Novels like Tales of Liangzhou: Underworld Turmoil
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as Tales of Liangzhou: Underworld Turmoil, best match first.
- 101 The Underworld: My Dongguan Girlfriend 黑道：我的东莞女友 At the turn of the millennium, I headed south to Dongguan with just 800 yuan in my pocket. Someone stole my wallet on the train, and I staggered into town after going hungry for three meals. I planned to keep my head down and work on an assembly line, but on my very first day, the team leader told me to take off my pants. I beat him up. Then I beat up the fourteen guys who came after me with machetes. Then I took on the whole street. The female owner of a nightclub handed me a gun and a stack of 590Reads6.3Score10914d adds
- 102 A Song for the Underworld 混子的挽歌 [Raise our cups and toast the rugged road through the underworld.] [Through blood and fury, a brotherhood that lasts a lifetime.] A naive, timid young man, to keep from losing the brothers at his side again, chooses to take up a three-foot steel blade and step into a world stained red with blood. Behind the brotherly bravado and drunken revelry of the underworld, the only things that never change are ruthless exploitation and cold reality. The people he meets make him sick. And little by little, 2.4kReads7.3Score23914d adds
- 103 The Jianghu: A True Account of Half a Life in the Underworld 江湖：混社会的半生真实经历 A chaotic age, filled with flashing blades and clashing steel! The martial world is like a cup of tea. Everyone tastes it differently. My name is Zhao Long. Back then, most people called me Long Si, Brother Si, or Fourth Master! I'm not exaggerating when I say my reputation back then was almost as great as that of the famous Fourth Master Qiao up north! I was a poor kid who couldn't afford a meal. Through sheer grit and ruthl 4.7kReads7.1Score20114d adds
- 104 A Blood-Red Underworld 血红色的江湖 The martial world is a blood-red place... This is not a power fantasy. Through real-life experiences, it shows everyone just how cruel the martial world is, and warns them to stay out of it. Yang Hai, a young man from somewhere in Northeast China, was determined to enter the martial world. Ten years later, his heart has turned cold. The glories of the past have vanished like smoke, and all that awaits him is judgment! 1.7kReads—Score12414d adds
- 105 The Pinnacle of the Unpeopled World: The Pure Dust Arc 无人之巅清尘篇 The story of Ye Qingchen, the one who stands alone at the summit: You are the peerless genius of your city, blessed with a boxing talent no one can match. At last, the year you turn eighteen, you claim the national boxing championship... 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 106 Big Brother Jiadai 大哥加代 A big brother hailed as the King of Shenzhen, he was also a top underworld boss who could make waves in the capital. Loyal and righteous, he was always willing to help brothers in need and made friends far and wide. He also won the hearts of the big brothers who followed him. —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 107 The Thug Gets Out of Prison 暴徒出狱 Before I went to prison, I was a big shot everyone feared. After getting out, I wanted to live a different kind of life. I just wanted to be an ordinary person, live a quiet life, and work hard to make money. I was ready to let bygones be bygones. But I wanted to let them go, and they kept pushing me. So I had no choice but to fight back with everything I had. 28Reads—Score—14d adds
- 108 I Took the Place of a Big Shot’s Most Loyal Lackey 我顶替了大佬的死忠小弟 Urban action + one female lead + the underdog rises among his brothers + power plays + personal growth + not invincible Because his face is identical to that of a missing underworld boss, he's forced to take the place of the boss's right-hand man. Alone and posing as a villain, he has no choice but to become one. Standing at the boundary between black and white, what should I choose? And who's pulling the strings? Who's really whose pawn? Stick with it for ten chapters, and things are su —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 109 Who Rules the Changing Tides of the Martial World? 江湖之谁主浮沉 “Northeastern Gangland,” “No Mindless Shenanigans,” “Based on Real Cases” A group of young people, driven by a moment of recklessness, set out on a path unlike any they had taken before... From Xiao Yao's days of loafing around to gradually growing up and setting off down the point of no return, making a living in the underworld... Family, friendship, and love all become entangled... Some die... some go to prison... and others... A new story, a new beginning. Come witness the rise of a true crim 248Reads—Score—14d adds
- 110 Bloodshed in the Black Abyss 黑渊血戮 (Realistic + Period Setting + Underworld + Political Battles) What is the underworld? It is an endless abyss. Once you take a single step into it, you’ll be trapped forever, with no way out. To make a name for yourself in the underworld, you have to be ready to end up dead in the street or locked away for life at any moment. Now, let me take you back to the late 1980s and show you how the son of a worker gets dragged into this dark abyss and rises step by step to become a crime boss of his era. 898Reads—Score—14d adds
- 111 Fingertip Fate Reversal Begins with Ren Xue 指尖逆命从壬雪开始 [Coming-of-Age Main Story · Multiple Realistic Heroines · Real Cases and Social Backdrop · No Formulaic Tropes · No Mindless Wish Fulfillment] Wu De narrowly escapes death and returns to the 1980s. He has just one mission: stop the unfortunate girls of that era from turning to crime. Ren Xue, Tao Jing, Bi Limei… Some are driven to desperate ends by hatred, while others take the blame for someone they love… With nothing but nimble fingers, Wu De can fool the eye and turn the tables. He can make b —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 112 Bloodstained Memories 血染的往事 (This story is entirely fictional. The places, people, events, and everything else in it are not real.) In the early 1990s, on a silent winter night, two muffled gunshots rang out beneath the darkness over an old neighborhood. A five-shot hunting rifle with a sawed-off barrel brought more than a scene of underworld vendetta. It also laid bare a hidden storm of bloodshed. Some say he was a loyal and righteous brother. Some say he was an ambitious kingpin. Others say he was a vicious monster, crue 37Reads7.5Score—14d adds
- 113 The Underworld Boss Through My Eyes 我眼中的江湖大哥 When Zheng Hao stood up for his ex-girlfriend, Gu Xin, he took down Chengbei Laosi, a small-time thug with a bit of a reputation, twice. His own name soon began to rise. Later, he became enemies with Jin Changxu, a Korean-Chinese gangster, and beat up Chen Jianjun, an old-time thug who had just gotten out of prison. One brutal fight after another turned Zheng Hao into the big brother everyone talked about. But the arrival of Zhou Yunkang, son of veteran boss Zhou Wandai, presents Zheng Hao and h 13Reads8.7Score—14d adds
- 114 Northeast China Underworld: The Autobiography of a Crime Boss 东北黑道：一位黑道大哥的自传 [Urban] [Underworld] [Outlaws] [A Cast of Villains] [Justice Served] [An Unvarnished Northeastern Chinese Gangster Story] The underworld rises and falls, settling old scores in blood. To others, the jianghu is about loyalty, passion, and settling scores with a thrilling flourish. The jianghu I’ve seen is nothing but deceit and betrayal. There are no bonds of brotherhood, only greed. There is no mercy, only merciless extermination. On this road, a knife is leverage, blood is the price, and a cons 31.3kReads8.8Score1.7k14d adds
- 115 An Age of Turmoil: The Gangster Who Rose from a Village 混乱年代：从村走出来的枭雄 After leaving the military, Wu Wenjun drifted around the village, looking for a trade to take up. Just then, the village was holding an election for village chief. His Third Uncle, the former chief, was provoked at a banquet. Enough was enough: if you can dish it out, you can take it. How could he stand by while someone bullied a man in his own village? He stepped forward at once, and so began his life in the underworld. When he looked back, he had become a famous young boss in the criminal worl 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 116 Countering the Black Tide (Complete in Four Volumes) 反黑风云（全四册） This collection covers a variety of genres. It tells the hidden twenty-year history of the modern Shandong underworld, charts the fierce lives of a group of unconventional young men, and explores a city of desire where politics, business, the underworld, and romance intertwine. In a hunting ground where predators abound and prey is scarce, survival means the strong devour the weak. Every established rule is shattered and reshaped here: only the fittest survive! 415Reads9.0Score3914d adds
- 117 Those Years, Those People, Those Things in the Underworld! 黑道那些年，那些人，那些事儿！ Someone once said, “The jianghu isn’t about fighting and killing. It’s about human relationships and worldly wisdom.” Countless people have quoted this line and hailed it as a classic. I picked it up from a TV drama, and it went to my head. But without fighting and killing, is the jianghu still the jianghu? Fighting and killing are the price of admission to the jianghu. Coercion and enticement are the means of making your way in it. Human relationships and worldly wisdom are the art of ruling 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 118 At Eighteen, I Got a Cardigan Tattoo and Hit the Jianghu 我18岁纹开衫闯荡江湖 My biological father was sentenced to death, leaving me an orphan. As I slowly grew up, I became a delinquent with no interest in anything worthwhile. On my eighteenth birthday, the family I depended on could no longer put up with me. After I left, I spent every day hanging out with my old middle school classmates. Without even realizing it, I began following the same path as my father. Let me, at eighteen, see just how cruel, filthy, and dark this world of self-interest really is! 50.3kReads7.6Score3.8k14d adds
- 119 How the Bad Guy Was Made 2: The New Generation 坏蛋是怎样炼成的2：新世代 Ten years ago, Xie Wendong led the Wendong Association in sweeping through the underworld, bringing both the black and white worlds to heel. A decade later, the times have changed. Guns and blades have given way to capital, technology, and the dark web as the new battlegrounds. Just as the Wendong Association was going all-in on its transformation, Jiang Sen was assassinated, dark web forces began lurking in the city, and old allies suddenly returned. Under the surging undercurrents, a new gener 6.2kReads6.9Score59714d adds
- 120 The Underworld: From Errand Boy to Boss 黑道：从小弟到霸主 The light of this city can’t reach the shantytowns in the west. My name is Yao Lie. I have nothing but a ruthless streak and ambition. To survive, I stepped into the underworld. To keep from being trampled, I struck without hesitation. To reach the top, I planned every move and showed no mercy. I started out as a nobody, enduring humiliation, lying low, plotting, and striking back. I’ve seen brothers betray each other, witnessed the cruelty of human nature, and watched rivers of blood flow. I —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 121 The Abyss Beyond the Ashes 烬余深渊 He was once a spirited young man, but his closest family and sworn enemy joined forces to frame him, destroying his home and leaving him disgraced and on the run. In the depths of despair, he sheds his rough edges and tempers himself into someone ruthless, living under an assumed name and plotting every step. From struggling to survive at the very bottom to fighting his way through blood and violence, he uses cunning to shape the game and ruthlessness to make his name, settling every betrayal an —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 122 Underworld Chronicles: The Road Through the Gangland 黑道往事：黑道风云路 This book tells the story of Liu Yong, the Northeast underworld boss, and his years of turmoil in the jianghu. It blends fact and fiction, hearsay and rumor, with a touch of artful historical embellishment. Told as a novel, the story is entertaining and gripping, giving you something to pass the time with after a meal while offering a glimpse of what the real jianghu is like, and how complicated human nature can be. This book is a real thrill to read! Liu Yong is a name that carries weight. Whet 469Reads—Score—14d adds
- 123 Night Rambles in Haozhou 濠州夜行录 On a rainy night in Haozhou, Qi Zheng tries to save Su Wan, a hostess at a nightclub who refuses to submit to the underworld boss Lord Long, and accidentally gets caught up in a gang feud. When a switchblade cuts through the veneer of the powerful, Qi Zheng not only puts his own life on the line but also sends his friend Wu Qi into dire straits. As they flee, Yang Fan, leader of the Three Blades Society, appears unexpectedly. What seems like a chance act of assistance is actually tied to the fie —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 124 An Underworld Odyssey: Is This Really the Right Path? 黑道征途，这条路真的对吗！ My name is Jiang Cheng. The Cheng in my name means “to become a god,” and I became the god of the underworld. The road here was grueling. My brothers and I all got the lives we wanted, but when I finally reached the top and watched my old brothers get arrested or cut down one by one, I fell into deep thought. Was this road really the right one? —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 125 Zhou Bufan’s Road to a Triumphant Rise in the Underworld 周不凡的黑道逆袭路 [No dogs are harmed in this book.] [This book is based on real events. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.] A hopeless case? A pushover anyone can pick on? When Zhou Bufan, once trampled underfoot, enters the chaotic North City covered in scars, all he wants is to keep his head down. But in this wretched world, even staying alive is too much to hope for! When fists rain down on him again, when his dignity is crushed once more, he can’t take it anymore. He won’t take it anymore! “Either live —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 126 My First Half of Life: A Bloody Underworld 我的前半生：血色江湖 [The rating just came in and it’ll keep rising, so don’t let it scare you off! This book is entirely handcrafted, and writing it isn’t easy. Hope you enjoy it!] Eight years in the army, decorated for valor, only to have his future stolen by a substitute! He moves to the city for work and tries to keep his head down, but is forced into a dead end! His brother goes to prison, and his sworn brother dies a tragic death. Good people have no way out, while the wicked run rampant! He abandons the strai 1.4kReads8.4Score13714d adds
- 127 Those Confused Days of Youth 那些年迷茫的日子 One thought can lead to heaven, another to hell. Half a life wasted, with the past too painful to look back on. I once ruled my corner of the world, and I once ended up in prison. From being adored by everyone to the desolation of today, I dedicate this book to the friends I once had. 726Reads7.1Score—14d adds
- 128 Tale of the Twin Flood Dragons 双蛟记 [Brothers bound by deep affection, sharing life and death] [A flood dragon lies hidden in deep waters. After enduring bitter hardships, it can emerge transformed into a dragon.] 693Reads7.1Score10114d adds
- 129 Oh No, This Mob Boss Can Tank a Nuclear Bomb 坏了，这黑老大能硬抗核弹 [Gangsters + No Goody-Two-Shoes + No Mindless Protagonist + Invincible in the Later Stages] Qin Dong transmigrates to the year 2004 in a parallel world, taking over the body of a small-time gangster who has done every evil imaginable and is hated by everyone. He also awakens a System that makes him stronger every time he kills someone. He can increase his strength just by devouring evil people! Infinite toughness! Infinite heat resistance! Infinite bone strength! ... Gangsters hunting him down: 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 130 Dongguan: Starting by Conquering a Powerful Woman 东莞：从征服女大佬开始 [Guan City fiction + urban underworld + period drama + passionate + ultimate wish fulfillment] A man must have courage and grit. When his cousin was carried back to Niulan Village, crippled, Chen Xiaolong accompanied his cousin's wife south to Dongguan the next day. Dongguan in 2008 was a chaotic place, crowded with all kinds of people and gangs. To protect his cousin's wife, Chen Xiaolong stepped onto a blood-soaked path through the underworld. The worlds of black, gray, and white were turbulen 30.9kReads7.8Score1.7k14d adds
- 131 Tales of Black and White: Leaping Through the Dragon Gate 黑白往事之跃龙门 (Hardcore underworld, a rise from humble beginnings, ensemble cast, smart characters, a realistic coming-of-age style, not a mindless power fantasy, not first-person! Readers under 18 should exercise caution!) How much impact can one misunderstanding have? Enough to change someone's entire life! Can someone with a damaged brain still be a gang boss? Not only can he, he can be a great one! In the early 1990s, the tide of the market economy swept across all of China, stirring up everyone just like 2.4kReads7.0Score14714d adds
- 132 Northeast China: The Tragic End of the Underworld 东北往事黑道悲情大结局 This is a fanfiction inspired by the tragic underworld saga Black Morality. It tells of the people who appeared and the events that took place in the four years after Wang Luoguo's death and before Zhao Hongbing's crew burst onto the scene. Readers of Northeast Tales Prequel: Black Morality 1, Northeast Tales Prequel: Black Morality 2, and Northeast Tales: Twenty Years of Underworld Turmoil may have wondered what happened during those four years between Black Morality and Twenty Years of Underwo 4.9kReads6.9Score27014d adds
- 133 We’ve Been Around the Block Too 哥几个也混过 We navigate society with feeling, And live our lives by loyalty. When feeling and loyalty conflict, We choose loyalty first. We walked side by side, reveling in the wild abandon of youth through those passionate years. You’re my brother, so we’ll face life and death together. 160Reads—Score—14d adds
- 134 The Evil Lord Descends into the Abyss 邪主临渊 [Underworld] [Brotherhood] [Passionate] [The author is also a fan of Uncle Qin] I was bullied all through middle school. I thought things would get better in high school, but I was still bullied. Little by little, those people led me down a road of no return... My name is Mo Daoxie. Dao as in “principle,” and Xie as in “evil.” 5Reads—Score114d adds
- 135 Nine-Headed Bird: The Sinister Nights of the Underworld 九头鸟之煞夜江湖路 There are nine-headed birds in the sky and Hubei men on the ground. The underworld isn't simply black or white. It's a deep shade of gray. The road through this world is long. How many are still walking it with me? Did I, Xu Yi, manage to make it out alive? 11Reads—Score—14d adds
- 136 A Ballad of Jianghu 江湖的悲歌 An accident took Man Cheng’s grandfather’s life, but it also introduced him to someone who would become very important to him. The incident changed the way he saw the world and set him on a path of no return. As more brothers joined him, ready to weather every hardship by his side, he found himself traveling farther and farther down that road. Looking back on his youth, some people are still by his side, some have ended up behind bars for good, and some he will never see again. 440Reads—Score—14d adds
- 137 I Dabbled in the Underworld and Accidentally Reached the Top 黑道玩票，不小心混到了巅峰 (Underworld + passion + brotherhood) You want to force me to the top of the underworld? Then I’ll give you exactly what you want! I’ve weathered bloody storms! Walked through a hail of bullets! Been betrayed by brothers! Faced life and death with indifference! Endured every vicious scheme! I, Wang Dongsheng, will tear through the darkness and shatter every plot! I’ll lead my brothers to rise on this blood-soaked road! I only ever wanted to be a nobody, but you forced me to become a hyena bristli 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 138 Li Ran’s Road Through the Underworld 李燃的江湖路 At the notice board of Longcheng No. 1 High School, Li Ran's name had sat at the top of the honor roll for years. With a pen and an exam admission ticket, he could open the door to another world. Until one evening, on a street lined with food stalls, Zhao Tianyu tore it all apart with the roar of his Porsche. His girlfriend, Ding Xiaoxi, was harassed, and his brothers were beaten. When Li Ran charged forward with a beer bottle in his hand, he never imagined that the cut across his skin would bec 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 139 1998: My Underworld Career 1998：我的黑道生涯 After returning home from Southeast Asia, he wanted to live as an ordinary man. But a local thug humiliated him, and in a fit of rage, he rose to power in the underworld. If he couldn't keep a low profile, then he'd go all out! 12.2kReads8.5Score83414d adds
- 140 The Mystery of the Golden Beans Crossing Borders 金豆子跨国疑云 The Mystery of the Golden Beans 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 141 The Jianghu: No Shore to Turn Back To 江湖：回头无岸 Years later, Cheng Yuan had left the jianghu behind and planned to become a businessman, living out the rest of his days in peace. But an old acquaintance's verdict dragged him back into the blood-soaked mire of the underworld. Once, they had ridden proudly through the world, putting brotherhood first. As the years passed, they either rode the crest of the tide or plunged into the depths. In the end, none of them could withstand the unstoppable current of the times... 23Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 142 Seventeen That Year: The Winner Takes All 那年十七之胜者为王 (Ensemble cast, passionate urban drama, school and underworld, sensible characters, major players in the later story) The bonds of youth are worth more than gold. Ride through the underworld, free to go wherever I please! What is youth? It's a byword for passion, growing up, and loyalty. I was bullied in middle school just because I was honest, well-behaved, and kindhearted. I thought it would all be behind me when I got into the best high school in the county. But on the first day of school, I 123Reads—Score10214d adds
- 143 The Black Son of Heaven 黑天子 [Realistic Underworld + Everyone Is Smart + First-Person] An unconventional workplace in a bygone era, where people deal in social connections as well as bloodshed. This “workplace” is hidden behind two veils. One is called the world beyond the law, and the other is called the underworld. My name is Chen Chunsheng, a survivor who experienced both worlds firsthand. 30Reads7.3Score—14d adds
- 144 The Years We Shared, Brothers 兄弟们的那些年 [Underworld + Ensemble Cast + Decisive Action + Dramatic Rescues + Passionate + Expansive Worldbuilding] A boy watches his parents die horrifically in a gang war, then is forced to leave school behind and descend into the bottomless abyss of the underworld. He forms a bond of life and death with four brothers, growing amid bloodshed and making his stand amid tangled grudges and passions. Through this gauntlet of flashing blades, he swears that every blood debt will be repaid in blood. 22Reads—Score214d adds
- 145 After Getting Fired, I Became the Strongest Bodyguard to a Mafia Heiress 我被开除后成黑道千金的最强打手 The rating just came in, so it’ll go up later. [For adults only. No one under 18 may read this.] [Urban + underworld + multiple heroines + all-powerful protagonist + brotherhood] Lu Fei was expelled from middle school for fighting and spent four years guarding his village... At last, he came of age! Newly 18, Lu Fei hadn’t even had time to establish his own gang in the village before the aunt he lived with kicked him out and sent him to the big city to stay with her daughter. After arriving in 55Reads6.7Score—14d adds
- 146 The Forbidden City's Ultimate Playboy: Du Zhicheng 紫禁城最强纨绔：杜之城 A story set in a parallel world. Not real, yet real. He was born a top-tier second-generation rich kid. He united the powerful second-generation crowd across the river. He traveled far and wide, face-slapping all kinds of powerful figures. At a young age, he stood at the very top. The story of Zheng Ge and Xiao Cheng still lives on in the underworld. 11.2kReads7.4Score55214d adds
- 147 Dark Glory: Twenty Years in the Underworld of Northeast China 黑暗荣耀：东北江湖二十年 1.3kReads8.8Score10614d adds
- 148 Tales of the Hong Kong and Macau Underworld 港澳黑道往事 Told from a third-person perspective and set in the otherworldly port city of Aocheng, this novel explores the social issues of a particular era in Hong Kong and Macao. It also depicts the tragic fate of the underworld and the darkness of human nature in another world. At the same time, it reflects on gang culture, showing readers the cruelty and unsustainability of life in the underworld, and the harm it causes to individuals and society. The story is entirely fictional. Please don’t imitate it 4Reads—Score—14d adds
- 149 I Can Turn My Hand to Anything: Two Horizontal Strokes and One Vertical, That's How We Get Things Done 翻手为云：两横一竖就是干 My name is Wang Xiao, and my nickname is Xiao San’er. Those who respect me call me Third Brother. This book is dedicated to the youth I’ve lost and the days I once spent running with a rough crowd. A butterfly spends its life in love with flowers, wandering with their fragrance to the ends of the earth. Through countless hardships, I have no regrets about my golden years. 240Reads—Score—14d adds
- 150 Rising Through the Underworld with My Mommy 黑道从带妈咪开始 Underworld action with supernatural powers, no saintly protagonist, no System, no invincibility, multiple heroines, and an urban setting! The characters grow and develop over time; they aren't perfect. He starts out as a street punk, and a series of events leads him to fully enter the underworld. He rises to the top step by step! If you like it, please recommend it to your friends! I'd be incredibly grateful! 1Reads8.1Score—14d adds
