Era of Mist

’He’d never thought that one day, he would actually kill someone. Even with Teng Chaoguo, he’d only meant to scare him. Even with He Chong, that was in the secret realm.’

’Today, this blood-soaked ground wouldn’t be wiped clean by the secret realm. For the first time in his life, a life had been utterly extinguished at his hands, its future erased. He didn’t want to kill. He had never wanted to kill. The situation had just forced his hand.’

But Shi Tiexin, in the end, was no sheltered scholar.

Faced with something like this, his ability to handle pressure and adapt was far stronger. A cruel life had long since forged his nerves into steel, and the dichotomy of life and death had been rehearsed many times in the secret realm.

So, at this moment, the leader of the Biker Gang merely gazed coolly at the severed head. His voice was as steady as ever, as if his heart had never wavered for an instant. "Who was this man?"

Seeing the head and its gruesome state, Mai Ba couldn’t help but swallow in shock. Although they were into bike racing, stunts, theft, and smuggling, and had participated in plenty of street brawls, this was the first time he’d ever encountered a death up close.

But one look at Shi Tiexin’s rock-steady demeanor, and Mai Ba was filled with admiration. He instantly found his backbone again, composed himself, and said, "Boss, this guy should be the leader of the New Rangyi, the man they call the Red Samurai, Yamada Ryūichirō."

Shi Tiexin frowned. "New Rangyi?"

"The New Rangyi are a bunch of lunatics, a bunch of terrorists! There are a lot of gangs in Tokyo, but not many are as crazy as the New Rangyi. They attack our people everywhere, and they don’t spare shops or pedestrians either. Not only that, they also attack the merchants who talk to us and do business with us. Anyone they run into ends up dead or seriously injured. You could say they’ve got a vicious reputation!"

"We normally wouldn’t dare to provoke them, and we stay out of their territory. I can’t believe they crossed the line today." Mai Ba stared at the head in disbelief. "And I really can’t believe that Yamada Ryūichirō just... died like that..."

"The boss is amazing," Guo Bing chuckled. "To think he could even take down the Red Samurai. Totally unexpected!"

A thought struck Mai Ba, and his face lit up with joy. "That’s right! Now that we’ve taken out the Red Samurai, our territory can—"

"AHH—!" "Xiaowu! Xiaowu!" "How could you die just like that?! Waaaaah!"

A wave of wailing cut through the air, interrupting Mai Ba’s excitement. Shi Tiexin turned to look. Over there, the casualties had been tallied. The New Rangyi members were especially vicious, and in a high-speed clash between riders, it really was life or death. You either missed each other completely, or you ended up dead. There was rarely an in-between.

A total of five men had died, just like that. Their bodies were laid out in a row. About twenty motorcycles formed a circle, their headlights illuminating the corpses. Some of the dead men’s close brothers and their girlfriends had thrown themselves onto the bodies, wailing, their hearts torn to shreds.

On the other side, Ah D was cursing up a storm.

"Get over here!"

"On your knees! All of you, get on your damn knees for me! Stay down, and don’t you dare look up!"

Ah D was kicking and punching them furiously, with a few other members joining in, gritting their teeth as they dished out the beating. A dozen or so New Rangyi riders had died on the spot, and another eight who were injured had been captured. All of them were now forced down by the roadside. Even as they were being beaten, they were still shouting slogans in a foreign language.

"Get the fuck down on your knees!"

Ah D lashed out with a kick. With a sickening CRACK, one of the captive’s kneecaps shattered, and he collapsed to the ground. The others took the hint, and anyone who wasn’t kneeling had their leg bones broken.

"Boss!" Ah D yelled over, panting heavily. "They’re ready!"

All the members gathered around, silently watching. His four top enforcers stood by his side, the Red Samurai’s head at his feet. The bodies of their five fallen brothers lay on the ground, and eight captives awaited their fate.

"Boss!" Ah D pointed at the captives. "These guys, what do we do with them?"

Shi Tiexin’s divine courage just now had shaken them to their core. This time, no one dared to speak out of turn. Everyone was waiting for Shi Tiexin to give the order.

’But what should be done?’

Shi Tiexin looked at the captives—some fanatical, some fearless, some terrified—and saw upon closer inspection that they were all just boys, not even twenty years old. Then he looked at the bodies of his own men. These were the same guys who had just been heckling and causing a ruckus, who seemed like a disorderly mob. But on closer inspection, they too were just young men, barely out of their teens.

’What should I do?’

The answer was simple.

THUD. Shi Tiexin slammed the iron rod in his hand heavily onto the ground. "Handle it according to the rules."

’Shi Tiexin had no idea how they usually handled this kind of situation. Take them away? Kill them? Enslave them? Torture them? Or something else? He didn’t know. So, "Handle it according to the rules" would have to do.’

Ah D, however, was a bit stunned. The truth was, they had never encountered a situation like this before either, so he was confused about which rule they were supposed to follow.

But then Ah Fei spoke up, interpreting the boss’s order. "Idiot, don’t you get it? A life for a life. That’s the ultimate rule!"

"Right!"

Ah D roared, then looked around and suddenly snatched up a fallen Samurai Sword. He kicked the first captive over, planting his foot on the man’s back to hold him still. Ah D gritted his teeth; his hands seemed to tremble slightly. Then, he gripped the hilt tightly, let out a fierce shout, and swung the sword down on the back of the captive’s neck.

SPLURT. Blood shot into the air.

The captive didn’t die instantly. He wailed in agony, still managing to scream the slogan, "Dai Nippon Banzai!"

"Don’t just stand there like idiots! All of you, get over here! Every one of you takes a swing!" Ah D, his eyes bloodshot, glared at the silent gang members. "From now on, you’re all gonna follow the boss with your whole damn hearts, understand?!"

"Yes!" "I’ll do it!" "Let me go first!" The ones who had been crying the hardest just moments ago were the first to rush forward. Swept up in the moment, others who might have been timid or unwilling had no choice now but to step up and take their turn.

The remaining seven captives were kicked down one by one. From clumsy to practiced. From timid to frenzied. From clamor to silence. Blood splattered. A debt of blood was paid in blood.

Shi Tiexin’s breathing hitched for a moment, then steadied. Eight more lives, gone because of a single sentence from him. In his heart, there was a flicker of compassion, a wave of revulsion, a jolt of shock, and even a stab of fear.

Fear of his frenzied men, and fear of the iron-blooded man he himself was becoming—it was all an instinctive reaction.

But none of this showed on his face. The feelings simply rippled through the sea of his mind before being smoothed away. ’I did nothing wrong,’ Shi Tiexin told himself. ’I was attacked. This was just a counterattack. Besides, as the boss, I must be decisive at all times, without a moment’s hesitation.’

TING-A-LING. Amidst a sound like a wind chime, a refreshing sensation emanated from the block in his consciousness. The speed at which the block was dissolving suddenly increased significantly.