Dual wielding volcanoes, killing through the west

But who cares?

Since things have come to this, let's make a scene!

----

"Wait...wait a minute..." The man with the unibrow was so frightened that his face turned deathly pale, as if all the blood in his body had drained away. He kept backing away, his legs went weak, and he hurriedly tried to explain, "I..."

Imprinted in his pupils was a powerful punch as fierce as a cannonball!

"boom--!!"

A punch landed on his philtrum, a spot rarely targeted, and the force was so great that it shattered all his teeth.

His jaw was also crushed by the force of the punch. Bloody teeth were pulled into his throat. He covered his throat and coughed repeatedly, his eyes wide open as if they were about to jump out of their sockets. But soon, he collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain, clutching his throat so hard that his fingernails scratched the flesh of his neck until it bled, but to no avail.

Just as Yizimei had threatened, Zhang Renfeng broke his teeth and made him swallow them.

Threatening others is no skill; making threats is something anyone can do, as long as they have a mouth.

Having the ability to turn threats into cash... that's what truly makes others fear you.

……

Pete was filled with regret at that moment. Why couldn't he hold back at the last moment? Why did he have to raise the bottle at him? Wasn't that just asking for trouble?

However, upon closer examination, Pete's actions weren't entirely wrong. From his perspective, he won this round, and won beautifully. He used his advantage in the rules to successfully eliminate this pair, who had a chance to win the championship, from the competition. All paths were blocked, leaving no room for error. At this point, not making a sarcastic remark would be a disservice to such a brilliant move.

It just goes to show how unpredictable life is; no matter how he thought about it, he never expected this outcome.

“This guy is no ordinary person. The place is in such a mess. I… I need to go find Mr. Angelo for backup to clean up this mess!” He gritted his teeth and said to the cashier beside him, “You stay here to manage the situation and figure out a solution…”

The recipient jumped, immediately squatted down, clutching their stomach, "I! I can't take it... my stomach hurts so much... I need to see a doctor..."

He truly deserves to be called a veteran actor; he can deliver a performance so convincingly that it seems so real.

But Pete knew him well and knew that this guy would be useless if he stayed, so he kicked him hard and said, "Go eat cow dung!"

He wiped his face, took a deep breath, and his ruthless gaze returned. He ordered his henchmen, "This is your job. You guys, find a way to get rid of him!"

"Huh?!" The underling was completely dumbfounded, his legs trembling, almost fainting. "Me?"

"Nonsense, if it wasn't you, then who else could it be?" Pete gritted his teeth and shouted angrily. "What are you afraid of? Don't you guys have guns on your belts? Aren't the magazines filled with acorns, not bullets?"

"With so many of you, if you all swarm him, he can't possibly kill you all."

He didn't care whether his underlings accepted or not, turned and ran, pushed forward by the crowd. He didn't care about anything else, scrambling and crawling until he finally managed to climb into a carriage, shouting repeatedly, "Quickly—!! To the Italians' territory, quick!"

The carriage started.

The last thing he saw was that the yellow-haired barbarian charged like a rhinoceros, sending his two henchmen flying into the air.

Someone fired a shot, but the bullets seemed more like props for entertainment, failing to harm him at all.

----

"Huh...huh..."

Pete swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down. To be honest, even now, he wasn't sure what he had seen.

Monster? Demon?

If it wasn't a demon in human skin, what else could explain that brute force?

He suddenly remembered that morning when Mr. Angelo had been furious—simply because a yellow-toothed barbarian had openly provoked him, not only robbing his casino but also killing Carlo and the yellow-toothed man.

No one has ever dared to do such a thing on Italian territory.

But gang conflicts like this were always left to Guido to handle, so Pete didn't ask any questions or think much about it. He just focused on running his underground boxing betting operations well and paying his bills on time. Until this moment, he suddenly had a jolt, and the cause and effect all connected at this instant.

San Quintucker is a large, developed city where people with yellow skin are not uncommon. Many of them hold low-paying jobs. Occasionally, they earn money to watch boxing matches and place bets. So much so that Pete didn't immediately connect Zhang Renfeng, who was watching the match, with the man who caused a disturbance at the casino.

"No way, it can't really be..."

The carriage left the bustling dock and gradually entered the city. The city was Italian territory, which made him feel somewhat at ease.

“It’s alright, it’s okay. No matter what, he only dares to cause trouble at the docks.” Pete suppressed his wildly beating heart and reassured himself, “To make a move here, according to the rules, would be a direct declaration of war. An outsider doesn’t deserve this…”

"……courage……"

He was speaking when he suddenly heard people exclaim in surprise. He peeked out and felt a chill run down his spine.

Zhang Renfeng grinned maliciously as he chased after the carriage with his feet.

His running style was powerful; his body dipped low, his arms swung, and his strides were enormous, like a cheetah that had just killed its prey. Four horses couldn't outrun two legs, which made Pete even more convinced that the Italian gang had provoked a terrifying monster!

"Oh no……"

It was only at this moment that he realized how outrageous his request had been.

He also had a revolver for self-defense hanging from his belt. But in this situation, he didn't even have the courage to pull it out. He just stared in disbelief as the man suddenly exerted force, using his body as a weapon, and slammed into the car!

"Thump—!!"

The carriage disintegrated with a loud crash. The powerful impact dented the door and sent the wheels flying. The entire carriage slid across the ground, emitting a grating creak and sparks.

The world is spinning.

Pitt was trapped in this small carriage, experiencing countless rollovers and falling so hard that he ended up with a bruised and swollen face.

He didn't even need to get any extra beatings; just that thrashing and shoving was enough to shake his brains to a crisp.

"Uh... ah..."

Pete felt short of breath and couldn't say a word.

"Boom!"

An iron fist smashed through the train car, and a pair of large hands descended from nowhere, pulling him out from inside.

"Hi." Zhang Renfeng, who had just overturned the carriage with his body, was unharmed. He just shook his head, flicked some debris off his hair, and revealed a sunny and cheerful smile. "You must be Skinny Pete. I've heard so much about you."

"……Why……"

"What do you mean?" Zhang Renfeng asked with a smile.

“You…you broke our rules…This city was fine, everyone got…their share. But you came and started to destroy everything…Why?” Pete mustered all his strength, his eyes wide, and asked, “What…did we do to offend you?”

……

Well, that's a long story.

Zhang Renfeng pondered for a moment, then gave him a chilling smile. "However, if I had to say, you are indeed a good chess player. Even though you are both a referee and a player, and you like to use the rules to pressure people... that's all there is to it. Angelo, isn't he similar to you? Otherwise, how could you have gotten together?"

"Unfortunately, you misjudged me from the very beginning."

"I am not a player..."

Zhang Renfeng lifted Pete up and whispered in his ear, "But a boxer!"

Chapter 240: Where is the Jianghu?

"Hiss... Damn it!"

Kieran limped as he closed the clinic door. After several attempts, his weak right hand tremblingly managed to insert the key into the lock.

After making this gesture, he remained motionless for a long time, as if frozen in place, silently watching his small clinic. In the end, he could only sigh.

"Dr. Kiran." A familiar voice came from behind, "I have something I'd like to ask you..."

The moment Zhang Renfeng saw him, he sensed something was wrong.

Her posture, her expression, and even the way she looked at him were all different from when they first met.

"You are hurt?"

Zhang Renfeng's gaze then swept over the clinic behind him—the window was smashed, and through the gap, one could vaguely glimpse the interior. It was a scene of utter chaos, as if it had been completely ransacked, with tables and cabinets scattered haphazardly on the floor. In comparison, he himself seemed to have only suffered minor injuries; whether that could be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune was debatable.

"Mr. Zhang..."

Kieran hesitated for a moment, then said truthfully, "It was the Italians. Those guys said I... 'funded the gang's enemy,' and they just smashed up my clinic and beat me up."

Zhang Renfeng's expression was somewhat gloomy.

Without a doubt, the only person who could claim to be "aiding the enemy" was himself. These guys didn't dare go to Trist's hut because Theon and Little May were stationed there, so they came to bully Kieran, the easy target.

After all, he and Zhang Renfeng's group didn't really have any connection. If you had to say, he only provided an opportunity to buy and sell horses—these twenty-odd horses were bought right in front of his clinic. But the other party took advantage of this; since there was no connection, they wouldn't bother to protect him, and there was no better target for their anger.

“They smashed up my clinic, pinned me to the ground and beat me up, and warned me not to have anything to do with you again.” Kieran sighed, showing Zhang Renfeng his bandaged arm, still shaken. “If it weren’t for that red-haired guy who kept trying to stop me, I might have been shot dead by Guido Mattley.”

"No matter what you want me to do for you, I'm not able to right now..." He shook his head with a wry smile.

……

"Never mind... everyone's had a tough time, don't trouble them..."

Almost forcing himself to stay upright, the chieftain, sitting on horseback, slowly emerged from behind the high wall. His voice was extremely weak, but he still managed to force a smile. "It's just a minor injury. It's nothing. I've fought much fiercer beasts before, and I was seriously injured then too. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Perhaps his appearance was too frightening, because the wound on his brow had not completely stopped bleeding, and blood slowly dripped down, obscuring half of his face.

The chief's right eye was severely swollen, and while sitting on his horse, he had to hold the reins with both hands to barely maintain his balance and avoid falling off.

"What's up with him?"

"He was ambushed and hit in the temple; it was a pretty bad blow." Zhang Renfeng's tone was grave. "Dr. Kiran, are there any others in Saint Quintak...?"

“Yes, there are, but the other clinics are all in the inner city, which is closer to the city center. That’s the heart of the Italian gang, and their men patrol everywhere.” Kieran interrupted his question directly, his tone full of helplessness. “Forget about treating patients, if you two, one Chinese and one Native American, were to walk down the street, they would probably just shoot you.”

The saying "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake" has been around for so many years, there must be some truth to it.

The local tyrants have long since consolidated their territory into a single, impenetrable bloc, having completed the integration of regional resources and holding them firmly in their grasp. Even with overwhelming military force, it remains difficult to break them down.

After eliminating all other options, the last viable path becomes the inevitable one that must be taken.

"It's alright." Zhang Renfeng made up his mind and turned to comfort her, "Someone will be willing to help, at worst..."

"I'll go and beg him."

----

"Jianghu?" Zhu Kuilong frowned. Hearing these two words pronounced exactly in Chinese, coming directly from Evelyn's mouth, always felt strangely incongruous.

At the moment, their troupe hadn't performed yet, and everyone was resting backstage. The girl, however, like a curious little nightingale, asked him an incredibly strange question.

What exactly is the martial arts world?

"...It was that guy who told you that again, wasn't it?" Zhu Kuilong quickly guessed the reason and said irritably, "You don't learn the good stuff, you just teach all sorts of nonsense all day long."

“I really want to know,” Evelyn said stubbornly. “Mr. Zhang mentioned it to me in casual conversation. He said it’s a place that produces heroes, and when he talks about the martial arts world, his tone is always full of longing, and his eyes light up like the night sky. So… I…”

"Does he think that by fighting in a few arenas and signing a few life-or-death contracts, he's considered to have roamed the martial arts world?" Zhu Kuilong shook his head with a smile. "Only a rich kid like him, who has no shortage of food and clothing, would have such a thought. If they could switch identities with him, most so-called martial arts roamers wouldn't hesitate for even a minute."

"Huh?" Evelyn seemed to understand only half of what she said. "So, 'Jianghu' isn't a specific place?"

"To be precise, the 'jianghu' he was referring to should be a group of people from all over the country, each with their own distinct characteristics." Zhu Kuilong narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, counting on his fingers as he recalled, "The so-called eight trades, both internal and external, combined together, constitute the 'jianghu'."

"The inner eight trades: gold plating and colorful hanging, leather balls and willow tunes, although not honorable, can still be seen in the light; the outer eight trades: bees, hemp, swallows and sparrows, orchids and kudzu, are all shady businesses."

"Jin refers to the fortune-telling and divination profession, which relies on a silver tongue, speaking to people in a human language and to ghosts in a ghost language. If you can please your client, you will naturally make money."

“Ping refers to storytelling, which you can understand as telling a story. If someone tells a story to a group of people and does it well and movingly, others will be willing to give him some money as a reward.”

“Cai… hehe, I mean Gu Cai, which is magic tricks.” Zhu Kuilong patted his chest, his tone unusually proud. “I’m in this line of work.”

"Hanging" refers to kung fu and wrestling. There would be performers on the street showing off their skills, like stabbing someone in the throat with a spear, and making a living off the performers.

"The word 'pi' refers to those who sell medicine. Some quacks sell privately made pills and ointments. This industry is a mixed bag, with both good and bad products."

"Tuan refers to Tuan Chun, which is crosstalk... I haven't found a corresponding art form in the performances of this country, so it's not good to make a comparison. Just think of it as two people standing and chatting, telling each other jokes."

"The term 'tiao' refers to selling counterfeit goods. While they also rely on deception to make money, their efficiency is much lower than that of Kinmen."

"Liu refers to Liu Huo, which is a type of singing that uses instruments such as drums and pendulums for performance. Boss Qiu's troupe is essentially a Liu family. In other words, she and I are both itinerant performers, but this time we've gone quite far, all the way to the other side of the sea."

Evelyn looked shocked, but before she could say anything, gasps of surprise came from the backstage corridor.

"Sir, we have a rule that unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter the backstage area. Please... ah!"

……

With a loud bang, the door was forced open.

"Senior brother!" Zhang Renfeng, carrying the unconscious chieftain steadily on his back, looked anxious. "I know our old grudges haven't been resolved, but right now, the situation is critical, and lives are at stake..."

"Could you please help me?!"