Chapter 10

"Longjin Road is the place for the fourth and fifth rounds of the boxing matches. You’re clearly setting up my second master brother!" Deng Zhiyong ran to Huo Dongjun’s side, helping him support Liao Zhizong, and shouted at Li Di.

Li Di shrugged, a puff of gray-blue cigar smoke spilling from his mouth: "I got three of my brothers injured and a fighting dog from Japan. Isn’t it fair to charge some interest? You’re so tough, why not step up and face the storm, hehe."

"I’ll fight." Huo Dongjun stared at Li Di’s arrogant smile and said.

Li Di clapped his hands excitedly, pointing at Huo Dongjun: "That’s what a smart man does."

After saying that, he pulled out a small stack of Hong Kong dollars from his suit pocket and casually threw it to Deng Zhiyong: "Take it for his medicine. Get lost, Liao Zhizong is lucky to have such a junior brother!"

Huo Dongjun helped Liao Zhizong onto Deng Zhiyong’s shoulder and said to him: "Take care of Xiaorong these few days, and take the eldest master brother to get his wounds treated."

Deng Zhiyong, now in no mood to be polite to Huo Dongjun, carried Liao Zhizong and walked towards the stairs. After Deng Zhiyong disappeared from the rooftop, Huo Dongjun turned to Li Di, his tone cold: "Find a place for me, I need to practice."

"If you win tonight’s match for me, don’t just say finding a place to practice. Women, houses, gold, and money, I can arrange all of that for you. Ah Ping, take him to the boxing gym and have Brother Wen give him some pointers." Li Di called over one of his subordinates and instructed him: "Tell Brother Wen he’s fighting on Longjin Road tonight."

This man named Ah Ping led Huo Dongjun off the rooftop, down Bright Street, and into a small alley. After a few turns, they entered the boxing gym Li Di mentioned. The so-called gym was just a few rooms knocked through, with some wooden dummies and punching bags arranged inside. Four or five men, bare-chested, were hitting the punching bags. Huo Dongjun glanced at the punching bags hanging opposite them and felt that their punches weren’t very powerful.

"Wen Brother! Wen Brother!" Ah Ping shouted a couple of times after entering the gym.

"Calling the dead so early! I’m here." An impatient voice came from behind Ah Ping and Huo Dongjun.

Huo Dongjun turned around, and a figure appeared from behind the door, holding a radio. He sized up Huo Dongjun and then asked Ah Ping: "What’s up?"

Ah Ping seemed used to Wen Uncle’s attitude and said politely: "Wen Brother, this is new blood Li Di found, preparing to fight on Longjin Road tonight. He wants you to test him."

The man called Wen Brother was in his thirties, short and fat. He spat on the ground and then walked up to Huo Dongjun, circling him twice: "Fighting on Longjin Road? He’s only eighteen or nineteen. Does Li Di have a grudge against him, sending him up to be a human punching bag?"

Ah Ping whispered a few words in Wen Brother’s ear. Wen Brother’s disdainful look towards Huo Dongjun lessened. After Ah Ping left, only Huo Dongjun and Wen Brother were left.

Huo Dongjun had no intention of running. Li Di had threatened to cause trouble for the martial arts school and Liao Zhizong’s family if he ran away. He couldn’t afford to doubt this, as the people of Kowloon Walled City did these things as easily as eating. He didn’t dare risk the martial arts school and Liao Zhizong. To avenge Liao Zhizong, Huo Dongjun would follow the contract and fight all ten matches before taking action.

Wen Brother’s small eyes on his fat face stared at Huo Dongjun for a while before he turned and walked inside, holding the radio: "Follow me. Don’t think winning a few thugs makes you cool. I’ve seen too many guys who are tough one day and on the ground the next!"

...

Huo Dongjun was arranged in a separate corner, with wooden dummies, punching bags, punching targets, and fitness equipment all available. Seeing Huo Dongjun hitting the wooden dummy with a cold expression, Wen Brother folded his arms and tsked: "Are you an idiot? Your opponent isn’t a wooden dummy. What good does it do to hit a wooden dummy? I doubt you’re qualified to fight the fourth and fifth rounds. You might barely manage a few minutes in the fourth round. The fifth round is full of strong, experienced fighters from various gangs who have come to Dragon City for refuge. You, who only know how to hit wooden dummies, will just be a punching bag."

Saying this, Wen Brother picked up a punching target from the ground and gestured to Huo Dongjun: "Come and try your kicking speed."

Huo Dongjun stopped and looked at Wen Brother. Wen Brother shook the punching target in his hand and looked at Huo Dongjun disdainfully: "Don’t understand? This..."

"Bang!" With a sound, Wen Brother’s punching target was kicked out of his hand by Huo Dongjun, flying six or seven meters away. Wen Uncle was startled: "Your mother! That doesn’t count. Did you see me give you any pointers? I wasn’t ready, and you suddenly kicked. Do it again, you fool!"

Saying this, he bent down to pick up another punching target and held it at his left shoulder: "Try again."

Huo Dongjun silently and quickly kicked. Wen Brother quickly moved the punching target away, and Huo Dongjun’s kick missed. Wen Brother smiled smugly: "How’s that? Used to hitting wooden dummies, aren’t you? It’s tough to hit a moving target, isn’t it? Outdated, who hits wooden dummies these days?"

While speaking, he moved the punching target to his right shoulder: "Again."

Huo Dongjun raised his leg, and Wen Brother moved the punching target to the side. This time, Huo Dongjun didn’t rush to kick but waited until Wen Brother moved the target down, then kicked with his right leg! He hit the target dead center!

"Bang!" The punching target was kicked out of Wen Brother’s hand again!

Wen Brother looked at the flying punching target in shock, turned to Huo Dongjun, and cursed: "Your mother’s stinking thing, why kick the target so hard! Go pick it up yourself, I..."

"Bang!" Hearing the curse, Huo Dongjun took a step closer, bent his legs slightly, and suddenly shook his body, delivering a Cai Li Fo whip punch with his right hand! The back of his fist instantly hit Wen Brother’s right cheek!

This whip punch was extremely powerful. Wen Brother, who was cursing, spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of teeth and spun in the air before falling to the ground!

"I’m here to fight, not to be cursed. If you curse again, I won’t just knock out your teeth!"

Several of Li Di’s subordinates, who were guarding the gym, ran over with guns. Huo Dongjun didn’t even look at them, walked back to the wooden dummy, and continued his practice.

The subordinates looked at the unconscious Wen Brother on the ground, exchanging glances. Wen Brother was specially hired by Li Di to train the fighters. Several of Li Di’s most popular fighters were trained by him. Moreover, it was said that Wen Brother himself had once fought in the fifth round. How could he be taken down by a new fighter in an instant?

"Take Wen Brother to the clinic!" The lead thug called over his subordinates to carry Wen Brother out. He stared at Huo Dongjun, who was hitting the wooden dummy as if no one else was there, and said: "Kid, don’t get too cocky. If you lose tonight, you’ll die a very ugly death!"

Huo Dongjun turned his head and looked at him: "If you keep talking, you’ll die an ugly death right now."

...

By evening, Li Di appeared in the gym with a smile. By then, the gym was already filled with over a dozen fighters. Li Di casually pointed at five of them: "You five will fight in the third round tonight."

The fighters who were called looked delighted. Underground boxing matches weren’t always to the death. For the first to fifth rounds in Kowloon Walled City, fighters just needed to knock down or knock off the opponent to win. Only the sixth and seventh rounds, with heavy betting, occasionally saw bloody scenes due to the perverse interests of the rich. Of course, the fighters who dared to participate in those levels were not what these people could imagine. They were skilled martial artists from various places, recruited with large sums of money to fight in Dragon City, far beyond the level of fighters trained in a small gym like this for a few months.

The third round, with no risk of serious injury, meant a guaranteed 4,000 Hong Kong dollars for the fighters, even if they lost. If they won, Li Di would give them an extra bonus.

After selecting the fighters for the third round, Li Di turned to Huo Dongjun. By then, Huo Dongjun had changed into a cheap black tracksuit, and his shoes were soft-soled canvas shoes. Underground boxing didn’t care about attire; many fighters even wore jackets to the ring.

"Jun, my subordinates told me you put Wen Brother in the hospital, knocking out five or six of his teeth. I don’t blame you, but on the condition that you win tonight." Li Di’s warm smile suddenly turned fierce: "If you lose, you’ll end up in a dog cage as a snack for the fighting dogs tonight! Do you know how much I paid to get Wen Brother to train the fighters?"

"Then let’s see if I make you rich or if I make you poor." Huo Dongjun said coldly, clenching his fists, the joints cracking.