After the birthday banquet, Azure Dragon accomplished two major things. The first was getting married, and the second was taking Xiao Liu to Thailand to pay his respects to Golden Maitreya. Golden Maitreya took a liking to Xiao Liu’s intelligence and quick wit and accepted him as his godson.
Not long after Azure Dragon’s wedding, Xiao Liu, citing the fact that he had already reached adulthood and had become a Red Pole capable of standing on his own, expressed his desire to have a private life and move out of the villa to live independently. Xiao Man was greatly surprised by this request and did her best to dissuade him, while Azure Dragon remained silent, just as Xiao Liu did.
In the end, Xiao Liu moved out. He bought a small two-story village house not far from the Walled City. The layout and furnishings closely resembled the village house where the three of them had grown up together—the original house had long since been demolished after being soaked in too much blood on the night of Azure Dragon’s father’s death. From then on, he lived there alone, by himself, dwelling in the memories of his youth.
The title of “Blood Asura” gradually gave way to “Twin-Blade Red Pole” throughout the underworld. This young Red Pole possessed exceptional martial skills, a sharp mind, and a decisive, forceful style. He was in no way inferior to the older generation. His elder sister was gentle, virtuous, and beautiful, widely known throughout the underworld as “Madam Azure Dragon.” Under the leadership of the cautious and reserved Azure Dragon, Xiao Qi Hall quietly became a force to be reckoned with within the Walled City, extending its influence through brothels, drug dens, gambling parlors, and every sort of entertainment establishment.
In 1987, when Xiao Liu was twenty-two, the Hong Kong colonial government and the Beijing government reached an agreement to demolish Kau Lung Walled City. Although the various forces within the Walled City resisted, causing the demolition effort to make virtually no progress over the following years, the agreement still sent shockwaves through the Walled City and beyond. Some residents began slowly and gradually moving away. The underworld organizations that had thrived there for decades, even centuries, also accelerated their efforts to expand outside the Walled City in order to survive.
That same year, Azure Dragon ordered A’Ying to open Xiao Qi Hall’s first disco in Mong Kok. At the end of the year, Deputy Hall Master Uncle Yuan suffered a stroke that left him with limited mobility. He voluntarily resigned his position and retired behind the scenes as a senior elder. At Azure Dragon’s recommendation, the thirty-two-year-old A’Ying was promoted to the new Deputy Hall Master, with all expansion and development beyond the Walled City placed under his command.
Outside the Walled City, naturally, there were already powers entrenched there. Why would they tolerate some punk from another territory trampling over their turf? With Azure Dragon’s tacit approval, A’Ying gradually unleashed his ruthless and arrogant nature once more, returning to his old ways of smashing, looting, and burning as he carved out territory for Xiao Qi Hall and shed blood in its name—while, naturally, taking the opportunity to secure a few personal benefits for himself along the way.
In 1988, Azure Dragon instructed Cui Dong Dong, who had by then been promoted to the position of Chief Steward within Xiao Qi Hall, to establish an upscale business club in Kowloon Tong called Taan Heung Pavilion, intended specifically for entertaining the various underworld bosses who dealt with Xiao Qi Hall, as well as the many “upper-class” figures who had protected Xiao Qi Hall’s business interests over the years.
The farther Xiao Qi Hall’s branches spread outward, the more enemies it made—not only within the underworld. The police also began focusing their attention on this rising force. The times were changing rapidly. As the expiration of the colony’s lease drew nearer and nearer, British control over Hong Kong gradually weakened; public democratic awareness grew stronger, and calls for the direct election of Legislative Council members became increasingly loud; years of relentless crackdowns by the Independent Commission Against Corruption significantly curbed government corruption, making it increasingly difficult for the inspectors to continue providing protection; and weaker gangs were struck hard by police operations or even dismantled entirely…
Under this series of pressures and changes, Azure Dragon gradually came to recognize the limitations and inevitable dead end facing criminal organizations. He began considering legitimization. Yet the greatest obstacle to legitimizing Xiao Qi Hall was also its greatest business partner—Golden Maitreya. Starting with a single shipment of goods provided on credit, this drug lord living in seclusion in Thailand had personally nurtured Xiao Qi Hall into the flourishing organization it had become. How could he possibly relinquish one of his most important distribution channels in the Asia-Pacific region so easily?
At the beginning of 1989, Azure Dragon secretly began investigating Golden Maitreya’s weaknesses and digging into his past. For security reasons, he did not mention any of this to either A’Ying or Xiao Liu. When he discovered that Golden Maitreya had spent a period of time in Hong Kong more than a decade earlier, he remembered the Dragon Head ledger inherited from his father—a ledger containing records of Xiao Qi Hall’s major transactions and tribute payments over the years.
On the very first page, in the very first entry, he found what appeared to be the first “partnership” between his father and Golden Maitreya. By chance, he also discovered an old photograph hidden inside the gap of the ledger’s cover. It was this transaction and this photograph that led him to vaguely suspect how Golden Maitreya and his father had become sworn brothers, and it was also what made him begin to question the mysterious circumstances surrounding his father’s death.
Only those who had lived through those events knew the truth best. Carrying the photograph, he sought out Uncle Yuan, who had long since retired. This kind and steady senior elder had once been his father’s most trusted brother. After his father’s death, he had defied opposition to place the young Azure Dragon on the Dragon Head throne and had devoted himself to guiding and supporting him ever since. Azure Dragon trusted this elder more than anyone.
The elder was profoundly shocked by the photograph. He stated that he had never seen it before and told Azure Dragon to remain calm. He would investigate the matter secretly and asked him to wait for news.
Two days later, this trusted elder secretly knocked on the door of A’Ying’s residence in the dead of night, without Azure Dragon’s knowledge.
A’Ying personally opened the door. Looking around, he saw that Uncle Yuan had come alone.
Leaning heavily on his cane and standing slightly crooked, Uncle Yuan stretched his neck forward and glanced into the empty house behind A’Ying. Then, in a calm tone, as though merely making casual conversation, he asked, “Xu Ying, do you want to become Dragon Head?”
A’Ying stared at him in stunned silence. Moments later, his expression turned icy. “Uncle Yuan, I respect you as an elder. But have you gone senile? Do you even know what you’re saying!”
Uncle Yuan lowered his gaze to A’Ying’s left hand, which had drifted toward the dagger at his waist, and said indifferently, “If you respect me as an elder, won’t you invite me inside first?”
A’Ying’s face darkened. After a long hesitation, he finally stepped back and opened the door wider.
Seated on A’Ying’s sofa, Uncle Yuan examined the furnishings and collectibles throughout the house. They appeared understated at first glance, yet were actually extremely expensive. “I remember when Azure Dragon made you shoulder all the compensation payments for the people Xiao Liu injured. It left you living in a shabby rented flat for two whole years, didn’t it?”
“At the time, those people came to kill me, and Azure Dragon and Xiao Liu got dragged into it because of me. It was my responsibility. I failed both of them.”
Uncle Yuan shook his head and sighed. “Those men from Liao Family Hall wanted to kill you because you killed their boss. And you killed their boss because you were helping Azure Dragon expand his territory. You acted out of loyalty and devotion, so why did all the blame end up falling on you alone?”
“…” A’Ying remained silent, his face gloomy.
“How many years have you followed Azure Dragon? More than ten?”
“Twenty.”
“Twenty years. How many people have you killed for him? How many wounds have you suffered for him? Has he ever appreciated it?”
“I’m his Deputy Hall Master. I’m his most trusted brother.”
Uncle Yuan shook his head again and chuckled. “Xiao Ying, Xiao Ying. If I dare come here tonight and say these things to you, what is there that you still don’t dare say to me? I’m just an old man, alone in your house. Do you really think I could overpower you? You know very well who he trusts most these days. Let’s not even talk about the past—let’s talk about the present. The affairs outside the Walled City have always been under your control, yet I recently heard he intends to hand the newly opened nightclub over to Xiao Liu.”
“…” A’Ying remained silent.
“You probably didn’t know this. Old Ge likely never told you because he didn’t want to hurt your feelings. Before Azure Dragon took Xiao Liu to Thailand to meet the Buddha Lord, he said something to us old men: ‘Xiao Liu possesses both courage and intelligence. He is capable of great things. Xu Ying’s schemes run too deep; he cannot be trusted completely.’ He has been guarding against you all these years. Otherwise, why is it that despite you being the Deputy Hall Master, he only ever takes Xiao Liu with him whenever he goes to meet the Buddha?”
A’Ying’s hand tightened around the dagger at his waist, the veins on the back of his hand standing out one by one.
“For all these years, you’ve given so much for him, gone through fire and water for him. We old men have seen it all with our own eyes, and we all think it’s not worth it for you. Are you going to wait until he’s completely sick of you, until that milk-scented brat Xiao Liu fully replaces you, or are you going to strike first and personally take back what should have belonged to you in the first place?”
Uncle Yuan toyed with the head of his cane, watching A’Ying’s increasingly ugly expression, and leisurely delivered the final blow.
“To be blunt, I’ve been hearing some rumors lately. That little thing, Xiao Liu, has never had any interest in women since he was young. A prostitute he ‘kept’ a few years ago told me that whenever he visited her, it was only for appearances’ sake. She suspected that he liked men.”
A’Ying abruptly raised his head, shooting a sharp glare at Uncle Yuan. Uncle Yuan’s expression did not change. With a mocking smile at the corner of his lips, he continued, “Not long ago, I had Big Mouth Cheng introduce a psychologist from England to that so-called ‘Madam Azure Dragon.’ That Western doctor told me that Madam Azure Dragon and Azure Dragon’s sex life is extremely unharmonious. Azure Dragon has never shown much desire for her, leaving her trapped in long-term self-doubt and repression. According to the doctor’s assessment, if Azure Dragon isn’t impotent, then he simply has very little interest in women… Think about it. Why do you think Azure Dragon married her sister, who looks so much like Xiao Liu? If those two really have that sort of relationship, what chance do you have against that brat? Do you still think you’ll ever have your day?”
In the dead of night, A’Ying personally drove Uncle Yuan back to his residence. Alone, speeding wildly through the deserted streets after midnight, he slammed the accelerator all the way to the floor. The fierce wind poured through the open car windows, slicing across his face like blades.
The sedan sped like lightning toward Azure Dragon’s standalone villa halfway up the mountain. Yet in the end, he stomped on the brakes viciously on a winding mountain road. The tires screamed against the pavement, and the seatbelt yanked him violently back into his seat.
He tore off the seatbelt, jumped out of the car, drew his dagger, and slashed at the vehicle with savage fury! He did not stop until the old sedan—one he had driven for eight years and still could not bear to replace—was covered in countless scars and rendered completely unrecognizable.
That had been the car Azure Dragon promised to give him eight years ago. But because that lowly bastard Xia Xiao Liu had informed Azure Dragon about his “black eats black” dealings, Azure Dragon had instead converted the value into cash and handed it over as a warning. Even so, he had used that money to buy the exact model Azure Dragon had once promised him. Even if Azure Dragon’s trust and brotherhood toward him had changed beyond recognition, he still acknowledged Azure Dragon as his Dragon Head! He was still willing to brave boiling water and blazing fire for him, still willing to lay down his life for him!
Even just now, even when he had heard Uncle Yuan claim that Azure Dragon had betrayed him, his very first thought had still been to go warn Azure Dragon, to tell him that Uncle Yuan harbored treacherous intentions, that Uncle Yuan was encouraging him to rebel and seize the Dragon Head position!
But Azure Dragon?! What about Azure Dragon?! He liked men! He was a rabbit lord! He had even set his sights on trash like Xia Xiao Liu!
All that bullshit about sworn brotherhood, about not seeking to be born on the same day but seeking to die on the same day—it all meant less than that milk-scented brat! Less than that brat who had barged into their lives halfway through!
“AHHH—!! AHHH—!!” A’Ying roared madly, driving the dagger into the car’s side mirror. The glass shattered with a vicious crash, reflecting his twisted, distorted face splintered into thousands upon thousands of fragments. Throwing away the dagger, he picked up a large rock from the roadside and smashed it into the sedan with all his strength, battering the windows, the hood, and the trunk until they were dented, ruined, and barely recognizable.
“It’s mine—! It’s mine—!!” he bellowed in furious rage. “If I can’t have it, then no one else will ever have it either—!!!”
Futile Devices Scans 
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