The black night, the cold rain, and the rampant wind had completely enveloped the entire Four Bridges Town, much like the oppressive might of Hua Shan Fei smothered the place, rendering everyone too terrified to intervene—even though the matter concerned the lives of dozens of people. Such was the fierce intensity of Hua Shan Fei’s terror.

Fang Senyan moved along the walls in that suffocating darkness, the icy rainwater drenching him completely, yet his heart burned with a sense of stifled rage.

Twenty meters ahead was the dock where the Fu Yuan was moored. Next to it, the landing area had a row of open-sided canopies, usually where sailors stacked cargo to shield it from both sun and rain, allowing guards a clear view to prevent pilfering. Currently, two high-powered red lamps illuminated the space beneath the awning, casting a brilliant light. Hua Shan Fei and over a dozen men had surrounded three figures huddled on the ground, occasionally kicking them. Meanwhile, shadows flickered on the deck of the Fu Xing; they were clearly splashing gasoline everywhere! Faintly, frenzied curses drifted over:

"Fuck your mother! You actually dared to cut me! Do it, do it!" "We'll kill your whole family today!" "Son of a whore, you rotten-cunt old ragman!" "..."

Fang Senyan’s facial muscles contorted. He couldn't help but creep closer, seeing Hua Shan Fei in the center of the awning wave his hand, signaling his underlings to stand back. Hua Shan Fei sneered menacingly:

"Who slashed Xi Di across the face?"

The four figures on the ground writhed and moaned intermittently, but none spoke. Hua Shan Fei waved his hand, and two menacing thugs immediately dragged one man up from the ground. Hua Shan Fei said coldly:

"You won't talk? I can't explain myself properly to Brother Ming, so I'll use the families of all four of you to atone!"

"It was me, I cut him!" The weak voice came from Big Fourth Uncle, who was gasping heavily. Fang Senyan felt a surge of blood rush through him; he almost bolted out with eyes blazing red.

Hua Shan Fei spat a sound through his clenched teeth. "You old bastard, you actually have some guts. I appreciate that! Which hand did you use?"

Big Fourth Uncle remained silent. Hua Shan Fei hadn't expected an answer anyway. He took a deep drag from his cigarette, and just as the tip glowed fiercely, he violently ground the burning end onto Big Fourth Uncle's face! A sickening smell of charring immediately rose, followed by Hua Shan Fei erupting like thunder, kicking the man away:

"Hold him down! Chop off his ten fingers, one joint at a time. Gather thirty segments and take them to Young Master Xi Di to apologize! And torch him and the boat while you're at it!"

Hearing Hua Shan Fei's furious roar, Fang Senyan felt something violently battering his chest, and a metallic, salty taste flooded his throat. His entire body was searing hot, as if steeped in fiercely burning blood. He licked his dry, cracked lips, gripping the knife in his hand, the muscles in his jaw tight. Hua Shan Fei vented a few savage kicks before turning back, breathing heavily:

"Right, are you sure Young Master Xi Di is fine? Why did it take him so long just to come back with a simple bandage?"

Hua Shan Fei directed the last two sentences to an underling beside him. This subordinate, clearly familiar with Hua Shan Fei, replied casually:

"Big Brother, you worry too much. What’s a small cut on the face going to do? Achoo! In this wretched weather, the rain feels cold right down to the marrow. That pale-faced boy probably went back to drink some spirits to ward off the chill."

Fang Senyan, who had been barely restraining himself from charging forward recklessly, frowned deeply upon hearing this—like two knives clashing. He forced himself to ignore the voices behind him and instead stumbled quickly toward where Hua Shan Fei lived!

Fang Senyan still retained a sliver of rationality. Rushing in now would not only fail to save Big Fourth Uncle but would also doom himself. However, Hua Shan Fei's men permanently stationed in Four Bridges Town numbered less than twenty, and all the capable fighters were here surrounding the Fu Yuan people. At his home, including Xi Di who was having his wound bandaged, there couldn't be more than three people! If he could catch Xi Di by surprise and take him hostage, there might actually be a chance to save Big Fourth Uncle. As for what came next, Fang Senyan didn't dwell on it, as reaching that point was still an unknown in his life. At this moment, the only thought blazing in his mind was the saying: "When paths cross, the brave man prevails."

Hua Shan Fei lived in the center of Four Bridges Town. Because the entire town was perpetually on the verge of being shut down, he also occupied a similar makeshift structure, though his was noticeably newer and larger than the surrounding shanties. To distinguish himself, he had conspicuously fenced off the area with a crude railing. Fang Senyan ghosted through the darkness, completely saturated by the rain, his feet coated in mud. Only his eyes, gleaming with cold, vicious light, evoked the image of a wolf starved for three days in the snow.

"Finally arrived," Fang Senyan muttered, looking at the shack shrouded in darkness ahead. An uncontrollable tension and palpitation welled up inside him. He reached into his pocket; his pale, cold fingers brushed against the equally frigid edge of a blade, then grasped the wrapped handle, clenching tightly. Fang Senyan took a deep breath, propped a tattered oilcloth over his head, smeared some mud across his face, and then began violently shaking the fence gate outside Hua Shan Fei’s residence.

The gate was roughly welded rebar and lacked a doorbell or a secure lock. Fang Senyan's shaking immediately struck the adjacent concrete with sharp bang, bang, bang sounds. Bright lamplight seeped from the cracks in the shack. After a moment, an impatient voice called out:

"Who the hell is making that racket here?"

Despite his heart racing violently moments before, Fang Senyan suddenly calmed down. Mustering his courage, he urgently called out:

"Trouble! Trouble! Brother Fei sent me back to report the situation!"

This statement proved effective. A man immediately opened the door and stepped out, stopping before the railing without opening it fully, observing suspiciously with his head cocked. Fang Senyan recognized him as Bai Fen Ming, Hua Shan Fei's cousin, a man who typically abused his influence to commit all manner of villainy, primarily dealing in—for the sake of avoiding censorship, using a homophone—white powder, causing countless families to break apart. When Fang Senyan was reinforcing his own shack, this man had extorted six or seven hundred yuan from him! Seeing this scoundrel now stirred up old and new hatred. Fang Senyan kept his head down, mostly obscuring his face with the oilcloth, gripping the rebar gate fiercely as he spoke in a hoarse, anxious voice:

"Brother Ming, lots of Public Security! Those bastards must have reported us sometime ago!"

Bai Fen Ming was naturally a bully who preyed on the weak. Though Fang Senyan's voice sounded somewhat unfamiliar, he didn't suspect anything deeper. Upon hearing of the police, he immediately grew alarmed:

"What's going on? Brother Fei usually keeps those local cops well-fed. What are they doing here?"

His mind shifting to the police, Bai Fen Ming instinctively began to pull the iron gate open. But halfway through, he felt something was amiss and casually asked:

"Why didn't Brother Fei call us? Why send you back instead?"

This question targeted the weakest link in Fang Senyan's plan! But Fang Senyan was quick-witted. He immediately sighed:

"Those cops are ruthless, and they were in a hurry. Brother Fei accidentally dropped his phone into the mud and water. It won't connect! I even brought the phone to prove it, in case Brother Ming didn't believe me. Look."

With that, he extended his left hand. Sure enough, resting in his palm was a black object resembling a mobile phone.

In truth, Fang Senyan's story was riddled with flaws that would be easy to expose with careful thought. But Bai Fen Ming was terrified by the mention of the police and had no time for deep analysis. Furthermore, Fang Senyan presented his 'proof' with such an air of righteous conviction that Bai Fen Ming naturally opened the gate and leaned out to peer closely at Fang Senyan’s hand.

Fang Senyan’s left hand instantly curled into a fist and slammed heavily into Bai Fen Ming’s face!

Bai Fen Ming felt a violent, searing pain erupt from his nose; tears and snot immediately gushed out uncontrollably. As he prepared to shout, he suddenly felt an intensely icy chill surge from his abdomen, traveling upward like an unstoppable force straight toward his windpipe! In a flash of terror and agony, Bai Fen Ming looked up and saw a pair of eyes that seemed to blaze with fire! Then, overwhelming pain spread through his consciousness, enveloping him completely.

Fang Senyan slowly released the hand gripping Bai Fen Ming's neck. The man immediately slumped like a pile of wet mud into the muddy water, a large amount of blood pooling beneath him, soon diluted by the pouring rain. The wind and rain effectively masked the noise of the incident, and the men inside the shack noticed nothing amiss.

Fang Senyan took several deep breaths. The fear of killing for the first time rapidly receded, replaced by a strange sense of fulfillment. It felt as if the preceding twenty years of his life had been utterly wasted, while this feeling of traversing the boundary between life and death was… exhilarating!

The rain was cold, but Fang Senyan's entire body felt hot. He inhaled deeply a few times, then tiptoed through the opened gate of the iron fence, creeping toward the shack. He stopped at the doorway, pressing silently against the wooden wall beside it. He could clearly hear someone inside raging:

"He cut me once! Damn his mother, he dared to slash me! I want his whole lineage wiped out, leaving not a single dog or chicken! Where is the doctor? You two said you hired a doctor?"

"In this downpour, the county town is over twenty kilometers away. That road must be a wreck. The doctor probably won't arrive until tomorrow morning."

...

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