Chapter 50: Everyone Has Gone Crazy?!

Li Xiang tore a strip of fabric to bind the deep cut on his lower back left by the blade. Flexing the muscles along his spine, the two bundles of sinew twisted together like twin pythons, forcefully compressing the triangular gaping wound into a narrow slit.

Utilizing the Third-Grade martial arts technique, Python-Binding Qi, he managed to temporarily staunch the bleeding.

With a grim expression, Li Xiang swept his gaze across the narrow alley and landed on the unfamiliar man standing opposite him.

Long trousers, a short-sleeved shirt, a buzz cut, and an utterly average face, looking to be in his early twenties—the kind of person who would completely blend into any crowd. Yet, his eyes were pitch-black and intensely gleaming.

It was this very man who had silently crept up from behind a moment ago and stabbed him.

As the deputy captain of the police precinct, Li Xiang had offended no small number of enemies, but rummaging through the depths of his memory failed to turn up a single face that matched the young man before him.

"Who sent you to kill me? Do you know who I am?"

Li Xiang’s gaze was as sinister as a viper, focused entirely on the three-edged military dagger in the man's hand, which featured a dull, dark blood-groove.

Had he not already cultivated his Python-Binding Qi throughout his entire body and learned to maneuver his internal energy at will, he likely would have been reduced to a bloody corpse by now.

The young man remained silent, whipping the three-edged dagger forward from his hand.

*Whoosh—*

The air emitted a sharp, piercing shriek.

Li Xiang’s pupils contracted violently. Even a few meters away, a stinging pain pricked at the space between his eyebrows. He instantly executed a shifting footwork technique, thrust his right hand into his pocket, and gripped a pair of iron handcuffs to use as makeshift brass knuckles.

Having just come from the bathhouse after his shift, he carried neither gun nor saber—only his handcuffs, which never left his side, barely serving as knuckle dusters in a pinch.

*Clang!*

The exact moment the handcuffs collided with the three-edged dagger, Li Xiang twisted his waist and stepped to the side, his other hand lashing out like a whip.

From an external perspective, he resembled a giant python sliding across the ground and lashing its tail, its fangs bared to strike the prey from the flank.

Following the trajectory of the flying dagger, the young man sprinted forward, his explosive acceleration closing the distance instantly. He re-grasped the hilt of the three-edged dagger and twisted his wrist.

The spinning blade drilled forward like a venomous dragon, sending sparks flying as it grazed against the handcuffs. Carving out a bizarre, twisting arc, it pursued him relentlessly like attached bone-marrow parasites.

The back of Li Xiang's head instantly went numb, goosebumps erupting layer upon layer across his neck.

He looked up at the young man, only to find that those pitch-black, gleaming eyes were utterly devoid of emotion. There was no fear whatsoever regarding a life-or-trade transaction—not even a single ripple of feeling.

*"Who on earth could afford to hire such a suicidal lunatic to kill me?"*

Li Xiang’s heart plummeted, a chilling draft rushing up from the soles of his feet straight to his crown.

Dropping even faster than his heart was his knees. Both knees suddenly slammed into the ground, his entire body shrinking by half as if collapsing inward.

A cool breeze brushed against his scalp. A ferocious gust shaved off a layer of skin, leaving his tightly stretched crown scorching hot. Blood welled up from the center, overflowing and dyeing his face red.

***

The young man rotated his fingertips and pulled the three-edged dagger back into a reverse grip. In the end, he had been tricked by Li Xiang for a split second, losing sight of his target in his field of vision.

Yet, his heart felt no panic. The heartbeat within his chest remained powerful and resolute, completely filled with the determination to cheerfully embrace death.

*"I missed a few exchanges compared to the plan, but life-and-death struggles happen in the blink of an eye. Dying right here shouldn't disrupt the overall scheme. This is enough,"* he thought.

*Squelch!*

His chest exploded outward, the terrifying force crushing his ribs inward.

The young man lowered his gaze, meeting Li Xiang’s viper-like, venomous eyes, as well as the bloodied, beating heart visible through his own ruined chest cavity.

Li Xiang’s knees snapped upward. Like a coiled python suddenly striking straight, the ferocious force blasted the young man backward through the air, sending shattered rib fragments and minced flesh spraying across the ground.

Li Xiang touched the top of his head. A layer of skin and flesh had been scraped right off the center, exposing the bare skull beneath with a burning, throbbing pain.

"That was close. I almost capsized in a gutter," Li Xiang muttered, licking the blood smeared across his lips.

He could now roughly deduce that the young man's overall strength was merely at the Second Grade, far weaker than his own. However, relying on a sneak attack, slightly superior striking speed, and a reckless, desperate ruthlessness, the assailant had caught him completely off guard.

"Damn it. Ever since I became the deputy captain, it's been a long time since I faced such mortal peril. My skills have grown rusty," Li Xiang thought, lingering fear still gripping him.

With a dark expression, he walked over to the young man, stomped down to shatter the wrist holding the weapon, and—feeling slightly uneasy—crushed the other wrist as well.

Yet the young man acted as though he lacked pain receptors entirely, remaining completely unfazed as he stared blankly with indifferent eyes.

Meeting that pair of pitch-black, shining eyes, Li Xiang grew inexplicably irritated. Pressing his boot sole against the youth's face, he snarled viciously, "Tell me, who sent you to kill me? Tell me and I’ll give you a quick death, otherwise..."

The young man cracked a smile, his pristine white teeth stained entirely red with blood. "Kill me, and your entire family will be buried with me."

Li Xiang’s eyes widened in fury. Crouching down, he grabbed the youth by the collar. "What did you say?"

The young man did not directly answer the question, yet it was as good as an answer. With a hoarse voice, he rasped, "When you see Boss Zheng, tell him... Little Five is paying back what he owed with his life."

Li Xiang froze, a creeping dread washing over him. Gripping the young man's head, he suddenly found himself terrified that the youth might actually die.

"What do you mean? Make yourself clear! Boss Zheng? You mean Zheng Si? What has he done to my wife and son?" Li Xiang’s face contorted hideously, the smeared blood rendering his expression exceptionally terrifying.

Black blood spewed from the young man's mouth, the frantic beating of his heart rapidly fading. At the very final moment of his life, he forced his eyes wide open, as if trying desperately to memorize the face of the man who killed him—or perhaps not looking at Li Xiang at all, but instead gazing up past his head toward the towering, multicolored underside of the Upper City floating in the sky above.

"How truly ugly~"

The young man murmured. Having uttered his final words, he abruptly bit down hard on his own tongue, frantically chewing and crushing it with his teeth before swallowing it down his throat.

Consumed by rage, Li Xiang tried to pry the young man's jaw open, but it was filled entirely with a mixture of bloody water and pulverized flesh residue.

Watching the young man expire with wide, glaring eyes, the fury in his heart was replaced by a chilling, bone-deep frost.

That coldness seeped into his marrow, making his hair stand on end.

***

Standing frozen in place for three full seconds, Li Xiang snapped back to reality. Rushing over to the drainage manhole, he yanked up the cover and fished out his dropped smartphone.

The call screen was still flashing. He had no idea how many attempts had been made.

Li Xiang hurriedly pressed answer.

"Er-Bing, hurry up and go check my house! Zheng Si has gone mad, he's going to—"

"Captain Li, you finally answered! The Green Wolf Gang has gone crazy, they're snatching people everywhere, police reports since early this morning..."

The instant the call connected, both men spoke simultaneously, shouting frantically into their respective receivers.

Then, both men fell silent. Amidst the dead silence came the sound of hurried, breathless panting.

The blood pressure in Li Xiang’s skull skyrocketed, his vision turning black for a moment. Looking at the corpse on the ground while absorbing the words coming through the phone, his mind was dominated by a single terrifying realization.

The person Zheng Si sent to kill him was a suicidal lunatic; Zheng Si himself was a madman willing to stop at nothing to avenge his son; and the underlings of the Green Wolf Gang were a pack of brainless lunatics, too.

From top to bottom, the entire Green Wolf Gang consisted of out-of-control madmen. It was completely irrational.

A trace of regret welled up in Li Xiang’s chest, but regret was useless now. He had to figure out a way to salvage this mess and rescue his wife and child.

Li Xiang roared into the phone, "Er-Bing, gather the brothers immediately and have everyone rush over to my location!"

Without waiting for a reply, Li Xiang hung up the phone. Clinging to a final shred of hope, he dialed his wife's number.

The continuous tone of a dead line rang without response. Just as he was about to give up in despair, the call went through—only to be abruptly hung up a split second later.

He dialed again. The automated voice informed him the phone was powered off.

Li Xiang no longer needed to despair; his heart simply died.

His mind went blank. Rage and terror seized his heart, and his instinctive impulse was to crush the phone to pieces and charge blindly into the Green Wolf Gang to slaughter them all.

Yet, having served as a police captain for over a dozen years and dealt with countless vicious criminals, the last remaining sliver of reason held him back.

Charging into the Green Wolf Gang like this wouldn't just fail to save his wife and child; he would throw his own life away as well.

The Green Wolf Gang was completely unhinged from top to bottom. He couldn't force his way through; his mere badge could no longer intimidate a pack of madmen. He needed an inside man—someone who wasn't quite as insane.

Abruptly, a face surfaced in Li Xiang’s mind.

And the very moment he thought of this person, as if a script had been pre-arranged by some unseen hand, his phone suddenly rang with an incoming call. The caller ID displayed none other than the exact person he had just envisioned...