About ten minutes after the gunshot, officers from the Alliance Police Department arrived at the scene.
The backup emergency lights were switched on, revealing a complete mess.
Although the guests were still shaken, their emotions were generally stable—with the sole exception of a man in a gray plaid suit. He was kneeling beside the buffet table, clutching his torso in agony, wailing and screaming at the top of his lungs.
A butterfly knife had pierced through his palm, pinning his entire hand firmly to the tabletop.
This kind of situation required professional medical personnel to handle. Director Han instructed his officers to call for backup, while detailing other personnel to cooperate with the hotel, cross-checking the list of everyone who had come onto the island that night to screen for suspicious figures or other missing and injured persons.
He personally went to pull the security camera footage; who fired the gun and who stabbed the man’s hand would be clear at a single glance.
Fu Xingchen scanned the crowd, but Lin Xun was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?”
Huo Tingxiao slipped the blood-stained glass shard into his pocket, looking at the police officers collecting evidence and taking photos around the hall, and answered offhandedly: “Who knows.”
“Who are you talking about?” Duan Yang looked entirely out of the loop.
Fu Xingchen: “The little angel of love.”
Duan Yang: “Can you be serious for once!”
“Are all three of you uninjured?” Director Han asked eagerly as he walked over, having finished making the necessary arrangements.
Huo Tingxiao was the future helm of the Huo family, while Fu Xingchen and Duan Yang were both sons of high-ranking Alliance officials and socialites. If any of these VIPs got hurt in his jurisdiction, a minor police officer like him wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences.
“We’re fine, it was actually pretty thrilling,” Duan Yang chuckled with a light grin, sounding as if he hadn’t quite had his fill yet.
Before he could say the wrong thing, Fu Xingchen wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him away.
Director Han made a point to ask Huo Tingxiao once more: “Are you truly alright, Mr. Huo?”
Huo Tingxiao nodded lightly, a faint and impeccably polite look of apology floating onto his face: “Because of my personal grudges, I’ve disturbed the police department time and again recently. I am truly sorry; I owe you one for this favor.”
“Just doing my duty, there’s no need to take it to heart.”
Director Han handed him a cigarette, and the two went to the balcony of the side lounge to smoke.
In late May, near the end of spring, a gentle evening breeze blew over from the lake, carrying a slight chill.
Huo Tingxiao leaned against the railing, listening with a cool expression as the man beside him detailed the recent progress of the investigation into Scorpion.
His thoughts drifted toward the shimmering artificial lake, circling once before settling back on the glass shard in his pocket.
As he snuffed out his cigarette, Director Han immediately stopped talking and looked over.
“I have an uncalled-for request,” Huo Tingxiao said with a subtle smile. “I hope you can do me one more favor.”
Three minutes later, the Alliance Police Department wrapped up their operations and withdrew their forces, allowing Lin Xun—who was just planning to jump into the lake to swim away—to sigh in relief.
However, although the police department agreed not to investigate who had pierced the assassin’s palm, the banquet hall’s surveillance footage still needed to be taken back for archival records.
Assistant Ding took some effort to get his hands on this raw footage.
By the time the video was delivered to Huo Tingxiao, Duan Yang and Fu Xingchen were present as well—they had agreed to play polo together that day.
The three of them watched the event unfold together, with Duan Yang having the biggest reaction, nearly bouncing out of his chair.
On the screen, a cool, decisive young man dressed in a white shirt and black vest—looking every bit like a waiter—was pinning the guy in the gray plaid suit to the ground with one foot while bringing a knife down ruthlessly.
Duan Yang’s eyes widened: “Isn’t this the guy who I knocked over his tray? Am I seeing things?”
As he spoke, he rewound the video to confirm.
Fu Xingchen chuckled and said: “No need to rewind, it’s him.”
“…Holy shit,” Duan Yang felt a wave of lingering fear. “Good thing I didn’t make things hard for him that day.”
The surveillance video replayed from the moment the tray was knocked over. Duan Yang watched it repeatedly, finding it stranger the more he looked: “What’s this guy’s background? The moment he encounters Tingxiao, he doesn’t even dare to raise his head and even takes a detour… Is our President Huo really that terrifying?”
Hearing this, Huo Tingxiao let out a brief laugh, looking warm and harmless like an older brother next door.
Duan Yang grew even more puzzled: “He was so ruthless when stabbing that guy’s hand, though; he seems pretty bold.”
“Of course he’s bold,” Fu Xingchen teased. “He even dared to crash into President Huo’s car.”
Brimming with curiosity, Duan Yang hurriedly asked what had happened, but Fu Xingchen shifted the topic, bringing up the sudden explosion at a chemical plant under Scorpion’s name early that morning.
“We were talking about that guy,” Duan Yang tapped the computer screen twice to interrupt him. “You’re off-topic.”
“I’m not off-topic,” Fu Xingchen raised his chin. “Word is he’s the one who did it.”
Huo Tingxiao, who had been watching the surveillance footage all along, finally raised his eyes.
Fu Xingchen shrugged, however: “That’s all I know.”
Assistant Ding was just about to report on this matter: “The cause of the factory explosion and fire hasn’t been cleared up yet; we only know that Scorpion and Lin Xun have indeed fallen out. Scorpion was blown into the ICU and has just made it out of critical danger; no one else was injured.”
Pausing briefly, his tone shifted slightly as he added: “It’s just that the scene was almost entirely burned down, so the lead regarding the factory has gone cold.”
Huo Tingxiao looked back at the screen. In the surveillance video, the young man who had disrupted his plans possessed a figure and hair color that were exceptionally easy to recognize.
After a long pause, he asked: “Where is he?”
“He’s on the blacklist of Scorpion’s men, so the entire Lower District is currently searching for him,” Assistant Ding said. “The person I sent to keep watch said they saw him hide inside the Blackstone Club.”
“Blackstone… what does it do?” Duan Yang asked.
“A famous neutral zone in the Lower District,” Assistant Ding explained. “The club’s owner provides protection for people like Lin Xun; in return, they fight or perform other acts to make money for the owner.”
Fu Xingchen added: “The club also helps mediate disputes. You can settle grudges with a rival there using your fists, or… settle life and death.”
He intended to deliberately scare Duan Yang, adding: “Afterward, whether you walk out on your feet or are carried out on a stretcher, past matters can no longer be brought up, or the club will hunt down the contract breaker to the ends of the earth.”
Duan Yang’s eyes lit up upon hearing this: “That’s so wild! Doesn’t the police department care?”
Assistant Ding Jun replied: “The club operates as a legal business, and its surface operations are flawless. As for walking out on a stretcher or going back on a deal as Mr. Fu described, those basically don’t happen.”
“I want to go check it out!”
Duan Yang loved excitement, but having been raised under strict family discipline since childhood, he never had the chance to frequent such places. It wasn’t until he completed his studies that he managed to sneak over to the Lower District to play twice.
Fu Xingchen had no objections, so Duan Yang immediately urged Huo Tingxiao to come along.
Huo Tingxiao asked: “Weren’t you going to play polo?”
Duan Yang said: “Polo can be played anytime, besides, how could playing polo be as interesting as this?”
He was set on taking a trip to the Lower District, and he insisted that Fu Xingchen and Huo Tingxiao accompany him so that he would have cover if his family decided to inquire.
After thinking it over, Huo Tingxiao had Ding Jun prepare the car.
A river ran through the capital of the Alliance into the sea. Although the city was divided into eight administrative districts, people were accustomed to using the upper and lower reaches of the river to broadly refer to them as the Upper and Lower Districts.
In recent decades, as the political and economic center shifted northward, the Upper District became a gathering ground for celebrities and prominent figures, developing rapidly and favoring an elegant, luxurious lifestyle. By contrast, the cultural atmosphere of the Lower District was rugged, with a tough local culture and sub-par security.
Police sirens frequently howled through the streets, yet those hustling on the blocks fought just the same without the slightest fear.
The Blackstone Club was located in the commercial center of the Lower District, its giant sign of gold lettering against a black backdrop standing out prominently amidst the sea of neon lights.
Duan Yang got out of the car with an excited expression, looking around to take in the novel sights—only to turn his head and be utterly flabbergasted by the police precinct directly across the street.
Daring to open right across from a police station… impressive.
Fu Xingchen draped an arm over Duan Yang’s shoulders, ruffling his hair as he instructed, “Don’t go running off by yourself, and keep a low profile.”
Duan Yang readily agreed. Huo Tingxiao walked behind the two of them through a dim corridor. As the heavy, soundproof curtain was lifted, a massive wave of noise crashed over them first.
The first floor was a bar, filled with flickering lights, heavy beats, and hot dancing, where a spicy, explicit strip performance was underway on stage.
They wove through the crowded dance floor and went down the fire exit to the second basement level. Pushing open the fire door, they could faintly hear waves of coarse, excited roars.
Ding Jun had purchased front-row tickets, allowing them to enter through the VIP passage.
It was a small indoor arena, with stepped stands surrounding a central rectangular open space about the size of a basketball court. Around the perimeter of the floor was a chain-link cage, looking remarkably like the netting used for animal training performances in a circus.
Several ultra-high-powered searchlights beamed down inside the cage. A man dressed in a black athletic short-sleeved shirt and shorts stood beneath the lights, his exposed skin illuminated bright as snow.
A black ring-shackle was locked around each of his ankles, with two iron chains roughly three meters long dragging on the ground, their other ends anchored to the wire mesh at the edge of the stage.
In front of him, a few meters away, crouched a gray wolf whose eyes glowed with an eerie green light.
With its tail low and back legs slightly bent, the gray wolf bared its sharp, ivory-white fangs, letting out intimidating, low growls from deep in its throat.
Man and beast were locked in a standoff, neither breathing calmly.
“Keep going! What are you standing there for!”
“Don’t wimp out! Kill it!”
A mountain-toppling wave of shouts and egging-on surged from the pitch-black stands into the cage; every single person wished they could rush onto the stage to make the man and the wolf continue their fight to the death.
Duan Yang sat down, and the moment he looked up and caught sight of the highly recognizable hair color of the person in the cage, he immediately grew excited: “Hey! It’s actually him!”
“Sit still.” Fu Xingchen held him down, his gaze passing over Duan Yang to glance at Huo Tingxiao.
Huo Tingxiao stared into the cage with dark, sunken eyes, his face devoid of emotion.
Lin Xun gripped the dagger tightly.
Blood dripped along the tip of the blade, pooling into a small, deep-red puddle beneath his bare feet.
Just a moment ago, he had slashed the gray wolf’s back leg with a single knife stroke. His adrenaline was surging, his heart rate blazingly fast; he couldn’t clearly hear any of the cheers or curses echoing around him.
The gray wolf was wary of the weapon in his hand and didn’t dare to counterattack recklessly.
Trailing its injured leg, it paced back and forth a few meters away from Lin Xun, gathering strength to bide its time. But another explosive roar from the audience startled it; the wolf let out an anxious, low howl and lunged at Lin Xun with all its might.
Lin Xun darted to the side to dodge. The iron chains clanked beneath his feet, suddenly pulled to their maximum length—he had reached the outer edge of his maximum range of movement.
Damn it!
He rapidly fell back to defend, but he was a step too late. The adult gray wolf, weighing fifty kilograms, leaped forward in a flying pounce with immense force. As the chain tightened once more, Lin Xun failed to keep his balance and was tackled to the ground.
The gray wolf pinned his shoulders, opening its jaws wide in an attempt to snap the prey’s windpipe in a single bite.
A foul-smelling heat blew out, spraying a few drops of saliva onto Lin Xun’s face.
Lin Xun gritted his teeth as a piercing pain shot through his left arm, which had never fully healed. Exerting every ounce of strength in his body, he wedged his injured arm across the wolf’s neck, barely forcing it back a fraction to clear room for his right hand.
The sharp dagger spun rapidly in his palm. A cold glint flashed, and the blade drove swiftly, ruthlessly, and precisely into the gray wolf’s eye.
A mournful wolf howl echoed through the venue, only to be quickly drowned out by even louder, more euphoric roars.
More than half the audience stood up in excitement, shouting with flushed faces. For a second, Duan Yang felt as though he had strayed into some primitive tribe.
Being someone easily caught up in the mood, he was readily infected by the atmosphere, standing up to join in with a couple of excited shouts.
Fu Xingchen couldn’t even pull him down.
By contrast, Huo Tingxiao sat quietly nearby, his posture unchanged throughout.
Only his eyes, fixed on the man fighting in blood, grew increasingly dark.
Lin Xun pulled out the blade and rose; hot blood sprayed out, tracing an arc of red through the air.
The gray wolf wailed as it thrashed wildly about. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Xun raised his leg and kicked the chain, looping it around the trapped beast’s neck.
In an instant, he flipped over to mount the gray wolf’s back, pulling the chain tight with one hand while raising the other high—only to bring it down with crushing force.
The blade plunged into the gray wolf’s skull once more.
“Holy shit…” Duan Yang shuddered.
After a split second of silence, the ecstatic cheers that erupted all around could practically tear the roof off. People in the front rows even rushed forward to grab at the wire mesh, shouting with excitement while hurling flowers, stuffed toys, and stacks of cash at Lin Xun.
Frowning, Lin Xun tossed aside the gray wolf’s carcass and stood up.
Staff members came in to clear the floor, unlocking his ankle shackles and asking if he was injured. He shook his head, dropped the dagger, and walked out of the wire cage without looking back.
The moment he left, the two fighters for the next match could not wait to enter the arena. Without waiting for the referee to take his mark—while the cleaners were even still present—they locked in combat, looking as though they harbored a personal grudge.
Duan Yang still hadn’t recovered from the beast fight just now.
One moment he was calling it sick, and the next he was calling it thrilling. Fu Xingchen sat lazily beside him, disinclined to chime in, so Duan Yang wanted to talk to Huo Tingxiao instead.
Yet when he turned his head, he realized the seat beside him had somehow emptied out.
Duan Yang found it odd: “Where did he go?”
Fu Xingchen pointed toward the exit: “Getting some fresh air.”
Duan Yang let out an “Ah.” The performance just now really got the blood pumping, leaving one feeling hot all over.
He asked Fu Xingchen: “Did you bring bodyguards today? I feel like it’s not very safe here.”
Fu Xingchen looked at him with amusement: “Isn’t it a bit late for you to be thinking about safety now?”
[1]【Author’s Note】
The creed of the Blackstone Club is inspired by the Bocchicchio family in The Godfather. This family charges high commissions to serve as neutral mediators for negotiations … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3064787_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3064787_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
References[+]
【Author’s Note】
The creed of the Blackstone Club is inspired by the Bocchicchio family in The Godfather. This family charges high commissions to serve as neutral mediators for negotiations between major crime families—essentially acting as hostages.
For example, if Family A and Family B want to hold peace talks, the Bocchicchios will send one of their own to Family A as a hostage. If Family A’s negotiator sent to Family B gets killed, Family A can kill the hostage, and the Bocchicchio family will hunt down Family B to the ends of the earth, fighting to the death (￣ ￣).
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