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

That night.

The Japanese trading company in Foshan, second floor.

Funakoshi Gichin stood motionless in front of the two corpses.

Miyagi Nagaharu's chest was caved in, his ribs protruding from under his skin, the white bone fragments mixed with dark red blood foam. Ueshiba Morihei's entire face was sunken in, his nose was broken into three pieces, his eyeballs bulged out, and he died with his eyes wide open.

Funakoshi Gichin's face was as white as a sheet of paper, his hands were behind his back, and his knuckles were cracking.

"Righteousness and trustworthiness".

Yoshinobu Funakoshi shuddered and lowered his head even further: "Yes!"

"Is this the result you brought back?" Funakoshi Gichin turned around, his voice not loud, but every word seemed to have been pulled from an ice cellar. "Two Imperial samurai, dead on the arena. Beaten to death like two wild dogs in front of the entire Foshan population. You have utterly disgraced the Great Japanese Empire."

Yoshinobu Funakoshi buckled to his knees and knelt down. His knees struck the wooden floor with a dull thud.

"I underestimated my opponent." He pressed his forehead against the floor. "Please punish me, senior brother."

"That Chen Hongwu," Funakoshi Gichin asked without looking at him, "what's his background?"

"No... I don't know," Yoshinobu Funakoshi said with difficulty. "He doesn't use the local Foshan style of boxing; it's a northern style. I've checked the rosters of all the martial arts schools in Foshan, and I've never heard of him before."

"A northern martial art?" Funakoshi Gichin narrowed his eyes. "Xingyi? Bajiquan?"

"Both," said Yoshinobu Funakoshi. "In the ring, he first used Bajiquan's 'Supporting Hammer' to break Miyagi's karate, and then used Xingyiquan's 'Snake Tiger Pounce' to kill Ueshiba. He had mastered both martial arts to the bone, and his fighting style was extremely sophisticated... It doesn't seem like something someone his age could achieve."

Funakoshi Yoshichin remained silent for a moment.

"Go investigate this person, find out his background. He dares to oppose the Great Japanese Empire; the only thing to do is kill him!"

"Hi!"

Funakoshi Yoshinobu stood up in response and was about to leave when Funakoshi Yoshichin called him back.

"There's one more thing."

Yoshinobu Funakoshi stopped in his tracks.

"It's a fact that you lost the fight against Hung Shing Martial Arts School. But I absolutely cannot afford to lose my duel with Wong Fei-hung."

"Understood!"

"You don't understand." Funakoshi Gichin said, his hands behind his back and his eyes narrowed to slits. "Huang Feihong's boxing skills are superb. Although he is old and his strength is declining, I am still not 100% confident."

"I heard he has a son named Huang Hansheng, whom he particularly values ​​and who has mastered his skills. If I assassinate Huang Hansheng before the fight, Huang Feihong, having lost his son in his old age, will surely be demoralized, his boxing skills will crumble, and he will no longer be my match!"

Yoshinobu Funakoshi was taken aback.

To assassinate Wong Fei-hung's son?

Funakoshi Gichin turned around, his gaze as cold and venomous as a viper's. "Have you read Miyamoto Musashi's *The Book of Five Rings*?"

"I've read it."

"Miyamoto Musashi fought more than sixty duels in his life and never lost. His most famous battle was against Sasaki Kojiro on Ganryu Island. Sasaki wielded a three-foot-one-inch long sword, nicknamed 'The Clothesline,' and his swordsmanship was unparalleled."

Miyamoto Musashi knew he might not win in a direct confrontation, so he deliberately arrived late, making Kojiro wait in the scorching sun for two hours, until he became irritable and restless. When the duel began, he turned his back to the sun, the flash of his blade blinding Kojiro, and killed him with a single blow.

Funakoshi Gichin turned around, his eyes like two bottomless pools.

There is an old Chinese saying: "Warfare is based on deception. On the battlefield, there is no despicable act, only victory or defeat."

Funakoshi Gichin paused for a moment: "All's fair in war. Victory is victory, and defeat is defeat. Future generations only remember Miyamoto Musashi as a sword saint; who remembers how he won?"

Yoshinobu Funakoshi lowered his head: "Senior brother, your insight is profound."

"Go."

Yoshinobu Funakoshi's footsteps disappeared at the end of the stairs.

Funakoshi Gichin turned around again, looked at the two corpses in front of him, his lips twitched, and he squeezed out two words through gritted teeth: "Useless."

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Chen Family Courtyard.

The morning light filtered through the gaps in the roof tiles, scattering a patch of shimmering gold on the ground.

The crickets that chirped last night have fallen silent at the foot of the courtyard wall. The dew on the bluestone slabs hasn't dried completely yet, making them slippery to walk on.

Chen Hongwu stood in the center of the courtyard and assumed the Three-Body Stance.

This is not the ordinary Three-Body Pose, but a slight adjustment based on the Three-Body Pose. The front hand is half a step higher, the back hand is half a step lower, and the spine is slightly arched inward, like a bow fully drawn.

After Lei Yin entered his body last night, his body underwent a dramatic transformation overnight.

The tremors deep within his bone marrow continued, like an undercurrent deep underground, relentlessly washing over every bone and every fascia. He could feel heat constantly seeping outwards from his internal organs, an endless stream, like coal being added to a furnace, making the fire burn brighter and brighter.

Sun Lutang once said in "The True Meaning of Boxing": "The power of Xingyi Quan is like iron burning red, shining brightly inside and out. The power comes from the bone marrow, passes through the fascia, penetrates the skin and hair, and advances layer by layer. No part is unmoved, and no part is not integrated."

That's exactly how Chen Hongwu felt at that moment.

Every muscle in his body was slightly warm, his pores were half-open and half-closed, and the heat inside his body circulated continuously, as if a small sun had grown inside him.

He had never experienced this feeling in his previous life, because he hadn't reached the level of "Thunderous Sound Entering the Defilement" in his previous life. Reaching this stage in internal martial arts means that one day of practice is equivalent to ten days of previous practice—a qualitative leap.

He put the stake back in and called out, "Uncle Liu."

Liu Kun walked in, his body covered in a light sweat. Ever since he witnessed the power of boxing from Chen Hongwu, he had picked up his martial arts skills again, which he had neglected for decades.

Now, the first thing I do every morning is practice boxing. I also ask Chen Hongwu for advice from time to time. My body is getting stronger and stronger, and I am much more steady when shooting.

"Young Master, what is it?"

Chen Hongwu pointed to a bench against the wall at the other end of the courtyard, on which sat a Mauser pistol. It was a German-made Mauser military pistol, a ten-shot semi-automatic with a ten-round magazine, which had a nickname in the underworld during the Republic of China era: "Box Cannon".

Liu Kun looked at the gun and frowned: "Young Master, are you going to practice shooting?"

Chen Hongwu did not answer, but said something that completely stunned Liu Kun.

"Shoot me."

Liu Kun thought he had misheard: "What?"

"Shoot me." Chen Hongwu said seriously.

Liu Kun's face was filled with disbelief: "Young Master, I know your martial arts are superb, you can tear tigers and leopards apart, and you're invincible in assassination. But this is a gun! Bullets don't have eyes, and the yard is so small, there's nowhere to hide. If it misses, it might ricochet. It's just too dangerous!"

"Don't worry," Chen Hongwu said. "Just keep shooting."

Seeing that Liu Kun was still hesitating, Chen Hongwu continued, "Last night I practiced the Thunder Sound Technique into my internal organs. My muscles, bones, qi, and blood are constantly transforming, and my skills are improving by leaps and bounds. I'm just about to test how well I can deal with the power of a sharpshooter head-on."