Netherworld Investigator

Dali and I walked out the gates of the school to look for a barbecue stall. Halfway through our meal, a few vans suddenly accelerated up the street and came to a screeching halt. I had a bad feeling about this.

A group of long-haired burly men covered in tattoos jumped out of the van, the earrings on their ears gleaming under the streetlamp. They crossed the street and sauntered towards us, frightening Dali so much that a mutton skewer fell out his open mouth. "Dude, are these gangsters? I think they’re looking for us."

The other customers at the barbecue stall ran away in fright. Someone took out a photo, glanced at me and then looked at the photo again. Loud whispers circulated among the gang. It seemed Dali was right–they were coming for me.

Dali urged me to run but I leisurely took a bite out of my mutton skewer and said, "Don’t worry!"

"Fuck, how are you still so calm?!" yelled Dali in wide-eyed shock.

I wasn’t calm at all but I knew I couldn’t outrun them. Besides, I had Song Xingchen by my side. If they so much as touched a hair on my head, Song Xingchen would definitely deal with them.

Right then, a long-haired man wearing sunglasses boldly plopped into the seat opposite me and fiddled with the photograph in his hand. It was a picture of me in school that had been secretly taken. "Dude, that’s you, right?" he asked.

“Yes!" I nodded.

The long-haired man grabbed a mutton skewer, munching on it as he spoke. "Sorry, someone paid us to cripple one of your legs. Are you going to cooperate or should we beat you so hard you can't move and then cut off your leg?"

This was probably the first time I had ever seen gangsters behaving so reasonably. But his attitude didn’t surprise me. After all, they had no enmity with me and only targeted me because of money.

Dali pointed at himself and asked, "Does this involve me?"

The long-haired man merely cast a dismissive look at Dali and ignored him. 

"Who hired you?" I asked.

"Do you think I would reveal that? Once I receive the money, I make sure to get the job done. We have to be professional in this line of work."

Then, he hooked a finger and his subordinate immediately handed over a bottle of Erguotou. "You can empty this bottle and suffer less when we chop off your leg later,” he said, slamming the bottle of alcohol on the table. “Don’t blame us for being rude if you don't cooperate!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man sitting at the edge of the stall, drinking bubble tea instead of eating skewers at a barbecue stall. Who else could it be but Song Xingchen?

Having him here was a huge reassurance. "We aren’t enemies,” I fearlessly argued. “You’re still a young man. Are you sure you want to be disabled when you have your whole life ahead of you? You better leave now!"

"Oh, aren’t you a brave one?!” He seemed excited by my provocation. “Come out. I don't want to start fighting at someone else’s stall. If we destroy the place, it’ll only affect their business!"

How rare it was to see such an honest and straightforward gangster!

Of course, I remained where I was. The long-haired man was about to stretch out a hand to lift me from my seat when a Lamborghini suddenly fled down the street. It was going so fast I thought it might crash into the barbecue stall.

The gangsters turned their attention to the Lamborghini, eyes fixed on the car that stopped abruptly in front of us. Out jumped an angry Baldy who marched straight towards the long-haired man and greeted him with a crisp slap on the face. "What the hell are you doing Baldy-ge?" he asked.

"That slap was nothing! I wish I could stab you right now! " Baldy shot a fierce glare at him and continued slapping the others. "You, you and you! Always giving me trouble!" he fumed.

His subordinates were very obedient, not flinching even when they were slapped sideways. Soon, Baldy’s hand turned red from slapping the entire gang. He walked over and bowed respectfully. "Song-ge, I apologize for my boys’ lack of discipline. I’m sorry you had to see this."

The long-haired man couldn’t believe his eyes. "Baldy-ge, you know this kid?" he asked.

"Where are your manners? Call him Song-ge!" Baldy gave him another resounding slap, leaving a palm print on the man's left and right cheeks. I almost felt a little sympathetic for the poor fellow. Dali, on the other hand, was rooted to the spot from shock.

As it turned out, the long-haired man was one of Baldy’s subordinates. When Baldy heard that he had taken on a private job to cripple me, Baldy quickly came to the rescue. Fortunately, he had come in time.

After repeatedly explaining that this was just a misunderstanding, Baldy turned to the long-haired man and asked, "Which son of a bitch sent you here?"

"I’ve taken his money. I can't reveal anything!" he cried indignantly.

Hearing this, Baldy prepared to give him a back-handed slap but I quickly interrupted, "It was Young Master Wang."

The long-haired man froze in puzzlement. "How did you know?" But he immediately corrected himself, "No, no! It's not him!"

I sneered at his poor attempt of a lie. His acting skills couldn’t even fool a toddler. The only one who hated me and had enough money to hire these gangsters was Young Master Wang.

"Young Master Wang huh,” said Baldy. “I've heard of this kid. He comes from a wealthy family. Song-ge, your enemy is my enemy. I'll get my subordinate to chop off one of his legs!"

I instantly refused with a wave of my hand. "Sigh, do you want to go to jail so badly? How can you say such words in front of me?" I teased.

Baldy rubbed his head and smiled awkwardly. "How do you plan on teaching him a lesson then?"

Young Master Wang had hired people to cripple my leg. How could I dismiss this matter with a laugh? "Don't do anything that breaks the law!" I warned.

"Sure thing! I promise I’ll make this kid so sorry he can’t even cry,” Baldy’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Let's go!"

When I turned around, Song Xingchen had already quietly left. This guy came and left without a trace, just like a ghost. I was a little curious about where he usually lived.

Although it was a false alarm, Dali was so astonished he hadn’t spoken a word. "Dude, you’re awesome! You’ve got friends on both sides of the law. My admiration for you surges like ocean waves. I can hardly hold back myself..."

"What an exaggeration!” I rolled my eyes at him. “He’s the only gangster I’m friendly with. Let’s finish our meal and go back to school."

Dali wiped his mouth. "I’m not in the mood to eat anymore. Let's go!"

At this moment, the stall owner brought over a large plate of mutton skewers. "I didn't order these!” I blurted.

"Before that baldy left, he ordered 300 skewers for you and paid for everything,” explained the man. “There’s about half of that here. You two eat up while I prepare the others."

I shook my head at Baldy’s overzealousness. I said, "That's enough. Please pack them up for me!"

Back in the dormitory, the four of us struggled to finish the mutton skewers. The next morning, we all ran to the bathroom, a great lesson in why too much of a good thing could be bad.

Early the next day, Dali and I went down to the station to continue sorting out clues. When we arrived, Xiaotao looked at me strangely. "What's the matter? Do I have something on my face?" I asked.

"We have a guest here,” she replied. “Is this related to you?"

"Who is it?" I said, perplexed.

Xiaotao brought us to the detention room where Young Master Wang was being held. At the sight of me entering the room, he immediately turned a spiteful glare in my direction. Baffled, I asked Xiaotao why he had been arrested.

It turned out that after the young master’s unsuccessful attempt at crippling me, he went out for a drink and met a voluptuous beauty in a bar. Several glasses of alcohol later, the two were ready to head to the hotel. However, they were too excited to make it to a hotel room so they ended up having sex in the car.

Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly shouted “rape” in the middle of intercourse which immediately sobered up Young Master Wang. He quickly covered her mouth but it was too late. What was even more shocking was the sudden appearance of a bunch of reporters in the empty parking lot. They swarmed around him, hoping to obtain news material. Of course, "good citizen” Baldy immediately called the police.

Thus, Young Master Wang was arrested. But this was nothing compared to the storm that awaited him in the morning. His insolence had offended the reporters. So this morning, all the major media outlets plastered his ferocious face all over the front page along with a report of the famous entrepreneur’s attempted rape. Young Master Wang blew up in rage!