Chapter 37: Stopping Qiu Huzi
Chen Chuan was at least a hundred meters away from the two bodyguards Qiu Huzi had left behind, but when he sped up, he arrived in front of them in just a few breaths.
The two bodyguards were shocked, but quickly drew the knives at their waists.
“Oh ho...” Big Guo looked excited.
Fighting barehanded and fighting while armed were two different matters. In the face of weapons, no matter how good of a fighter someone was, they were bound to get injured without protective gear.
But even if Chen Chuan ended up hurt or dead, he had been the one to jump into the fight. It had nothing to do with Big Guo. Besides, Chen Chuan was just the agent’s lackey. Mr. Lu was not going to turn against him because of this.
Chen Chuan might have been unarmed, but once his second self overlapped with him, his speed and reflexes increased dramatically. The bodyguards’ movements seemed as slow as a turtle’s to him.
He adjusted his footsteps a little and shifted to the side, causing the two to turn along with him. They ended up standing directly in each other’s way. Chen Chuan sped up again and kicked the person in the front before turning around and landing a back kick on the one in the back.
The two powerful kicks made them instantly lose their ability to fight. After easily defeating the two men, Chen Chuan did not stop and continued chasing after Qiu Huzi.
All everyone else saw was him sending those two bodyguards flying while running after his target. He continued his chase before they even landed on the ground.
Big Guo was surprised and stroked his chin as he mumbled, “That looked like a technique from the Heroic General Fist. Is he Gu Mao’s disciple or junior brother?”
He became even more excited and turned around to motion for the people behind to bring up the mood. The bongosero understood what he wanted and started hitting the bongos at a rapid pace.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Chuan caught up to Qiu Huzi, but the bodyguard running with the man stopped and drew a knife from his waist. He swung it a few times before directing the tip downwards with a stable grip. Ruthlessness shone in his eyes.
Chen Chuan guessed this was Zhai Wu, the person Wei Changan had mentioned, but he didn’t slow down. Zhai Wu noticed it, and with ferocity on his face, he took two steps forward to stand in front of him.
Even with his second self, Chen Chuan did not want to get stabbed. The moment he was about to enter Zhai Wu’s range, he flicked his right wrist discreetly, and two stones flew forward.
Zhai Wu reacted at lightning speed and shifted to the side to avoid one while swinging his knife to knock off the other. Sparks flew from the parry.
Chen Chuan was quite surprised by that. Even though he was an amateur, with his speed and strength, it was incredible that Zhai Wu was able to block one with his knife and avoid the other. This required great vision and speed, so it was clear that Zhai Wu was good.
But once Chen Chuan got into combat mode, he had a lot of ideas. The moment he saw this situation, he immediately thought of a plan to deal with it. He sped up again and lowered his left hand to pretend to throw another stone.
Zhai Wu saw this and guessed that Chen Chuan was holding another stone. He instinctively tensed up, even if his brain registered that Chen Chuan could be faking it. His body reacted before his brain could give the appropriate order, and he jerked aside to respond to the false threat.
That small, involuntary movement gave Chen Chuan the opening he needed. With a growl, he stomped on the ground and charged forward so quickly that he left behind an afterimage. He knocked aside the hand with the knife and got into Zhai Wu’s personal space with a Soul Jolting Strike going straight toward his face.
With his knife hand knocked aside and Chen Chuan right in front of him, Zhai Wu knew he couldn’t dodge the blow. His eyes flew wide open. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and swept his other hand outward to block Chen Chuan’s punch while letting out a low shout. His arm trembled, and his muscles tensed as he released a wave of refined force.
He had intended to deflect Chen Chuan’s punch, but to his surprise, Chen Chuan was able to retract it even after throwing the punch. He planted his feet on the ground and stopped, unleashing all the power contained in that single punch. Chen Chuan’s punch collided with Zhai Wu’s refined force. Even though he did not get hit directly, Zhai Wu trembled and took a step back.
Chen Chuan was not affected and continued moving forward. He pulled his arm back and threw another punch.
Due to the impact from the clash, Zhai Wu could not do anything else but bring his arm up again to use refined force to block the attack. His body trembled once more, and he was forced to take yet another step back.
Chen Chuan kept pressing forward, invading his personal space, and throwing a third identical punch. This time, Zhai Wu snapped. He dug his feet into the dirt and gave a low shout as he had another head-on clash with Chen Chuan.
The two continued advancing and retreating. With each punch Chen Chuan threw, Zhai Wu took a step back as his body trembled fiercely. In the span of a few breaths, they exchanged five blows, and Zhai Wu took five consecutive steps back.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
The bongosero responded in perfect rhythm. Whenever their arms clashed, he would put an accent to the beat.
When Chen Chuan was about to throw his sixth punch, blood trickled out of Zhai Wu’s mouth, even though he still looked as ferocious as before. Then, as if all his strength had left him, he sank to his knees before falling face first on the ground.
Once Zhai Wu no longer had the strength to fight back, Chen Chuan ignored him and ran after Qiu Huzi. Right away, the bongo strokes accelerated in tempo to match the urgency of his run.
Qiu Huzi had already opened the car door and gotten inside. When he saw Chen Chuan, he slammed the door shut and quickly inserted the car keys, but due to his nervousness, he did not manage to start the car despite trying several times.
Chen Chuan knew it would be trouble if Qiu Huzi got away. He sucked in a deep breath and ran at full speed. When he was about to reach the car, he jumped.
The bongosero’s eyes flew wide open, and he trembled. He brought his arms high and used his full strength to slam them on the bongos.
Bam!
Propelled by the force of his charge, Chen Chuan’s foot slammed against the car door just as an ear-shattering beat echoed through the air.
The car was pushed more than half a meter away, and the car door sank in from the force of Chen Chuan’s kick. Qiu Huzi was knocked into the front passenger seat, and his entire face was plastered against the car window.
Uneasiness rose in the Blood Scars Gang members when they saw this, but quite a number of them shouted in excitement. That kick was the full-force eruption of brute strength and violence. It was a feast for the eyes, and it made their bodies sing with adrenaline.
Chen Chuan pulled his leg back and walked past the hood of the car toward the front passenger seat. He pulled the door open, and Qiu Huzi fell out on the ground. The bongosero struck the bongos in rapid succession and ended the beat with a loud bam as Qiu Huzi crashed to the ground.
Just then, a loud, explosive sound came from the empty space in the base, and the door of the phone booth flew off its hinges. Wei Changan walked out while rubbing his forehead and a hostile look in his eyes.
Big Guo grinned at him. “You came out!”
Wei Changan stared at him long and hard. “If Qiu Huzi had run away, you wouldn’t have been able to handle the consequences.”
“Is that so?” Big Guo did not seem to mind at all.
Wei Changan ignored him and walked over to step on Qiu Huzi’s shoulder. “What’s this? Were you going to run away? Go on. Where else can you run to?”
Qiu Huzi huffed. “If Scar Face were still here, you wouldn’t have been able to capture me so easily.”
Wei Changan did not want to waste his breath on him. He yanked Qiu Huzi up by the back of his collar and said, “Chen Chuan, help me stuff him into the trunk. You can move your things to the backseat.”
“Okay,” Chen Chuan replied.
They returned to their car, and Wei Changan opened the trunk. Chen Chuan took his luggage out and placed it on the backseat before Wei Changan handcuffed Qiu Huzi and stuffed him into the trunk.
Once Wei Changan slammed the trunk shut, he locked it with a key.
“Who’s this Scar Face Qiu Huzi mentioned?” Chen Chuan asked.
“Qiu Huzi’s original bodyguard. Apparently, Qiu Huzi saved his life before. That guy is good. He’s a martial artist who has fought in wars. He’s skilled with both firearms and melee weapons. He might even have implants. This sort of guy is a tough nut, but Scar Face broke the law some time ago and has a bounty on his head now, so he’s disappeared,” Wei Changan replied.
He went to the front and opened the door to the driver’s seat. “But this has nothing to do with us. All we need to do is hand Qiu Huzi over to the Constabulary, and it’ll be their business whether to get clues about Fang Dawei and his gang or to have him cooperate with them to set up a trap to arrest them.”
They got into the car. Once the car doors slammed shut, Wei Changan cursed under his breath, “I don’t ever want to come to this stupid place again.”
He revved up the engine. The car jerked a few times as it drove over the mud pits, then left the base.
Big Guo found it a pity that Wei Changan and Chen Chuan left. The place was boring, and whenever fun things happened like earlier, they were over all too soon. He said to a goon next to him, “Check on Zhai Wu. If he’s not dead, pull him up. That stubborn idiot. I told him to just pretend to protect Qiu Huzi, not risk his life for him. Has he forgotten who pays his wages?”
The goon walked over to examine Zhai Wu. “Boss, I think Zhai Wu is about to die.”
Big Guo’s eyes flew wide open. “Seriously? He just blocked a few punches, didn’t he? And he calls himself a veteran fighter? Is he a fraud? Dr. Liu, check on him.”
The man in a white coat walked over and examined Zhai Wu. “He used too much his refined force and is now suffering from organ failure. This is a common injury in fighters who go head-to-head with someone else using refined force. If we don’t use good medicine on him, he’s going to be crippled.”
Big Guo was displeased. “It’s that bad? Limper still wants him to earn money fighting in the ring. If he dies, Limper is going to ask me to pay a huge sum of money. By the way, that kid seemed to be fine.”
“Either the kid is better at using refined force than Zhai Wu, or he’s a natural-born genius. Did you see his last kick? He was completely fine even after that. He’s ridiculously strong, and the tolerance of his bones and fascia is much higher than that of the average person. I think he just withstood the refined force and crippled Zhai Wu with that.”
Big Guo cursed. “I thought he was just a meek little lamb, but he’s actually a tiger. Oh well, guess I lost this round. Get Zhai Wu treated.”