After a single night, Azure Dragon woke with an aching back and sore waist. Early in the morning, he and Xu Ying brought several young brothers to collect a debt. Standing in the narrow, filthy corridor of a public housing block, he raised a hand to knock on the door, only to suddenly darken in expression and brace himself against the wall, remaining silent for quite some time.
“Fuck, what’s wrong with you?” Xu Ying asked in alarm.
Grinding his teeth, Azure Dragon replied, “Don’t even mention it. I slept with Liu Yi last night. He spent the entire night hanging off my waist.”
Xu Ying burst out laughing. A neighbor living across the hall, annoyed by the noise, stuck his head out and began cursing. The moment he saw four or five delinquent youths standing in the corridor, each carrying either cleavers or gasoline cans, he withdrew his head at lightning speed.
After he finished laughing, Xu Ying looked at the still-closed door. “You sure he’s in there?”
“He’ll definitely be home this early in the morning.”
“Move aside,” Xu Ying said. “I’ll kick the door down.”
Azure Dragon stepped back a little. Xu Ying gathered his strength and kicked repeatedly. Bang! Bang! It was completely useless. The debtor had apparently barricaded the door with who knew how many things.
“Should we burn it?” he asked Azure Dragon.
“How are we supposed to burn it? There are so many people living nearby.” Azure Dragon gestured toward the rows of densely packed doors lining both sides of the narrow corridor.
“Who cares? Burn them all together.”
“Stop fooling around.” Azure Dragon smacked him on the forehead and lowered his voice. “Go check the balcony outside. Climb over from there.”
Xu Ying left with obvious reluctance. A short while later, Azure Dragon heard a loud crash! from inside the apartment, followed by sounds of punches, kicks, and screams. Some time later, the door opened from within. Grinning, Xu Ying made a sweeping gesture. “After you.”
Azure Dragon entered with several lackeys. The homeowner was kneeling on the floor with a swollen, bruised face, while his wife and children huddled together nearby, trembling. Xu Ying stepped forward and kicked the man again. “Still hiding?!”
“No more hiding! No more hiding! Spare me! Please spare me!”
Azure Dragon lifted the ledger in his hand and flipped through it. “Principal and interest together: two thousand four hundred and eighty dollars.”
The homeowner, his face swollen like a pig’s head, wailed, “I don’t have the money! I really don’t!” Seeing that Azure Dragon was handsome and refined and spoke pleasantly, completely unlike the vicious-looking hoodlums around him, he immediately threw himself forward and hugged Azure Dragon’s leg. “Boss, look at me—I’ve got elderly parents above me and children below me. Please give me a few more days, alright? I’m begging you!”
“Take his wife and children next door,” Azure Dragon said pleasantly.
Two lackeys dragged away the wife and children. Azure Dragon crouched down in front of the man, grabbed one of his hands, and pulled a small pair of pliers from his pocket.
“One day, one fingernail. Two days, two fingernails. How many do you want to keep?”
“What? No, wait, don’t—AAAGHHH—!!”
A bloody fingernail fell to the floor. Holding the pliers, Azure Dragon still wore the same pleasant expression. “Do you want to keep the rest?”
The homeowner nodded frantically through tears. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes…”
“Tomorrow. Two thousand four hundred and eighty dollars. Do you understand?”
“I understand! I understand! Sob…”
Azure Dragon straightened up expressionlessly. “Take his wife and children away. He can bring the money tomorrow to redeem them.”
“What?! No! No, please! Please, Boss—!”
The group escorted the crying woman and children back to headquarters—a dilapidated large house within the Kau Lung Walled City. Azure Dragon wiped the pliers clean with a towel and said to Xu Ying, “Lock the door. Nobody is allowed to touch his wife. Whoever does, I’ll cut off his manhood.”
“Wow, that’s harsh, isn’t it?” Xu Ying said, glancing at the debtor’s wife, who was still reasonably attractive. “The brothers have been pent up for a long time.”
Azure Dragon pulled out his wallet and tossed it to him. “Take them to the chicken dens tonight.”
“Yes, sir!” Xu Ying grinned and kissed the wallet. Seeing Azure Dragon turn to leave, he called after him, “Where are you going? Back to look after the kids again?”
“You already know the answer, so why ask?”
“Hahaha, you’ve got it rough. You haven’t even gotten married and you’re already dragging around two little burdens! Why not keep that little girl and raise her as a child bride?”
Without turning around, Azure Dragon flicked his wrist backward. A pair of pliers struck Xu Ying squarely. “Shut your mouth.”
Azure Dragon had already gone some distance when several hoodlums happily crowded around Xu Ying. “Brother Ying, let us see! How much money is in there?”
“No matter how much there is, it’s not yours!” Xu Ying smacked one of them on the head and proudly shook the wallet. “Tonight we’re heading to the chicken dens to have some fun! Dragon Boss is treating!”
The hoodlums erupted into cheers. “Dragon Boss is so generous!” “Long live Dragon Boss!” “Come to think of it, why does Dragon Boss never go to the chicken dens with us?” “Maybe he can’t do it?” “With how strong his waist is when he’s chopping people, how could he not?” “Maybe he doesn’t like women?” “If he doesn’t like women, does that mean he likes men? Wouldn’t that make him a rabbit lord? Hahaha—” BANG!!
Elio’s Notes: Rabbit Lord is a translation of 兔二爷 (tu er ye), an old Chinese slang term used to mock or refer to men who are attracted to other men. Depending on the period and context, it could range from teasing and derogatory to openly insulting. In the criminal underworld setting of this novel, the term is used as a contemptuous slur rather than a neutral description of homosexuality.
A table and chairs suddenly overturned! The hoodlum whose loose mouth had brought disaster upon himself was slammed to the ground by Xu Ying! Xu Ying grabbed a broken brick from the floor and smashed it directly into the man’s face! Blood instantly burst from his nose! Xu Ying’s hawk-claw-like hand clamped around his throat, his eagle-sharp gaze slicing across the bloodied face. “Who the fuck is a rabbit lord? If I hear that kind of talk again, I’ll take your life!”
The hoodlum trembled and cried, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Brother Ying! I won’t dare do it again!”
Xu Ying flung him aside and stood up. A few drops of the man’s blood still stained his face, making his expression especially ferocious. The lackeys around him were all trembling in fear.
“What are you standing around for? Keep talking. Keep laughing.” Xu Ying grinned viciously. Suddenly he grabbed another lackey by the collar. “Laugh! I’m telling you to laugh!”
The lackey desperately forced out a smile that looked even uglier than crying.
“That’s more like it.” Xu Ying patted the lackey’s face and sneered at everyone present. “Dragon Boss feeds you, clothes you, pays for your drinks, pays for your trips to the brothels. If any of you ungrateful bastards dare talk behind his back again, I’ll gouge out your eyeballs one by one!”
Azure Dragon drove home alone, then took Liu Yi to the hospital. The night before, Liu Yi had spent the entire night sprawled across him while muttering that his tooth hurt.
He carried Liu Yi into the dental clinic. With the practiced calm of a veterinarian, the dentist pried open the little tiger cub’s mouth—those sharp little teeth that specialized in biting people—and showed Azure Dragon. “A child this age can’t be eating cake every day. Look at this cavity.”
“Does it need to come out?”
“It does.”
Liu Yi blinked blankly as he watched the dentist approach with a pair of forceps, completely unaware of the impending danger. Azure Dragon quietly took a step backward and discreetly covered his ears. Sure enough, in the very next second, Liu Yi let out a howl!
The entire drive home, he refused to speak to Azure Dragon. Holding his swollen cheek, he huddled in his seat in silence. While steering, Azure Dragon tried to reason with him. “You need to brush your teeth properly when we get home. And no more cake every day. How about once a week?”
He can still snort at me? Azure Dragon shot him a glance. Pouting, Liu Yi mumbled indistinctly through his swollen mouth, “Mrrrblblblbl.”
“When have I ever gone back on my word?”
“Mrrrblblblbl!”
“The doctor said you can’t eat it every day, not me.”
“Mrrrblbl…”
The two bickered all the way home. Xiao Man was sitting on the living room sofa hugging a doll and staring into space. She was delighted when she saw them return, though she did not dare stand up; it was her first menstrual cycle, and she still was not accustomed to the feeling. Liu Yi launched himself at her like a cannonball, first showing off his swollen mouth before declaring, “Mrrrblblbl.”
“You had two teeth pulled? Let me see.” Xiao Man’s voice was soft and gentle.
“Mrrrbl!”
“It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt. Pain, fly away.” Xiao Man handed him her doll. “Here, you can play with this.”
The two children quickly ended up cuddled together on the sofa, happily playing. One of the maids watched with emotion. “Those two children really are close, Young Master. Just look at Little Young Master, babbling who-knows-what. Only Young Miss can understand him.”
Azure Dragon said to her, “Have Uncle Zhang move the folding bed from the storage room into my bedroom. Go make up the bedding.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Mrrrblblblbl?” Hearing that, Liu Yi immediately looked up and glared.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you had your own bed?” Azure Dragon replied.
“Mrrrblblblbl!”
“I’m not sleeping with you. You’re too heavy.”
“Mrrrbl!”
That night, Liu Yi lay miserably on his own little folding bed. Ever since he was small and living in a ramshackle shack, he had always slept squeezed together with his sister. Then, all of a sudden, he was told he could no longer sleep with her. Fine, then he could sleep with Big Brother instead. But the very next day, Big Brother would not let him do that either. Instantly, he found himself abandoned in a lonely and pitiful world. His mouth was still swollen, and the place where the tooth had been pulled throbbed faintly. Although it was nowhere near as painful as the beatings he used to receive, this was the first time he had tasted the bitterness of being “betrayed” by Big Brother, and it broke his heart.
“You’re already ten years old. You’re a big boy now, and big boys sleep by themselves,” Azure Dragon coaxed as he tucked a wooden puppet that had been resting on the pillow into Liu Yi’s arms so he would have something to hug while sleeping.
Only then did Azure Dragon realize that this puppet belonged to Xiao Man. Liu Yi’s own puppet had probably already been dismantled beyond recognition. During this time, Azure Dragon had noticed that whenever Xiao Man had anything good—something tasty, something fun—she would unconditionally give it to her younger brother no matter how much she liked it herself. And as for the younger brother, he was a complete sister-protecting fanatic. Aside from Azure Dragon and the maids in the house, if anyone else got close to his sister, he would immediately jump in front of her and bare his little fangs.
Azure Dragon had no biological brothers or sisters of his own, and he found himself a little envious of the affection they shared. Then he thought of Xu Ying, whom he had grown up with, and smiled. Back when they were teenagers roaming around getting into fights together, hadn’t Xu Ying looked just as fierce whenever he stood in front of him to shield him?
He and Xu Ying had grown up on the same street. Though their personalities were completely different, the bond between them had always been deep. Xu Ying respected him as an elder brother and listened only to him. The only serious falling-out they had ever had was more than a year ago. After his father established Xiao Qi Hall, Azure Dragon refused to let Xu Ying formally join the society because, as he had said, “Once you enter the jianghu, you can never leave it. You still have your father’s tattoo shop to look after.” Unwilling to spend his life as nothing more than a tattoo artist, Xu Ying secretly went behind his back to find Uncle Ge, who formally introduced him into the society and had him swear the oath of brotherhood. Azure Dragon had been furious, nearly cutting ties with him altogether.
In the end, of course, Xu Ying had managed to coax him around with his usual shameless grin. Again and again, Xu Ying promised him, “Even if I join the society, I’ll only listen to you. I’ll never mess around.” Then he had practically dragged Azure Dragon into becoming sworn brothers with him, swearing before Heaven, “We do not ask to be born in the same year, month, and day, but we do ask to die in the same year, month, and day.”
Azure Dragon tucked the blanket securely around Liu Yi and thought that perhaps he should invite Xu Ying over to the house more often so he could get acquainted with his little brother and sister. After all, they were Xu Ying’s younger siblings now as well.
For an adult, it was still early. Azure Dragon was not sleepy. Leaning against the headboard, he continued reading through the account books. Liu Yi secretly peeked at him from beneath the covers.
“Go to sleep,” he said gently.
Liu Yi immediately pulled the blanket back over himself and obediently closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Azure Dragon turned another page of the ledger, feeling unusually peaceful. He had never raised a pet in his life, but at the moment he felt he was doing a pretty decent job.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. A maid informed him that there was a phone call for him. Azure Dragon got out of bed and went to answer it. On the other end, Xu Ying’s voice came urgently. “Azure Dragon, something’s happened! Get over to Room Rose at Ceon Waa Club right now!”
Azure Dragon hung up and had barely taken a single step when he realized something was attached to his leg. It was Liu Yi, barefoot and wearing only his little shorts.
“I have something urgent to take care of. Go back to sleep.”
“Mrrrbl?”
“It’s nothing. Just go to sleep first.” Azure Dragon was anxious and ended up being a little rougher than usual. He forcibly peeled the child off his leg, carried him back to bed in quick strides, and stuffed him under the blankets. Curled up beneath the quilt, Liu Yi gazed at him with wide, hopeful eyes. Azure Dragon did not look back even once as he closed the bedroom door behind him and left.
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