As I did all of this, every movement was slow and careful. After I was sure there was no blood left on my hands, I looked at myself in the mirror to make sure there was no blood left on my body.
I checked the time; from the moment I walked in until I finished what I needed to do, it took a total of three minutes and thirty seconds…
As I walked out of the hair salon, the young woman at the door looked at me with some surprise, seemingly wanting to stop me, but after I threw down a few bills, she immediately stopped making any other moves.
As I walked out the gate, the driver of the sand snake was already sitting in the car, holding a disposable paper bucket and eating something with chopsticks—probably takeout.
His gaze swept over me again, but this time I ignored him and walked straight to his side. Then I stood outside the car door and gently knocked on the window.
The guy rolled down the car window impatiently and asked me something in Cantonese. I didn't answer, but took out a cigarette and gestured for a light. He frowned, but still glanced at me, and subconsciously put a piece of beef from his chopsticks into his mouth, while his other hand reached into his pocket to get a lighter for me…
In that split second, I suddenly raised my hand and slapped the back of his hand holding the chopsticks hard!
*Smack!*
The chopsticks were shoved straight into his mouth, almost piercing his throat!
Finally, blood gushed from his mouth, but because of his angle, the blood sprayed into the car. I gently stepped aside and watched as he painfully reached for his mouth, trying to pull out the chopsticks... This is a natural human reflex.
So I punched his hand hard again!
This time, with the force of my punch, the chopsticks went even deeper, and although they hadn't pierced his throat before, they had now truly gone through! The chopsticks had obviously broken into two pieces!
The driver struggled frantically inside the car, letting out painful, distorted screams, but he could no longer make a sound...
I knew perfectly well that he was doomed.
I immediately turned and left the car, coldly walking quickly towards the other end of the street. Behind me, I heard car horns blaring incessantly; the driver had probably passed out and was slumped over the steering wheel...
The piercing sound of the horn startled the girl in the hair salon. She ran out and immediately let out a blood-curdling scream. Amidst the screams and car horns, I walked out of the street, got into a car on the corner, and sped away.
After the car drove down a street, I put one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand in my mouth, biting my fingers a few times.
I put a small plastic film over each of my fingers to make sure I don't leave any fingerprints.
Then I drove the car to the place Eighth Master had specified—a car wash. As soon as my car went in, several workers came over and washed it with water guns. I got out of the car, didn't say a word to them, and went straight to the back. I quickly took off my jacket, removed my mustache, and threw it into a metal trash can. Then I picked up a bottle from a corner, poured the liquid inside into it, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and threw the burning cigarette into the trash can…
boom!!
A burst of flames erupted from the trash can! The raging fire burned everything to ashes.
I stared at the ball of flame, lost in thought.
Suddenly, I felt waves of nausea, and then I rushed to the small door of the restroom next to me, shoved my head into a small toilet stall, squatted down, and vomited almost while hugging the toilet!
I kept vomiting. I felt like my stomach was cramping, and I threw up almost everything I had eaten and drunk that afternoon. Even after my stomach was empty, I was still clinging to the toilet, almost bringing up my own bile!
My face was covered in snot and tears. There was also filth left at the corner of my mouth. I was panting heavily, feeling as if all my energy had been drained away, my body light and limp…
After calming myself down, I went outside, turned on the tap, and splashed water on my face. Then I started washing my hands again! I picked up the soap and washed my hands five times, scrubbing them until my skin was red! But I didn't stop! I even picked up a brush and scrubbed my hands frantically!
Even though I scrubbed my hands raw and they bled, I still felt an unbearable lingering smell of blood on them... that filthy smell almost made me vomit again...
He lifted his face to look in the mirror... The man in the mirror was ashen-faced, water droplets clinging to his skin, rolling down his hair and cheeks. A twisted, ferocious glint appeared in his eyes...
A chill ran down my spine...
Is this really me? Is this me, Chen Yang? Is this me, Xiao Wu?
I forced a smile at myself in the mirror. In the mirror, I had a mouthful of teeth that weren't yet stained yellow by tobacco and were fairly clean, but my eyes looked somewhat distorted.
I killed someone...
I killed someone!
Yes, this isn't the first time I've killed someone: I already killed someone in that bloody battle on the streets of Guangzhou. And at sea, in the sea, I killed that black man too…
But those two times are different from today!
That time on the streets of Guangzhou, I was forced into it. They wanted to kill me, and I had to fight them! I had no choice but to fight! In the heat of the moment, I killed someone, but I didn't feel much regret.
At sea, I killed that black man because of hatred! It was because of the humiliation they inflicted on us, treating us like animals, and what they did to Xiaofeng... I killed that bastard, and I felt nothing but pleasure!
But today is different!
I have absolutely no idea who this Sand Snake is. Aside from his name and age, I know absolutely nothing about him! Until yesterday, I had never even heard of him; I had no idea he existed!
I had no hatred for him, I didn't know what kind of person he was, and I didn't know that he didn't really deserve to die... I killed him only because Eighth Master told me to kill him, only because I had to kill him to have a chance to rise in the world!
Killing someone you have no connection to, without any reason or hatred... This situation fills me with a twisted feeling right now...
Two living, breathing people—before this, my life had absolutely no connection with theirs! But now I inexplicably appeared, and then inexplicably took their lives—the lives of two strangers!
So what am I?
Am I still Chen Yang?
Am I still Xiao Wu?
The skin on my hands was scraped raw, and blood was flowing out. The pain stimulated my nerves, but I didn't care. I just focused on staring at myself in the mirror... scrutinizing myself in the mirror!
After a long time, the bathroom door was pushed open, and in came Eighth Master's subordinate, the cold-mouthed middle-aged man.
"Is everything done?"
After glancing at me, his gaze lingered on my bleeding finger.
"Okay." I nodded.
"Alright, Eighth Master wants to see you."
I was about to leave with him without saying a word when he suddenly turned back, smiled at me, and said with a hint of complexity in his smile, "Oh, right, I almost forgot to tell you, my name is Tiger, you can just call me Tiger. I didn't tell you before because you were an outsider, but now..."
He looked into my eyes and said in a calm tone, "From now on, you're one of us."
Part 1: In the Martial World, Unable to Control One's Own Fate, Chapter 141: Every Bush and Tree Seems Like an Enemy
When I saw Eighth Master again, he didn't say much to me, but just threw me a stack of banknotes and some documents.
"This is a bank account; there's enough money in it for you to buy a car and a house." Eighth Master looked at me, with the mechanics working outside. "Enjoy it for a while. You can spend the money however you like; whether you buy a house or not is up to you."
I thought for a moment and said, "Eighth Master, I want to stay here, in my old room."
Eighth Master was somewhat surprised, but this hint of surprise only flashed across his eyes for a moment before he simply nodded in agreement.
Xiluo was surprised to see me return. When I came in from the outside, he was lying sideways under the chassis of a car, holding a wrench. I went over and gently kicked him, and he immediately rolled out, about to glare and yell, but when he saw me, his face immediately lit up with surprise: "You're back!"
Then he shouted and jumped up from the ground, his face full of excitement: "You got it done?"
"Okay." I nodded. Anyway, everyone here is Eighth Master's subordinate, and they all know that I came back from doing business for Eighth Master. Most of them probably understand what I mean, and they look at me with a hint of envy.
"Come on, I'll treat you to a drink." I grabbed him and he was excited too. He greeted the foreman and then came out with me.
However, I didn't take him out. Instead, I led him back to our original room. I had actually come back earlier; there was a bag on the table containing several bottles of liquor. Although I don't understand English, I've worked in nightclubs before, so I can still recognize imported liquor.
I used almost all the cash in the envelope that Eighth Master gave me to buy wine, and it was all very expensive, good wine. A heavy bag of it was placed on the table.
I pulled Xiluo inside. Seemingly surprised, he stared at the bottles of wine on the table and took a deep breath: "How did you buy so much wine? And it's all good stuff. Did you strike it rich?"
I just looked at him and smiled, without saying a word.
"Actually, we can just go out for a drink. I know a small bar nearby where the food isn't expensive."
I then sighed softly and said in a low voice:
"Siro, I'd better stay home as much as possible these days."
He immediately understood. After a moment's hesitation, he tentatively asked, "You... you're already working for Eighth Master?"
I nodded. Then I went over and found the vinyl records, turned on the record player, set up the speaker, opened the window, and started playing Chairman Mao's poems with music at maximum volume, facing the street outside.
I grabbed a bottle of wine, plopped down on the floor, unscrewed the cap, took a swig, let out a long sigh, and closed my eyes. The sound system playing music accompanied by poetry filled the entire room.
Ciro noticed that I was acting strangely, so he brought a bottle of wine and sat down next to me.
"What's wrong? Is it not going well for Eighth Master?"
“It went smoothly.” I turned to look at him and suddenly smiled: “Siro, have you ever killed anyone?”
He was clearly surprised: "No." But then a complicated expression appeared on his face: "But I will definitely kill people in the future! Working for Master Ba, this is unavoidable."
I chuckled and said, "You're more open-minded than I am."
This time, Xiluo didn't laugh along with me. Instead, he glanced at me and said in a low voice, "Yang, you seem a little different this time you've come back."
Different...that's for sure, I told myself.
For the next few days, I stayed at Eighth Master's auto repair shop. I even continued to wash cars with a water gun. I also went to the underground gym to box with the guys.
A lot has happened outside these past few days. Several leaders, big and small, from various Chinese gangs in Vancouver's Chinatown have been killed one after another, including Sand Snake.
Everyone knew in their hearts that this was all done by our people. The young brothers were all very excited and would run back every day to watch the "battle report" on TV.
Actually, I saw the news about Sand Snake's murder on TV the very next day. The police classified it as a gangland revenge killing. Sand Snake had a criminal record at the police station that was over a foot thick. He was also the first victim, and what followed was a wave of killings of Chinatown gang leaders, leaving Vancouver's police force overwhelmed. Sand Snake's murder only sparked a brief period of discussion before being overshadowed by the large-scale gangland revenge killings.
I had calmed down, and even when I saw the news about sand snakes on TV, my expression didn't change.
The entire Chinatown of Vancouver was suddenly filled with a tense atmosphere, as if the wind was blowing and everything was on edge...
I was very surprised by the strength that Eighth Master displayed. In the same period of time as the Sand Snake incident, within those two or three days, he killed seven or eight prominent figures from various Chinese gangs in Chinatown. Moreover, several headless shooting incidents occurred in Chinatown afterward! It was clear that the two sides had fought several fierce battles. Later, they were no longer using pistols, but even AK47s and grenade launchers appeared. The police station tightened its control while frequently cracking down on the entire Chinese gangs.
This suppression began to have some effect, and both sides held their positions low for a while. However, two days later, Vancouver experienced the biggest bombing in a decade.
At a dock in the port, an explosion occurred at a privately owned warehouse belonging to Vietnamese people. At the time of the explosion, it was unknown what was stored in the warehouse, but it triggered a series of fires! A total of six warehouses with an area of over a thousand square meters were destroyed. The flames from the explosion could be clearly seen even from a kilometer away!
Later, the Vietnamese started making moves too!
Honestly, I was truly shocked!
I don't know exactly how many men Master Ba has, but we, along with other Chinese gangs and Vietnamese, fought several battles over the next period of time. Both sides suffered losses, and we even had a slight advantage! This large-scale and frequent series of cases caused the police station to be crammed with suspects, but they were mostly Vietnamese and members of Chinese gangs.
Sometimes I just don't understand... Where did Eighth Master get so many gunmen and weapons? Those people appeared almost suddenly within a few days, fought several fierce battles with the enemies on both roads, and then disappeared without a trace.
Sometimes I see those short clips on TV news, unintentionally captured by pedestrians or street cameras… There are masked men, clearly black-haired and yellow-skinned, wearing ordinary jackets, carrying various long and short guns. They fight with local Chinese gangsters and Vietnamese in the streets and alleys, then disappear without a trace. They're well-trained; they definitely don't look like ordinary gangsters! The problem is, I have no idea where these people come from! Neither do Xiluo and his gang, because according to what we know, most of Eighth Master's men are workers from car washes and repair shops. But the men in those clips, carrying guns, advancing and retreating, including in their hand-to-hand combat, are clearly agile, methodical, and highly disciplined. They appear and disappear suddenly, like cavalry descending from the sky!
The police arrested many Vietnamese and other Chinese gang members, but none of Eighth Master's elite henchmen were caught.
Finally, after the storm passed, both sides calmed down. Eighth Master hasn't appeared at the repair shop these past few days, and I've even seen some suspicious-looking guys at the intersections outside. I suspected some of them were police officers, but I gradually stopped caring about these things.
Eighth Master's disappearance lasted for several days! These events kept many young people at the auto repair shop on the edge of their seats, and finally, after more than a week, things took a turn for the better!
Rumors circulating outside suggest that both sides suffered significant losses, ultimately forcing the Chinese gang to make some concessions. As a result, the two sides ended their knife-to-knife and gun-to-gun confrontation and began a new round of negotiations!
The streets outside finally calmed down. The Vietnamese seemed to be stunned by the attack. As for whether things would settle down after the calm or whether they would wait for the next, even bigger storm to hit, I had no idea.