Ye Qing wasn't going shopping; he followed Yuan Xiaozheng instead.
The bruising on Yuan Xiaozheng's wrist definitely indicated a problem. Ye Qing had attended high school himself and could guess why Yuan Xiaozheng had come back asking for money.
Yuan Xiaozheng walked with his head down all the way, completely unaware of Ye Qing following him. Even if he had been vigilant, he wouldn't have noticed Ye Qing. Otherwise, what use would have been the Reconnaissance and Tracking Technique Ye Qing had learned in the army!
The two walked one after the other until they reached the vicinity of the school. Yuan Xiaozheng didn't enter through the school gates but instead walked into an alley next to it.
It was a dead-end alley, relatively dark, so not many people looked in that direction.
In the alley, there were five or six youths, and standing beside them were three young girls who appeared childish. These girls were probably underage but were dressed flamboyantly, with nails painted in all sorts of colors and faces covered in cheap makeup. Although they looked glamorous on the outside, their necks were filthy black, indicating they hadn't had a bath in a long time.
The five or six youths all had long hair and looked rather sleazy, with hair dyed in various colors. One of them wore a tank top, exposing his arms and shoulders that bore fierce tattoos, despite the cold weather.
These people were clearly no good; they were just the local bullies who harassed students near the school.
Ye Qing had encountered such people during his school days, and now Yuan Xiaozheng was experiencing the same.
The tattooed man was holding one of the young girls. Seeing Yuan Xiaozheng approaching, he immediately asked, "Have you brought the money?"
Yuan Xiaozheng pulled out fifty yuan from his pocket and handed it over, saying, "I just went home to get it."
"Only fifty?" The tattooed man's face turned cold as he said, "Didn't we agree on two hundred?"
Yuan Xiaozheng whispered, "Brother Long, I...I just took out money yesterday, I had no excuse to take out so much more..."
"Damn, you can't even think of an excuse, and you call yourself a high school student!" The tattooed man cursed, pocketing the fifty yuan and waving his hand, saying, "Let's go, boys, let's hit the internet café!"
The group loudly followed him, and Yuan Xiaozheng, unable to resist, whispered from behind, "Brother Long, what about...what about my issue?"
The tattooed man said, "Don't worry, I'll see Er Gou another day and give him a heads up. He won't bother you anymore!"
"But...but he's coming to block me after school tonight..." Yuan Xiaozheng urgently whispered.
"What are you scared of? If he comes after you, just drop my name!" The tattooed man glared at Yuan Xiaozheng and said, "Damn it, I've got other things to deal with tonight. Do you really think I should come here just to sort out such a trivial matter for you? You're only giving me fifty yuan, you think that's five hundred?"
Yuan Xiaozheng hung his head, too scared to speak further, while the tattooed man and his gang strutted away. Yuan Xiaozheng remained alone in the alley, lost in thought and not coming out.
Ye Qing stood at the entrance of the alley, watched Yuan Xiaozheng's dejected figure, and couldn't help but sigh softly as he walked in.
"Xiao Zheng, what happened?" Ye Qing asked softly.
Yuan Xiaozheng shuddered, seeing Ye Qing, his expression suddenly changed as he asked anxiously, "You...why are you here?"
"I've been here for a while." Ye Qing watched Yuan Xiaozheng and said, "Whatever it is, you could just tell me instead of seeking help from these scumbags!"
"What do you know, what do you understand?" Yuan Xiaozheng stood up, yelling, "I'm warning you, don't tell our family about this, or I swear I'll have someone beat you to death!"
Ye Qing sighed; Yuan Xiaozheng had grown increasingly unruly over the last two years. At this rate, the kid was on a path to ruin!
Ye Qing said, "Xiao Zheng, no matter what happens, your family will always stand by you. Just discuss it with them, and they'll help you solve it!"
"Solve my ass, what can this family do? What can the people in this family help me with?" Yuan Xiaozheng clenched his teeth and said, "What do you all know? How would you fight against those gang leaders? Should my mother wield a kitchen knife to fight them to the death? Do you have any idea, they can summon three to five hundred people with just a word, enough spittle from them could drown you!"
"That's just them scaring you, who can summon three to five hundred people with just a word?" Ye Qing shook his head and said, "These scumbags make their living by bluffing you students; they're not to be believed!"
"That's why I say you don't understand anything, you don't know anything. Do you even know what's going on outside? Do you even know what 'One Dragon, Two Dogs, Three Flying Eagles' means? Do you know who runs this school?" Yuan Xiaozheng glared at Ye Qing and said, "I'd advise you to not meddle in my affairs. Don't tell the family about this; I can handle it myself.
Telling them would only make a big fuss, and it'll be even more troublesome later!"
Having said that, Yuan Xiaozheng dashed out of the alley and rushed into the school.
Ye Qing didn't stop him, watching Yuan Xiaozheng's retreating figure, he sighed softly.
Sitting down at a nearby kiosk, he waited there for over three hours. Close to school dismissal time, quite a few bullies began to gather outside the school.
Everything was just like when Ye Qing was in school, the time of school dismissal was when various bullies came to harass and rob the students. These lowlife bullies, usually in groups of three to five, had no other skills apart from surfing the internet and picking on kids near schools.
Ye Qing quietly watched the school entrance. The final bell rang, and a crowd rushed out, among them Yuan Xiaozheng, who looked nervous with two other students beside him.
Yuan Xiaozheng glanced around as if looking for something. Just as he stepped out of the gate, two youths with red-dyed hair grabbed him and pulled him along with his two friends into the alley behind.
Ye Qing got up and followed them into the alley.
In the alley, there were now several groups of about twenty bullies and a dozen students all standing against the wall, some of the bullies searching the students.
Yuan Xiaozheng and two others were brought in front of a young man with dyed yellow hair, who glanced at Yuan Xiaozheng and said, "So you're Yuan Xiaozheng?"
"Brother Gou... Brother Gou..." Yuan Xiaozheng's voice trembled, and his legs shook.
"Oh, you know me!" The young man stood up and looked at Yuan Xiaozheng coldly, saying, "I damn thought you didn't know me. You dare to mess with my brothers, did you ever take me, Er Gou, seriously?"
"Brother Gou, it's... it's a misunderstanding..." Yuan Xiaozheng stammered, "I... I didn't mean to mess with him, and, I... I apologized, also, Long..."
Er Gou slapped Yuan Xiaozheng across the face and angrily said, "You damn, stop bringing up Zou Long in front of me!"
Ye Qing couldn't stand it anymore from outside, he strode into the alley and said sternly, "Xiao Zheng, come here!"
Yuan Xiaozheng did not expect Ye Qing to still be there. Seeing Ye Qing come in, he was momentarily stunned.
Er Gou glanced sideways at Ye Qing and frowned, saying, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm his brother!" Ye Qing said sternly.
"What brother? Who are you messing with?" Er Gou swaggered, pointing at Ye Qing, "Damn, don't you know who I, Er Gou, am?"
Ye Qing ignored him, walked straight over, and pulled Yuan Xiaozheng aside.
Having been slapped by Er Gou, Yuan Xiaozheng was still dazed and did not even have time to get angry at Ye Qing.
"F**k, you too are causing chaos. Didn't you hear me talking?" Er Gou said, reaching for Ye Qing's collar.
Ye Qing suddenly turned his head, his eyes as sharp as blades, glaring coldly at Er Gou.
Er Gou jumped in fright, for he had never seen such a look before—it was pure lethal aggression!
"What... what do you want to do..." Er Gou's voice was shaken, looking at the people around him, he felt a bit more at ease, and angrily said, "Damn, do you believe I can call three to five hundred people with a single word?"
"Call them now!" Ye Qing said coldly, watching Er Gou, "I'll be right here waiting, if you can't bring them, today I'll make sure you crawl out of here!"
Er Gou was stunned, it was his first time seeing someone so domineering.
"You... you damn don't believe?" Er Gou gritted his teeth and said angrily, "I don't need to call anyone, just with these brothers, it's enough to beat you to death!"
"Then come on!" Ye Qing pointed at the crowd and said, "All at once, I don't want to waste time!"
"F**k your mother, kill him for me!" Er Gou shouted, and two guys immediately rushed toward Ye Qing.
To these folks, Ye Qing was absolutely merciless, throwing punches left and right; one of the guys fainted on the ground while the other, marked by a big eagle tattoo, lay on the ground covering his mouth, bleeding from the nose and mouth with several teeth mixed in. He started crying there on the ground.
This stunned everyone present, including Er Gou who was taken aback, realizing he had encountered a tough opponent this time. He hastily turned to the others and said, "Fei Zi, Little Hei, Chen Hu, give me a hand here."
Seeing this scene, the several groups also approached, one of them said in a deep voice, "Who the hell is this guy?"
"How would I know? This bastard, seems he also came here trying to stir trouble!" Er Gou grimaced and said, "We need to teach him a lesson today, or he'll think we're pushovers!"
Saying so, Er Gou pulled out a dagger, and yelled, "I'm gonna cripple you!"
Er Gou charged forward, the dagger aiming straight for Ye Qing's chest.
A glint of cold light flashed in Ye Qing's eyes. Er Gou's attack was clearly aimed to kill.
Ye Qing stepped forward, executing a Barehanded Blade Block, he snatched the dagger from Er Gou's hand. At the same time, he dipped his torso and shouldered hard into Er Gou's chest.
With that hit, Er Gou flew backward as if hit by a cannonball, smashing heavily against the wall behind him that even the wall shuddered.
Er Gou was completely disoriented, sprawled on the ground unable to rise. That blow had broken several of his ribs!
Yet Ye Qing wasn't finished with him, grabbed the dagger, tossing it effortlessly, it flew straight toward Er Gou's head.
"Ah!" Er Gou screamed, having no idea how to dodge, he could only close his eyes.
With a ping, the dagger did not strike him, but was embedded in the ground next to his head, less than five centimeters away!
This dramatic scene stunned everyone. That move alone said it all!
Those who had been aggressively approaching moments before now instantly wilted, retreating hastily.
Those students around were also dumbfounded, especially Yuan Xiaozheng, who couldn't believe his eyes. In his memory, Er Gou was notoriously tough, to go down after just one hit?