Bones

The damp underground base.

Powerful machinery roared, and ceiling fans spun overhead.

Outside the base's many high-tech devices, three white men's bodies lay on a steel platform above the shallow underground water.

One corpse had a shattered breastbone, another a broken neck, and the third a broken arm, with a black fist mark over the heart.

More than a dozen men with prominent noses and deep-set eyes stood around the bodies, along with a few Asian men. They wore ordinary clothes, but their backs were straight and their gazes resolute, giving them the air of well-trained soldiers.

Now, all their eyes were fixed on the sexy, beautiful woman standing beside the three bodies.

"Captain, the mission failed. The target isn't an ordinary person." The sexy, beautiful woman stood among the crowd and spoke to a long-haired figure dressed in black, who had his back to them.

"Ruolan, since all three of them died, how did you make it back?"

The long-haired figure in black slowly turned around. He was a middle-aged man with long hair and tinted sunglasses. He held a thick book of religious paintings, running his fingers over its pages as he spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.

"It was the instructor. He saved me."

The beautiful woman named Ruolan hesitated briefly, then continued, "He wants to see you."

"Good. I didn't expect him to be in Hong Kong Island."

The man in tinted sunglasses continued gently stroking the book in his hands. "If he agrees to rejoin us, it'll be much easier to carry out our plan."

"What if he refuses?" asked a burly white man with prominent features.

"He won't refuse." The middle-aged man in tinted sunglasses spoke with confidence. He carefully tore out a page, bent down, and tossed it into a trough beside the metal floor. "Because, like us, he came out of a failed experiment. I'm the only one who can save him. He'll come back. However..."

The middle-aged man in tinted sunglasses slowly straightened and looked toward Ruolan, who stood beside the three bodies. "Since something unexpected has happened, we have to move our plan forward. Otherwise, if the United States and Britain catch on, we might not be able to withstand the pressure they bring to bear. Ruolan, I'll give you one more chance. Take some people and deal with Jiang Hongtai and Jin Jiu. This time, there can't be any mistakes."

"Yes." Ruolan agreed without hesitation. After a pause, she asked, "But, Captain, what about the person who killed five of our team members?"

"I'll deal with that after I meet the instructor." The man in tinted sunglasses waved dismissively, then lowered his head and resumed leafing through the thick book of paintings.

Ring, ring—

A clear, pleasant phone rang.

At Fish Head Xu's home, Yang Chu was sitting at the dining table eating breakfast when he heard the phone. He stood up, went into the living room, and picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Chu-zai—"

Fish Head Xu's voice came through the phone.

"It's me, Brother Xu," Yang Chu replied.

"Chu-zai, I'm not coming back this morning. I'm heading straight to the film set."

Fish Head Xu sounded rather weak. There was a pause, then he asked hesitantly, "Chu-zai, how much money do you have on you right now?"

"About three thousand. What's up, Brother Xu?"

Yang Chu had worked as an extra for two days. On the first day, he'd done one action and earned three thousand; on the second, he'd worked the whole day, including a night shoot, and earned four thousand. That made a total of seven thousand Hong Kong dollars.

He'd spent quite a bit over the past few days, but it had all gone on food. If he avoided the expensive, small-portion options, his money still went a long way.

For example, Uncle Fang's Stir-fried Noodles, where Xu Xi had taken him. Places like that were classic cheap eateries with good value. The food might not have been especially nutritious, but it had enough calories to meet his needs.

"It's nothing." Fish Head Xu put on a hearty laugh over the phone. "I was worried you didn't have enough money to eat. All right, that's it. I'm off to work at the set."

"Okay."

After the other man hung up, Yang Chu set down the receiver.

But after putting down the phone, he still sensed something off in Fish Head Xu's tone.

"Is Brother Xu short on money?" Yang Chu wondered. He was sensitive to a lot of things, but he had no interest in learning about this and couldn't be bothered to think about it. He turned back to the dining table and continued eating breakfast.

After exercising all night, he'd changed a little again.

There was no obvious difference in his appearance, but Yang Chu could feel that his muscles had become more smoothly defined, and his posture had grown a little straighter. His brain's control over his entire motor system seemed to have become... more comfortable.

Sitting at the dining table, Yang Chu picked up a piece of rib from the meal box and crunched through a piece of cartilage. Suddenly, he stopped moving.

"Bones? Right, bones. Could I increase my bone density and make them stronger?"

Yang Chu murmured to himself. Relevant information from the many books he'd read immediately surfaced in his mind.

Exercise could strengthen bones to some extent.

Aerobic exercise—running, skipping rope, and swimming, for example—could increase bone density while significantly improving muscle strength and circulation.

Weight training, on the other hand, could greatly increase muscle strength. Stronger muscles pulled on the bones, which also stimulated an increase in bone density.

There was a medical theory known as Wolff's law.

The theory behind it was that when the trabeculae inside bones fractured and healed, bone density increased.

In areas subjected to high pressure, bone grew; in areas under low pressure, it was absorbed. In other words, if bones were repeatedly damaged, they would build up more calcium, becoming denser, harder, and more durable. The reverse was also true.

"I think my anatomy books mentioned that bones have considerable plasticity. For instance, boxers' finger joints and arm bones become harder and more robust."

Yang Chu's eyes lit up as he quickly finished the food on the table.

"I need to find a better way to stimulate an increase in bone density and learn more about the human body. I'll go to the library later. I can also ask Xu Xi and the others how they got rid of their pain."

Over the past few days, Yang Chu felt he'd developed a little more emotion. But he was still indifferent to most things and had no interest in them. Only things that could make him stronger and reveal the mysteries of the human body—martial arts or science—stirred an irresistible curiosity in him.

Study, learn, master, and keep testing it all on himself...

Ring, ring—

Just then, the phone in the living room rang again.

Yang Chu came back to his senses, a little puzzled. The phone hadn't rung much during the days he'd been staying at Fish Head Xu's home. Before today, Fish Head Xu's biological older brother, Bai Biao, had called once, and then Fish Head Xu had called earlier that morning.

Still, he got up, went into the living room, and picked up the receiver.

"Is that Brother Xu?"

A slightly low voice came from the other end.

"Xiahou Wu?"

Yang Chu recognized the caller's voice at once.

Hearing Yang Chu's voice, Xiahou Wu fell silent for a moment before saying, "Tonight at ten. Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Hong Kong Museum of Art."