The 17-year-old girl hanged herself.

  Bei Xiao Shuai scratched his head with a hint of embarrassment, his orange-dyed hair messy and disheveled. "Brother, let's not bring up old stuff, by the way, when did you come back? What have you been doing?"

  Liu Ziguang said: "Back for just a few days, now doing property management at Zhicheng Garden."

  Bei Xiao Shuai pouted: "Zhi Cheng Garden, the security guards there are the most useless, they're always being chased and beaten up. But it's okay, little brother is doing pretty well now. If you need anything, just give me a call, I'll rush over immediately."

  He wrote down a phone number for Liu Ziguang, who smiled and took it. Bei Xiaoshuai enthusiastically invited Liu Ziguang to sit in the flat house, where there were more than a dozen computers set up, resembling an underground internet cafe. Bei Xiaoshuai offered him cigarettes and mineral water, and they started chatting about old times.

  Before long, a group of half-grown kids swarmed in, looking to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. Some were still carrying backpacks, but all had cigarettes dangling from their mouths. When they saw Bai Xiaoshuai, they all respectfully shouted out, "Boss!"

  Liu Ziguang subconsciously glanced at the wall clock, it was only half past nine, and these students were already out causing trouble, obviously playing hooky.

  Bei Xiaoshuai slightly nodded, took out a pack of five-yuan Red Plum cigarettes and handed them to the students. The students laughed and snatched them up quickly. Some sat in the dormitory surfing the internet, while others played billiards outside. Bei Xiaoshuai said proudly: "Brother, how's that? I'm doing pretty well now, with just one phone call, a hundred or so brothers rushed over."

  Liu Ziguang nodded: "Not bad, promising."

  "Actually, it's nothing much, just a small fight. I also want to play big, but the conditions are limited. Why don't I join you instead?"

  Liu Ziguang remained expressionless: "I'm just a security guard, what kind of future can you have by hanging out with me?"

  Bei Xiaoshuai curled his lip: "Brother, stop pretending, yesterday when you made your move I understood, absolutely fierce man. Recently there's been big news on the streets, the four tigers of Dibei who are known for their fighting skills were all beaten down and are now living in the hospital, they won't be able to come out within three months. I've thought about it, this is also your doing."

  Liu Ziguang smiled calmly and made no comment.

  "Brother, you've been away for eight years, and I'm sure you've had a great time outside. Although I don't know why you're back now, I firmly believe that you're still a fierce dragon. Why not lead us, this group of younger brothers? We all came from the same big yard, and these younger brothers are also from our Morning Light Mechanical Factory Subsidiary School. Counting it out, they're your junior schoolmates too. If you don't become the leader, who will?"

  Bei Xiaoshuai spoke with great reason, and Liu Ziguang also nodded frequently. In this society, it's really not common to have a few people who listen to you, and it's not easy to get used to having people under your command.

  "Since we're from the same school, I won't hold back."

  Finally getting Liu Ziguang's consent, Bai Xiaoshuai excitedly rubbed his hands together and walked out shouting: "All of you stop playing, come meet the new boss."

  Twenty-three boys who were puzzled by putting down their games gathered in front of Bei Xiaoshuai.

  Bei Xiaoshuai solemnly invited Liu Ziguang out and introduced him to the crowd: "This is our new boss, he single-handedly took down the four tigers of Tuo Bei, and yesterday in the underground passage, he alone knocked down four knife-wielding Northeast Tigers. Benben Xiao Xin and others are all eyewitnesses."

  The young men's eyes suddenly sparkled with admiring sparks, and they whispered to each other below. It can be seen that the downfall of the four tigers in Beiyuan had a great psychological impact on them.

  Liu Ziguang smiled and nodded, looking benevolent like a middle school teacher. He pulled out several banknotes from his pocket and said to Bei Xiaoshuai: "Buy some cigarettes to treat everyone."

  Bei Xiaoshuai gave the money to a kid who looked quite clever: "Go buy four Red Plums."

  Next door was a small wine and tobacco shop, the children ran over, and soon brought back four packs of cigarettes. Bei Xiaoshuai opened them and handed them out to everyone. The children became excited, their eager eyes fixed on this new leader.

  "I'm Liu Ziguang, a native of Gaotupo, and also an alumnus of our middle school. From now on, if you guys have any business outside, just mention my name, Xiao Shuai!"

  "Agreed!"

  "You take care of this matter, things are busy in our company."

  "Alright."

  ……

  He had just taken in dozens of young apprentices, and although most of them were still middle school students, Liu Ziguang was still feeling pleased with himself. It wasn't until lunchtime that he lazily made his way back home in his slippers. As soon as he got back, he found the phone on the dinner table ringing nonstop. He picked it up and heard his colleague's urgent voice on the other end: "Liu Ge, hurry to the company, something's happened."

  Without even having time to change his clothes, Liu Ziguang drove to Zhicheng Garden and found that the entrance of the community was blocked by several cars, traffic had been paralyzed, and there were five or six burly men surrounding the security room, shouting obscenities.

  Liu Ziguang walked to the door, his eyes almost bulging out. Several security colleagues were squatting on the ground in a row, holding their heads and not daring to breathe. The men held baseball bats, galvanized steel pipes, with shaved heads gleaming with a bluish tint, their eyes fierce and exuding a strong gangster aura, clearly not something that could be compared to Bai Xiaoshuai's low-level hoodlums.

  Liu Ziguang furrowed his brow, lit a cigarette and walked over slowly, asking calmly: "What's going on?"

  Those men were stunned by his calm demeanor, thinking Liu Ziguang was the head of security. A dark-skinned man got out of a black Honda Accord and said, "My brother was beaten up by your security guards last night. If you don't give me an explanation, this door will never open again."

  "What do you want to say?"

  "Whoever moves their hand will have their arm broken off. And pay 30,000 yuan for medical expenses."

  Just then, six bald men wearing jeans and tourist shoes dragged a bloodied person out from the green belt on the side. The beaten man was wearing a security uniform, with one arm twisted at an odd angle. Although his face and head were covered in blood, it was still possible to recognize him as Wang Zhijun.

  Liu Ziguang's hand holding the cigarette suddenly stiffened, and a fire was burning fiercely in his heart. Yesterday's incident was actually caused by that arrogant guy who didn't behave himself, and the security guards were just doing their job. Even if Wang Zhijun had hit someone, it was only a superficial injury. Now these thugs have beaten someone up like this!

  A murderous intent surged up from Liu Ziguang's heart at an unstoppable speed, but on the surface he remained calm and composed.

  At this time, colleagues from the property security department rushed over under the leadership of Captain Bai. Zhicheng Garden is a very large community with three shifts for posts such as gatekeepers, garages, and patrols, with dozens of people on duty. Captain Bai brought seven or eight mobile personnel to rush over, and they were also stunned by the scene.

  "Brother Biao, let's talk this over, okay?" Captain Bai said nervously.

  "Hei Pangzi said impatiently: 'Who are you? Do you know me?'"

  "I'm the security captain of Zhi Cheng Garden. I've heard of Biao Ge's name." Captain Bai was nervous and fearful.

  At this time, a boy with a backpack passed by the door and saw Liu Ziguang standing here. The boy pinched the unopened Red Plum cigarette in his pocket and suddenly ran back the way he came.

  No one noticed the child's actions, and the standoff at the entrance of the residential area continued. It's not even appropriate to call it a standoff, because the security guards were unarmed, and their leader was so cowardly that they could only watch as their colleague was beaten into a serious injury without daring to speak out.

  "Brother Biao, I'm really sorry about this. I'll fire that kid right away. He's so unlucky, blind to have messed with Brother Biao's brother! Haha, by the way, can you move your car a bit? It's parked here and it's inconvenient for our neighborhood owners to enter and exit." Captain Bai said cautiously.

  Hei Pangzi snorted, and two streams of smoke emerged: "Talk with money, no 30,000 yuan, the car will be stuck here."

  The security guards were furious, bullying people was not so cruel, they beat people severely and still extorted money, was there any justice? But Captain Bai still smiled and didn't dare to fart, which made everyone even more heartbroken.

  "If you want to stay, then just stay, and don't go anywhere." Liu Ziguang, who had been standing aside without speaking for half a day, suddenly blurted out.

  "Son of a bitch, what are you...!" Hei Pangzi hadn't finished speaking when Liu Ziguang flicked his cigarette at his face. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, he lifted his foot and kicked out, landing a solid kick on Biao Ge's belly, sending his 180-pound body flying backward and knocking over three or four men behind him.

  Liu Ziguang immediately followed up with a flurry of punches and kicks, his fists extremely heavy, each move aimed at the vital parts of his opponents. In an instant, he knocked down three people. The rest of the men reacted, swinging their iron rods and long knives to chop him down. Liu Ziguang snatched a long knife from one of them.

  A foot-long knife blade was welded to the iron pipe, shining with a cold light, like an ancient pu dao. In Liu Ziguang's hands, it flew up and down, directly chopping towards people's heads. His moves were fierce, his attacks ruthless, every strike drew blood. As the saying goes, "The horizontal ones fear the reckless ones, the reckless ones fear those who don't care about their lives." Liu Ziguang's fighting style, which didn't care about life or death, made the small hoodlums' hearts tremble with fear, and they dropped their weapons, covering their heads and fleeing in disarray.

  At this time, dozens of young men ran over from a distance, also carrying bricks, chains and other objects. The leader was Bai Xiaoshuai, but they had arrived too late. They only saw that on the empty road outside the residential area at noon, a man wearing a lazy shirt and slippers was chasing after more than ten tattooed bald-headed thugs with a long-handled knife.

  The hooligans ran faster than rabbits, but the long knife man ran even faster, catching up with one and chopping down another. Wherever the long knife fell, blood splattered everywhere. The hooligan who was stabbed in the back by Qing Long immediately opened a shocking big mouth, white flesh and red blood, extremely eye-catching.

  The boys all stood still on the side of the road, staring blankly as these people ran past in front of them. One child was stunned, and didn't even notice that the chain lock had fallen out of his hand. He muttered to himself: "Isn't this our new boss? My god, he's too ruthless."

  Liu Ziguang's killing spree was on the rise, and he had just cut down seven or eight people in a row. Suddenly, he saw a surveillance camera installed by the police station on a distant utility pole, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks. With a vicious curse, he shouted: "You got lucky!" He turned around and left, at which point Bei Xiaoshuai led more than thirty young men to surround him, their eyes burning with fervor.

  "Boss, your chopping skills are too cool!"

  "Boss, you're so cool! I admire you!"

  The young men went crazy, and Bei Xiaoshuai was also extremely pleased. Biao Ge is the big mixed son in this area, opening a massage parlor, pulling earthwork for construction sites, doing big business, and it's said that he has homicide cases under his command. This kind of capable person would only have to flee with their tail between their legs under Guang Ge's command, showing how correct his choice was.

  Liu Ziguang dragged the heavily injured Biao Ge to the front of Wang Zhijun and said, "Zhijun, you decide which part of him to remove."

  Wang Zhijun lifted his blood-stained face, and the corners of his eyes sparkled with something that might have been either blood or tears. "Liu Ge, forget it."

  Liu Ziguang was taken aback, understanding Wang Zhijun's situation. He was a retired soldier from the countryside with no special skills, and had finally found a job as a security guard. When faced with some unfair or bullying situations, he could only choose to swallow his anger and remain silent.

  "Zhi Jun, I understand." Liu Ziguang said, looking at his colleagues and the frightened Captain Bai, "Captain, don't worry, I'll take responsibility for my own actions, it has nothing to do with you all."

  The white captain let out a sigh, but the young security guards' eyes welled up with tears. This guy was too righteous.

  The young men also looked up to their leader with admiration. The leader was too majestic, too elegant and too in line with the heroic image in their hearts.

  Liu Ziguang grabbed the top of Biaozi's head and lifted him up, saying: "You broke my brother's arm, I'll break one of yours too, isn't that fair?"

  Biao Ge was kicked by that one foot, his chest surged with blood, he couldn't even hum, let alone speak. He could only let Liu Ziguang press him to the ground, one foot stepping on his shoulder, one hand pinching his wrist.

  For a moment, all was silent as if the cicadas had stopped singing, and everyone watched in stunned silence as Liu Ziguang proceeded with his usual calm and collected demeanor.

  A crisp "crack" sound, sharp bones pierced out of the flesh, Biao Ge's arm was broken, the crowd let out a low hum in unison, and then fell silent again.

  "Who will drive?" Liu Ziguang glanced around at everyone.

  "Me!" A small, thin boy stood up beside Bei Xiaoshuai, wearing a tattered and greasy work uniform with a faded Mobil logo on it.

  Liu Ziguang tossed his keys over: "Take my car and send Zhijun to the hospital."

  The young man took over the key with a flourish and exclaimed: "Great!"

  Liu Ziguang said: "Today, everyone who comes will be counted as one, and tonight I'll treat you to a meal, we won't leave until we're drunk!"

  The crowd of young people suddenly erupted in thunderous applause.

  Liu Ziguang pulled aside a familiar security guard and whispered: "Get me the surveillance footage from the entrance."

  "Don't worry, Liu Ge." The young security guard's eyes were full of eagerness.