A dozen thugs from the Blue Wolf Syndicate surrounded Shawn Young with menacing grins, while off to the side, Jeremy Ling—waiting to enjoy the show—picked up a heavy concrete brick from the ground. He was ready to vent his frustrations by smashing Shawn a few more times once the thugs had beaten him half to death.
As for Shawn Young, his face showed no sign of nervousness. He simply clasped his hands behind his back, squinting at the advancing thugs. He had already activated the Heavenly Astral True Qi within him, causing his Sea of Illusions to churn. Shawn had no intention of letting these punks hurt him. Pressing his index fingers against his thumbs to form a "Heaven-Flipping Seal," he channeled his True Qi and recited an incantation: "Pierce through wisdom, let the five energies surge, golden light appear swiftly, shield the true one, Thunder God protect, soul transposed—by the order of law, transfer!"
This was a strange spell Shawn had recently mastered—the Transference Curse! Its effect was to protect the caster by redirecting any incoming harm to another person or object of their choosing.
As Shawn raised his hands in the Heaven-Flipping Seal, a red glow enveloped his body, then quickly faded and sank into the space around him, forming a subtle protective aura that was nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Just then, two thugs flanked him from the left and right. The one on the right lifted his leg and viciously kicked at Shawn's lower back. But Shawn didn’t dodge at all—the thugs thought he was scared stiff. Unexpectedly, the attacker suddenly lost control, and his powerful kick landed squarely on his teammate’s stomach instead!
"Bang!"—"Ouch! Damn, that hurts! You—couldn’t you be more careful? Watch where you’re kicking, man! ***—You owe me drinks for this!" The unlucky thug rolled on the ground, howling in pain after taking that brutal kick.
"Huh? This is seriously weird—how did that happen? I swear I aimed perfectly! This is some freaky stuff!" the first thug grumbled, completely baffled.
Shawn Young chuckled and teased, "Hey, big guy, do you have a grudge against your own crew? Why are you only beating up your own people?"
"***, if I don’t cripple you today, I’ll never jerk off again! Take this—" The annoyed thug yelled, swinging his fist at Shawn’s head with all his might. But just as he was about to land the punch, some strange force yanked him off course, and he ended up smashing his fist into the face of the same teammate he’d kicked earlier, leaving the guy’s nose and teeth flying!
"Screw you, man! You son of a—just now you acted like a brother, but then you turned around and went full psycho on me! What the hell, dude! I’m done playing nice with you!" The bruised thug clutched his face, rummaged around on the ground for a random brick, then got up, ready to throw down with his so-called "brother."
"Big bro—seriously, I swear I didn’t mean it! Don’t get the wrong idea! I really didn’t want to hit you, but my hands and feet just went nuts! I—" The panicked thug babbled, desperate to explain himself.
"Yeah right, your hands and feet went nuts—more like your dick went nuts! Trying to mess with me, huh? You think I’m some idiot?" The bruised thug didn’t buy the explanation at all, and with a roar, he swung the brick at his buddy’s head, aiming right for the guy who’d just tried to apologize.
The confused thug obviously wasn’t about to just take a brick to the face. He quickly reached out to grab his attacker, and the two ended up wrestling on the ground. The rest of the thugs just stood around, stunned—before the real fight had even started, they were already beating up each other. How were they supposed to keep going like this? The crowd surged forward to break them up, trying to restore some order.
Shawn Young watched them all go at it like a pack of wild dogs, finding the whole mess hilarious. He stood on the sidelines, arms folded, grinning as the chaos unfolded.
Jeremy Ling had planned to just hang back and fish in troubled waters, but he never expected the infamous Blue Wolf Syndicate—supposedly professional thugs—would devolve into such a clown show. Seeing the syndicate members still shoving and bickering, while Shawn Young just stood there grinning, Jeremy suddenly had a wicked idea. He pointed at Shawn and yelled, "I get it now—this little punk’s behind all the weird stuff! He’s up to some freaky magic! Guys, stop fighting each other! He’s laughing at you—let’s all go beat him up together!"
The Blue Wolf Syndicate thugs turned to see Shawn Young smirking at them. As seasoned pros, they knew how to read a room, and Jeremy Ling’s words made sense. They immediately stopped their internal squabbles and closed in on Shawn, eyes flashing with menace—some even brandished their butterfly knives.
"Heh heh—so, you guys wanna play the same game those two idiots just did? Who’s up for a round of ‘Brawl in the Alley’ with me?" Shawn asked, still grinning, completely unfazed.
"Hmph! You little punk, I don’t buy your freaky crap! Go to hell!" One of the thugs shouted, raising his butterfly knife and lunging viciously at Shawn’s gut. If that blade landed, it’d carve out a chunk of flesh for sure.
But as the thug closed in on Shawn, Shawn’s eyes flickered and the attacker lost control of his own momentum, veering off to the side—"Shit!"—and slashed his blade right into a buddy’s thigh instead, sending a spray of blood flying.
"Aaaah! You bastard! Are you an animal or what? Damn, that hurts! My leg! What the hell did you stab me for, you idiot? Screw your whole family!" the wounded thug howled in pain.
Now the whole gang of thugs was completely stumped, not knowing what to do next. Jeremy Ling, not wanting to let Shawn Young off so easily, immediately started stirring the pot from the sidelines: "Come on, guys, let’s all rush him! He’s not some three-headed six-armed monster—no way he can take us all!"
The thugs nodded in agreement, exchanged glances, and then all charged at Shawn Young together, planning to pin him down and rough him up nice and slow.
Shawn Young let out a cold laugh, crossed his arms over his chest, and gave them a quick shake. Instantly, the Blue Wolf Syndicate thugs started attacking each other again—one punched another, someone kicked a third, and nobody could dodge or defend. Bricks and butterfly knives flew through the air, adding fuel to the fire. The place erupted into total chaos, with screams and curses flying everywhere.
Jeremy Ling was left dumbstruck. He never imagined Shawn Young could pull off such wicked magic. Jeremy tried to slip away quietly, but Shawn caught him with a cold grin: "Hey, Jeremy, the fun’s just getting started—why are you in such a hurry to leave? That’s no fun at all!"
"Uh—" Jeremy Ling’s face went pale and he tried to run, but Shawn Young lunged forward, landing a flying kick square on Jeremy’s butt—"Pow!"—sending him sprawling face-first like a dog eating shit. Before Jeremy could even get up, Shawn shook his hands again, activating the power of the Transference Curse.
Right away, all the thugs brawling nearby lost control and piled onto Jeremy Ling, fists and feet flying. They beat him so badly he wailed nonstop, his face swollen and blue, looking like a pig’s head.