Futile Devices Scans

Just as dawn was beginning to break, Xia Liu Yi was awakened by the chaotic knocking, cursing, and shouting downstairs.

“Open the door! Fuck! Hurry up and open!”

He sat up alertly, then discovered that he was covered with a damp bedsheet. He Chu San was leaning against his uninjured shoulder, sleeping so damn sweetly. Not only that, one paw was wrapped around his waist from behind, while the other paw rested on his chest—his index and middle fingers, separated only by Xia Liu Yi’s thin tank top, were clamped directly around his nipple.

As mentioned before, this spot on Boss Xia was extremely sensitive. His face immediately flushed bright red, and he slapped this little punk flying!

Fuck! Was he looking for his mother?!

He Chu San crawled up groggily, wrapped in the bedsheet. Before his sleepy eyes could even open fully and before he could finish a yawn, Xia Liu Yi kicked him. Xia Liu Yi lifted his chin toward downstairs.

He Chu San quickly climbed up, leaned over the stone railing to look down, then shrank back with a deathly pale face. “Brother Liu Yi, they’re searching house to house for you.”

“Bosses, bosses! The one living upstairs is my son. There’s no one else!” Dentist He’s ingratiating yet nervous voice came from below.

“Dad…” He Chu San called softly. Just as he was about to straighten, Xia Liu Yi yanked him back down.

Xia Liu Yi clamped a hand tightly over his mouth and shook his head at him, expression cold and sharp. He Chu San was held in one arm, almost in a face-to-face embrace. But at such a critical moment, neither of them had the mind to care whether it was ambiguous. Both held their breath and pricked up their ears, listening to the commotion below.

Downstairs, there was a long stretch of banging and clattering. Not only Dentist He’s clinic, but also the nearby snack shops were searched. Fat Sister shrieked, “My beef offal pot!” After a while, Dentist He’s ingratiating voice sounded again. “See, bosses? I told you! There really isn’t anyone hidden here. My son already went out to school! Yes, yes, he’s that university student! Ah, he’s very studious. You can’t stop him even if you try! I have a little hardship money here. May all you bosses rise higher, rise higher!”

He Chu San let out a breath. Fortunately, because the room was narrow and stuffy, he cleaned and tidied every day, burning Xia Liu Yi’s used bloodstained bandages carefully and only throwing the ashes away after carrying them to school. Before going upstairs last night, he had put away his books and candles and even rolled up the floor mat that had been in the way. There should not be any suspicious traces left in the room.

Then he grew nervous again and softly asked Xia Liu Yi, “Will they come up?”

“Shh.” Xia Liu Yi frowned and continued listening.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from the stairwell. A voice cried out in shock, “Xia Liu Yi?”

The hairs on He Chu San’s body stood on end! A few meters away stood a man in shorts, his hair messy, holding a big cracked washbasin—clearly someone who had come up to collect a bedsheet.

The two sides stared at each other. Xia Liu Yi had just recognized him as a minor manager under Boss Sha, whose territory he had swept through a few months ago, when the man roared and grabbed a bamboo pole used for hanging laundry, stabbing it toward the two of them!

He Chu San watched helplessly as the sharp end of the bamboo pole stabbed straight toward his chest. His vision blurred, and Xia Liu Yi shoved him hard out of the way.

With a muffled sound of flesh being pierced, the bamboo pole stabbed into the old wound on Xia Liu Yi’s shoulder. Blood instantly dyed the bandage red. Xia Liu Yi gripped the bamboo pole with both hands, his face flushed crimson as he desperately tried to stop it from going deeper. But he was injured and weak, his strength too low, and the bamboo pole kept inching deeper…

He Chu San swung his schoolbag, stuffed with heavy books, and smashed it down onto the minor manager’s head!

The minor manager screamed and let go. The bamboo pole tore through Xia Liu Yi’s shoulder and flew far away in a spray of blood.

The minor manager clutched his head and groaned several times. When he lifted his head again, a thread of blood slid down his forehead, and his eyes were full of killing intent.

He punched He Chu San so hard that He Chu San staggered. Then came a vicious flurry of punches and kicks. University Student He’s combat power was practically negative; he could only hold his head and get beaten. Xia Liu Yi, his shoulder covered in blood, tried to sit up with one hand braced on the ground, but he struggled for a long time and could not straighten. Furious, he tried to reach for the bamboo pole, but it was out of reach. In that blink of an eye, He Chu San had already been beaten to the ground.

He Chu San had taken several hits to the stomach and head. He curled up and fell to the ground, coughing nonstop. His vision swam, but his mind suddenly cleared.

Gritting his teeth, he climbed up. Facing another kick from the minor manager, he dropped into an imposing and perfectly standard horse stance—the same stance he practiced here every morning.

At that moment, the figure of Uncle Hua, fourth-generation inheritor of Yang-style Tai Chi, appeared in his mind, pushing palms, drawing fists, sweeping legs, moving the universe. He was so short, fat, round, and leisurely. He Chu San, possessed by the god of war, closed his eyes and struck out with both palms. In an extremely twisted posture, he caught the minor manager’s leg, clasped the instep with both palms, pulled, then pushed!

“Yaaa!” The minor manager screamed in midair and fell flat on his back!

With a heavy thud, even the fragile floorboards shook. He staggered back to his feet, dizzy and filled with murderous rage.

He swung his fist and lunged at He Chu San again. He Chu San rolled to the side. The minor manager’s foot slipped, he stumbled several steps, and once again fell flat on his back!

This time, no matter how he struggled, he could not get up. Blankly, he lowered his head to look at his abdomen, then suddenly let out another scream. “Yaaaah—!!”

A vertical iron spike had pierced straight through his stomach. With that shrill cry, blood splashed out like a fountain!

He Chu San sat collapsed on the ground, face deathly white, frozen in shock. Xia Liu Yi shouted sharply, “Stop looking! Hurry up and go!”

The Xiao Qi Hall men downstairs had already heard the strange screams from the roof and were thudding up the stairs. He Chu San snapped back to himself, rushed over to support Xia Liu Yi, and did not forget to grab his bloodstained little schoolbag and sling it over his back.

They could no longer go down the stairs. He asked Xia Liu Yi, “What do we do?!”

Xia Liu Yi jerked his head toward the outside of the building. “Jump!”

He Chu San’s mouth fell open. Before he could pick his jaw back up, Xia Liu Yi had already grabbed the back of his neck and dragged him to the edge. Xia Liu Yi braced himself on the stone railing and panted once, then turned to see He Chu San trembling as he clung to the stone slab and looked down.

In truth, the distance to the window of the neighboring high-rise was not far, only about one or two meters. But both buildings were covered in slick oily rain-mud and filth. Below was a drop of over ten meters, where pedestrians’ heads could be clearly seen.

He Chu San’s legs went weak, and he shrank back.

“Jump by yourself, or I throw you over,” Xia Liu Yi said breathlessly. He had lost too much blood, and his head was starting to grow heavy.

He Chu San swallowed. “I’ll do it myself…” He had only just carefully and slowly leaned most of his body out when Xia Liu Yi shoved him out with one palm!

He Chu San tumbled headfirst through someone else’s paper-patched window, knocking away the last bits of old glass from the frame. Inside, a thin old man had been sleeping soundly. Opening his eyes to see a black shadow, he immediately shouted hoarsely and grabbed the feather duster by the bed, whipping it toward He Chu San.

He Chu San hugged his head and endured several swats before crawling back to the window to check on Xia Liu Yi—just in time for Xia Liu Yi to roll in with a somersault and crash directly into his arms.

The two rolled together and fell to the floor, getting beaten by the thin old man’s feather duster from head to toe. Finally, Xia Liu Yi, protected beneath He Chu San, roared with veins bulging, “Stop!”

The old man froze in fright. He Chu San rolled up, grabbed Xia Liu Yi, and fled.

The two pulled open the rusty door and thudded downstairs. They were only a few steps from the end of the stairwell when Xia Liu Yi’s foot suddenly gave way, and he collapsed.

He Chu San fell to the ground and felt around for him, only to touch a handful of sticky wetness. He heard Xia Liu Yi’s weak breathing.

“Brother Liu Yi?”

Xia Liu Yi wanted to speak, but his vision grew darker and darker. He used the last of his strength to try to stand, but in the end, his head drooped unwillingly.

……

In the darkness, everything swayed. The sound of wind beside his ears gradually became clear, along with someone’s fierce panting.

Xia Liu Yi opened his eyes hazily. In the dim vision before him, all he could see was the dark back of He Chu San’s head.

The jolting motion tugged at the wound on his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, and his breathing grew heavier. Then he heard He Chu San’s voice. “Brother Liu Yi, huff! You awake? Hah!”

He Chu San was carrying a tall, long-limbed grown man on his back and was nearly exhausted to death. Panting, he said, “If you’re awake, huff! Don’t sleep! Be careful you sleep, hah! Sleep yourself dead!”

“Fuck, don’t curse me.” Xia Liu Yi cursed weakly.

“Huff!” He Chu San said. “If you want to sleep, hah! Then talk to me…”

“Talk about what?”

“Huff! Just now, you pushed me away. Hah! And got stabbed by him.” He had risked himself to save him again. This time, He Chu San definitely had not misunderstood!

Xia Liu Yi closed his eyes tiredly and said softly, “You took me in, so you’re one of my underlings. Taking care of my brothers is what I should—”

“I’m not becoming your underling… huff! I’m not joining the triads… hah!”

“……”

Xia Liu Yi forced out a breath and smacked him on the head! What was wrong with being my underling?!

He Chu San figured that since Xia Liu Yi still had the strength to hit people, he probably would not die. So he ran even harder, huffing and puffing. Thanks to the fact that he had been practicing horse stance every morning these past few months, his stamina, waist strength, and leg strength had greatly improved. He staggered through three whole alleys without dropping Xia Liu Yi.

In the end, he finally could not run anymore. Taking many twists and turns, he found an abandoned little stairwell, stepped over dead rats, climbed to a corner on the second floor, and panted as he put Xia Liu Yi down.

“They probably, huff, won’t find this place for now, hah…” he said, straightening to pound his waist and trying to pull his twisted spine back into shape.

Xia Liu Yi leaned against the filthy wall and looked up at his elongated figure. Suddenly, he frowned. “Did you get taller?”

He seemed much taller than when he had first been captured to write the movie script, and stronger too. He no longer looked like a skinny little chick with thin arms and legs.

He Chu San shifted the little schoolbag he had been wearing on his chest back to his back and answered while swallowing. “Dad… huff, says I’m still young and can still grow. Maybe next year I’ll be taller than you.”

Young my ass. Other people’s children are already running all over the place at twenty-one, and he still thinks he can grow!

Xia Liu Yi snorted through his nose, lacking the strength to curse such a long sentence. He could only take a breath and say, “Take off your clothes and stop my bleeding.”

He Chu San pondered for a long time. “…Whose clothes?”

“Both of ours!”

He Chu San stripped off Xia Liu Yi’s bloodstained tank top and tossed it aside. Then he stripped off his own shirt too, tore it into strips, and used them to stop Xia Liu Yi’s bleeding and bandage the wound.

While looking down on He Chu San’s lousy medical technique, Xia Liu Yi thought through a plan. At last, he said to He Chu San, “We can’t keep hiding like this. Go help me do something.”

“As long as it isn’t illegal or criminal, I’ll help you with anything. But I’m not your underling.”

“Shut up!”

That evening, several of Xu Ying’s lackeys caught He Chu San on the old stone wall of Gaau Lung Walled City, acting suspiciously while holding a bundle of bloody clothes and trying to throw it out.

……

Xia Liu Yi panted heavily, clutching the wound on his right shoulder as he leaned against the wall, inching step by step toward the back door of Xiao Qi Film Company.

He bent over and fumbled around the corner near the water pipe, pulling out a set of spare keys wrapped in oiled paper, then quietly opened the door.

It was late at night. The nearby alleys were empty except for him. A few rats chattered as they ran past his feet, not afraid in the slightest.

He walked in through the dark, alertly pricking up his ears to listen for movement inside, cautiously approaching the studio.

Perhaps because someone had searched it earlier, the studio door had not been shut. He felt his way toward a table in the corner—the very place where He Chu San had sat to finish writing the script.

Opening the drawer, he found a box of matches and a thick candle used for offerings to Lord Guan. He bent down and half-knelt on the ground, lighting the candle and setting it upright to illuminate an inconspicuous little bookcase beneath the table.

He unlocked the bookcase with the spare key. Inside was a well-made safe.

He cautiously looked around, then leaned close to the safe and turned the combination lock with a series of clicks. After a while, there was a soft click. He opened the safe and took out a paper package from inside.

A mocking laugh suddenly sounded from the doorway. A man’s teasing voice said, “Azure Dragon really did hide the ledger with you.”

With several loud snaps, all the overhead lights were switched on. The entire studio lit up brightly, revealing Xia Liu Yi’s faint frown and Xu Ying standing proudly at the entrance.

Xu Ying walked in with a cigar in his mouth. Several lackeys poured in behind him. Last came He Chu San, pushed forward with a gun pointed at his head.

“Using a student brat to throw out bloody clothes and make me think you left the Walled City?” Xu Ying said. “Xia Xiao Liu, how could you be this stupid?”

He Chu San’s face was pale, his expression panicked and terrified. The look he gave Xia Liu Yi was full of guilt and sorrow—Fuck, this kid was a full-on movie king. If the Golden Statue Award did not go to him, who else deserved it?

Holding the paper package, he slowly stood with one hand braced on the table. But when he spoke, he was not speaking to Xu Ying.

“Who hit you?”

There was a large red swelling on He Chu San’s head. He had clearly been beaten. He honestly answered, “The one with the scar on his nose.”

Xia Liu Yi glanced at one of the lackeys beside Xu Ying. “Your boss will avenge you.”

Xu Ying could not stand watching anymore and laughed lightly. “Enough, Xia Xiao Liu. You can’t even stand steady, so what are you pretending to be a boss for? Throw me the ledger!”

Xia Liu Yi coldly looked at Xu Ying. Slowly, he placed the paper package on the table, but did not throw it. He merely pushed it forward.

Xu Ying frowned at him.

“What? Don’t have the guts to come get it?” Xia Liu Yi sneered.

“You’re full of tricks. Boss Xu has no interest in playing with you,” Xu Ying said, tilting his head.

The lackey with the scar on his nose walked forward. He approached the table, took the paper package, and turned back to throw it to Xu Ying. Then he pressed Xia Liu Yi’s upper body down onto the table, twisted both his hands behind him, and searched him. “Boss Xu, he didn’t hide any weapons.”

Xia Liu Yi scoffed. “Your Boss Liu Yi’s ‘weapon’ is never hidden. Unlike your Boss Xu, who never grew one at all.”

Xu Ying lifted his chin. The lackey slapped Xia Liu Yi across the face. Xia Liu Yi spat out a mouthful of blood with his head turned, then slowly looked back at him and sneered with his swollen mouth.

As Xu Ying unwrapped the paper package, he walked toward Xia Liu Yi. “Xia Xiao Liu, when you’re out in the underworld, don’t make your mouth so filthy. Say a few nice words if you know what’s good for you. If Boss Xu is in a good mood, I might leave you with an intact cor—what the fuck is this?!”

He slammed the thick stack of script pages in his hand onto the table. He Chu San’s neat, elegant handwriting spread out across the surface.

Xia Liu Yi let out an “Oh?” “Someone swapped it? Boss Xu, that wasn’t me.”

“Fuck! Stop playing tricks with me!” Xu Ying strode forward and grabbed Xia Liu Yi by the hair. “Where’s the ledger?”

Xia Liu Yi smiled. “Boss Xu killed Boss Azure Dragon but can’t find the crucial ledger. And since the Dragon Head Staff still hasn’t appeared, the elders refuse to vote you in as the new Dragon Head?”

Xu Ying grinned viciously and seized Xia Liu Yi by the throat. “Cut the fucking bullshit. I caught you, this traitor, made a great contribution, and took over all the gang’s territory. Those old bastards will have to recognize me whether they want to or not!”

Xia Liu Yi’s face reddened from being choked, and he coughed as he gasped, “That… isn’t certain!”

Suddenly, he swept his foot out and kicked the still-burning thick candle on the ground toward Xu Ying’s feet. The flame immediately licked at Xu Ying’s trouser leg. Xu Ying hurriedly jumped and stomped it out. In that instant, Xia Liu Yi flipped over and punched Xu Ying’s chin with his left fist!

Then he grabbed a stool and smashed it onto the head of the lackey beside him. The stool shattered with a crack. He picked up the sharp broken stool leg and stabbed it through the man’s palm with a squelch—keeping his word and “avenging” He Chu San.

“Yaaaah—!” The lackey screamed while clutching his bloodied palm.

Xu Ying lunged at him from behind, hands grabbing toward his shoulders. Xia Liu Yi swung an arm back to block, but Xu Ying seized his wrist and pressed down on the web of his hand, making the stool leg fall to the ground.

Xia Liu Yi turned and swept a kick at him. Xu Ying released his wrist and quickly dodged, his hands curling into claws as he shouted and launched a move called Twin Dragons Drawing Water toward Xia Liu Yi’s chest.

Xia Liu Yi was very familiar with his skills. Instinctively, he brought both arms down, blocking and pushing to break the move. But the sudden movement pulled at the injury on his right shoulder. He groaned, only managing to block one palm. The other palm struck his chest, and he immediately fell backward to the ground.

Xu Ying bent forward and attacked with another claw. Xia Liu Yi rolled aside to dodge, then advanced by retreating and returned a punch. The two rolled and fought on the ground, their movements dazzling to the onlookers. But Xia Liu Yi was injured after all. His right hand was nearly useless, and after a dozen or so punches and kicks, Xu Ying pinned him firmly to the ground.

“Xia Xiao Liu,” Xu Ying laughed breathlessly. “I taught you this boxing style. Is this how you repay Boss Xu?”

Xia Liu Yi’s face was pressed to the ground. He turned his ear and listened to the movement around them, then said hoarsely, “Azure Dragon treated you well. Is this how you repay him?”

“Azure Dragon treated me well? Heh! Hahahaha! I followed him for twenty years, went through fire and water for him, and in the end he gave everything to you, this wet-behind-the-ears pretty boy! What fucking Deputy Hall Master? I was just a dog under his feet. When did he ever look at me properly?! Do you know what he told the elders? ‘Although Xia Liu Yi is young, he possesses both wisdom and courage and can be entrusted with great responsibility.’ ‘Xu Ying’s mind is too deep. He cannot be fully trusted!’”

“He was indeed wrong to trust you!” Xia Liu Yi raised his voice and shouted, “Xu Ying! You think you can deceive heaven and cross the sea? When I left the villa and entered the hospital, I didn’t have the Azure Dragon Twin Blades with me at all! The butler and servants at the villa, and the Xiao Qi Hall brothers present at the hospital, can all testify!”

“The butler? The servants?” Xu Ying sneered. “That night, all of them were ‘killed’ by Xia Liu Yi after he saw his crazy sister’s corpse. Even the house was burned down! As for the Xiao Qi Hall brothers at the scene, aside from your people, they were mine. Who do you think everyone will believe?”

“You…” Xia Liu Yi could hardly believe he had actually killed everyone in Azure Dragon’s household to silence them. Trembling through gritted teeth for a while, he said hoarsely, “Xu Ying, even the underworld has its code of honor. Someone like you is bound to die horribly.”

Instead, Xu Ying burst into laughter. Pressing Xia Liu Yi’s face down, he leaned over and curled his lips. “Everyone in the underworld says Boss Azure Dragon valued honor the most. Did he get a good death?”

He pressed close to Xia Liu Yi’s ear and said teasingly, “Do you know what he said to me when I walked in carrying your blades?”

“He said, ‘Xiao Liu, it’s my fault. Don’t blame yourself.’ Ha! Hahaha! Hahahaha!”

He burst into loud laughter as if it were endlessly amusing. Xia Liu Yi froze blankly for a long moment, then suddenly let out a hoarse roar. Twisting his injured right shoulder, he used every bit of strength to strike Xu Ying with his palm. Xu Ying, still laughing, was caught off guard and struck squarely with a slap.

Five blue-red finger marks immediately rose on Xu Ying’s face. His eyes turned sinister. He drew a gun from behind his waist and pressed it against Xia Liu Yi’s head. “I’ve changed my mind, Xia Xiao Liu. No need to leave you with an intact corpse. I should smash every inch of those stinking, stubborn bones of yours!”

“Kill that kid first and let him watch!” he shouted, turning toward the lackey holding He Chu San.

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