Chapter 28: Chapter 28
Half a year in a martial hall and two years running with the Golden Dragon Gang — Yu Zhe’s reflexes weren’t slow.
He twisted instinctively, throwing both arms up in a desperate attempt to shield his head and face.
But it was too late!
A gray shadow, like a bird of prey folding its wings and plunging from the heavens in silence, tore through the night in an instant.
Finger-claws like terrifying blades, wrapped in scalding qi-blood, exploded by his ear.
CRACK!
The teeth-grating sound of bone shattering rang out, piercing and stark.
Shen Xiuhan’s qi-blood surged like a flooding river, every drop channeled into his right arm.
The move Mei Shuangfeng had demonstrated that very afternoon — Splitting Stone, Rending Sinew — he unleashed it with full force!
Five fingers drove in at a vicious, cunning angle, drilling into Yu Zhe’s right shoulder point.
His knuckles hooked inward, locking into the gap of the shoulder blade, and wrenched!
“AAARGH!”
A blood-curdling scream.
Yu Zhe’s entire right arm went limp as a rag.
No time to react.
Shen Xiuhan closed the distance like a shadow, his left hand finding Yu Zhe’s Adam’s apple with unerring precision. Five fingers clamped down like iron hooks.
“No, plea—”
Killing intent blazed in Shen Xiuhan’s eyes. His five fingers clenched with savage force!
SQUELCH!
With a sound that made the skin crawl, the throat cartilage — fragile as a dry twig — was crushed and torn apart in his grip!
The begging choked off mid-syllable.
Yu Zhe clawed at the iron-hook hand clamped around his throat, making gurgling, hissing sounds as air leaked from the ruin.
Gradually, his body went slack, crumpling to the ground as if all the strength had been drained from him. His legs twitched several times, then went still forever.
Shen Xiuhan stood over the corpse. His chest rose and fell slightly, but his eyes were contemplative.
“This man had a decent standing in the Golden Dragon Gang — a capable fighter by their standards. Yet he couldn’t so much as lift a finger against me, couldn’t even react in time…”
“It seems the gap between an ordinary man and a martial artist is even wider than I imagined.”
Shen Xiuhan looked down at the body by his feet and gave a cold snort:
“But anyone who dares set their sights on Momo — your death is well deserved.”
He crouched down and searched the body.
A moment later, he held roughly five taels of silver.
“Not bad. Quite the haul.”
A flicker of pleasant surprise crossed Shen Xiuhan’s eyes as he tucked the silver into his shirt.
No wonder the Golden Dragon Gang was willing to keep running the fish exchange and wharf at West Market year after year, even after surrendering fifty percent to the Bai family.
This zero-investment racket really did bring in money fast.
Shen Xiuhan pocketed the silver without a shred of ceremony.
Then his gaze fell on the wound at the corpse’s throat, and he frowned.
The claw marks of the Heavenly Dark Eagle Force were far too distinctive. If he simply left the body in the street, someone might trace it back to him.
“I’ve heard there’s a gang called the ‘Raging Waves’ in Xuanhua Ward that’s been targeting the Golden Dragon Gang’s turf… making quite a ruckus…”
Shen Xiuhan’s mind raced, and a plan took shape.
He sprang to his feet, raised his right foot, channeled his qi-blood, and brought it crashing down on Yu Zhe’s neck!
CRUNCH!
CRACK!
A series of bone-splitting sounds echoed through the night.
Shen Xiuhan stomped again and again until the entire cervical column was utterly mangled — as though it had been smashed apart by some blunt instrument.
Every trace of the Heavenly Dark Eagle Force’s claw marks was obliterated.
When the work was done, Shen Xiuhan hoisted Yu Zhe’s body with one arm, surged his qi-blood, and streaked toward the Golden Dragon Gang’s headquarters.
…
Yeci Ward.
Tian residence.
Tian Erhu had a dream.
In it, an iron-cast hand clamped around his neck.
He struggled with everything he had, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree. The iron claw tightened and tightened, until his throat was crushed to pulp.
“Hrk!”
On his bed, Tian Erhu’s eyes flew open. He shot upright.
He reached instinctively for his neck — nothing but cold sweat beneath his fingers. The bedding under him was soaked through.
“Fuck… just a dream…”
Tian Erhu let out a long breath, still shaken. He swallowed hard.
After that nightmare, sleep was impossible.
He threw on a thick short jacket, swung off the bed, and stepped into the yard.
The night wind cut like a blade, but Tian Erhu didn’t seem to notice.
He planted himself in the center of the yard, sank his legs, and rooted down into a deep horse stance, like an old tree digging in.
Then his arms spread wide, and with a distinctive breathing rhythm, he began to perform a set of fierce, grounded stance work.
In all of the Golden Dragon Gang, Tian Erhu might not have knocked on Blood’s door — but when it came to real fighting skill, he was absolutely among the top.
Put it this way: aside from the gang leader Gao Fu and Gao Fu’s sworn son — who had stepped into Manifest Strength — there weren’t many in the gang who could confidently claim they could beat him.
And the reason Tian Erhu, a man with no qi-blood awakening, possessed such fearsome combat power came down to one thing: a military hardening art secretly passed down to him by his younger brother, Tian Ping’an, who had served in the army.
It was called: the Iron Bone Art.
This martial art had a formidable pedigree. It was derived from a closely guarded hardening technique of the Longxiang Army — one of the five great main forces of Great Qi.
The entire system was broad and powerful, focused on forging the body, and was divided into two stages:
The first: Copper Skin.
The second: Iron Bone.
Tian Erhu’s natural talent was terrible. But when it came to hardening arts that tempered flesh and skin, he showed an extraordinary gift.
After three years of grueling practice, he had finally brought the first stage — Copper Skin — to the entry level.
His flesh and skin were as tough as ox hide. Far from truly impervious to blades, a sharp edge could still draw blood. But an ordinary thug’s fists and feet, or even wooden clubs and iron rulers striking his body — the pain was greatly reduced, and they couldn’t damage his sinew or bone!
Because of this, in every gang brawl, Tian Erhu charged at the front like a human battering ram, bulldozing through everything in his path.
This had earned him considerable renown within the Golden Dragon Gang, and the deep trust of Gao Fu.
“Hoo…”
One full set of the hardening art complete, Tian Erhu’s body was warm and flushed. He exhaled and drew his form to a close.
In his mind, the image of those iron hands from the dream — hands that seemed capable of crushing anything — flashed unbidden. An inexplicable irritation stirred in his chest.
“Forget it. Scaring myself over nothing. Why dwell on it…”
Tian Erhu shook his head, turning to go back inside and get some rest.
The instant he turned!
Tian Erhu’s hulking frame went rigid. He whipped around, eyes boring into the shadowed corner of the yard, and bellowed:
“Who’s there?! Get out here!”
No answer came.
What answered him was a ghostly afterimage that tore through the darkness!
A gray-robed figure exploded out of the shadows!
Five fingers, forged like steel hooks, wrapped in scalding qi-blood, became a blur of blue-black shadow driving straight for Tian Erhu’s throat!
“You’re looking to die!”
Tian Erhu erupted in fury, murderous light blazing in his eyes!
Years of knife-edge living had honed his reflexes razor-sharp. Every muscle in his body clenched, and a faint coppery sheen rose beneath his skin.
He didn’t retreat — he charged. Ducking his shoulder and dropping low, he hurtled at the black figure like a maddened iron bull!
In past gang fights, this move had been nearly unbeatable.
With the Iron Bone Art’s defense, even a trained fighter who’d only scratched the surface of proper technique would have several ribs snapped on impact!
But the black figure merely tapped off the ground with his toes, rising like a swallow lifting from the earth, and swept clean over Tian Erhu’s head.
At the same time, his right hand struck downward!
A piercing shriek of split air detonated by Tian Erhu’s ear.
“No — a Manifest Strength martial artist!”
The searing pain of scalp being torn by qi-force sent Tian Erhu’s face into a wild contortion!
The attacker was too fast. He couldn’t change his move in time. All he could do was duck his head and try to take the blow on the hard bone of his skull.
SHUNK!
Five fingers drove into his scalp like iron nails, gouging five bloody, bone-deep holes!
“Hss… damn it!”
Tian Erhu sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, blood pouring from his crown and blinding half his vision.
“Hm?”
The black figure let out a faint sound of surprise.
He clearly hadn’t expected this man — who hadn’t even entered Manifest Strength — to have a skull hard enough to take a blow from the Heavenly Dark Eagle Force without having his head peeled open.
But the killing strike in his hand didn’t pause for even a heartbeat!
His foot kicked off the empty air, reversing direction like a hunting eagle folding back mid-dive, closing in again at an even more terrifying speed!
Tian Erhu fought through the agony, stumbling backward while shouting:
“I don’t know which road friend this is! I’m Tian Erhu of the Golden Dragon Gang — we can talk this—”
Before the words had left his mouth, a venomous flash of killing intent erupted in Tian Erhu’s eyes.
His right hand shot behind his back. Short blade clearing the sheath, he drove it upward from below with vicious cunning, stabbing at the black figure’s gut!