Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 232 - 209 Optional Quest

Chapter 232: Chapter 209 Optional Quest

Underground, three levels down, Xiaoze Wutian had been standing in the ring for some time now.

The audience in the stands around him were growing impatient, their clamor escalating.

In the private box, Liu Luo furrowed his brows and paced back and forth.

"Why hasn’t he arrived yet?"

He was eager to make a phone call to hurry things along, but whether it was Sixth Master or Li San, their status was above his, and he could only wait patiently.

"Luo Bro!"

A younger brother rushed into the box, his face flushed with panic, "There’s trouble!"

Liu Luo turned around, "What happened?"

The brother blurted out, "Outside the building, Sixth Master’s men are in a shootout with a group!"

Liu Luo’s eyes widened, "What are you talking about? What about our men outside?"

"They’re, they’re all unreachable."

"Is Master Li out there?"

"I don’t know..."

Liu Luo’s thoughts whirled rapidly. Having clawed his way to this position, he had experienced many things. Almost instantly, the word ’assassination’ came to mind.

An assassination targeting Sixth Master? Liu Luo quickly dismissed the thought; with Li San around, the leaders of the Hongmen New York branch had not been subject to assassination for many years.

So the target was Li San?

Liu Luo glared down at Xiaoze Wutian, barked, "Detain those Japaneses bastards for me!"

...

Outside the building, Hongmen members blocked both sides of the street, and with the help of Li San, twelve gunmen were quickly dealt with.

The gunfire faded, and Hongmen’s people began to clear the scene.

When Wu Li and Chen Gang were discovered hiding between two cars, several guns were immediately pointed at them.

"Who are you?"

"Don’t move!"

All were of Chinese descent, but they spoke in English.

Wu Li gestured to Chen Gang not to be nervous and turned his head to look for Li San.

Li San was also approaching them, both hands holding a dripping dagger, with his white Sun Yat-sen suit stained with blood, looking murderously fierce.

At the sight of such a Li San, Chen Gang instinctively stepped back and dared not meet his gaze.

"He’s my friend. You all go and attend to other places," said Li San to the men in Chinese.

"Master Li."

"Brother Li."

The men quickly greeted him and then looked at Wu Li and Chen Gang with curious eyes; even within Hongmen, they hadn’t heard of Li San having friends.

"Hongmen, Li San."

Li San approached Wu Li and suddenly performed a salute with the two daggers.

Wu Li also greeted Li San with a fist salute, "Wu Li."

Li San was slightly stunned upon hearing this and then asked, "You’re Wu Li? The one who defeated Hu Shan?"

Wu Li nodded, "Yes, that’s me."

Li San laughed, "No wonder your skill is so great. Why did you intervene to help me before?"

Wu Li shook his head, "Just helping myself."

Li San hadn’t expected this answer and seemed surprised, taking a deep look at Wu Li, "We must spar with your Xingyi Fist sometime."

Wu Li smiled too, "Definitely!"

"Li San, are you okay?"

As they spoke, a group of people walked toward them, six men flanking an elderly figure in the center.

The elder wore reading glasses, his eye bags drooped down, but his gaze was sharp. Seeing how he walked, it was clear he practiced martial arts, and if Wu Li wasn’t mistaken, it was the Tiger Crane Double Form Fist of the Hong Fist.

"Sixth Master," Li San nodded to the elder, "I’m fine. How about you?"

Sixth Master chuckled, "What could have happened to me? They clearly weren’t aiming for me."

At this point, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes, "Rest assured, I will have Liu Luo provide an explanation for tonight’s events!"

A smile appeared on Li San’s face, "It might not be related to Liu Luo. I’ve taken one of the gunmen alive; Sixth Master can interrogate at leisure. Another skilled fighter escaped tonight, using a knife. If Sixth Master could help me find this person, that would be great."

Watching Li San’s smile, Sixth Master nodded, knowing Li San was bent on personal vengeance. He was also very angry; if something had happened to Li San, the prized Double Flower Red Stick, because of him, the Hall Master would undoubtedly be furious, and his own life would be difficult.

"Who are these two?" Sixth Master looked at Wu Li and Chen Gang.

Li San pointed at Wu Li, "This is Wu Li, the top fighter from Southeast Asia. I owe him for his assistance tonight."

Sixth Master squinted his eyes, the title of ’Southeast Asia’s top fighter’ was not significant when used by ordinary people, but coming from Li San’s mouth, it carried a completely different weight. And judging by Li San’s tone, it seemed he was in good terms with this Wu Li?

"Hongmen, Zheng Yingrong, thank you, young friend, for lending your aid today!"

"Lao Liu," also known as Zheng Yingrong, cupped his hands at Wu Li in a gesture of respect.

Wu Li glanced at Li San and returned the gesture, "No need for formalities, I just happened upon the situation and acted in self-defense."

Zheng Yingrong chuckled, "Ah, I know Li San well; he never speaks foolishly. He’s our Hongmen’s Double Flower Red Stick. Helping him is helping our Hongmen, and we owe you a debt of gratitude."

Li San was somewhat surprised. Zheng Yingrong was an elder in New York’s Hongmen, and with his status, such a statement wasn’t made lightly. There were many branches of Hongmen overseas, and most were very particular about old traditions: rewarding kindness, seeking revenge for wrongs, keeping promises at all costs...

Now with Zheng Yingrong publicly declaring that Hongmen owed Wu Li a favor, if Wu Li ever needed help in the future, as long as it was reasonable, the New York branch of Hongmen would surely lend their full support.

Li San knew that the other party was likely doing this out of respect for him, selling a favor as a form of compensation. Of course, his own title as ’The number one expert in Southeast Asia’ probably was a significant reason too.

With a single statement, he’d given Li San face and also had the chance to make the acquaintance of a master - indeed, the craftier the older the ginger.

At this point, Wu Li wouldn’t be overly modest, "Thank you, I do indeed have a favor to ask."

"Oh?" Li San looked at him curiously.

Wu Li pointed to a bound African-American strongman lying nearby, still unconscious, "This man came for me tonight, help me find out exactly what’s going on."

He certainly couldn’t get anything out of the man himself, and it wasn’t convenient to take the captive with him. It made more sense to let Hongmen handle the interrogation.

Li San nodded, "No problem."

Then, he handed Wu Li a business card.

"My private number is on there, contact me when needed."

Wu Li received the business card: "Okay."

Li San and Zheng Yingrong nodded at Wu Li and then led their people toward the building, dealing with the next steps, while Wu Li returned to the café with Chen Gang.

"Aren’t we going back yet?" Chen Gang asked.

Wu Li searched the café, "No rush."

Moments later, he found his target and quickly made his way over.

The earlier gunfire outside had scared everyone in the café into hiding, no one daring to go out. Private detective Thomson was also hiding there, and Wu Li was looking for him.

When Wu Li spotted him, Thomson saw Wu Li too, his complexion changed, and he hurriedly got up, attempting to escape.

Wu Li sneered, vaulted over a table with a single hand, and charged forward. In a few steps, he caught up with Thomson and grasped the back of his neck, lifting him like a small chicken and bringing him back.

"I was forced! I was forced!"

Thomson yelled, feeling a tightness in his body as Wu Li held his neck, as if his bones were caught in a steel trap, rapidly sapping his strength.

Wu Li, unable to understand what Thomson was saying and too indifferent to listen, pressed him into a chair and squeezed his throat to cut off his voice. "Chen Gang, help translate."

Chen Gang approached with the same unfriendly gaze. Now he wondered if this man was in cahoots with the strongman from earlier or if he’d betrayed them. If Wu Li hadn’t accompanied him tonight, he didn’t know what would’ve happened to him.

"Who were those people earlier?" Wu Li asked.

Chen Gang translated into English.

Thomson, his face red from Wu Li’s chokehold, could barely speak when Wu Li slightly loosened his grip. Caught off guard by Wu Li’s swift and powerful actions, he felt like a child in his grasp, completely powerless, so he now answered obediently.

"I don’t know who they were, they found me tonight and questioned why I was looking into Bertrand. At first, I said nothing, but they threatened to kill me, so I gave up your information."

Wu Li frowned, his simple inquiry about Tina’s father had alarmed them, which meant Tina was quite important to those people.

"Did you find the information you were asked to look for?" Wu Li continued.

"I found it, I found it!" Thomson hurriedly said, taking out an envelope from his chest and handing it to Wu Li.

Wu Li let go and accepted the envelope, pulling out the paper documents inside.

Hmm, all in English, he couldn’t understand...

He handed the documents to Chen Gang, who briefly looked them over and nodded affirmatively at Wu Li: "It’s correct, the information you wanted."

"Let’s look at it back home."

Wu Li stood up, ready to leave, then paused, turned back to Thomson, and said: "While you lack any professional ethics and respect for a contract, I still pay for services rendered — I never freeload. Here’s your payment."

With that said, he pulled out a US dollar from his pocket, placed it in Thomson’s hand, and then turned to leave.

...

"Bertrand’s company is facing bankruptcy; he owed a lot of money even before seeking a bank loan and borrowed from many different places after, completely breaking the financial chain."

In Wu Li’s room, Chen Gang translated the papers for him.

"Wow, according to this, Bertrand’s wife is very beautiful, and to facilitate loans, she even helped by leveraging her social contacts, taking a ’first lady diplomatic’ approach," said Chen Gang with a peculiar expression. "I can’t tell if this private detective is professional or just had a weird interest, but he wrote in great detail about gossip — it could be read like erotica."

"Focus on the part about the usurious loans he took out."

Wu Li thought of Tina’s star-like eyes and couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her. What kind of stepfather had she ended up with...

"The paper says the usurious loans given to Bertrand were backed by the Bill Brothers Association."

"The Bill Brothers Association?"

"Yes, an underground organization in New York, the details aren’t written here."

As Chen Gang finished speaking, system information came through:

[Optional Mission Unlocked]

[You may choose from the following options: 1. End this temporary mission, 2. Begin a follow-up mission.]

[Note: Initiating the follow-up mission will consume 300,000 Fan Value.]

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