We agreed on the twelve zodiac animals, but you've transformed into the Monkey King?

Inside Dafeng Money Exchange, the stove was burning brightly. The abacus clattered incessantly.

The shopkeeper, Zhao Degui, was a fat man wearing a silk robe. Upon learning that Wen Xiao was the newly promoted Fifth Master of Hongmen and that he was holding HSBC bank drafts, he immediately welcomed him into the inner hall.

"Fifth Master, these HSBC banknotes are good stuff. But foreigners have many rules. Discounting them requires going through procedures, and with the fluctuations in the exchange rate of the legal tender these past two days, we also have to factor in the handling fees..." Zhao Degui fiddled with the gold-threaded abacus in his hand, uttering a series of financial terms that Wen Xiao couldn't understand at all.

"I don't understand this nonsense you're spouting." Wen Xiao interrupted him rudely, her eyes sinister. "How many silver dollars can this piece of paper be exchanged for? I want cash, right now."

A hint of contempt flashed in Zhao Degui's eyes. He really was just an illiterate man who only knew how to fight and kill.

He stopped using his abacus, sighed, and pushed over a contract covered in tiny print: "Fifth Master is straightforward, and I'll be frank with you. Dafeng can afford the money. According to the rules, it's nine parts out and thirteen parts back, with interest paid daily. But this promissory note is too large, so Fifth Master needs to use the 'three-month operating rights' of Gonghexiang Wharf as collateral. You just need to sign it, and the thirty thousand silver dollars will be loaded onto the cart immediately."

Wen Xiao didn't understand the intricacies of the contract, but he did understand "nine out and thirteen back" and "dock operation rights".

This is a dead end. Once the contract is signed, with interest compounding, Gong Hexiang will have to change his surname to Zhao tomorrow.

How could a comprador who runs an underground bank have such audacity to directly swallow up Hongmen's dock?

Wen Xiao keenly noticed that when Zhao Degui was speaking, his peripheral vision would always unconsciously drift toward the thick bamboo curtain deep inside the room.

Without hesitation, Wen Xiao silently chanted in his heart, "Activate your Fiery Eyes!"

[Consumed Sumeru Points: 1. Current Balance: 1]

A flash of dark golden light disappeared in his pupils. His vision pierced through the bamboo curtain in an instant, and cold data appeared on his retina:

[Target: Kuroda]

Race: Human

[Affiliation: Shanghai Branch of the Neon Black Dragon Society]

[Core Skill: Iai Slash (Mastery)]

So that's how it is. Zhao Degui is nothing but a spineless dog.

"Boss Zhao," Wen Xiao didn't take the brush, but stood up and reached behind her back to touch her lower back.

"Bang!"

He slammed a cold, heavy Browning pistol onto the loan agreement. He pressed the muzzle directly against Zhao Degui's forehead.

"I haven't had much schooling, so I don't understand your scheming schemes," Wen Xiao said, revealing his gleaming white teeth. "But I know one thing—if you try to use the dirty money of the Japanese to buy the lives of five hundred of my guild brothers, your head won't be enough to chop off."

Zhao Degui's entire body of fat shuddered violently, but the fear in his eyes only lingered for a moment before turning into resentment.

"Fifth Master, your gun is only good for scaring some street punks," Zhao Degui sneered. "This is Shiliupu, Chinese territory! The two streets outside are under the military control of Marshal Lu's gendarmerie. Do you think you're still the powerful Hongmen lord you were in the concession? If you dare fire a shot at Dafeng Money Exchange today, tomorrow's headline will be 'Hongmen rebels storm shops, executed on the spot by the Military Governor's Office'!!"

Using the warlord's knife to kill the people of the martial world.

This is the source of Zhao Degui's confidence in brazenly swallowing up Master Hongmen in Shiliupu.

"Whoosh—!"

The bamboo curtain in the inner room was suddenly shattered to pieces by a sharp gust of wind!

A lean man in a kimono, holding a gleaming samurai sword, slowly walked out.

"You Chinese pig," Kuroda uttered in broken Chinese. "You talk too much. No one would provoke the interests of the Great Japanese Empire for the sake of a small yakuza boss."

Before he could finish speaking, Kuroda's wooden clogs shattered the floorboards.

"Zheng—!"

A streak of snow-white light flashed upwards like a bolt of lightning! The Iaijutsu, a style of ancient Japanese swordsmanship, emphasizes a single, fatal strike. In the inner hall, where the two were no more than three meters apart, the speed of this strike was so fast that even its afterimage was invisible, accompanied by a piercing whistle as it tore through the air, heading straight for Wen Xiao's carotid artery!

There's no way to dodge it; at such a short distance, there's simply no way to make any effective evasive maneuvers.

Life and death are separated by only milliseconds.

Wen Xiao's pupils suddenly contracted, and he let out a desperate roar in his heart:

"Fight!"

[Shen Monkey - Battle Authority Forcibly Activated]

[Warning: The risk of the situation spiraling out of control has risen to 51%! This has exceeded the 50% threshold!]

"Ugh—!"

In an instant, the familiar heat surged up my spine once more. My eyes were covered in bloodshot veins, and my pupils contracted strangely to a single vertical line.

"Thump—thump—"

Wen Xiao felt as if time in the entire world had been stretched out infinitely. The deadly blade light seemed to be moving slowly through sticky glue.

Faced with the blade of light that could cleave him in two, Wen Xiao lunged forward to meet the blade's edge!

The blade sliced ​​through the air.

"What?!" Kuroda's cruelty froze, turning into utter shock. His prized Iaijutsu, honed through thirty years of rigorous training, had been so easily dodged by this consumptive devil before him?!

The old forces have just departed, and the new forces have not yet arisen.

Before he could react, a figure crashed into his arms. Wen Xiao grabbed Kuroda's wrists, which were gripping the sword.

"Snap—!"

The sound of bones shattering echoed in the inner room.

The bones were crushed into dust by a terrifying force!

"Clang." The samurai sword, a symbol of the warrior's honor, fell to the ground like scrap metal.

Before Kuroda could even scream, Wen Xiao opened his mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and bit down hard on Kuroda's throat!

"Aaaaaahh ...

Kuroda let out a desperate scream, desperately using his shoulder to hold Wen Xiao's jaw down.

Wen Xiao then bit Kuroda's shoulder, tearing off a large chunk of flesh. Blood gushed from the corner of his lips, staining his expensive British suit a hellish color.

"Tear him apart! Eat him!"

A violent, bloodthirsty thought roared wildly in Wen Xiao's mind. His sharp nails had already dug into Kuroda's throat. With just a little more force, he could tear the Japanese man's trachea out by the roots.

"Xiaoxiao... Mom will be back for dinner soon..."

"Fifth Master, the brothers down below are still waiting..."

The mother's hunched back under the night market lights, and the anxious eyes of Chen Jinbiao and the coolies on the dock, flashed wildly at the edge of Wen Xiao's blood-red vision.

"Ugh... Ahhhhh!"

Wen Xiao roared in agony, like a cornered beast. To fight his cannibalistic instincts, he bit his tongue so hard it tore apart.

We can't kill the core swordsman of the Neon Black Dragon Society... not now.

This would provoke the foreign concessions and warlords to join forces and annihilate Hongmen.

We can't get the money either.

The strong smell of blood and the excruciating pain shot straight to my head.

"roll--!"

Wen Xiao pulled his hand away from Kuroda's throat and slapped himself hard across the face! The slap was so powerful that it split his lip, but it also forcefully interrupted his murderous impulse.

He was panting heavily, his body convulsing uncontrollably, as he forcibly hid his right hand, with its long, sharp fingernails, in his suit pocket. Then, with his still relatively normal left hand, he picked up the Browning pistol from the table and pressed the muzzle against Zhao Degui's sweat-drenched forehead once more.

"Boss Zhao, your watchdog's teeth aren't sharp enough." Wen Xiao's vocal cords had become hoarse and rough due to his beast-like transformation. He forced a smile through his blood-stained mouth.

Zhao Degui was so frightened that he knelt on the ground, a wet patch appearing on his crotch: "Fifth...Fifth Master...spare me! This was the Japanese idea, it has nothing to do with me!"

"Take these 30,000 HSBC bank drafts." Wen Xiao slapped the piece of cardboard across Zhao Degui's face, then poked his forehead hard with the muzzle of the gun. "Now, immediately tell the clerks outside to go to the vault, count out 30,000 silver dollars, and pack them into boxes. As for that so-called 'nine out, thirteen back' contract, consider it cleaning up your dog's ass. If you don't see the money in three minutes, I'll shoot you first, then burn your bank down. Do you believe me?"

Three minutes later.

With trembling hands, Zhao Degui directed his men to load three heavy camphor wood chests onto the rickshaw outside. The Gong Hexiang brothers, who had brought with them, immediately took over.

"Boss Zhao, we'll remember this debt."

Wen Xiao put away his gun, gave him a cold glance, turned around and stepped out of the money exchange, into the alleyway in the wind and rain.