Chapter 31: Brawls in the Black Market, Troublemakers Stirring Up Trouble

The two of them hurried back along the road they had taken, but as soon as they reached the entrance to the black market, they were stopped.

“Damn it, have we been followed? That doesn’t make sense.”

He had deliberately bought almost nothing—just forty kilos of cornmeal for eight yuan. They were poor these days, but was it really worth robbing them for eight yuan? If that were how things worked, the black market might as well close down.

There were five men opposite them, all dressed in black and wearing masks. It was impossible to tell who was who. Each of them held a steel pipe, making it obvious that they had come prepared.

Huzi and Su Yu each pulled out a wooden club and set their bicycles aside. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they faced the five men with tense expressions.

This was Su Yu’s first time facing such a situation, and he had no experience at all. But he knew that if he did not get ruthless today, they might never leave this place.

“What do you fellows want? We came here to buy something and didn’t break any of your rules. What exactly are you trying to do?”

“Heh heh. Scared now, kid? You were pretty arrogant during the day. Heaven had a path, but you refused to take it. Instead, you barged straight into hell.”

“Should I say you’re unlucky, or that we brothers are lucky?”

“Brother Yu, they’re those three hooligans from earlier.”

Su Yu recognized them immediately. They were the same three men from the daytime, only now they had brought two more people. It seemed there was no way to settle this peacefully.

“In a moment, you hold one of them off. Leave the rest to me.”

Su Yu was not being recklessly overconfident and trying to take on four men alone. His strength was now more than twice Huzi’s. Huzi was only five foot nine and barely eighteen years old, not yet at the peak of his physical development. Su Yu was different—his body had been enhanced by the system.

Although fighting depended on more than strength, Su Yu believed that as long as he was ruthless enough, he could win. He would probably get hurt, though.

“I’ll say it one more time. Move, or don’t blame us for being merciless.”

“Fuck, you’re surrounded and you’re still acting tough? Today I’m going to see just how merciless you can be!”

Su Yu knew there was no point in saying more. He raised his leg and kicked, sending a cloud of dust flying straight into the faces of the men closing in.

Then he lunged forward at astonishing speed and swung his wooden club at one man’s head.

“Crack!”

The short club, as thick as a child’s arm, snapped cleanly in two. The man did not make a sound as he fell backward to the ground.

Su Yu kicked another man and immediately snatched up a steel pipe from the ground. He then rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a sneak attack from a third man.

“Fuck! You’re shameless! You used trickery!”

“All’s fair in war. If you don’t even understand that, what are you doing out here?”

Su Yu had dealt with two men in just a few moves. One had been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head, while the other had taken a direct hit to the chest and was still crawling helplessly on the ground.

A normal person’s strength was ten, while Su Yu’s was fifteen—one and a half times that of an ordinary man, easily placing him among the strongest young adults. Add to that the force of his charging kick landing squarely on the chest, and the man would be lucky to get up anytime soon.

On the other side, one attacker was blocked by Huzi. Huzi was ruthless as well. Ignoring the risk of having his arm struck, he brought his club down hard on the man. It missed the head but smashed into his shoulder, causing him to lose his grip on the steel pipe.

Two men remained.

Su Yu was afraid that delaying any longer would lead to trouble. This was their territory, after all. More people might arrive, and they might even have guns. In those days, people could die without anyone being able to investigate properly—there were no surveillance cameras, and most people in the black market wore masks. No one knew who anyone else really was.

So Su Yu wasted no time. He charged forward again.

The two men had learned from their companions’ mistakes and no longer rushed him head-on. Instead, they began circling him, intending to join forces and take him down.

But they had underestimated Su Yu’s speed. He paid no attention to the other man and focused on chasing one of them. When the second man came over to launch a sneak attack, Su Yu seized the opportunity and brought his club down on his leg.

The man let out a terrible scream, clutched his leg, and collapsed to the ground, howling in pain.

Taking advantage of Su Yu’s distraction, the remaining man swung his steel pipe into Su Yu’s lower back.

The blow landed solidly. If Su Yu’s body had not been enhanced, it would have shattered his spine.

Fortunately, every muscle in his body had been strengthened, and with his emotions running high, they were all tensed tight. The blow hurt terribly, but it was not enough to break his spine.

Enduring the agony, Su Yu spun around and hurled the steel pipe. With a bang, it struck the man squarely in the head. He collapsed without a sound and did not get up again.

The only person still standing was the young man with the injured arm, who remained locked in a standoff with Huzi.

Clenching his teeth against the pain in his lower back, Su Yu picked up the steel pipe and used it as a support to stand. Truthfully, he could endure the pain; it merely affected his movements somewhat.

The commotion finally attracted the people responsible for maintaining order in the black market.

Spectators had gathered all around, but no one stepped forward to help. It was not that everyone was cold-hearted. In another place, they might have been willing to lend a hand. But this was the black market. Anyone who stood out here would be inviting disaster.

“Brother Yu, go! I’ll hold them off!”

Seeing that Su Yu was injured yet still forcing himself to help, Huzi was deeply moved. He stepped forward and planted himself in front of Su Yu, intending to block the black market’s people alone.

Su Yu did not move. He grabbed Huzi and stopped him from acting rashly.

The other side was carrying hunting rifles. They were old muzzle-loaders, but a shot from one of those things could send two people straight to the afterlife.

“What’s going on? What happened? Which side are you fellows from? How dare you cause trouble on our turf?”

The moment the man spoke, Su Yu sensed something unusual in his words. Sure enough, the man turned his head and spotted the terrified figure beside him—the same man who had been confronting Huzi.

“Little Four? Aren’t you supposed to be patrolling? What are you doing here?”

Afraid the man might lie, Su Yu quickly explained what had happened from beginning to end. He then gestured toward the scene around them.

They had not even left the black market yet, and the black market’s own people had already attacked customers in retaliation. Even if it was a private grudge, that still seemed to violate the rules, didn’t it?

Su Yu did not mix with the underworld and knew nothing about their rules, but this principle seemed perfectly reasonable. It was like having an enemy who worked at a bank. Even if the two of you had a personal grudge, when you went to withdraw money, he could not curse at you or give you trouble. He had to calmly handle your transaction because he was at work. Private grudges were private grudges, but he was still on the job.

“Little Four, you tell me. Is what he said the truth? You know what I’m like. If I find out you’re lying, you know what will happen.”

Sure enough, after hearing that, the man called Little Four nodded awkwardly and stammered out the entire story.

The man in charge of maintaining order in the black market was called Fox—a nickname that reflected his cunning nature.

“Brother, I’ve got the full picture now. Our people were in the wrong. This has nothing to do with you. I’ll handle it. You’re free to leave.”

He had no choice. Of course he wanted to protect his own people, but the matter had grown serious. The surrounding crowd was full of black-market customers. If word spread about what had happened, hardly anyone would dare come to the black market to sell stolen goods anymore.

Brotherly loyalty was one thing, but if he broke the rules here and interfered with Sixth Master’s business, he would suffer as well. He was not foolish enough to pay for someone else’s stupidity.