"Woo-woo-woo—"
Police sirens wailed nonstop. The entrance of the Mingzhu Nightclub was packed with police cars and ambulances.
A large number of officers had arrived, cordoning off the area. Medical staff carried out many injured people, and some were even zipped into body bags and sent straight to the morgue.
"What happened?" Curious bystanders gathered to watch.
"Heard it was a bunch of guys from Henan and Hunan fighting. Lots of people dead and injured! Even the owner of this nightclub got killed!"
"Oh my god, that's terrifying. Let's get out of here."
A line of Mercedes-Benz vehicles stopped at the entrance. She Zhishan, the Hunan gang boss, stepped out. Behind him followed a large group of burly men, all leaders of his organization.
"Where's Tie Xiong? Where is he?" She Zhishan pushed through the police tape, trying to charge inside to find Tie Xiong—dead or alive, he had to see him.
"She Boss, please don't go in. The bodies have already been sent to the funeral home," a police officer stopped him. The officer even addressed him respectfully as "She Boss"—clearly, they knew each other.
"Is Tie Xiong really dead?" he asked uncertainly.
The officer nodded, then shook his head. "Not sure. But yes, there were several fatalities."
At that moment, the lobby manager walked over. "Boss She, Brother Xiong is really dead. He died horribly—his face was beaten into mush!"
She Zhishan shut his eyes in pain, memories of Tie Xiong flashing through his mind.
"Big Brother, my name is Yu Tie. I want to follow you."
"Heh… kid, do you dare kill?"
"I dare!"
"Big Brother, there's too many of them. You go! I'll hold them off!"
To outsiders, Tie Xiong was a villain—moody, unpredictable.
To Cao Yang, he was a bastard who threatened Li Yan, schemed against him, and used him.
But to She Zhishan, Tie Xiong was undoubtedly a good brother.
He had followed him since his teens, fought with him, even taken a knife for him once—saved his life. He was one of his most trusted men. Otherwise he would never have put such a profitable nightclub in his hands. Who would've thought they'd be separated by death so suddenly?
"Liu Zhenhu! You f***ing bastard!"
She Zhishan turned his grief into fury, aiming it at Liu Zhenhu. They had agreed to hand over just the fighter and overlook Tie Xiong's responsibility.
He trusted them—let them come take the man.
But these people betrayed him and killed Tie Xiong. Thinking about it, he blamed himself too. He shouldn't have trusted the Henan gang!
"Zengqiang! Gather all our brothers! Tonight, smash every single place owned by the Henan gang. Big or small—destroy them all!"
This was no longer a dispute over利益—this was a battle of honor.
They broke the rules, broke the code, dared to kill one of his men. Did they think the Hunan gang was afraid?
Tonight, they would find out.
…
Inside the morgue next to the hospital, two people stood beside Liu Yilong's corpse.
A man in his forties, with a fierce expression—Henan gang boss Liu Zhenhu.
And a woman in her twenties, beautiful and dressed sexily—his wife.
She was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Big Brother, you must avenge Yilong!"
Liu Zhenhu looked at his once lively younger brother lying still. Tears welled in his eyes.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. The kid who killed Yilong will be brought here soon. I'll chop him into eighteen pieces—and kill his entire family."
Just as he finished, his phone rang. He picked up, and his face instantly changed!
"She Zhishan, you f***ing traitor!"
Liu Zhenhu exploded with rage. He originally planned to spare Tie Xiong and only kill Cao Yang. But the Hunan gang had set him up. They pretended to hand someone over nicely—then when his men arrived, they were all slaughtered!
Before his anger subsided, calls came in one after another: the Hunan gang had launched a full attack. All their venues across the city were being hit.
"Motherf***er! Gather everyone! Hit them back!"
"They want war? I'll fight to the end!"
That night, Dongguan was destined to be chaotic. Dozens of violent clashes erupted. Every hospital received waves of injured people.
The Public Security Bureau was overwhelmed; police were arresting people everywhere—over two hundred were detained, overflowing the holding cells.
Cao Yang knew nothing of this.
After jumping out of the building to escape, his first thought was to leave Dongguan entirely. But the gunshot wound in his back grew worse.
Tie Xiong assumed he was some kind of monster who could take bullets without issue, but in truth, the adrenaline at first masked the pain. Only afterward did it hit him hard. He wasn't sure if any organs were damaged.
Either way, he had to get the bullet out.
He couldn't go to the hospital—it was a gunshot wound; the police would be alerted immediately.
His only option was to find Lei Yu and Lei Dian—the only friends he had.
Knock, knock, knock—
"Who is it?" Lei Yu whispered.
"It's me."
Hearing his voice, she suddenly felt relieved. The scoundrel hadn't shown up in days—she thought he might be trying to ditch her after pulling up his pants.
She opened the door and saw Cao Yang pale-faced. "What happened to you?"
"Where's Lei Dian?" Cao Yang looked around but didn't see him.
"He went out—probably at the slot machines again!"
"Call him. Tell him to come back."
"What for? I don't want him knowing about us." Lei Yu blushed, thinking his absence meant they finally had time alone. Calling him back now—so he could hear them?
Cao Yang gave her a weird look. "Rain Sis, what's going on in your head? Is it all restricted content?"
Lei Yu's face turned bright red like a monkey's butt. "Who's the one thinking that kind of stuff! You've got some nerve!"
"I'm injured. Call Lei Dian and have him buy medicine for my wound."
"Huh?"
Hearing he was hurt, Lei Yu grew anxious. "Where are you injured?"
Cao Yang turned around and showed her his back.
"My god! That much blood!"
He removed his shirt to let her see if she could spot the bullet.
"I can't see it—too deep. You really should go to a hospital."
Going meant getting arrested. Not an option.
Soon, Lei Dian returned with medical supplies.
"What happened?" he asked worriedly.
Cao Yang didn't want to scare them and simply urged Lei Dian to treat the wound quickly.
"Holy sh*t, it's a gunshot!" Lei Dian panicked. He thought it was a knife wound—never expected a bullet.
He disinfected the area, then used tweezers to dig for the bullet.
But he was clumsy. After a long time he still couldn't get it out, making Lei Yu increasingly anxious.
Watching the tweezers scrape inside the wound over and over, Cao Yang stayed silent despite the pain—but Lei Yu's heart tightened.
"Move aside! You're useless!"
She shoved Lei Dian aside, took the tweezers, and worked on Cao Yang's wound.
Girls were indeed more delicate with their hands. She removed the bullet with far less trouble.
The moment it came out, the wound bled heavily. They quickly applied medicine and wrapped it in gauze.
"It's too deep. You really should go to the hospital."
"I'll be fine. As long as the bleeding stops."
Seeing his insistence, the siblings didn't push further.
"Who shot you?" Lei Dian asked, unwilling to drop it. Anyone with a gun was definitely not a small-time thug.
Cao Yang glanced at him and smirked. "Tie Xiong from the Hunan gang. You know him?"
"I do—you told me about him. Weren't you on decent terms?"
Cao Yang sneered and said nothing.
"Don't worry. Once you recover, I'll help you get him back!"
"So what if he's from the Hunan gang? He's just a guy with a head on his shoulders—why should we be scared?"
Before Lei Dian finished, Lei Yu slapped him on the head.
"I told you two to work honestly! Don't go mixing with gangs! I don't want to be collecting your corpses!"
"People don't mess with me, I don't mess with them. But if they do—I'll strike back!" Lei Dian shouted, spouting edgy lines while arguing with her.