Free Web NovelChapter 185: Chapter 125: Gunfight, Brother Hao’s Grudges (Part 2)
The sound of a car engine rumbled, seeming to stop outside the mahjong parlor.
A moment later.
"Haha, Brother Hao!"
Footsteps sounded as several figures walked in from outside.
The leader, Ah Yue, had his hair in a ponytail and wore a brown leather jacket. He had a sturdy, muscular build and was followed by several trusted subordinates.
He laughed as he walked over to the mahjong table, first patting Zhou Qiang’s shoulder in greeting.
Then he sat down opposite Chen Junhao.
"Sorry, Brother Hao. I had something to take care of just now, so I couldn’t be here to welcome you personally."
He said apologetically. He had some stubble on his face and looked to be about the same age as Zhou Qiang, around twenty-eight or twenty-nine.
Only then did Chen Junhao look up at him.
"It’s fine."
He said calmly. At some point, thirteen tiles had been arranged neatly in front of him.
"You have your own business to attend to. I understand."
His voice was so level that Ah Yue, sitting opposite him, was momentarily taken aback.
A complex look flashed in his eyes, but he quickly smiled again. "Brother Hao, the Young Master will be here soon. Don’t mind me for being nosy..."
"Honestly, the Young Master is going to take over the Hongyi Society eventually. I don’t think you need to be on such bad terms with him. If it comes down to it, maybe later we can..."
"Ah Yue."
Chen Junhao suddenly cut him off.
"You’ve been with the Hongyi Society for twelve years, haven’t you?"
"Yeah."
Though puzzled, Ah Yue nodded and said with a smile, "Back then, it was all thanks to you, Brother Hao. You even recommended me to Lord Peng to be the vice hall master of West Street."
"I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for you, Brother Hao."
He said sincerely. Chen Junhao nodded lightly.
Seeing that Chen Junhao’s expression seemed to soften, Ah Yue couldn’t help but bring up the topic again. "Brother Hao, really."
"The Young Master has his reasons. He respects you a lot. I don’t think becoming an elder is a bad thing. At least you wouldn’t have to worry about the hall’s affairs anymore. If you’d just take a step back..."
"Peng Zhao Hui isn’t coming, is he?"
Chen Junhao cut him off again, asking calmly.
Ah Yue froze. The look in his eyes shifted before he finally sighed in resignation.
"You’re right."
"And which side did you choose?" Chen Junhao asked.
Ah Yue opened his mouth, feeling Zhou Qiang’s death stare fixed on him.
Hesitation, regret, sorrow...
But.
He lowered his head slightly and took a deep breath.
When he looked up again, the smile was gone from his face, replaced by a grim expression and the burning ambition in his eyes.
"Brother Hao, I want to climb higher too."
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD.
A wave of footsteps sounded. Zhou Qiang’s expression changed as he glanced left and right.
From the top of the second-floor staircase, twenty or thirty figures suddenly emerged.
Some had cybernetic implants, their fluorescent patterns flickering incessantly. Others held machetes and iron pipes. A few even carried black-market pistols, slowly cocking them.
And at the main entrance of the first-floor hall...
...another dozen or so figures appeared, surrounding them completely.
One of the leaders was a familiar, fierce-looking man with a fleshy, brutal face.
"Liu Hong."
Zhou Qiang’s face turned ugly. He instantly recognized the Iron Blood Gang’s Hall Master, his Peak Professional Level arch-nemesis.
Beside him stood two other Professional Level members of the Iron Blood Gang, both well-known and nearly at the Peak Professional Level themselves.
One held a Fighting Weapon that looked like a metal war sword, while the other held a gun in his left hand and wore a steel claw forged from silver-colored steel on his right. Both had cold eyes and mocking sneers.
"Chen Junhao, I never thought I’d see you like this!"
Liu Hong laughed, his expression arrogant.
Dozens of gang members, plus several at the Peak Professional Level, had the entire place surrounded.
Swords, pipes, cybernetic limbs, and even the dark muzzles of guns... a force that would intimidate even an Elite Level fighter.
Seeing this, Zhou Qiang’s face became incredibly grim, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
As if about to curse and fight back, he moved to shield Chen Junhao.
But...
"You..."
He suddenly clutched his chest, his body stumbling.
His face turned pale as he angrily raised a hand to point at them.
"Haha, so you really fell for it."
Liu Hong let out a savage laugh and waved his hand.
THUD!
A figure was forced to his knees, held down by two burly Iron Blood Gang members.
His pale face and the dark circles under his eyes were particularly striking. His eyes were filled with terror, regret, and despair, as well as a sense of helpless defeat. His mouth was gagged, preventing him from speaking.
It was none other than Xiaoyang, who was supposed to be at work at the bar.
"If this kid hadn’t agreed to help us with the poison, heheh, things today might have been a lot more difficult."
Liu Hong sneered, his face radiating killing intent.
The other two Professional Level fighters at his sides also wore frigid smiles, their gazes passing over the staggering Zhou Qiang to land on Chen Junhao’s back.
The most famous tiger of the Hongyi Society.
Tiger Flame Fist, Chen Junhao.
No one dared to underestimate the name he had forged through countless bloody battles. That was precisely why they needed to use every trick in the book.
In an instant.
Dozens of malicious gazes converged from all directions, accompanied by the synchronized sound of bullets being chambered.
And yet, amidst the immense, unseen pressure...
...there was no reply.
Chen Junhao simply looked at Ah Yue, whose eyes were filled with ambition. He stared at the man’s grim, now-unfamiliar face.
His expression was one of disappointment as he let out a soft sigh.
"This is your choice?"
***
TAP TAP TAP TAP!
His feet flying, Lu Chao, wearing a black mask, sprinted madly.
The hood of his gray sweatshirt was pulled over his head, hiding his forehead.
At some point, he had also put on a pair of black python-skin gloves.
’Brother Hao...’
His eyes were icy but held a trace of urgency.
More than ten minutes had passed since he received the message.
He had rushed over from District Two, making a special trip back to his apartment to change clothes and grab the python-skin gloves.
[Song Yuhan: Xiaochao, Peng Zhao Hui is going to kill Brother Hao! I can’t reach him...]
The content of the message flashed through his mind. The taxi he had taken had long since disappeared down the streets of West Street.
He quickened his pace, heading straight for the mahjong parlor from the message’s location data.
The concrete buildings on either side receded in his peripheral vision. He had tried contacting Brother Hao and Zhou Qiang, but only got the dead tone of an unanswered call.
’Faster! I have to be faster!’
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!
His sprint became a mad dash. Lu Chao’s face was etched with anxiety, his mind consumed by a single thought.
’I have to save him.’
As for whether this could be a conspiracy—a trap set by Peng Zhao Hui using Song Yuhan as a pawn...
...he couldn’t risk that one-in-ten-thousand chance of it being real, nor could he stand by and do nothing while Brother Hao was on the verge of being killed.
All the times Brother Hao had helped him, all the acts of kindness and favors owed.
A fire seemed to ignite in his chest. Lu Chao moved like a cheetah, weaving between the concrete buildings until he finally reached a nearby alleyway.
The surrounding streets were sparsely populated, almost deserted.
The concrete road was several meters wide, flanked by old, gray, low-rise buildings. Near a trash can on one side, tattered newspapers fluttered in the wind.
According to the location data, "Ah Yue’s Mahjong Parlor" was just a dozen or so meters ahead, inside an alley to the left.
But.
The street was dead silent. Vans and cars were parked haphazardly along the roadside, all empty, as if their occupants had already gone off to slaughter their target.
Lu Chao’s gaze grew colder. His view was suddenly blocked as two vicious-looking figures, one on the left and one on the right, stepped out to bar his way.
He glanced over at the entrance to the left-hand alley leading to the parlor, a dozen or so meters away.
A black Sai Wei sedan was parked against the wall, completely blocking the only path.
Through the windshield, he could see figures sitting inside, holding firearms and constantly looking down the alley.
"Kid, the Iron Blood Gang is conducting business today."
"Fuck off. No one gets through here."
The two men blocking his path looked fierce. One had a cigarette dangling from his lips, while the other cursed with a frown.
Both wore open black suits. The patterns of the cybernetic implants on the backs of their hands glowed faintly, and the tattoos on their necks looked like crimson flames. They were clearly from the Iron Blood Gang.
Expressionless, Lu Chao didn’t stop.
He continued walking forward, ignoring the two men as if to brush past them.
"Fuck, are you deaf, you little shit?!"
The man with the cigarette had an explosive temper. He whipped a pistol from his waistband and aimed it at Lu Chao’s forehead.
"Since you don’t want to leave, then don’t—"
BAM!!
A single headbutt sent the man stumbling backward, seeing stars.
Before he or his companion could react...
...they saw that Lu Chao had somehow grabbed the black pistol with his right hand and fired two shots into the man’s chest.
BANG! BANG!!
The piercing gunshots echoed through the district, instantly shattering the dead silence.
A spray of blood mist exploded in the air as the bullets tore through his suit jacket.
The other Iron Blood Gang member, the one who had been frowning, finally snapped out of his shock, his face a mask of fury and astonishment.
He instinctively opened his mouth to curse, and the cybernetic patterns on his arm flashed brightly as he lunged at Lu Chao in the blink of an eye.
However.
The next second.
Lu Chao turned, stepped forward, and shoved the black muzzle of the gun into the man’s mouth.
Their eyes met.
BANG!!
