The Four Sects of Shangcheng

Xu Cheng casually walked down the stairs, waving towards those five thugs with colorful hair that were standing by the stairs. 

Soon, with the people who were waiting by the elevator, nine people immediately came over and surrounded him. Since the target already noticed them, then the "bag his head and beat him up" method wasn't going to work. They had no choice but to give a "kindly reminder" instead. 

The one leading the pack was a fatty nicknamed Brother Bao, which literally meant Leopard. He came over chewing gum and said with a faint smile, "Officer Xu, right?"

Xu Cheng just stood there, not answering.

The Bao guy recognized Xu Cheng's level by his badge right away, and a disdainful smile immediately appeared on his face. "I thought it was some big shot that took Young Master Yun and the others in, but it turns out to be an officer on the bottom level." 

Then, he spat out the gum, and with a grim face, he came closer to Xu Cheng and said with a hoarse voice, "If you still want to stay in Shangcheng, just let Young Master Yun and the others out."

Xu Cheng asked nonchalantly, "Who are you?"

"I knew you wouldn't recognize me." Bao sneered, "Otherwise, you wouldn't be so calm right now. Do you know about the four old gangs of Shangcheng?" 

"Yep." Xu Cheng was still indifferent. "I heard about it when I was still in high school. The people from those gangs are all scumbags." 

The face of Bao and the others all changed, but then he started laughing, "Alright, since you know that we are scumbags, then you know it's best to not provoke us. Otherwise, things won't end well for you, do you know that? You are in uniform right now, but that doesn't mean you will be in it 24 hours every day, and who knows when you will get fired."

"Are you threatening me?" Xu Cheng's eyes narrowed. 

"How could I dare to threaten our beloved police officer?" Bao smiled. "I'm just here to tell Officer Xu, whether you are walking or driving, just be careful, especially since you like to ride a motorcycle. Accidents can happen at any time, what do you think?" 

"Thank you for your concern." Xu Cheng looked at him and said, "What's your name?"

Bao glared at Xu Cheng and thought he was purposely provoking him by asking for his name again.

He repeated, syllable by syllable, "B... a... o."

"Real name," Xu Cheng said.

Bao's eyes shot out a dangerous look, "What do you want to do?"

"Nothing." Xu Cheng replied, "I just wanted to remind you, just don't get in our way when we are enforcing the law. Calling yourself Bao, you are not really getting the illusion that you are a leopard and not a human, right? Since you don't even want to use the name registered with the government, how about I help you out and get my colleague to erase your name for you?"

"You are threatening me?" Bao's face changed dramatically. He deepened his voice and got even closer to Xu Cheng. At this point, their faces were practically touching each other. He then said, enunciating every word, "Yes, I am scared of the police, but I've never been afraid of low-level patrol officers like you." 

Xu Cheng then casually asked, "Then who are you working for right now? I remember the boss of each of the four gangs had changed many years ago, so I never really knew who was still running the night market establishments. I'm very curious as to who your boss is." 

"Don't try to get anything from me." Bao snorted. "If you have a chance, you can try going shopping after 12 o'clock at midnight. Really, I welcome you to visit us, but you are probably scared. Goodbye, Officer Xu, it's best if you take my words seriously and let Young Master Yun and the others go. Otherwise, I will visit you again, it's really easy to find where you live." 

Then, he waved his hand and left with his group of men. 

"He works for the North Gate gang." At this moment, Ran Jing came out of the elevator and asked Xu Cheng gloatingly, "How did you provoke those people?"

"They came for me." Xu Cheng fixed his hat, and then walked out, with Ran Jing quickly catching up to him.

"It's best if you don't provoke people from those four gangs," warned Ran Jing.

"I don't have jurisdiction in other territories, nor do I have the interest. I know that there's no absolute justice in this world, but on my turf, those that don't follow the laws will be punished," Xu Cheng replied. 

"The four gate gangs of Shangcheng aren't something you should provoke. Their history traces back to a long time ago, and even the government needed to use special strategies to keep them at bay. Besides their force, the businesses they run and manage aren't dark-themed like before anymore. You aren't at an advantage against these people."

"We will wait and see." Xu Cheng started to walk faster. 

Ran Jing gritted her teeth and complained, "They are hard to take care of because they have a bunch of people that know the law and know how to take advantage of it and its loopholes. Our Criminal Police Department did have them on our radar, but we realized that touching them would trigger a series of backlashes in Shangcheng that could cause chaos to the society, that's why we had been avoiding them. I just want to tell you to keep your distance from the people of the four gate gangs."

Xu Cheng left, got onto his motorcycle, and went to take his night shift.

When changing shifts, Young Master Yun and the others in the cell were all looking at Xu Cheng as if they were a pack of hungry wolves looking at a fat sheep. Young Master Yun even laughed. "You still don't know the trouble that's coming for you, right?"

"Can't do anything even if there's trouble. As a police officer, even when no trouble's coming for you, you still have to go look for trouble; otherwise, our days will be so boring." Xu Cheng laughed in return. He knew what Young Master Yun meant in his warning, it was probably some threat similar to that Bao guy. They were the type that would seek black market connections if things couldn't be sorted out under broad daylight.

"You seem to be pretty carefree." Young Master Yun said with mockery, "Why are you putting your nose in small sh*t like this? Bad-tempered young masters like us flood the streets of Shangcheng, why aren't you arresting the others too? The famous four great young masters of Shangcheng, why aren't you provoking them too?"

"What four great young masters? In my eyes, those that break the law are all the same – criminals." Xu Cheng was polishing his gun as he said, "Instead of waiting for the 15 days to be up, you should write a self-reflection report. Maybe you can even get out early."

Young Master Yun: "I'm just deliberately staying here until the 15 days are up, and you can wait and see if I will forgive you after I get out. But, I feel like I will never be able to forgive you, so what now? How about you kneel and beg me right now?'

Xu Cheng chuckled. "I'm fine, you can bring it on. I'm new here and it is pretty boring normally, how about I will just play with you guys in the future?" 

Young Master Yun narrowed his eyes. "I will make it unforgettable." 

Xu Cheng: "Same goes to you."

Then, he picked up his motorcycle keys and left.

Like usual, he went to the high school in the area and waited until all the kids went home. That rebellious teenager from the Lin Family did not expect to see him. He came over right away and gave Xu Cheng a cigarette. Xu Cheng accepted it and lit it up. 

"Looks like I'm going to win the bet with my brother," the blonde-haired teenager said delightfully.

Xu Cheng breathed out the smoke and asked, "What bet?"

The blonde-haired teenager: "My brother said that you will be in big trouble, and I even thought that I wouldn't even be able to see you tonight. Come over here, let me see. Are you a ghost right now?"