Romance of Dragons and Snakes-Chapter 114: Just Blow Them Up
Chapter 114: Just Blow Them Up
The night was getting late, and the banquet at the Chenshi Corporation was already nearing its end. But Wang Chao had no interest in staying any longer.
There had been no substantial ending to the fight between Wang Chao and Cheng Shanming. At the very least, all they had to show for it was a free match for all of the upper-class citizens of Singapore to enjoy.
For the sake of his friend, he had fought to the death. But a group of pig fat-for-brains men had used it to gamble and bet for their own viewing pleasures. This type of spectacle had made Wang Chao feel displeased, and after a while, nauseous even.
But that was how the modern world had developed. No matter how strong a person was, it’s only use was for the entertainment of someone else. Even in a competition, it was no different than the underground fights to the death. The only difference was the status of the audience, that’s all.
Thus, when Cheng Shanming left, Wang Chao found himself uninterested and withdrew from the banquet. After a change of clothes, he and Chen Aiyang moved to the top of the skyscraper.
The full moon rose over the oceans with its pearly silver luster over the waters. Underneath, the waves rose and fell and the winds brought forth a refreshing breeze and water vapor. With this, Wang Chao could break from the noisy and nasty air from below and feel his spirit calm and clean once more. All of the impurities from his body and mind had been basked by the moonlight and wiped clean without a speck of dust.
Seeing the moonlight reflect off the waves of the ocean, Wang Chao’s mind began to fall into a serene and clean state. Naturally, he was cultivating with the essence of the moonlight while being one with the universe.
“Chen Shanming is quite strong; he must have a substantial amount of power in Canada. I doubt he’d be controlled by Shen Hong or the Chinese Revival Society.” Hearing Chen Aiyang suddenly talk about how strong Cheng Shanming was, a thought occurred to Wang Chao, “When I was fighting with him, I could tell that his strength and experience is vast and rich. He’s definitely not someone who trains exclusively behind closed doors. He has definitely fought in life-or-death battles before. For a person to fight in actual combat without the inspiration or head for it will definitely die early.”
“You say that, but the Chinese Revival Society have been of the black path since their creation. They are merciless and are adept at conspiracies. Shen Hong will definitely have some hired guns with excellent marksmanship and assassination skills at the ready. If not Cheng Shanming, I am worried that they will try to put you at a disadvantage.” Chen Bin spoke behind Chen Aiyang and explained the situation to Wang Chao. In the breeze, her hair fluttered gently in it.
“For us of the Chenshi Corporation, they will not dare make a move. But for an outsider like you who helped my brother out despite the official competition with higher stakes being next month, the Chinese Revival Society will not take this lying down. By next month, my wounds will have have properly healed. I am confident that no matter what expert the Chinese Revival Society invites, I will be able to fight properly. You should return to the mainlands tomorrow and not get mixed up with this anymore.”
“That won’t do. Your injuries originally needed half a month to heal. But when you showed me the Flying Horse Treading on Sparrow, you injured your inner organs even more. A month most likely won’t be enough. If Cheng Shanming were to fight you, then you will eat up a major loss. To be frank, Cheng Shanming is the strongest opponent I have ever met. His martial arts is more pure than mine, and he is capable of Transforming Jin. When my leg struck his chest, he had broke out with Hidden Jin in retaliation instinctively. If it were not for my fist taking the upper hand prior to that, then I would have lost at his hands. All of my skills have been revealed to him, the next time won’t be so fortunate for me then. My fist today had been of extraordinary might, if I were to attempt the same fist again, I doubt I will be able to muster out the same strength.”
Wang Chao’s words had been spoken from the heart. Today’s fight had consisted of him letting forth a fist that was one with the universe. With a spurt of inspiration, he had been able to take the upper hand and reveal his strength.
In terms of martial arts, Cheng Shanming was better than his. But having better martial arts did not mean having a guaranteed win. Countless of seniors in the past have proved that. A match to the death required experience, skill, and inspiration. A practitioner at the Clear Jin stage could kill an expert at the Hidden Jin stage if their footwork was good enough.
In a fight of martial arts, having pure martial arts only played half the part in a victory.
Hearing this, Chen Aiyang looked to Wang Chao and shook his head, “You are misleading yourself. The fist you made today will always be available to you. I’ve fought with you many times before, so I know your character well. I’ve no doubt in my judgement. Your determination and vitality has a silent driving force behind it. Naturally, you have an overwhelming amount of presence to you. It affects your thoughts, and every fist or foot you move will carry this presence and inspiration with it. The more spirited and strong your opponent is, the more intent and inspiration you break out with. If even an opponent with an even higher level of martial arts were to come by you, they would be shocked by your inspiration and lose the upper hand. As long as you face off against a strong opponent, you will be able to unleash a level of martial arts that is stronger than what you are normally capable of. This is what you are hiding within your intent; if you don’t come across a strong person, you will not be able to show it–it’s as simple as that. For a practitioner to blindly train himself, that will not do. One must coordinate with the intent and emotions. With emotions, one will be engrossed in their training and forget the pains of life and death and love and hate. This way of learning the fist is what it truly means to be a practitioner, and you have long since practiced in a specialized manner such as this. Otherwise, you would not be able to bring out the dormant strength hidden within you when pressured by a stronger opponent..While I was able to walk on the journey of cultivation before you, your cultivation of the intent and inspiration has long since left me behind in the dust. When I fully recover and fight against you, I will no longer be a match for you! A person like you is perhaps meant to live a life of the Martial Way through and through.”
Wang Chao smiled, “I am not that mysterious.”
Chen Aiyang’s eyes turned to look at the moon out over the skies, “Cheng Shanming is an expert that I bear no ill will to. If he continues to be the representative for the Chinese Revival Society a month from now, then whoever lives and whoever dies will not be an answer I could give with satisfaction.”
“That much I know, I have a plan however.” Wang Chao spoke. “He is still in Singapore. I will go find him. I can’t say whether or not I will be able to shake him of his hatred with you, but at the very least, I will try to persuade him to not get involved with the Chinese Revival Society. Perhaps tomorrow we will be able to convince him to fight you in half a month for a single decisive battle.”
“That method works!” Chen Bin’s eyes lit up, “If Cheng Shanming does not fight next month, then I don’t see just where the Chinese Revival Society will be able to find a martial artist to fight my brother! A master of martial arts is no different than from a master of gambling. Neither can be invited whenever wanted.”
“There are such people as masters of gambling?” Wang Chao asked.
“Of course. We are in southern Asia, with businesses fighting against businesses with heavy losses, there are two ways to resolve conflict once the casualties become unbearable. One is a competition of martial arts. The other is a gambling match. Have you seen the film of Chow Yun-Fat, God of Gamblers? In truth, the gambling system in that film is not much different than how it is in real life. But both businesses usually have many con artists. Even our Chenshi Corporation has several.” Chen Bin explained.
“Con artists are easy to train, but experts of martial arts are not as easy. If they aren’t able to have Cheng Shanming fight, then what other fighter would they be able to use? Since they have signed the contract, they don’t even have the luxury of regret.”
“Ai, by now, learning the fist has very few bonuses besides being healthy. For it to stand side by side with a con artist as being one of the way to solves a conflict, wouldn’t this sound like a joke to anyone else?” Wang Chao sighed as he thought about those who fought in the underground. Even more mournful were the boxers who were sponsored by companies. At the very least, some had been able to open their own schools and wore boxing gloves to put up a performance for the television. Wrestling couldn’t even compare to what a practitioner of the Martial Way did.
“Fine, I will go explain the situation to Cheng Shanming. If he leaves Singapore tomorrow, then it will be difficult to send a message to him.” Wang Chao turned around to go downstairs.
“One moment, I’ll go with you.” Zhu Jia and Chen Bin suddenly spoke out at same time. Then, turning to look at each other, their faces turned slightly red as sparks flew in between them with a hostile air.
“Zhu Jia, you should stay here. Chen Bin, your brother killed Zhang Guangming and earned Cheng Shangming’s ire. Naturally, you can’t go either. I”ll go myself.”
“The Chinese Revival Society holds sway within Singapore. If you go by yourself, I’m afraid danger will pop up. Let me have some people go with you at the very least then?” Chen Aiyang spoke in concern.
“Haha, didn’t I already say? If a martial artist has no power after fighting so many life or death battles, then no matter how many times they have won, they won’t survive for long. Even I have some power.” Wang Chao gave a secretive smile, causing Chen Aiyang to feel relieved and smiled in return.
“Where is Chen Shanming living in?” Wang Chao asked.
“Thirty or so kilometers away from the shorelines, there is a single mountain where plenty of villas were made. Two of them belong to Shen Hong where three of his lovers live in. Although he has rented out several rooms at the Lion City Hotel, I am sure this is just a fallback for him. He is definitely keeping Cheng Shanming in the villas. However, you could go to the hotel first to see. If he is not there, then he will definitely be at the villas.”
Chen Aiyang immediately made a phone call. Soon afterwards, Lin Liqiang came up and had a single map with him. This map had detailed points of where the Chinese Revival Society would be marked on it.
There was no other choice. Although looking for Cheng Shanming to temporarily put the match on hold was a simple matter to talk about, this entire ordeal was one business trying to dig a hole into the other. Four billion RMB was at stake along with a foreign trade route. This type of capital was more than enough to let over a hundred people live their lives in luxury.
When Wang Chao had all the streets memorized, he left the corporation. Upon stepping onto the streets, a voice suddenly could be heard coming from within his collar.
This familiar voice had belonged to Lin Yanan.
Wang Chao had confidence that he would be able to walk into the territory of the Chinese Revival Society and talk Cheng Shanming into temporarily putting the match on hold. ALl of that was because of Lin Yanan who had arrived in Singapore several days beforehand.
Strolling to the shoreline, Wang Chao could see Lin Yanan and Boulder, Axe, and Hammer. The three of them had been specially trained soldiers from the borders of China and India.
“You’re finally here. We got here two days ago, but we had to take a boat since it was hard bringing weapons over.” Lin Yanan spoke.
“How many people are here. Are all the weapons on you smuggled ones?” Wang Chao asked.
“Smuggle?” Boulder began to laugh before whispering to Wang Chao, “My dear master Wang, just how did you become a lieutenant commander for the army? Is your way of thinking not yet used to the organization and still stuck thinking about the underworld? We military men, the South Sea Fleet of Southeast Asia, have to smuggle?” Nay, even the Singaporean government has to respect our authority. But this time, we infiltrated a warship going along the Malay Peninsula. Our identities and equipment are currently that of the largest military for hire organization on the Vietnamese Gulf of Tonkin, the Sea Shark Army.”
Wang Chao smiled. His way of thinking had certainly not yet caught up with the organization and was still entrenched within the illegal and dark ways of the underworld. Lin Yanan using her connections from the navy to the South Sea Fleet to enter Singapore was merely a small appetizer of her abilities.
As things stood, the navy didn’t have the strength of the aircraft carriers of America, but within Southeast Asia, when they mobilize, they would definitely be capable of creating large waves. Whatever pirates, for-hire militia, gangs, or any other underworld power that existed, they were like ants in comparison to the South Sea Fleet. Boulder and the rest truly had no need to smuggle.
“How are things looking like on your end?” Lin Yanan asked.
Wang Chao immediately explained what had happened for the past two days to the group. After listening to it all, Lin Yanan’s blinked slowly as she begun to analyze the current situation.
“I’m going to Cheng Shanming to explain the situation to him. Can you guys go investigate just what power the Chinese Revival Society has put in place? After I get an idea, I will go in secretly to talk with Cheng Shanming, that’s all.” Wang Chao spoke.
Lin Yanan smiled, “Why go through all that trouble? We can just blow up Shen Hong’s villa and have Cheng Shanming come out. Cheng Shanming is an expert, let’s see if he will serve the nation. With this, we could even shift the blame onto the Chenshi Corporation. These two enterprises are both major entities within the underworld of Southeast Asia. If both of them take a hit, that will be for the best for the maritime security as well. Last time, the Chenshi Corporation used their businesses to smuggle drugs into the mainlands. That act is far too brazen of them.
