor—not high. He could jump.
The Henan Gang kicked the office door open and were greeted by two bloody corpses on the floor.
"What happened?"
They stared at each other. Someone inspected the bodies.
They recognized Iron Bear—even though his face was destroyed. The other long-haired guy, they didn't know.
Could that be Cao Yang?
No, that skinny, ratty-looking corpse couldn't possibly be the man rumored to have killed their second-in-command with his bare hands.
At that moment, the manager and a group of Hunan Gang members arrived.
"Brother Bear! Brother Bear!"
The men rushed forward.
"He's dead," one of them cried in terror.
The manager glared at the Henan men, face pale with fury.
The Henan leader opened his mouth to explain—they'd found the bodies like this.
But Iron Bear's men didn't give them the chance.
"Kill them! Avenge Brother Bear!"
Blades were drawn.
Chaos erupted instantly. Screams, shouts, and bodies hitting the floor filled the room. Blood spread across the tiles.
The Henan men had come aggressively, making it easy for the Hunan gang members to assume they were the killers. News of Liu Yilong's death had already circulated among them. The Henan Gang had motive and had been on-site. They were guilty—no explanation accepted.
As for Cao Yang…
Everyone simply overlooked him.
To them, Cao Yang was one of Brother Bear's men—a member of the Hunan Gang.