"Boss, with so many of us, why don't we take down that kid?"
A minion asked Brother Spice Ginger, puzzled as to why he would choose to back away when they clearly had the numbers to overwhelm the opponent easily.
Scarface also pricked up his ears, wanting to hear his boss's explanation, and he was even more eager to know what sort of background Hao Jian had that could make Brother Spice Ginger retreat.
Brother Spice Ginger snorted, "Take him down? I'd rather live a few more years."
"Do you think he's easy to deal with? Didn't you see his eyes? Filled with frenzied violence and cold Killing Intent, utterly inhuman! Anyone with such eyes surely comes from the dark world."
"The dark world?" The minion was even more confused. What world was the dark world?
Brother Spice Ginger explained, "The dark world is the evil side of this world. In that world, all of humanity's basest traits are reflected—murder, bestiality, madness, deception, rape—a whole array of darkness all coexisting. Every person seems to revert to a primitive state, reclaiming terrifying bestial instincts just to survive through constant killing."
"Back in the day, I was fortunate enough to come in contact with that world. I thought I could step into it, but I ended up being so frightened that my legs went weak and I scrambled out. You can't imagine what I saw."
Brother Spice Ginger wore a bitter smile, and as he spoke, his expression became unnatural and his face somewhat pale, evidently, the memory still deeply unnerved him.
"Boss, what exactly did you see?"
Scarface asked in horror, wondering what could scare Brother Spice Ginger, who was known for his ferocity and ruthless ways.
Brother Spice Ginger showed a look of reminiscence, "It was one evening, the sunset was like blood. I saw a man standing in the afterglow, alone as if he was a desolate wilderness, giving off a feeling of bleak desolation, as if everything would lose its vitality in front of him. He held a military knife, with hundreds of top mercenaries' bodies lying at his feet.
In the moment he turned around, I thought I was surely dead. That utmost cold gaze was as if he was the high and mighty God of Death, and I was nothing but a lowly ant."
Then, Brother Spice Ginger chuckled bitterly, "However, he didn't kill me. Looking back, he probably thought I wasn't even worthy to die by his hand. To this day, I can't recall his face, but I only remember those cold eyes, exactly like Hao Jian's!"
"Boss, who was that man?"
Scarface asked in astonishment, wanting to know more about the man who even Brother Spice Ginger feared.
"I don't know, all I know is, they call him... God of Death!"
"Hao Jian, I really owe you this time; if it weren't for you, my daughter and I wouldn't know what to do," Sister Lan said with a choked voice, still frightened by the events that had just unfolded.
"Sister Lan, what are you talking about? If it hadn't been for you taking me in, I would have been sleeping on the streets by now! You treat me as one of your own, so this was all part of my duty, no thanks needed."
Hao Jian gave a wry smile, then bent down to pinch Tongtong's little cheek, "Besides, how could I allow anyone to bully my little princess?"
"Brother Jian is so nice, I want to marry you when I grow up!" Tongtong hugged Hao Jian's thigh tightly.
"You little rascal, why aren't you calling me uncle anymore?" Hao Jian teased.
Tongtong pouted and said in a baby voice, "If I call you uncle, then I can't marry you. It's better to call you brother."
"Hey, quite clever, aren't you?"
Hao Jian laughed heartily, realizing that this little girl was trying to bridge the generational gap between them.
"This little mischief-maker is at it again!" Sister Lan also glanced sideways at her, but with a smile at the corner of her lips.
Seeing her laugh, Hao Jian finally put his mind at ease and joked:
"Sister Lan, you're laughing? That's the way to do it, take everything lightly, don't always look so gloomy. You look much better when you smile."
At his words, Sister Lan shyly lowered her head, speaking in an extremely soft voice, "You can just call me Ruo Lan."
Hao Jian was stunned, it was the first time he had heard Sister Lan's full name, and he didn't understand why she suddenly wanted him to call her by her full name.
"That doesn't seem quite right?" Hao Jian said with a wry smile, feeling that using her full name would make him uncomfortable.
"It's okay, just call me that." Ruo Lan looked at Hao Jian earnestly, but upon meeting his gaze, quickly lowered her head again in panic.
Tongtong, the clever little girl, tilted her head, looked at Hao Jian, then at her mother, and then sighed heavily:
"Well, Hao Jian, I might as well just call you uncle."
The little girl probably felt she had no hope, so she took a step back voluntarily.
This made both Hao Jian and Ruo Lan blush, neither of them had expected the little girl to be so clever.
Hao Jian also coughed twice, patting his chest, "Anyway, if you have any problems in the future, just come to me, don't try to bear it all alone. Let men handle the rough stuff."
Hearing this, a warm current surged in Ruo Lan's heart, her lips began to curl into a smile, but when she remembered that Hao Jian already had a girlfriend, that smile turned into a bitter one:
"Won't that trouble you? Your girlfriend might be unhappy."
"Kidding, I tell her to go east, she wouldn't dare to go west! I tell her to beat a dog, she wouldn't dare to chase a chicken! Unhappy? Would she dare?" Hao Jian snorted, proudly, acting all pompous.
Tongtong immediately ran her finger across her face:
"Uncle, boasting shamelessly."
"Seriously, she even came to propose to me yesterday, begging me to marry her, she even knelt down. But I found her ugly and refused, you know what she did? She cried buckets, ruining her makeup, threatening to jump off buildings, to hang herself, saying if I didn't marry her, she'd die right before me.
Ah, no choice, I'm just soft-hearted, so I had to agree," Hao Jian spoke with feigned helplessness.
Just then, Shu Ya came home, just in time to see Brother Spice Ginger and others passing through the hallway, and was startled by these "gang brothers."
But as soon as she came up, she heard Hao Jian speaking ill of her, and her face gradually darkened.
Tongtong and Ruo Lan, seeing Shu Ya standing behind Hao Jian with a murderous expression, both took a step back simultaneously.
"What's wrong? Can't handle that? Then wait, in a few days, she's going to drag me to the Civil Affairs Bureau, destroying my lifelong bachelorhood at the hands of such a woman," Hao Jian sighed heavily, as if he were greatly wronged.
At that moment, Ruo Lan gave him a look.
"Ruo Lan, what's wrong with your eyes? Got sand in them?" Hao Jian asked blankly.
Ruo Lan rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him.
"Her eyes aren't filled with sand, she just saw me coming back," Shu Ya spoke up, her voice cold as ice, coming from behind Hao Jian.