In an alley, in front of a low brick-and-tile house.
A man was squatting there. It was Chen Da.
A Hademen cigarette dangled from his mouth as he stared listlessly at the entrance to the street.
"Damn it, that kid's one tough bastard. I used eight-tenths of my strength in that punch. I'm not saying it should've killed him, but there's no way he ought to be leaping around again after just a few days."
"Could I have slipped up with that first punch?"
Chen Da muttered to himself, turning it over in his mind.
That penniless Fang had taken a punch from him, yet here he was, leaping around again at Wenxuan Pavilion after only a few days.
If he hadn't known Liu Mang wouldn't make up nonsense about something like this,
he never would've believed it.
"But I guess it's not all bad. The kid's fine, so Liu Mang will have to pay up again. Another ten bucks from him would be great."
Squatting outside his own home with a cigarette in his mouth, Chen Da plotted how to raise his price when Liu Mang arrived.
He'd taken five bucks for that first punch.
This time, Liu Mang wanted him to kill someone. Thinking it over, ten bucks wouldn't be enough.
He'd need at least twenty.
He blew out a ring of smoke and narrowed his eyes at the mouth of the alley.
The footsteps came sooner than he'd expected.
Liu Mang was here already!
A figure turned into the alley, walking quickly and urgently. His soles thudded against the flagstones.
It was already completely dark. The only light in the alley was the faint glow spilling from the battered lantern outside his door, nowhere near enough to make out the newcomer's face.
"Liu Mang, what took you so long? You that eager to kill the kid?"
Chen Da stood up and brushed the dust off his backside. The cigarette in his mouth bobbed as he spoke.
"But let's get one thing straight: the price we discussed earlier doesn't count anymore. This time, you'll have to pay more. Ten bucks isn't enough. At least twenty, and you pay me up front."
Before he could finish, something felt wrong.
The newcomer didn't answer.
Chen Da knew Liu Mang. His voice was loud as a cracked gong; you could hear him from half a street away.
But this man had walked from the mouth of the alley to right in front of him without saying hello or uttering a single word.
And his build...
It was wrong, too!
This wasn't Liu Mang!
Chen Da spat out his cigarette and narrowed his eyes, peering closely.
By then, the newcomer had reached the lantern.
He was half a head shorter than Liu Mang and much thinner.
He wore a faded gray robe and carried a cloth book bag over his shoulder.
It really wasn't Liu Mang.
It was his target, Fang Shuwen.
Chen Da's pupils contracted.
He recognized him, but his mind was still trying to work out what the hell he was doing here.
His reaction was half a beat too slow.
Fang Shuwen had already struck.
Giving him no chance to say another word, Fang brought his right hand out from behind his back, clutching a broken brick.
He swung it straight at Chen Da's head.
Thud!
The brick landed squarely on Chen Da's forehead, bursting into fragments.
Ash and brick dust exploded together. Chen Da grunted and staggered backward two steps, slamming into the doorframe.
"You!"
He instinctively reached up to cover his forehead. His palm came away slick and warm as red and white trickled between his fingers.
The instant the brick hit, his ears rang and his vision went black in waves.
But Chen Da had trained in martial arts. He had a foundation in Bone-Ringing Fist.
An ordinary man would've been down after a blow like that.
But he somehow stayed on his feet.
"Fuck you! You dare hit me? You're dead!"
Chen Da's head was spinning, but his vicious nature made him charge instead of retreat.
He drew a short knife from his waist and stabbed at Fang Shuwen.
"Die!"
The blade whistled through the air.
Fang Shuwen didn't retreat.
The other man's movements looked slow to him, wild and full of openings.
After he'd mastered Body Strengthening Fist, the images of those thirty-six figures practicing the forms had long since been carved into his bones.
He twisted his waist and hips, sank his center of gravity, and snapped upright, his spine like a great dragon rearing.
He moved forward instead of back, slipping sideways past the blade as his right fist shot out from his waist.
Two sharp cracks rang out.
The first was the sound of his joints powering the blow; the second was the force punching through.
"Bang!"
The punch struck Chen Da squarely in the chest.
Chen Da's eyes flew wide, his sockets bulging as if they might split.
He looked down at his chest, then up at Fang Shuwen.
His lips moved twice, as if he wanted to say something.
But what surged from his mouth wasn't words. It was bloody froth.
"Hah... hah... you... two Bone-Ringing cracks..."
The short knife clattered to the ground.
Chen Da slowly went limp, sliding down the doorframe until he crumpled in a heap.
He was clearly breathing in more than he was breathing out.
Fang Shuwen shook the blood from his fist and looked down at Chen Da. His gaze was as calm as if he were looking at a dead fish washed up on shore.
The man had drawn his knife and gone straight for Fang Shuwen's vital points.
If he wanted to kill Fang Shuwen, he had to be prepared to be killed in return.
So be it if he died!
Meanwhile, on another street.
Liu Mang had just taken the silver dollars from his home and was hurrying toward the alley.
"After Chen Da makes his move, I have to make sure he confirms whether Fang Shuwen is dead."
"Once he's dead, I won't have anyone competing with me. Young Master Guo will have no choice but to pick me as his attendant!"
Liu Mang thought as he walked.
He'd spent ten silver dollars to get Fang Shuwen out of the way.
If he beat him to death, that would settle it once and for all. He'd never get in the way of Liu Mang's big plans again.
If he couldn't kill him, he still had to leave him badly injured.
That way, Fang Shuwen would definitely miss the entrance assessment.
Once the assessment was over and the students who failed were dismissed,
Fang Shuwen wouldn't be able to use his status as a classmate to keep following Young Master Guo.
Then,
the attendant's position would certainly be his.
At the thought, Liu Mang's gaze turned dark.
"I'm going to get that position, no matter what!"
A few days earlier, he'd gone out to eat with Young Master Guo.
During the meal, Young Master Guo had gotten drunk and let slip that his family had already arranged for him to enter Shenghai Martial University through its recommendation program.
He only had to wait until winter to enroll as a recommended student.
Young Master Guo had also said he was going to choose an attendant to go with him to Shenghai Martial University.
Shenghai Martial University—
It was the largest martial arts university in the south, established in Shenghai when the Great Flame New Kingdom was founded. It fell under the Southern National Martial Arts Headquarters.
Even the least successful graduates from there could land a deputy squad leader's post at a county Public Security Bureau.
And if one got lucky and caught the eye of a warlord's mansion or a major merchant association,
it meant a single leap to the top, with a life of luxury and no need to worry about food or clothing.
If Liu Mang could enter Shenghai University with Young Master Guo, he'd surely rise to wealth and success, too.
Judging by Young Master Guo's usual behavior,
he and Fang Shuwen were the two likeliest candidates.
Fang Shuwen knew how to handle people, had thick skin, and was first-rate at flattering and sucking up.
Liu Mang, on the other hand, had his ruthlessness. He'd taken two beatings for Young Master Guo, and the scar on his chin was proof.
After learning about this,
Fang Shuwen, whom Liu Mang had already disliked, immediately became a thorn in his side.
So Liu Mang had sought out Old Chen, a senior from the martial arts school where they'd once trained together.
He'd offered him five silver dollars to beat Fang Shuwen up.
To make sure no one suspected a thing and Young Master Guo wouldn't get suspicious,
Liu Mang had deliberately egged Fang Shuwen on at the temple fair, goading him into acting like a big shot and grabbing that rich girl's butt.
Then he'd had Old Chen pretend to step in righteously.
He just hadn't expected that Fang Shuwen, who'd been beaten until he vomited blood and passed out right there,
would show up at Wenxuan Pavilion, hale and hearty, just a few days later.
He'd nearly even been seen by Fang Shuwen while he was with Young Master Guo.
The more Liu Mang thought about it, the angrier he got. He flung his cigarette butt to the ground.
He looked up at the alley ahead.
Chen Da's squatting figure came into view.
"Hmph. After today, Fang Shuwen will never get in the way of my future again!"