Wrestling

The burly, broad-shouldered man rose to his feet, holding a knife in one hand and a blood-soaked human face in the other. He glanced at the foreigner lying on the ground, blood bubbling from his mouth and nose, but showed little emotion.

He simply stared at Yang Chu with indifference, then reached into the pocket of his combat pants and pulled out another thin plastic bag. He put Black Skin Sha's peeled-off face and the knife inside, then tossed the bag onto Black Skin Sha's corpse.

Only then did he roll his thick shoulders and arms, spread his hands, and slowly approach Yang Chu.

Unlike the foreigner, who had flailed wildly with fists and feet, he moved at a measured pace with his arms spread wide. He looked as if he meant to block Yang Chu's way.

"Who are you people, anyway?"

Yang Chu gave one shoulder a slight roll and watched the burly man slowly approach. A new question came to mind.

Clearly, the two men hadn't come for him. They had been looking for Black Skin Sha.

At this point, though, the reason hardly mattered.

"Ah—!"

When the burly man was about two meters away, he seemed to decide Yang Chu was within striking range. He suddenly let out a roar, spread his fan-like hands, and reached for Yang Chu's shoulder.

The move was swift and sudden.

Yang Chu's face flushed red, and his once-gaunt body bulged with muscle. He slipped to the side and swung a punch at the man's face.

The punch carried tremendous force. If it landed squarely, it might cave in the man's entire face.

But the burly man reacted astonishingly fast, as if he had anticipated Yang Chu's move. The moment Yang Chu threw the punch, he neither blocked nor dodged. Instead, he caught Yang Chu's arm and yanked it to the side, throwing him off balance.

Seizing the opening, the burly man shouted and grabbed Yang Chu's shoulder with his other hand. He suddenly exerted his strength, and with a whoosh, sent Yang Chu flying.

The instant Yang Chu hit the ground, the man hurried after him, raised his heavy foot, and stomped down hard toward his body.

His movements were practiced and swift, like a battlefield killing technique honed through countless repetitions.

As the man's foot came crashing down, Yang Chu raised both arms to shield his chest at the last moment. At the same time, he twisted his body and kicked at the shin of the man's planted left leg.

The burly man immediately pulled his foot back and reached down to catch Yang Chu's leg. Then he flung him backward again.

Yang Chu went flying once more, but this time he didn't fall as he had before. The instant he landed, he braced himself with both hands and steadied his body.

The burly man charged at him again. Despite his clumsy appearance, his body moved with startling agility.

Yang Chu turned and swept a kick toward the man's waist.

The instant the kick came in, the man turned slightly to absorb its force, caught Yang Chu's foot with both hands, and twisted his body, hurling Yang Chu away again.

Yang Chu flipped in midair and landed steadily once more. Seeing the burly man rush at him with arms spread, he charged straight into his embrace, just as he had when dealing with the muscular foreigner.

Yang Chu had already used this move two or three times. With the strength he could unleash in an instant, a collision against someone's chest was enough to break their ribs and injure their internal organs.

But as Yang Chu suddenly charged straight at the man's chest, the burly man placed both hands on his shoulders, used his arms to redirect the force, and sent him flying yet again.

While Yang Chu was landing and regaining his balance, the burly man charged in once more, seized his shoulder with one hand, and locked his right arm around Yang Chu's neck.

Yang Chu raised his right hand and punched the man hard in the groin. Just like the muscular foreigner before him, the burly man didn't react at all. Instead, he grabbed the forearm locked around Yang Chu's neck with his left hand and wrenched it tight, trying to snap his neck.

Guillotine!

Yang Chu's eyes instantly filled with blood, and his skin turned bright red. The muscles in his neck swelled, and his heart pounded like a roaring engine.

His brain controlled his endocrine and nervous systems, driving his sympathetic-adrenal system into a frenzy.

"Ha!"

Yang Chu grabbed the burly man around the waist with both hands, then thrust with all his strength, lifting the man who had him in a chokehold and slamming him headfirst into the ground behind him.

There was a dull, heavy thud—

The burly man's head was smashed to pieces. His body collapsed into a heap of mangled flesh.

Yang Chu pried the man's arm from around his neck, rolled over several times, and lay flat on the ground, breathing heavily.

It was a long while before he could move again. At last, he turned and looked at the man's corpse.

His emotions were still calm, but he had just experienced a very real, mortal danger.

Throughout the fight, Yang Chu hadn't gained the slightest advantage. The burly man had kept him suppressed the entire time.

Neither his punches and kicks nor his charges had been able to inflict serious harm on the man, let alone kill him with a single blow.

The man not only felt no pain, but also possessed exceptionally refined fighting skills.

These weren't techniques for throwing punches and kicks. They were far more sophisticated wrestling techniques for pulling, yanking, grabbing, and throwing.

Even though Yang Chu could unleash more strength than the man, the man's physical condition was far superior to his, and his strength was no small thing. Yang Chu couldn't overpower him, and the man could always redirect force and turn it back against him.

The only reason Yang Chu had managed to keep his balance completely under control was that he could brace himself when he landed after being thrown the last two times. An ordinary person would have had their bones scattered after a few throws like that and wouldn't even have been able to get back up.

"So even though my brain can completely control my body and let me unleash more strength than other people, I could still be beaten to death in a fight if I ran into a style of combat I'd never encountered before."

During the fight, Yang Chu had already memorized and learned the man's techniques for generating and redirecting force.

But that was no use. If he learned only a few moves and tried to use them, he would be fighting on the other man's familiar ground. The result would only be worse.

He also realized that the world was full of different kinds of combat, countless styles of boxing and martial arts, each with its own array of techniques. With the strength he could unleash and the skills he had mastered so far, he really wasn't equipped to handle them all.

If not for stimulating his endocrine and nervous systems to produce enough adrenaline, the man's guillotine choke would have killed him in seconds.

The human body had too many weak points. Yang Chu could unleash several times the strength of an ordinary person, but a hard blow to his head or heart could still kill him.

"If I want to prevent this kind of danger, I need to improve my physical condition as soon as possible and learn enough fighting techniques."

Yang Chu made up his mind. Since waking up, this was one of the few times he had set himself a clear goal.

He struggled to get up, but once again found that his motor system was barely responding to his commands.

After a long while, he finally rose unsteadily to his feet, like a zombie.

Vrrrm—

Just then, headlights appeared on the distant road.

An old Toyota came to a sudden stop not far in front of Yang Chu.

"Chu-zai!"

Fish Head Xu jumped out of the driver's seat and hurried over, catching Yang Chu as he swayed on his feet.