...
In the East District, near the outskirts of the city, there was a hidden underground casino in an old Urban Village.
The shady casino’s business had always been pretty good, but in recent months, a special operation by the authorities had caused it to plummet.
In the northeast corner of the Urban Village stood a single-story house with a large character for "demolish" painted on its wall. Inside, the room was filled with cold air from the air conditioning.
A stout man with bright blond hair and an earring spoke to a fierce-looking man in front of him. The fierce-looking man was sitting on a sofa, shirtless, with his arm around a glamorous, heavily made-up woman in revealing clothes.
"Boss, we’ve barely had any customers at the casino these past few months. If this keeps up, we won’t be able to put food on the table."
The fierce-looking man, who stood one meter eighty tall, took the glass of red wine poured for him by the glamorous, scantily clad woman beside him. He took a sip and let out a long sigh.
"Zhu Daqi, your boss knows what you’re saying, but this is the situation. The authorities are cracking down hard right now. Even if a lot of customers dared to come, we wouldn’t dare take them all in! After all, the more people there are, the easier it is for word to get out. A shady business like ours can only operate this way under the circumstances," the glamorous, scantily clad woman explained.
Zhu Daqi, the man with bright blond hair and an earring, said,
"Li, the brothers’ income has been slashed these past few months. They can’t make ends meet. From what I know, a lot of them have had to borrow money."
"As long as the authorities’ special operation is ongoing, the casino can’t operate normally. For the sake of the brothers, I think we need to find some other way to make money."
Zhu Daqi hadn’t come to his boss with these words on his own initiative. The other brothers felt the same way; he was just their representative, voicing what was on everyone’s mind.
The thugs who did the dirty work at this underground casino were used to spending money freely.
When the casino’s business was good, their pay was high, so living paycheck to paycheck while spending lavishly wasn’t a problem.
But these were extraordinary times. The authorities’ special operation had slashed the casino’s revenue by at least ninety percent, causing everyone’s income to plummet. For thugs accustomed to a lavish lifestyle, it was sheer agony.
"Old Liu..." the glamorous, scantily clad woman murmured, turning to the casino boss who was holding a wine glass.
The fierce-looking Liu Menglong downed the red wine in his glass. "I understand the situation," he said. "You’re dismissed. Wait for my orders."
"Yes, Boss." Seeing his boss say this, Zhu Daqi knew things were about to change. He nodded and left the small house.
The glamorous, scantily clad woman picked up the bottle, refilled the wine glass, and asked, "Old Liu, what are you going to do?"
"Haven’t decided yet. But Heaven never seals all exits. For me, is making money ever that hard?" Liu Menglong said with a laugh. He then raised the refilled glass and downed it in one gulp.
After downing several glasses of red wine in a row, Liu Menglong was slightly drunk. He stood up, ready to go to his room for a nap.
But just then, he suddenly whipped his head toward the door and barked, "Who’s there?"
The glamorous, scantily clad woman had been about to clear away some of the snacks on the coffee table. Hearing Liu Menglong shout at the doorway, she froze and looked toward the entrance.
A man with a buzz cut, carrying a black plastic bag, walked into the room.
He wore a faint smile, his expression calm as he looked at the menacing Liu Menglong and the wary, scantily clad woman.
"Hello," Li Ying said with a smile, greeting Liu Menglong.
"Who the hell are you?" Liu Menglong was furious that this stranger had entered his home without permission.
But seeing the man’s calm demeanor, he decided to size up the situation before teaching the rude bastard a lesson.
"My name is Huang Liu. Mr. Liu Menglong, I’ve come here today to discuss some business with you..." Li Ying gave a fake name and stated his purpose.
Liu Menglong was surprised that this man, Huang Liu, knew his name. Hearing that he was here for business, Liu Menglong’s anger dissipated considerably. He gestured for Li Ying to sit.
Li Ying sat on the sofa across from Liu Menglong and glanced at the glamorous, scantily clad woman beside him.
Liu Menglong knew what Li Ying was thinking and said, "She’s not an outsider. You can speak freely."
"I want to hire you to teach someone a lesson..." Li Ying said, getting straight to the point.
Hearing this, Liu Menglong thought for a moment and said, "When you say ’teach a lesson,’ I assume you don’t mean a simple beatdown, do you?"
"That’s right. I need you to break the man’s arms and legs..." Li Ying stated the brutal words as if he were discussing the weather.
"..."
Liu Menglong and the glamorous, scantily clad woman fell silent upon hearing Li Ying’s request. It wasn’t that they were horrified by it; rather, they realized the man who had come to them for business was a ruthless character himself.
"Since you know my name, you should know what business I’m in. If you’re looking for someone to teach a lesson, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong person," Liu Menglong said after a moment of contemplation.
"Is that so? Mr. Liu, are you saying you can’t take this job?"
"If that’s the case, then fine. I won’t disturb you any longer..." As he spoke, Li Ying stood up to leave.
Seeing Li Ying get up to leave so decisively, Liu Menglong quickly stopped him. "Mr. Huang, please, wait. That’s not what I meant."
Just a short while ago, his subordinate Zhu Daqi had come to him, explaining the difficult situation his men were in.
Now was precisely the time they needed to find some other work to make money. With a client who had come to his door to talk business, Liu Menglong wasn’t about to let him just walk away.
Li Ying stopped and looked at Liu Menglong. The latter laughed heartily. "I’ve been planning to branch out into other lines of business recently. Mr. Huang’s request happens to fall right within my scope of operations."
"Come, come, have a seat. Tell me the details about the person you want taught a lesson... Quick, pour Mr. Huang a glass of wine."
The scantily clad, glamorous woman nodded. She got a clean glass, filled it with red wine, and brought it to Li Ying.
"Thank you." Li Ying thanked the glamorous, scantily clad woman. After taking the glass, he didn’t drink from it but placed it on the coffee table in front of him.
Neither Liu Menglong nor the glamorous, scantily clad woman was surprised that Li Ying didn’t drink the wine. After all, no one would casually drink something poured by a stranger.
"This is the information on the person I want you to teach a lesson..." Li Ying opened the black plastic bag, took out a paper file, and handed it to Liu Menglong.
Liu Menglong took it and immediately began to look through it. Then, his brow furrowed.
The target was a young man who had just graduated from college this year. He was at Tier One Peak and had recently obtained his Exotic Beast Hunter license, making him an official Exotic Beast Hunter registered with the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild.
"So? Can you take this job?" Li Ying asked, noticing Liu Menglong’s furrowed brow.
"I thought my target would be an ordinary person. I didn’t expect it to be an Exotic Beast Hunter."
"To reach Tier One Peak at such a young age... his cultivation talent isn’t bad at all!" After reading the file, Liu Menglong passed it to the scantily clad, glamorous woman beside him.
The woman’s expression didn’t change much as she looked over the target’s details in the file.
...