Black Mask

"Hey, what should I call you now?"

Yang Chu looked at the black-clad figure blocking his path and casually tossed the corpse of the foreigner he had been holding to the side.

"Black Mask."

The figure was dressed entirely in black, wearing a black hat and a black half-mask. Upon hearing Yang Chu's question, he replied indifferently.

"That's a pretty cool getup! But you're not being very fair, are you?"

Yang Chu smiled at the man who called himself Black Mask, his tone laced with teasing. "You didn't lift a finger when I was being swarmed, but the moment a beauty is involved, you come running out. Is it just because you let me treat you to a plate of stir-fried noodles?"

"I trust you."

The corners of Black Mask's mouth, hidden beneath the mask, curled up slightly.

"Instructor?!"

Upon hearing the voice of the man in black, the beautiful woman behind him looked slightly dazed, calling out as if testing the waters or perhaps unable to restrain herself.

Black Mask did not answer her, his gaze remaining fixed on Yang Chu as he continued, "Every time I see you, you've changed. Your breathing, your heartbeat, your muscles, your gait—it's different every time. You are strong, or rather, you are constantly becoming stronger."

"You trust me that much?"

Yang Chu laughed, pointing at the silver pistol lying on the ground. "They had guns, you know."

Black Mask didn't answer the question. Instead, he flicked his leather jacket and pulled a disc from his waist. "If you had been a second slower when you threw that slipper, I would have thrown this disc. Besides, I don't think they could pose a threat to you, even with guns."

"But you threw playing cards at her."

Yang Chu gestured toward the beautiful woman behind Black Mask, a rare hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Can you let her go?"

Black Mask tilted his head slightly, seemingly looking at the woman behind him, before turning back to ask Yang Chu.

"That reminds me of something."

Yang Chu didn't answer the question directly either, speaking instead to himself. "I remember the first time we met, you told me you read books to search for a feeling. That feeling... it's the sensation of pain, isn't it?"

Black Mask didn't answer this time, simply standing there in silence.

"Let's chat about it next time. I'm quite curious about that."

Seeing Black Mask's silent demeanor, Yang Chu suddenly laughed and turned toward the shower area of the public pool. "Do me a favor and clean this up. I'd hate for it to scare anyone."

"Instructor!"

After Yang Chu left, the beautiful woman called out to Black Mask again. Her bright eyes searched his face, seemingly confirming his identity, the look in them a mixture of lingering adoration and affection.

"This is no place to talk."

Black Mask turned his head away, avoiding her gaze. "Ruolan, clean this place up. Let's leave before we say anything else."

"Xu Xi? Black Mask? How interesting."

Leaving the Sham Shui Po public pool, Yang Chu walked along the streets of Tonkin Street, watching the bustling market gradually settle into the quiet of the night. The image of Xu Xi transformed into Black Mask played in his mind.

"Xu Xi hides in the library, reading countless books, all to search for the sensation of pain..."

Yang Chu felt a surge of curiosity regarding Xu Xi and the mysterious organization of killers who lacked the ability to feel pain.

He wasn't curious about the organization, the faction, or even Xu Xi's past; he was simply intrigued by their lack of pain.

Yang Chu had read many books lately, and combining that with his own condition and the experience of killing that pain-free assassin, he could analyze a few things.

If a person lacks the sensation of pain, they can, to a certain extent, completely ignore physical injury and unleash formidable combat power.

From this perspective, the absence of pain effectively removes certain limitations on the human body.

However, pain is fundamentally a warning mechanism for the body. Without it, fatal injuries or illnesses—such as common acute conditions like appendicitis—would go unnoticed by the brain, potentially leading to perforation, peritonitis, and a worsening of the condition.

The difference between Yang Chu and them was that he could feel pain; his nervous system was simply under the active control of his brain, allowing him to block out these intense warning signals when necessary.

But how was their pain sensation eliminated?

A new question formed in Yang Chu's mind.

But for now, he had too little information to draw any concrete conclusions.

He could vaguely guess that it might be the result of some kind of experimentation by a certain faction.

After leaving Tonkin Street, Yang Chu wandered through a few more streets for about an hour before returning to Fish Head Xu's home.

Fish Head Xu had left him a key. To his surprise, it was nearly 11:30 PM, and Fish Head Xu still hadn't returned.

Yang Chu didn't idle away the time. He found some fitness equipment on the balcony of the apartment and began his physical training.

His current physical fitness was already beyond that of an average person, but it was far from what he would call strong.

The biggest reason for this was the massive energy consumption of his brain; even with a high intake of calories and nutrients, very little was actually left to supply the rest of his body.

However, this wasn't a major issue. Even if his physical improvement wasn't as fast as it could be, it was still far beyond the rate of improvement one could achieve through diet and exercise alone.

Standing on the balcony, Yang Chu's training method this time differed from his previous routine of simple push-ups and sit-ups aimed purely at muscle strength.

Having devoured a vast number of books in the library and witnessed the duel between Xiahou Wu and the "kung fu mantras" the man had recited, he had begun targeted training to stimulate and strengthen the ligaments and muscle groups throughout his body.

Yang Chu felt that this should be one of the core elements of kung fu: how to train oneself, improve physical fitness, and master more powerful techniques for generating force.

This could be considered the "training method" within the martial arts of fist techniques.

Yang Chu naturally did not understand these things, but through his understanding of various books on the human body, he already had quite a few concepts in his mind.

Just as he had thought before, the technique of generating force requires not only the coordination of muscles throughout the entire body but also the specific training of many small muscle groups.

It is like how some kung fu can strengthen the fingers through special training until they are exceptionally thick and incomparably hard, allowing one or two fingers to support the weight of the entire body.

There is also the training of the muscle groups in the web of the thumb, which makes the grip strength of the palm far exceed that of an ordinary person.

In addition, there is the coordinated cooperation of the joints of the hands and feet, as well as the waist, abdomen, shoulders, and hips, to explore the essentials of combat.

Kung fu is a killing technique; in fact, this killing technique can be understood simply as a means of hunting specifically for the creature known as a human.

It targets the vulnerable points of humans to inflict the greatest amount of damage.

Today, when Yang Chu dealt with the three pain-insensitive foreigners, he had already personally experienced the benefits of the force-generating techniques in kung fu, which indeed allowed the body's inherent power to erupt with significantly greater lethality.

Furthermore, Yang Chu gradually came to understand some of the things Xiahou Wu had mentioned back then regarding methods to counter wrestling.

In a real life-or-death struggle, besides mastering these force-generating techniques, there is also the mastery of timing, environment, distance, and rhythm.

Many times, even a plain straight punch can produce a considerable effect as long as the timing is right.

If this straight punch is replaced with fingers, it immediately turns into an eye gouge, becoming a lethal move. This is the "fighting method" or "killing method."

I still need to master more "kung fu" techniques and further improve my own comprehensive physical qualities.

While training, Yang Chu drew conclusions regarding his own shortcomings and areas that needed improvement.

Just like that, on Fish Head Xu's balcony, Yang Chu carried out various exercises based on his own understanding and insights, either searching for force-generating techniques or stimulating his own muscles, until around 1:00 AM, when the sound of a key opening the door finally came from outside.