Tokyo Knights: The Odd Jobs X Files

"Oh!"

The sound of the door being kicked open startled Lao Liu and his wife. They swallowed the peanuts without chewing them, and they became lodged in Lao Liu's throat, making him feel so uncomfortable that his eyes almost popped out.

Li Xin walked in from outside and looked at Lao Liu with angry eyes.

Shameless!

Li Xin overheard Lao Liu's conversation with his wife clearly from outside. He had thought that he had come to Hong Kong with Lao Liu not to enjoy a life of luxury but to do hard labor, but he didn't care. He had taken 50,000 yuan from Lao Liu to solve the village's urgent problem. He was willing to risk his life for Lao Liu, but he never expected that Lao Liu would do something like this to harm his fellow villagers!

Previously, Lao Liu told Li Xin to stay in the hotel and not wander around, but Li Xin did not listen to Lao Liu and secretly followed Lao Liu after he left.

The village secretary had said that Lao Liu was not trustworthy. Although Li Xin felt he could risk his life for Lao Liu, he needed to be clear about who he was working for. That's why Li Xin was following Lao Liu to see what kind of person he really was and whether he was worth risking his life for.

Li Xin was agile enough to run even through floodwaters. He followed Lao Liu all the way, and even when Lao Liu boarded a bus, Li Xin ran at full speed and was not left behind. After following Lao Liu back home, Li Xin climbed into the second-floor window and went inside. Through the door, he heard Lao Liu and Lao Liu's wife talking. After learning that the people from the neighboring village who had followed Lao Liu in the past year or two had been sold, imprisoned, or even killed by Lao Liu, Li Xin finally couldn't stand it anymore and kicked the door open.

Old Liu patted his chest frantically, finally spitting out the peanuts. When he saw Li Xin, he gave an embarrassed smile: "Ah, Xin, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you not to wander around the hotel..."

The answer he received was a fist. Li Xin punched Lao Liu's fat face, right on the bridge of his nose. Blood mixed with snot stuck to Li Xin's fist. Li Xin didn't bother to wipe it off and rained punches on Lao Liu like they were free.

When the sixth brother's wife saw her husband being brutally beaten, she was so frightened that she only dared to cover her head and squat on the ground, quietly moving away without any intention of helping him. This fully embodies the saying, "Husbands and wives are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately."

After beating Lao Liu severely, Li Xin took a deep breath, spat on Lao Liu, and left without looking back.

He didn't kill that person because of the 50,000 yuan; from then on, he had nothing to do with Lao Liu anymore.

After leaving Lao Liu's house, Li Xin looked at the bustling streets of Hong Kong and quickly fell into a daze.

He came to Hong Kong to work for Lao Liu to repay his kindness. If he could earn some money while working, he could send it back to his village to help the villagers build new houses, which would be even better. But now he has fallen out with Lao Liu, and his purpose in coming to Hong Kong is gone. What should he do now? Hong Kong is prosperous, but there is no place for him.

Let's go back...

Li Xin thought that when he got back, he would expose Lao Liu's true colors and prevent the villagers from being fooled by him again.

The neighboring village and Shibali Village didn't get along, and they often fought over farmland and water sources. But in the end, they were fellow villagers living on the same land, so there was still some affection between them. Li Xin didn't want to watch them jump into a fire pit.

Li Xin patted himself down and found he was penniless. He had rushed to follow Lao Liu and had just thrown his things into the hotel room before running out, without taking his ID card or passport. In fact, it seemed that Lao Liu had someone help him get his ID card and passport. He had been living in Shibalicun before and didn't need those things, so he hadn't bothered to get them.

Li Xin had a good memory. Even while following Lao Liu, he didn't forget to write down the return route. However, he didn't feel any urgency at the moment, so he wasn't in a hurry. He strolled slowly back to the hotel, looking around as he went, trying to memorize the prosperity of Hong Kong so that when he returned, he could tell people, "Ah Xin, I've been to a big city too!"

"Don't run!"

A chasing sound came, and a short figure darted past Li Xin. Li Xin didn't pay attention, but a large group of people rushed towards him. Most of them bypassed Li Xin to chase the figure in front, but one person was very domineering. Seeing Li Xin blocking the way, he pushed Li Xin without thinking and said, "Don't block the way!"

It would have been better if he hadn't pushed him. The person who pushed Li Xin felt a tremendous force coming from Li Xin, as if he had been hit by a car, and fell to the ground, letting out a painful howl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... but you were also wrong, you shouldn't have pushed me..."

Li Xin said weakly.

This was his first time in a big city. As a country bumpkin, he was always a little afraid of things in big cities. This fear came from two sources: first, the unknown, as he knew nothing about the city; and second, the fact that he had no money. When you're out in the world, money gives you courage, and conversely, those without money have no courage. Li Xin was penniless, so he was the most cowardly of all.

The commotion caused by Li Xin alerted the pursuers, who stopped and stared at him with hostile expressions before slowly surrounding him.

Li Xin swallowed hard as he looked at the men with unfriendly expressions. He felt like he had stumbled into a chicken coop. Although these people all had Asian features, none of them had black hair. Not only were they multicolored, but their hair was also all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some looked like sea urchins, some like rooster combs, some like brooms, and some that Li Xin couldn't even describe. In short, they didn't look like respectable people.

"That...it wasn't my fault..."

Li Xin took a few steps back, appearing extremely weak. The pedestrians on the street seemed unfazed by this scene, glancing at it briefly before turning their attention back to their own business. Some didn't even bother to look, hurrying on their way, seemingly preoccupied with something else.

One of the men with the yellow urchin-shaped haircut stepped forward and shoved Li Xin, saying, "Do you know whose territory this is? This is our 'Dongxing' territory. You're asking for death for interfering with our business on 'Dongxing' territory!"

With each sentence he spoke, he nudged Li Xin. Li Xin, anxious, quickly said, "Stop pushing me! Something bad will happen!"

"You knew something bad would happen, huh? You knew something bad would happen, yet you still dared to get in our way?"

The yellow sea urchin head pushed harder and harder, and then, "bang," it suddenly flew several meters away, knocking everyone behind it to the ground.

Li Xin pretended to reach out to grab something, but seeing that the yellow sea urchin's head had already been knocked away, he could only reluctantly withdraw his hand and then said in a low voice, "I told you, pushing again will cause trouble..."

He didn't want it to be like this, but after practicing the things in the booklet he found ten years ago, he gained a strange power. This power allowed him to run faster, jump higher, be stronger, see farther, and hear sounds from far away. This is why he could hear Lao Liu and Lao Liu's wife talking even through the door.

However, this force was not obedient. When Li Xin was attacked by external force, it would automatically retaliate. When the yellow sea urchin pushed Li Xin, Li Xin had tried to suppress it repeatedly, but in the end he still couldn't suppress it. In fact, like a spring, it burst out with even stronger force because of the constant suppression, knocking down the yellow sea urchin and the people behind him.

A group of strangely-haired people were rolling on the ground, screaming in agony. The scene was extremely chaotic, and Li Xin was somewhat at a loss. At this moment, a short figure darted over, grabbed Li Xin's hand, and said, "What are you standing there for? Run!"

As he spoke, he grabbed Li Xin and ran. Li Xin was completely disoriented, so when someone told him to run, he ran after them.

Li Xin and the short figure ran for an unknown distance before the short figure led Li Xin into a small alley, panting as he asked, "From the mainland?"

Li Xin was stunned for a moment before realizing that the short figure was asking him, so he nodded.

"You look just like that, don't you!"

The short figure smiled and then extended his hand to Li Xin: "My name is Crocodile, but people in the underworld also respectfully call me 'Crocodile Guy.' You can call me Crocodile Guy."

"My name is Li Xin." Li Xin shook hands with Crocodile Man half-heartedly, then quickly withdrew his hand. He could tell that this guy wasn't a good person.

Crocodile looked Li Xin up and down, noticing that Li Xin was tall and strong. He then stood on tiptoe and pinched Li Xin's arm, exclaiming in surprise, "As hard as iron! No wonder you're such a good fighter. You took down those thugs in no time!"

I didn't hit them...

Li Xin said this to himself, but he knew that even if he said it, the other party would not believe him.

Chapter Four: The Hope of the Whole Village

Crocodile held up his watch; the gold watch exuded an air of extravagance. After waving it in front of Li Xin a few times, Crocodile finally noticed the time on the watch: "Oh dear, it's already this late. Time for afternoon tea. Kid, wanna join me? It's on me!"

"No..."

As soon as Li Xin opened his mouth, his stomach betrayed him with a rumbling sound. Li Xin blushed with embarrassment, but because his face was too dark, Crocodile Old Man didn't see it.

"Come on, come on, you helped me out of this predicament, please give me a chance to repay you!"

Crocodile grabbed Li Xin's hand and pulled him along. Crocodile, who was only a little over 1.5 meters tall, easily pulled Li Xin, who was nearly 1.9 meters tall and full of muscles, away.

Arriving at a tea restaurant, Crocodile skillfully ordered food, then said to Li Xin, "Ah Xin... uh, you don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

Seeing Li Xin shake his head, Crocodile Man observed Li Xin for a while longer, then suddenly thought of something, smiled and continued, "Xin, I think you're quite skilled. How about making a fortune?"

Li Xin nodded quickly.

Of course he wanted to, he dreamed of it all. If he made a fortune, he could go back to the village and build new houses for every household. The original houses in the village were mud-walled houses, the kind built with bricks glued together with yellow mud. When the flood came, most of these houses were washed away. Even those that weren't washed away would probably be almost gone after being submerged for a few days. People had no houses to live in. In spring and summer, it was okay, they could make do with a shed. But in autumn and winter, when the weather turned cold, who could stand that!

Crocodile Man smiled but didn't say anything more. Instead, he urged the waiter to bring the food quickly, leaving Li Xin standing aside.

After slowly finishing his meal, Crocodile looked at Li Xin, who was still pondering the question from earlier, picked up a toothpick to clean his teeth, and then slowly said, "I have a way to make money here, I wonder if you'd be willing to do it, Ah Xin!"

Before eating, Crocodile asked Li Xin if he wanted to get rich, and then left it at that. Li Xin kept thinking about "getting rich" while eating, and the food didn't taste good. Now that Crocodile was talking about ways to make money, he immediately nodded: "Let's do it!"

But soon, Li Xin realized that even his fellow villager could trick him, let alone Crocodile, a complete stranger he had only known for a short time. Moreover, judging from the way Crocodile was being chased by a group of thugs, he didn't seem like a good person. So Li Xin quickly added, "Tell me first, what do you want me to do?"

Crocodile Man snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Good, you have principles and a bottom line, I like that!"

He secretly clicked his tongue in disbelief; she was actually harder to fool than she seemed!

"Ah-Xin, to be honest, I am an assassin agent."

Crocodile looked at Ah-Xin with sincere eyes.

Li Xin narrowed his eyes, looking at Crocodile Man warily.

Although Li Xin was prepared to do anything to make money, even break the law, killing was simply beyond his bottom line, and he couldn't do it.

"Ah-Xin, listen to me."

Seeing the wariness in Li Xin's eyes, Crocodile first reassured him before continuing, "I know someone in Japan who commissioned me to kill someone. Originally, I didn't want to agree because my partner killed a leader of 'East Star'... oh right, the one who just clashed with you. Although he succeeded, he was also killed by the leader's henchmen. As for me, I was unlucky enough to be implicated, which is why I'm being hunted by 'East Star' people. Originally, I was planning to retire from crime after losing my partner, and I was going to cancel that job in Japan. But I see that you, Ah Xin, are quite skilled. How about it, are you interested in becoming my new partner?"

Crocodile looked at Li Xin with a smile, his eyes full of sincerity, but in reality, he didn't tell a single word of truth.

First of all, he was not a hitman agent at all, but a con artist who mingled among all sorts of people. He was being hunted by "Dongxing" because he was caught cheating at "Dongxing" casinos, and it had nothing to do with his fictitious partner.

The reason he received a murder order from Japan was because he had a sudden case of appendicitis while traveling in Tokyo last year. During his hospitalization, his occupational hazard flared up, and in order to amuse the pretty nurses, he boasted that he was a hitman agent, that he had a number of top hitmen under his command, and that he had killed many celebrities. The female doctor who was treating him overheard this, and for some reason, she suddenly contacted him a few days ago, asking him to help her contact a hitman to commit a murder.

Crocodile had no ability to do that. He didn't even know many assassins in Hong Kong, let alone those in Japan. So he just gave a vague answer to get away with it. Anyway, the female doctor in Hong Kong was in Japan. Would she really come all the way here?

But now the situation has changed. He cheated at the "East Star" casino, and this matter will soon spread to all the casinos in Hong Kong. For the sake of its reputation, "East Star" will not let him off easily. He has to leave Hong Kong to avoid the storm. However, Crocodile felt a little uneasy going out alone. Seeing that Li Xin was good at fighting, he couldn't help but have the idea of ​​bringing him along.

However, a reason was needed to get Li Xin involved, so Crocodile thought of the previous case involving the Japanese female doctor and recruited Li Xin under the guise of an assassin's agent.

"No, I won't, I won't kill anyone!"

Li Xin shook his head.

"The other party offered two million."

Crocodile Man said.

Two million?

Li Xin was so shocked by this enormous number that he became somewhat disoriented.

Two million? That's a lot of money. You have to understand, the largest sum of money he had ever seen before was fifty thousand yuan, and that was his life-saving money. Before that, he had only ever touched a hundred-yuan bill when he was paying his tuition.

Crocodile continued, "However, this is in Japanese yen. According to the exchange rate, it's actually only about 200,000 Hong Kong dollars."

Two hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars is also more than two hundred thousand RMB...

Li Xin swallowed hard. You see, he was willing to risk his life for 50,000 RMB.

"Of course, this is the total fee. According to industry practice, I will take half of it, and you can only take the other half."

Crocodile casually announced a revenue-sharing arrangement that would make any industry insider want to draw their sword and kill him.

Yes, he's just taking advantage of Li Xin being from the mainland and not knowing anything about the industry.

"Even half of that would be 100,000 yuan..."

This is still a number that Li Xin would risk his life for.

"This is just one deal. Tokyo is a big city, much bigger than Hong Kong, and there are even more wealthy people there. This two million yen deal is just to give you a test. There will be plenty of big deals in the future, earning millions or millions. It's nothing!"

Crocodile continued to bewitch Li Xin.

He had seen too many young people blinded by money, and he believed Li Xin would be no exception.

"Several million..."

Li Xin indeed became disoriented, and he quickly asked, "Is it Japanese Yen or Hong Kong Dollar?"

Crocodile Man shook his head slightly, lit a cigarette, took a puff, exhaled a beautiful smoke ring, and then slowly said, "It's US dollars!"

Li Xin's eyes turned completely red.

Millions of US dollars, how much is that in RMB again? He only remembered that one US dollar was several RMB, but how many RMB exactly? Why didn't he ask back then? Damn it!

After his eyes reddened, Li Xin still pinched his thigh hard, using the pain to bring himself back to his senses.

"Brother Crocodile, I won't do it. No amount of money can buy me murder!"

Li Xin shook his head forcefully.

Millions of US dollars could rebuild the entire Shibalipu Village, and every family could build a new house. But if those houses were stained with blood, Li Xin felt that the villagers wouldn't be willing to accept it, and the village secretary might even grab a carrying pole and beat him to death.

Crocodile took a few deep drags on his cigarette, which quickly burned out. He couldn't understand why Li Xin, this blockhead, was still so oblivious, even after he had already explained things to Li Xin so thoroughly.

He couldn't make it in Hong Kong anymore and had to go elsewhere to lay low. But he was still a little worried about traveling alone without a strong fighter by his side, knowing full well that he was likely to get beaten up if he went out alone.

The conman's crooked mind raced. By the time Crocodile exhaled his last puff of smoke, he had already figured out how to fool... no, how to persuade Li Xin.

"Ah-Shin, we're going to Japan."

Crocodile said, and Li Xin remained silent.

"Then, the people we killed were the Japanese."

Crocodile continued, but Li Xin remained silent.

"Are the Japanese even human?"

Crocodile Man posed a soul-searching question.

Are Japanese people considered human?

These words struck a chord with Li Xin. He recalled his history lessons in junior high school and the village chief's affectionate nickname for the Japanese—"Japanese devils!"

Yes, that's right. Japanese people aren't considered human, so killing a Japanese person isn't considered murder, it's considered meritorious service!

So, Li Xin was persuaded by the crocodile man and nodded vigorously, saying, "Okay, I'll do it!"

....................................

The flashback ended, and at the same time, Li Xin opened his eyes.

His condition improved slightly, but he knew that this state would not last long and he would soon fall into severe pain again.

After finding the booklet dropped by the old beggar, Li Xin opened it out of curiosity. It was filled with small writing and illustrations related to the human body, and looked like a legendary martial arts manual.