Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 8: The difference to a master

Originally, Wang Chao had already calmed down from the entire ordeal, but the moment he had heard officer Cao’s words, his heart immediately went into overdrive. His throat constricted as his vertebrae straightened, his center of gravity went towards his tailbone, and his hair began to stand up.

Crash! Right away, the chair that Wang Chao had been sitting in had been sent flying away.

When he saw just what type of reaction had occurred from his words, officer Cao had been surprised. This high schooler had seem almost like a wild animal that was ready to bite if need be.

“What a fast reaction speed,” Officer Cao thought with interest towards Wang Chao.

In actuality, during the beginning of the interrogation, officer Cao had realized that from these 8 gangsters, only brother Guang had any injuries. Brother Liang’s hands were clutching at his pants with a pale face, clearly he had won the lottery of injuries. As for this high schooler, he only had a single footprint on his chest and a rosy red face. Aside from the out of breath look, it was clear to see that this kid was quite strong.

For a person to injure two people out of eight with such a situation like this, if officer Cao couldn’t see the truth, then he may as well quit being an officer.

“Don’t be so nervous.” Officer Cao slowly took out a Furongwang brand cigarette and lit it on fire. “I’m not interrogating you, it’s just a simple talk. Have you learned martial arts before?”

Slowly calming himself, Wang Chao thought to himself, “Just what is this guy thinking? He clearly saw that I had robbed the gangsters, so they’re the victims, not me.” With that thought, Wang Chao couldn’t help but pat the money he had stashed away within his clothes.

It was until now that Wang Chao realized just how much money he had grabbed. With a quick estimation, he could guess it to be around a thousand or two thousand RMB.

This amount of money was quite the sum to Wang Chao. Even if he had stolen it, he was reluctant to part with it.

“Judging from the lack of calluses on your hands and the uneven finger bones, you haven’t practiced for long. But with a reaction like that along with your physique, I’m guessing you’ve been practicing your family’s martial arts for a small amount of time, otherwise, you’d never have been kicked like that.”

While smoking, officer Cao continued to give his observations.

Looking at the hand that was holding the cigarette, Wang Chao could see that the fist’s bones were rather even looking as if there was no dents at all. Even his hands had a brown colored layer from the calluses.

Looking at his own hand, he kneaded his hand into a fist. The depression between each knuckle was clearly noticeable.

“En, I’ve practiced a little bit. Just about two months now.” Wang Chao spoke after careful consideration, he saw no harm in saying this piece of information.

“Eh, could this be a martial art that has been passed down from generation to generation? Could this kid be a practitioner of tradition?” Officer Cao’s eyes began to shine as he thought to himself. “By now, most inherited martial arts are mostly very bare-boned like in their movements, could I have come across a true traditional form?”

“Who is your teacher?” Officer Cao asked carelessly.

But Wang Chao was too careful to give a real answer, “I can’t tell him about sis Chen.” He thought. “An old man in the park taught me how to stand properly and two moves to help defend myself.”

“Ah, so it’s like that?” A flash of disappointment went through officer Cao’s eyes for a moment before smiling once more. “How about this, I’m a boxer too. When people of the same trade meet, they should take notes. let me see just how much you’ve practiced.”

“What did you want to test?” Wang Chao loosened up as he saw the happy smile on the officer’s face, but the atmosphere was still quite tense.

“I’ll stand here and you come attack me! Show me your strength and speed!” Officer Cao spoke.

“Sure!” Wang Chao’s original plan had been fighting anyways. Although he had fought the gangsters, his craving hadn’t yet been satisfied. Since someone had taken the initiative to start a fight, it was like offering a pillow to a drowsy person.

Ha!” Wang Chao ran for two steps before pouncing forward with a fist flying at officer Cao’s chest.

Suddenly, the officer swung his own right fist to meet Wang Chao’s fist.

The two fists collided in midair with a crash as flesh hit flesh!

“Ouch!” Wang Chao felt as if he had struck out at an iron wall at high speeds. The pain he had felt was so high that tears were threatening to fall from his eyes as he nursed the fist that he used to make the blow.

“Fuck!” Wang Chao couldn’t help but let out a swear. Although he was in pain, this clash had brought out a dangerous aura from within him.

His foot smashed into the ground as Wang Chao rotated his body so that his back was faced against the officer! Hardening his will, Wang Chao turned to deliver the move he had practiced thousands of times, the “Lifting Yin Palm”.

First was an elbow strike to the chest with a whip like motion, he lashed out with another blow towards the groin area of the officer. But in that time, officer Cao had already smashed his fist into the tip of Wang Chao’s elbow.

Instantly, Wang Chao’s elbow went numb! It was almost as if his entire arm was paralyzed, naturally halting the progression of his elbow strike.

And soon after, the pain in his elbow followed.

Taking back his hand, Wang Chao suddenly realized that his fist was completely swollen now. With the red hue and inflammation, it seemed as if his fist had been dipped and fried in chili oil! Making a fist to punch was impossible to do now, let alone raising it.

“Kid, your fists are far too soft.” The officer drew back without making another move. “Don’t think yourself an expert after learning so little. If you continue to cause trouble, you’ll eat your losses soon enough.”

Wang Chao’s fist had hurt so much that he was trying to cool it off by blowing cold air onto it, “I can’t do this, I’m too weak! This guy’s just too fast, and his fist is like hitting iron! Anything I do won’t hurt him! Forget it, I’ll wait for next time and have sis Chen continue to teach me. I’ll definitely show him!”

The fierce competitive nature in Wang Chao had suddenly skyrocketed.

Covering his arm, Wang Chao spoke, “I’m no match for you, I’m going home.” And with that, he turned to leave.

“Hold on.” The officer called out. “Just how much money did you steal?”

“What, you knew I stole money?!” Wang Chao whirled around in keyed up state.

“If I didn’t see such a thing, I would be a failure of a cop. I’d best go home and be the house husband then.” The officer laughed.

“Then why did you have them all locked up and not hold me responsible instead?” Wang Chao asked incredulously. There was a tint of disappointment within him. Knowing that the money was no longer a secret, he fished them out from his clothes–there had been 2100 RMB! With a pain that felt as if he was being cut apart from the inside, he dropped the wad of money onto the table.

“If you were the commander, just what would you do?” The officer nodded his head at the pile of money on the table. “Let’s think for a moment. If I say you stole the money, your parents will definitely argue. A group of gangsters chasing after a high school student before caught by the cops. Then, the gangsters are released and the high school student is imprisoned? If word of this gets out, would I even be an officer still by the end of the day?”

“I see!” Wang Chao gave a sigh in relief as he thought to himself, “So this is what it’s like to say the stain on your pants is from mud, not shit.”

“Don’t be so pleased with yourself. These gangsters aren’t anything important thanks to the social progress today where we capture them and then release them. If it were a few dozen years ago, they would had been executed by the firing squad long ago.”

Dropping the butt of the cigarette on the table, the officer spoke, “Kid, I’m teaching you a lesson here today. Don’t take us police officers as idiots.”

With that, Wang Chao nodded his head and left.