Before the start of every casino operation, there was a mandatory briefing. Personnel were assigned, walkie-talkies were distributed, and professional gamblers were contacted to fill the tables. Only when a sufficient number of gamblers had arrived would the games officially commence.
At this moment, this daily routine was underway in the ancestral hall. Over twenty people stood in neat formation in the main hall of the first courtyard, listening to the casino supervisor’s instructions and arrangements.
Suddenly, the sound of car windows being smashed rang out from outside the ancestral hall. It turned out that San Pang had made his move ahead of schedule. Having seen Yang Jian and Jun Jun cross the threshold of the ancestral hall, he intended to smash all five minivans within three minutes. It was no small task.
The twenty-odd young men who were in the middle of the meeting reacted quickly. Without waiting for the supervisor’s orders, some began to rush out.
However, they hadn't anticipated that two people would burst through the entrance, blocking their path. Both wore black masks, covering their entire faces except for their sharp eyes. Each held a steel baton.
“Who the hell are you, to dare cause trouble here with such audacity?”
The young man who was rushing forward shouted, trying to intimidate the newcomers.
But before he could finish speaking, a steel rod whipped out like lightning and struck his face. Teeth and flesh flew, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Without pausing after taking down the first person, Yang Jian plunged into the crowd, his two batons a blur of motion.
Meanwhile, Jun Jun guarded the entrance. Anyone who tried to rush past was knocked down with a single blow.
The young men were all unarmed at this point. Their machetes and steel forks were inside the minivans. To retrieve their weapons, they would have to get past Jun Jun’s blockade.
The ancestral hall’s main hall was nearly a hundred square meters. Apart from three mud statues and an incense platform at the front, the rest of the space was empty. There wasn’t even a single chair.
Facing Yang Jian’s attack, these unarmed men were completely unable to fight back. They were either knocked to the ground, unable to get up, or were chased around the hall.
Unable to exit through the front, many tried to escape through the back. The ancestral hall had four courtyards. The rear offered not only chairs and benches that could be used as weapons, but also kitchen knives and spatulas. There were also side doors for escape.
However, before these men could reach the back door, another masked, burly man blocked their path. He, too, wielded two steel rods, forcing them back. Within seconds, two men lay on the ground, howling in pain as they clutched their legs.
“Stop! Stop hitting! We surrender! I’ll give you all the money.”
The casino supervisor, a man in his thirties, knelt by the wall, trembling. One of his arms had been broken, and Yang Jian was closing in on him, as everyone else had already been taken down.
“Where is Xu Zheng?”
Yang Jian spoke in Mandarin, deliberately lowering his voice to avoid giving the police any leverage.
“Xu Zheng went to Hancheng. He left two days ago. This casino belongs to him. We’re just employees. If you’re looking for revenge, don’t make things difficult for us.”
“You scum who abet evil.”
Yang Jian broke his other arm with a blow from his baton, then waved his hand and, with An Nan and Jun Jun, rushed out of the ancestral hall.
Outside, San Pang was enthusiastically smashing with his sledgehammer. In less than three minutes, he had shattered the glass of all five cars. The hoods of three cars were dented upwards, and some of the engine’s pipes were deformed. While not completely totaled, repairs would be troublesome.
Many villagers had gathered to watch, but none stepped forward to intervene.
“Stop smashing, let’s go.”
An Nan growled and headed towards the southern intersection.
San Pang paused, glancing blankly at the entrance of the ancestral hall. “Damn, that was fast. Less than three minutes, and all twenty or thirty people inside were taken down? I haven’t even had my fill of smashing yet.”
Yang Jian, bringing up the rear, nudged San Pang. “Hurry up.”
San Pang, already exhausted and panting, had no choice but to follow, jumping into the SUV and speeding away.
Some of the bolder villagers walked to the entrance of the ancestral hall and peered inside. They saw people lying everywhere. Some were groaning while holding their legs, others were clutching their heads in pain, some were unconscious on the ground, and a few had blood on their heads and faces.
“Quick, call an ambulance for me.”
The casino supervisor could walk, but he couldn’t make a phone call. He could only ask the villagers for help.
A villager took out his phone. “Should we call the police?”
“Not yet. Call an ambulance first.”
It was a joke. So many people gathered to organize gambling would not only be targeted by the police for the crime of organizing gambling but would also be classified as a criminal gang, as the cars outside were filled with machetes and steel forks.
Two young men who had been setting up tables and benches in the bamboo grove heard the commotion and ran over. They were stunned by the scene. In just a few minutes of their absence, such a major incident had occurred.
“Er Bingzi, hurry up and call your Brother Zheng.”
Upon seeing the two, the casino supervisor rushed over to them and yelled at a chubby young man. This Er Bingzi was Xu Zheng’s cousin.
Er Bingzi fumbled for his phone.
“What’s going on? Who did this? Where’s Old Luo?”
Xu Zheng’s furious roar came from the other end of the phone.
Er Bingzi quickly handed the phone to Supervisor Luo.
“Mr. Xu, three minutes ago, we were attacked. There were only three attackers, and they injured all twenty-seven of us. Both my arms are fractured.”
“Are you kidding me? Three people took down over twenty of you? Are they martial arts masters?”
“Mr. Xu, this is a serious matter, I wouldn’t joke about it. The brothers are all lying in the ancestral hall now. Some of them have head injuries and are waiting to be sent to the hospital. You need to send over some money quickly.”
“Damn, there really are martial arts masters! Do you know who they were?”
“I suspect it’s Yang Jian. You beat up his cousin this morning and smashed his aunt’s supermarket. Given his personality, he’ll definitely retaliate. I advised you before not to mess with Yang Jian. His fearsome reputation isn’t just talk; it’s earned through real action.
Don’t you remember the incident at the Cultural Palace? Four of them took down over forty of Baoguo’s men. Yang Jian learned martial arts from childhood. We ordinary people are no match for him. Numbers are a joke to them.
“Damn it, I don’t believe it. I’m calling my uncle right now and having the cops arrest him first. No matter how capable he is, he wouldn’t dare defy the police, right?”
Old Luo quickly intervened, “Mr. Xu, don’t be rash. Without any evidence, your uncle can’t just arrest Yang Jian. Even if they arrest him, he’ll be released in a few days and will retaliate even more fiercely. Liu Ming, a ruthless person like him, was crippled by Yang Jian. Do you think we can escape his wrath?”
“I don’t care. Since Yang Jian came to smash my place, it means he’s guessed that I was the one who beat up his cousin. Even if I don’t have someone arrest him, he’ll come after me. I can’t be forced to stay away from home like Wu Laizi. If I don’t get him locked up, I’ll never be able to hold my head up in Xinqiao.”
From the very beginning, when Xu Zheng competed for road contracts, he had prepared himself for a showdown with Yang Jian. He had connections. As long as he didn’t personally get involved, if Yang Jian dared to make a move against him, he would face imprisonment.