As Secretary Liu inquired on the road, Zhang Fengzhen asked, "Didn't you say they weren't planning to let Little Zhao and Little Ning's uncle go? Why is there no movement tonight? I even specifically tucked a knife in my pocket; looks like it won't be needed."

Zhang Fengzhen replied, "How should I know? Besides, their injuries haven't healed yet. If they plan to make a move, they'll probably wait a few days."

My heart stirred, and I said to the three of them, "I drank too much beer; I need to find a place to relieve myself. You three go ahead; don't wait for me."

Zhang Fengzhen loudly called out to me, "You rascal, bringing up something like that in front of Little Ning? Let's go, don't mind him; his urine smell is incredibly strong. I've experienced it when I went to the restroom."

The three laughed and went ahead. I found a dark corner to pause for a moment, then turned and chased after the direction Sun Caiwu and Ning Yumei had disappeared. I wasn't actually looking to urinate; I was uneasy about the couple. If my plan failed, who knew if they would take their anger out on those two?

The pair wasn't pushing the tricycle very fast, and since it was late with no one else on the road, I quickly caught up to them. I quietly trailed behind, observing the surroundings, and finally tracked them right down to the bottom of Sun Caiwu's apartment building without noticing anything unusual.

Watching the couple carry their things piece by piece into the small storage room downstairs, then climb the stairs and open their apartment door, a light soon came on in one unit on the third floor. Looking at the layout, it was indeed very cramped, with four units on one floor. The actual usable living space of less than 30 square meters was truly not an exaggeration.

I squatted downstairs for a while, and just as I was about to leave since nothing seemed amiss, I saw two dark figures stooping as they slipped into the stairwell carrying a bucket. One whispered low, "Are you sure you checked it? Is it definitely the second unit on the third floor?"

The other replied, "Absolutely certain. See, the light is still on? They must have just gotten back from packing up. Why don't we wait a bit? It's not convenient to do it now. It would be more satisfying to wait until they’re fast asleep and then burn them alive."

It was fortunate I stayed a moment longer; otherwise, one wrong step could lead to eternal regret. As the two were stooping out of the stairwell, I grabbed them both—one in each hand—and whisked them away from the block of apartments, finding an unpopulated area to stop. Only then did their screams finally erupt from their mouths.

I slapped each of them a few times, startling them into silence. I glanced over and recognized them as the two youths I had encountered across the street that evening. I coldly said to them, "Take me to your boss, or I'll kill you both right now!"

"Y-you, who are you?" one stammered fearfully.

I grabbed the bucket of gasoline from their hands and poured it all over them, then fished a lighter out of their pockets. "I don't like repeating myself. You won't have a second option."

They finally recognized me then. Recalling the miserable state of the four men last night, they certainly understood the gravity of the situation. One rushed to speak, "Our boss is Scar Brother, the one injured and hospitalized this evening. If you want to find him, we'll take you to the County Central Hospital."

Seeing that they didn't seem to be lying, I asked, puzzled, "Aren't you Xie Lei's men? How did you end up working for Scarface?"

The two explained, "In Liangshan City, who wouldn't want to be under Boss Lei? But we simply don't qualify. Scar Brother used his slight connection with 'Drill Monkey,' one of Boss Lei's top enforcers, so he managed to get closer to the police faction. Otherwise, Huang Mao, Gang Zi, and the other four would have been arrested by the police last night."

I grew interested and asked, "How many people are in your entire organization? What kind of dirty work do you usually do?"

They replied, "Just the seven of us—Brother Scar, and the four from last night. Usually, we just surf the internet, play pool, or mahjong. We also collect protection money every month from small vendors—the kind Boss Lei doesn't bother with. We scrape by on this meager income. Otherwise, Huang Mao and the others wouldn't have fought over ten yuan last night."

"Then how do Xie Lei and the others cover their expenses? And there's that Brother Kuan—I see Liangshan County has no pillar industry. Are their lives also so difficult?"

The two stared at the lighter in my hand, not daring to relax, terrified I might accidentally flick it on. "We aren't very clear about that, because those two big shots made their fortunes a long time ago. We younger guys don't know much about their past. But everyone in Liangshan knows that Brother Kuan has close ties with the provincial capital's gangs, so his income is probably related to them. Boss Lei, however, has connections with the government; his money is mostly tied to official channels. As for the internal details, we low-ranking underlings have no way of knowing."

So, this small Liangshan County held so many secrets. It seemed I couldn't ignore this, but after thinking it over, I couldn't come up with a good plan for a while. Snap. I flicked the lighter. The two were so terrified they immediately collapsed onto the ground. "Great hero, spare our lives! We have elderly parents and young children, and we’ve never done anything truly wicked! Please let us go."

"Never done anything truly wicked? Who was just talking about taking gasoline to burn someone's house down? If I hadn't stopped you, I would have doomed my friend's family. For their safety, I had no choice but to do this."

"No, boss! We swear we never had any intention of killing anyone before today. Besides, your abilities are so immense; all four from last night weren't a match for you, and Scar Brother was also no match for you. Might makes right, right? You are our boss now. We will follow you and do whatever you tell us. We guarantee absolute obedience to your commands and promise not to touch a single hair on that little boss's head."

I said, "I am a government employee now. How can I be involved with your underworld affairs?"

Seeing a glimmer of hope, the two rushed to speak: "As long as we don't say anything, who would know? Our brothers have long hoped to have a great hero like you lead us out of this plight. If we keep living like this, we might starve to death one day. Boss, please agree to it. With your skills, dominating Liangshan wouldn't be difficult. If we follow you, we’ll be founding contributors and can enjoy prestige in Liangshan County for decades."

Of course, I wasn't in the mood to lead them in fighting gangs in Liangshan, but managing them for now would prevent them from causing trouble behind my back, and they could also help investigate Xie Lei, Xie Sen, and Liang Kuan.

"This is probably not something you two can decide alone. Go back and unify your opinions, then talk to me. But I warn you: if anything happens to Sun Caiwu's family, I will make you resemble this trash can!"

Saying that, I kicked a small, thick iron community trash can beside me. Whumph—the thick iron sheet cracked, leaving a large footprint. Lest they weren't scared enough, I then chopped down a willow tree as thick as a thigh with one palm strike.

"You witnessed my speed just now. Don't think you can escape my pursuit if you do bad things. While I am in Liangshan, no one can act recklessly, or I will take their life!"

With that, I ignored the two and turned to leave. They shouted after me, "Boss, what should we call you!"

I didn't look back. "Don't call me boss. That title isn't for you to use. My name is Zhao Qian."

'Boss' was the term Peach called me; they couldn't be compared to Peach yet. The two respectfully called out behind me, "Brother Qian, we are Niu Tiannan and Ma Haibei. We will come find you after discussing this with Scar Brother. Then, we ask Brother Qian to lead us in one swoop to the third-highest chair in Liangshan's underworld."

I cared nothing for the third chair—if I were going to do it, I'd aim for the first chair, and I absolutely wouldn't allow those two to exist under my nose. But then again, the underworld was Zhu Da's territory. If I took over his business, would he complain about me again? Moreover, I was a government employee now; I didn't know what the consequences would be if I got involved with both the light and the dark sides.

Ignoring the 'South and North' behind me, I trusted that after witnessing my power, they wouldn't trouble Sun Caiwu anymore. If they did, I would have to kill them, but it was best not to kill if possible—letting them bleed a little to firmly remember the lesson was preferable.

The gates to the government compound were already closed. I figured Ning Shixuan and the others must have already called the security guard uncle, so I shouldn't disturb his rest any further. I'd just climb the wall. I crept to the third floor and found the lights in their rooms had long been turned off. Firstly, everyone was genuinely exhausted after doing so much work; secondly, having pulled two consecutive all-nighters, no one could stand it any longer.

Click. I switched on the light in my room. Under the bright illumination, the previously bare bed board was covered with a bright red floral quilt. A pink blanket was laid over the quilt, and several books were covered with a pillowcase to serve as a pillow. The previously lifeless dormitory now radiated a vibrant energy. I threw myself onto the quilt and inhaled deeply—such a sweet scent. This Ning Shixuan! That's why she didn't let me lock the door this evening!