Xu Lie handed the car over to Li Chonglou, and then took him into the casino.
The underground black boxing industry has always been supported by gambling.
Although the country is currently cracking down hard on gambling, there are always a few who slip through the cracks in every city.
As for the reasons, everyone knows.
This casino, which looked like an ordinary mahjong parlor from the outside, was actually hiding secrets within.
After passing through the front rooms, they entered the backyard and then the elevator.
As soon as the doors opened on B2, a strong smell of smoke hit Li Chonglou, making him frown.
Immediately after, a space as vast as a parking lot unfolded before them.
The lighting was dim, but it was filled with a crowd of men and women, creating a noisy and boisterous atmosphere.
The further inside they walked, the more people there were.
"The audience seats are over there. I'm going to change and prepare for the fight." Xu Lie pointed to a bustling area in front of them before a door and walked in.
Li Chonglou surveyed his surroundings. The chaotic place in front was the boxing ring.
It was hard to imagine that in this oppressive and enclosed underground space, there was such a thrilling place.
If it weren't for Xu Lie, Li Chonglou doubted if he would ever have the chance to witness these unique scenes of the dark world.
As he got closer, he realized that the so-called boxing ring was actually a locked iron cage.
In the center was an octagon, with countless benches resembling those in old bus stations, for the audience to watch.
At that moment, two burly men were exchanging punches and kicks inside the iron cage. One of them had swollen eyes and a face covered in blood, clearly on the verge of collapse.
Around them, at least a hundred spectators were roaring hysterically, as if they had taken stimulants.
Li Chonglou frowned. He preferred quiet.
He wouldn't have come to such a place if it weren't for Xu Lie.
However, since he was here, he decided to make the best of it. His eyes gleamed as he looked at the betting tables outside the ring.
At the same time.
In the office of the underground boxing arena.
In front of three surveillance screens, a balding middle-aged man sat in his boss chair, lighting one cigarette after another.
Each time, he would stub out the cigarette halfway in the ashtray.
His faintly visible eyebrows were tightly furrowed, as if burdened by a serious 심결.
Seeing his subordinate knock and enter, the balding man asked coldly, "Has Xu Lie arrived?"
"Just arrived, changing clothes," the subordinate replied respectfully.
"Did you tell him my terms?" the balding man continued to ask.
"Yes, but he disagreed. He said this is his last fight and he will never lose," the subordinate's voice lowered, as if afraid of angering the balding man.
Upon hearing this, the balding man's eyes narrowed into slits. He stood up and walked towards his subordinate. The half-lit cigarette in his hand, he fiercely pressed onto his subordinate's face.
Sizzle.
A faint sound, as if something had fallen into boiling oil, was heard. The subordinate's face contorted in pain, but he gritted his teeth and did not flinch.
He let the cigarette burn out on his face, not daring to make a sound.
"He's ungrateful! Does he think he's my cash cow and can act so recklessly!" The balding man's eyes were venomous, and his voice was like that of a vengeful ghost. "It was I who gave him the name 'Frenzied Tiger'!"
"And I've been paying his sister's tuition all these years."
"Now I'm just asking him to throw one fight to regain his freedom, and he treats me like dirt? What does he think he is?"
"Without him, I can groom someone else!"
After a string of low growls, the balding man twisted his neck and looked at his subordinate, whose face had been scalded and scarred.
With murderous intent in his eyes, he shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Since he's not cooperating, let's give him some help!"
"This match, no matter what it takes, he must lose, or I'll take your head."
"Yes!" The subordinate, trembling with fear, quickly retreated.
In the balding man's eyes, murderous intent was as dense as substance.
At this moment, in front of the boxing ring, the two burly men had already decided the victor. The one with swollen eyes had fallen to the ground, but his opponent was still pinning him down, breaking his arm on the spot. He was then carried out of the cage, unconscious.
The people who had bet on him below let out a roar of disappointment and curses.
Conversely, the excited cheers erupted, and a brutal aura permeated the entire venue.
Li Chonglou stood before the betting table, looking at the day's match card.
Xu Lie was in the final match, the main event.
After all, he was a seven-time consecutive boxing champion with a record of 34 wins and 1 draw, with no defeats. He was undeniably the Frenzied Tiger.
"Excuse me, who was the one-draw in this Frenzied Tiger's record?" Li Chonglou asked the person at the betting counter, his eyelids twitching slightly.
The person raised his eyelids, "I don't know. Just bet if you want to bet, why ask about these things?"
"If you're not betting, get lost!"
The voice was arrogant and utterly uninhibited.
This was already an illegal territory, and a place to watch violence. It seemed that every person's bones were filled with a violent gene.
Seeing this, Li Chonglou asked no further and continued to examine Xu Lie's match data.
His opponent was named Cheng Jun, with odds of 1:10.
While Xu Lie's odds were only 1:0.5.
The odds were astonishingly low, likely due to Xu Lie's long-standing dominance in the underground black boxing market.
His undefeated record as a constant victor left almost no room for doubt.
Li Chonglou did not gamble easily, because gambling was manipulated by humans, with the sole purpose of making money. Gamblers would immerse themselves in the thrill of randomness, but the manipulators would not.
They had precise calculations, excluding every factor that could affect their earnings.
They opened their pockets, waiting for gamblers to fall into them.
But this time, it was Xu Lie's final battle, and it held a different significance.
"I'll bet four million on Xu Lie to win." Li Chonglou did not hesitate, taking out two-thirds of his money to place the bet.
Qin Zhou was a small place after all. With Xu Lie's skill, there would likely be no unexpected outcomes.
In his previous life, Xu Lie had successfully defeated the last opponent, also named Cheng Jun, and then retired from the underground boxing scene, encountering him and becoming his bodyguard.
In this life, he would absolutely not lose.
No one had more confidence in Xu Lie than Li Chonglou.
Since that was the case, why not earn some easy money?
After placing his bet, Li Chonglou found a relatively secluded spot to wait for the matches to begin.
There were two more boxing matches in between, but they were lackluster and lacked any technical skill. From Li Chonglou's current perspective, they were like street brawls.
However, the brutality was far beyond what one would normally see in a brawl.
It was no wonder Xu Lie had dominated here for so many years undefeated; this level of skill was probably not much stronger than his own.
Finally.
An hour later, it was Xu Lie's turn to enter the ring.
His upper body was completely bare, revealing a body covered in countless scars. Wearing boxing gloves and shorts, Xu Lie's appearance immediately drew screams from the numerous spectators.
At least four-fifths of the people present had bet heavily on him.
After all, who would refuse free money?
Next, the boxer named Cheng Jun also stepped onto the ring, but compared to Xu Lie, his cheers were significantly weaker.
Seeing that the entire venue was filled with Xu Lie's supporters, Cheng Jun's eyes flashed with malevolence as he looked towards a short-haired youth in the audience with a scar on his face.
The youth subtly made an "ok" gesture to him, his eyes filled with coldness.
This subtle movement would not have been noticed by anyone.
At least, not by the excited spectators at the scene, but there was one person who witnessed the entire process.
That person was Li Chonglou.
"This fight is rigged!" With just this glance and gesture, Li Chonglou instantly analyzed an unfavorable conclusion.
Xu Lie was in danger, and his four million might go up in smoke.