That evening, at a rather secluded small hotel on the outskirts of Yongnan County's urban area.
On the second floor, in a spacious suite, intense activity was emanating.
Even through the tightly shut door, the fierce verbal abuse within could be heard.
As the camera zoomed in, one could see four or five burly men gathered around a table, playing cards. Each of them had a pile of cash in front of them, their faces flushed with excitement.
In the hotel room, the floor was littered with discarded trash: beer bottles, instant noodle packets, cigarette butts, cardboard boxes, and wads of toilet paper. The entire room was choked with smoke and filth.
Not far from these men, on two beds, were two women dressed provocatively and heavily made-up.
They were crossing their stocking-clad legs, completely unconcerned about their exposed skin, and were puffing on cigarettes, exhaling clouds of smoke.
Outside, it was already dark, nearing eight o'clock in the evening.
“Brother Crow, when are you guys going to finish this card game? We’re hungry!”
A woman with big wavy hair called out to the distance.
“What the hell are you shouting about? It’s barely this late and you’re already hungry!”
One of the men playing cards looked up, his face fierce and menacing.
He was in his early thirties, his face covered in acne, making him quite ugly. Yet, he sported the fashionable Hong Kong-style side part that was all the rage, and a cigarette dangled from his lips.
This person was Crow.
“It’s already 8:20, you promised to treat us to hotpot. We didn’t even eat enough at noon, and we’ve been tired all afternoon. We’re practically starving now,”
Another woman chimed in.
“It’s past eight? Damn, it really is! I’m feeling hungry too!”
“How about this, we go eat first, and then come back to play after we’re done?”
Someone from Crow's card-playing group suggested.
Crow cursed under his breath and threw down his cards. “You all act like starving ghosts, let’s go! Let’s go eat!”
“Loser pays!”
He said, standing up to grab his discarded clothes.
The others also began to get dressed and tidy up.
*Clang clang clang!!*
Just then, a knock at the door suddenly broke the lively atmosphere in the room, bringing an abrupt silence. “Who is it?”
“Room service, here to clean.”
The person outside replied.
One of the men closest to the door instinctively opened it. His face instantly changed, and just as he was about to cry out, an arm shot out with lightning speed and clamped around his throat. An intense suffocating sensation overwhelmed him, making it impossible to breathe.
Then, he received a kick to the stomach. He was sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing into two of his companions in a cacophony of noise.
“Who?”
The sudden turn of events startled everyone in the room. They all turned their gaze towards the doorway.
Then, as they clearly saw the face of the person who had entered, many of their complexions changed.
Crow’s face shifted the fastest. Without a word, he roared, “Stop them!”
He himself, however, shamelessly lunged towards the window, preparing to open the doors and windows as quickly as possible to escape.
“Crow, do you really think you can get away tonight?”
Yao Dong casually picked up a beer bottle from the floor and hurled it.
*Whoosh!!*
The beer bottle whistled through the air, emitting a sharp whistling sound.
Crow, hearing something flying towards him as he prepared to flee, instinctively ducked and covered his head.
*Crack!!*
The beer bottle smashed against the window frame, sending shards of glass flying.
Seizing the opportunity, Yao Dong surged forward like a leopard.
Someone tried to block him, but Yao Dong landed a punch on their jaw. The man grunted and fell backward.
The scene terrified the two women in the room. They clutched their blankets and huddled in a corner, screaming incessantly.
At the window, Crow saw Yao Dong charging towards him. He hadn’t yet opened the window and realized his best chance of escape had vanished.
He was equally decisive. His expression turned ferocious as he drew a dagger he carried in his back pocket and fiercely lunged at Yao Dong.
Under the bright lights, the dagger glinted sharply. Yao Dong frowned and temporarily evaded the thrust.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!!*
Crow was clearly skilled with a knife. The dagger was incredibly agile in his hands, parrying, thrusting, stabbing, and slashing – he performed each move with ease.
Yao Dong continued to retreat.
“Heizi, are you playing around? Hurry up and finish this so we can get things done!”
At the hotel entrance, Bai Xiaoguang leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching the scene unfold lazily.
“What’s the rush? You have to give him a chance to showcase his skills, otherwise, if we just take him down quickly, wouldn’t it tarnish Brother Crow’s reputation?”
Yao Dong replied casually while dodging the dagger’s edge.
However, his actions suddenly changed. As Crow lunged again, Yao Dong’s fingers clawed out and clamped onto the man's wrist.
He then applied downward pressure, twisting. Crow let out a pained scream as his wrist bent at a ninety-degree angle. The dagger, tightly held, slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.
Yao Dong’s dark face was cold. He delivered a swift kick to Crow’s stomach.
*Bang!!*
The kick landed, and Crow’s whole body trembled. He collapsed onto the ground, clutching his stomach and convulsing, his face filled with undisguised terror.
“I thought the great Brother Crow had some real skills, but he’s actually this useless!”
Yao Dong picked up the dagger from the floor, fiddling with it as he taunted.
“Yao Dong, I was innocent last time too!”
“I really didn’t expect those outsiders to be so overbearing. They beat up Brother Qin Er without a word!”
Crow, lying on the ground, was filled with fear and immediately surrendered.
In the face of absolute strength, it was not shameful to back down. What was the point of pride when it meant getting beaten?
As for the others in the room, they were already stunned into immobility, too scared to move.
Ever since they recognized Yao Dong and Bai Xiaoguang, they had been dumbfounded.
Everyone involved in the Yongnan County underworld knew that Qin Chuan had several formidable fighters.
One was Yao Dong, nicknamed “Heizi” (Blackie), and the other was Bai Xiaoguang, nicknamed “Paigu” (Ribs). These two were privately referred to as the "Black and White Double Fiends." While the nickname wasn’t particularly flattering, it definitely represented a certain level of power.
Furthermore, there were rumors that Qin Chuan's older brother, Qin Yang, and a man named Zheng Chengdao, nicknamed "Brother Dao," were even more formidable.
“We’ve been too scared to go out these past few days, so we’ve just been hiding in this rundown hotel, lying low.”
Crow, with a mournful expression, spoke from the floor.
“I didn’t expect you guys to find us!”
Looking at Crow, who was now fawning and begging on the floor, Yao Dong revealed a look of disdain and contempt. He despised such spineless individuals the most.
“Where are the people who beat up Brother Qin Er?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
Yao Dong pressed the sharp dagger against Crow’s chin. The coldness of the blade made Crow tremble, and he quickly shouted, “I know! I know!”