Chapter 53: Qingyuan

"You say the people from the Tiger Blade Gang took the initiative to come find you?"

Inside the study, Chen Lixin, who had been suddenly summoned, tremblingly recounted the entire process of how he had hired people to deal with Li Fei.

Upon hearing that it was the people from the Tiger Blade Gang who had taken the initiative to approach Chen Lixin, Chen Zongyang's eyes narrowed.

He stood up abruptly and walked over to Chen Lixin.

Slap!

A loud slap landed on Chen Lixin's face.

"Dad?"

Chen Lixin covered his face, looking at his father in disbelief.

"You useless brat, you were used as a pawn and didn't even know it!"

Chen Zongyang scolded him angrily.

"I..."

Chen Lixin still wanted to explain.

"Shut up!"

Chen Zongyang interrupted him without ceremony:

"How did I teach you in the past? If you really want to deal with someone, you should use your full strength, leave no loose ends, and give the opponent no chance to turn the tables! And you? You didn't even investigate the situation clearly beforehand and just acted blindly!"

"Dad, I..."

"That's enough. Before you go to the Martial University, you are to stay home and reflect on your mistakes; you are not allowed to go anywhere. Once the start date arrives, you will immediately get yourself to the Martial University to report!"

Chen Zongyang issued his order, then waved his hand to tell Chen Lixin to get lost.

After Chen Lixin slunk away, Chen Zongyang summoned a manager:

"On the side of the Third Branch, has this quarter's beast feed been delivered to the Tiger Blade Gang yet?"

"Master, not yet."

"Go to the warehouse and say that the goods are not to be given to the Tiger Blade Gang yet. Find any excuse to delay it. I will speak to the Third Branch about it."

Chen Zongyang said.

He wanted the Tiger Blade Gang to know that his, Chen Zongyang's, son could not be used so casually.

"Yes, Master."

The manager took the order and left.

Wuping District in the south of the city is an old district of Xingcheng. It is not as prosperous as the new district and lacks the fresh novelties that appeared after the Enlightenment Reform, such as cinemas and trams.

The streets here are narrow, making it difficult for cars to drive in; the most common vehicles traveling on the streets are human-powered tricycles.

It is a place where all sorts of people mix, and public security is relatively poor. The Tiger Blade Gang started here.

From a small gang of only a few people to the current dominant force of the entire Wuping District and the number one gang in Xingcheng, the Tiger Blade Gang only took sixteen years.

In a large courtyard in Wuping District, an old man with a kind face and gray hair was standing in a horse stance in the yard.

After finishing his stance, the old man walked to a stone table nearby and picked up the teacup on the table to drink tea.

A burly man wearing a black short-sleeved shirt trotted to his side and whispered a few words.

"Understood, go invite the Private Secretary over."

The old man instructed.

His name is Yu Hu, and he is the leader of the Tiger Blade Gang!

If one only looked at his appearance, outsiders would likely find it hard to imagine that such a kind-faced old man could be the leader of the number one gang in Xingcheng.

A moment later, a middle-aged man wearing a blue robe and black-rimmed glasses, looking very much like a scholar, walked toward them.

"Leader."

"Sit."

The person who arrived was the Tiger Blade Gang's Private Secretary, Zhang Mingze.

There is a rumor in the outside world that the Tiger Blade Gang's ability to become the number one gang in Xingcheng relies on "intelligence."

The "intelligence" is Zhang Mingze, and the "force" is Yu Hu.

"The Chen family hasn't sent over this quarter's beast feed, saying there is a problem with the accounts and they need to re-calculate."

Yu Hu said.

As the number one gang in Xingcheng, although the Tiger Blade Gang doesn't have the legendary "three thousand gang members," all its members combined exceed one thousand.

To support so many people, they are involved in both open and secret businesses, and naturally, they have business dealings with the local top aristocratic family, the Chen family.

One of the most important businesses is the trade of beast feed.

To become a martial artist, one must have an implant, and implants come from exotic beasts.

In this era, except for the top three grades of exotic beasts, the rest are basically raised by humans. Every faction capable of training its own martial artists keeps exotic beasts.

The Tiger Blade Gang rose too quickly and lacks a deep foundation; they currently do not have the ability to train martial artists themselves.

Therefore, Yu Hu has been dedicated to raising exotic beasts for these years, and purchasing customized beast feed from the Chen family is for this purpose.

Now that the Chen family is not delivering the goods on time, it will inevitably affect the exotic beasts the Tiger Blade Gang is raising.

"Hmm, I already understand."

Zhang Mingze nodded, "A-Dao handled this matter too crudely."

Yu Hu gave a grunt, drank some tea, and looked at Zhang Mingze: "A-Dao explained it to me, saying that this student named Li Fei he targeted is a student of Hao Yi. Not only did he win the championship in the vocational school's graduation exam, but the implant he used during the Embryo-Nurturing Stage was a second-grade superior Steel Armor. A-Dao feels this person will be a threat in the future."

Zhang Mingze clearly already knew about these things and was not surprised: "The commotion this time is so big not only because the son of a squadron leader from the Inspectorate was attacked, but the internal dissatisfaction within the Inspectorate toward the Tiger Blade Gang is also key. Looking at Huang Weiguang's attitude this time, he will not let us successfully maneuver Wu Yihua into a higher position."

Yu Hu frowned: "If it's not Wu Yihua who gets the position, then the Inspectorate..."

"Yes."

Zhang Mingze's eyes behind his lenses were deep, "Leader, that is why that matter must be expedited; time waits for no one."

A look of extreme ferocity flashed in Yu Hu's eyes, and his expression became murderous.

At this moment, he was no longer a kind-faced old man, but the leader who controls the number one gang in Xingcheng:

"Since that is the case, I will immediately send someone to the Chen family to apologize and settle the matter as soon as possible. As for Hao Yi..."

Zhang Mingze said: "As for Hao Yi, just don't provoke him for now. I will warn A-Dao; from here on out, let him compete with that Li Fei based on his own ability."

In the night, Xingcheng was filled with the lights of ten thousand homes.

Back home, Li Fei completed his Embryo-Nurturing training as usual.

This time, while using the medicine, he again felt movement from the implant under his skin, as if it wanted to crawl out, and the hunger it produced was more obvious than last time.

According to Hao Yi's explanation, this is embryonic movement. The more frequently embryonic movement occurs and the stronger the sensation, the closer one is to the Body-Breaking Stage.

The embryonic movement also caused Li Fei's medicine dosage to increase further. The Dry Fire Pill, Embryo-Nurturing Pill, and Jin Kui Ointment he bought were almost used up and needed to be purchased again.

A bottle of Dry Fire Pill costs 58 yuan, and a full set of medicine for the Embryo-Nurturing Stage costs 95 yuan per portion, but Li Fei had no money left...

"Sister Tianyu is going to the Martial University soon, and she will definitely have more expenses than me. It wouldn't be appropriate to ask Uncle Li for money again; I can only rely on myself."

Li Fei muttered to himself.

He made a decision, put on his clothes, packed his things, walked out of the room, and found Li Lei:

"Uncle Li, the monthly exam for the Martial Arts Hall is approaching, and my teacher wants me to go for extra training tonight."

Li Lei did not suspect anything and nodded:

"Alright, then be careful."

"Okay."

Then Li Fei went out.

Of course, he wasn't really going to the Martial Arts Hall for extra training, but intended to go out under a different identity.

To earn money and absorb more energy, Li Fei could only think of one way—fighting in underground boxing matches.

He had already overheard information related to underground boxing from Li Lei beforehand:

There is a place for underground boxing in the Qingyuan District in the north of the city, and this place is not controlled by the Tiger Blade Gang; even the Tiger Blade Gang has to follow the rules of this place.

Li Fei wanted to go and try it out.

After going out, he first ran to a wig shop.

This is a fresh novelty that has only become popular in the last year, passed down from the West. Now, many women on the streets of Xingcheng wear eye-catching wigs.

Li Fei bought a men's wig for himself, and then bought a mask from a street vendor.

More than half an hour later, a person with long hair, a small braid, and wearing a green evil ghost mask walked into the Qingyuan District.

(End of chapter)