Esoteric Buddhism: To live as king in America

"Bang!"

Ai Yin kicked open the small door, and the door slammed against the wall with a loud bang.

Inside the door was a space filled with the strong smells of engine oil, solder, and cheap tobacco. Several disassembled car frames were scattered haphazardly, and the floor was covered with oil stains and parts.

Several men wearing greasy vests and showing their tattooed arms were playing cards around a greasy table. Beer bottles and several steel pipes were scattered on the table. The sudden intruders made them look up in shock.

Mian's gaze swept quickly across the entire first floor. There was no woman in sight, but the heart-wrenching wails came even more clearly from upstairs, accompanied by dull thuds and a man's crude curses.

"Damn it! Where did this blind fool come from!"

A burly, bald man with a face full of scars and a thick gold chain around his neck suddenly stood up, grabbed a steel pipe from the table, and walked toward the door with a fierce look in his eyes.

"Don't worry, sir. I heard a woman screaming from here, so I came to check. If you are all law-abiding citizens, I hope you can explain to me what that sound is. If it's a misunderstanding, I will certainly apologize."

Mian said calmly, believing that no matter what, these people should be given a chance to explain. After all, defeating them with supernatural powers was relatively easy, but cleaning up the mess would be more troublesome.

He had little hope that the gang members would offer an explanation, but to his surprise, the expressions on the faces of all the thugs in the room suddenly turned strange as soon as he said that.

A younger gang member laughed out loud, but soon a thug next to him slapped him on the head.

The thug stood up and walked towards Mian, his face still bearing that strange expression.

"Hey friend, it was just a little bit of fun, I paid for it. It was consensual, nothing special. Are you satisfied with that explanation?"

The thug's words were surprisingly sincere. Although Mian felt that the other party had probably omitted something, he certainly didn't seem to be lying.

Could it be that I've really misunderstood?

To be honest, it's not impossible. While paying money to have someone tortured like this isn't exactly a positive thing, it's not worth Mian risking her life if it's not life-threatening.

Surprisingly, these gang members are quite reasonable. If that's the case, communicating with them directly might yield some useful information...

"I see."

Mian was thinking this and was about to ask when suddenly a gang member let out a scream.

"Wait, why does this voice sound so familiar?"

He frowned, stood up, his eyes fixed on Mian, but spoke to his other companions.

"Don't you guys think his voice sounds like someone? That little thief who stole our gun?"

Stealing a gun?!

This word pulled at Mian's earliest memories of this world. He looked at the door of the repair shop, where a section of hemp rope with three loops was hanging—the gangs of Freedom City always liked to use this unique symbolic way to mark their territory.

The symbol represented by this section of hemp rope, in the original owner's incomplete memories, only represented a gang.

"Are you from the Nian Gang?"

Mian stared blankly at the crowd before him. The young gang members also cast surprised and furious glances at him.

"It's you?!"

The bald, burly man's roar nearly lifted the roof off, filled with unbelievable rage.

"Fuck you! You bastard who stole the gun!!!"

The words "the bastard who stole the gun" were like sparks thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the entire auto repair shop! All the gang members stood up with a "whoosh," grabbing whatever was at hand—wrenches, iron bars, machetes, and some even pulled out handguns from their backs.

Their gazes toward Mian were filled with deep-seated hatred and murderous intent. Clearly, Mian's original "opportunistic theft" had brought extremely heavy losses or humiliation to this gang.

Mian cursed his bad luck inwardly, but it was too late to explain now; there was no point in trying, and the other party wouldn't listen anyway. He had thought it was just an ordinary gang, but he never expected to run into the "victim," the Nian Gang.

"Ain, do it!"

Mian growled as he dodged the bullets fired at him. Meanwhile, Ain, eager to fight, lunged at the nearest Nian gang member.

A battle that was both expected and unexpected unfolded inside the auto repair shop.

Outside the repair shop, the gunshot rang out, but it also stirred up endless fear in someone.

Carroll huddled behind the cold tire, shivering like a leaf in the wind.

What exactly happened inside?

After spending a short time together, Carol realized that the man named Mian was an upright person.

It's not surprising that he'd offer a useless person like himself a chance to work and earn money, and that he'd help a woman trapped in a gang's den, screaming in despair.

However... Carol originally thought that the gentleman would handle it more tactfully.

After all, he was accompanied by a girl who didn't look very old, who wasn't carrying any weapons, and who seemed quite experienced.

Carroll couldn't help but wonder if his confidence stemmed from his familiarity with a gang leader, which emboldened him to venture deeper into the fray.

But now that gunshot had shattered all her illusions, and she couldn't help but worry about that good man.

The building before her had recently left her with incredibly terrifying memories, making Carol's legs go weak just looking at it. But her worry for Mian seemed to outweigh her fear.

Why don't we go take a look? Just consider it as payment for the final installment. One glance might just reveal that it's all a misunderstanding.

Carroll told himself this, picking up a heavy red brick from the ground, trying to bolster his courage. Then he struggled to his feet and approached the repair shop.

The effects of the medication had worn off, but her legs still trembled uncontrollably. She cautiously approached the kicked-open door and peered inside, but before she could even see Mian, a thug suddenly flew to the doorway, terrifying Carol to the point of near scare-strickenness.

They really started fighting! They really started fighting!

Carol turned around, ready to run away immediately. She still had to pay the rent, she still had to live, and although she felt very sorry for that gentleman, he absolutely could not die here.

She was thinking this when she saw the thug who had been beaten to the door struggle to his feet, pull out a pistol from his pocket, and point it at someone inside the house.

It was Mian!

The moment Carroll saw the cold, hard muzzle of the gun, his mind went blank.

She had seen the poor man shot on the street before, and now the image of that poor man, covered in blood and gore, overlapped with that kind man, filling every corner of her mind.

She felt as if she had lost all her hearing and touch, and could only sense the angry thug in front of her who was about to pull the trigger, and the red brick she was clutching tightly in her hand.

For a moment, her mind went blank. When she came to her senses, all Carol saw was the thug lying on the ground and her hands covered in red and white stains.