Chapter 214 - 212: First Hall Master

"How are things being handled with Guo Xiang?" Ye Xuan asked suddenly, looking at the King of the Underworld, whose expression was somewhat grim.

The King of the Underworld froze for a few seconds before his brows furrowed into a tight knot. "You suspect Guo Xiang did this behind my back?" he asked, looking at Ye Xuan with uncertainty.

"It’s just a guess," Ye Xuan said noncommittally with a shrug. "But since he was able to secretly associate with people from the Celestial Ranking behind your back, you might as well conduct a thorough investigation to see what else he’s been up to."

The King of the Underworld frowned in thought for a moment before waving over the two lackeys standing behind him. One of them quickly stepped forward and leaned in to listen.

"Call and ask how things are going on Guo Xiang’s end. Then, have someone look into whether he’s had any private dealings with Yang Country people," the King of the Underworld ordered.

Hearing this, the lackey nodded expressionlessly and backed away.

Not long after the man left, a sudden commotion erupted from Wang Siming’s booth. Ye Xuan and the King of the Underworld looked over at the same time. They saw a hostess knocked to the ground by a Yang Country man, while Wang Siming was being forcefully pinned against the sofa by the others. Ye Xuan and the King of the Underworld exchanged a glance, their expressions turning more serious.

The Yang Country men were making a huge scene, and the manager of Lanshan Bar hurried over shortly. Seeing that the troublemakers were from Yang Country, the manager furrowed his brow. However, thanks to his professional training, he kept the hint of disgust hidden from his eyes. Bowing with a standard, polite smile, he asked, "Esteemed guests, may I ask what happened here?"

Seeing the manager arrive, the Yang Country man who had struck the woman finally stopped. He arrogantly straightened his clothes and spoke in heavily accented, awkward Mandarin, "Your woman is disobedient. She needed to be taught a lesson."

The manager looked at the bloodied hostess on the floor, a flash of coldness in his eyes. He shot a look at two nearby security guards, signaling them to take her away.

"Wait! Who said you could touch her?" the Yang Country man immediately intervened as soon as the guards lifted the woman from the ground.

"Sir, if you have any issues, you can discuss them with me," the manager said with a forced smile, suppressing his internal fury. "This lady is severely injured, and I must send her to the hospital."

But the Yang Country man wasn’t having it. He roughly yanked the hostess back and declared tyrannically, "We paid for this woman, so for tonight, she belongs to us. I refuse. You cannot take her away."

His words completely enraged the manager. They had indeed spent money as customers, but that sure as hell didn’t mean they could torture his staff like this.

"Sir, please cooperate with my work. I have to send her to the hospital for treatment," the manager said, taking a step forward. He stared coldly at the Yang Country man and reached out to pull the hostess from his grasp.

"Baka!" the Yang Country man cursed loudly as soon as he saw the manager reach out.

Immediately, another Yang Country man beside him drew a blade and slashed at the manager with a SWISH.

Fortunately, the manager was a trained martial artist. Having braved countless life-and-death situations with the King of the Underworld for years, he was no pushover. He swiftly took two steps back and narrowly dodged the strike. Though he wasn’t injured, his suit jacket was slashed open. Looking at his ruined clothes, the manager’s face darkened completely.

"Hall Master, are you alright?" a subordinate nearby quickly asked, noticing the torn clothing. Seeing the Yang Country men draw their blades, the bar staff immediately pulled out their own weapons.

"What are you doing? Put your weapons away!" the manager barked in a deep voice, glaring at his men.

"But..." The underlings looked at the Yang Country men indignantly, their faces full of reluctance.

The manager shot them a fierce glare, and they finally put their weapons away obediently.

"Sir, bringing weapons into our bar is already a violation of the rules," the manager said unhurriedly. He took off his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. He stretched his limbs before methodically addressing the Yang Country men. "You’ve also injured our staff member, broken our property, and ruined my clothes. I will compile an itemized bill for you."

The Yang Country man paused for a moment when he saw the manager taking off his clothes. Then, he wagged a finger at him, his eyes brimming with disdain. "You Huaxia people are nothing but all talk. You can’t do anything else."

The manager wasn’t angry. Instead, he revealed a faint smile and slowly rolled up his sleeves. "A million for injuring my staff. Five hundred thousand for smashing my table and glasses. As for ruining my jacket—taking one of your arms doesn’t seem like too much to ask, does it?" he asked coldly as he unbuttoned his collar and cracked his neck.

"Heh, you overestimate yourself!" the Yang Country man scoffed dismissively. With a SWISH, he fully drew his blade and assumed a combat stance.

"Not going to help?" Ye Xuan asked the King of the Underworld with a smile as he watched the standoff.

The King of the Underworld didn’t even bat an eyelid, calmly eating his peanuts. "If he can’t even handle a few small fry like them, then it’s time to replace my First Hall Master."

Hearing the King of the Underworld’s confident reply, Ye Xuan chuckled and raised his glass to clink it against his.

"Tsk, you have a weapon and I don’t. Seems I’m at a bit of a disadvantage," the manager clicked his tongue upon seeing the long military knife in the Yang Country man’s hand. He scanned his surroundings, crouched down to pick up two dice, and tossed them lightly in his palm. "I’ll just use these to fight you."

The onlookers were all dumbfounded when they saw him holding two dice. They wondered if he was being serious. His opponent was holding a military knife sharp enough to cut through iron, and he thought he could beat him with just two dice?

"You overestimate yourself!" the Yang Country man spat out disdainfully after a moment of shock.

The manager shot him a nonchalant glance. "Whether I overestimate myself or not, we’ll know once we fight."

With that, he struck abruptly. A die shot out from his hand as fast as a bullet. Before the Yang Country man could react, the die had already embedded itself into his left eye socket.

Blood splattered everywhere instantly. The military knife in his hand fell to the floor with a loud CLANG. Clutching his ruptured eye, he let out agonizing howls of pain.

The gory scene sent the women in the bar screaming in terror. Many people even began to retch.

Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow as he watched the manager. "This First Hall Master of yours has pretty good skills. Where did you find him?"

Hearing Ye Xuan’s praise, the King of the Underworld’s face filled with pride. "The people I pick are naturally excellent. I saved him while on a mission abroad two years ago."

"I think taking him in as your godson is much more reliable than that Guo Xiang," Ye Xuan said playfully, taking a sip of his wine.

Hearing him bring up Guo Xiang, the King of the Underworld instantly looked a bit awkward. "Let’s just drink, drink."