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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
"What? Baozi was killed?" I and Fatty couldn't help but stand up, exclaiming in shock.
Mao Shun, seeing our agitation, looked a bit flustered: "Yes, it was just my informant who called me. During last night's brawl, Baozi was stabbed over thirty times and died on the way to the hospital."
Damn it, with Baozi dead, there goes any hope for the Fire Spirit Pearl. This thing isn't like a television or refrigerator that you can just hide anywhere and no one would find it.
"Do you know about Xiao Yuan... uh, where is Baozi's room?" In my desperation, I even considered breaking in.
Sure enough, Mao Shun looked at me strangely. If it weren't for the connections of the person who introduced us, he might have exploded right there. His disapproving expression was evident: "Brother, I can't really help you with this because it involves a conflict between two factions. For matters like this, we police can only stand by and watch; at most we can mediate. There's absolutely no way we could get a search warrant to ransack his home. Besides, these gang leaders don't have fixed residences; they stay in hotels one night and sleep in bars the next. As far as I know, Baozi doesn't own property in Sun City."
After hearing this from Mao Shun, I awkwardly touched my nose: "So what should we do? I have something very important in his possession."
"How about this? My informant is currently at the hospital. You two should go there and see if you can get any information," Mao Shun said as he took out his phone and dialed a number. After a few words, he hung up: "Yangcheng People's Hospital; he's waiting for you at the entrance. By the way, my informant's name is Tian Zhiyong, nicknamed Tian Laoshu. Make sure to note down his phone number."
After saving the phone number, Fatty and I bid farewell to Mao Shun. We stepped out of the teahouse and discussed for a while before making an audacious decision—take it one step at a time!
Being unfamiliar with the area, neither of us knew where the People's Hospital was located. After waiting for a while without seeing a taxi, we noticed a motorcycle parked at the entrance. A Horse-Faced Man was sitting sideways on the motorcycle, one hand resting on the dashboard while he held a cigarette in the other hand, looking at us sideways; he was likely a Motorcycle Taxi driver.
I nodded towards him: "Master, how much to get to People's Hospital?"
As expected, he was indeed a passenger-carrying Motorcycle Driver. He glanced at Fatty and replied to me: "People's Hospital? 10 yuan!"
The price seemed a bit high but not outrageous. Fatty and I got on the motorcycle and immediately felt its weight shift backward. Thankfully there weren't any slopes along the way; otherwise, I would worry that the motorcycle might tip over backward.
In the distance, I spotted the red cross symbol of People's Hospital along with some shining titanium letters—Yangcheng County People's Hospital. There seemed to be an inscription next to it that was too far away to read; even if I could see it clearly, I might not recognize it since it was written in cursive script.
The car stopped at an intersection about ten meters from the entrance of the People's Hospital. The Horse-Faced Man turned around and called for us to get out: "Guys, this is as far as I can take you. If I go any further, I'll be crossing the line. The hospital is right ahead; just a couple of steps and you'll be there."
It seemed that the gang's territory was clearly defined. I could even feel the cold gazes of several Motorcycle Drivers at the entrance of the People's Hospital. Smiling, I got out of the car and pulled out ten yuan to give to the driver.
The Horse-Faced Man immediately frowned: "Twenty yuan!"
"Wasn't it ten?" I didn't intend to cause trouble, but I also didn't want to be taken advantage of.
"For me, it's ten each. With Fatty's weight, I still need to find someone to pump up my tires later. Twenty yuan is a bargain for you!" The Horse-Faced Man didn't get out of the car; he just propped himself up with his feet on the ground, completely disregarding us.
"You bastard!" Fatty immediately got angry upon hearing this: "If you think I'm heavy, then don't pick me up in the first place!"
The Horse-Faced Man chuckled: "Insulting me, huh? Fine, it's doubled now—two hundred! Not a single cent less..."
Before he could finish his sentence, I slapped him hard across the face, sending both him and his motorcycle crashing to the ground. I tossed ten yuan onto him and called out to Fatty: "Let's go! After we cross this street, it's the boundary; he won't dare follow us! Haha."
Fatty laughed as well, took a couple of steps, then turned back and spat at the Horse-Faced Man, who was struggling to get up. He cursed: "Don't think just because your face is as long as Zhao Benshan's that I won't hit you!" Then he walked away nonchalantly.
Sure enough, the Horse-Faced Man didn't chase after us; he just picked up his motorcycle and shouted at us: "I'll remember you! Don't let me see you here again; if I do, I'll beat you up!"
Whatever. There's no hope for that Fire Spirit Pearl now. After leaving the hospital, I started walking away. In this place called Sun City, I probably wouldn't return in my lifetime. If you're brave enough, how about coming with me to Star City for some fun?
As we reached the entrance of the hospital, those Motorcycle Drivers pointed and laughed at us, their faces filled with schadenfreude. One young man wearing a sun hat directly shouted at me: "I'll take you to the bus station later for free!"
The other guys burst into laughter. I chuckled lightly but ignored them and walked straight into the hospital entrance. To the left of the entrance was the registration hall. Although it wasn't a weekend, there were quite a few people queuing inside to register. I took out my phone and dialed Tian Zhiyong's number, but no one answered. Instead, someone came out from the registration hall—a shifty-looking man with a pale face and dark circles under his eyes. There were faint traces of blood at the corner of his mouth, his left arm was in a sling around his neck, and he was holding a phone that kept ringing incessantly.
Upon seeing me and Fatty, the sleazy man waved at me with his phone, saying, "Hello, is this Zhengnan Brothers? I'm Tian Zhiyong!"
After a brief conversation, Tian Zhiyong learned that we were here to ask Xiao Yuan for something. He nodded and said, "This matter has to wait until Boss Xiao wakes up..."
"Wait until Boss Xiao wakes up?" I couldn't suppress my confusion and interrupted him, "Didn't your Boss Xiao get killed last night?"
"Haha, sorry, there was a little accident." Tian Zhiyong scratched his head awkwardly. "He was originally dead, but somehow after a bump, he came back to life!"
"Can he receive guests now? Uh, can he meet with people now?" Fatty chimed in from the side.
"Now? That's definitely not possible. After all, he took over thirty stabs and lost enough blood to fill several bowls of spicy hot pot. He just fainted again. Even if he recovers a bit later, you two aren't from the gang, so he won't see you," Tian Zhiyong frowned and said. "Unless..."
"Unless what?" I quickly asked.
"Unless you join our Iron Blood Gang right now!" Tian Zhiyong winked. "Today we had a bloody battle with Red Wolf Hall, and both sides suffered heavy losses. If you join our Iron Blood Gang now, Boss Xiao will definitely treat you differently."
Fatty and I exchanged glances; this was indeed a way to get closer to Xiao Yuan and gradually extract information about the Fire Spirit Pearl. The chances of success were definitely higher than asking directly.
Nodding my head, I raised my fist to my ear and smiled, "I declare that from now on, we are both newcomers of the Iron Blood Gang and will be at odds with the Red Wolf Hall."
"Great! Welcome to the two newcomers! However, just a friendly reminder: we are Iron Blood Gang, not Iron Blood Hall. The other side is Red Wolf Hall, not Red Wolf Gang." Tian Zhiyong cheerfully patted us on the shoulders. "Although everyone is just playing a role, the chaos among the gangs in Sun City is already alarming. So you two need to stay highly vigilant. How about this? Since Boss Xiao is still in critical condition and you probably won't be able to see him right now, I'll arrange some tasks for you to perform well. That way I can have an excuse to let Boss Xiao meet you! Haha!"
Although Tian Zhiyong looked sleazy, he was a mid-level executive in the Iron Blood Gang; he was the manager of the Human Resources Department. The organizational structure of Iron Blood Gang resembled that of a large company: Xiao Yuan was the general manager, and the board of directors served as the backing. Below the general manager were the Human Resources Department, Marketing Department, Business Development Department, and After-Sales Service Department.
The Human Resources Department was responsible for recruitment and poaching, salaries and benefits, as well as group purchases for Health Treatment; the Marketing Department handled the gang's image and upper-level public relations; as for Business Development and After-Sales Service, simply put, it involved turf wars and collecting Protection Fees.
In Sun City, the surface struggle is for a street or even an alley, but in reality, the gold mines are scattered veins. Apart from the large veins held by the government, the remaining scattered veins are distributed among local residents with the government's tacit approval, with almost every neighborhood office able to claim one vein. The gangs fighting over these streets and alleys are actually contending for ownership of these veins.
The Iron Blood Gang occupies Old Street, while the Red Wolf Hall controls Flower Street. Geographically, one is in the east of the city and the other in the west, so there should be no conflict. However, as mentioned earlier, the streets merely represent the struggle for veins; the veins of the Iron Blood Gang and those of the Red Wolf Hall are very close to each other. Workers from both sides often clash, and tensions have been escalating until they finally ignited yesterday.
For this battle, both sides deployed elite members. After a bloody fight, casualties were immense; the Iron Blood Gang suffered near-total annihilation, while the Red Wolf Hall also faced heavy losses. According to Tian Zhiyong's calculations, after this battle, only three members of the originally forty to fifty strong Iron Blood Gang were left standing—barely enough to form a Mahjong table—demonstrating just how fierce the conflict was.
Both sides' boards of directors were mobilizing reinforcements; whoever's backup arrived first would seize the initiative. Therefore, my and Fatty's involvement indeed brought hope to the Iron Blood Gang.
"Our gang's headquarters is at Foreign Trade Hotel on Old Street. Exit the hospital gate, turn right and walk straight until you reach the intersection, then turn right again. Walk a few hundred meters and you'll see Foreign Trade Hotel. You two go directly to the front desk; I'll call ahead to notify her," Tian Zhiyong said while making a phone call in front of me, then urged us to hurry to headquarters.
"What about you guys?" Compared to Iron Blood Gang's headquarters, I was more concerned about the safety of Iron Blood Gang's manager—Xiao Yuan.
"People's Hospital is the safest place. It was a rule established by the top ten gangs that anyone causing trouble at People's Hospital would be besieged by all other gangs," Tian Zhiyong said with a sly smile before turning to leave. Suddenly he turned back and asked, "Do you think I look sleazy?"
"Just generally sleazy; you haven't reached 'very' yet!" I replied with a laugh.
"Do you think informants and undercover agents are as handsome as Tony Leung in Infernal Affairs? In our line of work, the first rule is not to raise suspicion; it's best not to stand out. Being handsome? That easily draws attention!" After saying this, Tian Zhiyong strode away.
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