Chapter 9: Cleaning Up and Flipping the Table

Chapter 9: Wiping Ass, Flipping the Table

"Since the matter is settled, destroy that chip. Come back to the hall with me to see the Helmsman; Master Ding has words he wishes to speak to you in person."

In the depths of Kuang Qingyun's eyes, where crimson light flickered, Li Jun's figure was reflected; though his voice was not loud, his tone was exceptionally stiff.

He was not persuading; he was commanding.

Li Jun felt from Kuang Qingyun a pressure similar to Yu Kou's, a gaze akin to that of a natural predator.

This was the last of Kuang Qingyun's patience for Li Jun; should Li Jun fail to know his place, he would not hesitate to personally dispose of this Fifth Brother of the Red Flag, who stood on the cusp of ascending the Sequence.

Even if Master Ding were to reprimand him for it then, he would not regret it.

Storms were brewing in the Jie'e District; at a time like this, the Muddy Water Paoge absolutely could not afford internal strife.

Things having come to this pass, Li Jun knew he had no choice left; a profound sense of powerlessness welled up from the bottom of his heart.

Faced with overwhelming power, even if he chose now to shake a great tree with a mayfly's body, fighting to the death, the only four words he would earn were: overestimating oneself.

Admirable, yet utterly tragic.

The prerequisite for a desperate gamble is a chance to turn the tables; otherwise, it is merely suicide.

Only by entering the Sequence can one change their fate!

Li Jun clenched the two vials of serum in his left palm, his yearning for power stronger than ever before!

*Crunch.*

The chip extracted from Sun Jiu was crushed into fine dust, slowly sifting through Li Jun's fingers.

A genial smile returned to Kuang Qingyun's face; he nodded. "Let's go."

"You wrecked my venue, killed my confidant, and now you want to dust off your hands and leave? Is there such an easy thing under heaven?"

Just then, a cold, sinister voice drifted in from the main gate of the boxing arena.

The instant Li Jun heard that voice, every hair on his body stood on end; the resentment and killing intent in his chest nearly erupted.

"Zhao Dou!"

Zhao Dou leaned against the side door of the arena, clad in a Western-embroidered shirt that belonged to no traditional attire of the Great Ming Empire.

"What are you yelling so loud for?"

Zhao Dou lazily picked at his ear, swaggering forward with a lurching gait, his domineering aura palpable as substance.

"Li Jun, your life is truly hard; neither the Jidao Society nor the Tianfu Garrison could kill you! And now you dare tread on my turf. What, want to grab evidence from Sun Jiu to nail me?"

Zhao Dou's face suddenly twisted into a savage snarl. "Why won't you just die? If you were dead, would I have had to fall out with him this early?"

The "he" in Zhao Dou's words was undoubtedly his own uncle, Zhao Ding.

Li Jun had no mind to deal with this arrogant mad dog at the moment; his face iron-green, he stared at the mass of figures gradually emerging behind the man.

These men wore identical black trench coats, the fronts embroidered with geishas pale as frost, each holding a blood-stained katana in their mouths.

In the Jie'e District, only one group dressed like this—the Jidao Society!

Kuang Qingyun had somehow moved to stand at Li Jun's side, his face equally dark, gritting his teeth. "Zhao Dou, you son of a bitch, you dare bite the hand that feeds you?!"

"What don't I dare?"

Zhao Dou seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world; he couldn't help but cover his face and roar with laughter, his eyes visible through his fingers burning with a manic red.

"The old man's genes are rotting; he's half a corpse already! I am his only blood kin—why won't he hand over the Helmsman's seat to me?"

Kuang Qingyun roared, "The Muddy Water Paoge has never had a rule of hereditary succession! Whoever has the ability takes the position!"

"He is Zhao Ding; if he wants it, he can make it happen!" Zhao Dou looked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"The fate of traitors is three blades, six wounds!"

"I'm only taking back what was mine to begin with!"

"You, a piece of trash who can't even unlock a gene lock, think you can control the Muddy Water Paoge?"

"Enough!"

Zhao Dou bellowed, blue veins throbbing at his temples, a palpable ferocity radiating from his face.

He ripped open his shirt collar, revealing below his neck a blinding expanse of cold metal.

"Just to make him look at me with respect, I nearly remade myself into a bionic slave, but you see none of that! Simply because I cannot break that damned gene lock, I remain a waste."

"You tell me—by what right?"

Kuang Qingyun opened his mouth, but not a word came out.

He simply could find no words to reason with a Zhao Dou so obstinate he had gone mad.

"Since Zhao Ding won't give it, I'll take it myself!" Zhao Dou spread his fingers before his face, slowly curling them into a fist.

Kuang Qingyun raged, "So you invite wolves into the house, ally with these Japanese pirates to betray your own people?! Who would ever submit to you?"

Zhao Dou answered without a thought: "Those who refuse, kill! Kill until all submit!"

"Mad dog!"

Every word from Zhao Dou struck Kuang Qingyun like a resounding slap; Kuang Qingyun felt all his previous efforts had been those of a clown.

You rack your brains wiping someone's ass, only for them to not appreciate it, but instead flip your table over.

From the moment Zhao Dou marched Jidao Society men into Nine Dragon Street in broad daylight, win or lose, live or die, the Zhao name in the Muddy Water Paoge would be dragged through the mud.

Zhao Ding's life's work destroyed in an instant; Kuang Qingyun's dream of unity and stability within the Brotherhood became a joke.

Kuang Qingyun cried out in anguish: "Don't you understand 'those not of our clan have different hearts'? Cooperating with the Jidao Society is bargaining for a tiger's skin!"

Zhao Dou sneered, "Spare me that. I only know: victors become kings, losers become bandits!"

"Mr. Kuang, watch your tongue. We are Mr. Zhao's friends, not some alien race." A deep, hoarse voice cut in.

The speaker was tall and slender, wearing a warrior's topknot, a black tiger's head pierced at his throat, three tiger-stripe conduits running down each cheek.

"Bullshit! Hu Zhong, you son of a bitch, daring to meddle in Paoge family business—are you tired of living?"

Kuang Qingyun could no longer maintain that carefree demeanor; radiating a rogue's swagger, he tucked his folding fan behind his neck, rolled up his sleeves, and cursed:

"You bring a few so-called 'Ten Nobles'—rotten tubers and addled eggs—and dare enter my Nine Dragon Street? Today I'll bleed every last one of you!"

"Brothers, shut the door and beat the dogs!"

At Kuang Qingyun's roar, a thunderous rumble rose from outside the arena.

It was not thunder, but the footsteps of countless multitudes.

But Li Jun discovered that not only Zhao Dou and Hu Zhong, but even the other Jidao Society higher-ups wore expressions of utter calm.

As if they didn't put the three thousand Muddy Water Paoge of Nine Dragon Street in their eyes at all.

What was going on?

Li Jun's heart gave a sudden jolt; from the corner of his eye, he glanced at Kuang Qingyun.

He found that this "Sage" Second Brother, after rolling up his sleeves and dropping his threats, likewise made no move to attack. Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, as if waiting for someone to appear.

Sure enough, Hu Zhong, along with the Jidao Society elites behind him, silently shifted to the sides, parting a path with utmost respect.

A figure strode forth with hands clasped behind his back, moving with the gait of a dragon and the tread of a tiger, his voice ringing clear: "What Paoge Society's Nine Dragons Street? Here, there is only the Great Ming's Nine Dragons Street!"

Beside Li Jun's ear came the heavy breathing of Kuang Qingyun, and the other man's low, vicious cursing.

"Sure enough, it's that bastard."

This grand finale of an entrance belonged to a big shot Li Jun likewise recognized.

The newly appointed Patrol Inspector of the Chengdu Prefecture Tianfu Garrison, the Defense Officer of the Jie'e District—Luo Zhen.