"I’d been here before, watched Brother Liao’s boxing match, and I recall his opponent was a man from Dongying."
The dark and enclosed underground space was not oppressive; on the contrary, it was abnormally heated.
As the battle intensified, the audience’s breaths grew short, and from time to time, excited shouts burst forth.
After many days, Jiang Chen returned to the brutal underground boxing ring.
The fights in the octagon were still bloody, but his state of mind had changed beyond comparison.
Seeing that the other party had stopped moving on the ground, the referee ended the countdown with a heavy slap on the ground, then sprang up alertly and loudly announced, "The winner is Gatling!"
Some cursed, others cheered.
Beside Jiang Chen, Liao Xiangdong, the founder of this underground boxing ring, watched calmly as the winner waved his arms inside the octagon.
"Back then, you must have been still in school," he said.
Jiang Chen smiled and nodded.
Skies and seas change with time.
He still remembered how scared he was the first time he came here.
He didn’t know when he began to change, but seeing the bloodied loser being carried away by the staff without knowing whether he was dead or alive, his heart felt no ripples.
"I didn’t expect you and Miss Lan to become friends."
Liao Xiangdong recalled that night by the Pu River, when Pei Yunxi was kidnapped, and he took this young man to seek help but was rejected; in the end, the two rushed to Liang Yue overnight.
How unpredictable life is.
It seemed not much time had passed.
"Is Miss Lan in East Sea?" Jiang Chen inquired.
Given Liao Xiangdong’s relationship with Lan Peizhi, he must know a thing or two about the incidents in Korea, even if not completely.
"Not sure," he replied.
Jiang Chen didn’t press further.
"He’s Geng Long," he said, looking toward the octagon.
As Liao Xiangdong spoke, the next boxing match began, and a middle-aged man in a tight tank top entered the octagon, formidable and wild, seemingly no less fierce than the recently victorious Gatling.
Standing in the cage, he slowly removed his tank top, revealing a full-cover dragon tattoo on his chest and back that instantly caught everyone’s attention under the harsh spotlight, flaunting a brazen, stirring presence!
Many in the audience heated up.
Some women couldn’t take their eyes off him, their gazes intense.
"He’s not afraid to die?"
This was the most brutal underground boxing match, it determined victory, as well as life and death.
Gentlemen don’t stand under a collapsing wall.
Geng Long was not a desperado who chose money over life; he wasn’t short of money, and given his status, he shouldn’t need to take risks.
"Money, power, women... Everyone has their hobbies," Liao Xiangdong said tersely.
Extraordinary people indeed do extraordinary things.
Their hobbies were anything but ordinary.
It wasn’t for money that Geng Long stepped into the ring; it could only be for the thrill of hovering on the edge of life and death.
"Not going to play?" Liao Xiangdong turned his head, obviously referring to betting.
The profit model of underground boxing wasn’t limited to just "ticket sales."
Gambling was its main source of income.
This ring reeking of death was in fact a peculiar casino.
The spectators had already started a new round of betting.
Those who lost money before wanted to recoup their losses, while those who had won aimed to win even more.
"No, this is Brother Liao’s place, it’s not necessary," Jiang Chen declined with a shake of his head.
Liao Xiangdong laughed, "You’re that confident you’ll win?"
Jiang Chen just smiled and said nothing.
Liao Xiangdong didn’t insist, his gaze returning to the octagon.
Jiang Chen was silent for a moment before asking a rather irreverent question, "Brother Liao, can you beat Miss Lan?"
He had seen both Liao Xiangdong and Lan Peizhi in action, and indeed, he felt a significant gap compared to these fierce fighters, unable to discern who was stronger.
In terms of "martial world status," Liao Xiangdong certainly fell short of Lan Peizhi, but today’s martial world no longer judged solely by sheer strength and seniority.
He was genuinely curious as to who was more formidable between the two.
Upon hearing Jiang Chen’s question, Liao Xiangdong didn’t speak but in the dim light, the corners of his mouth seemed to slightly curl up.
"Brother Liao, you..." Jiang Chen was about to ask why he was smiling when Liao Xiangdong spoke, "Do you know who founded this boxing match in the first place?"
Jiang Chen caught on, "Miss Lan?"
"Then do you know who holds the record for the longest winning streak in the history of the boxing matches?"
"Miss Lan has also participated in boxing matches?" Jiang Chen expressed surprise.
Liao Xiangdong didn’t answer directly but, looking at the octagon, said at a leisurely pace, "There’s more than one underground boxing ring in the country, but to this day, the national underground boxing record was set right here."
Without waiting for Jiang Chen to ask further, Liao Xiangdong continued, "One hundred consecutive victories, that’s the highest record in national underground boxing matches, unbroken to this day and probably unbreakable in the future."
Jiang Chen’s gaze flickered, and he involuntarily held his breath for a moment.
A hundred consecutive victories?
He had witnessed firsthand the brutality of such boxing matches.
He paused, then sighed, "...that’s ferocious."
"It’s precisely because no one could rival her that Miss Lan handed over the management to me," Liao Xiangdong explained.
Jiang Chen laughed wryly.
If she remained unbeatable on the stage, nobody would come to compete anymore — it would essentially be a death sentence, and there’d be no point in continuing the matches.
No wonder she was known as "Blood Guanyin."
"If only I had been born a few years earlier, then I could’ve witnessed Miss Lan’s hundred-victory splendor."