CH 6

When brightness had just emerged in the sky, Xia Liuyi was woken up by a messy, annoying, knocking and cursing downstairs.

“Open the door! F*ck! Open it!”

He sat up alertly, and then found that he was covered by a wet sheet. He Chusan leaned on his shoulder, the one that did not get hurt, having a freaking sweet dream. Moreover, his waist was held by a paw and his chest was pressed by the other paw – the index finger and middle finger were blocked by the thin vest, pinching his nipple.

As we mentioned before, Big Boss Xia was very sensitive at this spot. He flushed at once and slapped this little bastard away!

F*ck! Was he looking for his mom?!

Dazed, He Chusan got up in a sheet roll. His sight was still blurred and before he had finished a yawn, he was kicked by Xia Liuyi. Xia Liuyi lifted his chin to the outside of the tong lau.

He Chusan crisply got up and looked down from the stone-board guardrail. He then huddled back with his face pale, “Boss Liuyi, they are searching for you from door to door.”

“Big bosses big bosses! The one who lives upstairs is my son. There’s nobody else!” Dentist He’s nervous flattery came from below.

“Dad……” He Chusan called in a low volume. As soon as he tried to stand up, he was pulled back by Xia Liuyi.

Xia Liuyi covered his mouth tightly and shook his head with a cold countenance. He Chusan was held with his single arm. It was almost a position for a face-to-face hug. However, in such a crucial moment, no one cared about romance. They both held their breath and listened to the chaos down below cautiously.

The rub-a-dub below caused a big scene. Not only the clinic of Dentist He, but also a few surrounding snack shops were searched. Fat Sis screamed “My beef entrail pot!”. After a while, they heard Dentist He’s flattery again, “Am I right, big bosses! We truly hid no one. My son went to school! Yes-yes, he is the college student! Aye! He’s so studious and I can’t even stop him! Here, I have some money for your efforts. Wish you big bosses big promotions, big promotions!”

He Chusan exhaled. Fortunately, his room was narrow and had bad circulation. He cleaned it every day and carefully burned the stained dressing that Xia Liuyi used, and he only threw the ashes away when he reached his school. Before coming upstairs last night, he tidied up his books and candle, and also wrapped up the simple bed on the floor on the way. He shouldn’t have left any skeptical traces over there.

He soon got nervous again. He asked Xia Liuyi quietly, “Will they come up here?”

“Shush.” Said Xia Liuyi. He frowned and continued listening.

And at this moment, footsteps suddenly came from the stairs. A voice screamed in astonishment, “Xia Liuyi?”

He Chusan even had his hair stand up in shock! A man in shorts was standing a few meters away. His hair was messy and he was holding a big broken basin with a hole on it – apparently, he had come to get the sheet.

The two sides stared at each other in amazement. As soon as Xia Liuyi recognized that this was the little leader that managed business for the Big Boss Sha that he looted months ago, the little leader yelled loudly. He grabbed the bamboo pole used for airing and stabbed at them!

He Chusan could barely watch as the sharp head of the pole stabbed straight towards his chest. In a flash, he was pushed away hard by Xia Liuyi!

“Pshht” Along with a dull noise of torn flesh, the pole stabbed into the previous wound on Xia Liuyi’s shoulder! Fresh blood turned the bandage red at once. Xia Liuyi held the pole with both hands. Crimson covered his face. He tried his best to prevent it from getting deeper, but he was wounded and weak and had little strength left within. He merely watched the pole getting deeper and deeper……

He Chusan lifted his little backpack with the big books inside, and smashed it onto the head of the little leader!

The little leader yelled in pain and loosened his grip on the pole. The pole scratched across Xia Liuyi’s shoulder and fell far away with a cloud of bloody rain!

The little leader covered his head and groaned. When he lifted his head again, a string of blood slipped down his forehead. There was only the desire to kill in his eyes.

He smashed He Chusan, who stumbled with a single punch! After that was a series of ferocious beating! The combat effectiveness of college student He was almost in the negatives. He could only cover his head and bore the beating. On the side, Xia Liuyi had his shoulder in the pool of blood. He climbed on the floor and wanted to sit up, but he failed to straighten his body after a long struggle. Burning with anger, he tried to drag the pole back, but he couldn’t reach it. In a blink, He Chusan was already beaten to the floor.

He Chusan’s stomach and head were hit a few times. He curled his body, falling onto the ground, and couldn’t stop coughing. His sight was dizzy, but his brain cleared.

He gritted his teeth and got up. Facing another kick from the little leader, he bravely made a standard horse stance – just like the one he made here every morning.

In that moment, the figure for the fourth descendant of Yang-style t’ai chi ch’uan, uncle A-Hua, to push the palm out, pull the fist in and sweep the leg circularly appeared in his brain. It was such a short and fat but leisurely figure. He Chusan possessed the soul of the warlord. He closed his eyes and pushed his palm. He caught the kick of the little leader with an extremely twisting position. His palms pushed together and blocked the back of the foot. He pulled and sent it forward!

“Yi-ah!” The little leader screamed miserably in the air. Facing the sky, he fell down!

Along with a huge sound, even the vulnerable floor was shaking. He stood up floppily, dazzled. He solely wanted to kill.

He waved his fist and jumped at He Chusan again. He Chusan rolled aside. The little leader lost his balance and staggered. He faced the sky and fell down again!

He couldn’t manage to get up, however, he tried again this time. He lowered his head and looked at his abdomen in bewilderment. Suddenly, there was another miserable scream! “Yi-ahhh--!!”

An iron pole standing straight punctured his belly. Accompanied with a miserable yell, the blood spurted out like a spring!

He Chusan fell back and sat on the ground. His face was so pale and he was stunned like a corpse. Xia Liuyi shouted out, “Don’t look at it! We need to leave here!”

People from Xiao Qi Tong downstairs had already heard the strange yell from above. They clattered upstairs. He Chusan finally awoke from the scare. He rushed to hold Xia Liuyi and didn’t forget to pick up his bloody little backpack.

It was impossible for them to use the stairs. He asked Xia Liuyi, “What can we do?!”

Xia Liuyi gestured his head at the outside of the tang lau, “Jump!”

He Chusan opened his mouth wide immediately. Before he pulled his chin back, he was lifted by his neck and dragged to the edge of the building by Xia Liuyi. Xia Liuyi held onto the stone board, taking a breath. Turning his head, he saw He Chusan was trembling and looking down from the stone board.

Actually, it was not far from the window of a nearby household. It was only about two meters away. However, both buildings were covered by an oily mud caused by the rain, and it was too smooth for one to climb on. Below it, it was over ten meters to the ground, and they could directly see the heads of people passing by!

He Chusan’s legs turned soft. He kept hiding back.

“You going to jump on your own, or be thrown over there by me?” Xia Liuyi panted and said. He had lost too much blood and began to feel dizzy.

He Chusan swallowed, “I can……” He had just moved more than half of his body forward carefully and slowly – before he was pushed outward by Xia Liuyi’s palm!

He Chusan fell onto someone’s window covered with papier-mache*1 and bounced off the last portion of old glass on the window frame. There was a leaner old man having a sound nap inside the room. When he opened his eyes and abruptly saw a shadow, he instantly gave a hoarse yell. He lifted the feather duster beside his bed and hit He Chusan.

He Chusan held his head down and bore a few hits. He got up and jumped back to the window to check Xia Liuyi’s situation – and just encountering Xia Liuyi who was rolling in and bumped into his body.

They rolled into a ball and eventually fell to the ground. They were mercilessly beaten by the leaner old man. At last, Xia Liuyi, who was protected by He Chusan under his body, shouted angrily with his veins popping out, “Stop!”

The old man was stunned out of fear. He Chusan jumped up quickly. He held Xia Liuyi up and ran away without hesitation.

They opened the rusty door and went downstairs fast. There were only a few steps away from the end of the stairs, when Xia Liuyi suddenly felt his feet soften, and he fell down.

He Chusan jumped onto the ground to search for him. He merely touched something sticky. He heard the weak pant from Xia Liuyi

“Boss Liuyi?”

Xia Liuyi wanted to speak, but his sight became darker and darker. He used up the last of his strength to get up. Eventually, he could only lower his head grudgingly.

……

Shaking in the darkness, the sound of wind by his ears became clearer and clearer. There was also the strong wheeze of someone.

Xia Liuyi opened his eyes drowsily. In his dim sight, he could barely see the black hair on the back of He Chusan’s head.

The bumpy movement stretched the wound on his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, and his breaths became heavier. Then he heard He Chusan’s voice, “Boss Liuyi, huh! You woke up? Ha!”

He Chusan was carrying a large-sized man and simply running made him exhausted. He panted and told Xia Liuyi, “You’ve woken up and, huh! Don’t sleep anymore! Be careful, what if you, huh! Can’t wake up again!”

“F*ck, don’t curse me.” Xia Liuyi cussed in a low voice.

“Huh!” said He Chusan, “If you wanna sleep, huh! You can talk with me……”

“About what?”

“Huh! You pushed me aside just now. Ha! And were stabbed by him.” He saved him, risking his life again, and this time he couldn’t misunderstand it!

Xia Liuyi closed his eyes frustratedly and said quietly, “You took me in, so that means you are my 49er, and caring for my brother is something that I should……”

“I won’t be your 49er……Huh!” He Chusan made it clear at once, “I won’t join the black society……Ha!”

“……”

Xia Liuyi bore the frustration and slapped his head! F*ck! Being my 49er is something common people can only beg for! So rare that I don’t see you being annoying and want to let you in with a looser condition, and you dislike it?! You’re f*cking speaking “huh” and “ha”. Are you a stray dog?!

He Chusan had thought that since he had the strength to pat someone, he shouldn’t die, so he panted and ran more energetically. Fortunately, he practiced a horse stance every morning in the recent months and had greatly trained his stamina, his waist, and his feet. He ran for an entire three alleyways floppily and he didn’t let Xia Liuyi fall.

In the end, he couldn’t run anymore. Turning again and again, he found an abandoned little corridor. Stepping on dead rats and getting to the corner of the first floor, he wheezed and put Xia Liuyi down.

“They should not, huh, be able to find here in a minute, ha……” He said. He stood straight and hit his waist, trying to pull his twisted spine straight.

Xia Liuyi leaned and sat by the dirty wall. He lifted his eyes and looked at his stretching figure. He suddenly frowned, “Did you grow taller?”

He seemed to be much taller than the time that he was caught to write the script for the film, and he had gained weight. He no longer looked like a chicken with thin arms and legs.

He Chusan turned the little backpack on his chest to his back. He swallowed and answered, “Dad……huh, said I was still young and I could grow more. Maybe I’ll be taller than you next year.”

Freaking young, for other twenty-one years old, when they got their kids able to run. You f*cking grew more! Xia Liuyi puffed out with his nose. He couldn’t cuss out such a long sentence, so he could barely take a breath and said, “Take off the clothes, and help me stop bleeding.”

He Chusan thought for a long while, “……Take off whose?”

“Ours!”

Under Xia Liuyi’s instructions, He Chusan stripped Xia Liuyi’s bloody vest and threw it aside. Then he stripped his own clothes and tore it into strips to stop Xia Liuyi’s bleeding and tend to his wound.

Xia Liuyi showed his contempt for his poor medical skill while he thought about ways out. Eventually, he told He Chusan, “We can’t keep hiding like this. Do me a favor.”

“I can do anything for you as long as it doesn’t violate the law, but I’m not your 49er.”

“Shut up!”

What’s wrong with being my 49er?!

In this evening, a few 49ers of Xu Ying caught He Chusan, who was acting shady and holding a pack of bloody clothes, intending to throw it out, on the old stone wall of Snapdragon Walled City.

……

Xia Liuyi panted heavily. Covering the wound on his right shoulder and leaning against the wall, he shuffled close to the back door of Xiao Qi Film Studio, step by step.

He bent over and searched for a while in the corner of a pipe nearby. He took out a string of spare keys covered with oilpaper and opened the door quietly.

It was midnight at this time. There was no one in the nearby alleyway except for him. A few rats squeaked and ran by his feet. They showed no fear at all.

He walked in the darkness. He listened to the sounds inside alertly and approached somewhere close to the studio carefully.

Possibly because someone had searched there, the door of the studio wasn’t shut. He touched around blindly to approach a desk in the corner – He Chusan had sat there and finished the script.

Opening the drawer, he found a case of matches and a thick candle used to worship Lord Guan*2. He bowed and then half-kneeled on the ground. He lit the candle and let it stand on the floor. It illuminated a little bookshelf under the desk, which was hard to see.

He opened the bookshelf with the spare key. Inside it, there was a delicately made safe.

He lifted his head and glanced around prudently, and then he closed to the safe, clicking and clacking, he turned the combination lock. Soon, with a light sound, he opened the safe and took out a paper package from inside.

A sneer suddenly came from the door. A man said sarcastically, “Exactly, Azure Dragon hid the ‘accounting records’ in your place.”

“Bang!” “Bang!” The lights at the top of the studio were all turned on. The whole studio became bright. It showed the frowning Xia Liuyi, and a triumphant Xu Ying at the door.

Xu Ying walked in with a cigar between his lips. A few 49ers swarmed in, and lastly, He Chusan, who was pushed in by someone pointing a gun at his head.

“Find a student kid to throw bloody clothes away for you, and make me think you already left the walled city?” Said Xu Ying, “Xia Little Liu, I didn’t know you could be so dumb?”

He Chusan’s face was plainly pale and his expression was terrified and panicked. His eyes conveyed to Xia Liuyi that he was filled with guilt and lament – Xia Liuyi cussed out a ‘f*ck’ in his mind. This brat was totally the best actor. How could the Hong Kong Film Award be anyone else’s!

He grabbed the paper package. Leaning on the desk, he stood up slowly, but when he spoke, he didn’t speak to Xu Ying, “Who beat you up?”

There was a big red bump on He Chusan’s head. He was definitely beaten. He answered obediently, “The one who has a scar on his nose.”

Xia Liuyi identified a 49er beside Xu Ying, “Big boss will avenge you.”

He Chusan’s lips moved. When he was gonna say I’m not your 49er, Xia Liuyi glared back fiercely. Xu Ying couldn’t watch anymore and chuckled on the side, “Come on, Xia Little Liu. You f*cking can’t even stand well. Why do you pretend to be a big boss! Throw the ‘accounting records’ to me!”

Xia Liuyi glanced at Xu Ying coldly and slowly put the paper package on the desk, but he didn’t throw it. He merely pushed it forward.

Xu Ying frowned and looked at him.

“What’s wrong? You don’t dare take it for yourself?” Xia Liuyi sneered.

“You only f*cking scheme. Boss Xu has no interest in playing with you.” Said Xu Ying. He tilted his head.

The 49er with a scar on his nose walked forward and got closer to the desk to take the paper package. He turned back and threw it to Xu Ying. He then pressed the upper body of Xia Liuyi on the desk and his hands. He searched for a while, “Boss Xu, he hid no stuff.”

Xia Liuyi laughed ironically, “Your Boss Liuyi never hides his ‘stuff’. Unlike your Boss Xu, he didn’t grow any ‘stuff’.”

Xu Ying lifted his chin. The 49er crisply slapped Xia Liuyi! Xia Liuyi turned his head aside and spit blood. He slowly turned back his head and glanced at this man. He lifted the corner of his swelling mouth and sneered.

Xu Ying unwrapped the paper package and walked over to him, “Xia Little Liu, to make a living in the black society, watch your mouth. Observe the situation and say something good. If Boss Xu gets in a good mood, he can leave you a complete……What the heck is this?!”

He dropped a thick pile of scripts from his hand onto the desk in rage. He Chusan’s serious and beautiful writing was spread over the pages.

“Oh?” Said Xia Liuyi, “It’s been switched by someone? Boss Xu, I didn’t do it.”

“F*ck! Stop playing tricks with me!” Xu Ying took big steps forward and grabbed his hair, “Where’s the ‘accounting records’?”

Xia Liuyi laughed, “Boss Xu killed Big Boss Azure Dragon, but can’t find the crucial ‘accounting records’, and the Dragon Head Cane hasn’t even appeared yet – the elders aren’t willing to vote for you to be the new ‘dragon head’?”

With wrath, Xu Ying laughed and grasped Xia Liuyi’s throat, “Stop talking f*cking nonsense with me. I caught a traitor like you and made such contributions. I also took and managed all the regions of the gang. Those walking corpses have no choice but to submit to me!”

Xia Liuyi felt his face go crimson under his hand. He coughed and wheezed, “Things may not……go as you want!”

He suddenly lifted his leg and swept. He kicked the thick candle which was still burning to Xu Ying’s feet! The fire instantly burned Xu Ying’s calf. Xu Ying kicked and jumped hurriedly to step on the flame and extinguish it! During the time he did this, Xia Liuyi turned his body and rushed forward. He smashed Xu Ying’s chin with his left fist!

Then he lifted the chair nearby to hit the head of the 49er on the side. The chair cracked with a bang. He lifted a sharp piece of a chair leg, and stabbed into his palm with a “Pshht”! – He had “avenged” He Chusan as he promised.

“Yi-ahhh--!” The 49er covered his bloody palm and screamed miserably.

Xu Ying attacked him from behind with both hands locking onto the back of his shoulder. Xia Liuyi waved his arm and defended backward, but his wrist was restrained by Xu Ying. His purlicue was pressed, and the chair leg fell onto the ground.

Xia Liuyi turned his body and swept his leg again. Xu Ying loosened his grip on his wrist and avoided the attack. He made his hands like claws and shouted out to make the palm “The Twin Dragons Fetch Water”*3. He attacked the chest of Xia Liuyi.

Xia Liuyi was very familiar with his move. His arms instinctively defended and pushed forward to crack this attack. However, the abrupt movement affected the wound on his right shoulder. He grunted and only defended from one of the palms. His chest was hit by the other palm and he fell and rolled onto the ground at once!

Xu Ying leant over and gave him another claw. Xia Liuyi turned around and avoided him. He sent a fist back to use the attack as a defense. They rolled and fought on the ground. The people watching weren’t able to catch their movements. However, Xia Liuyi had wounds on him after all. His right hand had almost no strength. After tens of thundering punches and kicks, he was strongly pressed to the floor by Xu Ying.

“Xia Little Liu,” Xu Ying panted and laughed, “the quanfas*4 you used were taught by me. That’s how you reciprocate Boss Xu?”

Xia Liuyi’s face was pressed to the ground. He listened to the sounds around him and hoarsely said, “Azure Dragon didn’t treat you badly, and that’s how you reciprocate him?”

“Azure Dragon didn’t treat me badly? Ha! He-haha! I followed him for twenty years, and I did the toughest things for him. In the end, he gave everything to such a prepubescent boy toy like you! What the cr*p was the Deputy – merely a dog under his foot! Has he ever taken me seriously?! Do you know what he said to the elders? ‘Xia Liuyi is young but has wisdom and bravery. He will achieve great accomplishments’, ‘Xu Ying has too many schemes, and can’t be fully trusted’!”

“He did mistrust you!” Xia Liuyi raised his voice and said, “Xu Ying! You thought you could fake the truth? When I left the villa and entered the hospital, I didn’t take the Azure Dragon knives with me at all! The butler and servants in the villa and those brothers from Xiao Qi Tong who were in the hospital at that time can all prove it!”

“The butler? The servants?” Xu Ying sneered, “At that night, they were all ‘killed’ by Xia Liuyi, who saw his psycho sister’s corpse, and even the house was burned! About the brothers from Xiao Qi Tong at the scene; well, besides your people, they were my underlings – which side do you think everyone would believe in?!”

“You……” Xia Liuyi almost couldn’t believe that he killed everyone in Azure Dragon’s home to shut them up. He gritted and shivered for a while, and then said in a husky voice, “Xu Ying, the black society also has its morals. Such a person like you must deserve a miserable death.”

Xu Ying heard this sentence and laughed out loud instead. He pressed Xia Liuyi’s face down and lowered his body. He lifted the corner of his mouth, “Everyone in the black society said Big Boss Azure Dragon has the greatest morals. Did he find the ‘unmiserable death’ that he deserved?”

He spoke sarcastically by Xia Liuyi’s ear, “Do you know what he told me when I lifted your knives and entered the room?”

“He said, ‘Little Liu, it’s my mistake. Don’t blame yourself.’ Ha! Hahaha! Hahahaha!”

He thought it was so amusing and laughed out, but Xia Liuyi was stunned for a moment, and then a hoarse roar came out. He twisted the wounded right shoulder and used all his strength to slap Xu Ying. Xu Ying was laughing and didn’t avoid it in time. He was just hit with a clap!

Five green and red finger marks emerged on Xu Ying’s face immediately. His sight became dangerous. He took a gun from the back of his waist, and pushed it on Xia Liuyi’s head, “I’ve changed my mind, Xia Little Liu. I don’t need to leave you a complete body. I should crack your stinky and hard bones inch by inch!”

“Kill the brat as a bloody example first!” He turned his head and shouted to the 49er who was holding He Chusan.