The Oriole Lurks Behind

After getting out of the car, Hu Guangzhong stood beside the door and lit himself a cigarette.

He took two deep drags and exhaled a cloud of smoke before reaching back to shut the car door and heading toward the stairwell.

Xiao Wang waited a little while, only crossing toward the stairwell opposite the street after Hu Guangzhong had gone upstairs.

He then followed behind Hu Guangzhong and went up the stairs as well.

But he did not hurry upstairs. Instead, he stopped at the second-floor landing, leaned over the railing, and looked upward.

Footsteps echoed through the stairwell. Xiao Wang watched while listening intently to them.

At last, the footsteps reached the fourth floor and stopped. Then came the sound of a key turning in the lock.

The door opened, followed by a bang as it shut again.

Then the entire stairwell fell briefly silent.

Xiao Wang did not leave immediately. He went up to the fourth floor, pulled the brim of his hat low enough to nearly hide his face, then pretended to rest by the door as he examined the footprints. He found that Hu Guangzhong had entered apartment 402.

After confirming the information, Xiao Wang turned and went downstairs.

He had no plans to make a move yet. He still did not know exactly how strong Hu Guangzhong was. He needed to gather more information before finding the right opportunity.

After leaving the stairwell, Xiao Wang headed straight toward the martial arts hall.

As he walked, he felt as though someone was following him. He stopped to look around, but found nothing unusual.

Only when he reached the vicinity of the martial arts hall did that feeling of being followed disappear.

Xiao Wang stood at the entrance of the hall without going in. Instead, he turned and stared down both streets beneath the night sky.

The streets were empty. Only a night cat occasionally let out a miserable cry.

Who's following me? Hu Guangzhong? That can't be right.

Unable to guess who it was, Xiao Wang pushed open the doors of the martial arts hall with his doubts in mind.

Half an hour later.

No. 42 Happy Sky Road, Fusheng Group Building.

A young man dressed in black knocked on the door of an office.

"Come in," said a middle-aged man inside.

The young man in black pushed open the door, entered, and gave the middle-aged man a slight bow.

"How did it go?" the middle-aged man asked.

"We've basically figured it out. This Xiao Wang should be a student at No. 7 Middle School, and he's also living at a place called Zhongxing Martial Arts Hall."

"Zhongxing Martial Arts Hall?"

"Yes. We still don't know whether he's a disciple there or whether the hall is his home."

The middle-aged man did not answer right away. Instead, he tapped the tabletop with the fingers of his right hand. A report lay on the desk, and he was staring at one line on it: Side effects: 0.

Xiao Wang's name was written at the top of the report.

This was the blood test result from Fusheng Group's previous drug trial on Xiao Wang.

After thinking for a while, the middle-aged man finally looked up. "Whether the martial arts hall is his home doesn't matter. As long as we know where to find him, that's enough. Since we've confirmed where he lives and what school he attends, there's no need to keep following him. From now on, there's only one thing to do: make absolutely sure he participates in the next drug trial."

The young man in black paused before asking, "What if he refuses to participate?"

"If he joined a drug trial at such a young age, he must be short of money. As long as we find a way to let him know about the trial, he'll most likely come. If he really doesn't..." The middle-aged man paused. "Then we'll 'invite' him."

"Understood."

The young man in black nodded, then left the room.

The middle-aged man then picked up the phone on the desk and dialed a number.

A moment later, his tone became exceptionally respectful.

"Second Young Master, we've investigated his residence. Shall we bring him in now?"

A faint voice came from the other end of the line. "No rush. Wait until the next drug trial is over. If the result is still the same, it won't be too late to act then."

"Understood."

"You know what to do next, right?"

"I do. Please rest assured, Second Young Master. I'll handle it properly."

"And the people who know this information..."

"They've all been dealt with. Please rest assured, Second Young Master."

After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he waited until the other side ended the call before setting down his receiver.

He then set the report before him on fire, and it quickly turned to ash.

Next, he picked up the phone again, intending to dial another number. But halfway through, he hung up himself.

"Forget it. I'd better tell the Eldest Miss after it's confirmed."

When Xiao Wang returned to the martial arts hall, he saw Wei Zhongxing and the other two sitting by the entrance to the main hall, chatting as they waved palm-leaf fans.

When they saw Xiao Wang enter—

"Junior Brother, you're back."

"Yeah."

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet. Is there any food left?"

"In the kitchen. We saved some for you."

"Thanks, Eldest Senior Brother."

Xiao Wang went to the kitchen, washed his hands, picked up the meal Cheng Hu had saved for him, then brought it to the entrance of the main hall. He sat beside the three of them and began eating.

"Why are you back so late today?" Cheng Hu asked casually.

"Something held me up."

Xiao Wang answered casually as well. Fortunately, none of the three pressed further.

After finishing his meal and washing the dishes, Xiao Wang returned to sit at the entrance. The four of them sat side by side, their heads tilted slightly upward.

The towering inner city wall in the distance cast a massive shadow. Searchlights occasionally swept across the rooftops behind them, but no one found it strange. They were used to it.

After a while, Linghu Ke suddenly said to Xiao Wang, "Junior Brother, didn't you say you wanted to make deliveries with us? There's a delivery job to discuss tomorrow afternoon. Want to come along?"

"Sure. What time?"

"Around three in the afternoon."

"Alright. I'll come to the martial arts hall at three tomorrow afternoon, and we'll go together."

After making the arrangement, Xiao Wang sat for a while longer before getting up and heading into the courtyard to begin practicing his fist techniques.

He knew that to train Tiger Guard Fist from "form" to "spirit," two things were essential.

The first was one's capacity for insight into martial arts. Without any insight at all, one could never reach the "spirit" stage of a combat technique.

The second was constant practice. As the saying went, practice a punch ten thousand times, and its meaning would reveal itself. If one's comprehension was poor, then practice it tens of thousands more times. So long as one understood a little bit each time, over time, one would eventually master it.

In short, practicing was always the right thing to do.

When Cheng Hu saw Xiao Wang take his stance in the courtyard, he said, "Junior Brother, do you have to work this hard?"

Linghu Ke also said, "Junior Brother, you don't need to push yourself so much. With your current level, getting into Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy would be a piece of cake."

Only Wei Zhongxing did not say anything to Xiao Wang. Instead, he picked up his palm-leaf fan and swatted Cheng Hu and Linghu Ke once each. "You two slack off every other day, and you won't even let someone else work hard? Get lost, get lost. Go to bed. Don't disturb him."

After saying that, Wei Zhongxing gave each of them a kick. The two could only get up and go to bed.

After they left, Wei Zhongxing stood as well and said to Xiao Wang, "Martial arts training requires a balance between work and rest. Both practice and insight are indispensable. You need to grasp that balance yourself."

After saying that, Wei Zhongxing went to bed too.

"This disciple understands. Thank you, Master."