Chapter 260 – High-def Martial Arts
A military jeep zoomed along the road as Jingdu city was gradually left behind.
“Let’s go to Plot 1 first. I’ve already gone to view it. It’s next to a village and is located along a riverbank; fairly suitable for manufacturing.” Tang Yu-Yan broke the silence in the car.
“How many plots of land are there in all?” asked Xia Lei.
“Four. I’ve pre-viewed them,” said Tang Yu-Yan.
“So can you give me your opinion?” said Xia Lei.
“I don’t have experience in this. My task is to take you to see the plots of land and oversee your safety. As for where to build – it’s your decision,” said Tang Yu-Yan with a smile.
“Nn.” Xia Lei narrowed his eyes at her. “Miss Tang, may I ask you something?”
“What do you want to ask?” A small smile was forming in the corners of Tang Yu-Yan’s mouth.
“Um… What does your father do?”
Tang Yu-Yan grinned. “I knew you’d ask that. Didn’t expect you to stall for so long before asking though. It makes no difference if I tell you; he’s from the Equipment Department. He’s not a very high-ranking official or anything. About the same as my godfather.”
“No way.” Xia Lei was a little disbelieving. He did believe that Tang Tian-Long was from the Equipment Department but he did not believe that he was a small fry.
Tang Yu-Yan pursed her cherry-red lips and gave Xia Lei a look. “Long Bing has corrupted you with all that paranoia. What I said was the truth. Would a very important person come to meet you personally and sign a contract with you? An important person will come meet you if you’re going to build a war machine or tanks.”
Xia Lei smiled. What Tang Yu-Yan said made sense. He was a civilian who owned a small company, so why would someone very important come to greet him and sign a contract with him? However, the Tang family still left a deep impression on him.
“Mr Xia, I’m your personal driver today. How are you going to thank me?”
“Nn, I’ll treat you to a meal. What do you want to eat?”
“How can I let you treat me to a meal when we’re in Jingdu? I’ll treat you. How about this – you modify a sniper rifle for me. I’d like it to be of the same standard as Long Bing’s sniper rifle. Is that okay?” Tang Yu-Yan looked at Xia Lei, all smiles.
This seemed to be the reason why Tang Yu-Yan had volunteered to take Xia Lei to view the plots of land.
Xia Lei gave it some thought. “Sure. Give me the gun you want modified and I’ll help you modify it when I’m back in Haizhu.”
“I have it all prepared. It’s under the back seat,” said Tang Yu-Yan.
Xia Lei looked back. There was a long plastic box under the back seat. His left eye twitched and he saw a domestically-produced sniper rifle, exactly the same as the one he had modified for Long Bing.
Xia Lei stopped looking and smiled wryly. “So you’d prepared this in advance.”
Tang Yu-Yan grinned. “Because I know you won’t reject me.”
The vehicle entered a suburban area and went forward for a little more before arriving at a riverbank. This plot of land was roughly over twenty kilometres away from the city. The road connection was convenient; one would arrive in the city after about ten minutes of driving. It was a large plot too and looked to be over 6.67 hectares.
“How about this plot?” Tang Yu-Yan did a hop as she spoke and sprang lightly to the top of a large rock almost a metre high. She looked down at Xia Lei from her high perch.
Xia Lei looked up at her. “Not bad. You know how much this is?”
“200 million,” said Tang Yu-Yan, “It’s close to the city. Won’t be cheap even if it’s for industrial purposes.”
“Then take me to the next plot. This one’s too expensive,” said Xia Lei.
“Sure, I’ll take you there.” Tang Yu-Yan jumped down from the rock immediately. Her long legs shot out at Xia Lei in a kick aimed at his chest.
Xia Lei hurriedly dodged it as he said, “What are you doing, Miss Tang?”
Tang Yu-Yan did not reply. She swept a foot at Xia Lei’s waist.
Xia Lei jumped backwards and got a little annoyed. “Stop this, Miss Tang.”
Tang Yu-Yan answered with a barrage of fists. Her fists were snow-white jade and looked soft but her strength was amazingly great; she was fast too and her fists whooshed.
Xia Lei used elbows and palms to block Tang Yu-Yan’s quick punches. Her blows stung and Xia Lei, who was only defending, was forced backwards under her assault. He was pushed to the riverside in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
“Enough!” Xia Lei had no more space to retreat – any further back and he’d be taking a bath in the river.
Tang Yu-Yan did not seem to have heard Xia Lei’s warning. Her fists paused as she whipped around with a kick aimed at Xia Lei’s shoulder. Her movements were quick and light, her attacks soaring, and her body twisting easily in the air in a flying kick made her look like a beautiful bird.
Xia Lei had heard from Liang Zheng-Chun that the Tang sect were not just good with hidden weapons. They also had their Tang Qinggong and Tang Fist.
Xia Lei had not seen Tang Qinggong before but he had witnessed the might of the Tang Fist. He got pissed and moved in before her long leg touched his body, inserting his body between Tang Yu-Yan’s legs. Tang Yu-Yan had not expected that Xia Lei would react so monstrously quickly and it was too late for her to retract her leg. Xia Lei’s shoulder slammed heavily into her hips. The great impact lifted her by the hips from Xia Lei’s shoulder and she flew two metres before landing on the ground.
She looked about to fall on some rocks when she reached out and pushed off from a rock. Her body stiffened and relaxed, and she landed lightly on her feet.
This seemed to be Tang Qinggong; it was remarkable.
Xia Lei did not go on the offence. He just looked at her in annoyance.
Tang Yu-Yan twisted around to rub her round buttocks. She did not make any sound but the sight of her holding back her pain made one’s heart melt a little in pity.
“How could you hit me… there?” Tang Yu-Yan pouted and looked a little affronted. She kept rubbing her buttocks.
‘Don’t blame me. You asked for it – not as if I planned it,’ thought Xia Lei to himself.
“Hello?” Tang Yu-Yan grew discomfited by Xia Lei’s straight gaze. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
Xia Lei snapped back to his senses then and quickly lifted his chin to look at the sky and also move his attention elsewhere. “Why attack me?”
“I saw you defeat that Bruce Long the last time at the Martial Arts seminar so I wanted to test myself against you. There wasn’t a chance for me to do so before and it’s just the two of us now, so nobody will know even if you defeat me. Heh heh,” chuckled Tang Yu-Yan.
The fire in his belly subsided and went out. Xia Lei left eye went back to normal but he did not dare look at Tang Yu-Yan lest it activated again.
“You’re really good. I can’t win against you,” said Tang Yu-Yan.
Xia Lei then moved his gaze to Tang Yu-Yan and laughed. “Don’t you think it’s silly for you to do this? I know your Tang sect’s greatest strength is not fighting but hidden weapons. I probably won’t be able to beat you if you used hidden weapons.”
Tang Yu-Yan shook her head. “Our Tang sect’s hidden weapons are not for play. People die when they are used; I won’t use hidden weapons on you.”
“I saw you almost fall earlier but you sprang up like a bird. Was that Qinggong?” Xia Lei recalled Tang Yu-Yan’s earlier movements – that technique was very pretty and also quite amazing.
Tang Yu-Yan laughed. “Yep, Tang Qinggong. It’s hundreds of years old, but not as exaggerated as how the martial arts novels describe. It’s not like how it’s portrayed in movies either. It’s a special technique to manipulate the body’s strength. You can think of it this way – I can jump over a wall three metres high if I have a starting running distance of three to five metres. If I have ten metres of running space, I can jump over obstacles four or five metres high.”
Xia Lei could not help making a sound of admiration. “Amazing!”
“Want to learn?” Tang Yu-Yan stared straight at Xia Lei.
“Can I?” asked Xia Lei in surprise.
“Of course,” said Tang Yu-Yan with a laugh, “But you have to teach me Wing Chun.”
Xia Lei smiled. “Okay, it’s a deal then.”
He had his own ideas and plans about exchanging martial art techniques too. Liang Zheng-Chun had given him his Wing Chun secret techniques to let him spread the greatness of Wing Chun, so this meant he had the right to teach some Wing Chun to Tang Yu-Yan. Of course, Tang Yu-Yan had to teach him the real Tang techniques too. If she kept the proper techniques from him and only taught him some parlour tricks then he would just keep the real Wing Chun to himself too.
“I’ll take you to the next plot of land now. I’ll treat you to a meal when you’ve decided on which plot you’d like, then we’ll go to my place. I’ll teach you Qinggong and you’ll teach me Wing Chun. What do you think?” Tang Yu-Yan looked excited.
Xia Lei smiled. “Sure.”
