Volume 2, Chapter 80 – Northern District

Chilong Circuit City’s urban districts favor the south and neglect the north.

Previously, when Bai Xiang took on Jinshui Company’s commission together with Yu He, the construction site they went to was in the northern outskirts. Along the way she’d already seen it for herself: the northern part of Chilong Circuit could only be summed up with two words—messy and desolate.

It didn’t seem very reasonable. Going by her past life’s experience, the closer you got to a city’s borders, the more chaotic things should be.

Like the legendary U.S.–Mexico border—those mixed neighborhoods and black markets around there were chaos incarnate. The police couldn’t even be bothered to care.

But this world was different. The threat of Aberrations was an objective reality. That forced most circuit cities to focus their defense and control efforts on the side facing the wilderness. In Chilong’s case, that meant the southern side, close to the wilds by the southern mountains, became the main focus of governance.

That was why the Nanping Road area was so prosperous. The south had the military district at its back, so public security was fully guaranteed. The Roads Directorate didn’t even need to guide development—people would naturally gather nearby on their own, merchants would wildly jack up land prices, and over time the place became a bustling district, leaving the other parts of the city far behind.

Lian Feng didn’t have the driver take him straight to the northern outskirts. Instead, he got out around Beiye Road, where the huge archway of the Beiye Road Jobs Directorate rose up right in front of him.

A hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. Back when he first arrived in Chilong Circuit, this was where he’d squatted with the older guys, waiting for day work.

Those days had been bitter, but they’d still counted as a tiny spark of light in his darkness.

Without those older brothers, Lian Feng wouldn’t even be alive today. Let alone have any chance to talk about revenge.

Should he go repay them?

Lian Feng thought about it, then gave up on the idea.

On one hand, the way he’d gotten his current funds wasn’t exactly clean—he’d skimmed off the procurement money the Bai family had given him. Using that money to “help” other people felt a bit too shameless.

On the other hand, he hadn’t planned on coming back alive from this trip. Whether he succeeded or failed, there would no longer be a “Lian Feng” in this world. Meeting those brothers again wouldn’t be appropriate; it might even bring danger down on them.

So he only allowed himself a moment of remembrance, then used the cover of night to find an inn and check in. After that he specifically waited until past midnight—and sure enough, he heard a burst of messy movement out in the corridor.

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“Dong, dong, dong!”

“Open up! Open the door!”

It sounded like someone was going door to door, pounding on each one with their fists.

But Lian Feng knew this was nothing but a front.

That so-called “drunk” most likely had several accomplices behind him. The moment someone inside, cranky from being woken up, opened the door to argue, a bunch of strong men would kick the door in. At that point, not only would all their money and valuables be gone, even their life might not be guaranteed.

These were the most low-rent, bottom-of-the-barrel tricks.

Sitting steadily on the edge of the bed with his sword on his back, Lian Feng couldn’t help curling his lip.

The real professionals would never run a scam like this. They’d find a woman or a child to pretend their money had been stolen, then go door to door begging for sympathy—that was way more efficient than this.

Still, this suited him just fine.

Given what he planned to do, he didn’t want to run into a crew of “elite thugs.”

“Dong, dong, dong!”

The knocking came all the way down the hall amid a stream of curses, but not a single idiot dared open their door. The fake drunk, Ma Lu, was getting sick of it. He deeply felt that the times had changed, people weren’t as gullible as before, and even running scams had become a hard business.

Should they just call it a night after finishing this floor?

Fuck this—Boss Dong was at home stuffing his face with good food and drink, with some pretty girl warming his bed in this freezing weather. Why the hell did he have to be outside acting like a dumbass, only to get laughed at by those bastards when he went back?

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Thinking this, Ma Lu knocked on the last door. He hadn’t planned on putting any strength into it, just tapped it twice, “dong, dong,” and was ready to leave.

“Click.”

But the door opened.

Ma Lu froze.

The two people behind him froze as well.

Then, once the surprise passed, they burst into grins—well, damn, there were still suckers like this around? Was he some clueless southerner down on his luck? If so, maybe he’d brought plenty of money with him?

“Go!”

With a roar, Ma Lu slammed his shoulder into the gap of the door, trying to keep the person inside from reacting and bracing it shut.

What he hadn’t expected was that the door offered no resistance at all. The force of his shove only sent him sprawling into the room, his chin smacking the floor with a sharp, painful thud.

What the hell?

The room’s lights were off. Just as Ma Lu thought of getting up, he suddenly felt a foot step down on the back of his head. At the same time, a metallic “clang” rang by his ear, followed immediately by two soft “heh-heh” sounds behind him, as something fell to the floor.

Zhang Li and Yezi?

Th-this… that sound just now—had their throats been slit?

Ma Lu’s eyes bulged, every hair on his body standing on end. He squeezed his eyes shut and begged in a low voice, “Hero, please don’t kill me! Don’t! I didn’t see anything! I really didn’t see a thing!”

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He knew that in situations like this, the louder you yelled, the faster you died.

This guy killed far too ruthlessly—taking out two men was like wringing the necks of two chickens. Ma Lu hadn’t even heard the breathing above his head change, not even a heavier note.

“I’m going to ask you a few questions.”

“You answer honestly, and I’ll spare your life.”

After a brief silence, Lian Feng’s voice came from above his head.

“Okay, okay!” Only now did Ma Lu realize his whole body was drenched in cold sweat. “Ask whatever you want, Hero. I’ll tell you everything I know!”

“First tell me, who’s running this area now.”

“That… that’d of course be Shao Ran, Inspector Shao?”

“Idiot!” The foot on his head pressed down hard. “I’m asking about your gang.”

“That’s Boss Han!” Ma Lu blurted out. “Boss Han is Han Shiyou! He’s the boss of our Shiyou Gang! From Beiye Road to Beisheng Road, five or six streets—it’s all his turf!”

Still Han Shiyou…

Lian Feng’s furrowed brows relaxed. That made things a lot easier.

He used to hustle in this very area, so he’d obviously heard the Shiyou Gang’s name, and he’d dealt with them more than a few times. After all, every month the Shiyou Gang came around to collect protection fees from the laborers.

As for Han Shiyou himself, according to the rumors that circulated among the labor crews, the reason he could keep such a tight grip on this district—forcing other gangs to the farther-out northern outskirts—was because he had someone backing him.

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“Han Shiyou supposedly has ties to a pharmaceutical company.”

That was what his older brothers had told him.

“They recruit people too—recruit them to be drug test subjects. And supposedly there are four tiers inside. For Grade-A subjects, they don’t just grab you off the street. You have to pay them out of your own pocket.”

“Pay them?” Back then, Lian Feng hadn’t understood at all. “Why? I’m going to be their test subject? I have to pay to put my life on the line for them?”

“You don’t get it, huh?” The question had prompted a burst of laughter, and then the voice in the darkness had suddenly dropped low.

“Because those Grade-A subjects… when they come back, they’re like different people.”

“Every last one of them is monstrously strong. They all become Han Shiyou’s top enforcers!”

The speaker hadn’t meant anything by it, but the listener had taken it to heart.

Lian Feng had never imagined that this “taking it to heart” would end up coming true for him, even if only much later. His road to revenge, in the end, still had to circle back here.

“Since you’re Shiyou Gang too, then take me to see Han Shiyou.”

Lian Feng lifted his boot from the man’s head and spoke to the still-shaken Ma Lu.

“Relax, I’m not here to stir up trouble.”

“I’ve got a business deal to discuss with him.”