Hidden Master!
Night fell in China, while it was still morning in Los Angeles.
Chen Mo had been closely following the developments of the incident. To Chen Mo surprise, the matter quickly became a hot topic online shortly after it occurred.
"An 80-year-old man bravely apprehended a thief!"
"An elderly man was attacked by a gang of thieves after he tried to catch one!"
"Thief attacks elderly man who tried to help but was killed in self-defense!"
Initially, only eyewitnesses posted information online, but as the incident gained more attention, more detailed information was gradually revealed.
"A father and son bravely fought off five knife-wielding thugs, resulting in one death and four injuries! It is understood that the two heroes, an 84-year-old father and a 55-year-old son, are both veterans who served in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea and remain in excellent health. While traveling, they encountered a theft gang and intervened. Facing the armed and vicious thugs, the 84-year-old father killed one of them with a single blow, while the 55-year-old son single-handedly took down the remaining four. According to the hospital, the deceased suffered a shattered throat and died instantly, while the four injured suffered multiple fractures and joint damage. A doctor who treated the injured stated that they initially thought the victims were from a group attack with weapons, but were shocked to learn that the five had been attacked by the two elderly men."
The netizens reacted strongly, but most people remained skeptical of the news.
"The editor put a lot of effort into this!"
"A veteran with iron will!"
"We old folks aren't to be trifled with! We'll knock you out with one swing of our canes!"
"There are many hidden masters among ordinary people!"
"That's a lie! My grandfather was over seventy and couldn't even beat me, let alone kill an armed thug at eighty-four! That's bullshit! Besides, I'm only fourteen!"
"The people upstairs are ruthless! They don't even spare their own grandfather!"
"The person upstairs is brain-dead! Don't they understand how to use an analogy?!"
"It's not impossible. There's an old man in the park next to my house, who must be eighty or ninety years old. Even the strongest man can't push him in a push-hands game. He pushes him out in just a few moves."
"So you're a kung fu master, and from a martial arts family at that! I want to become your disciple!"
"Be careful not to get scammed!"
However, once the video of the incident, captured by a nearby surveillance camera, was posted online, the doubts vanished instantly. Everyone who witnessed the whole thing, especially the scene of Chen Jingde and Chen Weiguo taking action, was shocked.
When they first saw several thugs wielding daggers surrounding them, most people thought the family of three was doomed. Even those who had heard the news beforehand didn't believe the two old men could handle five knife-wielding thugs.
Two middle-aged couples in their forties or fifties, along with an elderly man in his seventies or eighties, faced five vicious knife-wielding thugs. Everyone was holding their breath and deeply worried for them.
"Run! These guys are really capable of killing people!"
"That's right, we have people here who get killed while trying to catch a thief."
"I heard someone really died! I wonder if it was this old man. He's so pitiful!"
"These thieves are despicable! They not only steal money but also kill! They're a social cancer! They should all be shot!"
When they saw the dark-skinned, thin young man stab Chen Jingde with a dagger, many people couldn't bear it and closed their eyes, feeling sorrow for the brave old man who had stepped forward to catch the thief.
"It's over!"
"That was too ruthless! This is deadly!"
"What a pity for this upright old man!"
Seeing that this respectable old man was about to die at the hands of the villains, everyone felt angry and heartbroken. Was this poor old man going to lose his life at the hands of the thugs today because of his righteous act?
What followed was a shocking scene: Chen Jingde nimbly dodged the dagger and then decisively punched the thin, dark-skinned young man, shattering his throat. Everyone who had been worried about him was stunned.
Many people stared in shock.
How is this possible?! The reversal happened way too fast!
Is this really an old man? Or is he a special forces soldier in disguise?
The stark contrast was hard for them to accept at first. One moment they were lambs to the slaughter, the next they had become ferocious tigers that devoured people. This was so different from what they had imagined.
Although they didn't want the elderly to be hurt, how did they manage to turn the tables in that second?
Are elderly people this strong these days?
The comments section on the video was filled with exclamations of amazement.
"Oh my god! Am I seeing things?"
"Powerful!"
"Awesome!"
"Holy crap! That news I saw before was actually true! #Father and son bravely fight five knife-wielding thugs, one dead and four injured!#"
The news that was previously thought to be fabricated by the editor has been dug up again, and many people have clicked on it and gained a better understanding of the matter.
"Over eighty years old?! Are you kidding me?!"
"He's a tough guy, all talk and no action!"
"It's clearly your grandfather!"
"Your grandpa's pretty tough too!"
"Hands-on, 1 vs 4, knife-wielding thugs, their fighting skills seem to be even above the old man's!"
"Martial Arts Master!"
"A reclusive master!"
"It seems to be a father and son; it looks like Family Secret Techniques!"
"I want to become your apprentice!"
"Me too! As a victim who lost six phones, once I master this ultimate skill, let's see who dares to steal my phone!"
"Losing your phone doesn't seem to have anything to do with learning martial arts, does it? It's related to genetics!"
"This Family Secret Techniques, passed down only to sons, not daughters, and only within the family, not outsiders. Don't even think about it!"
"Did the old man kill someone? Will he be sentenced?"
"Thieves deserve to die!"
"Don't worry about upstairs. Killing a thief is illegal, but he was attacking the old man with a knife at the time. The old man's counterattack was legitimate self-defense. Don't worry, he definitely won't go to jail!"
"I hope so!"
With the video being wildly reposted and discussed on platforms such as Weibo, Baidu Tieba, and forums, it quickly spread across the internet, with total views skyrocketing. The hashtags #HeroicElderlyManKillsArmedAssassin# and #Father and Son Fight Five Armed Assassins, One Dead and Four Injured# also quickly climbed to the top of Weibo's trending topics and the hot search lists of major websites. As the incident gained traction, their rankings continued to rise, and the event became known to more and more people.
The online response to Chen Jingde and his companion's actions was overwhelmingly positive, with many demanding that the police release them as soon as possible and severely punish the arrested criminals.
Under immense pressure from the internet, the police expedited their investigation. The dark-skinned, thin man who was killed by Chen Jingde was autopsied that same night, and the final conclusion confirmed that he had indeed been punched in the throat, which led to his death.