Chinese martial arts: From being shot and killed by the armed police during a mountain search to bec

Chen Hongwen's face paled, but Chen Huaijin remained calmer, even taking a step forward and cupping his hands in greeting: "Friends, what can I do for you? If you're short on funds, I have some here—"

"Enough with the nonsense." The burly leader interrupted him, his voice hoarse. "Someone wants to see you two. Come with us, and behave yourself, or you'll suffer some more pain."

Just as Chen Hongwen reached into his pocket, with a "click," several gun barrels were simultaneously raised and pointed at the heads of the father and son.

"Don't move." The burly man in the lead grinned. "An accidental discharge would be no fun."

Chen Huaijin lowered his hand, his expression unchanged: "If you want money, I'll give it to you. Why resort to knives and guns?"

"Enough talk, let's go."

Chen Huaijin glanced at Chen Hongwen and shook his head slightly.

Chen Hongwen understood and slowly withdrew his hand from his robes, not daring to move again.

Four men escorted the father and son out of the alley, turned two corners, and entered an open-air courtyard.

The courtyard wall was tall, the iron gate was tightly closed, and there was no plaque hanging above the gate.

There was a weapons rack in the courtyard, with all kinds of knives, spears, clubs and sticks, as well as several wooden dummy stakes. The stakes were covered with dense fist marks and palm prints, which showed that people practiced martial arts there all year round.

In the center of the courtyard, a burly man was practicing boxing.

The punches were fierce, each one accompanied by a crisp "crackling" sound; the force arrived before the fist.

He uses the "Tiger and Crane Double Forms" style from Hung Kuen. The tiger form is fierce and the crane form is light and agile. When turning around, he suddenly falls off the horse and becomes the hard stance of "Iron Wire Fist".

The sound of footsteps pounding the ground sent dust swirling around, clearly indicating that the Ming Jin (a type of internal energy cultivation) had been ingrained in the bones.

After finishing his set of punches, he stopped, paused, and exhaled a breath of stale air.

A young man in shorts quickly handed him a towel.

The burly man took the towel and wiped his face: "All done?"

The young man gave a thumbs up: "Uncle, it's all taken care of. The person has been brought to the woodshed in the backyard."

The burly man nodded and tossed the towel back: "Send a visiting card to the Chen family, saying they have prepared 50,000 silver dollars and will deliver it to the Heyi Hall headquarters by noon tomorrow. Otherwise—"

He paused, then grinned, "Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to hand the man over to Tiger Mo and collect the ten thousand silver dollars bounty."

The young man clicked his tongue twice: "Uncle, you're really smart. Just a little effort and tens of thousands of dollars are in your account."

The burly man draped the towel he'd used to wipe his sweat over the weapon rack, sat down, and took a sip of tea. "The first to strike wins, the last to strike suffers. The whole of Foshan knows about the Chen family's affair; countless eyes are watching them in secret. But because of their connections with the Guangdong Army, they're still observing and hesitant to make their move."

He put down his teacup: "They wouldn't dare, but we would. I've had people watching them for days. These two go to those wealthy and powerful families every day and have been turned away countless times."

I reckon Chen Jiongming and his men don't really want to get involved; they'll just let the Chen family fend for themselves. If they don't act now, someone else will beat them to it.

The young man nodded, then asked, "Uncle, when the Chen family sends the money, are we really going to release them?"

The burly man scoffed, "Release him? How could that be! You're not going to take back the ten thousand silver dollars bounty on Mo Laohu's head? You don't know the cost of living until you're in charge. If you don't finish off the fat meat that's already in your mouth, people will think that I, 'Ghost Hand Peng,' have turned to vegetarianism and chanting Buddhist prayers."

The young man chuckled twice and asked, "Uncle, how do we deal with Chen's eldest son? I heard he's a ruthless character; he took down the magistrate of Sanhai County and Mo Laohu's son while facing dozens of guns. Even Liang Fangwu died at his hands. Can we defeat him?"

The burly man raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head: "Idiot! You actually believe this nonsense? Killing people while under the cover of dozens of guns? Do you think he's some kind of martial saint, Sun Lutang? I bet he's just a member of the Chen family's own guards who fought his way up, and this is all just hearsay."

He stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, "Stop dawdling and get to work. I'm waiting to collect my paycheck tomorrow. If he dares to come, I'll open the door and send him to meet the King of Hell."

The young man nodded repeatedly and jogged out.

Night deepened.

The main hall of the Chen family residence.

Chen Hongwu sat in a chair, holding a visiting card in his hand.

The cover of the post had the three characters "Heyitang" written on it. The ink was messy and the characters were crooked, as if someone had written it with a fire poker dipped in ink.

After reading the contents, he remained calm. "What is the background of Heyi Hall?"

Liu Kun stood to the side, his back ramrod straight, but his face was somewhat pale.

Although his injury hasn't fully healed yet, he's already able to walk around. These past few days he's been out gathering information and has gotten a pretty good grasp of the gang situation in Foshan.

"Heyitang is a long-established Hongmen branch in Foshan. They do all sorts of shady things, like collecting protection money, kidnapping, and extortion," Liu Kun said.

"Their leader's surname is Peng, and his nickname in the underworld is Ghost Hand Peng. He comes from a Hung Kuen martial arts school and is skilled in the Yin Hand Bridge Technique. He is ruthless and vicious. I heard that he also keeps more than a dozen thugs in his house, with both long and short guns."

Chen Hongwu placed the visiting card on the table and stood up: "Where is their branch office?"

Liu Kun quickly said, "The back courtyard of the herbal tea shop next to Pujun Market has high walls and thick iron gates; it would be difficult to climb over."

Chen Hongwu nodded and walked towards the door.

Liu Kun was taken aback: "Young Master, where are you going?"

Chen Hongwu did not turn around: "Kill them."

Tomorrow at noon is too late and puts us at a disadvantage.

Chen Hongwu must seize the initiative and catch him off guard now!

They fought their way out and brought peace and prosperity to the world!

This will deter those petty scoundrels who secretly covet our territory!

Otherwise, the Chen family will never have a peaceful day, and any Tom, Dick, or Harry will come and take advantage of them!