Chapter 207 – Martial Arts Hero
Xia Lei and Bruce Long were locked in battle on the platform.
Most people thought it would be a close fight but it was, unfortunately, not. Xia Lei just defended and kept defending no matter how Bruce Long attacked.
Bruce Long was quick but Xia Lei’s left eye could catch his quick movements and deduce where he would attack. He dodged those he could avoid and used Wing Chun defence techniques when he could not.
Xia Lei was younger than Liang Zheng-Chun and his body was not as absurd as Bruce Long’s but he was fairly strong and had considerable attacking capabilities. He also used the hardest parts of his body, the elbows and knees, to counter Bruce Long’s fists and kicks, meeting hard with hard. Dong Wu was able to draw blood from him the last time because he had a sword and Xia Lei did not dare to get hit hard, choosing to dodge instead. Bruce Long was using his hands and feet this time so he did not have to be afraid of getting cut. He saw through his moves with this left eye and he was unhurried and calm. He was just defending but did not seem harried at all.
Bruce Long attacked Xia Lei madly for a full three minutes but was unable to gain any advantage. He looked fit to burst with rage. “You’re just defending! What Wing Chun is this?”
“You can’t even defeat me when I haven’t attacked – will you be able to take it if I do attack?” said Xia Lei disdainfully.
“Fuck!” Bruce Long spewed expletives.
At that moment, Dong Wu suddenly shouted, “His right leg’s injured!”
Bruce Long’s gaze went to Xia Lei’s right leg and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
Curses came from below the ring.
Dong Wu pretended not to hear and just sneered as he looked at Xia Lei in the ring.
Bruce Long suddenly swept his leg at Xia Lei’s right inner thigh.
Xia Lei raised his right leg and his right kneecap forward, knocking the back of Bruce Long’s right leg. The great impact from the attack pushed Xia Lei one step back.
“Ha! Let’s see how long you can keep this up!” Bruce Long lunged forward on one foot and unleashed a kick at Xia Lei’s injured leg.
Xia Lei used the same technique to block it and was kicked one step backwards again.
Below the platform, Dong Qing-Yue sneered, “He won’t make it past a minute. There’s no way he can keep going once his injured leg gets kicked.”
“According to our agreement, Bruce Long will heavily injure Xia Lei, then… Haha!” said Dong Wu.
As father-and-daughter talked, Bruce Lee kicked Xia Lei twice again, pushing him back two more steps. The ropes of the ring were just a little bit away and there was no other way to go for Xia Lei.
“Kiss the floor!” Bruce Long roared in anger and leaned sideways in a kick at Xia Lei’s injured leg. The strength used for this kick was much greater than the previous kicks. HIs speed and strength made his leg seem like iron.
Xia Lei did not use his knee to block this time. He lunged forward and brushed past Bruce Long’s leg to go straight to his chest area in an instant. A punch landed on Bruce Long’s chest. Xia Lei’s second knuckle of his middle finger protruded from his fist and the hard bone was like a steel bar hitting Bruce Long in the Shanzhong acupuncture point!
Bruce Long’s body was extremely strong, way stronger than an average human’s, but it was still made of flesh and bone, not metal and nylon fibres. The Shanzhong acupuncture point was a very important acupuncture point in the human body and Bruce Long’s body had an inevitable reaction when the point was attacked by Xia Lei.
The instant Bruce Long’s Shanzhong acupuncture point was hit, his heart started beating erratically and his breaths came short. The first part affected by the irregular heartbeat was his brain. His brain could not function normally because it was unable to receive sufficient blood and oxygen; dizziness, blurred vision and slowed reactions followed. However, this was just the beginning. The sudden pain that came after made even a man as strong as Bruce Long cry out before he collapsed to the ground.
Xia Lei had used a needle on Sawada Mei’s Shanzhong acupuncture point too and she, who had received pain tolerance training, was unable to bear it for more than a minute – this showed the importance of the Shanzhong acupuncture point. Xia Lei had centred his entire body’s strength on that knuckle in his fist and accurately attacked Bruce Long’s Shanzhong acupuncture point. This was even more terrifyingly painful than when he had used a needle on Sawada Mei!
Bruce Long screamed as he dropped but it was silent below the platform – all jaws had dropped and it was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Just one second earlier, Bruce Long was still beating Xia Lei back and Xia Lei’s disadvantage was plain for all to see. Almost no one thought that he’d be able to hold on for more than a minute but Bruce Long had fallen in the next second. Who could believe a sudden reversal like that?
Xia Lei walked over and kicked Bruce Long in the underbelly.
Bruce Long lacked even the strength to dodge and was kicked bodily by Xia Lei. His body slid a few metres along the carpeting of the platform.
Xia Lei walked towards Bruce Long.
The blonde, who’d been recording all this time, suddenly ran over and blocked Xia Lei’s way. She pleaded in monotonous Chinese, “No, don’t, don’t, dont.”
Xia Lei had wanted to kick Bruce Long around a few times because of the flames of anger in heart but the sight of the groaning, ground-hugging Bruce Long made the flames subside. Bruce Long had been defeated and punished – it would be ungentlemanly of him if he continued beating up a man who was already on the ground with no power to fight back.
“Go back to America. Remember this. China has a history of five thousand years and it is vast. You have not seen many of the skilled and versed yet. Do not think that you’re invincible when you’ve only defeated a few,” said Xia Lei.
Bruce Long looked at Xia Lei. His gaze was full of pain but there was no humiliation nor hate.
Xia Lei turned to face the crowd below the ring and gestured at Dong Wu. “Come up, Dong Wu. I’ll fight you!”
Everyone’s gazes concentrated on Dong Wu.
Dong Wu got up, but he just stood and did not take one step towards the platform. Xia Lei had beaten the indomitable Bruce Long, so it was not difficult to imagine what would happen if he went up. He could also confirm that Xia Lei would not go easy on him even if the most beautiful woman on Earth pleaded on his behalf; he’d get beaten so badly that his own daughter wouldn’t recognise him.
Xia Lei spoke again, “Come up. Weren’t you making a lot of noise down there? A person like you is not worthy of martial arts. You have none of a martial artist’s morals. Come up here, I’ll teach you morals.”
Dong Wu’s aged face turned the colour of pig liver. He had been able to cut Xia Lei last night because of Qin Qi’s sneak attack, but if Qin Qi tried to do that in front of so many martial artists now, he would be beaten so badly his own parents wouldn’t recognise him, even if the police didn’t arrest him!
Go up into the ring, get beaten up and humiliated. Stay, and face humiliation. Dong Wu had long made his decision. He laughed. “Xia Lei, I won’t bicker with you. Your leg is injured; next time. I’ll fight with you next time, or people will say that I had an unfair win.”
“You goddam shitty motherfucker!” Tang Bo-Chuan suddenly stood up and pointed at Dong Wu as he cursed, “You cockroach! How is your skin so thick? Just say it if you don’t dare to fight him – why pretend to be an expert?”
Mocking voices came from below the platform. Some called him thick-skinned while others called him shameless. He had drawn the ire of all the martial artists when he had called out Xia Lei’s injured leg when Xia Lei was fighting Bruce Long earlier, so who wouldn’t want to curse at him now when they had the chance?
Martial artists were, by and large, not elegant people and their curses were as colourful as one could make them. Some particularly crude people asked after Dong Wu’s late wife, and even barrel-waisted Dong Qing-Yue was not spared. Scoldings and curses surged towards Dong Wu, Dong Qing-Yue and Qin Qi like a flood.
There would definitely be a mass-beating if any one of the three of them dared to say a word in retort in this situation.
Dong Wu, Dong Qing-Yue and Qin Qi were like rats trying to cross the street, detested by all. The dislike towards these three far outstripped the dislike for Bruce Long.
“Let’s leave!” Dong Wu could not stay a second more.
Qin Qi and Dong Qing-Yue rose without a word and followed Dong Wu, walking away from the event grounds.
Xia Lei raised his voice, “Dong Wu, Qin Qi, tell your owner this – the time has not come!”
Dong Wu and Qin Qi looked back at Xia Lei, their gazes icy-cold.
At that moment, Bruce Long caught his breath and climbed to his feet. He walked to Xia Lei and asked, “What punch did you use to defeat me just now?”
Xia Lei couldn’t be bothered to speak to him. He turned and got down from the ring platform.
“Let’s go, Master,” said Xia Lei to Liang Zheng-Chun.
Liang Zheng-Chun patted Xia Lei on the shoulder. “All right, let’s go back. You’ve displayed the might of my Wing Chun. I’ll get Si-Yao to cook some dishes when we’re home and we can have a few drinks together.”
“Nn, yes.” Liang Si-Yao was like a balm to his heart and Xia Lei’s mood improved when he heard her name.
“But you can’t help her cook or you’ll spoil her,” added Liang Zheng-Chun suddenly.
Xia Lei laughed sheepishly but did not say anything. He could promise him now that he would not help but he would still help if Liang Si-Yao asked him to. He wouldn’t promise something he could not accomplish.
A big group of reporters came rushing over to take pictures of Xia Lei and Liang Zheng-Chun, including reporters with microphones and recorders, trying to get an interview.
On the other side, Tang Yu-Yan leaned in to Tang Bo-Chuan’s ear and said softly, “Want to invite him to our place?”
Tang Bo-Chuan smiled. “No rush. It’s not good to rush.”
Tang Yu-Yan gave Tang Bo-Chuan a long look, her gaze seeming to speak a sentence.
Tang Bo-Chuan lowered his voice, “There’ll be plenty of opportunities to interact with him. We know where he lives and what he does too. Is there a need to worry that you won’t be able to find him?”
Xia Lei had already pushed his way out of the crowd of reporters surrounding himself and Liang Zheng-Chun by then and swaggered off with Lu Sheng.
Tang Yu-Yan looked at Xia Lei’s disappearing back and a faint, mysterious smile appeared in the corners of her lips.
