Xiao Li remained kneeling on the floor with his head lowered, not budging at all.
Looking at him like that, Li Shi Qing softened his tone, “Then you can kneel there and talk, but you have to say something, not just tune the world out.”
Xiao Li lowered his voice, “Qing Ye, it’s impossible for me to not care about my brother and I can’t implicate Han Jia. I can only come here and ask you.”
Li Shi Qing asked, “What do you want to ask me?”
“Luo Dong didn’t directly look for me but rather he went to you. There must be something in your possession that he wants.”
Li Shi Qing went speechless for a long while before he sat up straight from his seat, “Xiao Li, do you know what you are asking of me?”
“Qing Ye, I beg you, help my brother,” asked Xiao Li, his appearance seemingly ridden with uneasiness.
“That’s not it,” Li Shi Qing’s voice rose with severity, “You’re asking me to let Luo Dong return!”
He stood up and with his hands clasped behind his back, he proceeded towards the side of the window.
“Lu Wu and Luo Dong wants you and Han Jian from me. This is nothing more than them relying on their connections and power to coerce me. If I don’t hand you over, then I must give them the territory under my control. I can’t give either of you over, that is something I’ve told you before; but even more so, I can’t give them any territory. If it falls into Luo Dong’s hand, then it would only increase his grip in this area. Without giving you two or the territory away, he will kill the hostage. But if we remain unmoved by his homicidal tendencies, he won’t be able to do anything about it. Xiao Li, back when you had just become a leader of your own territory, Ma Zi Que had captured Luo Dong’s daughter. Every day he would cut off one of her finger, demanding him to withdraw his power and influence from the northern cities. Do you remember what Luo Dong did at that time?”
Xiao Li remained silent for a moment then lowered his voice and reply back, “He didn’t do anything.”
“That’s right.” Li Shi Qing sighed sorrowfully, saying, “It’s because he didn’t subject himself to the threat that Ma Que Zi couldn’t do anything to him. In the end, it led to him withdrawing in that despicable manner, causing the gang faction to fall apart and lose its’ unity. Tell me, should we act like Luo Dong, or should be act like Ma Que Zi huh?”
Xiao Li did not reply back; all he could do was look down and press his forehead to the floor, bowing with all the strength in his body.
“Qing Ye, I beg you, save my brother.”
When Li Shi Qing heard his forehead struck the hard floor in a loud thud, his brows drew close to each other. He walked toward the center of the room back and forth a few times, then finally stopped in front of him. His hand gripped Xiao Li’s collar, stopping him from incessantly crashing his head against the floor.
Nevertheless, Xiao Li still only said, “Please, Qing Ye save my brother.
Li Shi Qing lowered his body down. Reaching his hand out to caress his forehead, his thumb then gently pressed down on the red inflamed skin. All of a sudden, one of his brow rose in surprise, “Have you cried before?”
Xiao Li was also surprise at those sudden words, then as if time had cease for but just a moment, he remembered the grievance he had already shared with Qi Xiu Yuan. At that time, the emotions that he had kept hidden for all those year became hard to suppress, and to even his own surprise, he had actually shed tears.
He wasn’t given the time to reply when Li Shi Qing crouched down in front of him and held his chin up with one of his hand.
His voice softened, “I know you feel sorry for your brother, but I can’t bow down to Luo Dong. It took me five years to drive him out. If I give in to him this time, would I still have another five years to battle it out with him again?”
Xiao Li closed his eyes and held out his hand, placing it on top of Li Shi Qing’s hand, “I’ll help you.”
Li Shi Qing was ridden with shock all at once; all he saw was Xiao Li’s trembling voice as he continued to talk.
“Qing Ye, no matter how many years it takes, I’ll stay by your side and help you fight against him. Please, Qing Ye. I beg you, save my brother.”
Li Shi Qing looked as though he was burned with fire when he suddenly let his hand go. He got up and paced around a couple of times. Ultimately, he stopped in track and pointed his finger directly at Xiao Li.
“Do you realize exactly what you’re asking of me?” Then he ruthlessly kicked a nearby stool, and firmly repeated, “Do you realize exactly what you’re asking of me?!!”
Xiao Li pressed his head low on the floor, seeming as though he could only say those words, so he incessantly repeated those words again, “Qing Ye, save my brother.”
“Shut up!!” Li Shi Qing angrily rebuked.
Xiao Li quiet down.
Li Shi Qing was adept in hiding his light under a bushel. His face always held a smile and even if he was angry he won’t reveal it much. This kind of sudden anger was almost rare to see.
After calming himself down for a moment, Li Shi Qing’s voice resumed its’ steady gentleness.
“You said, it doesn’t matter how many years, you’ll still keep me company?”
“Yes,” answered Xiao Li.
“How are you going to keep me company?”
Xiao Li froze for a moment.
A hand shot forth and grabbed the front of his jacket. Xiao Li couldn’t help but to follow along and stood as that hand pulled him up. That hand then conveniently caressed the scar on his cheek.
Li Shi Qing stared at him with the same suggestive look in his eyes as the one from all those years ago; it was an insatiable, lecherous look.
“How do you intend to accompany me?” Li Shi Qing leaned in close to him, “If you answer correctly, I’ll help your brother right away.”
Xiao Li’s eyes hung low as he started to undoes his clothes.
Once he undoes the buttons on his shirt and threw it to the side, Li Shi Qing’s hand had already started to touch the side of his waist. Then his leather belt loosened, allowing his pants to fall on the floor.
At that moment, Xiao Li suddenly wanted to know, when Qi Xiu Yuan had undressed in front of him, what was he feeling.
Xiao Li placed his hand at the edge of his underpants but all of a sudden, Li Shi Qing stopped him.
“Leave it,” said Li Shi Qing, his breath having become urgent, “I’ll take it off.” His hand reached inside and grabbed hold of Xiao Li’s member.
Xiao Li took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Suddenly an ear-piercing ring sounded off.
Li Shi Qing acted as if he did not hear it. His other hand had already started to caress all the way down his back and incessantly kneaded and pinch Xiao Li’s ass.
The phone stopped ringing for a moment, but quickly it rang again. Li Shi Qing angrily clicked his tongue and continued to fondly squeezed Xiao Li’s ass for a moment longer before he reluctantly answered the phone.
“What is it?……What did you say?”
Xiao Li opened his eyes and watched as Li Shi Qing’s complexion changed.
He placed his phone down, giving Xiao Li a quick glance then he slowly said, “Put your clothes on first and come out with me.”
Xiao Li picked up his pants, “Qing Ye, my brother……”
“It’s because of your bastard of a brother.” Li Shi Qing sighed, “Today, after Han Jia received a phone call from your brother, he went missing.”
Shock immediately crowded Xiao Li’s eyes.
Li Shi Qing walked over, picked up his shirt from the floor and while draping it over his shoulder, he said, “And there’s something else that also went missing. Let’s go have a look at Jin Ting first.”
Only when they arrived at Jin Ting did they realized that things were even more severe than they had imagine.
—–[mini flashback]
Han Jia began to organized things early in the morning. The timing was roughly around the same time as when Xiao Yang’s hand had appeared in front of Li Shi Qing’s front door. He conspicuously discussed things with a few of subordinates and these conversations were mainly work distribution and transfer of power.
Around 9:00PM at night, he received a phone call. As he walked by, the doorman heard him saying, “Is this Xiao Yang? Don’t worry.” Once he walked out, he never returned even after midnight approached. And worse, no one was able to get through to him at all. In looking for him, one of his attendant found some documents neatly sitting on a table in his personal lounge. All of which were related to the property’s deed. But all of the paper works regarding Jin Ting’s financial affairs had disappeared. Everyone went into a panic and immediately called Li Shi Qing’s home.
——[back to the present]
“Who else have seen those documents?” Li Shi Qing’s brows wrinkled together.
“Qing, Qing Ye,” answered the attendant, trembling in fear, “Once I saw it, I immediately locked the door. No, no one else came up……”
Feeling relieved at those words, Li Shi Qing twisted his head around and caught sight of Xiao Li silently staring at the documents on the table.
He sighed, “Give Zi Cheng a call. We have to go and talk with Lu Wu.”
Xiao Li glanced at the attendant and walked out of the room to make the call.
Compared to the other gang leaders of the same ranking, Liu Zi Cheng was more open minded, lively and full of wisdom. Only when it was necessary would he become vicious and merciless. Everyone can clearly see that Li Shi Qing intend for him to take over and during crucial moments he also relied heavily on him.
As expected, the moment he heard about the situation, Liu Zi Cheng immediately rushed out the door and made his way to Jin Ting. On his way, he didn’t hang up the call and continuously cursed, “Luo Dong that fucking son of a bitch, should die in the trash can. He should have been taken care of since the beginning. Fuck, we were too negligent. Seeing as he didn’t contact you, and directly challenged Qing Ye meant that he didn’t contact Han Jia either.” He stopped, then spoke again, “That fucking pervert suffered loses under Han Jia’s hand. I’m afraid…he had met with an accident……That motherfucker, he has the balls to mess with Han Jia. Does he fucking think we’re dead?”
Xiao Li remained quiet and thought about what he and Han Jia had recently discussed. The last words Han Jia had said unexpectedly sounded like a warning and a good-bye.
He hung up the phone and returned to Han Jia’s personal lounge.
At that moment, Li Shi Qing handed over something to Han Jia’s attendant. The attendant looked as though he was suppressing his emotional excitements as he held onto that pile of document but even then the overwhelming flattery that drew on his face was obvious.
“Qing Ye don’t worry. I’ll definitely handle it well.”
Xiao Li was extremely displeased with his expression that readily substitute Han Jia for the time being. His eyes swept toward him before be turned toward Li Shi Qing.
“Zi Cheng is on his way over here.”
Li Shi Qing allowed one of his subordinate to look over the document with Han Jia’s attendant and directed Xiao Li and some others people to come out.
“Zi Cheng and I will bring more manpower with us to go and meet with Lu Wu. You stay here and keep watch. Find some people to ask around for any news on Han Jia’s whereabouts. Stay in contact at all times. “
“Qing Ye.” Xiao Li said, “I will go too.”
“Listen to me,” Li Shi Qing voice softened, “With how things are looking and you being in this kind of position, you won’t be able to come back. If Lu Wu wants to hold you back by force, I won’t be able to protect you.”
Xiao Li hesitated for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. He gave Fan Peng and Feng Qiang a call. Luo Dong had been in the city plundering and seizing control by force from other people. It was possible that he was still in the city now. Since remnant of his influence are everywhere, wanting to discover where his footprints took him would require a great amount of manpower.
Liu Zi Cheng took twenty minutes to arrive at Jin Ting; it was too obvious how many red lights he must had passed. He himself only brought two subordinates with him while everyone else were all Xiao Li’s subordinates. Xiao Li had already chosen and added a few skilled subordinates to stick close to Li Shi Qing as his bodyguards. Over twenty people, separated into eight cars set off in a grandiose manner.
Xiao Li waited until the fleet of cars disappear before he returned to his personal lounge and changed into a more light and convenient clothes. He grabbed his gun and called Lin Zi and made clear to him, “Keep your phone on. If something comes out, directly call Qi Ye or your Cheng ge.”
“Li ge, you’re —-”
“I’m not happy right now. I want to go out for a drive and get some fresh air.”
Lin Zi stared at him and said, “I’ll go too.”
Xiao Li widened his eyes and glanced at him, “Shou Zi and the other had gone with Qing Ye, if you go for a drive as well, who’s going to keep guard here?”
Lin Zi wanted to say something else but ultimately he remained silent and followed behind Xiao Li. It was only when Xiao Li went out to get his car, did he halted behind him. He then said, “Li ge, take care of yourself.”
Xiao Li smiled and let out a small laugh, “Take care of myself for what? I’m just going for a drive.”
He got into his car and calculated all the places that he knew used to be Luo Dong’s lair. Before he had destroyed all those place one by one, now he had to go and investigate them all one by one.
The way of this road was like this, forever wrapped in a long and endless darkness that was dotted with blood and death. People were constantly fighting each other and with open arms they embraced illegal money, only to instantly become a sacrifice in order to attend that wealth. It was horrible, unbelievable, but no one turned their head away from it nor are they capable of turning away.
Xiao Li’s car passed by the riverbank. Not so long ago, his tears had flowed here but now, his expression had hardened into an icy coldness. His eyes focused at the darkness ahead, not even once glancing at that place.