Chapter 145: Cleaning Up the Underworld

“If you want me to negotiate, I’ll do it—but where does that leave my face?” Ghost King Dong glanced disdainfully at Xing Jiafeng out of the corner of his eye, then entered the nightclub without even looking back. “Tell Xiao Ran that anyone who blocks my path is against me, and those who oppose me will only meet death!”
If it had been two days ago or yesterday, he would have agreed to talk to Xiao Ran. But now, he had already made a deal with someone—a deal that would bring him huge profits. Most importantly, over these past two days, he and everyone in the underworld had seen that Xiao Ran hadn’t done anything since returning. This had largely dispelled his fears. As for Guan Xin, he could simply hire more bodyguards.
Xing Jiafeng was furious. Given his temperament, it was fortunate he didn’t rush forward to beat Ghost King Dong senseless. Glancing at the six or seven bodyguards surrounding Ghost King Dong, he had no choice but to abandon that impulsive and foolish idea—after all, Ghost King Dong wasn’t some low-level thug.
Ghost King Dong was already the third to reject negotiation requests. The Xiang family and the 13K had also turned down Xing Jiafeng’s proposal. He was not only annoyed that the underworld was challenging police authority but also found it utterly baffling.
Xing Jiafeng didn’t understand why the three major gangs, which had previously treated Xiao Ran so well, suddenly changed sides. Though he knew interests were at play, he still wasn’t clear about the specifics.
Actually, it was simple. The three gangs had valued Xiao Ran before mainly because they wanted to invest in him. Seeing that Xiao Ran seemed to have some hidden background, they had been friendly to him and suppressed any attempts by him to block their profits.
But after returning for three days, Xiao Ran hadn’t done anything and had even backed down under their tentative harassment. Anyone, even a fool, would conclude that he had no background or ability. Under such circumstances, even ordinary people knew what to do, let alone greedy gangsters.
Before Xing Jiafeng went to Xiao Ran’s house in disappointment to deliver the news, Xiao Ran was full of confidence, preparing for today’s cleanup of the underworld. After Guan Xin pointed out on the map the locations of the leaders of the three major gangs and their families, he watched Xiao Ran quietly, waiting for his instructions.
Xiao Ran pondered for a moment, wondering whether to involve their families. After all, he wasn’t part of the underworld and didn’t have a mindset of eradicating enemies completely. Guan Xin clearly noticed his hesitation and said with a smile, “I think we don’t need to kill too many. You’re not a murderer, nor are you part of the gang. The goal this time is just to intimidate them and make them submit!”
“Do you think I need to deal with the gangs?” Don’t think Xiao Ran had planned everything meticulously. Even at the last moment, he still hesitated. “I’m just a film maker. I don’t want anything to do with gangs.”

“It’s absolutely necessary!” Guan Xin was momentarily stunned. Having followed Xiao Ran for so long, he had thought Xiao Ran never hesitated. He said in a firm tone, “I’ve known you for so long, and I know your dream is to make movies, to make great movies. But the existence of the underworld is already threatening your dream, and perhaps, as you said, it’s threatening the very survival of Hong Kong cinema!”
Xiao Ran fell into thought. He hadn’t noticed anything before, but now he realized he looked more like a gang boss than a movie company owner—quite ridiculous. Guan Xin continued firmly, “There’s no such thing as right or wrong in the world; only whether it serves our interests. Take my industry for example—there’s no right or wrong, only interests. If it serves the interests of the country and the nation, we must act.”
“The only person in Hong Kong now with the strength and backing to take on the gangs is you. Other companies can hardly shake off the shadow of the gangs!” Having worked at Shadow for so long, Guan Xin knew very well that most companies in Hong Kong had used gang members for their work. Take lighting technicians and stuntmen—they’re part of the underworld. How can you avoid using them?
“But I feel something’s not right…” Xiao Ran indeed sensed something deeply wrong. It seemed out of his control, which displeased him. But he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was—like he was being exploited. “Yindu might be able to do this better than me!”
“You’re wrong. Everyone knows Yindu’s political stance, and that makes it inconvenient to take action!” Guan Xin explained with a laugh. “Besides, have you ever heard the gangs demanding protection money from Yindu or harassing them? Never. Yindu has no excuse to get involved! Because everyone knows its stance, it’s actually harder to act.”
With Guan Xin’s reminder, Xiao Ran immediately understood. If Yindu got involved, even if it were the underworld, the British government in Hong Kong would likely protest right away. At this thought, Xiao Ran felt chilled. He thought it was best to stay away from politics for life—making movies was far more interesting.
In an instant, Xiao Ran finally understood where that sense of being controlled came from. The government, the central government on the mainland—from Guan Xin’s words, it was clear the mainland had long had plans regarding Hong Kong’s gangs. But since everyone knew what kind of organization Yindu was, no one dared provoke it, so there was no excuse. And now, Xiao Ran’s arrival undoubtedly provided such an opportunity.
It was probably not just that! Xiao Ran quickly thought of other possibilities. Currently, the British government was in power, and the Chinese government had no reason to eliminate the gangs for them. The most likely scenario was to use this opportunity to control the gangs and then take action once 1997 arrived…
After thinking this through, a mysterious smile gradually appeared on Xiao Ran’s face. If they could use this chance to let Guan Xin’s group indirectly control the gangs, then any threat from the underworld would be completely eliminated in the future. This served the interests of the Chinese government and, even more so, Xiao Ran’s own interests. Though he really disliked the feeling of being controlled, he knew it was the best choice.

Xiao Ran stood up, crossed his arms, and paced back and forth in the room. After pondering for a long time, he finally made a decision: “Take their families along too. Since Ghost King Dong has no wife or children, let’s make him the scapegoat this time! You take care of the details.”
Guan Xin felt a bit uncomfortable with Xiao Ran’s almost commanding tone, but as soon as his gaze met Xiao Ran’s determined eyes, that discomfort vanished. Guan Xin smiled self-mockingly at himself—after all, he was already used to being given orders.
Not long after Guan Xin left, Lin Qingxia poked her head down to check. Seeing that Guan Xin had gone, she came downstairs. It was Xiao Ran who hadn’t allowed her to come down; he didn’t want his beloved to know about these dirty and bloody matters, though he knew Lin Qingxia would likely guess anyway.
“Has he left?” Lin Qingxia sat down on the sofa across from Xiao Ran and looked up at him. “If this time really works as you say, and the gangs are deterred from interfering with the film industry, that would be great. I start to believe you can compete with Hollywood…”
Xiao Ran pretended to be angry, lunged at her, and cried out, “So you never believed I could compete with Hollywood? What’s the point of my living if even you don’t trust me…”
Lin Qingxia scratched him, making him itch, and laughed nonstop, “Okay, okay, I believe you. Stop making a fuss. What do you plan to do today?”
Xiao Ran lay half on the sofa in a strange position, his left hand gently resting on Lin Qingxia, who was nestled in his arms, while his fingers twirled through her beautiful, flowing hair. After thinking for a moment, he couldn’t help but laugh: “Don’t go anywhere today. Stay at home. I’ll be back once I’ve taken care of things tonight!”
Lin Qingxia remained quietly in Xiao Ran’s arms, emitting a soft humming sound as her way of agreeing. The two enjoyed the calm before the storm—of course, a storm created by Xiao Ran for others, leaving them completely unburdened.
Soon, Xing Jiafeng arrived in a hurry with two of his men. Fortunately, Lin Qingxia and Xiao Ran had separated in time, otherwise their relationship might have been exposed earlier. Since Xiao Ran had always been friendly with police officers, whether ordinary or high-ranking, Xing Jiafeng sat down on the sofa without hesitation. The two men hesitated at first upon seeing the sofa worth tens of thousands of dollars before sitting down at Xiao Ran’s invitation.
“This is troublesome!” Xing Jiafeng downed the water Xiao Ran handed him and cursed angrily. “None of these bastards take the police seriously. Sooner or later, I’m going to teach them a lesson. They don’t want to negotiate with you. What do we do now?”
As the head of Hong Kong Island’s anti-gang unit, Xing Jiafeng understood very well that Xiao Ran needed the three major gangs now more than ever. With those gangs on his side, no one in the underworld would dare to mess with him. Xing Jiafeng even suspected that the previous gang harassment and attacks had been tacitly approved or even instigated by those three gangs.

For a moment, Xing Jiafeng felt the situation was extremely complicated. That damned Wang Yang had come to stir things up, wanting to hire assassins to kill Xiao Ran. Even if he hadn’t known before that Xiao Ran was a high-profile figure, he now had some idea from his superior’s words. Given Xiao Ran’s status and his consistent donations and support to the police, the police would do everything in their power to protect him. If not for Xiao Ran’s refusal, Xing Jiafeng would have wanted to assign six or seven police officers to guard him closely. Xiao Ran watched Xing Jiafeng, who was still full of anger, with interest. In fact, Xing Jiafeng was outwardly rough but inwardly delicate; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to reach his current position. “Afeng, don’t worry. Those in the underworld will eventually face retribution!” Xiao Ran smiled eerily, suddenly recalling a famous saying from over a decade later, and blurted out, “Those who get involved in trouble will eventually have to pay for it!” Xing Jiafeng had initially not taken Xiao Ran’s words seriously, thinking they were just comfort, but seeing the strange smile on Xiao Ran’s face, he couldn’t help but wonder, “Brother Ran, what do you mean?” Xiao Ran stood up calmly, a faint, eerie smile on his face: “Since they don’t want to talk to me, I’ll have to go find them myself!” The leader of the 13K gang was nicknamed Jiaolong. He was a very diligent boss who personally instructed his subordinates on how to handle things. Right now, he should have been enjoying himself in a nightclub private room, but instead, he was giving orders to his men about what to do the next day. “All of Shadow Company’s production teams have stopped working. It’s hard to deal with them, and the police are also keeping a close eye on them!” Jiaolong thought for a moment before making a quick decision: “Lan Kou Hua, take some men tomorrow to cause trouble at the movie theaters under Shadow Company!” “No need to trouble yourself!” Two fierce-looking men pushed the door open and entered, smiling as they told Jiaolong and his men, “Our boss wants to meet with you now!” “Who’s your boss?” Xiang Yi’an glanced in shock at the bodyguards who had been knocked out after just a few rounds and hadn’t even had a chance to pull out their guns, before finally managing to stay calm as he looked at the three men before him, their faces filled with murderous intent. Ghost King Dong was in high spirits. After today, everything would be fine. Shadow Company would soon become a thing of the past, and he would make a fortune in the film industry. Every time he thought about the hundreds of millions Shadow Company had made last year, he felt extremely envious. Back then, he thought Xiao Ran was so powerful because of his connections. But now it was clear that Xiao Ran was just a kid. His joy clearly infected his beautiful and seductive mistress. She lay half-naked on the bed, twisting and asking coyly, “Brother Dong, you seem so powerful today. What great news is it?” “Me? I’m about to become one of the richest men in Hong Kong!” Seeing his mistress’s enchanting expression, Ghost King Dong couldn’t resist wanting more. As he rushed forward and pinned her down, he saw fear in her eyes. The two teasing intruders knocked her out with a punch before saying with smiles, “Sorry for disturbing your happy life. But we’re here mainly to tell you that you definitely won’t become rich!”

“Who are you?” Ghost King Dong was indeed a seasoned veteran; he quickly suppressed his fear and shouted, “Big Head, Short and Long Guns…”
“If you’re trying to call your subordinates, better not. Our boss is kind-hearted and law-abiding; he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. They’re fine, just temporarily unconscious!” The two continued to smile at the naked Ghost King Dong, their expressions as if they were looking at a pig in clothes.
“Who’s your boss?” Ghost King Dong asked the same question as the others before him—seemingly following industry standards.
“Well, our boss!” The two laughed even harder, almost dancing with joy. “I’m sure you know him—he’s the boss of Shadow Company!”
“Xiao Ran…” Ghost King Dong uttered those two words shakily, feeling utterly weak and almost collapsing on the bed.
“Correct answer gets a prize!” One of them, clearly fond of joking, slapped Ghost King Dong hard in the face before saying cheerfully, “You must really like this prize—so happy you can’t even speak!”