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.
- 151 The Bloody Underworld: Thirty Years of Organized Crime in North China 血色江湖：华北黑道三十年 [Underworld + First Person + Period Setting] What is the underworld? It’s a place where even if you win in the end, you still feel like you’ve lost. No matter how much you gain, it can never make up for what you’ve lost. My name is Jiang Qiyao. I witnessed thirty years of the underworld’s rise and fall across North China, watching one boss after another rise to power, then fall. After thirty years in that world, I can’t call myself a good person, but at least I haven’t become completely rotten. 3kReads6.7Score13314d adds
- 152 Underworld Storm: The Iron-Blooded Road of the Martial World 黑道风云：铁血江湖路 [I'm Ma Tiejun. I'm a man of few words, but if you cross me, I'll take you on.] To make it in the underworld, you have to build up your business and earn plenty of money in the early days; shift into legitimate industries and establish yourself in the middle; then gradually clean up your act so you can walk away unscathed. The road through the underworld is hard, and few make it out alive, but I have no choice. I can only grit my teeth and keep going... Now that I'm on this ship, I'll be the fie 7.8kReads7.8Score68514d adds
- 153 The Boss of the Underworld 江湖话事人 [Not many readers, so the rating just won’t go up] One wrong turn brought me into the jianghu. Watch as I summon storms with one hand and calm them with the other. Starting from nothing, I’ll carve out a path through the jianghu. They say you become what you eat, so if you want to climb higher, there’s only one thing to eat... 2.7kReads7.8Score20314d adds
- 154 Underworld Tales: One Hand Shrouds the Heavens 黑道往事之只手遮天 [Realistic, not overpowered, no harem, no System, not reborn] A novel about the southern underworld, telling the story of several young men who avenge their brother and gradually rise to become crime bosses. Whether it is the underworld or organized crime, it is all just a game of chess, a set of rules, fraught with danger and human cunning, and driven by power and desire. Behind the bustling city lies a shadowy underworld filled with darkness and desire, where power and money intertwine, and te 413Reads8.6Score—14d adds
- 155 Underworld Storm: Southeast Asia 黑道风云之东南风云录！ In the 1990s, the southeastern provinces were a chaotic mix, with criminal gangs flourishing everywhere. They controlled the underworld, disregarded the law and morality, and kept crime rates high… In Min City, Minzhou Province, Li Tianju is forced back onto the road of no return after getting out of prison. He rises like a storm, crushing all challengers until he becomes a crime boss in his own right! (This book has no harem, no formulaic tropes, no invincible protagonist, and no filler. It’s h 140Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 156 The King’s Battleground: Gangster School 黑道校园之王的战场 I used to be a weakling who was bullied at school, living every day in darkness and fear. Then I learned that my brother, who had cut off contact with me and died in a car accident, had been the leader of one of the biggest gangs in the city: the Golden Dragon Gang! And somehow, I gained the means to control the entire gang, becoming its hidden mastermind. From that moment on, I swore to make everyone who had bullied me pay dearly. I would use the power my brother had built to clean up the schoo 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 157 Skybreaker: Born Stubborn 擎天之生来倔强 [Urban + action-packed + youth] From the city’s nightlife to the front lines of the war on drugs, he uses underworld tactics to serve his country and people! In the end, he burns the drug dens to the ground and etches his bloodstained underworld legend into the backbone of his people! 27Reads—Score—14d adds
- 158 The Bad Years of Youth 2: Wang Hao Returns to China 不良之年少轻狂2：王浩回国篇 [First-Person] + [Urban Underworld] + [Fan-Fiction Sequel] + [Humorous Style] + [Not Mindless] The two heroes of Beiyuan are both indispensable. During my year and a half in Arabia, I made a name for myself all over again, but a phone call from Sister Nannan left me no choice but to return to that familiar place... One day, Yuan Shao’s Forest Bar was suddenly trashed by a gang of mysterious masked men. And it wasn’t the only place. Yu Chengfei also disappeared while investigating, so I boarded a 4.2kReads—Score18214d adds
- 159 Underworld Storm: The Uncrowned King 黑道风云：无冕王侯 (First person, period setting, underworld) A big brother? A big brother isn't some glamorous, all-powerful emperor who does whatever he pleases. A big brother is just the guy who picks up the tab. The underworld? It's brotherly loyalty, deceit and betrayal. It's a place that strips the tenderness from gentle-hearted men and hardens them, and turns green young boys into grizzled old gangsters. My name is Zhao Qingfeng. I've been around the underworld, and I was once a big brother! 37.3kReads9.2Score3.9k14d adds
- 160 The Jianghu: I Am the Kingpin 江湖：我即为枭 [Underworld] [Brothers United] [Mind-Bending] [Passionate and Thrilling] Three years in prison couldn't dull my edge. My name is Wang Xiao. I spent three years behind bars for offending a powerful figure. After my release, I returned to my old stomping grounds with my brothers and the skills my master taught me. Some want to trample me underfoot. Some want to stab me in the back. And my enemies, lurking in the shadows, are watching me like hawks. But my life is no longer something just anyone ca 114Reads—Score—14d adds
- 161 Sons and Daughters of the Jianghu: That Midnight Sun 江湖儿女：那一轮午夜的太阳 The rules of midnight are a way of life much like the law of the jungle. At midnight, what you see may be the moon, but in their eyes, it is their sun. Set against the real-life underworld of the 1990s, this story follows Zhou Shenghua's life in the jianghu. 18Reads—Score—14d adds
- 162 Underworld Kingpin: From Medical Student to Emperor of the Underworld 黑道枭雄：从医学生到地下皇帝 He was once the medical school’s brightest star, wielding a scalpel and dreaming of saving lives, until his sister’s serious illness shattered everything. A hundred thousand yuan for her life-saving treatment. Three months of compounding interest turned it into a bloodsucking debt of three hundred thousand. The moment a steel pipe smashed his kneecap, Cheng Mo saw the truth through the debt collectors’ sneers: in this world, kindness is a knife that cuts to the bone. Either you devour others, or 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 163 The Bad Boy of the City 都市坏少年 “When a righteous bloodline flows through the veins of darkness, how should a person choose their path?” This dark realist novel blends coming-of-age, family ethics, power struggles, and an epic tale of the underworld. Its central conflict is that of a delinquent student who rises to become an underworld king, yet comes from the most righteous of families. The story explores fractured identity, the paradoxes of fate, and the possibility of redemption. At its heart is the coexistence of light and 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 164 The Underworld: A Fight for the Blood Road 黑社会：血路争锋 In the late 1990s, the waters of the Hai River in Jinmen City carried a stench that wouldn't wash away. They lapped over the dock's bluestone slabs and soaked the mud-caked trousers of Lin Shen. The sixteen-year-old boy huddled in the shadow of a shipping container, clutching a brown paper bag. Inside were three packs of cigarettes he'd managed to “borrow” from a cargo ship that day. They were tribute for Brother Hu, the third-in-command of the Shunfa Gang, and his only bargaining chip for survi 2Reads—Score—14d adds
- 165 Big Brother of the Streets: Starting as a Demobilized Soldier 社会大哥：从退伍军人开始 My name is Wang Yi. Wang as in “king,” Yi as in “number one”! My big brother told me there are three essentials to making it in the underworld: being ruthless, knowing when to endure, and having a plan. But he never told me that life in the underworld would mean blood and tears, death and farewells! Countless bones pile up in the wilderness, and the law's net is wide enough to catch every hoodlum. Of the countless gangsters out there, only one or two ever make something of themselves! And I'm on 8.2kReads8.7Score80914d adds
- 166 King of the Underworld: I Rule with Unmatched Power 黑道之王：权势滔天我为王 [Urban + underworld + feel-good power fantasy + big shot + no System + two heroines + mildly risqué] This novel is also known as "After Storming the Prison, I Became the Underworld Emperor" and "The Underworld King Who Rose from the Dark Zone", the first part. This is the second part and can be read on its own. Two chapters are all it takes to get your fix. Qin Shiyi came from the Dark Zone. He brought his brothers to Pearl City in District Two, hoping to make something of themselves. By fightin 833Reads7.0Score—14d adds
- 167 Southwest Storm: Turmoil on the Black Sea 西南风云：黑海沉浮 When I was eighteen, I met someone who led me down a certain path. Some describe this path with the idealistic word “jianghu.” But the jianghu you actually find yourself in is better summed up by a rather funny saying: “After all this time, I’ve made no friends, only learned lessons.” My name is Lin Dongxia, and I’ve learned my fair share of lessons. 33kReads9.3Score3.2k14d adds
- 168 The Peerless Mad Dragon Who Defies Heaven 胜天半子之绝世狂龙 [Decisive and ruthless] [No do-gooder protagonist] [Realistic urban setting] [Fast-paced] [No dragging things out] [Satisfying underworld story] [No System] [Not invincible] Not invincible!!! Not invincible!!! Not invincible!!! Everything comes down to hard work grounded in reality. A must-read for fans of underworld stories~ An urban youth leads a band of brothers who would live and die for him, rising from having nothing to the pinnacle of the underworld and forging a legendary empire~ The mal 56Reads—Score—14d adds
- 169 The Dragon Rises in the Martial World: A Father's Promise 龙起江湖·父诺 The Dragon Rises in the Martial World: A Father's Promise 12Reads—Score—14d adds
- 170 The Women I Met in Dongguan Back in the Day 那些年，我在东莞遇到的女人们 [Urban underworld + no System + nostalgia + beauties + power struggles + ruthless action + pure wish fulfillment, no self-torture] Back in Dongguan in 2004, he rises from bodyguard to nightclub beauties to the godfather of Dongguan's underworld. Li Zhan moves to Dongguan for work and meets A-Zhen, who works at a nightclub. After an unexpected incident, Li Zhan drives away a customer harassing A-Zhen, only to find himself at odds with the local underworld. To survive, he's forced into the crimina 21kReads8.6Score1.5k14d adds
- 171 1998: My Bloody Era! 1998：我的血色年代！ When I hit the streets, I rely on just three things! Being ruthless, having money, and having tough brothers! These are passionate, fiery times! These are times when tough guys are everywhere! The moment I picked up a three-edged military dagger, I was destined to spend my life battling through the underworld! Don't talk to me about big shots in the underworld. That won't work on me! Welcome to my story of life on the streets! 6.3kReads8.5Score45314d adds
- 172 Bandit City 匪城 [Not a wish-fulfillment power fantasy, and the protagonist isn't invincible: a comeback story + underworld conflict + a rock-bottom start + personality reversal + ruthless decisiveness + brains and brawn + ruthless bandits and war criminals abound] I'm Shen Liu. Ever since my father was imprisoned for seriously injuring someone when I was seven, I've endured humiliation at every turn. Then a girl appeared, and my life began to change... Once again, they knocked me down. As they unzipped their —Reads—Score2.2k14d adds
- 173 Heading South in 1996: I Take My Young Aunt and Conquer the Underworld 九六南下：我带小姑奶闯江湖 [Period] [Fleeing an arranged marriage] [Heading south for work] [Passionate underworld] [Multiple heroines] New Year’s Day, 1996. Chen Yaozu, a poor lad from southeastern Henan, flees south overnight with his young grandaunt, who is being forced into marriage. As soon as they arrive in the Pearl River Delta, his classmate’s cousin kicks him out of her rental, leaving him homeless. He steps in to help someone, only to be hunted by gangsters. At the factory, he’s bullied, and people even set thei 802Reads—Score10114d adds
- 174 From School Bully to Big Shot, I Fought My Way to the Top 从校霸到大佬，一路杀疯了 The rating is still low, but it will rise as more people rate it. Read without worry: the characters won’t suddenly become stupid. [Underworld fiction + play the pig to eat the tiger + master strategist + resource consolidation] Lin Feng was born the second young master of an underworld family, yet he was determined to conquer the world through his wits. He gathered his brothers, advanced step by step, and struck decisively. Just as everyone thought he was aiming to become the school’s top bully 93Reads7.3Score—14d adds
- 175 Tales from the Lower Streets (Complete in Three Volumes) 下街往事（全三册） An unforgettable memory of raw courage, a brutally honest chronicle of human nature: sharp, wild, and burning hot. The shock forged from love, hate, and passion swells through every line, leaving you breathless. The novel’s protagonist spends his entire childhood surrounded by frenzied violence and bloodshed. The decade of disaster leaves an indelible mark on him, leading him to believe that violence is the best way to protect himself and that he can make something of his life through force. Ins 153Reads9.0Score—14d adds
- 176 Black Panther: The Bloodstained Throne 黑豹：血色王座 [Black Gangster Revenge Thriller | Two Powerful Leads Raised Together | Strong Female Lead’s Growth | Ensemble Cast | Love Triangle Chaos] At twenty, she became the youngest female gang leader in Dong Province. But her story began in a corner of Dawnlight Orphanage, where Xiao Mo gave her a name. “A smile that can beguile Yangcheng and captivate Xia Cai. I want you to bloom into the most dazzling flower in the world.” She thought they would be together forever, until he fell into the hands of B 6Reads—Score—14d adds
- 177 The 11th Book by Qu Shen 去甚第11本书 That year, the train bound for Guancheng became the turning point that changed his life. No one could have guessed that from then on, he would set out on a road of no return, one all his own. Years later, there was only one thing he wanted to say to that city... 34Reads—Score—14d adds
- 178 Underworld King: From Fool to Tycoon 江湖枭雄：从傻子到首富 “No jumping into the river here. Violators will be fined 500 yuan!” From that moment on, Li Dongliang’s fate changes completely... [High-spirited Martial World] + [Decisive and Ruthless] + [Genius-Level Intellect] + [Fast-Paced] 47Reads—Score214d adds
- 179 Breaking Into Pengcheng at the Millennium: I Rule the World with the Eight Unorthodox Schools 千禧闯鹏城，我靠外八门只手遮天 [Urban Underworld] [Period Setting] [Outsider Sects] [Traditional Occult Arts] [Wish Fulfillment] [No Protagonist Abuse] [Consistent Updates] In the spring of 2000, Wu Jiuchuan arrives in Pengcheng, a city overflowing with gold, carrying the secret skills of the Eight Outsider Traditions. Back then, Pengcheng was overflowing with opportunities, but also with rules. For an outsider hoping to find his footing, it was harder than scaling the heavens. But no one could have guessed that this young ma 83Reads—Score10614d adds
- 180 After Prison, I Became the King of the Underworld 出狱后，我成了地下王者 One accidental assault completely turned the wheel of my fate! By the time I returned from prison, a path to kingship lay before me! It seemed to have been waiting for me all along, awaiting my awakening! I set out on the journey to the very top... 20Reads—Score—14d adds
- 181 The Martial World: The Wild Heavenly Fragrance 江湖：混世天香 The martial world is about both fighting and human relationships. If you know how to get by, you can live in luxury, surrounded by beauty. I always thought I was an honest kid. People bullied me from elementary school all the way through vocational school. A guy who was five feet two inches tall had me, at six feet one inch, pinned to the ground and rubbing my face in it. It wasn’t until my biological father came to take me home that I found out how much power and how many connections I had behi 13.8kReads8.4Score1.8k14d adds
- 182 I'm a Lawyer! Bound to the Strongest Underworld System from the Start 我，侓师！开局绑定最强黑道系统 [Reborn in 2008] + [No Illegal Activity] + [Misunderstood as a Big Shot] + [Business] He was reborn and bound to a System. Chen Mo thought his life story would be about rising to become a tycoon and dominating the city. But the System actually forces him to become a gangster? Chen Mo is stunned. Getting involved with the underworld these days? Wouldn’t that land him behind bars? To keep the System from erasing him, he has no choice but to grit his teeth and play along. Recruiting underlings? Sur 408Reads6.6Score11014d adds
- 183 The Jianghu of Those Years 那些年的江湖 Quiet! Class is about to begin!!! At Uncle Two's shout, the hall and the streets packed with people fell completely silent. Just then, the young crowd parted, making way without being told. Wen Hua walked through, hearing his brothers call out to him as he passed. “Brother Hua!” “Greetings, Brother Hua.” 14Reads—Score—14d adds
- 184 Urban Mad Dragon: A True Dragon Fears No River Crossing 都市狂龙：不是猛龙不过江 [Business Warfare + Powerhouse + Underworld + Livestreaming + No System + No Rebirth] Zhao Yichen, the undisputed king of Feicheng's underworld, is hunted by two mysterious forces… He is on the brink of death, lying in a pool of blood, when Xiao Mo, general manager of Brilliant Media, rescues him. From then on, Zhao Yichen conceals his identity and takes a job as a lowly security guard at Brilliant Media. After the Three Little Animals set them up, Brilliant Media is caught in a scandal over 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 185 The Hidden Blade Beneath the Red Wall 红墙下的暗刃 Zhao Ye, a scion of a prominent revolutionary family, is serving in the army. While escorting a fallen comrade’s body, he gets into a dispute between his comrade’s younger sister in Nanjing and a Japanese exchange student. Zhao Ye steps in and hits the Japanese student, and from that moment on, his fate is rewritten... 17Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 186 Hellwolf 地狱战狼 Ye Fei has one top-secret mission: unite the underworld! How will Ye Fei go from a discharged soldier to leading a group of trusted followers and climbing to the top of the underworld, step by step? There is a world of crime, and there is a world of law. If Ye Fei unites the underworld, will he upset the balance of the world as it is now? Will he threaten the interests of certain people? The world isn't simply black or white. There is white in the black, and black in the white! Watch Ye Fei face 340Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 187 A Major Case in the Northeast: The Dark Road 东北大案，黑路 This novel follows the entire story of a violent gang led by Wang Xin in Northeast China, from its rise in the 1980s, through its transformation, to its eventual downfall in the early 21st century… 17.4kReads7.8Score1.2k14d adds
- 188 Black Ice 黑冰 In 1993, in Shenyang’s Tiexi District, mechanic Xu Mo is an honest man, until local gangster Zhao Hu comes knocking and one of his men slaps Xu Mo in the face in front of everyone. His master told him to stay on the straight and narrow before he died, but this world won’t let him live that way. He turns to four brothers: an orphan, a veteran, a laid-off worker, and a petty crook. Five men crushed to the very bottom of society stack their hands together in a rundown repair shop. “Hurt one of us, 448Reads—Score—14d adds
- 189 Heir to the Underworld: Xia Yu of Tianmen 黑道继承者之天门夏宇 Xia Yu, originally named Li Tian, is 18 and a member of Tianmen, a gang company in Haizhou. After offending someone he should never have crossed, he is forced to flee to a special school in Nanwu under his new identity, Xia Yu, accompanied by two loyal underlings. But this school is an educational institution in name only: in reality, it is a training ground where Nanwu’s four major gangs groom their successors, and the gangs’ junior leaders vie for power behind the scenes. Reborn with the hard- 1.1kReads—Score—14d adds
- 190 You Beat Up an Entire Street, and You Call Yourself a Pretty Boy? 砍翻一条街，你管这叫小鲜肉？ He reigns supreme over the underworld and rules the city! A champion fighter discharged from the army comes to the city. Faced with the oppression of the powerful, he stands proud and begins a forceful counterattack! Using an unnamed cultivation technique, he unifies the underworld’s many factions, thrives in both the legal and criminal worlds, and becomes an underground leader feared across the region. See how Han Yu foils conspiracies, defies the powerful, and carries out world-shaking deeds i 271Reads—Score—14d adds
- 191 Tales of the Underworld in Dongguan 莞城江湖往事 The jianghu isn’t a world of free-spirited heroes, revenge, and fine clothes atop spirited steeds. It’s a filthy, chaotic reality twisted by darkness! I, Zhang Xingheng, entered the jianghu to play the game of schemes and use my brains. Everything in the world was part of my calculations, including myself! So, you ask why I succeeded? Because every big shot in the jianghu fell victim to my schemes! They fell amid blades, guns, and blood! From the moment I stepped into the jianghu, every big shot 11.4kReads6.8Score65114d adds
- 192 Black and White Rule: Overseas Storms 2 黑白为王2海外风云 (No brainless antics + Urban + Underworld + Passionate + Brotherhood + No Harem + Faux-Realism + Feel-Good Power Fantasy + Overseas Gang Life) The official sequel to the hard-hitting, realistic underworld epic Three Fingers! Black and White Rule 2: Overseas Storm is now underway! Leaving the underworld of their homeland behind, they set foot on unfamiliar foreign soil. Beneath the surface, the Mekong River region seethes with undercurrents, while cross-border forces from Hong Kong and Macau are 19Reads—Score10714d adds
- 193 The Big Winner 大赢家 As the old saying goes: nine out of ten gamblers get cheated; the only way to win is not to gamble. Many people don’t believe it, thinking it’s just a stock phrase used to warn gamblers. As a professional cardsharp, I can tell you with complete certainty: every gambling game is rigged, and the tricks run deep. The moment you step into the game, you’re already meat on a cardsharp’s chopping block. In the story that follows, I’ll expose one scam after another, and unravel every layer of the trap! 399Reads6.8Score—14d adds
- 194 Underworld: The City's Dragon Overlord 黑道江湖：都市枭龙 [Urban] [Rousing] [Male-Oriented] [Feel-Good] [Urban Life] After two years in prison, today is the first day I’m free! I grew up in an orphanage and have my own household registration, but no connections. The moment I decided to make my way in the underworld, I set foot in a turbulent era and began building a towering legacy! 57Reads—Score—14d adds
- 195 Objections Overruled 反对无效 [Power fantasy + crime + passion + Hong Kong action movies + no saintly protagonists + no melodrama] Woohoo! Tell me, does this feel good or what? In a dark world, they’ll defy the world and pay an unimaginable price, shouldering the burden of keeping the world’s order intact. (This novel is entirely the author’s own original creation. Do not learn from or imitate it.) He Jifeng: “I’ve got plenty of people. It’s fine.” Yao Zixuan: “I’ve got plenty of connections. I’m not afraid.” Chen Yi: “I’ve 3Reads—Score—14d adds
- 196 The Reckless Youth 不良之狂妄青春 “Smash anything you see! Hit anyone you see! Flatten No. 6 High School!” I’m Zhang Ling. I’d only just started high school when I crossed the school’s resident delinquents. At first, I fought back just to protect myself. But as one problem after another came along, it wasn’t so easy to walk away. Before I knew it, I’d become the top delinquent in the school... 18Reads—Score—14d adds
- 197 Legend of the Black Flag 黑旗传说 A bloody journey through the underworld, alongside a band of passionate young men who live for vengeance and loyalty. Who says the modern city has no underworld? When Wei Tianyi was born, strange signs appeared in the heavens, and his mother died in childbirth. A wandering fortune-teller declared that he was born with the Three Extinctions fate. His father feared being dragged down by him and fled to another land. Wei Tianyi was raised by his grandmother, and after she died, he and the brothers 14Reads—Score—14d adds
- 198 Shadow of the Black Wolf 黑狼影 Do you believe in wolves that live in the light without fear? People say light can cover the whole world, so how can the world have shadows? And in those shadows, are the ones who live there wolves or people? 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 199 Ten Years Later, I Became a Gang Boss One Step at a Time 十年后，我一步一步成为帮派大佬 Ten years ago, I, Lei Zhen, was nothing but a good-for-nothing whom everyone despised... But remember this: You may look down on an old man with white hair, but never look down on a young man just because he’s poor... Ten years later, a mysterious gang quietly rose from the shadows of the city. Its leader, Lei Zhen, used his exceptional leadership and iron-fisted methods to carve out a path for his men through the city. But their rise drew the covetous attention of other powers, and one bloody c —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 200 The River-Crosser: A Fugitive 过江龙：亡命之徒 His parents died in a mining disaster, and he was forced out of work. Wang Yue only wanted to tend his barbecue stall and live quietly and honestly with his brothers. But the son of a powerful family kept pushing him, refusing to leave him even a way to survive! With nowhere left to retreat, he would retreat no further! (This book has a gritty style and realistic plot. Proceed with caution.) 55kReads8.2Score3.9k14d adds
