Seeing this, Fang Er let out a furious laugh and looked at the shifty man. "You say you run this street? And who the hell are you, crawling out from under some rock, to speak to Lord Yu like that?"
A subordinate beside the shifty man pointed at Fang Er and started cursing.
The shifty man, addressed as Lord Yu, kicked the shopkeeper aside and looked at Fang Er with extreme arrogance. "Heh~ Still a greenhorn, eh? Listen up, my surname is Yu, and my full name is Du Bai! This street is all my property. Beat it if you don't want trouble, and stop meddling! This is my territory, and I do as I please. Even the Besha Prefect can't control me, so who the hell are you?"
Good heavens, the words of this master and his servant almost made Fang Er explode. When had he ever been cursed at like this? The last person who dared to point at him and curse was currently toiling away in the iron mines. Damn it, does everyone think I have no temper?
He drew his pistol and pulled the trigger, aiming at Yu Du Bai's thigh.
Bang!
With a gunshot, Yu Du Bai collapsed, clutching his thigh and howling in pain. "Ah~~ I'll be damned~ You attacked me! Come, chop this little brat to pieces!"
Just then, Li Xiaogong and the others arrived. As they pushed their way in, they saw numerous thugs charging at Fang Er. "Holy crap, a fight? What a stroke of luck!"
"Kid, don't drop your gun. Old Ninth hasn't stretched his muscles in ages!" With that, he kicked the closest thug and joined the fray.
Li Ji was the same. He didn't care for grand battles, but street brawls were something he hadn't experienced in a long time. He rolled up his sleeves and plunged into the melee.
Li Shimin watched Fang Er being surrounded, his nose almost twitching with anger. "Damn it. I finally managed to coax this kid into signing the marriage contract, and now he's going to leave Changle a widow when she's only nine? To hell with it! Today, I'll show you if the Prince of Qin's fists are still strong!"
A Duke, a Prince, and an Emperor were all entangled with the thugs.
Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng watched, dumbfounded. They considered lending a hand but decided against it, realizing they'd only get in the way. They retreated to the side to observe.
Fang Er, not one to be outdone, put away his gun and resorted to fisticuffs. Who was he afraid of? It felt just as good as shooting to trade blows like this on the beach with Li Xiaogong, a good way to hone his martial skills. At first, he wasn't used to this kind of group combat, but he soon found his rhythm. His eyes scanned in all directions, his movements quick and slow, as he pushed, shoved, pulled, and threw thugs to the ground.
Yu Du Bai had brought fewer than thirty men, and they couldn't withstand the four of them. In just three to five minutes, all of them were lying on the ground groaning.
Stepping over a fallen thug, Fang Er walked to Yu Du Bai's side and sneered, "How many more? Call them all over. I'll play with you properly today!"
Yu Du Bai, still on the ground, propped himself up with his hands and crawled away a short distance. Then, he said fiercely, "You're dead! You're all dead!" He then pointed at Li Shimin, Li Xiaogong, and Li Ji. "You are all dead! You dare to cause trouble here? Don't you know who Lord Yu is?"
With that, he pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew it with all his might.
Toot~~ toot~~ toot~~~
Soon, the sound of chaotic footsteps could be heard from outside the crowd. The onlookers, startled, quickly scattered. Watching the spectacle was fine, but getting caught up in it would be a huge loss.
The crowd parted, and from both ends of the street, at least a hundred thugs armed with clubs rushed in. The scale of this display made Li Shimin frown. "In broad daylight, they can gather so many people. What is the Besha Prefect doing?"
Fang Er also frowned. Killing all these men would be effortless for him, but he wanted to understand what this Yu Du Bai was all about, and who gave him the audacity.
He pulled a signal flare from his pocket and ignited it, sending it soaring into the sky.
Biu~~~
A red streak shot upwards, exploding over Besha City. After doing this, he looked at Yu Du Bai with a dismissive smile. "Heh, now just wait!"
In the east of Besha City, by a Jianbing stall, the man making the pancakes faltered as the signal flare exploded. "Hey, hey, hey, you put so much salt in there, do you want to drown me?" The customer complained. The man simply smiled at him and ran out after saying, "You do it yourself, I'm done serving!"
In the west of Besha City, a group of ruffians were harassing innocent young men. Seeing the fireworks burst in the sky, the leader of the ruffians said to the man before him, "Young sir, don't be afraid, we'll meet again!" With that, he waved to his companions and turned, running towards where the fireworks had risen. "Brothers, duty calls!"
In the south and north of the city, people also stopped their work upon seeing the signal flare and headed towards the street of the Japanese manor.
By this time, the thugs had already reached a point not far from the group. Fang Er grinned at Li Xiaogong. "Want a gun?"
Li Xiaogong scoffed, rubbing under his nose with his thumb. "Do you look down on Old Ninth?" With that, he charged at the thugs without hesitation. "Fighting like this is really exhilarating!"
The chaotic melee erupted once more. However, not long after, more people rushed in from both ends of the street. Everyone knew who was local and who was a stranger in Besha City. They were familiar with the thugs involved in the brawl and knew what kind of people they were. There was no need for words, it was time to fight! "Kill them!"
The leader of the ruffians, abandoning the shifty demeanor he had while harassing young men, took the lead in attacking the thugs. The thugs, who were already struggling against Li Shimin and the other three, suddenly lost some of their momentum when they saw reinforcements pouring in from behind. In the blink of an eye, these newly arrived thugs followed in the footsteps of their predecessors.
"Junior Ren Zhichu greets the Duke!" The ruffian leader recognized Fang Er during the fight and walked straight over to pay his respects.
"Your humble servant, Benxing Shan, greets the Duke!"
"Your humble servant Gou Bu Jiao~~"
"Your humble servant Xing Nai Qian~~"
"Hoh~~" Hearing their self-given names, Li Shimin chuckled and asked Fang Er, "Are these all your men? Why are they named after the Three Character Classic?"
"Replying to your honor, we are all orphans, we didn't have names to begin with, heh heh heh heh~" Ren Zhichu glanced at Li Shimin and then quickly looked away, explaining sheepishly. The wretch, this person is actually the Emperor! Luckily, I didn't announce my name just now, otherwise, I would have caused trouble for the Duke.
"Who is this scoundrel? What's his background? Does he have any connection to the Prefect?" Fang Er pointed at Yu Du Bai on the ground and asked Ren Zhichu.