Chapter 4: The Beautiful Neighbor

“Kid, where are you from? Who’s your boss? How dare you cause trouble on my turf?” Brother Bao scrutinized Chen Erpao from head to toe as he spoke.

Chen Erpao had no intention of escalating the situation, but he certainly wouldn’t stoop to humiliating himself by apologizing to them.

“I’m just an ordinary worker. I have no boss, and I don’t want any trouble. It’s your men who were being overbearing, threatening to cripple people at the slightest provocation.”

At these words, the red-haired man flared up instantly and fanned the flames again.

“Brother Bao, he’s lecturing us! If we don’t teach him a lesson today and get our dignity back, how are we supposed to hold our ground on these streets in the future?”

Brother Bao shot him a dissatisfied glance. He knew the guy was stirring things up, but he had a point.

“If you keep running your mouth, tomorrow you’ll be selling yellow newspapers for me.”

“Yes, yes, Brother Bao, I was wrong,” the red-haired man replied awkwardly, immediately falling silent.

Brother Bao turned back to Chen Erpao, unhurriedly drawing a gleaming machete from his belt.

“You have two choices: first, hand over fifty thousand yuan, then host a banquet to apologize to me. Second, my brothers’ blades have no eyes—if you end up crippled by accident, that’s not my concern.”

“I don’t have the money, and I won’t apologize. But I don’t want to fight you, either,” Chen Erpao replied calmly.

“Damn it, you don’t know what’s good for you! Get him, boys—cripple him!” Brother Bao, his dignity bruised by Chen Erpao’s words, roared and charged forward.

Chen Erpao stood his ground, his eyes turning sharp as steel, veins rising on his hands. When Brother Bao was only a few meters away, he moved in a flash, swift as the wind, and lifted Brother Bao clean off his feet.

Bang! Before Brother Bao could even react, he was slammed heavily to the ground.

“Brother Bao, are you alright?” his lackeys cried out in concern.

“Alright? Try taking a punch from him and getting thrown like that—see how you feel! Quit gawking and hack his hand off!” Brother Bao staggered to his feet, barking furiously at his men.

Seeing their boss enraged, the lackeys surged forward, surrounding Chen Erpao with an assortment of machetes, iron pipes, and whatever else they could muster.

Though Chen Erpao didn’t take these aimless street thugs seriously, they had strength in numbers and he dared not be careless. Dodging and weaving, he slipped out of their encirclement, then picked them off one by one, knocking them to the ground and rendering them temporarily unable to fight.

Before long, four men were writhing on the ground, groaning in pain. With the pressure eased, Chen Erpao found it much simpler to deal with the remaining few.

“Damn it, I don’t believe you’re that tough!” Brother Bao swung his machete, seized a chance, and charged again.

Chen Erpao let out a faint chuckle, flipped nimbly backward, and landed behind Brother Bao.

“If you want to hack me, go to hell!” With a shout, Chen Erpao lashed out with his right foot, kicking Brother Bao squarely on his ample, rounded backside.

“Ah!” Brother Bao let out a miserable cry, flying forward and landing in a perfect imitation of a crawling dog.

Chen Erpao couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the sight—it was truly unexpected that a gang leader could have such hidden talents.

After laying out the rest of the crew, only the trembling red-haired man was left standing before him.

“Brother, sir, I know I was wrong. Please let me go!” The red-haired man, seeing his side so thoroughly beaten, realized he’d kicked a steel plate tonight.

“Ah Guang, you bastard, what are you saying? How can a man of the street be so spineless? How are you going to walk the road in the future? Where’s my face going to go?” Brother Bao and the others shouted at him in contempt.

The red-haired man glanced at Brother Bao and his comrades, then at Chen Erpao, utterly at a loss. Compared to his earlier arrogance and swagger, his current demeanor was worlds apart. Small-time thugs like them were ruthless to the weak, but when faced with someone stronger, they turned utterly cowardly.

“If people don’t trouble me, I won’t trouble them. I just want to live a peaceful life,” Chen Erpao said seriously to Brother Bao, his tone calm but carrying the aura of a hidden dragon.

“And as for your little brother here, he’s really a disgrace,” Chen Erpao added, glancing at the red-haired man’s shaking legs with a smirk. “The blade hasn’t even touched his neck, and he’s already about to collapse. People like him only bully the weak and the old.”

The red-haired man was mortified, his face burning with shame and anger. He glared venomously at Chen Erpao, hatred smoldering in his eyes.

Chen Erpao caught the look perfectly, but merely sneered coldly and left quickly. After all the trouble tonight, it was already close to midnight, and he was spattered with other people’s blood from the fight. If a passerby or a resident saw him now, it would only bring more trouble.

He hurriedly made his way back to his apartment complex. Fortunately, he didn’t encounter any residents and slipped into the elevator without incident.

Moments later, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Chen Erpao didn’t step out immediately; he peered outside first, relieved to see no one was there. If anyone caught a glimpse of him covered in blood in the middle of the night, he’d have a hard time living in this community.

A few minutes later, he reached his apartment door. As he was about to open it, a faint sound came from behind. He instinctively turned around.

“Oh, my god!”

“Ah!”

Two startled cries rang out simultaneously, shattering the silence of the floor.

Across the hall, the door to the beautiful woman’s apartment had opened a crack, and a disheveled beauty’s head poked out, staring at Chen Erpao. When he turned around, the dim lighting made it look as if a woman’s head was trapped in the doorframe. Even with his nerves of steel, he was startled. On closer look, it was the stunning woman he’d met in the elevator earlier. To be honest, she could play a ghost in a horror film without any makeup and scare people to death—just like tonight. Luckily, he didn’t have a weak heart.

The beautiful woman, up late, had heard a noise and peeked out, only to see the lecherous uncle from earlier, now covered in blood. Her mind raced: “Did some poor soul fall victim tonight, put up a desperate fight, and finally die at this creep’s hands?” At that thought, she couldn’t help but scream.

“Up in the middle of the night, can’t sleep? In heat, are you?” Chen Erpao blurted out, his straightforward military habits showing through.

“You… you’re covered in blood. I didn’t see anything—don’t come over!” The woman’s face was a mask of terror.