Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 158: Standing Still Without Moving to Dodge A Bullet

“En, your eldest brother can act in place of your father. When the time comes for apprenticeship, your brother will do.” When it came to the rules of old, Wang Chao didn’t adhere to it as strictly as others. Hearing Huo Ling’ers words had only prompted him to respond in agreement.

Huo Ling’er’s face had looked a little embarrassed. Reddening in the face, she looked as if she wanted to say something but was too hesitant to.

“Oh? Was there something you wanted to ask?” Wang Chao could guess what her expression had meant.

“Well….my brother knew that I was studying martial arts, but I didn’t tell him about you, master Wang. He found me a very well known expert, so me telling him about this now will be a bit embarrassing.”

“Is that right?” Wang Chao had been surprised as he realized the complications of the matter, “Is he stealing my disciple? Or is this a timely coincidence? It has to be coincidental, I can’t take this too leisurely.”

In the old age of the Wulin, when two martial artists found the same person they wanted to take in, there would always be a fight that would break out that neither side could back away from. If they did, then their name would be tarnished in a way similar to losing in a battle.

Many years ago, martial artist Du Xinwu and Shaolin martial artist Liu Baichuan had once fought each other for the sake of a disciple.

“Who is that well known martial artist?” Wang Chao asked.

“I heard it was someone named Nguyễn Hồng Tú, he practices Muay Thai and Yoga and is well known in Thailand.” Huo Ling’er knew that much and had been worried. “Wait, master, don’t tell me you’re going to fight him? You’re both men of known fame; language never comes first, and martial arts never comes second. Even in the hidden competitions when I practiced Karate, the Muay Thai practitioners would always kill or maim their opponents. My brother said that martial artist is already here in Beijing too.”

“Oh, is he with your brother?”

“I don’t think so, I think he went to go see a friend with ninth-dan ‘Iron Fist Hwarang’ Choi from Korea.

“Iron Fist Hwarang!” Wang Chao suddenly had a bad feeling arise in his heart as if he had made some sort of connection. “Choi Jang Baek is an expert of the world of fighting, so the Muay Thai practitioner shouldn’t be inferior to him in strength. Are they really here to see a friend in Beijing? What friend is it? It’s already been two months since the start of my disturbance in Beijing, so news of it should already be known to everyone. Choi Jang Baek most likely knows about my school in Shandong as well. I doubt he hasn’t collected enough information on me, it’d be too coincidental for him to come to Beijing now then. Plus, I already toyed around with that one graduate student in the University of Beijing. Could it be possible that the graduate student really does have some connections with Choi Jang Baek and had him come here to fight me?”

When Wang Chao listened to this, his heart had felt a sudden premonition. He could just barely make some connections, but the definite conclusion was something he couldn’t put his finger to just yet.

When one’s martial art reached a high enough state, the sensitivity of the heart and mind followed suit. At the highest level, one could sense something without even thinking about it.

With Wang Chao having his mind honed by the Transforming Jin, his intuition had been keen enough to make some connections and infer why Choi Jang Baek was here in Beijing.

“There’s no use to thinking anymore about it. In any case, today will be the day I have to be discharged. I’ll go see your brother anyways.”

“There’s a car waiting at the entrance, I’ll help master pack up your stuff.” Huo Ling’er spoke with some relaxation.

“I don’t have anything too important, so there’s no need to tidy things up. Just wait down below and give a phone call to master Chen, he went to see a friend as well today.”

As he spoke, Wang Chao walked out from his ward. His footsteps were steady and stuck to the ground. His face was rosy-red with health and was completely unlike that of a sickly person.

In this period of recuperation, Wang Chao had been bedridden almost from start to finish without being able to move. It was because Chen Aiyang was afraid that his muscles would atrophy and his veins would grow stiff that he had used his Hidden Jin to massage Wang Chao’s muscles and circulate the blood flow.

After some minor movements, Wang Chao had been able to walk from himself and spent very little time on the bed as a result. The two months of recuperation had not affected his skill, as he and Chen Aiyang would spend every day conversing to each other about the theory and philosophy of martial arts, further deepening their understanding of it.

Naturally, understanding was understanding, and combat was combat. Neither of the two could be mistaken for another. Understanding benefitted the mind while combat benefitted the body.

After leaving the hospital, there was indeed a single black-streamlined Mercedes Benz waiting. Huo Ling’er entered the driver’s seat and waited for Wang Chao to enter before stepping onto the accelerator to bring the car flying away like a swallow skimming the waters.

“Slow down a bit, this is a city area.”

“Okay.” Huo Ling’er smiled sweetly before easing up on the speed.

“She’s a woman, but there’s that forceful trait to her blood. Unexpectedly, she would be a great expert, it’s a shame that she was born from a wealthy family that would forbid her from fighting to the death. If not, she would have been able to temper herself through combat, and from there, even I don’t know just how strong she’d become.”

Wang Chao had learned even more about her after watching her step on the accelerator.

Driving for fifty minutes, the car had finally arrived at a rather secluded villa. Turning left then right, they swerved to a stop near a gated house. Fishing out a remote control, Huo Ling’er pressed onto it to have the gates open up before she drove her car inside.

Wang Chao alighted from the car and began to look around his surroundings. To his realization, the villa was similar to the buildings in the Tianxing district. To be even more specific, the buildings had even the same taste to it. But Wang Chao knew that the locations for both were different. One was in the provinces, the other was a step under what nobility would have. Similar in building, but the prices would be different by at least tenfold.

As soon as he alighted, several young men could be seen walking down the stairs along with several females.

“Little sister, this must be master Wang.” The very first man leading the group had been wearing a hand-stitched western suit with a black shirt underneath. With the gold-trimmed black tie he wore, the young man looked rather refined.

“Yes.” Huo Ling’er quickly stepped forward after getting off the car. My name is Huo Qiyun; I am the older brother of Ling’er.” Huo Qiyun grasped onto Wang Chao’s hand to shake it. At a glance, Wang Chao could see that Huo Qiyun was more or less quite physical and healthy. There were several minute calluses on his fingers–his pointer finger in particular had the most noticeable ones. However, the web between his thumb and forefinger hadn’t been too strong, meaning that this had not been the work of martial arts. Instead of martial arts, those fingers were honed by the art of working a gun.

“I heard about how my little sister had wished to apprentice herself to master Wang, and I also heard that this master Wang had quite the name for himself. I did not imagine that such a young man like you would be quite the extraordinary one. In comparison to the Muay Thai practitioner Nguyễn Hồng Tú, your image seems to be a hundred times the better. But alas, it’s unfortunate that I was told about this too late. To decline Nguyễn Hồng Tú now would be quite difficult to do.

The true value of a person could only be determined through comparison.

Even the safflower could play the supporting role to another flower.

Upon meeting, Huo Ling’er’s brother had compared Wang Chao to Nguyễn Hồng Tú in a rather favorable light to Wang Chao.

This wasn’t to say that Wang Chao was handsome, but that Nguyễn Hồng Tú was quite sinister in looks. There was a savageness to his face similar to what would be expected from an evildoer that killed and killed. Comparing the two, it was natural that Wang Chao would have the advantage in this aspect.

In fact if it were not for Choi Jang Baek’s introduction and Nguyễn Hồng Tú’s demonstration of being able to dodge bullets in Hong Kong, the two brothers of the Huo family wouldn’t have any good impression of the Muay Thai practitioner at all.

“These are a few of my good friends who’ve gathered here today for some fun. This is the head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts, master Wang Chao. He is a name that is as equally famous as Chen Aiyang of Singapore and is known as an absolute expert of the Southeast Asian world of martial arts.

After shaking hands with Wang Chao, Huo Qiyun began to introduce him to his friends.

It was only then that Wang Chao had discovered the men and women gathered here today were all of the second generation of the more illustrious families. Yet, it should not have been a shock since the friends of the Huo family would definitely have to have a decent status themselves. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be here.

He had been rather interested in these men and women since they all looked to be similar in age to him based off of their appearances. Some looked even younger than mine, but the air around them were quite different to his own.

Everyone walked into a large gathering hall before the drinks were poured and the atmosphere began to grow a little more relaxed.

“Master Wang, I heard that sister Ling’er wishes to learn martial arts from you? A few of us heard of your famous name, though I believe I heard that Jiang Hai guy fought with you, but he lost before he could even draw his sword. In the end, he joined an overseas mercenary team to train himself, is that true?”

As soon as they sat down, one of Huo Qiyun’s friend suddenly asked Wang Chao a question.

“Jiang Hai? That sword user?” After the introductions, Wang Chao had recognized that this was the son of the huge corporation group, Dongding Commerce Group. His name was Yue Shang. In normal times, they remained out of sight, but the financial might of their family was quite strong.

At the sudden mention of Jiang Hai, Wang Chao had just as suddenly remembered of the match that had taken place early that morning. In several moves and a single Eagle Claw, he had taken away the sword before it could even be drawn, causing the young man to leave in humiliation.

“Something like that had happened, are you friends with him?” Wang Chao looked to Yue Shang.

“No no no.” Yue Shang was ordinarily quite calm and composed as expected as the second generation of an illustrious family, but under the stare of Wang Chao, his hands couldn’t help but tremble along with his quaking heart. At a loss for what to do, he had been like a schoolchild that was under the wilting glare of the teacher.

“He has such a quality like that?” Startled, Huo Qiyun’s eyes grew as wide as a camera lens when he realized what was happening in front of him.

No matter how Wang Chao might phrase it, he was a person who had killed many times before. The lives of several martial artists were claimed by his hands and he had already experienced any spectacle that might be expected before. With a glance, he could be as pressuring as the high-ranking officials. With the presence of a government official, such a meaningful eye like this could suppress the life of even a human.

“I know that Jiang Hai can swing a sword or two, but he’s quite obstinate regularly. However, waving a sword in front of a master like master Wang is like wielding a sword in front of Lord Guan.”

A rather young but pudgy looking woman quickly cut in with a skilled smile, “I heard that Ling’er wants to apprentice herself to master Wang, but there is still the Muay Thai and Yoga master that wants to take Ling’er as a disciple as well. He even demonstrated how to dodge a bullet back in Hong Kong. From the two of you, who would be able to take Ling’er as a disciple?”

“Dodging a bullet is nothing strange to accomplish. Any seasoned practitioner would be able to do the same.” Wang Chao looked to these young people with a sudden idea. He wouldn’t be too modest or impolite since because of the dynamic drive of youngsters, being modest in front of them would not be the most sensible of decisions.

To be able to find the right things to say in front of any single person was to be a master who was adaptable. People like these were people of power. To be able to subjugate them now would be a great benefit for Wang Chao’s future development.

As long as Wang Chao was able to take on several aristocratic disciples of great potential and status that completely admired him, it would be very astonishing.

“Does that mean to say that master Wang knows how to dodge a bullet as well?” That woman asked in astonishment.

“Of course.” Wang Chao smiled, “If you do not believe me, then we can try it out.”

“Oh, I normally practice shooting on my own time, so I’m quite confident in my marksmanship. I’d be willing to test it out.” The young woman stared at Wang Chao and licked her lips in anticipation.

At these words, everyone had practically stood up in excitement. They were all youths that chased after excitement for stimulus, so there was no way that they would not agree to this.

“Master Wang. Wouldn’t this be dangerous?” Huo Qiyun’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s no problem.” There was still a smile on Wang Chao’s face. Seeing that confident smile on Wang Chao’s face and combined with his own willingness to test out Wang Chao, Huo Qiyun replied afterwards, “There’s a wide open training room in the back. I like to collect guns in my free time, so let’s go try it out.”

In the training room.

Bang! The slight sound of gunfire could be heard as a bullet struck against the cushions behind Wang Chao without an injury to him.

The woman’s wrist had been quite agile and was clearly capable of shooting. Aiming precisely at Wang Chao, she had shot rapidly and accurately, but not even a single pore of Wang Chao’s body had been struck.

“Shooting like that is no use.” Wang Chao waited for her to run out of bullets and to see her face redden from exertion before speaking, “How about you add one more shooter. I will stand here without moving. If I take a single step out, it will not count, does that work?”

“Without moving?”

Everyone had let out a startled expression of shock.