North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws-Chapter 82 - 79 Bridging the Weakness, Anthony’s Cold-Blooded Hardcore Teaching (4600 words, Combined 2)
Chapter 82: Chapter 79 Bridging the Weakness, Anthony’s Cold-Blooded Hardcore Teaching (4600 words, Combined 2)
The problem with this stuff was that injecting it could easily lead to sudden death. That was why Dean usually only carried a few morphine injections—they were safe, effective, and cheap.
Times were changing. Perhaps in a few years, the Ancient Muay Thai passed down for centuries in Ana’s lineage would end up worthless—reduced to a pile of video data no one cared to learn, discarded on the internet.
Dean lost interest in continuing the conversation. He grabbed the disc of the 108 forms of Ancient Muay Thai. "I can learn this, and I don’t need your Secret Medicine, but the tuition has to be cheaper."
"That’s fine." Ana nodded somewhat wearily. "I’ll just charge the cost price for the Tiger Bone Balm. Just give Kapu one hundred thousand US dollars."
After speaking, he shakily turned, went back to the cabinet, and took out five palm-sized glass jars, each about a finger-joint deep. "This is the Tiger Bone Balm. The usage instructions are in the tutorial."
Who could imagine this person was only in his forties? Ana looked even more decrepit than he had that morning. This must have been the side effect of his desperate use of the Secret Medicine today.
Dean took the Tiger Bone Balm and the disc, then said a sincere goodbye to Ana.
He had a premonition. This might be the first and last time he would see Ana. This master of Ancient Muay Thai, who could kill a brown bear with his bare hands at sixteen, didn’t have much time left...
...
As Christmas approached, patrols in downtown Los Angeles had significantly increased. Additionally, various organizations had started charity events, providing food and clothing. There were even some eccentric women—probably too comfortable with their lives and seeking personal value or life’s meaning—who went to ’console’ the homeless. For a moment, security in downtown Los Angeles fell into a rare state of peace.
Seizing this opportunity, Monet had the members of the Fourth Squad begin their rotational leave. This was because everything happening was merely the calm before the storm. According to annual records, the crime rate peaked in the week surrounding Christmas Eve.
Taking advantage of this rare peaceful time, Dean spent three days studying the disc, memorizing all its content. After preparing everything needed for practice, he swapped shifts with Lawrence and the others, securing a week’s vacation.
Taking all his equipment, Dean temporarily rented a house with a yard in the suburbs.
He was determined to reach Level L1 in Ancient Muay Thai in the shortest possible time!
...
Ana’s tutorial disc seemed complex with its numerous moves, but they could be summarized into four types: long-range ’weapons’ like fists and feet, short-range ’weapons’ like elbows and knees, feints, and deceptive moves. Indeed, in Ancient Muay Thai, fists, feet, elbows, and knees were treated as weapons to be honed. The feints and deceptive moves focused on footwork coordination: the Three-Palace Lion Stance served as a feint, while the Three-Palace Tiger Stride was a deceptive move. Combining these four elements in pairs gave rise to various attack styles utilizing fists, feet, elbows, knees, and the head. These styles were flexible and free, not restricted to 108 predetermined routines.
Beyond this, there was the Ancient Muay Thai method for body conditioning. It was quite straightforward and brutal. Footwork training involved dodging swinging sandbags set in fixed positions to master quick blocking, reaction, and power generation techniques. The conditioning of fists, feet, elbows, and knees involved striking hard objects! Initially, one used various techniques to forcefully strike sandbags. Once the fists, feet, elbows, and knees developed thick calluses, the sandbags were replaced with softwood, then hardwood. The final stage was metal!
At the end of the video, Ana was shown relentlessly striking a solid iron post wrapped in cowhide, day after day—lashing, smashing, swinging...
Normal people training like this would definitely be self-destructive. But the Ana school of Ancient Muay Thai had its specially made Tiger Bone Balm. This Tiger Bone Balm was dissolved in water. Bandages soaked in this solution, when wrapped around the fists, feet, elbows, and knees during practice, provided a buffer. This allowed the body time to adapt and recover, preventing direct bruising or bone fractures.
Following the techniques Ana explained in the tutorial, Dean began his intensive practice. His tough flesh and bones, combined with an abundance of modern high-calorie food, meant he could practice far more sets each day than an average person.
After three or four days, Dean started to get the hang of the basic Ancient Muay Thai routines. His fists, feet, elbows, and knees were already noticeably redder and darker than the rest of his skin. According to Ana’s explanation in the video, the skin would first turn red, then black, and finally brown, forming a sufficiently strong protective layer of calluses. Practitioners could then move from striking sandbags to softwood, signifying they had officially reached the entry-level and possessed a certain degree of lethal capability. This process, even with the rapid progression typical of Ancient Muay Thai, required at least a month. This demonstrated that Dean’s physique was indeed well-suited for Ancient Muay Thai training.
One day, within a frame crowded with sandbags, Dean, his hands and feet wrapped in bandages, sent the seven or eight surrounding sandbags flying with repeated heavy THUDS.
The phone on the chair rang.
Dean exhaled sharply, then advanced and sidestepped, easily dodging the rebounding sandbags to move out of their cluster.
He picked up the phone and looked at the screen. The caller ID showed Anthony’s name.
Dean whistled and answered the call. "Old man, I heard you got fired?" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"As much as I hate to admit it, it’s true," Anthony’s voice was as raspy and unpleasant as ever. "Dean, do you have any time available recently? I happen to be free to coach you personally now."
"Been looking forward to it!"
