Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 65: Why should a party member fear organized crime?

“It was not because I was holding back. Your Clear Jin was already at the pinnacle stage and your ape style movements were far too nimble. In a battle of attrition, my Hidden Jin would only hit air, meaning the winner would not be clear.”

Wang Chao’s Hidden Jin was with the tiger stance was far too strong!

Qin Maojiao’s chest had been broken with the Hidden Jin attacking his inner organs. Even his heart and lungs had been ruptured, killing him instantly. Even an Immortal from Daoist scriptures would not be able to survive such a blow.

In truth, both fighters had equivalent skill and movement, the only difference was that Wang Chao had one more weapon which was Hidden Jin.

If Qin Maojiao had learned about this earlier, then he would have been more collected and evasive during the battle. Taking advantage of his nimble movements to defend himself from Wang Chao’s attacks, it would be truly difficult for Wang Chao to land a hit on him then.

It was only unfortunate that Wang Chao knew Qin Maojiao nearly inside out while Qin Maojiao knew nothing about him. As Sun Tzi once said, ‘Know yourself, know your enemy and you will emerge victorious in every battle.” To not know the enemy was to have a great chance of a miscalculation.

26-27 was the golden age of a person’s life, but unfortunately, many a persons would often die on this platform while enjoying that golden age.

Seeing the dead corpse of Qin Maojiao, Wang Chao couldn’t help but think of Lin Lijun who had died by a gun; the both of them had their eyes wide open even in death.

“You did not die by gunfire. As a person of the fist, you died by the fist. This is an appropriate death.” With a silent sigh, he squatted down and closed Qin Maojiao’s eyes.

“It is very possible that I too will die on a stage in this manner.”

The organizer had been announcing the results at this time, resulting in four or five black suited men running down to glare vehemently at Wang Chao.

“Please follow the rules of this place, if there are any disputes, please come to the back to resolve them.” The organizer’s face seemed to have instantly turned to ice.

When someone died in the ring, the rules had mandated that no vendetta could be called.

Immediately, all of the officers there had taken out their stun batons and plastic shields.

From this, it could be seen that the security guards were all from the riot squad.

“Hurry up and go, let us deal with this aftermath.” At the same time, Lu Chengwen had some people run up to the platform and provide a protective ring around Wang Chao.

Qin Maojiao was an extremely well known person. Even though he had died on the ring, the repercussions would be huge.

Right now in the eyes of Lu Chengwen, Wang Chao was a money tree yet to be shaken. No matter what, he had to protect him.

“Hmmm? Boss Bai, is your Skymail Company dissatisfied with losing?” Lu Chengwen’s triangular shaped eyes had gleamed with the light of a Schadenfreude as he looked at the well groomed man down below.

This middle aged man was the boss of Skymail Moving Company, Bai Yong. Both the Skymail Moving Company and Daxing Company were half white and half black companies. That had meant they had constantly tried to undermine the other for business many times.

Because of Wu Yingda’s grandfather’s order to not cause any trouble, a competition had been held in order to resolve this conflict. Bai Yong and invested a million RMB in order to invite Xu Zhen’s disciple Qin Maojiao. This him, Bai Yong had felt extremely confident and had even laid a three million RMB bet.

But unbeknownst to him, an expert of an unknown background had managed to kill Qin Maojiao. If it was just another person that had lost, then the situation would merely be a snowstorm, but with it being Qin Maojiao of all people, there was now a blizzard along with the snowstorm. Not only had his funds taken a hit, but the most important thing was that Qin Maojiao was one of the personal disciples of Xu Zhen. With this disciple dead, he didn’t know just how he would be able to pay collateral.

Lu Chengwen had known about this sticky situation Bai Yong was in and so he had taken delight at his pains.

“How shameless of you, Wen. You shouldn’t celebrate just yet! That expert of yours should make sure he walks carefully, lest he might trip.”

This venue was under the supervision of Wu Yingda’s grandfather. With regulations that were strictly enforced, no matter how gutsy Bai Yong, he didn’t dare to cause any trouble here.

Despite the Skymail Company having several hundred million in total assets, it was still a drop in the bucket in comparison to Wu Yingda’s grandfather. All it would take was a single sigh from Wu Yingda, and the Skymail Moving Company would go bankrupt in three days while Bai Yong’s body would be stuffed unceremoniously into a body bag and thrown into the Pearl River.

So in this place, all he could do was bark loudly and plan silently.

“Take the body, we’re leaving.” Bai Yong spat out vehemently before leaving. It was best for him to leave now so he could conspire his revenge in peace.

“We’re going to. Let’s deal with whatever later.” Lu Chengwen knew of what Bai Yong was planning. The both of them were of the same nature, so he understood him well. If they waited too long, then there was a good chance of them being ambushed on the way home and killed.

Other than the bets in the competition, Wu Yingda didn’t care at all for it.

“Hold on.”

Just as Wang Chao was about to walk out, the startled voice of a woman could be heard.

Lu Chengwen turned to look only to see Chen Bin sitting right in front of a glass table while she tapped a finger on it.

“Miss Chen.” At the mention of Chen Bin, Lu Chengwen had given a bright smile, “Is there anything you need? You must know of Bai Yong’s sinister nature and our hurry to go…”

“That’s fine, you can go. I want to talk to him.” Chen Bin spoke with a cold look in her eyes. She had been like a high ranking official with a hint of authority in her speech.

“That is…” Lu Chengwen was afraid of offending a princess of the criminal world. The Singaporean Chenshi Corporation had an influence that simply could not be ignored in the Southeastern Asia region. They were practically the overlords of the criminal world, but despite their power, it did not quite reach the Guangdong area where Wu Yingda controlled. However, there were rumors that said the coastal princelings had joined with the Chenshi Corporation.

Taichi master Chen Aiyang and Wu Yingda were also very good friends, even Chen Aiyang’s sister Chen Bin had come and went as she pleased here.

High ranking officials often liked being friends with martial artists so they could learn martial arts themselves and strengthen their bodies. No matter what point in history, this was a true fact.

The more amazing fact was that Chen Bin was also a Taichi master like her elder brother.

No matter the fact, Lu Chengwen could not go or even speak against her.

“We’re leaving, after you’re done speaking with sister Chen, head outside. When we get back I’ll give you your money.” Lu Chengwen spoke to Wang Chao before leaving with the others.

“Your martial arts has reached the stage of Hidden Jin, making you an expert. Why have you fallen to such a level of underground fighting?” Chen Bin looked at Wang Chao before asking.

Wang Chao had known that Chen Bin was the princess of the Chenshi Corporation in Singapore and was also Chen Aiyang’s younger sister. He had been especially interested in her while the organization had placed both the princelings and the Chenshi Corporation has high interest targets.

Furthermore, Chen Bin’s skin was rather smooth and unblemished. Even her temples were bulging out by quite the amount, something that could not be hidden by her hair. A sign like this was proof of her martial arts reaching an advanced stage.

“If it was a male, then I’d be able to find out just how strong his martial arts is by pressing hands. But unfortunately a female’s anatomy is slightly different.”

Listening to a martial artist’s muscle by pressing hands was a very common occurrence without fighting. But since Chen Bin was a female, he didn’t dare hastily try to test her strength.

“Martial arts cannot feed a mouth.” Wang Chao had replied in response.

“That much is true, you must be from mainland China, there are experts hidden everywhere there.” Chen Bin nodded her head. “You may or may not know this, but you have brought trouble upon yourself today. Protecting your own life may be hard, who knows if you’ll have a chance to fight again for money in the future?”

“I knew that guy wasn’t any ordinary person, but if I were to hold back in that fight, then I would die instead. There was no other alternative.”

“It’s quite inconvenient to talk here, follow me.” Chen Bin spoke as she stood up.

“Miss Chen, what is your command?” A person called out in a hurry.

“Is there a place to rest?”

“There is, I’ll take you there straight away.”

With a bow, the man began to lead the way. In a moment, he had taken Chen Bin to a peaceful lounge on the second floor.

There was four bodyguards following behind Chen Bin.

But what Wang Chao had realized was that while these bodyguards were strong looking, they were not internal practitioners.

“Stand guard by the door.”

There was a large sofa in the middle of the splendid looking lounge. Sitting down on it, Chen Bin immediately ordered her bodyguards to stand watch outside. After seeing Wang Chao sizing up her bodyguards, Chen Bin couldn’t help but laugh.

“They’ve learned how to use a gun, each one of them are snipers infact. With today’s society, even the most strongest martial artists can only use martial arts to gamble or just for exercise. If one truly wants to kill, then one has to use guns.”

Chen Bin’s words had an air of sophistication to them. It was neither cold or warm, but the air of a noble could be distinctly heard.

That was when Wang Chao realized her presence was similar to that of Tang Zichen. But upon closer inspection, there was still differences to be seen.

Tang Zichen had been naturally warm and had treated him like a dear brother to be loved. Chen Bin on the other hand had often used overly elaborate prose to talk and had even a tint of aggression in her voice.

For one to be able to use Hidden Jin, one must be calm and have a warm temperament with a reserved personality. Being an internal practitioner changes one’s personality after all.

If one had an arrogant, violent, weak or even vulgar personality, they would not be able to reach the pinnacle of martial arts.

But arrogance was an indicator of haughtiness and not unyielding. A person couldn’t be arrogant, but that didn’t mean to say they couldn’t be unyielding.

“Martial arts can only be used for exercise or gambling…” Although he wasn’t willing to concede that fact, even Wang Chao himself understood that Chen Bin’s words were simply a truth of the world.

“Sit down.” Chen Bin pointed at the sofa and leisurely poured out some drinking water from the pitcher.

Giving a quick thanks, Wang Chao took the cup offered to him.

Suddenly, a teaseful glint could be seen in Chen Bin’s eyes. The very moment Wang Chao had grabbed the cup, she had tilted her center of gravity and instantly shot her forefinger out like a sword towards his wrist.

This move had been extraordinarily fast and came without warning.

Wang Chao hadn’t been able to listen to her muscles to detect her attack. Chen Bin was also the younger sister of Taichi master Chen Aiyang, making her a master of Taichi as well! With a clever usage of her Jin, she had been able to issue power with agility and power.

“Ah, how fast!”

Wang Chao couldn’t even think of anything in response to this attack. With a twist of his wrist while his thumb and forefinger held onto the glass, his middle finger shot out.

Bang! There was a sudden clap of thunder.

When Wang Chao’s middle finger extended outwards, there was a crushing sound.

Back when Zhao Jun’s men had injured him with their axes, Wang Chao had learned how to use chopsticks like a sword from Zhang Tong. From her teachings, he had learned the sword style from the “Sword Immortal”, Li Jinglin.

After those days of deep thinking, Wang Chao had learned the 13 powers of the sword and integrated it with Taichi, Xingyi, and Bagua. Thus, he had learned to use the sword powers using his fingers.

When the two fingers clashed together, Chen Bin’s finger had instantly bent, causing her to recoil backwards.

“Sword techniques?”

Growing even more curious, Chen Bin continued to move. Straightening her vertebrae, her arm instantly began to issue power before bounding for Wang Chao.

Her arm had been like a bendable spear that bent and spiralled with great power.

Her fist had been loosely clenched like a hollow weight.

The arm had came bounding forward with a crisp sound that rung through the air.

“Taichi Hammer Jin!”

Wang Chao had instantly realized this was the way of the hammer blow in Taichi. He had long since learned from sis Chen many methods like the Parry and Punch.

Tang Zichen had made mention of Taichi’s way of the hammer in the True Record of Guoshu. But while Wang Chao had read and understood it, he had never practiced it.

Martial Arts had been pure and full of vitality. Even in Bagua or Xingyi, Wang Chao didn’t feel as if he had perfected either styles. When it came to Xingyi, he had only been proficient in the dragon, snake, tiger, horse, eagle, and monkey stances. The chicken, sparrow, bear and the other stances were still at a ‘proficient’ level only.

Jack of all trades, master of none. This was a principle he knew well.

Chen Bin’s fist had looked soft, but there was power hidden within it. The concept of Yin and Yang was embodied within the fist, making it hard to defend against. Knowing that, Wang Chao could not hold the cup and defend himself at the same time. Extending his arm, he went into a defensive guard.

Bang! The cup smashed onto the floor and shattered into several pieces. At the same time, both hand and arm had made contact with each other.

Leaning backwards slightly, Wang Chao immediately dug into the ground with all 10 of his toes, stabilizing himself to the ground.

The sofa Chen Bin was sitting on had a creaking sound before it had started to slide against the ground backwards with an ear screeching sound.

The two hands made contact with each other, the both of them making note of how strong the other was. Neither side had used Hidden Jin since that was not used to compare strength, but to kill.

After colliding with each other, Chen Bin had already stood up from the sofa while Wang Chao had assumed a half squatting position to her side.

When the two met, they had immediately tested the other person’s strength.

Chen Bin had tried listening to Wang Chao’s muscles while issuing power herself. Her arm hair had stiffened and rose with each second.

Wang Chao’s muscles had loosened while his pores tightened.

Taichi’s art of pushing hands and Xingyi’s art of twisting hands. Both were methods of evaluating the other person’s Jin.

Chen Bin was making an official conclusion on how strong Wang Chao was and how to categorize him.

At the same time, Wang Chao was trying to learn more about Chen Bin’s skill.

As she advanced while Wang Chao retreated, Wang Chao would later advanced while Chen Bin retreated. After several attempts to evaluate each other, Chen Bin had finally taken back her hand without an expression on her face.

Wang Chao had then done the same.

“Your martial arts isn’t bad, it’s not lower than the Three Tigers of Guangdong even. No wonder Qin Maojiao wasn’t a match for you. But even the better martial artists fear guns. You’ve brought trouble on yourself today, so you should be careful in the future. If you truly can’t live on like that, then call this number. Dark Fist. First is the word for ‘dark’, then comes the word for ‘fist’. Even if your fist improves, you will still learn to fear this ‘dark’ word.”

Taking out a name card, she tossed it at Wang Chao.

Clearly, Chen Bin was trying to attract Wang Chao to her. But with the Chenshi Corporation being a major company, she had to select any foreigners wisely. Chen Bin wouldn’t immediately let Wang Chao come to her however.

“He should first experience the suffering of the underworld. After knowing the dangers, he’ll be dead set on asking for my help.”

This was Chen Bin’s plan.

Watching Chen Bin walk away out of sight, Wang Chao began to laugh. Silently fingering the golden name card in his pockets, he began to mutter to himself.

“Government…and bandit…I am the government, you are the bandit…just how would the government fear the bandit?’

“What’s more, I am a party member, just how could the party member fear the criminal underworld?”