Chapter 37: Underground Black Boxing

At the Lianhong Society’s Hongqiao branch, Lu Feng drove straight there and found the restaurant open for business as usual, with nothing seeming out of the ordinary.

As soon as the car door opened, Shan Wei strode out from the restaurant, grinning as if greeting an old friend he hadn’t seen in years. “Young Master Feng, I knew you’d come back. I’ve been waiting for you a long time. Would you like to come in for some tea?”

Lu Feng’s face was grim as he cut straight to the point. “You know why I’m here. Let her go.”

“I knew Young Master Feng would get the wrong idea and cause a misunderstanding, so I’ve been waiting here since early morning to explain. Your girl wasn’t taken by us—it was Big Mouth Owl from Qingtang Street. That day, the crazy Xi you knocked down was one of his men. He’s ruthless and extremely protective of his people. But don’t worry, Seventh Master told me to make sure things go smoothly with you. As soon as I found out about this, I sent our brothers to protect your woman. We won’t let Big Mouth Owl hurt her.” Shan Wei smiled reassuringly as he explained.

Something about the situation felt off, but rescuing her came first.

Lu Feng stepped forward and seized Shan Wei’s collar, lifting him up. “Let me see Chen Lan. If she’s lost even a hair, whether or not you’re involved, you’ll pay for it.”

The Lianhong Society thugs nearby bristled, ready to rush over when they saw Lu Feng grab their boss. Shan Wei quickly waved them off. “Stay back, all of you. Young Master Feng is just joking with me. Hei, take Young Master Feng to Qingtang Street and make sure our brothers protect his woman!”

“Yes, sir!” A young man with dark skin responded, then turned to Lu Feng. “Young Master Feng, let’s go. If we’re late, who knows what might happen.”

Lu Feng flung Shan Wei aside, got back in his car, and followed Hei’s directions to Qingtang Street.

Qingtang Street was one of the more powerful branches of the Lianhong Society, and its boss was nicknamed Big Mouth Owl—rumored to dabble in drug trafficking.

Big Mouth Owl used to be into dog fighting, but after attending some underground boxing matches, his interests shifted. Crazy Xi was someone he picked up from the underground boxing circuit; taking Crazy Xi in was no different to him than bringing home a fighting dog. What he liked was Crazy Xi’s savagery—the crazier and fiercer he got, the more Big Mouth Owl enjoyed it.

What did Big Mouth Owl do when his “fighting dog” was crippled? No one else knew, but he would lock the “dog” and the assailant together and force them to fight until one of them couldn’t stand.

That day, Shan Wei had borrowed Crazy Xi to handle a situation, but Crazy Xi ended up hospitalized, which greatly angered Big Mouth Owl. However, Shan Wei was tactful enough to send an apology payment the very next day, mentioning that the man who beat Crazy Xi was named Lu Feng—and, intentionally or not, also brought up Chen Lan.

Losing face had to be made up for, even though Seventh Master had strictly forbidden retaliation. But Seventh Master was getting old, and Big Mouth Owl was one of the leaders most eager to dethrone him, so he paid Seventh Master’s orders no heed.

Moreover, after returning from the hospital, Crazy Xi’s madness had not abated—he demanded a rematch with Lu Feng.

Big Mouth Owl relished such a setup. He immediately sent people to abduct Chen Lan and organized an underground boxing match as the centerpiece, to be held at the Qingtang Street Martial Arts Gym.

The underground boxing arena was dim, with lights flickering like those in a nightclub and music thumping through the air. Crowds of brawlers packed the venue, shouting at the fighters slugging it out in the ring. Gambling was inseparable from these underground matches, and tonight, a mysterious challenger was set to face Crazy Xi, who hadn’t fought in a long time. The atmosphere was especially electric.

A nouveau riche, a regular at these fights, sauntered up to Big Mouth Owl with a cigar clamped in his teeth and shouted in his ear, “Crazy Xi’s really fighting tonight?”

“Of course. He’s the main event,” Big Mouth Owl replied, his mouth as wide as ever. People always said that a man with a big mouth could eat from all directions—Big Mouth Owl felt he could eat from eight.

“Who’s fighting Crazy Xi?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Big Mouth Owl answered mysteriously.

The rich man tapped his cigar against the back of Big Mouth Owl’s hand. “Tell me, will Crazy Xi lose tonight? Should I bet on him or the challenger?”

“No one can know before the fight. Besides, you’re not short of money,” Big Mouth Owl said ambiguously.

“Money isn’t the point, but losing a bet puts me in a foul mood. Tell me, who did you back?”

“Of course I’m supporting my boy,” Big Mouth Owl replied.

“Understood!” The rich man nodded, then turned to his assistant. “Go, put two hundred thousand on Crazy Xi to win.”

The assistant nodded and hurried to the betting area.

Lu Feng drove along the route Hei indicated and soon arrived at the entrance of the Qingtang Street Martial Arts Gym. The so-called underground boxing was truly held below ground—because the matches were so loud, holding them underground ensured good soundproofing and kept the police away.

Hei led Lu Feng to the entrance of the underground arena, where two burly men stood guard. They blocked Lu Feng and said, “This is a private area.”

Hei interjected, “This is Lu Feng. He’s here to see Boss Owl.”

Big Mouth Owl had already given instructions. One of the hulks eyed Lu Feng, who didn’t look intimidating at all, but still led him inside, leaving Hei at the door.

The burly man escorted Lu Feng straight to Big Mouth Owl. “Boss, he’s here.”

Big Mouth Owl looked up at Lu Feng. “You’re Lu Feng?”

While Big Mouth Owl sized him up, Lu Feng did the same in return. The man did indeed have an enormous mouth and a square, businesslike face; he wore no gold chains around his neck, but was idly toying with a strand of Dzi beads on his wrist.

“I’m Lu Feng. Let Chen Lan go. The rest, we can discuss,” Lu Feng said coldly.

“No hurry. I’d like you to fight a match for me. After that, she’ll be released,” Big Mouth Owl said, flicking the ash from his cigarette.

“I’m not interested. If I have to fight, I’d rather fight you,” Lu Feng replied.

“You can fight me, but then your woman suffers,” Big Mouth Owl said, snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, all the lights in the arena went out. A single spotlight shone down from above the betting area, and the entire crowd turned to look.

From above, a metal cage was slowly lowered into the pool of light. Once fully illuminated, everyone could see a woman inside.

A beautiful woman in a long red dress, her hair cascading to her waist.

She was locked inside the cage by chains, suspended high above the arena. As her eyes adjusted to the harsh light, she looked around in panic, but the darkness only hinted at the mass of people staring up at her. She shook the cage in terror, but did not scream.

The woman was Chen Lan—Big Mouth Owl’s secret centerpiece for tonight’s underground fight.

After she appeared in the cage, a man who seemed to be the host grabbed a microphone and shouted, “Here is tonight’s lamb! The mysterious challenger must defeat Crazy Xi to take her away. The challenger’s odds are fifteen to one—place your bets now! Fifteen minutes until the betting closes. Let the fight begin!”