King of Fists

"...Lu Dongbin gets drunk, lifts the pot, and exerts a thousand jin of force; Iron Crutch Li pivots, knees, and returns to the truth while intoxicated..."

A voice, slightly tipsy yet brimming with masculine spirit, echoed through the living room.

"Chu-zai, are you sitting here watching movies first thing in the morning?"

Fish Head Xu walked out of his room, yawning, and immediately spotted Yang Chu sitting on the living room sofa, engrossed in the film.

"I don't sleep much."

Yang Chu replied casually, his eyes still fixed on the television screen as he gestured toward the dining table on the other side. "I left breakfast for you."

"You've already eaten? Wow, Chu-zai, ever since I started hanging out with you, all I do is think about food."

Fish Head Xu shook his head as he walked to the table, picked up the portion of rice noodle rolls left for him, took a couple of bites, and then walked back to the sofa to sit beside Yang Chu.

His cross-eyed gaze flickered over the content playing on the TV, and with half a rice noodle roll in his mouth, he mumbled, "This movie is over a dozen years old. I even worked as an extra in it back then."

"So, is this Drunken Fist real or fake?"

Hearing Fish Head Xu mention he had been an extra in the film, Yang Chu shifted his gaze away from the screen, seemingly intrigued.

"The Drunken Fist is definitely real; it's a legitimate style of martial arts." Fish Head Xu, still holding the rice noodle roll in his mouth, began to gesture with his chopsticks. "The Earth Dragon Manual favors low attacks—crouching like a tiger in ambush, extending like a soaring dragon... We recited this stuff on set every single day until I had it memorized. Even with my brain, I still can't forget it."

"So, it's actually effective in a fight?" Yang Chu asked with a rather serious expression.

"Not in the movies, of course. Everything you see there is fake, just choreographed reactions. But there are people who can really fight. Su Can of the Ten Tigers of Guangdong, for instance—I heard about him all the time when I was a kid. There are so many martial arts gyms on Hong Kong Island, and plenty of them are the real deal. Many of us in the stunt industry came from those places."

As Fish Head Xu spoke, his cross-eyed gaze suddenly scrutinized Yang Chu's face carefully.

"What is it?" Yang Chu asked, feeling a bit strange.

"Oh, nothing." Fish Head Xu shook his head, looking puzzled. "I just feel like you've matured a little bit."

"Is that so?" Yang Chu touched his face. "Perhaps that is the price of growth."

"Pfft—" Fish Head Xu curled his lip and took a bite of his rice noodle roll. His expression suddenly turned solemn. "So... Chu-zai, are you still going to the film set?"

Although Fish Head Xu maintained his usual carefree demeanor, he was not at peace inside; he hadn't slept well at all the previous night.

No ordinary person could witness what happened last night and remain completely unfazed.

Fish Head Xu might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't truly stupid; there were just some things he chose not to overthink.

"I'm not going."

Yang Chu shook his head. While he found film production quite interesting and a decent source of income, it was no longer what he desired.

He reached out to the other side of the sofa and pulled out a promotional flyer. "Brother Xu, take a look at this."

"Wait a second."

Fish Head Xu didn't take the flyer. Hearing that Yang Chu wasn't going to the set, he hurriedly put down his half-eaten breakfast, stood up, walked to the side table in the living room, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.

"Hey, Jia Le, it's me, Fish Head Xu. Here's the thing... Yes, yes... Chu-zai has some business to attend to and can't get away... Could you tell Big Brother for me? Thanks."

After finishing the call, Fish Head Xu let out a breath and walked back to the sofa.

"Done. I told them you're tied up for now. Luckily, a new guy named Hong Ye showed up at Jia Le's end. I heard his skills are top-notch, so he can just take your place as the stunt double for the lead actor, Wu Zai."

"Thank you, Brother Xu." Yang Chu nodded with a smile.

Although his stunt work was impressive enough to earn praise from everyone, he was by no means indispensable to the stunt team.

As for being replaced the moment he decided not to go, Yang Chu felt no sense of loss; he had already found what he needed to do next.

"Chu-zai, what was it you wanted to show me?" Fish Head Xu asked again.

"This." Yang Chu handed the promotional flyer to Fish Head Xu.

At the top of the flyer was a photo of a man with a resolute face and a sturdy, muscular build. Below and to the sides of the photo were various slogans.

"Shark Martial Arts Gym Grand Opening. Personally instructed by the Hong Kong-Macau Boxing Champion, Mai Rong'en. Master the basics in three months, achieve proficiency in one year. For street fights, alley brawls, or ring combat, this is your only choice. Try before you pay; we are the real deal. We welcome fellow martial artists to visit and exchange pointers. Fee schedule as follows..."

As Fish Head Xu read the text on the flyer aloud, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, Chu-zai, where did you find this?"

"I happened to see someone handing them out when I went to buy breakfast, so I grabbed one," Yang Chu replied with a smile.

After returning from the night market stall last night, he had accelerated his metabolism to recover from his injuries and performed necessary physical training. Afterward, he had still gone to the private pool in the Victoria Harbour Bay luxury residential area to get some sleep.

While buying breakfast this morning, he had been contemplating how to improve his combat skills when he saw someone distributing the flyers and decided to bring one back.

"Is this Mai Rong'en a master?" Yang Chu asked, pointing to the name on the flyer.

Fish Head Xu was clearly no stranger to the name on the flyer. He pointed to the photo and said, "That's Shark Yan. He's the real deal. I've heard the underground gamblers say that everyone who bets on him to win makes a fortune. He's kept an unbeaten streak for dozens of matches, and last year he even won the Hong Kong-Macau Boxing Tournament funded by several tycoons. The newspapers call him the Hong Kong-Macau Boxing Champion. Speaking of which..."

Fish Head Xu paused, as if recalling something, and continued, "Right, there's also someone called the King of Northern Legs. He's incredibly fierce; it seems the martial arts community and all the major gyms recognize him as having the best leg techniques."

"This is truly interesting!"

A faint glimmer appeared in Yang Chu's eyes. He had never understood these martial arts or fighting styles before, but after his life-or-death struggle with that burly, round-faced man last night, he realized they were profound and vast.

Unless one possessed an absolute, crushing advantage in physical attributes like strength and agility, it was difficult to gain the upper hand against these martial arts.

Furthermore, if weapons were involved, superior technique combined with lethal cold weapons would be more than enough to bridge the gap in strength and physical prowess.

"Chu-zai, are you thinking of going to Shark Yan's gym to learn? No, wait—your skills are already sharp enough. Are you thinking of challenging his gym?"

Fish Head Xu looked at Yang Chu, who was displaying a rare sense of excitement, and didn't think he was looking to learn from Shark Yan.

"I'll only know once I've seen it for myself."

Yang Chu did not specify whether he intended to learn boxing or challenge the gym; to him, it hardly mattered. He simply wanted to learn and understand more combat techniques, and the method by which he achieved that was irrelevant.

Besides, the Shark Yan on the flyer was touted as the Boxing Champion of Hong Kong and Macau, but Yang Chu had yet to see just how formidable he truly was.

"Hmm."

Fish Head Xu nodded slightly, then suddenly asked with a hint of hesitation, "So, uh, Chu-zai, are, are you alright?"

Although Fish Head Xu didn't know exactly what had happened last night, he had seen Yang Chu barely able to stand when they met, not to mention the overturned vehicles and the corpses strewn across the ground—it had clearly been a major incident.

Yet, seeing Yang Chu acting as if nothing had happened, Fish Head Xu felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

Yang Chu stood where he was, his expression calm, seemingly lost in thought.

From Fish Head Xu's words, he vaguely sensed some issues within himself. From the moment he woke up and killed that thug named Chen Yaowei, to Lin Guoyu, and then the two from last night—

He seemed to view it all as perfectly normal.

"Chu-zai, are you alright..."

Seeing Yang Chu standing there motionless, Fish Head Xu asked again, his expression growing slightly tense, as if he felt he had said something he shouldn't have.

"I'm fine, Brother Xu."

Yang Chu snapped back to reality, seemingly reading Fish Head Xu's thoughts, and smiled. "I just want to go and see for myself."

Fish Head Xu hesitated for a moment, pondering before finally deciding, "Well... alright then. I'll go with you. I'm going to get yelled at by the film crew anyway."

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