Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 142: The Capital! A Hundred Years Ago, Yang the Invincible! A Hundred Years Later, Wang the Undefeated! (Second)

“Duan Guochao had the secrets of Shaolin past down to him. His Iron Body has already covered his entire body, his Five Imitation Boing is exquisite–especially his Eight Arts of the Snake and Crane and Eagle Claw. The Ministry of State Security has given him dangerous mission after dangerous mission, and yet he lived even after coming out from a hail of bullets, just how could he be killed?”

The light in the youth’s eyes had faded away, but almost instantaneously, he had regained a composure as calm as the night sky.

“That I don’t know.” The male that had announced the news shrugged his shoulders before sitting down. Pa! He tapped a finger on the table, “Mexican Tequila.”

This male was about 30 years old and wore a suit from a famous brand. His leather shoes were shining, and the necktie on his chest was without a blemish. Clearly brought up with manners and style, he was one of those accomplished males who frequented the bars often.

A crystal clear cup with golden liquid cames sliding across the table for the male to pick up. Just barely wetting his lips on the cup, he placed it back down as if just trying to sample the tang of the tequila.

“We aren’t from the Ministry of State Security, and neither are we a part of the government, just how would we know about the concrete details? But Duan Guochao’s death at another, that is a definite report. Jiang Hai, weren’t you always pretending that Duan Guochao was your rival? With him dead, what do you plan to do now? Ah, dear Yan, what did you order?”

The male asked his female companion.

The woman rolled her eyes, “Just plain water.”

“Yan Qing, you’re always so dull.” The male grumbled.

“Duan Guochao’s skill in martial arts is above mine, and all the more fierce. If I were to fight him barehanded, then I’d have no chance of winning. But give me a sword, and he wouldn’t even be a math for me.” The one named Jiang Hai spoke calmly before sinking into deep thought, “Is that the only information we have? Who was the person that killed him, do you know?”

“That person didn’t have much fame to him since he only just appeared. But he is an expert of the military, and it seems that he built a reputation for himself in the southeastern martial arts world in Asia and the martial arts world in Japan.” The female named Yan Qing smiled at Jiang Hai.

“An expert from the military?” Jiang Hai’s eyebrows rose up.

“My report has more information than his.” Yan Qing sat down. “Chen Ke from the Ministry of State Security gave me a call today after being temporarily released for medical reasons. She went with Duan Guochao and personally bore witness the fight. She herself was even injured and is currently being held for interrogation.”

“Oh, Chen Ke….I wanted to fuck her for ages now, but she unfortunately fell for Duan Guochao. Now that the “National Arhat” is dead, I can finally chase after her without any problems.” The male friend remarked in awe.

“Zhuang Li, you’ve always been a swine of a man who can only think about sex. Look at the beautiful girl there, go fool around with her and stop bothering our conversation here.” Yan Qing glared disdainfully at the male.

“Alright, fine then. Yan Qing, your name holds so much meaning to it, but you a woman with the temper of a dragon. Not my type at all. I really can’t understand you two. Even in today’s age, you always talk about killing and fighting as if you’re following the Jianghu and Wulin like in those novels. The three of us have been together since we were children, and yet, I still can’t understand what runs through both your minds.”

Picking up his drink, Zhuang Li sauntered on over to the other side of the bar where he had taken notice of two beautiful women that looked like university students.

“Che! What a degenerate of a noble he is.” Yan Qing stared at the retreating figure of Zhaung Li before flicking her middle finger at him.

“Zhuang Li has always lived more carefreely than the two of us. Though, that doesn’t mean he’ll live as long as we might.” Jiang Hai shook his head.

“My investigation was quite clear, the person who killed Duan Guochao has arrived in Beijing. Chen Ke had someone pass on a message to me. She was begging me to ask you to compare notes with the person and then cripple him to let her rest assured.” Yan Qing’s face was quite serious.

“How old is this person?”

“Younger than Duan Guochao, he’s a new hand.”

“What? A youngster?” Jiang Hai was surprised once more. His eyes flashed with an eager glint, “And here I thought they had brought a practitioner from the previous generation.”

“Brother Jiang Hai, you are a disciple of the Nine Palace and the Pure Yang Sword sects within Wudang. People in Beijing say that you and Duan Guochao are the most outstanding experts; one from Shaolin, and one from Wudang. But you must also know that while Duan Guochao made a name for himself, people praised you because of the illustrious name of your family. Combined with the fact that you have never fought with Duan Guochao, people are thinking that you are far beneath him.”

“The reason why I never fought Duan Guochao was because I was never certain of the results. I practice the sword, using a weapon against him wouldn’t even be a hard match to win. As for Chen Ke, she’s just a silly girl who doesn’t understand. You can go back now, Yan Qing. No matter what era society is in, it’s what Zhuang Li says: fighting and killing is of no use.”

Having said that, Jiang Hai stood up and patted Yan Qing before silently stepping past her without a sound and disappeared into the throng of people without a trace.

“Brother Jiang Hai, you still have a competitive streak in you. But it’s no wonder, you’ve been pressured by the halo of Duan Guochao for so long now.” Yan Qing mentioned to herself as she watched Jiang Hai disappear. “But still, the one who was able to kill Duan Guochao was just a youngster. How terrifying is his martial arts? I’ll have to watch out for this person.”

In a wide open room, there was no light to be seen anywhere along with any windows.

Three candles were lit in the center of the room, giving off a fiery dot.

Jiang Hai stared at these three candles. In his eyes, the spiralling columns of smoke could be clearly seen, and in his hand was a sword with a frosty yet clear blade.

Jiang Hai opened his mouth and took in a deep breath as if he had a chicken egg in his mouth before swallowing it in.

Clunk! As if a heavy boulder had suddenly dropped down onto the ground, a dull sound could be heard accompanied by a splash. This was Jiang Hai’s breath entering his lungs before making its way past the intestines and bladder before finally descending down onto the dantian to create this magical effect.

Shua! The sword in his hands blurred into motion before the three lit candle wicks flew upwards on top of the blade. Jiang Hai’s sword had moved in a hurry while his body had swiveled fluidly in a mirage like manner.

The three candle wicks fluttered in the dark room as it moved in a linear path. In an instant, a design of the Nine Palaces had been drawn with the blade tip and the three candle wicks as the brush and ink.

With a flick of the blade, the three still-burning tips dropped back down onto the candle as if it had never left in the first place.

The strength had been exquisitely measured–almost a feat worth defining to be a work stolen from the heavens.

“That youth was able to kill Duan Guochao, but I wonder if he would be able to defend against the sword in my hands?”

“Ah, Cao Yi, who would have thought that Wang Chao would be involved in such a major issue?” The general Zhou Lang and Cao Yi had both known about the predicament Wang Chao had gotten himself in in Hong Kong.

“How big could it be, didn’t he only kill an expert from the Ministry of State Security? In our line of work, there will always be casualties every month. Only this time, they’ve sent Wang Chao to Beijing for an investigation, aside from that, what else do they plan to do? When it comes to Beijing, experts aren’t exactly in low supply. It’s not like he was the bodyguard of a leader or the family member of an official. If something like that happened, wouldn’t it be far more inconvenient?” Cao Yi narrowed his eyes.

“Even that’s not anything to worry about. While Wang Chao has made a bit of a name for himself in the southeastern martial arts world of Asia, within the mainlands, it’s rather small. The powers in Beijing are numerous and interwoven amongst one another. With so many experts there, even the more chaotic schools and sects can be found. He fought multiple times and established himself quickly. With his development, there was profit to be had and could threaten the Shaolin Temple.” Zhou Lang spoke.

Early in the morning, the birds were beginning to chirp from their perches on the pomegranate tree. Wang Chao had already risen earlier in the morning, and after washing his face, he walked into the middle of the courtyard. From there, Wang Chao felt refreshed and without a care in the world.

Closing his eyes, Wang Chao took in a deep breath. Just faintly, Wang Chao could feel his own lungs with each and every breath; they were healthy and strong.

“Chen Aiyang’s, “Fishing Toad Jin” has him swallow air to strengthen his abdomen. My breathing only reaches the lungs before it comes back out, but it does not train me. By now, my muscles and bones have already reached a great merit by themselves. Strong and robust, only my internal organs have not yet reached maturity. But should I be practicing breathing exercises to strengthen them?”

Wang Chao’s “Inner Sight” was only enough for him to see his lungs. For his other internal organs, he was incapable of sensing them. However, he had already learned of a method that should he continue to practice it, he would be able to bring together the internal and external parts of his body to completion so that together, they were like iron.

For example, the contortions of the body in the snake stance helped strengthen the kidneys. Wang Chao had already achieved a state where the “sound follows the fist” in this regard. His kidneys was robust, and if he were to continue this method of training for another year or two, then he could probably grow to a point where he could gain inner sight of the kidneys as well.

However the breathing exercises were not at all similar to each other. Most people would breathe from their windpipe to their lungs. These exercises were different. Like swallowing an egg, the air must be swallowed so as to shake up and stimulate the stomach and intestines.

To breathe regularly was through the windpipe. To use the breathing exercises was to swallow.

“How unfortunate. Although I saw how Chen Aiyang practiced breathing and know of the rough posture, I did not properly focus on the actual swallowing process in the exercise. To practice these methods, it is the same as learning martial arts, when at the start, a teacher is needed for guidance. Otherwise, if there is even the slightest of problems, then the more it is practiced, the more it will become a detriment and affect the lifespan.”

Yong Bao, Yong He, and even Duan Guochao all knew the breathing exercises of Yoga to practice breathing. After three days, he had not only managed to summarize the concepts, but he had already a decent grasp of the techniques.

Martial arts after all have a major emphasis on the cultivation of the body and health. It was only after the body was robust that one would be able to strike down their enemies.

“Three days have already gone past, why hasn’t anyone from the investigation team come yet?”

He had been in this courtyard for three days now. Each of the three daily meals had been exquisite, and allowed for Wang Chao to shadow box and exercise to his heart’s content, making him feel quite at ease with himself.

But in these three days, there had been no noise at all. This silence had caused Wang Chao to feel suspicious.

Since there had been no contact, Wang Chao had absolutely no idea what was happening outside the courtyard.

“I’ve just have to wait then.” Wang Chao shook his head to clear his mind of his thoughts.

Extending his arms, Wang Chao spread out his fingers before doing the same with his feet and toes. Imagining himself clinging to the ground, Wang Chao took in a deep breath like a snake swallowing the egg of a chicken into its body for food. In a flash the air arrived at his stomach before sinking down to his abdomen and wiggling through the intestines with a rumbling sound.

Wang Chao allowed for the air to settle down his dantian before lifting his anus and pressed both hands to his abdomen. Massaging it for a moment, he brought the air back up his chest before letting it out. After that, he felt that this action was quite repulsive.

“The Fishing Toad Jin from the Golden Toad Sect of Wudang?”

As Wang Chao’s eyes were closed and rubbed at his throat, his ears twitched in response to hear a new voice. Turning, he saw a young man with a word in hand at the gates where he had let out an astonished inquiry.

“Who are you?” Wang Chao immediately began to look at this young man with narrowed eyes as he sized him up. It was at this moment that the two guards at the gate had stood to attention.

When Wang Chao saw the expression in both guards’ eyes, he immediately knew that they recognized this young man.

“I am inheritor of the Nine Palace Swords of Wudang.” This young man was Jiang Hai. Reporting his sect, he stood at the gates, but he did not enter.

At the same time, one of the guards quickly scrambled on over to Wang Chao’s side, “Should he be allowed in?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be guarding me? Why bother asking me this?” Wang Chao asked.

“Our orders were to ensure your safety. But above all else, to ensure that you do not leave the courtyard. In the case someone comes to pay a visit, then we were told to seek your opinion.” The guard spoke. “The higher ups did not forbid you from communicating with people. There is a phone within the house; even if you call a large group of people to come over, that is no problem.”

“Do you recognize this man?” Wang Chao felt that this Shuanggui of his was far too lenient.

“Of course. He is named Jiang Hai, an expert as famous as Duan Guochao.” The guard spoke, “He has some influence.”

“I see.” Wang Chao nodded his head. Then, to Jiang Hai, “Please, come in.”

Jiang Hai walked past the gates before standing still to look at Wang Chao, “Are you from one of the sects of Wudang?”

“I am not.” Wang Chao shook his head. Seeing the young man clutch at his sword, Wang Chao had decided to forego any additional talk and asked bluntly, “Have you come to exchange fists with me? The arm and feet are without mercy, but the sword and sabre are without eyes. What if there is an accident? What will be done?”

Jiang Hai was stunned. He didn’t think that Wang Chao would be that blunt to go straight to the point. He had originally thought there would be some greetings first.