Chapter 55

Coward? Haha! Xie Wendong found it funny. If Huang Lei were a guy, he would have beaten him half to death long ago! Xie Wendong glanced at the others. Though they said nothing, it was clear they shared Huang Lei’s thoughts. Xie Wendong sighed and said with a laugh, “Whatever you want! I’m not leaving, and I’m not a coward!”
“Tch!” The others almost showed Xie Wendong the middle finger after hearing that.
Soon, they forgot their earlier displeasure, bought a few bottles of beer, and chatted while drinking. The leader was also worried that those thugs wouldn’t give up easily. He grabbed the third brother’s clothes and whispered, “Let’s follow Xiao Qi’s advice. If those thugs send more people, we won’t have any help!”
“Leader, it’s fine! Even if they bring a few idiots, I don’t care.” Saying this, he leaned in close to the leader’s ear and whispered, “With so many girls here, leader, we can’t lose face!”
The leader nodded and stopped talking. He was also someone who cared about face. Xie Wendong rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Just half an hour later, the thug beaten by the third brother led a dozen or so young men into the disco. He scanned the surroundings and fixed his gaze on where Xie Wendong and the others were. Pointing there, he turned around and shouted, “Brother Wu, it’s them!”
The man called Brother Wu was only 1.7 meters tall—not very tall but quite muscular. He wore a white tank top, with his muscles bulging visibly. After hearing what the thug said, he pushed him aside and strode over.
“Finally, they’ve come to settle accounts!” Xie Wendong saw them coming from afar. Turning to look at his roommates who were hanging out with the girls, completely unfazed by the threat, Xie Wendong shook his head helplessly.
Brother Wu and his men stood next to Xie Wendong and said arrogantly, “Kids, who hit my guy just now? Step forward!”
Hearing his voice, everyone stopped joking and turned to look at him. Seeing that there were about a dozen of them, they grew worried. How could they lose face in front of the beautiful girls? The third brother stood up abruptly and shouted, “I’m the one who hit him. What can you do to me?!”
Brother Wu nodded and flicked his finger at the third brother. “Little jerk, you’re pretty bold, huh? Don’t cry for help later!”
“Go to hell! Don’t you look at yourself? If you’re not afraid, fight me!” The third brother, who looked down on Brother Wu, who was half a head shorter, casually grabbed an empty beer bottle from the table.
At that moment, five people came over from a corner of the disco. The leader, around 30 years old with a thick beard, said as he walked, “Hey, hey…? I don’t care what you guys are doing. If you want to fight, go outside. This isn’t a place for you to make a mess!”

Brother Wu glanced sideways at the ‘Bearded Man’ and shook his head, saying, “Hmph, pretty impressive. You must be the boss here! Daring to talk to me like that. Do you know who I am? I’m from the Soul Reclaiming Gang. If you know what’s good for you, stay away from me!”
“I don’t care if you’re from the Hand Soul Gang or the Ghost Reclaiming Gang—whatever, you can’t cause trouble here!”
“Damn it, I’m going to fight here today. Let’s see what you can do to me!”
Hearing this, the Bearded Man chuckled and clapped his hands, saying, “Fine, if you want to cause trouble, it’s simple! Let’s see if you can walk out standing!” After the applause, over twenty men rushed down from the stairs on the second floor, each carrying a stick.
Brother Wu glanced at them and saw they were all burly men. Realizing he wouldn’t get the upper hand today, he said harshly, “Bearded Man, remember this—this isn’t over yet!” Then he turned to the third guy and shouted, “Kid, if you’ve got guts, come out! I’ll wait for you outside!” After giving the Bearded Man a glare, he walked out of the club.
“The Soul Reclaiming Gang? Fuck that bunch!” the Bearded Man muttered after Brother Wu left.
The third guy ignored him, grabbing a beer bottle ready to confront Brother Wu head-on. The Bearded Man stopped him, sized him up, then glanced at the others before slowly saying, “Young man, I think you’d better leave through the back door! You’re no match for those guys, and they’re not someone you should mess with! Your personality reminds me of myself when I was young. I like that. I won’t say more. If you get the chance, I hope you’ll join me, hehe!”
The third guy was stunned. Xie Wendong wanted to learn more about the gangs in City H, so he asked, “I heard one of those leaders say they’re part of the Soul Reclaiming Gang. Are they that powerful?”
The Bearded Man looked at Xie Wendong, seeing nothing special about him, and replied casually, “The Soul Reclaiming Gang was founded not long ago, but they’re very wealthy and growing fast! Apparently, they have support from Japanese gangs—whether that’s true or not, who knows! These days, nothing surprises me anymore.” Then he said to the third guy, “Young man, are you interested in joining me?”
The third guy smiled and said, “Thank you, big brother. I’m still a student and don’t want to get involved in this too early. Sorry!”
Hearing this, the Bearded Man shook his head in disappointment and said, “It’s okay, but I still have to advise you—don’t mess with the Soul Reclaiming Gang. They’re not just ordinary thugs; they’re real gangsters. Listen to me—leave through the back door and be careful of them in the future!” After giving the third guy a deep look, the Bearded Man led his men upstairs.

After seeing him leave, the leader hurriedly said, “Lao San, let’s follow that guy’s advice—let’s go through the back door!” Lao San glanced at everyone, still hesitating, when Lao Wu shouted, “Stop caring about face! Who do you think you are? Trying to fight against the gangsters? You won’t even know how you died!” The others also said they should go through the back door. Xie Wendong smiled inwardly—these people had seemed so relaxed just a moment ago, but once trouble came, they panicked. Only Lao San was decent; though impulsive, he had courage.

Xie Wendong scanned the surroundings and saw a thug standing at the entrance of the dance club, looking his way. He sighed inwardly, realizing that even if they went through the back door now, they couldn’t escape! It happened to be a good chance—he hadn’t fought in a while. He wondered if learning Tai Chi had improved his fighting skills. Today, he’d use these people to practice. With that thought, Xie Wendong grabbed Lao San’s clothes and said, “Let’s go through the main door. There are only a dozen of them, and we have twenty people!”

The leader rolled his eyes and shouted, “But we only have seven guys—everyone else is female!”

“If you’re scared, just stay back!” Lao San said. Since even the thin Xie Wendong wasn’t afraid, why should he be? He picked up two beer bottles and headed outside.

The other guys followed suit, also carrying beer bottles, though visibly nervous.

Xie Wendong carried nothing, walking leisurely behind them. Huang Lei saw this and sneered, “Some people only talk big. When it comes to action, they hide behind others. Hmph, mere cowards!”

Xie Wendong didn’t respond, smiling as if it wasn’t about him. Huang Lei stamped her foot in anger, furious enough to almost hit Xie Wendong on the head.

When everyone came out, Wu Ge was leaning against a tree at the entrance of the dance club, smoking a cigarette.

“I’m only holding this kid accountable for today’s incident. Everyone else, get lost!” Wu Ge said arrogantly as he walked over when he saw them come out, pointing at Lao San.

The leader stepped forward and said, “Brother, it was my subordinate who was wrong today. If he hadn’t first offended the girls from our class, Lao San wouldn’t have acted. Could we just let this go…?”

Before the leader could finish, Wu Ge slapped him hard and snapped, “Shut the fuck up! Who do you think you are, calling me brother? If you’re smart, get the hell out now, or I’ll beat you so badly your own mother won’t recognize you!”

The leader was slapped straight in the face by Wu Ge, causing stars to flash before his eyes and his vision to blur. He covered his face and stumbled back several steps. Seeing this, the third brother panicked, roared in anger, and kicked at Wu Ge. Underestimating the situation, Wu Ge didn’t expect the third brother to attack first. As the kick came, he quickly stepped back to dodge it. But the third brother immediately rushed forward and smashed a wine bottle on Wu Ge’s head.

“Crack!” The wine bottle shattered. Wu Ge staggered back two steps, shook his head, and touched the top of his head, feeling something sticky. This time, Wu Ge was truly enraged. Shouting, “Stop standing around like idiots! Beat him!” he threw a punch at the third brother.

Wu Ge’s subordinates snapped out of their stupor, picked up sticks from the ground, and fought alongside the guys from Xie Wendong’s dormitory. With more people and weapons, they had a huge advantage. In Xie Wendong’s dormitory, only the third, fourth, and fifth brothers were physically strong. Although Lao Ma was short, he came from the countryside and had plenty of strength, so he wasn’t at a disadvantage in a fight. The sixth brother had an average build but could still hold his own. It was the leader who suffered the most—due to his high myopia, he couldn’t see clearly without glasses. Surrounded by three thugs, he was beaten, while the girls could only stand by screaming.

Realizing it was time for him to act, Xie Wendong picked up a brick from the ground and headed toward the three men attacking the leader. Approaching one of them from behind, Xie Wendong patted his shoulder and said, “Hey, bro!”

The man, enjoying the fight, felt someone pat his shoulder and thought it was a teammate, so he turned around suspiciously. But what he saw was Xie Wendong’s bright smile.

“Hey!” Without hesitation, Xie Wendong swung the brick and hit the man on the head. Xie Wendong never showed mercy in fights. One swing shattered the thug’s forehead, sending blood streaming down his face. The thug groaned and slowly collapsed to the ground.

Seeing Xie Wendong knock out their companion, the other two stopped beating the leader and rushed at Xie Wendong with their sticks. Xie Wendong easily dodged their attacks, quickly grabbed one of them by the wrist holding the stick, and used his strength to twist it. With a “crack,” he broke the thug’s wrist, exposing the white bone beneath the skin. The young thug, having never seen such a terrifying scene before, held his broken wrist and cried out loudly. His cries drew the attention of the others, who all turned to look at Xie Wendong. Some of the girls couldn’t help but vomit when they saw the exposed bone on the thug’s wrist.