Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After exiting the highway onto National Highway 310, Xie Ye and I found a hotel in a nearby county town to check in.

We were already being watched; traveling at night would only be more dangerous.

I swept the hotel room once, pulled the curtains shut, and immediately grabbed him by the collar.

“Dammit, who exactly did your family offend to attract the people from Black Mouth? How many lives do you think you have to play with!”

My initial indifference had shifted into a mounting anxiety. It was because when I had been strangling that man earlier, I caught sight of a strange tattoo on the back of his neck, behind his ear.

It was an oracle bone script symbol resembling the character “kou” (mouth). The upper portion looked like an upturned mouth, yet also like a twisting snake.

I racked my brain over that eerie, familiar symbol for a long time before confirming it belonged to a terrifying underworld organization-Black Mouth.

Criminal syndicates are common enough. I spent ten years in the underworld of Guang City; even the local boss there, Old Luo, would greet me warmly if he saw me.

Back in Kun City, my master Chen Erwu’s name was known to everyone. The biggest gang leader in Kun City would personally visit my master every Lunar New Year to pay his respects.

In my memory, people in the underworld weren’t anything special. Take Old Luo, for example-a dark, thin middle-aged man who wore nearsighted glasses that looked like reading glasses. He liked wearing a tank top and flip-flops to play mahjong in the parlors.

As a fellow mahjong enthusiast, I would sometimes join his table in the smoke-filled rooms. He once even complained to me that the pressure of life was too much, that he had a huge family of subordinates to support, and that he was so stressed his hair was turning white.

Of course, those complaints weren’t exactly true.

Old Luo built his fortune on smuggling and had done plenty of illegal things. He feared no one in Guang City, walking tall in both the legal and criminal worlds.

But even a man like that felt fear on occasion.

For instance, he was afraid of a terrorist organization called Black Mouth.

There was a period when the number of missing persons cases in Guang City was abnormally high, drawing the attention of the police. They questioned Old Luo several times, both openly and discreetly.

Old Luo was annoyed. As the local boss, he wanted to teach those rule-breakers a lesson to avoid being implicated himself.

But after some investigation, he became terrified.

He couldn’t find anything. This organization was trafficking people and smuggling organs right under his nose, yet the moment he made contact, even the men he sent vanished without a trace.

It wasn’t just him; the police had also sent in undercover agents. Initially, they managed to gather some clues, but when it came time to plan a strike, they lost contact with the undercover officer.

By the time the person was seen again, Black Mouth had already retreated silently. They left behind the dismembered body of the undercover cop stuffed into a suitcase-nothing but a few charred limbs.

The tongue had been cut out, the eyes gouged, and the forensic report showed that boiling water had been poured into the ears… In short, he had suffered every kind of inhuman torture, and every harvestable organ had been stripped clean.

Such cruel and vicious methods made even Old Luo’s skin crawl.

He said the people in Black Mouth were animals-devoid of humanity, utterly revolting.

For a gang boss to use the word “revolting,” it showed they were truly depraved beyond belief.

Yet the scariest part was that this revolting organization thrived in the dark corners of every city, running their criminal operations in an orderly fashion. At the slightest sign of trouble, they would vanish without a trace.

People go missing in cities every hour of every day, and such cases are notoriously difficult to solve. Black Mouth had been active for so many years not just because of their caution, but because their cases often crossed international borders.

I really hadn’t expected the Gu Family’s business disputes to provoke this lot.

So, clutching Xie Ye’s clothes, I said irritably, “Do you know who I am? Did your mother ever tell you that I have blood on my hands? Your family did me a favor, but I, Chen Qi, value my life. I don’t plan on getting myself killed for you.”

Xie Ye gripped my hand. His face was pale from my shouting, but his voice remained quite steady. “Chen Qi, you won’t die. I saw it just now-those people are no match for you.”

“Are you an idiot? That was just luck. After a fight like that, there’s no guarantee they won’t just pull out guns next time we meet.”

I shot him a frustrated look. Xie Ye opened his mouth as if to speak but hesitated, looking at me with a pale face. His expression was actually somewhat sorrowful.
Still fuming, I didn’t bother looking at him again. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.

Before long, a man’s voice came through the other end in fluent Cantonese. “Shan Que! Where have you been lately? You haven’t come by to play cards. Without you here, those guys have been winning a fortune off me. Hurry back and help Brother Luo cover the bottom.”

“Brother Luo, I can’t make it back for a while. I’ve run into some trouble.”

With the phone pressed to my ear, I pulled out a cigarette with one hand. As I was fumbling for a lighter, Xie Ye reached over and lit it for me.

Old Luo chuckled. “What’s the matter? Is there something you can’t settle? Tell me, and Brother Luo will take care of it for you.”

“It’s not that simple. It’s quite a mess.”

With that simple sentence, a man as sharp as Old Luo stopped asking questions. He only said, “Fine then. We’ll play cards when you get back. Stay safe. If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word.”

“Brother Luo, I need a gun.”

“…”

After ending the call with Old Luo, I wasn’t in a great mood. I sat by the window alone, smoking dejectedly.

Xie Ye seemed a bit uneasy and tried to coax me. “I heard from my mom that Elder Chen of the Kuncheng Natural Gate is a true kung fu master. They say he can walk on water as if it were level ground, and his internal power is so formidable he can even catch bullets.”

“Pfft.”

I let out a rare laugh. “Did your mom also tell you that I can catch bullets with my bare hands?”

Xie Ye thought about it, nodded, and then sighed.

“You actually believe that? Are you an idiot?” I glanced at him.

He looked a bit indignant. “My dad said the founder of your Natural Gate, Xu Aishi, could travel back and forth between Hunan and Sichuan in a single night with his light-footwork. His kung fu was divine. Your master, Elder Chen, is also a high-level expert. He personally told my father that once the Natural Gate fist techniques reach the Thirteen Styles, it becomes ‘Heavenly Realm’ kung fu, and one can even catch bullets.”

“… The old man certainly has some skills, and his bragging is quite convincing,” I said gloomily.

Xie Ye looked utterly disappointed, like a little boy who no longer believed in Ultraman. He sighed. “I really am a fool for believing such things. Especially after meeting you, I was firmly convinced that you were a hidden master who was omnipotent.”

I slowly blew a smoke ring and leaned back slightly. “The first time you met me was at a bar. I didn’t do anything. How did you become so convinced I was omnipotent?”

Xie Ye pursed his lips, looking slightly annoyed. “What do you mean you didn’t do anything? You did everything, and you did it quite thoroughly. Very well, in fact. And now you’re eating your fill and wiping your mouth like nothing happened.”

I choked for a moment and shot him a look. “Did I not tell you never to mention that again?”

“I’m mentioning it. I’ll mention it all I want. Not only will I mention it, I want you to give me a clear explanation.”

Xie Ye sat in the chair next to me, fuming as he argued with me. “Didn’t you coax me and say if I was good, you’d take responsibility? Do you just forget what you say the next day? You left me behind and ran away. Chen Qi, do you even have a heart?”

My hand holding the cigarette paused, and the corner of my mouth twitched. “Are you an idiot? You actually took that seriously?”

“Of course I took it seriously. How can you not stand by your word…”

By the time Xie Ye finished, he was exasperated, his face flushed with anger.

I swept a glance over him. “You’re not a child anymore. Adults have to take responsibility for their own actions.”

“Adults should also have basic integrity and morals.”

“… Shut up. Is this the time to be discussing this?”

“… Fine, we won’t discuss it now. But let me ask you, after this is over, are you going to take responsibility for me?”

“No.”

“Why!”

“… The experience was too poor.”

“You’re lying!”

Xie Ye’s face turned beet red, and he was both anxious and annoyed. “Don’t speak against your conscience. You know the truth in your heart. Chen Qi, a person shouldn’t be so dishonest.”

I narrowed my eyes, my temper rising at his words. I raised my hand, intending to give him a chop to the neck-

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll beat you to death!”

“…”

Xie Ye successfully shut his mouth, his handsome face full of resentment. His dark eyes watched me, and then he suddenly muttered quickly, “If you beat me to death, you’ll have to take even more responsibility.”

“You motherf-”

I raised my hand again, wanting to strike him, but seeing his stubborn gaze, I was momentarily provoked into a laugh.

“Are you done? You’d better pray you live long enough to reach Nancheng first.”