Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Seeing the large freighter let out a loud whistling sound and departing from the piers, it slowly drifted away into the ocean and out of sight before Wang Chao let out a sigh.

“How unfortunate, he has said his combination of marksmanship with his martial arts and movements has a specialized method to it and hasn’t revealed it to the public. Otherwise, these techniques would have a very high application to it. If he became the instructor for the military, it would serve our nation well.”

Lin Yanan could see that Cheng Shanming’s display of martial arts had been very practical. Without hesitation, Cheng Shanming could be said to be an extremely terrifying person. In comparison, Wang Chao knew nothing of how to use a gun. With just his martial arts, he wouldn’t be too big of a danger in the current world. But a man like Cheng Shanming, if he was hired as a soldier of guerilla warfare, his killing potential was unimaginable.

“If only our nation had more of such a talent….” Lin Yanan thought to herself.

Boulder and his team were amazing, and their marksmanship was accurate and swift. But compared to Cheng Shanming, they were like a fledgling wizard in front of a grand magus.

In a simple simulation, if Cheng Shanming and Boulder were to engage each other in open fire, Boulder would die for sure.

Cheng Shanming’s movements were as swift as a ghost. His eyes were as bright as lightning and could move and dodge with instinct. By the time Boulder pulled the trigger and shot a bullet, Cheng Shanming would have moved places a long time ago.

If Wang Chao had this method, then even if he was by himself, pointing a gun would be of no use to him. At a twitch of a muscle, he would be able to dodge.

But if a person had honed his martial arts to a level of instant reactions, then there would be no signs of their opponent breaking out with Jin. If such an expert like this fired a gun, Wang Chao would have no chance to defend himself.

Without question, Cheng Shanming was such an expert.

“His martial arts is high, and could beat me in terms of fists. But in inspiration and spirit, he loses to me by a head.”

Wang Chao knew that Cheng Shanming was keeping up with the trend of learning how to use a gun, but in doing so, he had lost his confidence in Chinese boxing. His heart began to depend upon firearms, and no longer persevered with his skill in martial arts. Just how would it be possible for him to be able to release a fist that was one with the universe then?

But still, Wang Chao respected Cheng Shanming for his presence and conduct.

Especially the performance of Cheng Shanming’s mysterious spear of Bajiquan and the “Hengha” sounds of training. This was a treasure amongst treasure.

Although Wang Chao hadn’t learned Bajiquan, he at the very least had some knowledge on the other disciplines.

Cheng Shangming’s practice had originated from Huo Qingyun’s traditional school of Bajiquan whose history could be traced back to Li Shuwen. This school of Bajiquan was even more traditional than the school Zhao Xinglong and Lin Yanan both knew. From the way to breaking out with Jin, shaking the body, and breathing, Cheng Shanming’s way could be considered to be a textbook example of the classics.

Even more precious was the fact that Cheng Shanming had opened up the way for Wang Chao to reach the Transforming Jin stage.

Practicing martial arts underwater. Break out with Jin with the body, and allow the water to act against every single pore with softness as it flowed around it. Such a method would allow a person to feel the hard and soft Hidden Jin throughout the human body.

A person had to learn Hidden Jin in both hard and soft. But when the time came to break out with Jin, the hardest places to do so was the face and genitals.

In Wang Chao’s experience with martial arts, he had managed to bring both the soft and hard Jin out from his hands, feet, abdomen, back, waist, and neck. All that was left was the face and genitals.

Both of these spots were the hardest areas to circulate Jin to. With Wang Chao’s current progress, Wang Chao was slowly but surely moving forward. His internal and external body parts had the sounds of thunder slowly permeating it so that his strength would increase. With time, he would grasp the fundamentals of what was needed in order to advance.

With Chen Aiyang’s optimistic thoughts, he estimated that Wang Chao would reach the Transforming Jin in two or three years.

If Wang Chao were to come across some sort of slip up, or he became too distracted by the mundane world, then this estimation would take an even longer amount of time. Five years, ten years, or perhaps Wang Chao would be stuck at this level for his entire life.

However, with Cheng Shanming’s mention of practicing underwater to feel the softness of water on his pores, Wang Chao had been enlightened. Perhaps this was a type of practice that doubled the results for half the work.

Even training methods had to be proper when it came to martial arts. There were some methods that had half the effects for double the work, and then there were methods that doubled the results for half the work. While all methods led to the same destination, the amount of time wasted differed.

When Wang Chao entered the organization, he had been given quite the treatment and protection. But it had also came with responsibility. It could not be said for certain that the day would come for a mission that would delay Wang Chao’s pursuit in martial arts.

Reach the Transforming Jin early and break through the bottleneck. Wang Chao had felt that there was still plenty of time for him to pursue the pinnacle of martial arts.

It was only at the pinnacle that he thought that he would be able to come across Tang Zichen. He had wished to recount to her his experiences, sufferings, the ideology he had comprehended, and the joys and sorrows he had lived through.

The Wang Chao of today was a master of martial arts who had been undefeated ever since his grand reveal. He had never suffered a loss, and his name had been spread far within China. However, in front of Tang Zichen, Wang Chao still couldn’t help but feel as if he was a primary school student with no achievements.

If one did not finish their study, how could they see their teacher?

“This trip to Singapore has given me plenty of benefits. The biggest has been knowing of sis Chen’s whereabouts. At the very least, when I search for her in the future, I will have a concrete idea. Right now, I must focus on improving my martial arts to reach a state of nothing. Then when I meet sis Chen once more, I can show her the fruit of my labors. When sis Chen left me, I was a simple high schooler that knew nothing. When I meet her again, I will be a grandmaster of the Wudao that can proudly stand by her side. What a happy sight that will be.”

Wang Chao’s heart–aside from the aspirations and great dreams of accomplishment, he had only wished to show sis Chen just how far he had gone. Like this, his heart was as pure as a newborn.

Conspiracies and machinations of others, those held no sway over his heart. He simply did not care for any of it.

“We should return. Our matter with the Chenshi Corporation has come to an end, the rest is a personal matter. Cheng Shanming is gone, and Chen Aiyang and his sister will be able to rest for now. I don’t wish to take part in the internal power struggle of the Chen family either. The plots and plans of the old elder Chen Libo is far too many for us to properly defend ourselves against.”

Wang Chao had suddenly thought of returning home.

“What do the higher-ups say to do now?” Although he had thoughts of returning home, he still needed to ask about what the higher-ups had wanted now.

“There has been no orders yet, only that you are to keep up a friendship with Chen Aiyang while paying close attention to the Chenshi Corporation. They don’t wish for us to make a single bite for the assets of the Chenshi Corporation. We’ve killed Shen Hong, so we should leave Singapore as soon as we can to avoid the Singaporean police and the interference of the Americans. So, you should leave today while we return by boat.”

Lin Yanan continued, “This month, we will watch the nation from the sides. There will definitely be a huge battle of firearms between the Chenshi Corporation and the Chinese Revival Society. We will wait for that to pass, and depending on the circumstances, a new mission may pop up.

Wang Chao thought for a moment; the situation was really as Lin Yanan said. The Chinese Revival Society and Chen Aiyang had a match next month, but with Shen Hong dead and Cheng Shanming gone, this troublesome situation had become extremely hectic. Clearly, staying in Singapore was not the right choice to make.

“Fine, I’ll bid farewell to Chen Aiyang tomorrow and head back to Shandong to rest.”

Lin Yanan’s eye turned to Wang Chao before she nodded her head, “Take care of yourself. Protect Zhu Jia and make sure she doesn’t get in any trouble.”

Wang Chao smiled, but he did not speak and instead watched as Lin Yanan disappeared into the road.

At this moment, the sun had already rose up over the ocean and illuminated the sky.

“I’ve gotten rid of Shen Hong, and Cheng Shanming has obediently left Singapore. I too, must leave. I’m afraid there will be trouble for you two, but I hope that you will be prepared for it.”

An hour later, Wang Chao met up with the Chen siblings once more.

Wang Chao hadn’t hid a thing and explained the situation to Chen Aiyang and Chen Bin, allowing them to prepare for the worst.

“What, you’ve killed Shen Hong?” Chen Aiyang’s eyes widened in complete shock as he looked at Wang Chao. Chen Bin was also surprised.

“You….you…how could you do that? By doing this, you’ve given us a large amount of troubles.”

“Chen Bin’s forehead had begun to pool with sweat while her face paled.

“Sister, don’t be like that.” Chen Aiyang waved his hand before sighing. “Ai, I know that you aren’t able to move as you please either. With your status, you cannot do as you wish. But since you’ve been open with us, that much demonstrates your true feelings. If only we hadn’t this restriction put onto us. If only we were simply two friends of the Wulin, how enjoyable our exchanges would be.”

Wang Chao smiled, “I have always considered you two to be my friends in the Wulin.”

“But since you killed Shen Hong, you must leave right away! Sister, arrange for a secret flight, he must leave Singapore by this afternoon! Otherwise, the Singaporean police and American agencies will blockade the entire city and make it impossible to leave. The elder can’t learn of this either.”

Chen Aiyang had suddenly stood straight up and spoke with urgency.

“I’ve already a flight prepared for Vietnam! I prepared for this in secret a few months ago; even the elder doesn’t know. From Vietnam, you can go to Hong Kong. You’ll be safe then.” Chen Bin suddenly spoke.

“What, sister, you had this hidden up your sleeves?” Chen Aiyang was startled.

“Brother, the elder isn’t a benevolent person. We have our businesses in Hong Kong, if anything were to happen, we could fly on over and work by ourselves!” Chen Bin spoke seriously.

But Zhu Jia watched Chen Bin with an inward gasp, “This Chen Bin is quite the schemer. If she and Wang Chao were to remain together, who knows just what might change between them?”

“Then there’s no time to lose, take him there straight away!”

Not too long after Wang Chao and Zhu Jia left, several Americans and could be seen walking into one of the general rooms of the Singaporean Police Department at noon. Several high ranking police officers could be seen already waiting inside.

“Yesterday night, a firefight broke out in one of the shoreline villas. The owner and a dozen other men were shot to death, what happened? Just how could such a malicious event happen?”

A single American with blue eyes and an eagle-beak nose glared as he asked one of the Singaporean police members.

“This was a matter regarding the Chenshi Corporation. One of the ones that died is the leader of one of the largest criminal organizations in Hong Kong, the Chinese Revival Society. Their dispute with the Chenshi Corporation is a well known thing. We’ve already started the appropriate investigations, I am sure we’ll get the results soon enough.”

The police officer that was asked gave a detailed description of what they knew before handing several photographs of what was taken from Shen Hong’s villa.

“God fucking damn it! This information is useless! I demand the Singaporean police to seal off all airports and outgoing seaports! I want that Chinese youth arrested straight away and handed over to me!”

With a crash, the American man had thrown off all the reports on the table down to the floor in a fit of anger. Then, he took out a single picture from his pocket.

This was a picture of Wang Chao.

“Mr. Smith, please calm yourself. This is Singapore, a sovereign nation, and not a colony! You are a part of Interpol, but you are not our boss. You have no authority to command us to do anything in this police department.” A police officer rapped a finger on the table as he put on a look of disapproval towards the American.

“Oh my god.” The eagle-nosed American let out a single cry before holding his head in his hands. “You have absolutely no idea just how terrifying this youth really is.”

As he spoke, the American named Smith slapped a second picture onto the table. This time the picture revealed a purple-dressed woman, and underneath the photo was a series of intelligence they had of her.

“This is the leader of a large-scaled terrorist organization in Africa. You have no idea how much trouble she has given us in Africa!” Smith pointed at the picture. “Good God, the existence of this person is even more terrifying than the Arabic terrorist group Al-Qaeda.”

“What does that have to do with Singapore.” The police officer gave a neutral smile.

“Of course there’s a connection. According to our intel, she was here in Singapore just last week. The youth I’m telling you to arrest has a connection with this head of the terrorist group. Four years ago, our men were trying to infiltrate S province in China when they were killed. This youth was most likely with her at the time!”

Smith had leapt to his feat as he spoke, but his words had been almost incoherent.