Chapter 31: Why Pretend to Be Someone You're Not?

A little over ten minutes later.

Led by four thugs, Su Yifan and Lin Ming arrived at the stronghold of the Hongxing Gang.

This was a bar called Delight Bar, located quite close to the city center.

Without hesitation, Su Yifan strode straight inside.

Lin Ming was a bit nervous but kept close behind.

Even before they entered, they could already hear the thumping music from within.

Before long, Su Yifan and Lin Ming stepped inside, taking in the dim but dazzling interior of the bar.

Su Yifan casually picked a seat and sat down. Then, with a flick of his finger—

Bang!

In the next instant—

Sparks crackled above the bar, electric arcs raining down, sending the patrons fleeing in panic.

In less than three minutes, the place was deserted.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

At that moment, a bald man emerged with two underlings in tow.

Su Yifan glanced at the four thugs and said, “What are you waiting for? Go get your boss.”

The four thugs, still shaken by what they’d just witnessed, snapped out of their daze at Su Yifan’s words.

“Yes, yes, we’ll go right away.”

They hurried off toward the bald man nearby.

“Yifan, do you think this is going to go badly?” Lin Ming asked nervously after the four had left.

There were only two of them, after all, and this was the Hongxing Gang’s turf.

“With me here, it’s hard for anything to go wrong,” Su Yifan replied, uncorking a bottle of cocktail and taking a swig.

Seeing his friend so calm, Lin Ming relaxed a bit and opened a bottle for himself.

Since they were already here, worst case, they’d just fight it out!

Meanwhile—

The bald man, seeing his men return, asked, “Why are only the four of you back? Where’s Fa?”

“Tiger, Fa—Fa’s dead,” one of the thugs stammered.

“What? Fa is dead?!”

The bald man’s face darkened. “What happened? Who killed him?”

No one dared hide the truth. One quickly pointed at Su Yifan and Lin Ming.

“Tiger, look, it’s those two. The one sitting down killed Fa.”

Hearing that the killer was right there, Tiger looked over at Su Yifan.

“You sure it’s them?”

“Absolutely. They made us bring them here, called us garbage, and even demanded to see the boss.”

Tiger’s eyes now blazed with fury. Whether or not the insults were true, just the fact that they’d killed his brother was enough—he would make Su Yifan and Lin Ming pay!

“You—go get the boss.”

“The rest, come with me. Let’s go meet them!”

With that, Tiger led his men toward Su Yifan and Lin Ming.

“Yifan, they’re coming,” Lin Ming said, gripping his cocktail bottle tightly, ready to go down fighting if need be.

“Relax, I told you—they’re just trash,” Su Yifan replied, his tone even.

With the music off, his words carried easily to Tiger and his men.

Tiger had thought his underlings were exaggerating, but clearly, this was the real deal—these two really did call them trash.

Good. Time to show them what hell looks like.

Soon, Tiger and his men stood before Su Yifan and Lin Ming.

“Kid, I hear you killed my brother Fa?” Tiger demanded.

“Are you the boss of the Hongxing Gang?” Su Yifan asked in return.

“Pretty cocky, aren’t you?”

“No, no,” Su Yifan shook his head. “You’re mistaken. I’m not cocky—I’m extremely cocky.”

Someone acting bolder than himself made Tiger furious. “Alright, you little punk. Acting tough in front of me? You’re looking for death!”

As he spoke, he threw a punch at Su Yifan.

Su Yifan responded by hurling his cocktail bottle.

Bang!

The bottle smashed against Tiger’s head, bursting in a shower of glass, gashing his face and disfiguring him on the spot.

“Aaah!!” Tiger screamed.

His punch didn’t stop; on the contrary, it became more vicious.

If, before, he’d only intended to teach Su Yifan a lesson, now he wanted him dead.

“Careful, Yifan!” Lin Ming shouted in alarm.

Su Yifan ignored him. With a single motion, he caught Tiger’s fist and, with a gentle tug, pulled him downward.

In the next instant—

Crash!

Tiger felt his body jerk out of his control, and he slammed headfirst into the ground, his skull hitting before the rest of him.

“Tiger!”

The other gang members looked on, torn between rushing in and hesitating, uncertain whether to step forward.

Su Yifan planted his foot on Tiger’s head and said coolly, “Why pretend to be tough if you can’t back it up?”

Tiger’s face was covered with shards of glass, several of his ribs broken. He tried to speak, but searing pain shot through his mouth, making him writhe in agony.

Just then—

Footsteps echoed in the bar.

Dozens of thugs armed with weapons arrived, surrounding Su Yifan and Lin Ming.

Seeing this, Lin Ming began to regret not bringing more people—not that he regretted coming, but that he’d underestimated the situation.

A burly, middle-aged man stepped out from the crowd—the boss of the Hongxing Gang, known as the Crow.

The Crow wore a garish, unbuttoned shirt over black capri pants, his whole demeanor lazy and insolent.

“I heard you were looking for me?” The Crow blew out a ring of smoke, grinning wickedly as he approached.

“I thought you’d be too scared to show up,” Su Yifan replied with a faint smile.

The Crow shook his head and laughed. “Even Tiger couldn’t handle you, so I’m guessing you’re a martial artist yourself. Come on, tell me—who are you, really?”

Just as Su Yifan was about to answer—

Tiger, still pinned on the floor, suddenly shouted, “Boss, don’t waste time talking—just chop him up!”

But before he finished—

Bang!

Su Yifan stomped down, and Tiger’s head exploded like a watermelon, blood and brain matter spraying everywhere.

The scene was utterly horrifying.

“I hate being interrupted,” Su Yifan said, lifting his foot and looking at the Crow. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk—just that I’m afraid if I do, you’ll be so scared you’ll want to kneel before me.”

The Crow stared at Tiger’s corpse, suppressing his rage. He knew Su Yifan was no ordinary man; for someone to walk into his lair with only one companion, there were only two possibilities—a terrifying strength, or a backing so powerful even he couldn’t afford to cross them.

Either way, he had to keep his cool.

He took a deep breath.

“Since you’re so confident, I’d really like to know if your identity could scare me into kneeling.”

Seeing the Crow so insistent, Su Yifan smiled and uttered three words: “Su Yifan.”

As the words left his lips—

Thud!

The Crow dropped to his knees, the cigarette slipping from his fingers.

…