Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 108: Turbulent Times (First)

Leaves fluttered across the center of the courtyard along with the wind whistling with a humming sound. Amongst the wind, the explosive sound of thunder could be heard. The radiant sun illuminated the world overhead, but it seemed as if there was a fierce rainstorm with all of the wind and sounds of thunder. Chen Aiyang could be seen sitting on a yellow rosewood chair by the courtyard entrance observing Wang Chao practice his martial arts.

At the same time, Zhu Jia could be seen indoors near the window. With an elbow and hand supporting her cheek, her eyes were completely focused upon Wang Chao’s figure as he continued to move forward without stop.

Helping Wang Chao practice was Chen Aiyang’s right hand man, Lin Liqiang, an expert of Wingchun and Hung Ga. As a veteran of hundreds of battles with a name that preceded himself, he was by no means more famous than any of the Three Tigers of Guangdong, the Taichi master Chen Aiyang, the three masters from Taiwan, or the men from Hong Kong, but his martial arts was not all that far off from them. His body had already reached the Hidden Jin, and he could break out with the One Inch Jin using his Wingchun on a level on par with Zhang Wei.

That year, his younger brother Lin Lijun was an expert on the Clear Jin realm. With one more step, he would have been able to cross into the Hidden Jin level and into the realm of the masters. If he had, then even Wang Chao wouldn’t have been his opponent at that time. Unfortunately, he had been shot to death by Zhu Jia.

However the matters that happened that night had only been seen by Wang Chao and Zhu Jia; that had been their little secret. No one else knew, and whichever police officer that had been nearby had been chased off by Cao Yi later on.

This had been an accident with many factors of being able to go wrong. Right now, Zhu Jia was right in front of Lin Liqiang who did not know his younger brother had been killed by this woman who looked extremely delicate. Neither did Zhu Jia think that the expert she had shot to death would be the younger brother of the man in front of her. The nature of life contained many bizarre things within it, that much could be said to be true.

Bang! Wang Chao struck out with the Pounding Fist of the horse stance and continued onwards, causing Lin Liqiang to retreat backwards in reluctance to go head to head.

Lin Liqiang’s arms had already been like iron whenever he performed the Bridging Fist of Hung Ga. But up against Wang Chao and his ability to emit the sounds of thunder from his muscles and bones, Lin Liqiang would not be able to block it. However, Wang Chao was only just experimenting and did not use his full strength.

On the edge of falling over, Lin Liqiang’s robes suddenly gave way. His body began to turn in preparation to escape Wang Chao’s circle where the wind blew. But who would have known that Wang Chao had predicted that. Extending both arms, he suddenly altered his center of gravity and grabbed hold of Lin Liqiang’s arms. With a push of his arms like a goshawk taking flight and a sparrow cutting through water, Wang Chao’s foot came kicking out as he took flight. In a straight line, Wang Chao’s feet had been like a scissor, one leg targeted the lower abdomen and the other targeted the chest before the third tried to slam into the throat.

Hurriedly using his arms to defend himself, Lin Liqiang found the maneuver was essentially useless. Both of Wang Chao’s arms exploded with power and the sounds of thunder with the three kicks from the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow”. Each leg was heavier than the one before and each kick fully capable of carrying the destructive force of a ton.

Pa pa pa! Following the three strikes, Lin Liqiang seemed as if he was struck by lightning. Two footprints could be seen on Lin Liqiang’s lower abdomen and chest while Wang Chao’s tiptoe had pressed gently against his chest so that that Lin Liqiang would only feel a little stifled and dry in the throat.

“Well met! Master Wang, your style of ‘Flying Horse Treading on Sparro’” has already reached perfection. Being able to borrow power from any enemy, you use Taichi to grab and stick, stick then shake, and shake to drill up into the heavens.”

“I use two mnemonics, ‘The hibernating dragon moves from the water with the force of a storm, the wind blows the hundred tree branches, but not the tree.’ With these imageries, you have accomplished them both. Lin Liqiang too is an expert of Daoism. He has weathered many battles and gained ample experience. While he knew that you were attacking with a killing move, he was not able to dodge. This is proof that your martial arts has reached a point where it can force a person to block when he cannot, and to dodge when he cannot.”

Within four days under Chen Aiyang’s guidance, Wang Chao had already trained the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow” to perfection.

While Chen Aiyang was a practitioner of Taichi, he had learned from Xue Lianxin for a decent amount of time. Thus, he had managed to harmonize Taichi and Imitation Boxing into one while also mixing in the secret killing techniques of the ancient past. Honing it into a killing move, it became something that spelt out death for the enemy.

This move was originally not something that a person could learn from a teacher to perfection. Even if the student learned the basics, they would not master the essence of it. But Wang Chao was different. He was already proficient in Taichi and Xingyi. Furthermore, he had already learned the horse stance to the stage where the sound follows the fist. Thus, it could be said that Wang Chao was already at the door, he just needed the key to learn the move.

When Wang Chao demonstrated the movements, that had been the key. Straight away, Wang Chao had entered and attained a higher level. From the door to the main room to the treasury, he had obtained the treasure.

Wang Chao’s usage of the “Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow” was far more fierce and fatal than Chen Aiyang. Even the inspiration behind it was far more vigorous. But then again, Wang Chao’s muscles and bones could act as one, and he could also bring out the sounds of thunder from within his muscles. Chen Aiyang’s was only extremely strong in terms of his inner organs. While his muscles and bones were tough, they could not compare to Wang Chao.

“Sparrow Skimming Water” and “Goshawk Turns Over” were both of the same stance. Both involved the usage of the leg and required the Hidden Jin to be manipulated so that softness and hardness balance each other out. Softness and hardness used together brings forth an attraction like a tornado. A single step and kick would be enough to kill the enemy like so.

“Master Wang, take a walk near the wall. See just how much the softness and hardness of your Hidden Jin has changed, and to what extent.” Chen Aiyang spoke.

Nodding, Wang Chao leapt to the nearby courtyard walls and stood parallel to it.

His entire body flew into a horizontal position almost as if he was a wooden pole that had embedded itself into the wall without falling. Treading across the walls, his legs crossed over each other in a flurry of eight steps without ever falling back down to the ground.

As he scurried across the walls, his legs crossed over each other while his toes dug in and flattened out in a pattern. Curling in and loosening, the five toes seemed as flexible as his fingers were. This action had given birth to the the suction force of a tornado and allowed him to stay stuck to the wall.

Wang Chao’s skill with his fingers was enough for him to stop the revolution of a mercury filled lead ball. His Eagle Claw could overcome many, and compared to that, his toes could do the same. However, when the two were compared overall, the toes were still lacking by quite a bit.

But now, after Chen Aiyang had taught him the secret, he had finally been able to manipulate the hardness and softness of the Hidden Jin in his toes so that it permeated every joint.

In the future, his legs would be able to unleash unbelievable movements against his enemies.

By this point, Wang Chao was fully capable of doing what Tang Zichen had been able to do where she had been able to rotate the water within a bowl with just her movements.

It was at this point that his skill with the leg could be considered to have achieved something major.

“Your skill with the leg has reached a point where softness and hardness balance out for the power to link to your toes. You are able to make eight steps up a wall and maintain that for nine seconds in total. Even I cannot manage such a feat. It seems that within two years, you were able to bring your Jin to the Transforming Jin realm.”

Chen Aiyang sighed in appraisal, “I’m older than you by seven or eight years, but even now, I was only able to just reach the Transforming Jin stage. But you were earlier than I was by five or six years. The day you are able to arrive at the Way is just around the corner.”

“Achieving the Way is easy, but cultivating the Way is hard. There are far too many factors to this world, so nothing is ever certain. It cannot be said that I won’t be caught up by the vulgar world. In two years, I may even fall back instead of stepping forward. Master Chen, you are the same. You have far too many things in your everyday routine, and thus, you have far too many things to worry about.” Wang Chao spoke to Chen Aiyang.

“I cannot move freely in my own life.” Chen Aiyang forced himself to stand up and waved his hand, “Tomorrow is the agreed date with the Chinese Revival Society. Tonight will be a wine reception with the elder and the Chinese Revival Society planning it together. Cheng Shanming will be there. We should go in hopes that we may exchange our weapons of war for gifts of jade and silk.”

That night in Singapore, the night was brightly lit with lanterns red, and the wine green. People could be seen everywhere in a flurry mess that blended together.

Within a hotel belonging to the Chenshi Corporation, a high-scaled feast was taken place. Each person within wore their formal attire that made them more regal and elegant. Men and women both gathered with an imposing air and a dazzling splendor. Each one conversed with one another in a manner that seemed less like a banquet from the mortal world. Within the lounge’s center, a mountain of crystal glass with blood-red wine could be seen stacked in a beautiful arrangement.

The Chenshi Corporation was one of the strongest powers within Singapore City, and although it could not compare to the Lee family that held the “Founding Father” of Modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and politician Lee Hsien Loong, they could be considered second best.

Back in the 1950s, there had been a coup d’etat in Singapore which led to the arrest of the pro-communist members within the government. Chen Libo had helped Lee Kuan Yew at that time, and later when Lee Kuan Yew came to power, the Chen family rose to the top with them.

“What style!” The very moment Wang Chao and Zhu Jia followed Chen Aiyang into the building, they were instantly greeted with the luxurious and awe-striking lounge.

“This banquet was planned by the elder for his celebration on his discharge from the hospital and so there are many upper-class citizens here. It isn’t a party specifically meant for the Chinese Revival Society. Overseas export is just one of the many branches of our company that nets us a profit of 400 to 500 million RMB. This matter with the Chinese Revival Society is nothing more than a trifling matter to the eyes of the elder.” Chen Aiyang explained.

Just at that moment, Wang Chao caught a glimpse of the aquamarine silk low-cut dress wearing Chen Bin who was happily talking with several other young men and women.

Today, Chen Bin was wearing a low-cut evening dress that was as blue as the river and could just barely reveal a little bit of her snowy-white cleavage. It matched with her highly elegant demeanor, sex appeal, and bombastic personality that attracted the eyes of almost everyone around her.

Seeing Chen Aiyang come over with Wang Chao, Chen Bin spoke several more words with her group before walking on over to them.

“Where is the elder?” Chen Aiyang spoke in a low whisper the moment she drew close.

“The elder’s currently in the VIP Lounge and talking with Mister Lee Hsien Yang.”

“The Lee family has come too? Where are the Chinese Revival Society people?” Chen Aiyang asked.

“They’re not here yet.”

Just at that moment, the doors to the lounge opened up to reveal four men. When Wang Chao looked over, the very first person he saw was his arch-enemy, the princeling of the Ike Corporation, Zhao Jun.