Chapter 140: Never One to Shy Away from a Spectacle

The delinquent girl shrieked instantly, pointing at the person, "It's him, it's him, it's him!"

Yan Jieming could not help looking over as well, seemingly finding it hard to believe that his sworn brother would do such a thing.

The tattooed man already took a step forward and grabbed that person by the collar, "Damn brat, you've got some nerve! How dare you grope my sister!"

"That's impossible! Rat is the most cowardly among us. Why would he ever go touching a girl's butt?" Yan Jieming stepped forward at that moment and said loudly.

The reason his buddy was called Rat was precisely because he usually appeared timid as a mouse, acting timidly and hesitantly in everything he did. Whenever he went out to fight alongside Yan Jieming, he was always the very last one to lag behind.

However, even though Rat was cowardly, he had always been loyal and dependable toward him, which was why Yan Jieming regarded him as a brother and firmly refused to believe he would do something like this.

The student called Rat was being hoisted up by the tattooed man like a little chick, trembling all over, "I didn't! I didn't... I only touched her by accident, I didn't mean to!"

Out of sheer terror, he ended up blurting out the truth.

"Look, he just admitted it!" The delinquent girl cried as she lunged forward to scratch at Rat.

Since Rat was being held by the tattooed man, he couldn't dodge at all and was completely at her mercy. In an instant, several bloody claw marks appeared on his face, and he wailed with a sob, "I really didn't mean to!"

Although Yan Jieming's classmates deeply trusted his words, after all, touching someone else was a wrongful act, leaving them in the wrong. Not knowing what to say, they all looked somewhat overwhelmed and helpless for a moment.

This matter could be as big or as small as one made it; it all depended on who the other party was. If it were anyone else, a polite apology might have settled the issue.

However, the other party was obviously connected to the underworld, while they were merely students with nowhere to reason with such people, giving Yan Jieming a massive headache.

After all, he was the one hosting the gathering today, and he wanted to avoid any ugly scenes.

With no other choice, he cast his gaze toward the young hoodlums accompanying him. Those were guys he had recently befriended; whenever there was food, drink, or entertainment, Yan Jieming would invariably invite them along. Firstly, it added to his prestige, and secondly, if any real trouble arose, he could count on them to lend a hand.

"Brother Feng, what do you think?" he asked the leader of those young toughs.

Brother Feng acted as if he hadn't heard a word. A smile suddenly plastered across his face as he walked toward the tattooed man, recognizing him instantly. Not only him, but the other hoodlums with him did the exact same thing, looking for all the world like subordinates greeting their boss.

"So it's Tattooed Brother! For this punk to dare grope Tattooed Brother's sister, he must be tired of living. We'll help Tattooed Brother teach him a lesson."

As those men spoke, they actually took action, stepping forward to slap Rat twice.

Rat saw stars immediately, yet he didn't even dare to cry out in pain.

"Oh, I remember now. So it's little Feng. Do these people have anything to do with you?" The tattooed man stared at them for a long while before recalling who they were.

Brother Feng shook his head vigorously like a rattle-drum, "What could these brats possibly have to do with me? We just happened to run into them and came over to sit together."

"That makes things easy!" The tattooed man chuckled twice.

Yan Jieming could no longer watch. He had treated those men to good food, drinks, and entertainment, yet they immediately turned their backs and feigned ignorance. He immediately spoke up, "Brother Feng, how can you guys be like this? Even if you won't put in a good word for Rat, you shouldn't hit him either. He didn't do it on purpose."

Brother Feng and his crew put on stern faces and said, "Yan Jieming, do you know who this is? Who on this street doesn't recognize Tattooed Brother? Your guy had the balls to grope his sister—isn't that courting death?"

Seeing that they had turned completely heartless, Yan Jieming could only grit his teeth, acknowledging the old saying about making friends carelessly. He had nothing more to say.

Turning his gaze back to the tattooed man, he said, "Big brother, please show some mercy. My buddy already said it wasn't intentional, and you've already beaten him like this. If you keep beating him, you'll kill him."

It would have been better if he hadn't spoken, but at his words, the tattooed man chuckled, threw Rat onto the ground, and barked, "Beat him to a pulp!"

Immediately, fists rained down on Rat from all directions, drawing agonizing shrieks from him.

This sight left Yan Jieming's side dumbfounded, yet intimidated by the thugs' imposing stance, no one dared to step forward to intervene.

"Yan Jieming, do you know who Tattooed Brother is? Your classmate is truly blind. Tattooed Brother is the local tyrant of this entire street, and he has even more powerful figures backing him up—none of whom you can afford to provoke. Your classmate dared to grope his sister; whether it was intentional or not, it's pure suicide. It's not that we won't give you face, but we can't afford to get mixed up in this mess either. Let me give you a kind warning: if things go south today, none of us might walk out of here alive. So do yourself a favor and drop your classmate's business; you better figure out how to get yourself out of this first."

Brother Feng walked over and whispered these words of advice to Yan Jieming.

Hearing this, Yan Jieming furrowed his brows. Things really were looking troublesome today.

By this time, the high school girls had long since huddled in a corner, trembling with fear.

As for the other male classmates, swaggering as they usually were, they were too terrified to utter a single sound in such a situation.

Watching Rat being beaten into incessant wails, Yan Jieming could finally hold back no longer.

"You're going to beat him to death!" he shouted, stepping forward immediately.

At his shout, the tattooed man signaled the others to halt their punches.

Then, he strolled over toward Yan Jieming.

"Kid, do you really think this matter is over just because we taught that brat a lesson? You seem quite eager to be a hero. Since you love playing the hero so much, we'll stop hitting him and talk about how to settle this score instead."

The delinquent girl had vented enough of her anger by now, and she raised her chin, saying, "That's right, this isn't over yet."

Seeing Rat beaten motionless and covered in blood from head to toe, Yan Jieming gritted his teeth. Though he frequently got into fights, they were usually just small-scale brawls within school grounds. Even when he had fought outsiders before, it had never been this brutal.

"So he accidentally touched your butt—is there any need to beat him half to death?"

A surge of rebellious fury welled up from deep within him, though he didn't know where it came from.

At Yan Jieming's words, the delinquent girl burst into tears once more, as if her backside were so precious that even having it spoken of was a grave offense.

"Kid, I was originally planning to let you all off by paying a bit of money, but since you dare talk to my sister like that, I think your joints need loosening up!" The tattooed man twisted his neck, cracking his joints with loud, crisp pops.

Yan Jieming's classmates grew even more terrified, practically huddling together in a tight knot.

Yan Jieming, however, managed to maintain his composure. He hurried over to lift Rat up and placed him on the sofa, though the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of Chen Yuyi.

Seeing Chen Yuyi sitting off to the side with a half-smile, looking as though he were merely enjoying a good show without any fear of the chaos, a wave of anger surged in Yan Jieming's chest, and he shot him a fierce glare.

Then, turning back to the tattooed man, he declared, "Whatever game you want to play, I'll keep you company to the very end today!"

The guy called Brother Feng shook his head at him instantly, signaling him not to act recklessly, while others sneered at his utter foolishness. Originally, the matter was nearly resolved and could have ended with some monetary compensation, only for this reckless punk to blow it completely out of proportion.

Yan Jieming's classmates also glared at him with resentment.

"Kid, you've got some backbone, huh? Fine, I'll give you a chance. Have a one-on-one fight with one of my men. If you win against him, we'll drop the matter," the tattooed man said with a playful smirk.

With that, he pointed at a robust man who stood nearly a head taller than Yan Jieming.

The man was wearing a black tank top, and his bulging muscles were terrifying to look at.

"Jieming, let's not fight them. I still have some money on me—take it and apologize to them, and let them spare us," pleaded one of the high school girls who had been flirting with Yan Jieming earlier, stepping forward to pull gently at his sleeve.

She was presumably Yan Jieming's little girlfriend.

The tattooed man stared at her, a predatory glint flashing instantly in his eyes.

Yan Jieming pushed her hand away. "Rat is my brother. I can't just stand by and watch him beaten like this while doing nothing."

A fierce glint flashed across his own eyes as well. "A one-on-one fight it is! Do you really think I'm scared of you?"

"Hold on, I have one more condition," the tattooed man suddenly added.

He looked at Yan Jieming's little girlfriend with a lecherous smile plastered across his face. "If you lose, this little sister has to accompany me for the night!"