Chapter 9

Three black iron dog cages, welded together, were pushed out by two of Li Di's men. Inside the cages on either side were two fighting dogs, their heads pressed against the central partition. The dogs' eyes were fierce, their mouths wide open, revealing sharp teeth, and drool dripped from their jaws. They occasionally issued low, menacing growls toward the central cage.

In the middle cage, Liao Zhizong was only wearing a pair of shorts, curled up in a ball, motionless. His exposed upper body was covered in bruises, and his eyes were swollen shut. A dog collar was exaggeratedly placed around his neck, connected to the fighting dog on the right.

"Damn your mother! You scumbags!" Seeing Liao Zhizong being humiliated, Huo Dongjun could no longer contain his anger. He pushed Li Di aside with one arm and rushed toward the dog cages. One of Li Di's men tried to stop him, but Huo Dongjun, without even looking, delivered a lightning-fast Choy Li Fut backhand strike with his right hand!

The man who was about to block Huo Dongjun's path saw him suddenly in front of him, and just as he recognized him, a sharp pain shot through his throat. No matter how hard he tried to breathe, he couldn't get any air. He clutched his throat with both hands, mouth wide open, and before he could collapse, Huo Dongjun kicked him with a furious kick, sending him flying backward and knocking over numerous chairs!

"Don't shoot!" Li Di's voice was urgent and excited.

Several of Li Di's men, hearing his voice, put their half-drawn pistols back. Li Di took out a cigar from his suit pocket and, watching Huo Dongjun rush toward the dog cages, muttered to himself:

"Twins is only at the second-tier level, and he was kicked away without even landing a punch. This young man must be at the third-tier level, right? Heaven is still merciful to me, knowing I've been struggling lately, and sent two fighters to help me through the tough times."

However, seeing Huo Dongjun about to attack the two men pushing the dog cages, Li Di raised his cigar and shouted at Huo Dongjun:

"If you dare to touch those two, be careful, your senior brother will be dog food! Look at that cage, don't force them to open it."

His words were already fast, but Huo Dongjun, lacking his usual calm and composure, moved much faster than usual. In a flash, he was already at the dog cages. As Li Di spoke the first word, Huo Dongjun had already delivered a whip punch to the face of the nearest man. The punch, like a steel whip, struck the man's face, flattening his nose and sending him flying, rolling and passing out on the ground.

Huo Dongjun, having landed a successful hit, did not stop. As he retracted his whip punch, he formed a claw with his hand, grabbing the neck of the other thug and smashing his fist into the man's temple. The man, struck by Huo Dongjun's fist, fell to one side, and his throat made a sharp "crack" sound. His head hung limply to one side, and his body, losing support, fell toward Huo Dongjun. Huo Dongjun let go and kicked him away, reaching out to open the central cage that held Liao Zhizong.

By the time Li Di finished speaking, Huo Dongjun had already knocked down the two thugs. He then examined the structure of the dog cages. To get Liao Zhizong out, he needed to open the leftmost cage and then the central partition. Huo Dongjun opened the leftmost cage, and the Tosa inside, baring its teeth, took a step out. Huo Dongjun, bending his waist, delivered a backhand strike to the dog's head, hitting it squarely on the forehead.

Before the Tosa's head hit the ground, Huo Dongjun flipped his hand, grabbed the dog's topknot, and with one arm, threw the hundred-pound dog toward the distant boxing ring!

With a "bang," the dog hit the one-meter-high platform of the ring, rolled a few times, and stopped moving, scaring Li Di, who was holding a cigar, to take a few steps back. However, his eyes burned with even more intensity. These men were expendable; as long as he had money, he could always find more. In Dragon City, human lives were the most abundant and the cheapest. Since they took his money, they should be prepared to be killed. A young man with such fierce moves was far more attractive to him than a few second- or third-tier fighters.

Li Di was the boss of the third-tier boxing ring in Dragon City, but that didn't mean he could only make money from low-level matches. He also wanted to earn more money from higher-tier matches, but his fighters were too weak. Several times, he had brought his favored fighters to higher tiers, only to have them knocked out or unable to get up, costing him a lot of money.

Liao Zhizong's appearance made Li Di's eyes light up. Although Liao Zhizong's strikes weren't vicious enough, his martial arts foundation was solid. He had easily won four consecutive matches against third-tier fighters, rekindling Li Di's desire to move up to higher tiers. For the fifth match, Li Di arranged for Liao Zhizong to face a fighter from the fourth tier, placing a heavy bet on Liao Zhizong. As expected, Liao Zhizong won the fifth match, earning Li Di over fifty thousand dollars. For the seventh match, overly confident in Liao Zhizong's abilities, Li Di found Wen Hui, who had the most fifth-tier fighters, and placed another heavy bet on Liao Zhizong. However, this time, Liao Zhizong couldn't hold his ground and was easily defeated by a Japanese fugitive and karate expert under Wen Hui, being kicked out of the ring.

In Kowloon Walled City, everyone knew that Li Di was the boss of the third-tier boxing ring, meaning he had the most third-tier fighters. However, Li Di wanted to be the boss of the fifth and sixth tiers, where a single match could earn over a million dollars. So, when Liao Zhizong lost, Li Di wasn't too disappointed. He believed that with more training, Liao Zhizong, with his solid foundation, could still occasionally win big matches, even if he couldn't dominate the fifth tier.

Li Di offered Liao Zhizong a tempting deal, initially not requiring him to win ten consecutive matches but offering him six thousand dollars per match, the same as a fourth-tier fighter. However, Li Di didn't expect Liao Zhizong to refuse outright, only willing to fight the remaining three matches and then quit. This made Li Di, who had high hopes for Liao Zhizong, very dissatisfied. He then accused Liao Zhizong of breaching the contract, a common tactic used by the people in Dragon City to exploit fighters. Although Dragon City was a place of mixed characters, there was an executive committee. If the contract was presented to the committee, it had to be followed. Li Di thought that with threats and inducements, Liao Zhizong, who had earned him over seventy thousand dollars, would change his mind. After all, six thousand dollars per match was a high income even in Hong Kong. But this guy thought Li Di was cheating him and tried to run away from Dragon City, leading to Liao Zhizong being beaten and locked in the dog cage.

Li Di knew that someone who came to Dragon City to fight for a living wouldn't have ten thousand dollars. However, he never expected that Deng Zhiyong wouldn't bring ten thousand dollars but would bring a more vicious fighter, Huo Dongjun.

Li Di wouldn't let such a potential money-making martial arts expert slip away.

Seeing Huo Dongjun slowly helping Liao Zhizong out of the dog cage, Li Di tilted his head and pointed at Huo Dongjun's back with his cigar, saying to his men:

"Give me a short gun."

One of the men lifted his coat and handed a pistol from his waist to Li Di. Li Di skillfully turned off the safety and fired a shot at the ground near Deng Zhiyong, who was still in a daze from Huo Dongjun's fierce moves. Deng Zhiyong shuddered and looked at Li Di. In the distance, Huo Dongjun, with Liao Zhizong's arm over his shoulder, also looked at Li Di.

Li Di waved the gun at Huo Dongjun and said with an exaggerated smile: "I let you see him, not take him away. He owes me ten consecutive wins. Do you want to see if your legs are faster than a bullet? The next shot might hit anyone, but I can guarantee it won't miss like the last one."

Liao Zhizong, leaning on Huo Dongjun, was still unconscious and breathing weakly. Huo Dongjun stared at Li Di's gun for several seconds before speaking:

"I'll take my senior brother's place and fight the ten consecutive matches. Let my junior brother take my senior brother away."

Li Di took a puff of his cigar and said: "How do I know if you can fight at the third tier like your senior brother? What if you're as weak as Zhegu Yong? I'd be losing a fortune."

Huo Dongjun's eyes swept over the men in front of Li Di and glanced at the three thugs he had knocked down, still lying on the ground. He said:

"Who wants to try again? See if I'm good enough."

Li Di's expression didn't change, but the men in front of him all changed color. They thought, "Is he joking? This guy is clearly a martial arts expert. Three companions and a fighting dog didn't even make a sound before lying on the ground like dead bodies. If I go up without a gun, I'll end up the same way."

"Alright, I'm a good person. You stay and win ten consecutive matches for me. After that, we're even. If you try to run away like your senior brother, I don't know where you live, but I'll find your martial arts school and your senior brother's family. If you don't want your school to be set on fire or your senior brother's family to jump off a building, stay and fight."

"Write a contract and find a guarantor. I don't trust you." Huo Dongjun exhaled and said.

In his previous life, he had learned Choy Li Fut for ten years, and the old martial arts master had taught him to value martial virtue, with "benevolence" as the heart, "kindness" as the body, and "loyalty" as the soul, adhering to the way of loyalty and forgiveness. He had always followed this, being kind to others until his accidental death and rebirth. In this life, Li Jianqing had taught him to "endure and maintain benevolence and righteousness," not to rely on martial arts to seek temporary satisfaction or vent anger. He had never violated this. However, seeing Liao Zhizong's fate, he began to doubt his masters' teachings.

Liao Zhizong was kind, friendly, and steady, never causing trouble, and was a role model among all of Hong Yihai's disciples. If such a loyal, righteous, and chivalrous martial artist, who came to Kowloon Walled City to earn money to save an unrelated junior sister, ended up being humiliated, then as a martial artist, what was the point of maintaining benevolence, enduring anger, and upholding righteousness? Driving these scumbags to extinction would be the true way of righteousness!

In his previous life, he was alone and cold, but in this life, he had experienced the bond of fellow disciples because of Liao Zhizong and his classmates. Neither of his masters had taught him what to do if a fellow disciple was humiliated. This time, he didn't want to be taught and would act according to his own methods.

He might not be interested in things outside of martial arts, but that didn't mean he had no emotions. If not for the gun, Huo Dongjun was already prepared to kick all these people off the rooftop. Although he didn't care about external matters, he knew from the villagers in Dakan Village that in Kowloon Walled City, the death of a few people was like the death of a few ants.

Seeming to sense the cold hostility in Huo Dongjun's eyes, Li Di threw the gun back to his men and grinned at Huo Dongjun: "Of course, no problem. The committee can oversee the contract. To show my sincerity, I can let Zhegu Yong take your weak senior brother away and even give him two thousand dollars for medicine. Do you want to show your sincerity? There's a match tonight, but it's not here. It's on Lung Tsun Road. Consider it your first match for me, okay?"