Chapter 20: Throwing Art

For the entirety of July, Chen Chuan stuck by his routine and trained. As his mastery over Major Sanshou grew, he found himself being able to use its various techniques with increasing ease.

By the end, even without using his second self and any protective gear, he could overpower Lu Ke.

This was because the breathing technique gave him significant advantages. It provided him with an overall boost to his physical abilities. Otherwise, Yu Gang would not have called it a shortcut.

Even the people who had been training since they were children could not win against him, but that was normal. Chen Chuan was only able to improve as quickly as he did because of his second self. Without him, he would have simply been trading his current strength for his life and drawing heavily on his future potential.

This would not be a fair exchange either, because once the other students also mastered their breathing techniques, Chen Chuan’s advantage would disappear, and he would start to lag behind them.

When the middle of July rolled around, Chen Chuan received a notice from Martial Valor University and went to the university.

This time, he did not go inside. Instead, he received a notebook at the entrance. It had the information the students needed to know before they started studying, along with the registration procedure for the follow-up exam.

Next, he had to train and prepare for enrollment. Due to that, he started going back a little earlier every day.

One day, when he was running home from the Domain of Fists and passed by a shed and a three-story building, a few men stood smoking by its open window. They watched Chen Chuan pass by with hostility in their eyes.

One of them was a short man wearing a half-unbuttoned, floral-checkered shirt and a golden watch. He pointed at Chen Chuan. “That’s the kid, Dou Qi.”

Dou Qi was a man in his late twenties with a brush cut. He had a bracelet on his thick right arm. “You’re sure it’s this kid?”

“Yeah. He went to Martial Valor University a few days ago; I checked him then. He’s the one who humiliated Shan Xiong!”

“Have you found a place?” Dou Qi asked.

The man in the floral-checkered shirt pointed at the junction ahead. “It’s that alley right ahead. If we seal off both ends, he won’t be able to run away.”

“Are you sure he’ll take that path? Don’t screw this up.”

“Don’t worry. We’ve been watching him for six days. That kid passes by this place every morning and night, on the dot. Should we jump him tomorrow? How should we teach him a lesson?”

Dou Qi sneered. “If we do it tomorrow, we’d just be doing him a favor. Isn’t he going to Martial Valor University at the start of August? We’ll jump him in a few weeks. Since he kicked Shan Xiong, breaking both his legs won’t be too much, right?”

“Of course not!” the man in the floral-checkered shirt exclaimed.

“I’ll leave it to you,” Dou Qi said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to take care of it properly.”

Soon, it was the last day of July. Yu Gang seemed to have something to take care of, because he left after lunch. Since Chen Chuan had to take the follow-up exam the day after, he did not continue with his training. Instead, he helped Lu Ke clean up the place.

After they were done, Lu Ke brought Chen Chuan to the roof. There was a table, a few reclining chairs, and a canopy. Chen Chuan saw a few Sand Pearl Soda bottles in the crate of drinks beside the table.

Lu Ke walked over and grabbed two bottles. Once he popped the caps open, he handed a bottle to Chen Chuan. “Martial artists rarely drink alcohol, so I’m making do with soda. Since you’re going to Martial Valor University tomorrow, let me toast to you.”

Chen Chuan clinked bottles with him and took a sip before they sat down. Lu Ke exhaled and looked at the clouds above. “I was pretty awful to you when you first got here. You probably hate me, huh?”

“Not really. Everyone has their own reason for doing things. In my opinion, as long as you don’t regret your decision, other people’s views don’t matter,” Chen Chuan replied.

Lu Ke stopped moving for a moment, then took another sip from the bottle. After taking a few gulps, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and put the bottle on the table. He pointed northeast. “See that? That’s Smoked Hills.”

Chen Chuan looked over and saw a huge, grayish halo. Apparently, that place was a remnant from the previous era, but it had since become an endless garbage dump.

Lu Ke said in a daze, “I was born in Smoked Hills. I can’t compare to you city kids. I have no right to study in the city. The people over there can only earn a living through picking trash.”

“I heard that most of the people living in Smoked Hills have an incurable lung disease. Is that true?” Chen Chuan asked as he watched Lu Ke.

“It’s true. I have it, and practically everyone around me and my family have it,” Lu Ke whispered. “My father went missing when I was very young, and my mother is bedridden. When I was only three years old, I started coughing nonstop. My sister is the only one who is lucky enough to not be sick. She’s older than I am by ten years. Ever since I can remember, she’s been the one taking care of us.

“But six years ago, my village picked up something really important to some high level gang member. The person wanted to sell it for cash. He had no other choice; we were just too poor. But why would those gang members negotiate with us? They charged into our village at night and started ransacking the place. They even fought against some of the villagers. My sister came back from picking trash just then and got dragged into the mess. She ended up with a crippling injury.”

He wiped his eyes with his arm. “I became Master Yu’s disciple later and started learning martial arts from him so I could earn money and bring my mother and sister out. I want to give them better lives.”

He took another gulp of the soda and said, “I couldn’t win against Ding Shuo that day not just because I didn’t take my medicine, but also because I was scared of getting hurt. My mother and sister are counting on me, so I can’t let anything happen to me. When Master Yu asked me to practice the breathing technique, I stopped halfway because I was scared...”

He turned to Chen Chuan. His eyes were shining with a complicated emotion. “I’m really envious of you. You can study in the city without such a burden. You can even go to Martial Valor University. When I look at you, I wonder why I can’t have such a life, and why I am not the one who got into the university...”

Suddenly, he wiped his face hard and raised his bottle up high. With teary eyes, he shouted, “Chen Chuan, this is for you! I hope that you can get a solid footing in Martial Valor University. Don’t you dare end up worse off than me!”

Chen Chuan silently lifted his bottle and smashed it against Lu Ke’s before taking a swig.

Lu Ke finished his bottle. He raised his arm, as if he wanted to smash it against the floor to give an outlet to the emotions burning in him, but then, he remembered that he could sell it for some money if he recycled it, so he lowered it and gingerly placed it on the table.

After venting, he seemed to have calmed down a little. A short while passed before he said, “You improved really quickly after you began practicing the breathing technique. It looks like it’s actually useful. I have to master it as well, but I can’t go all out like you. I can only do it slowly.”

“You can take your time. Besides, you’ve already taken the first step toward mastering it,” Chen Chuan encouraged him.

Lu Ke coughed before laughing. Then, he stood up. “Come. Let me teach you something.”

Chen Chuan watched him walk to the fence of the roof and walked over as well. Lu Ke pointed into the distance. “See that?”

Chen Chuan looked over and saw two pigeons on an electricity pole. They were about fifteen meters away from them. Just then, Lu Ke flicked his wrist, and one of the birds fell. The other flew away in shock.

Chen Chuan was surprised.

“What...”

Lu Ke opened his palm. He was holding two crushed stones that were the size of a finger pad and polished until they were completely smooth.

Chen Chuan’s heart skipped a beat.

Lu Ke made a motion of throwing and said, “This is the throwing art. With smoothed-out stones, you can injure or kill an opponent who’s as far as twenty meters away. I heard from Master Yu that due to certain restrictions, Martial Valor University won’t teach you this martial art. But it’s really useful. If you practice it well, then even if someone is much stronger than you are, you can take away their ability to fight while being a safe distance away.”

Chen Chuan nodded. He knew this all too well. The old Chen Chuan had died because of such a stone, but he could not quite tell just how far away his killer had been. He had a feeling that his killer had been more than one hundred meters away, perhaps even further.

Lu Ke tossed the stones and said, “I can teach you. The trick here is how you generate and release energy. Since you’ve learned the breathing technique, I’m sure you’ll pick it up easily.”

“Mr. Yu taught you this, didn’t he? Are you allowed to teach others?” Chen Chuan asked.

“This is the simplest throwing art out there. I haven’t picked up the more advanced ones. I couldn’t teach them even if I wanted to,” Lu Ke answered nonchalantly.

“Are there many people who know this throwing art?” Chen Chuan asked while staring at him.

Lu Ke thought about it. “Master Yu never said, but if an ordinary person wanted to learn it, they would just need to work at it. It’s not all that difficult. It only gets harder when you want to master it. Come. I’ll tell you how to throw.”

When Chen Chuan saw how enthusiastic Lu Ke was, he accepted the offer readily. An extra technique had never hurt anyone. Besides, he had another reason to learn it.

The throwing art was not difficult. The trick lay in the stance used when throwing and the generation and release of energy. So, picking it up was easy, but if he wanted to throw accurately and quickly, he would have to continue practicing.

There was another key to the technique—the stones. The best weapons were polished stones that were not too light, nor too heavy. According to Lu Ke, there were plenty of such stones in North Ornament Hills. That place had always been good for finding stones like that.

Chen Chuan began suspecting that the stone that killed him came from North Ornament Hills. He would have to find time to take a look. Perhaps he would be able to find clues about his killer.

After practicing for a while, they parted ways, because tomorrow was the first day of university and also the day to register for the follow-up exam. Before Chen Chuan left, he asked for two stones and put them into his pocket.

As always, he ran back.

Dou Qi and the man in the floral-checkered shirt were already waiting in a rented room on the third floor of a building located in the alley Chen Chuan always ran past.

“Have you told the guys?” Dou Qi asked.

“I have.”

Dou Qi looked into the distance and found a man leaning against a wall in the corner of the street. He wore an undershirt and overalls. Dou Qi could not recognize him.

“Who’s that?” he asked.

“He’s a skilled fighter from out of town with no criminal record. I hired him to fight for us. I was thinking that since the kid got into Martial Valor University, he must know some martial arts. We’ll have a better shot at pulling it off with him around,” said the man in the floral-checkered shirt.

“Bullshit. That kid is not some rich man’s son. How can he know anything before even having his first lesson in the university? But since you already hired that guy, forget it. We’ll just see whether he’s worth the money,” Dou Qi scoffed.

He took out a cigarette. The man in the floral-checkered shirt took the hint and immediately got his lighter out to light it up. Dou Qi took a puff and let out a smoke ring before he said, “Once you’re done here, tell the guys who have been shadowing the kid to go to Chunfu Pavilion to grab a bite.”

“Sure! I’d like to thank you on their behalf.” The man in the floral-checkered shirt checked his watch and looked into the distance. “Dou Qi, he’s here. He’s a little early today,” he said excitedly.

Chen Chuan followed his route and ran into the alley. The road here was rather smooth, and he usually sped up when going through it.

But this time, when he was halfway through the alley, he noticed something off. There were six men holding pipes at the exit of the alley ahead of him. They started walking over with obvious malicious intent, while wearing mocking, ruthless expressions.

Chen Chuan immediately stopped and looked behind him as he became vaguely aware of what was going to happen. A number of people had also blocked the entrance of the alley.

The people from both sides slowly walked toward him while tapping or scratching at the walls with their pipes to make loud screeches to intimidate him.

At that time, Wei Dong was performing handstand pushups on his balcony. He saw it as well. “Huh? Did that guy get on someone’s bad side?”

Dou Qi looked down in scorn with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. From where he stood, he could clearly see the fighters from both sides getting closer.

Chen Chuan looked up. The walls of the alley were old and worn down. They were covered in glass shards, so climbing them would not be easy, and if he got into someone’s house, he would just end up inconveniencing other people.

Since he was not going to be able to run away, he might as well not run.

He popped open his jacket buttons to reveal the white dress shirt underneath. After removing his jacket, he threw it aside.

While his jacket was still in midair, he stomped on the ground and overlapped with his second self. Dust burst from the ground as he shot forward.