Throughout July, Chen Chuan trained methodically. As his mastery over Greater Sanshou deepened, applying its various techniques became increasingly second nature.
By now, even without using the Second Self or wearing any protective gear, he could steadily overpower Lu Ke in sparring.
This was largely due to the massive advantage of the breathing technique, which enhanced physical conditioning across the board; otherwise, Yu Gang wouldn't have described it as taking a shortcut.
Compared to students who had trained since childhood, none would be his match either. This was only natural. Without the Second Self, this rapid progress would have been bought at the expense of his own life and overdrawn future potential.
Under normal circumstances, such an exchange wouldn't even be equal. Once those other students eventually mastered breathing techniques of their own, that temporary advantage would vanish, and the gap would widen once again.
In late July, Chen Chuan received a notice from Wuyi College and made another trip there.
This time, he didn't enter the campus grounds. He merely picked up a booklet at the main gate outlining the specific details incoming students needed to know, along with the registration procedure for the entrance retest.
From then on, alongside his regular training, he prepared for his upcoming matriculation, heading home a little earlier each day.
One day, as he jogged home from the House of Fists and passed a cluster of sheds, several men stood smoking behind an open window on the third floor of a roadside building, eyeing his passing figure with hostile gazes.
One short man wearing an unbuttoned floral-print shirt and a gold watch pointed down and said, "Brother Qi, that's the kid."
"Brother Qi" was a man in his late twenties with a buzz cut and bracelets wrapped around his thick arms. He looked down and asked, "You're certain? It's him?"
"Can't be wrong, Brother Qi. He went to Wuyi College a few days ago, and we confirmed it then. He's the one who humiliated Brother Shan!"
Brother Qi asked, "Did you pick out the spot?"
The man in the floral shirt leaned out and pointed toward an intersection ahead. "Right in that alley up front. When the time comes, we plug both ends, and there's no way he slips away."
"Will he definitely take that route? Don't drop the ball on me."
"Don't worry, big brother. We've been tailing him for five or six days. This kid passes through here morning and evening every single day, right on the dot. Big brother, do we strike tomorrow? How should we teach him a lesson?"
Brother Qi sneered. "Tomorrow? Wouldn't that be letting him off easy? Doesn't he have to report to Wuyi College in early August? We hit him on the last day of the month. Since he used his legs to kick Old Third in the face, breaking both his legs isn't asking too much, is it?"
The floral-shirted man hurriedly agreed. "Not too much! Not too much at all!"
Brother Qi said, "Then I'll leave it to you."
"Rest easy, big brother. It'll be handled properly."
***
Time flew, and the final day of July arrived. Yu Gang seemed to have business to attend to and stepped out after lunch. Because of tomorrow's schedule, Chen Chuan didn't train that afternoon either, instead helping Lu Ke pack and tidy up around the place.
Once they finished, Lu Ke led Chen Chuan up to the rooftop terrace. A table, lounge chairs, and a sunshade awning were set up here, with several bottles of Shazhen soda resting in a drink crate nearby.
Lu Ke walked over, grabbed two bottles of soda, popped the caps with an opener, and handed one to Chen Chuan. "Practicing combat means drinking less alcohol, so I'll make do with soda. You're heading off to Wuyi College tomorrow, so here's a toast to you."
Chen Chuan clinked bottles with him and took a sip, and the two sat down. Lu Ke exhaled, gazing up at the leisurely white clouds drifting across the sky. "Young Brother Chen, when you first showed up, I gave you a hard time. You must've really disliked me deep down, right?"
Chen Chuan said, "Not really. Everyone has their reasons for doing things. But I will say this: as long as you don't regret it yourself, what others think doesn't matter all that much."
Lu Ke's hand paused. He brought the bottle to his lips and gulped down several mouthfuls, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and set the bottle on the table. Pointing toward the northeast, he asked, "See over there? Mount Jiao."
Chen Chuan looked over. A massive, ring-shaped gray silhouette loomed in the distance—Mount Jiao. It was said to be a relic from the previous era, though now it had become an endless wasteland and dump site.
Lu Ke stared at it, speaking absently. "I was born in the Mount Jiao mountains. I can't compare to you city folk. I never had the qualifications to attend school in the city. Where I'm from, people can only scrape by picking through trash in the mountains."
Chen Chuan looked at him. "I heard most people living in Mount Jiao end up with an incurable lung disease?"
Lu Ke lowered his voice. "You're not wrong. I have it, and the people around me—almost everyone in my family—have it too. My father vanished when I was very young, and my mother has been bedridden and paralyzed for years. When I was only three or four, I was already coughing constantly. Only my older sister was lucky enough to be spared. She's ten or so years older than me. For as long as I can remember, she was the one taking care of the whole family.
"Six years ago, someone in the village reportedly scavenged something very important to a big shot. People wanted to hoard it to sell for a fortune—there was no other choice, the village was simply too poor. But why would those gangs bother negotiating with us? That night, they stormed into the village to search and pillage, clashing with the locals. My sister had just come back from scavenging trash, got caught in the crossfire, and ended up crippled."
Saying this, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Later, I followed Master and trained in boxing with him, just wanting to make money down the road to bring them all out so they could live a good life."
He took another swig of soda. "That day, when I couldn't beat Ding Shuo, it wasn't just because I didn't take my medicine. It was because I was terrified. I was afraid of getting hurt. My sister and mother depend on me now, so nothing can happen to me! That day Master had me try out the breathing technique, I stopped halfway through because I was afraid..."
He turned his head to look at Chen Chuan, his expression conflicted. "I really envy you. You can study in the city. You don't have to carry any of this burden. You can take the exam for Wuyi College. Looking at you, I kept wondering why I couldn't have a life like that, why the one who got into Wuyi College couldn't be me...
"Chen Chuan!"
His voice suddenly rose. He wiped his face hard and raised his bottle high, his eyes slightly red. "Here's to you! I hope you stand firm at Wuyi College. You'd better not end up worse than me!"
Chen Chuan silently raised his bottle, clinked it firmly against Lu Ke's, and took a drink.
Lu Ke drained the entire bottle in a single breath, then raised his arm as if wanting to vent his pent-up emotions by smashing it. But realizing that recycling the bottle could still fetch a few coins, he lowered his hand and carefully set it back on the table.
After venting, he seemed to regain some composure. A moment later, he said, "You progressed so fast after learning the breathing technique. It really works. I'm definitely going to master it too, but I don't dare push as desperately as you, so I can only take it slow."
Chen Chuan said, "Taking it slow works too. No matter how you slice it, you're a 'half-step breather' now."
"Cough, cough." Lu Ke coughed twice, then let out a laugh. He stood up from the floor. "Come on, let me teach you something."
Seeing him walk over to the rooftop railing, Chen Chuan got up and followed. Lu Ke pointed into the distance. "See over there?"
Chen Chuan looked and saw two sparrows perched on a utility pole roughly fourteen or fifteen meters away. Lu Ke flicked his wrist, and one of the birds plummeted straight down, while the other took fright and fluttered off.
Surprised, Chen Chuan asked, "What is this...?"
Lu Ke opened his palm to reveal two small pebbles, each about the size of a fingertip and polished smooth.
Seeing them, Chen Chuan's heart skipped a beat.
"Throwing technique."
Lu Ke made a throwing motion. "From ten or twenty meters away, using simply polished pebbles, you can kill or injure an opponent. Master said that due to certain restrictions, Wuyi College won't teach this course. But it's very practical. If you train well, you can incapacitate someone far stronger than you from a safe distance."
Chen Chuan nodded, feeling a deep resonance. His predecessor had been killed by a single pebble, though the distance had been hard to gauge—in his memory, it felt like over a hundred meters, perhaps even farther.
Lu Ke tossed a pebble in his hand. "I can teach you. The key lies in the knack of exerting force. Since you've already learned the breathing technique, picking it up should be easy."
Chen Chuan asked, "Mr. Yu taught you this, right? Is it alright to pass it on?"
Lu Ke waved it off. "This is just the most basic throwing technique. I haven't mastered anything advanced anyway, so even if I wanted to teach you more, I couldn't."
Chen Chuan looked at him. "Do many people know this throwing technique?"
Lu Ke pondered for a moment. "Master never mentioned that. But for ordinary people, as long as they put in the hard work, it's actually not hard to grasp. Reaching a profound level, though, is another story. Come, I'll show you how to throw."
Seeing his enthusiasm, Chen Chuan didn't hold back and learned alongside him. Having an extra trick up his sleeve was always welcome, and he had personal reasons to investigate it.
The technique really wasn't very difficult. Because it primarily relied on body mechanics and the knack of releasing force, getting the hang of it was simple, though achieving true precision and speed would require constant drilling.
Another crucial factor was the stones themselves: ideally polished, neither too light nor too heavy. According to Lu Ke, such stones were abundant on Mount Zhang, which was known for producing quality stone materials.
Hearing this, Chen Chuan's interest piqued. He suspected that the pebble that had killed his predecessor might very well be Mount Zhang stone. If that was the case, he would need to find time to look into it; it might lead to a clue regarding the mastermind behind his predecessor's death.
After practicing with Lu Ke a while longer, Chen Chuan said goodbye, pocketing two pebbles before leaving, since tomorrow was registration day for the retest and matriculation.
As usual, he jogged back along his habitual route.
***
Meanwhile, in the long alley he passed through every day, inside a rented third-floor room, Brother Qi and the man in the floral shirt were waiting.
Brother Qi asked, "Are the guys gathered?"
"Brother Qi, everything's set."
Brother Qi peered into the distance. Leaning against a wall at the street corner was a man in an undershirt and cargo pants, with an unfamiliar face. He asked, "Who's that?"
The floral-shirted man replied, "Brother Qi, that's an outside fighter with a clean record we paid to bring in. The boys figured that since the kid got into Wuyi College, he must have some skills. Having someone like that around keeps things foolproof."
"Bullshit," Brother Qi scoffed contemptuously. "He's not one of those rich brats from up top. What real skills could he have before even starting school? Still, since he's already here, whatever. Let's see if he's worth the coin."
He pulled out a cigarette. The floral-shirted man was quick on the uptake, immediately flicking a lighter to light it. Brother Qi took a drag and blew out a smoke ring. "Once this is over, round up the lookouts, and we'll hit Chunfu Restaurant for a big meal."
"Sounds great!" the floral-shirted man said. "I'll thank Brother Qi on behalf of the boys." He glanced at his watch, peeked into the distance, and said excitedly, "Brother Qi, here he comes! A bit earlier than usual today."
Chen Chuan jogged into the long alley along his usual route. This stretch was relatively level, and he typically sped up slightly here.
Yet this time, just as he reached the halfway point, he sensed something amiss. At the far end of the alley, five or six men carrying metal pipes stepped out with ill intent, malicious, mocking sneers plastered across their faces.
Seeing them, he immediately came to a halt. Senses tingling, he glanced back and saw that several figures had cut off his retreat as well.
The men from both sides steadily closed in on him, tapping and dragging their metal pipes along the walls, producing grating screeches designed to pile on pressure.
At the same time, atop a nearby building, the young man practicing handstand push-ups spotted the scene. "Huh? Did this young man pick a fight with someone?"
Brother Qi leaned against the windowsill with a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching the alley below with cold amusement. From his vantage point, he had a clear view of both groups closing the trap.
Chen Chuan glanced upward. Dilapidated walls lined both sides of the alley, topped with jagged shards of broken glass that made scaling them difficult. Besides, jumping into private courtyards would only drag innocent residents into trouble.
Since he couldn't leave, he wouldn't.
He unbuttoned his collar, revealing the white undershirt beneath, stripped off his outer jacket, and flung it aside.
While the jacket was still drifting in midair, he stomped his foot. The Second Self merged into him in an instant, kicking up a plume of dust as he lunged straight forward!
Chapter 20