The story needs to go back to when Qing Ye had just left the competition venue. When Xing Wu was surrounded, Old Zhu, Old Dong, and the referee staff were the first to rush in to break up the fight. But after all of An Zhi Vocational’s people jumped down, the situation became uncontrollable. In the chaos, someone swung a relay baton at Old Zhu’s head. Old Dong got into a conflict with them while trying to protect Old Zhu. When Huang Mao, Pang Hu, and the others saw Old Zhu and Old Dong being attacked, they immediately engaged with the An Zhi people.
After Hua Bi and Da Hei’s group all ran down, the Dark Hall people finally couldn’t hold back and gradually entered the fray.
It was at this moment that Fang Jie’s people took advantage of the chaos to mediate, inadvertently creating space around Xing Wu while trying to calm both sides. All the security guards from outside ran in but were bewildered by the numbers.
The Dark Hall people naturally targeted Da Hei’s group. With superior numbers and brutal tactics, Da Hei’s group couldn’t withstand them and quickly fell back, overwhelmed. Hua Bi was beaten until his face was unrecognizable.
Da Cao could no longer contain himself. He charged into the crowd, had his people surround Xing Wu, and attacked him personally.
Fang Jie had always maintained a neutral position within the Dark Hall, keeping equidistant relationships with everyone. In recent years, he had turned to legitimate business and become increasingly established. However, ultimately, he couldn’t oppose the Dark Hall, so all he could do was buy time – he couldn’t truly stand up for Xing Wu.
Xing Wu’s clothes were already torn to shreds, his body covered in bloody marks, but when Da Cao charged at him, he grabbed Da Cao’s throat. Da Cao punched Xing Wu repeatedly, yelling furiously: “Let go of me, you bastard!”
Not only did Xing Wu not let go, but his grip on Da Cao’s throat tightened. Amid the surrounding chaos, the two men faced off fiercely. Da Cao’s neck was firmly in Xing Wu’s grip, and he quickly began struggling to breathe, his face turning red. Just then, a man behind Xing Wu struck him, stabbing something into his back and tearing open a gash. Xing Wu felt a sharp pain and released Da Cao.
Da Cao bent over, clutching his chest and gasping for air. After just two breaths, he viciously kicked Xing Wu, and instantly, people from all directions surrounded Xing Wu again.
As Da Cao’s fists rained down on him, Xing Wu no longer knew what pain meant. He just stared at Da Cao with a sardonic smile, saying each word clearly: “If you have the guts, kill me today. As long as I’m alive, you won’t leave here alive!”
An overwhelming murderous aura rolled in from all directions. There wasn’t a single uninjured spot left on Xing Wu’s body, but his pitch-black eyes remained fixed on Da Cao, unyielding and mocking, making Da Cao’s heart turn cold before being consumed by boundless rage. His eyes turned bloodshot as he roared and began punching Xing Wu like a madman.
Fang Jie couldn’t watch anymore. He gestured to his people and left first. The situation was completely out of control. Several senior brothers in the stands couldn’t sit still either and stood up shouting, essentially telling them to stop before someone was killed. However, Da Cao had already lost himself to bloodlust, his face twisted in a cold, sinister smile as he dragged the blood-covered Xing Wu toward the award platform.
Da Hei and his group were all trapped, forced to watch helplessly as Da Cao dragged Xing Wu by his feet toward the platform. Xing Wu had lost consciousness, his tall frame covered in horrifying red.
No one knew what Da Cao intended until he dragged Xing Wu to the flagpole, lowered the flag, and tied the rope around Xing Wu’s ankle. Da Hei and his group’s faces changed dramatically as they suddenly realized Da Cao planned to hang Xing Wu up – what a tremendous humiliation!
Pang Hu exploded in rage, letting out a Tarzan-like roar as he took down three people around him, shouting: “Brother Wu, wake up!”
It was at this moment that Fang Lei arrived first at the stadium with her people. She had called the entire night class – a full fifty or sixty students who charged into the stadium, only to see Da Cao at the flagpole wrapping rope around Xing Wu’s ankle.
Huang Mao immediately spotted familiar faces and shouted: “Quick, Da Cao is going to hoist up Brother Wu!”
Fang Lei cursed: “Fuck, what a psychopath!”
With that, fifty or sixty people surged toward the flagpole. The scene, the shouting, the fury – it genuinely shocked Da Cao just as he was about to pull the rope.
A group of passionate youths pushed Da Cao down, with girls running to untie the rope and boys forming a circle around the flagpole platform, ready to fight to the death. Although among them were some wearing school uniforms, including a short four-eyed girl with glasses, it didn’t diminish their readiness to fight with everything they had.
The two sides suddenly reached a stalemate. Da Cao looked at this group of people who had appeared out of nowhere and found it amusing, not taking them seriously at all. He raised his hand in warning: “All of you get the fuck out of here. Keep blocking my way, and I’ll beat you until your mothers won’t recognize you.”
Da Cao had completely lost control. Today he was determined to hang Xing Wu up, settling both old and new grudges by eternally marking him with shame.
Just as both sides were about to clash, no one expected Li Lan Fang to charge into the stadium riding Er Ma Zi’s three-wheeler, take off her shoe, and smack Da Cao in the face, grabbing his ponytail.
Behind Li Lan Fang, numerous elderly people had arrived, drawn by the commotion. Many carried shopping baskets, and seeing so many people, thought they had arrived late. One old man grabbed a Dark Hall member and asked: “Young man, where can we get the eggs?”
“…”
Countless elderly men and women in colorful clothes flooded in, asking about eggs everywhere. When they couldn’t find any eggs, they heard Li Lan Fang shouting: “Everyone come look! Is there no law anymore? They’re killing someone in broad daylight!!!”
It proved that one should never push a middle-aged woman too far. Under Li Lan Fang’s constant instigation, the elderly who had come for eggs instantly took her side, raising their shopping baskets and cursing at the young thugs.
When Qing Ye rushed into the venue with Ye Jing Jian, she saw several hundred people in a chaotic brawl. An old man lay on the ground claiming he’d been hit and wouldn’t let them leave until his son arrived. An elderly woman frantically hit Dark Hall youngsters with her shopping basket. Another older woman grabbed a young man demanding compensation for her reading glasses. The entire stadium had turned into a chaotic marketplace.
Qing Ye ignored everything else and pushed through the crowd to find Xing Wu, quickly spotting Huang Mao supporting the beaten Old Zhu. Across several arguing old men, she called out: “Huang Mao, where’s Xing Wu?”
Hearing Qing Ye’s voice, Huang Mao turned and told her: “The flagpole platform.”
As Qing Ye turned, she stepped on a shoe. Even several stray dogs had somehow run in to join the chaos, barking at people.
She pushed through the crowd straight to the flagpole, immediately spotting Fang Lei. Her heart leaped to her throat as she squeezed next to Fang Lei and asked: “Where is he?”
Without a word, Fang Lei grabbed Qing Ye’s arm and led her behind the flagpole platform.
When Qing Ye saw Xing Wu lying motionless and covered in blood, it felt like someone had stabbed her heart. Her legs weakened, and tears instantly streamed down her face as she cried out: “Xing Wu, can you hear me? The ambulance is almost here, hang on!”
As soon as her hand touched Xing Wu, his eyes still closed, he suddenly grabbed her hand. Qing Ye froze. He pulled her wrist, and she quickly bent down. Xing Wu weakly managed four words near her ear: “South gate… North gate.”
After saying just these four words, his brows furrowed severely. Blood flowed from his head down his face, drying there, a horrifying sight. Waves of pain continuously assaulted his consciousness. He placed a steel ball he had been clutching into Qing Ye’s hand and suddenly opened his eyes, staring straight at her.
Qing Ye looked down at what was in her palm, immediately gripped it tight, and bent down to kiss his lips fiercely, saying: “I understand. Leave the rest to me.”
With that, ignoring the already shocked Li Lan Fang and Ye Jing Jian, she stood up and rushed into the crowd.
By this time, those senior brothers had sensed something was wrong and kept calling their subordinates to retreat quickly. Wei Dong had called several dozen Jin Zhong students to the stadium. They had just entered through the south gate when they met Qing Ye and the An Zhong people coming toward them. These two groups had been bitter rivals during winter camp, but now fought side by side.
Qing Ye squeezed out of the crowd and stood before the two groups, shouting: “Don’t let even a fly escape!”
Everyone turned and formed a human wall facing the venue, tightly surrounding the Dark Hall people who had just retreated to the gate. Some people immediately turned to run toward the north gate.
At the north gate, Li Lan Fang and Liu Nian had already gathered the neighbors from Zha Zha Ting and the mothers’ group from their chat. These middle-aged women weren’t as polite as the high school students – they administered loving beatings and lectures to the young thugs who charged up. One older woman grabbed a young man’s ear and demanded: “Heaven’s turned upside down! What are your parents’ names?”
The sound of police sirens outside the stadium grew closer. These thugs could no longer care about anything else and all gathered at the south gate, planning to break through.
At this moment, Ye Jing Jian stepped in front of everyone, elegantly smoothing his stiff hairstyle, saying: “Let’s see who dares to leave through here.”
As soon as he finished speaking, “Bang!” – he was suddenly punched by someone who appeared out of nowhere. Ye Jing Jian looked at that person in disbelief, covering his face and getting angry: “Do you know who I am? You dare to hit me?”
Before he could finish, he was punched again. The An Zhong people nearby couldn’t bear to watch and quickly pulled him aside, advising: “Say less.”
Meanwhile, Fang Jie had already left the venue, though he’d left two men behind to watch the situation. On his way back, he received a photo from his subordinate showing Ye Jing Jian being beaten. Sitting in the backseat, he zoomed in on the photo and suddenly smiled, forwarding it to Director Ye at the shooting range factory.
The subordinate in the front seat asked: “Brother Fang, where are we going now?”
Fang Jie leisurely locked his phone and crossed his legs: “Home to sleep. Once we’re well-rested, we’ll wait to take over. Brothers, good days are coming.”
…
As the situation inside had become uncontrollable, several senior brothers were now trapped in the stands. Only when the first batch of police broke through did Old Four Shen and his group come down from the stands? Qing Ye only saw them exchange a few words with the police before walking out nonchalantly through the cleared path.
She immediately pushed aside the people blocking her way and rushed to the announcer’s booth in the chaos. A piercing feedback suddenly came through the stadium speakers, followed by Qing Ye’s voice echoing throughout the venue: “Everyone looks at the south gate! Those people walking out are the organizers of this trouble, openly violating competition rules, organizing a mass brawl, and even using weapons to shoot at participants. Who gave them such courage? Who’s openly letting them leave right under everyone’s noses?”
The venue erupted in an uproar. Just then, Qing Ye saw two uniformed officers walking toward her. She simply stood up, took the microphone, and shouted while backing away: “Don’t let them leave!”
She then threw down the microphone and dove into the crowd. The elderly immediately exploded into action, and the venue suddenly filled with rising shouts of “Arrest them! Arrest them! Arrest them…” The unprecedented roaring grew louder and louder.
Old Four Shen and his group had reached the gate and were trying to push through the crowd when suddenly a group of people walked in, led by Quan Ya and Shu Han.
They immediately blocked Old Four Shen’s group’s path. The south gate instantly turned into chaos. Qing Ye climbed onto the stands and saw Quan Ya holding a man – looking closer, she realized the cowering man was actually Yang Gang.