Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 145: The Capital! A Hundred Years Ago, Yang the Invincible! A Hundred Years Later, Wang the Undefeated! (Fifth)

“I am the head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts. If you wish to take revenge for Duan Guochao’s death, you needn’t waste your time running to Laoshan. I am right in front of you, come forward if you wish to take revenge!”

Wang Chao looked to the sign above the door before stepping into the office space with a slight tremble to his body.

Each step he took had been filled with the Jin of the Pounding Fist. Each time he took a step, it was similar to an earthquake rocking the entire place.

After four or five steps, Wang Chao had evenly distributed his power. Before the first tremor could stop, the second would begin. Like the flooding of a great river, the tremors began to resonate with the giant building.

Because of resonance, the entire floor began to shake more and more. Several cups of water on the desk had even started to tip over, crashing and startling everyone.

Immediately, the entire office space went quiet so that even a needle could be heard if it were to drop.

After Wang Chao had finished speaking, he stopped walking, causing the entire place to slowly stop shaking.

His eyes swiveled around the place for a moment before speaking out loud, “How about it, does anyone wish to take vengeance on me?”

No one had replied. Wang Chao’s advancement had been far too intense.

Each time he had used the recoil from the Pounding Fist to shake the building, each step had caused everyone to feel as if the world was collapsing in on them.

The world in front of me was beginning to collapse.

The earth in front of me was also beginning to split apart.

The matchless aura of a master of martial arts had been fully shown for everyone to see.

Inspiration was extremely important in a competition of martial arts. For the Japanese world of martial arts, each side would first deliberately talk words of intimidation to the other side so as to disintegrate their fighting spirit. Wang Chao had not been taught in this style of talk, but he was an expert who could alter inspiration by his actions.

When he had entered the 18th floor and heard the buzzing of the people talking within the office space, Wang Chao felt that the situation had grown to be extremely thorny. The grievances on both sides were huge with him killing Duan Guochao. This disagreement had already gotten to the boiling point where if Wang Chao did pull off some emergency intimidation tactic, it would be hard to avoid any future trouble.

This was someone else’s territory. If he appeared weak, then the others would take a foot after giving an inch and stir trouble. If he wasn’t careful, he would be forced to kill someone else, making the situation unsalvageable.

“What, no takers?” Wang Chao’s eyes swiveled around once more in an action that was unbefitting of a man whose aura could intimidate others.

“Wh-what are you planning?” Someone had stuttered. The woman closest to Wang Chao had stood up abruptly. Her hand swooped down to her waist with a vigilant glint in her eyes, but her entire body seemed to be shaking.

In the next moment, several brushing sounds could be heard as the entire 30-40 people’s hands moved to their waist or pockets. Clearly they were all feeling for their firearms.

“I came here today to find your department head.” Wang Chao smiled gently. His aura had vanished, making him resemble that of a man who was warmed by the spring wind and rain.

Instantly, the office workers who were ready to burst into action grew relaxed from their previously hyperactive nerves.

Wang Chao had been like a brilliant event host who could calm down the audience and then cause them to grow excited in an instant.

“Chief Ma stepped out for some matters.” The woman who had spoke had instantly been looked at by Wang Chao, causing her to feel uneasy. Her entire body was wracked up with nerves, and droplets of sweat could be seen on her forehead.

“Where to?”

“The Yiquan dojo. Yongdingmen Road Section 750.” This woman had been extremely close to Wang Chao and had been thoroughly intimidated, causing her to involuntarily give out the answer Wang Chao wanted.

“That’s fine. You all continue with what you’re doing, I’ll go find chief Ma.” Wang Chao need that his and Lin Yanan’s records were all secretly sequestered so that only the chief would have the power to retrieve it. Seeing Yama was easy, but the demons were annoying. He did not wish to have to speak any words to the members here–words bred hatred, and the more one talked, the less one gained.

Having said his piece, Wang Chao turned around and walked out of sight away from the office space.

After Wang Cho had left, the entire office space seemed to explode into a cacophony of sound of people complaining, letting out sighs, or slapping the table. These people were the elites of the Ministry of State Security, but with Wang Chao’s entrance, they had been so intimidated that they couldn’t even speak. Some of them had felt especially ashamed from that.

“Yan Zhongwu, didn’t you take third place in the martial arts competition this year? With brother Duan dead, you’re the next strongest. You even said that you would head over to Shandong to tear down their school. So why is it when he came, you didn’t even say a word?”

All of a sudden, the woman who had been intimidated into answering Wang Chao had blurted out her complaints to a young man sitting to her right.

The one called Yan Zhongwu started for a moment, his eyes blinking rapidly. “You all should know brother Duan’s skill by now. I can barely last half a minute against brother Duan. That guy just now was able to kill our brother Duan in a fight, and even the Shaolin Temple isn’t planning their revenge. If I went, then I’d be heading straight for my death or a life of handicap. Even more so, that guys voice felt like it was shaking the entire building. Didn’t you guys feels it? If he was a hostile enemy, then I would have been the first to fire, but he’s a part of the Military Commission. Chen Ke, and Ling Dong are both locked up, how could I act rashly on their behalf?”

“That guy is far too strong, he’s practically inhuman. His strength precedes his fame, that much is true. I once was able to bear witness to the number one martial artist of the Japanese Martial Way, Iga Minamoto. His aura was practically the same as the one we just felt.” One of the more well built men spoke, “He has to be the best amongst the best, otherwise, the Military Commission wouldn’t have selected him to be at front.”

“That’s correct. I’ve never seen such a strong person before. He’s practically a humanoid Gundam. I don’t doubt that if he were to take several more steps, this entire floor would have collapsed.” Another female worker spoke with lingering fears.

“Look, if the building of the Ministry of State Security were to collapse, it’d be a joke–it’d be saying that our building was jerry-built, and the contractor company were having a go with us.” A man grumbled, but his words had been ignored by everyone else.

“What do you think will happen to boss Ma? Boss Ma’s younger brother, Ma Hongjun is one of the great martial artists within the Southeast Asia world of martial arts. I’ve heard that guy is extremely well known in it. Everyone says boss Ma is great, but I’ve never seen the boss in action. Even when brother Duan was here, he would treat boss Ma with respect. We should go see what’s going on in the Yiquan dojo.”

“Good idea, let’s head on out then.”

Roughly ten minutes after Wang Chao had left the building, all of the members of the 18th floor had quickly sprung up from their seats and charged towards the door. Some of them charged for the garage for their car while the rest waited to jump in.

The workers of the 18th floor were all younger than 30 years old–the oldest was probably no older than 35 years old and were clearly all high-spirited. They were far more energetic than the listless government workers from the other floors.

“Yiquan Research Union?” Half an hour later, Wang Chao stepped out from his car onto his destination. Lifting his head up to stare at the sign, he walked into the building.

This Yiquan Research Union wasn’t very big. Infact, it resembled that of a courtyard that had been expanded by a small amount. There was a reception pavilion with ancient looking bricks arranged about in a decorative pattern. Water jars and sandbags could be seen scattered everywhere. Aside from this, there were also several single meter tall wooden stakes and a series of weapon racks. On the racks were several long staffs and a few galvanized practice swords.

This dojo seemed rather carefree, unlike the Karate and Taekwondo dojos where it was quite majestic and had people streaming in and out.

Wang Chao walked in confidently only to see that on the porch, two or three middle-aged men and five or six elderly men were were overseeing several youngsters as they remained rooted to the ground and their arms linked in a circle as if hugging a wax gourd. Even if they saw Wang Chao enter, they pretended not to notice.

“This is the World Stance, like a bear hugging a tree, it is the standing posture to benefit the mind and body for martial arts. These men are all being enlightened on the essence of the Bear by the Bird.”

When Wang Chao saw these men practicing the “World Stance”, he couldn’t help but nod in approval silently.

For the ignorant, all they would see is some people foolishly hugging at the air while breathing in place.

But for those who knew, such as the masters of martial arts like Wang Chao, these men were extremely stable in body like a bear. Their eyes were wide opened and stared at the front like an eagle preparing to soar. Their backbone, waist, and leg were practically breathing as they lifted up and down in rhythm with their heartbeat.

“A Master steps with his breath”, “Expel the bad air, drink in the good air and be the bear by the bird.” These two phrases were incantations from the ancient classics of Daoism. In both, the concept of the “World Stance” could be interpreted from it.

“This is a true school of martial arts.”

Wang Chao evaluated.

Walking in and through a set of doors, Wang Chao could hear some noise from within. Turning to look into the brick courtyards, he could see two middle-aged men currently countering each other’s moves.

There were seven or eight other people sitting on some chairs nearby. Some were watching while others would nod their head from time to time and offer their own opinion or perspective.

When Wang Chao had walked past the door, the ears of everyone within perked up and their owner’s eyes turned to look at him.

“If I may, is chief Ma available?” Wang Chao could clearly tell that these men were all experts in martial arts. Their temples were protruded outwards and their bodies were well-built. From the range of 35 to 50 years old, some of them were Daoists from the previous generation.

“I am chief Ma Huajun of the 18th bureau of the Ministry of State Security. You must be the head of the Laoshan School of Internal Martial Arts, lieutenant colonel Wang Chao? As expected, you are young and vigorous, but your methods are quite harsh. A young man shouldn’t be so willing to kill, nothing good comes from it.”

One of the men countering the other stopped what he was doing to look at Wang Chao. Giving him a look over, he advanced two steps towards Wang Chao with a sharp glint in his eyes.

Ma Huajun was wearing civilian clothing and had a square face. Both of his hands were clenched into fists, but he was exuding might borne from dignity. It was no wonder that he could control the youngsters from the Ministry of State Security.

“Ma my dear friend, is he the youth that killed Duan Guochao?” The other slim but healthy looking man practicing with Ma Huajun spoke with an intimidating amount of air coming from his person.

“Ma Huajun….what is his connection with the martial art master Ma Hongjun of the Yuxing Corporation? Could they brothers? They look similar.”

When Wang Chao looked to chief Ma, he immediately thought about the martial artist of the Southeast Asia world of martial arts, Ma Hongjun. Nicknamed the “copper-legged and iron-handed” Xinyiquan master, he was also an expert of Chaquan, Piguaquan, Hung Gar, and the authentic style of Tantui from the Hui Islamic group.

From the Southeast Asia world of martial arts, there were several frontline runners. Namely, Liu Jiajun of Taiwan, Ma Hongjun of Hong Kong, the Three Tigers of Guangdong, and Chen Aiyang of Singapore. From these, Liu Jiajun, Ma Hongjun, and Chen Aiyang were far more well known than the Three Tigers of Guangdong and were of a higher level of martial arts.

Wang Chao had seen Ma Hongjun once on the tanker during his battle with Zhang Wei. Compared to the chief Ma Huajun of the Ministry of State Security, there was a high resemblance and barely any difference in their names. There was a 80% chance of them being brothers.

“Chief Ma, are you related to master Ma Hongjun of the Yuxing Corporation in Hong Kong?” Wang Chao had ignored everyone else to ask this question.

“Hongjun is my younger brother.” Sure enough, Wang Chao was able to have Ma Hongjun verify his conjectures.

“And whom might these masters be?” Wang Chao glanced over to the seven or eight steady but silent men. Their temples were protruded out wide as an indicator of them being experts, causing Wang Chao to feel slightly amazed. “For a small Yiquan school, there is still so many experts?”

“This is master Bai Xianyong of the Wudang Pure Yang sect, the military instructor of the Central Safeguard Regiment. This is master Song Anran of the Tianjin Song style Xinyiquan school. This is master Xu Benliang of the Wudang Wuji Sect. This is master Wang Yunlian of the Beijing Xingyiquan School and military instructor of the 1034 Regiment. This is Master Iga Furukawa of the Iga family of Baguazhang, the military instructor of the first bureau of the Ministry of State Security. This is master Chen Tianlei of Chen Village. And this is master Dai Nu from Shanxi, Taigu, the military instructor of National Armed Police.”

After Ma Huajun’s introduction, Wang Chao grew more and more amazed. Aside from the two masters from Wudang, the rest of these members were all from illustrious schools or places. Song style Xinyiquan, Yiquan, Iga style Baguazhang, Chen Village, Shanxi, Taigu, each one of these were once extremely famous.

“It is no wonder that I thought there were so many experts. This is the north where all of the elites of martial arts gather. Masters are nothing here, these men, if not the military instructor of the Central Safeguard Regiment, then the National Armed Police. They are men of a different caliber.”

Wang Chao hadn’t thought that in such a small courtyard, almost 10 genuine experts would be gathered.

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