Chapter 18 – Mad Horse

c/w: implied sexual assault

Wild Horse had already walked up to Hai Lian. Amidst the cheering crowd, the man looked down at the rusty knife in Hai Lian’s hand and suddenly spoke.

“It’s been a while.” A smile spread across his scarred face.

“We’ve met?” His lingering annoyance at the boss colored Hai Lian’s words.

“You might not know me, but I know you.” The audience urged him to hurry up and kill the boy, but Wild Horse continued to speak in a relaxed manner.

“In the past, you… often sat by the entrance, playing with your little knife. Well, sometimes it was rocks or gold coins. You seemed very… what was the word again… arrogant?”

“Have you fought in the rings owned by the Baihu Gang before?” Hai Lian finally seemed to remember. He lifted his eyes and looked straight into Wild Horse’s.

“Then to survive until today, you must be skilled as well as lucky.”

“No, I wasn’t as lucky as you.” Wild Horse gave a strange laugh, “Back then, I kept wondering: how did we differ from you? If my luck was better, maybe Ah’ge might have taught me too? Maybe I’d also be able to sit by the door whistling and playing with a couple knives everyday? Maybe I wouldn’t need to be here, relying on crushing others’ skulls to keep myself alive. And when the gang fell, I wouldn’t have been chained up like an animal, waiting for someone to pick me like they would their merchandise.”

The man took a back and assumed a fight stance.

“Back then I was the vicious mongrel and you were the guard dog.” His Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Today this mongrel will bite the masterless dog to death.”

He lunged forward with his ax.

Even though Hai Lian had expected it, he was still surprised by the gust of wind following the ax. He barely retreated half a foot to the side before the second swing came for him like a rabid dog following his nose.

Hai Lian knew that the rusty piece of metal he held was practically useless. Compared to the two men Hai Lian had defeated with ease earlier, this “Wild Horse” was clearly on another level. Otherwise, how could he have survived the underground fight rings of Baihu Gang and become a rising star here?

Nevertheless, Hai Lian couldn’t let his opponent keep swinging at him. The boy gave up on the rusty blade; putting it away altogether, he fought bare-handed. After making it around the ring several times, he found an opportunity and suddenly crouched down, grabbed a handful of sand, and threw it towards Wild Horse. Even if this move stopped his opponent for only a moment, that would be enough for Hai Lian to leap forward — breaking through the battle ax’s range — and precisely strike with his fists. Hai Lian struck his opponent at the base of his arm and beneath his ribs. As long as he hit a person’s vulnerable points, these two punches would be far more useful than numerous random attacks.

This was Ah’ge’s first lesson; it was etched in Hai Lian’s brain.

As expected, the man’s face immediately twisted in pain. The man’s tall figure swayed, but Wild Horse was still the standing champion and didn’t bend over like Hai Lian had hoped. Instead, he used his momentum to toss Hai Lian aside.

This first attack hadn’t managed to disarm Wild Horse; any further close combat would only be harder. Hai Lian staggered back while regaining his balance. His head spun with countless plans to take the ax from Wild Horse, but each was discarded. With the eyes of the Amber Scorpion fixed on himself, Hai Lian didn’t know whether he had one more battle waiting for him. He needed to finish this one quickly and without taking too many risks.

“You’re afraid of death,” Wild Horse spoke, interrupting Hai Lian’s train of thought. The man had finally recovered from those two blows. He moved his jaw, killing intent rising from his unkempt hair.

“You don’t act like this when you want to kill someone. Right now, you’re like a rat, fearful and hesitant.”

He spoke as if he knew Hai Lian well. Hai Lian couldn’t help but let down his guard, his eyes darting from the hand wielding the ax to the scarred face.

“I’ve never killed anyone in front of others, how would you know what I look like?” He furrowed his brow.

“How?” Wild Horse laughed as if he’d heard an amusing joke.

“I’ve seen it many times! I saw you jump from the eaves to kill ‘Jackal,’ I saw you wait in the alley to stab ‘Old Donkey’ in the chest, and I saw you hum under the moonlight as you threw ‘Lean Monkey’ into the trash.”

“I know, I know that you were the trump card of the Baihu Gang… You dealt with all those dirty jobs in the shadows. It was more dignified that way… and you’ve also thought about this dignity… ” Wild Horse muttered incoherently, somewhat feverishly.

“Dignity? Ha! When you can’t take a step without the scum beneath your feet splashing your face, what dignity is there to speak of?”

Wild Horse followed his words with a wild swing, tossing his ax entirely away. The heavy blade spun in the air and flew straight towards Hai Lian. The boy barely managed to dodge, his chest tightening.

Shit!

Sure enough, a black shadow lunged at him from above.

Peng — !

The sound of the ax crashing into the wooden railing and of Hai Lian hitting the ground rang out at the same time.

Under the surprised shouts of the audience, the two contestants fell to the ground together, locked in combat. As soon as the two fought hand to hand, the crowd screamed again — Amazing! Beat him to death!

“Pummel him!”

“Beat him flat!”

“Go retrieve your ax!”

“Quit fighting like a sissy, bite him! Kick him!”

Mad, they were all mad.

Their chaotic cries filled this narrow and stuffy space; Hai Lian felt he was developing heatstroke. He flexed his back, preventing his opponent from getting to his joints. Assassins weren’t accustomed to relying on their stamina. They always used their own cleverness and flexibility to win. Once caught under brute force, even if they had countless methods to escape, it was difficult for them to execute any.

“You f*cking… ” Hai Lian clenched his teeth. “Not just a vicious mongrel, you’re a mad dog.”

“Mad dog?” Wild Horse had just taken a punch below the waist and his eyes had become bloodshot. Hearing this word, his eyelids trembled and even the blood vessels in his eyes twisted. The man was gasping for breath, but it seemed less like he was tired and more like he was riding an emotional high.

“That’s right. In the past I was once called ‘Mad Dog.’ After staying in a place like this for a few years, you’d also become a mad dog.”

He resembled a vulture when he spoke, from the way his mouth opened to the odor of death emanating from deep within his throat. Hai Lian held his breath and struggled beneath Wild Horse’s hold to reach the rusty dagger he’d tucked behind his waist.

While blocking Hai Lian’s attack, Wild Horse continued to mutter to himself.

“You still don’t want to fight me, but that’s fine, you will have to fight me… ” A sinister laugh resounded from his chest, as if the cry of some monster.

“Little guard dog,” He called to Hai Lian, “How’s your precious little sister doing?”

Hai Lian’s expression twisted.

“Does she still have that bloodstained white dress? Is she still living in Yangjiao1 Lane? Tsk tsk tsk. Any girl that wants to survive in Yangjiao Lane can only spread their legs and do business. You cherished your sister so much; you wouldn’t let her do something like that, right? How many guests has your little sister served? Do they like her?”

The man grinned arrogantly, his tongue hanging out as if licking up the tears from some girl trembling and crying in the night.

“Did you know? I was her first.”

The last of his gloating words hadn’t left his mouth when his face suddenly stiffened.

The rusty knife suddenly appeared; its notched blade pressed against Wild Horse’s heaving chest.

“You win.”

Wild Horse had succeeded. He finally saw the fury he so desired to see on Hai Lian’s face and finally received the promise he so desired.

“I. Will. Kill. You.” The boy bit out through clenched teeth.

A/N: Hai Lian’s sister was mentioned from the start, so this doesn’t really count as foreshadowing, right? _(:з」∠)_ She’s about to appear soon.

T/N: Wishing everyone a happy New Years!

Yangjiao: lit. sheep’s horns