MERFOLK SURVIVAL RULES CHAPTER 27.2

Part 2

That afternoon, Ouyang Xiaoli stood alone, hidden in a dark corner. Not far away, a mixture of piercing screams and pleas for mercy filled the air.

This was the North Zone. Technically, its affairs were none of his business, but recently, black mermen from the East Zone had been disappearing without a trace.

The Underground City wasn’t that big. Besides the East Zone, there were only the other three.

In the center of a dim warehouse, a few burly men were holding down a black merman. The merman’s eyes were wide with terror as he struggled desperately, but his strength was no match for theirs. He was pinned to a massive cutting board, completely immobile.

“Wh-who are you…” the black merman sobbed, trying to elicit some pity.

Hu Lao’er turned his head, the scar on his face looking sinister in the dim light. “Who we are doesn’t matter. We just need to borrow something from you.”

“Wh-what?”

The black merman swallowed hard.

On the ground next to him was a dark, sticky puddle of blood. Just moments before, another black merman had been descaled by these men…

The thought made him tremble uncontrollably. He renewed his struggles, looking at Hu Lao’er as if he were a demon from hell.

“Let me go!”

“What you’re doing is wrong!”

Hu Lao’er took a drag from his cigarette, his cruel face flickering in and out of the hazy white smoke. He took the cigarette from his lips and casually stubbed it out on the arm of a nearby henchman.

The man’s face instantly turned a bruised purple, but he only let out a muffled grunt, not saying a word.

The cigarette was extinguished.

Hu Lao’er picked up a curved blade from nearby. Its cold edge glinted as he slowly approached the merman, tracing lines over his body…

In his eyes, these mermen weren’t people. They were unintelligent animals. Killing ten or a hundred of them meant nothing.

The black merman nearly fainted from fear.

In a nearby cage, three other black mermen were chained, staring in horror at the scene.

The descaled merman lay on the ground, barely breathing, his body twitching occasionally.

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The harvested scales had been collected in a bag by a henchman. Clearly, the remaining mermen would not escape the same fate. The one about to be descaled became hysterical, screaming and thrashing wildly.

Hu Lao’er, annoyed, raised the back of his blade to knock him unconscious.

Just as he lifted the weapon, a blur shot past him. The blade clattered to the floor, and a sharp pain shot through Hu Lao’er’s wrist.

He grunted, looking down to see that a small stone had hit him.

Hu Lao’er looked up, his face dark.

Ouyang Xiaoli made no attempt to hide. He stood by the massive cutting board, frowning at the whimpering merman.

“Ouyang Xiaoli.”

Hu Lao’er stared daggers at him.

Ouyang Xiaoli looked up, a cocky smirk on his face. “Tsk, dog son.”

Hu Lao’er’s face turned a ghastly shade of green and white. Those words were his ultimate humiliation. The scar on his face was a permanent reminder of a lost bet, a reminder that he had once been beaten like a stray dog.

Not only had his face been slashed, but Ouyang Xiaoli had forced him to kneel and call him “Dad.” Hu Lao’er was a tough man; he hadn’t cried out even after losing two teeth and spitting up blood. But then Ouyang had locked him up for two days and subjected him to the water torture, an ancient method from Earth. God knows how Ouyang knew about it. After two days, Hu Lao’er couldn’t take it anymore and finally broke.

It was his most shameful memory.

Years had passed, but that bastard Ouyang Xiaoli still hadn’t changed, taunting him every time they met.

Hu Lao’er forced out, “The East and North Zones don’t interfere with each other. What are you doing here?”

This was his territory. Even a cornered tiger would lash out. Did he think Hu Lao’er was some pushover?

He wasn’t afraid of a confrontation. After all, the five mermen here were from his North Zone.

Ouyang Xiaoli’s gaze swept over the five mermen. “A few of my black mermen from the East Zone went missing,” he said slowly. “Their families are worried, asked me to help look for them, and well…”

His tone was heavy with implication.

He knew these mermen weren’t from his zone, but who was to say Hu Lao’er hadn’t taken some from the East Zone as well?

Hu Lao’er sneered. “What a joke! Your mermen go missing, and you come to my North Zone to find them?”

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Ouyang Xiaoli stared at him without a word. At first, Hu Lao’er held his ground, but soon, sweat beaded on his forehead, and he took a half-step back.

That single step exposed his weakness. The memory of his defeat at Ouyang’s hands was still fresh. He was a man who held grudges; he remembered every detail of that day and swore he would get his revenge.

Ouyang Xiaoli smiled, dropping the subject of the missing mermen and crossing his arms casually.

“Oh? So I can’t come to your North Zone? Forget finding a few mermen, what could you do to me even if I blew this place up?”

He spoke slowly, deliberately. “How did you get control of the North Zone, Hu Lao’er? You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Hu Lao’er’s body went rigid.

Ouyang Xiaoli’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “A dog that’s been allowed to run free for too long forgets its master?”

“You son of a bitch, say that again!”

Hu Lao’er’s eyes grew dark.

Of the four zone leaders, he was the only one who had come to power dishonorably. Long ago, another man had been the true leader of the North Zone, and Hu Lao’er had been nothing but a groveling dog at his feet.

It had always been a sore spot for him.

Even though he had since had that man killed, sliced into a thousand pieces, and even though the North Zone was now his, the name “Hu Lao’er” was a gift from that man. He had never had a name of his own.

Ouyang Xiaoli’s smile widened. “I said, Hu Lao’er, you are a dog.”

The last thread of Hu Lao’er’s self-control snapped. He bit his lip, tasting blood. “Today, I’ll show you who the real stray dog is!”

A short, sharp blade appeared in his hand. He lunged at Ouyang, blade flashing.

With lightning speed, Ouyang sidestepped the attack and kicked Hu Lao’er in the back of the knee, sending him stumbling.

Undeterred, Hu Lao’er spun around and tried to attack again, but Ouyang easily parried his moves.

“Who’s the dog now?”

Ouyang Xiaoli raised an eyebrow.

He twisted Hu Lao’er’s arm behind his back, forcing him to bend over. Hu Lao’er’s face contorted in pain, sweat dripping down his neck.

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He struggled, his face red with exertion, but couldn’t break free. He turned his head and screamed at his stunned henchmen, “Are you blind? What are you standing around for? Beat him to a pulp! Don’t let him leave the North Zone alive! Break his arms and legs and feed him to the dogs!”

“Agh!”

A sharp pain shot through his wrist.

As the henchmen charged, Ouyang Xiaoli shoved Hu Lao’er away. He stumbled a few steps before catching his balance, his eyes venomous as he retreated to the side.

Ouyang Xiaoli was agile, weaving through the large men with ease, expertly targeting their weak points.

He was toying with them like a cat with mice.

After a while, he grew bored. He was wasting his time.

He ended it quickly. A few minutes later, the men were all on the ground, groaning in pain.

Ouyang Xiaoli glanced at Hu Lao’er, who instinctively took a step back. He spat out a mouthful of blood. “Ouyang Xiaoli, don’t push me too far! This is the North Zone, my territory! If you’re looking for your mermen, go look! Stop meddling in my affairs!”

Defeated and furious, all he could do was curse to vent his frustration.

Ouyang Xiaoli gave him a cold look.

He could have waited for Hu Lao’er to finish descaling the merman and then followed him to see what he was doing with the scales. But watching the merman being tortured made him uneasy; it reminded him of the little merman at home.

So he had revealed himself.

Even against several large men, Ouyang Xiaoli had the upper hand.

He had easily beaten them all.

He glanced at the cage, where three black mermen were huddled together. Another sat on the cutting board, dazed, and one lay descaled on the floor.

The merman on the board was still in a state of shock. The next moment, something cold pressed against his neck.

It was a sharp dagger.

The black mermen had low intelligence. They had only struggled earlier out of a primal fear for their lives. Now, they were completely unresponsive.

The merman’s eyes widened.

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He sat perfectly still.

Hu Lao’er stared at Ouyang Xiaoli. “Let me go, or I’ll kill him!”

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