Payin City, 69th level, Residential Area F23.
The dimly lit underground streets were strewn with trash everywhere, and a faint acidic stench perated the air, the sll of decaying matter.
There were only a few working lights on the ceiling of the corridor, and the sparse illumination made the environnt appear as if shrouded in fog, blurry and indistinct.
Bang—Bang—
Forceful pounding sounds kept coming from a corner, knocking the dust off the steel fras nearby.
But even with such loud noises, the families living along the passageway kept their doors tightly closed. No one ca out to peep or ask questions, maintaining an oppressive silence. Only the lit indicators on the doorfras showed that the apartnts were not uninhabited.
"Brother Long, that guy just won't open the door."
Finally, the haunting pounding halted, and a fat man about two ters tall stepped out and bent down to talk to a youth beside him.
"Tsk..." The youth leaned against the steel wall beside him, smoking, but did not answer. His black bangs covered his face, obscured from the single light above.
"I'll knock again." Seeing that the black-haired youth ignored him, the fat man went back and muttered sothing to another companion, then continued to bash the steel door.
Bang—Bang—
Rust flakes fell from the walls, and more dust ca down from the ceiling.
Thus, the minutes slowly passed by, and the youth's cigarette finally burned out.
The cigarette butt, glowing with embers, was flung into the air, hit the wall, and fell straight to the ground, kicking up so dark red specks, and then only thin wisps of blue smoke drifted up.
He moved away from the light, walking over with his rudintary short-sleeved shirt unable to hide the ferocious, scarred muscles on his arms, almost bursting through the sleeves.
"Brother Long, you're here." Seeing the black-haired youth approach, the slim and fat subordinates imdiately stepped aside, revealing the steel door that was still locked tight.
"Heh." He walked straight to the steel door and kicked it ferociously. An explosive noise erupted from it, setting off the alarm bells in the nearby corridor.
The specially made steel door, about 25mm thick, was instantly dented inward from his kick.
"Brother Long is aweso." The two subordinates bowed their heads in admiration and then stepped forward to continue violently kicking and hitting the door, completely destroying it.
Half a minute later, the three walked in over the various debris.
"Hols, where are you hiding? Co out. Brother Long is here for you. If you have any conscience, roll out!"
The slim and fat duo searched through each room in the house, while the black-haired youth stood in the living room, looking at the photos on the wall. One picture featured a woman smiling at the cara while holding a child in her teens. Despite looking sowhat worn, there was still happiness in her eyes. However, the corners of the photo were curled and stained, suggesting it was taken a long ti ago.
"Brother Long, we found him. He was hiding under the bed." The previously ntioned fat man hauled a man thin as a skeleton into the living room, like dragging a dead dog, and tossed him onto the floor.
"Don't fucking play dead, lift your head, this is your Brother Long." The lean but muscular subordinate grabbed the man's hair and forced him to lift his head.
The black-haired youth sat on the sofa, one leg casually bent on the cushion.
"Hols." He looked at the man in front of him, whose eyes were lifeless and half-dead.
Seeing no reaction from Hols, the fat man next to him slapped him twice, drawing blood from his mouth.
"I'll talk, I'll talk..." Only then did Hols regain so clarity, but he quickly slipped back into mumbling, his mind foggy.
"Brother Long, I found lots of syringes in his room, must have been tripping on Hallucinogenic Potion," said the lean subordinate holding Hols's head.
"Get so water for him, pour it down."
"Yes, Brother Long." The fat man fetched a basin of water from the kitchen tap, placed it on the floor, and proceeded to dunk Hols's head in it repeatedly.
The room fell eerily quiet, the only sounds were the splashing of water and faint heavy breathing.
After more than ten minutes, Hols began to struggle and make a whimpering noise.
"That's enough, stop." The black-haired youth leaned on the sofa, observing the man in front of him.
"Ah Long... you've co." Hols looked up at the youth on the sofa, his eyes weary.
"Yeah, I ca to see you. Didn't you say your aunt was sick? I've prepared so gifts. After all, she used to cook for , I still rember."
"I... I..." He seed to want to say sothing but couldn't utter a word.
"I let everyone down."
Smack—
A severe slap hit his face, sending him flying against the wall and knocking him unconscious.
"Bring him over, wake him up." The black-haired youth dropped his hand and continued to lean on the sofa.
Once again, the dull splash of water could be heard, and it took a while before Hols, his head bloody, slowly ca to. But now, his eyes were filled with fear as he looked at the black-haired youth.
"I ask, you answer."
"Yes, yes, Brother Long." He finally learned to address him properly.
"Where's your aunt?"
"She's dead, passed away a month ago. The doctor said there was no cure, no money..."
"Didn't you get money from ? Where did it go?"
"I... I gambled it away. Thought I could win it back."
At these words, a hint of scorn and pity flashed in the eyes of the two onlookers.
No small-ti gambler wins big at the casino. Ridiculous.
"So, you're hiding from ." The black-haired youth planted his foot on Hols's shoulder, making him look up.
"We've known each other for nearly twenty years now, haven't we? I still rember when we were in elentary school, going to and from school together, often sneaking off to play..."
Hols remained silent.
"At that ti, your mother had just gotten divorced, raising you by herself, wanting to give you a good environnt to grow up in. She often worked late and then ca ho to cook for you, and since I used to hang out at your place after school, she would make a portion for too. I rember all these things."
"Yes..." he turned his face away, looking to the side.
"We were both students from poor families, always looked down upon and bullied by our classmates. Back then, we fought together, known as the two mad dogs of Class C," the black-haired youth continued.
"Those were the good old days," he said, lowering his legs and then standing up, slowly looking around the room as if trying to find traces of those past mories.
"How the hell did you end up like this!!" Suddenly, the black-haired youth yelled in Hols' ear.
"It doesn't matter if you've wronged , but that's your mother! You took the money for saving her life to gamble?" He grabbed the other's collar and lifted him up.
Hols struggled incessantly, reaching out to grab the wrist, but the other's arm was like a vice, immovable.
Beneath the black hair, brown eyes stared directly at Hols, the pupils contracting like the angry eyes of a dragon, sending chills down one's spine.
After a short while, Hols stopped struggling and looked away.
"I, I... Yes! It's ! I'm such a rotten person, you just made a bad call." After saying that, he started to choke up again.
"That's right, we grew up together, but can people stay the sa!?" He suddenly roared again.
"You weren't good at school, but you found a master willing to teach you. What about ? I don't have any Talent! I'm not good at studying, no one wants for work, so I can only ss around behind you like a stray dog!"
"Is this any way out!? My mom worries that I could die out there any day, I'm not like you, with a bunch of skills, able to fight and endure. What can I do!?"
"All I could do is gamble! Gambling with my life! Betting that my life wouldn't be so miserable, that I could win a round or two!"
"Now I've lost the bet, can't I just accept my fate!"
After his hoarse shouting, his throat had gone dry, and the man was let go, curling up on the ground with violent shaking, his body trembling.
"Is that what you think?" The black-haired youth looked down at the man on the ground, curled up like a bug.
"Yes, cough cough... that's what I think. So what, you don't like it, you don't like it then kill ," he lay there in despair.
The black-haired youth didn't answer, just silently watched him.
After a long ti, he spoke.
"Where's aunt buried?"
"On Gray Silence Street, in the cetery, block G23, number 631..." The man on the ground slowly said, with tears flowing from his eyes.
"Let's go."
The black-haired youth left the room, and the two behind him hurried to follow, not forgetting to spit on the man before leaving.
————
An hour later, the three of them stepped out of the hover car and ca before a grey stone stele in an underground mausoleum.
"This is the place, Brother Long."
"Buy a bouquet."
"Yes, Brother Long."
"Hold on, buy two." The black-haired youth seed to rember sothing and added a sentence.
"Okay."
More than ten minutes later, two n, one fat, one thin, watched from a distance as the black-haired youth stood in front of a gravestone, seemingly saying sothing, and then laid down a bunch of blue flowers.
Seeing him return with another bouquet in hand, the two were slightly puzzled.
"Brother Long, what's this for?"
"Going to another cetery, to lay flowers for my master as well."
"Master? Is Brother Long's master also..."
"Shut up." His companion covered his mouth, pulling him to keep walking forward.
...
By dusk, the lights in the cetery were going out one by one, and the youth standing in front of the gravestone also entered into darkness. He had been standing there for quite a while.
"Master, I'm leaving."
"Even though you weren't my blood relative, over the years, you taught a lot, whether it was martial arts, fighting, or life lessons... In my heart, you were no different from a father."
"I thought with your poor health you would still last another ten years or so, considering you're a robust man of the Dragon Sequence, but I never expected that at your age you'd still be chasing the dreams of your youth, insisting on trying to advance your Sequence."
"I wouldn't have minded just trying, but not telling , afraid I would worry, and then failing halfway, going insane and attacking so kids, ending up being killed by a 16-year-old girl..."
"Sigh... I want to take revenge, but I'm too ashad to act."
"But, this isn't just your problem anymore. Now I have to prepare for my advancent, to clear my mind of distractions and regrets for the advancent, I must et that girl. Although I won't kill her, I need to settle at least one regret."
"I'll talk to you next ti, but by then, you'll be seeing a different ."
"Not as I am now, but as the dragon who has drunk of Dragon Blood, Qiao Long."
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