Chapter Nineteen: Surprise Attack
Our group included Xiang Yu, myself, Hua Mulan, Jing Ke, and even Qin Shi Huang joined in the fun. Wu Sangui was carrying the map. Although I was quite annoyed that a traitor was in charge of this operation, it certainly increased the safety factor considerably. Xiang Yu was reckless, Hua Mulan wasn't good at siege warfare, only Wu Sangui was cunning and shrewd; if he genuinely wanted to help, this kind of small matter should be foolproof.
We pretended to go downstairs for dinner—because I knew Baozi definitely wasn't asleep. I knocked on her door and said, "What do you want to eat? I'll bring you some."
Baozi said, "If you have any wontons, bring me a bowl."
...It's bizarre. We're about to embark on a murderous mission to avenge her, and she suddenly wants to eat wontons. Normally, the female protagonist would fall into one of two categories at this point: either a proponent of war, in which case she should lean tenderly against the male protagonist (me) and softly say, "I'll wait for you to come back..." or a proponent of peace, holding tightly to his hand and pleading, "It's not worth it for me..." He wouldn't listen and would resolutely leave. Or, to be even more direct, she could shove a shield into his hand like a Spartan woman, saying with a double meaning, "If there is no victory, I wish you would lie on this (implying death)."
...But she actually wanted to eat wontons. It seems Baozi hasn't suffered much emotional trauma. Therefore, I think catching Lei Ming and having him apologize is enough.
After going downstairs, Wu Sangui took out a map again and said, "Let's deal with them one by one from west to east, so they have time to prepare." I looked and saw that the westernmost one was a bar. Lei Laosi's six establishments were all located in very good areas, so a carpet bombing was a good idea.
We arrived at the location quickly. At the entrance, Wu Sangui said, "Let's divide the tasks again. When we go in, the four of us will be responsible for fighting, Xiaoqiang will keep watch, that kid surnamed Lei might be inside, don't let him get away. Your Majesty, you will be responsible for observing the movements of the soldiers."
I suddenly realized, "Yeah, Brother Ying, keep an eye on the police, I almost forgot about that."
Once inside, Xiang Yu frowned at the dim lighting and said, "We need to clear the area first; that kid will run away in the chaos later."
Qin Shi Huang climbed onto the stage, hoisted that hot young woman onto his backside, and grabbed the microphone, saying, "We're here to fight, so stop messing around!"
More than half of the people below couldn't understand what he was saying, and were even swaying their hips to the music. Some were shouting for Qin Shi Huang to get off the stage, while others thought it was some new program arranged by the bar and started to cheer and clap.
Jing Ke leaped forward, snatched the microphone, and shouted, "Murder! Anyone who doesn't want to die, get out!"
A commotion erupted below. This kind of thing happens often in bars; the quick-witted ones rushed towards the door, followed closely by the others. Some who had been drinking and hadn't paid also mingled in the crowd and ran off.
Jing Ke glanced at Qin Shi Huang with disdain and said, "Speak Mandarin next time."
At this moment, thugs started rushing out from both sides of the stage, and the waiters threw down their plates and all scurried over. Since it was a gangster operation, the waiters naturally had to act as henchmen.
Jing Ke, occupying the high ground, used his fists to smash the thugs climbing towards the stage. Qin Shi Huang, hiding behind him, secretly used the microphone pole to poke people on the head.
Xiang Yu reached out and grabbed two henchmen who were passing by, throwing them behind the bar. Wu Sangui, on the other hand, tucked a waiter under his arm and with a jerk, the boy rolled his eyes and passed out.
Mulan performs a beautiful set of military-style boxing, chin in hand, hip kicks, but keeping everyone at bay. She's now quite comfortable in high heels, though those Daphne shoes are a pity.
The moment these three made their move, bystanders collapsed to the ground. Half of the dozen or so men who had initially rushed towards Ersha and Fatty were immediately drawn over. Because the battle was erupting right next to me, even though I hadn't been exposed yet, one of my henchmen, wielding a stick, charged straight at me. In a normal situation, I'd probably just swing a brick and join the fun. But with four top experts holding things up, I couldn't be bothered to move. I innocently shrugged at the stick: "I don't know them at all!"
Stick gave me a suspicious look, but in the end, he turned and went to find someone else. He must have thought that the people who came to cause trouble were all masters of Xiang Yu's caliber, and would never lie to him like this.
As soon as he turned his face away, I grabbed a bottle and smacked him on the back of the head—I'm a little lazy to fight back, but I don't mind hitting him on the back of the head.
As the stick fell, it looked at me resentfully, its mouth seeming to move slightly, perhaps questioning why I had lied to it. That look made me feel a little guilty.
But while I was ambushing someone, I didn't expect to be ambushed myself. A seemingly refined waiter grabbed me from behind, trying to knock me down. I struggled fiercely. He wasn't as strong as me, and just as I was about to succeed, another henchman rushed out from the side, picked up a stick from the ground without saying a word, and started hitting me hard on the head. If I had been hit, I would have been in serious trouble.
Just then, a thick, muscular arm blocked my view, and with a "crack," a stick smashed against it. It was Wu Sangui! The young man looked up and saw a bear-like old man grinning coldly at him; he was instantly dumbfounded. Wu Sangui grabbed his hair and shoved his face into the table.
I kicked down the fake male waiter who had ambushed me, and waved to Wu Sangui: "Thanks... Third Brother." Wu Sangui laughed and rejoined the fray.
It has to be said that although that old traitor was quite a scoundrel, he was actually quite selfless once he stood on your side. That's probably why so many people still followed him despite his repeated betrayals. Although I have a lot of opinions about him, he saved you, and I certainly can't bring myself to say something like, "I don't need your help."
I took a moment to look around. By now, most of the people who had been drinking had run away, more than half of the thugs who were guarding the place were down, and the rest didn't dare to come any closer. There was no one else around.
Three minutes later, the battle was completely over. I grabbed a waiter whose head was covered in blood and demanded, "Where's Lei Ming?"
The waiter said in horror, "He...he never comes here."
"Where does he like to go?"
"Young Master Lei... usually hangs out at those few nightclubs."
Wu Sangui pulled out a map: "Let me see where to go next. Hmm, the Rich Man's Nightclub, perfect!"
Xiang Yu said, "If that's the case, then I guess we don't need to go to those bars, right?"
Those we knocked down stared at us in disbelief. Wu Sangui glared at them and said, "What are you looking at? Go quickly and inform your Young Master Lei to wash his neck and wait for us. We're just a few of us going to find him."
Seeing that no one moved, Wu Sangui slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Hurry up and go!"
I whispered in his ear, "Actually, all you need to do is make a phone call."
Hua Mulan said, "Let's just keep going, and they will naturally take care of the land for us."
Once outside and in the car, Xiang Yu said, "It seems we'll have to smash up at least one more of their places to get them to gather their men, otherwise we won't get their attention. We need to hurry, let's head straight for the Rich Man's Nightclub!"
Wu Sangui said, "I was just thinking about it, but unfortunately I don't know what kind of person that kid surnamed Lei is. If he's a brave and aggressive person, it will be easy to deal with him; he will definitely be waiting for us at the Rich Man's place. If he's more shrewd, he will probably be discussing countermeasures elsewhere."
I gripped the steering wheel and asked, "So where are we going now?"
Wu Sangui said, "The only way to deal with all changes is to remain unchanged. Let's go to the wealthy place."
I glared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense!"
When we arrived at the Rich Man's Nightclub, we were in for a surprise. It had become a playground for thugs. Everywhere—at the entrance, on the curb, and even at the street corner—were swarming with furtive hooligans. Some wore plaid shirts, others had dyed hair in every color, and still others had tattoos of various animals, all peeking and looking around suspiciously. It seemed the Lei family hadn't been idle since receiving the news; they'd brought in a whole host of underlings. In less than ten minutes, thugs from roughly every mile radius had gathered. I had to admit, I had to admire the Lei family's power. Although it seemed half of these thugs were just there to watch the show, without substantial wealth and influence, even the most famous figures in the underworld couldn't have created such a commotion.
Wu Sangui glanced outside and laughed, "The Lei family is indeed quite something."
I was starting to have second thoughts. Judging by the situation, there were far more people inside, while we only had six. Basically, each of us would have to deal with more than 20. If they eliminated me and Qin Shi Huang, the burden on their shoulders would be even heavier. Although Xiang Yu was said to be able to defeat ten thousand men, I didn't believe that claim—even eating ten thousand melon seeds would make you feel hot and bothered.
But faced with this situation, I noticed that everyone looked very relaxed. I tentatively asked, "Should we break in from the outside, or infiltrate first?"
Wu Sangui said, "Go straight in and find Lei Ming. If we delay any longer, the government troops might interfere."
There's no need to worry about that. As a gangster, if he knew someone was coming to raid his territory and then called the police, how could Lei Laosi maintain his reputation in the underworld? At that point, he wouldn't even need me; the street thugs would rebel against him.
We got out of the car and pretended to be there for some fun, walking inside with our hands behind our backs. Even so, we still attracted attention, because anyone genuinely there to relax would never dare go in after seeing this. Of course, no one could be sure we were there to cause trouble. Probably no one had ever seen a group like ours come to cause trouble—not only were we empty-handed, but we also had men, women, young and old, and even a fat guy…