When Zhao Tao arrived downstairs, he saw his subordinate Hu Lei covered in blood, and his other subordinates were all injured.
While calling for reinforcements, he grabbed a high chair nearby and smashed it at the guy who was about to continue hacking at Hu Lei with a knife.
Bang!
The guy, who was about to swing his knife, was hit by the high chair.
"Damn it, you dare to touch my brother, go to hell!"
Although Zhao Tao was injured, he charged forward without a second thought.
But in the blink of an eye, Zhao Tao also fell to the ground.
Because although there were only four or five opponents, they were all very skilled, and they took down Zhao Tao almost in an instant.
"You are Shen Xiong's right-hand man? You don't look like much, tsk."
The long-haired man holding the knife patted Zhao Tao's face on the ground with the flat side of the blade and said dismissively.
"Pah!"
Zhao Tao spat blood at him, "If I wasn't injured, with your kind? Have the guts to let me up, and I'll kill you!"
It had to be said that Zhao Tao was truly fierce. He was already spitting blood, yet he still wanted to get up and continue fighting.
"Kill me? I'll see who dies first!"
The long-haired man raised his knife and slashed directly at Zhao Tao's neck.
"Stop!"
A sharp shout came from the staircase on the second floor of the bar.
Immediately after, Shen Xiong and Sun Cheng ran down.
The long-haired man glanced back, then sheathed his knife and retreated to the side.
Shen Xiong asked Sun Cheng to check on Zhao Tao, while he himself walked towards the booth behind the long-haired man.
The long-haired man and the guy who had smashed the glass earlier stepped forward, blocking Shen Xiong's path.
If it were anyone else, seeing these two guys, one holding a knife, the other clutching a broken glass bottle, and with fierce expressions, they would definitely be a little scared. However, Shen Xiong didn't even look at them and continued to walk forward.
"Let Xiong Ge come over."
Just as Shen Xiong was about to collide with the two, a voice came from the booth. The two men in front of Shen Xiong immediately took a step back, clearing a path.
However, even though they moved aside, they still stared fixedly at Shen Xiong, as if they would attack at any moment.
"Niu Si! What do you mean by this?"
When Shen Xiong came down from the second floor, he had already seen the man sitting in the booth. Now that he was closer, he questioned him.
The man in the booth was dark-skinned, lean, and looked very shrewd.
Hearing Shen Xiong's question, he shrugged and said, "What do I mean? My subordinates think the liquor in your bar is fake, so they wanted an explanation. Who knew your bar staff had such a bad attitude, so it escalated to this."
Seeing the man lying with his eyes open, Shen Xiong's anger could no longer be contained. He pointed at the man and shouted, "Niu Si! Do you believe I won't let you walk out of this door?"
"Who dares to stop our boss from walking out?"
"You dare to try and do anything."
"You're looking for death!"
Niu Si's subordinates, who had been staring at Shen Xiong, immediately surrounded him.
Shen Xiong turned around, poked the long-haired man in the chest with his finger, "When I was already running things, you were still playing with snot. Get out of the way and stand properly!"
Even though he was surrounded by Niu Si's subordinates, Shen Xiong remained fearless.
The long-haired man instinctively raised his knife when Shen Xiong poked him.
"Xiong Ge is your senior. What's wrong with him scolding you? How can you be so disrespectful? Get out of here!"
Niu Si spoke again.
Shen Xiong glanced at the men behind him, then swaggered over and sat down opposite Niu Si.
Niu Si in the booth was the boss of the city adjacent to Rongcheng.
This guy was originally just a fishmonger in the seafood wholesale market.
Later, by being cunning and ruthless, he gradually monopolized the entire city's seafood wholesale.
In recent years, he was no longer satisfied with the seafood wholesale business and had begun to venture into other gray industries.
However, he had always maintained a cordial relationship with Shen Xiong, so Shen Xiong was quite puzzled as to why he had brought people to cause trouble today.
As soon as Shen Xiong sat down, a large group of people swarmed in from the entrance, quickly filling the lobby of the Ye Se Bar. They were all armed.
These people were all summoned by Zhao Tao's earlier phone call.
Sun Cheng had someone send Hu Lei and the other injured people to the hospital, but Zhao Tao refused to go at all.
"Damn it! Didn't you want to kill me? Come on! Try being arrogant again!"
Zhao Tao took the gun from his subordinate and pointed the muzzle directly at the long-haired man's temple, his voice filled with excitement.
Although the long-haired man appeared calm on the surface, his swallowing motion betrayed his nervousness.
His companions surrounded Zhao Tao with anxious expressions.
However, no one dared to speak, for fear of accidentally provoking Zhao Tao and causing him to accidentally pull the trigger.
"Xiong Ge, my subordinate was just playing a prank on yours. There's no need to escalate things this far, right?"
Niu Si looked at the agitated Zhao Tao and then said.
Shen Xiong sneered, "My subordinate was lying there covered in blood just now. Is that what you call a prank? Tao Zi, cripple his hand that was used for slashing!"
As Shen Xiong's words fell, Zhao Tao reached out to drag the long-haired man holding the knife. His companions wanted to step forward, but Zhao Tao simply turned the gun, and they stopped in their tracks.
"Ah!!!"
"My hand! My hand!"
Piercing screams echoed in the bar's lobby.
Zhao Tao was ruthless enough to have his subordinate bring a hammer, then had a few men hold the long-haired man's hand down and smashed it repeatedly.
Only after the long-haired man's hand was smashed into a mess did they stop.
Niu Si's expression changed. In the end, he said nothing, merely waved his hand at his remaining subordinates, signaling them to take the injured to the hospital first.
Then, Niu Si looked at Shen Xiong with a dark expression, "Xiong Ge, your subordinate is truly ruthless. But everything has its retribution. Your subordinate..."
"Damn it! Niu Si, are you kidding me? We're in this line of work, and you still care about retribution? Besides, you were the one who started this today!"
Shen Xiong scoffed, showing extreme disdain for Niu Si's words.
"As the saying goes, people don't visit without a reason. I don't like beating around the bush. If you have something to say, just say it, or I'll have someone escort you out!"
Niu Si took a deep breath, finally suppressing the闷气 (mèn qì - pent-up anger) in his chest.
"Xiong Ge, Boss Hu sent me to inform you that in a month, he will be hosting a banquet in Yunzhou, inviting all the big bosses from the Southwest region. He hopes you will attend on time!"
"Hu Po invited me to a banquet?"
Hearing Niu Si's words, Shen Xiong was stunned for a moment.