Chapter 1115 — He Brought It on Himself

Going to stop them would have been nothing short of courting death!

"Young Master Wen, what are we supposed to do now?" Xiao Luozi looked a little panicked. "Master Li is dead — the fight ring has no one to hold the fort!"

"Losing the one who held the fort is the small matter. The real problem is how we're going to explain this to the Fire Wolf Gang. As long as the Fire Wolf Gang has no objections, they'll probably send us a new fighter soon enough!" An Jianwen was not the least bit grieved over Master Li's death. Dead was dead — the two of them had never gotten along anyway. But Master Li was, after all, a fighter sent by the Fire Wolf Gang, and it would be hard to answer to the higher-ups.

"Young Master Wen, this is actually easy enough to explain!" Xiao Luozi thought it over and realized he was right. If the Fire Wolf Gang wanted the fight ring to keep turning a profit, they would certainly send another fighter. The main problem now was how to smooth over Master Li's death — and on that score, Xiao Luozi had an idea.

"Oh? Let's hear it!" An Jianwen said quickly.

"Young Master Wen, we simply tell the higher-ups the truth. Master Li brought it entirely on himself. He took a fancy to a decent girl, but never expected her man to be so formidable. The man came looking for him and killed him with a single punch!" Xiao Luozi thought for a moment, then said, "Young Master Wen, come to think of it, you ought to lodge a complaint against him with the higher-ups too — say Master Li wouldn't listen to you, that he was arrogant and domineering, that he brought disaster on himself by trying to take a woman by force. If he'd listened to you and not gone out stirring up trouble, he wouldn't have been beaten to death!"

"Not bad at all, Xiao Luozi. You've got a head on your shoulders!" An Jianwen nodded in approval. "Good. I'll make the call right now."

"Heh heh, Young Master Wen flatters me!" Xiao Luozi chuckled. "Isn't it all thanks to your guidance?"

"Mm, you may go for now." An Jianwen waved a hand, signaling Xiao Luozi to leave. When he spoke with his father and the Fire Wolf Gang, no one else could be allowed to hear — not even Xiao Luozi.

Once Xiao Luozi had gone, An Jianwen hurriedly dialed his father An Mingyue's number.

"Hello? Jianwen, why are you calling me at this hour?" An Mingyue was dining with the deputy helm of the Fire Wolf Gang's northern branch when An Jianwen's call came through.

"Dad, something terrible has happened. Master Li has been beaten to death!" An Jianwen said.

"What? Master Li beaten to death? What happened — how did something like this come about?" An Mingyue was stunned, then his brows knitted tight.

Today, the deputy helm of the Fire Wolf Gang's northern branch had been treating him to dinner on the helm's behalf. The real meaning of this meal was to affirm An Jianwen's recent achievements. The underground fight ring had been established only a short time, yet it had already raked in several billion in capital — a veritable king of money-making!

An Jianwen's speed at pulling in money was the fastest in the Fire Wolf Gang's history. The helm of the northern branch intended to promote and reward An Jianwen appropriately. An Mingyue had been delighted — but who could have guessed that at this very juncture, something would go wrong?

Over on the other side, when the deputy helm of the Fire Wolf Gang's northern branch heard An Mingyue's words, his expression changed at once. His face darkening, he asked, "Mingyue, what's going on? How did Master Li die?"

"This... I haven't yet gotten to the bottom of it. Let me inquire in detail..." A layer of cold sweat broke out on An Mingyue's forehead. The Fire Wolf Gang was formidable, to be sure, but an external-school expert at the peak of the mid-Profound rank was no small figure either — he could not simply be allowed to die like that. They would never let the matter rest. So An Mingyue intended to first get to the bottom of the incident, then see whether there was any room to maneuver.

"Give me the phone. I'll speak with An Jianwen myself and ask what happened!" The deputy helm waved a hand and took the phone directly from An Mingyue. After all, an external-school expert at the peak of the mid-Profound rank was very important to the Fire Wolf Gang's northern branch. He could not simply die without an explanation.

"Very well..." An Mingyue had no choice. He could not disobey the deputy helm's words. Though he feared An Jianwen would be punished, he could not go against the deputy helm's wishes at this moment. He rather regretted coming to this dinner today — if he had briefed his son beforehand, perhaps there might have been room to turn things around.

"Hello? An Jianwen? What exactly happened? Master Li was one of our northern branch's finest. How is it that he came to you and ended up beaten to death? How did such a serious mishap occur?" The deputy helm took the phone and launched straight into his interrogation.

"Hello, is this the deputy helm?" An Jianwen felt a surge of nervousness. This was the first time he had spoken directly with a high-ranking member of the Fire Wolf Gang, but outwardly he kept his composure and asked with humble deference.

"It is. Tell me in detail how Master Li died!" the deputy helm said.

"Deputy Helm, I've finally found a leader I can pour my heart out to!" An Jianwen put on the air of one nursing a bellyful of grievances. "Deputy Helm, that Master Li never listened to my orders at all — arrogant and domineering, stirring up trouble wherever he went. And now look what's happened! Someone came looking for him and beat him to death! You must stand up for me — it's hurt the fight ring's business!"

"Oh?" The deputy helm was taken aback. Why did An Jianwen sound as though he were the wronged party in Master Li's death? The deputy helm had expected An Jianwen to admit fault outright, but instead he had come to lodge a complaint. Frowning, somewhat displeased, he said, "An Jianwen, Master Li is beaten to death and you sound rather pleased? Do you not realize that when a fighter of the Fire Wolf Gang comes to grief under your watch, you bear responsibility?"

"I bear responsibility? Surely not?" At this, An Jianwen sounded rather aggrieved. "Deputy Helm, he brought it on himself — what does that have to do with me? He went out on his own to harass a decent woman, and her man came looking for him and blasted him dead with one punch. Was I supposed to stop that? Thank goodness the man was reasonable enough to know that a debt has its debtor — he didn't tear down my fight ring, or I'd have suffered a huge loss!"

"What? So that's how it was?" The deputy helm was startled. He had not expected the matter to have been stirred up by Master Li himself, with no connection to An Jianwen whatsoever — on the contrary, An Jianwen had nearly been dragged into it! Given the circumstances, he could hardly criticize An Jianwen further. He only said, "Then when he harassed a decent woman, why didn't you stop him? We run an underground fight ring — an illegal business through and through. We must keep a low profile!"

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