Chinese Martial Arts: My Super Beast Clone

Lin Hai had overheard Uncle Zhang mentioning in casual conversation that in martial arts cultivation, the Strength Refinement Realm is merely laying the foundation, tempering the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones. Only when one reaches the Ming Jin Realm, unifying the strength of the entire body, can one be considered to have truly entered the inner sanctum.

The ability to kill someone with a single punch is a skill far beyond that of an ordinary martial artist.

After asking a few passersby, the truth of the matter was revealed.

This Japanese ronin, drunk, dragged a female student into an alley. A passing Chinese martial artist punched him in the chest, and he coughed up blood and lay motionless.

"Fortunately, the one who died was Japanese!" Zhang Yuanshan suddenly exclaimed.

The concessions in Yangcheng were jointly established by various Western countries. There was a lot of open and covert struggle between these Western countries and the emerging Japanese power for their interests in China. Although the death of a Japanese person was troublesome, the Westerners would not really care about it.

Lin Hai glanced around but found no other traces.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on a sewer drain not far from the body.

There seemed to be a few glimmers of light flickering through the gaps in the iron fence there.

Lin Hai slowly walked over, pretending to inspect the scene, and squatted down.

By the light filtering in from the alley entrance, he saw several silver dollars lying quietly in the dirty puddles below, reflecting the unique luster of metal.

The sewer opening was so narrow that you couldn't even put your hand in; someone must have accidentally fallen in before.

Lin Hai silently noted it down without making a sound.

Although the iron fence was narrow, the skink's slender body could easily squeeze through, perhaps...

Just then, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the alley.

"Get out of here! All of you, get out of here!"

A reprimand came from behind, spoken with a heavy accent.

Lin Hai looked back and saw a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed white man leading a group of heavily armed Indians, roughly pushing aside the onlookers and striding in.

The visitor was Louis, a detective from the concession police station.

Louis led his men closer, glanced down at Zhang Yuanshan, and then looked at the corpse on the ground with disgust.

He spoke in broken Chinese.

"Zhang, I'm in charge here now. You can leave."

Young and impetuous, Ah Dong couldn't help but step forward and argue.

"Detective Louis, we arrived first, and the case is..."

"Shut up!" Louis glared, ignoring Ah Dong and staring intently at Zhang Yuanshan. "Are you telling me how to do things? Or are you trying to disobey my orders?"

"Let's go."

Zhang Yuanshan did not argue further.

Soon, Louis's lazy voice came from behind.

"Preliminary conclusion: The deceased was a Japanese expatriate who had an argument with a Chinese woman on the street and was attacked by a passing Chinese martial artist, dying from a single punch. The perpetrator was a Chinese martial artist between twenty and thirty years old. Alright, call it a day!"

Perfunctory, careless.

They couldn't even be bothered to conduct the most basic on-site investigation.

"Good riddance! These Japanese are no better than those foreigners!" Ah Dong said in a low voice, but his face showed a hint of satisfaction.

"I think those Japanese are even worse than the white foreigners!" a policeman said.

"Keep your voices down!" Zhang Yuanshan turned around and scolded. "The dead man was Japanese, and Louis wasn't planning to take this case seriously anyway, so let's just pretend it never happened."

……

In the evening, Lin Hai returned home.

This is an old bungalow on the outskirts of the city, the only legacy left by my parents.

As soon as I opened the door, a delicious aroma of food wafted out.

"Xiao Hai, you're back?"

A gentle voice came from the kitchen.

Lin Wan, the eldest sister, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food. When she saw Lin Hai, a smile appeared on her face.

Lin Wan works as a nurse in a hospital in the foreign concession. She is gentle and kind, and has been the pillar of the family until Lin Hai came of age.

"Sister," Lin Hai replied, changing his shoes.

"How was work today? Did it go smoothly?" Lin Wan asked with concern as she placed the dishes on the table.

"It's alright." Lin Hai didn't want her to worry, so he simply replied.

"Go wash your hands, it's time to eat."

"understood."

Just then, the door was pushed open, and a teenager carrying a schoolbag rushed in excitedly.

"Sis! Brother! I'm home!"

It's my younger brother, Lin An, who is fifteen years old and still in junior high school.

He proudly held up a glass bottle containing several lively little frogs and a few plump beetles.

"Look! I caught this on my way home from school today!"

Lin Wan frowned and scolded, "Lin An, how many times have I told you not to grab these things? They're dirty!"

"It's not dirty!" Lin An stuck out his tongue, clutching the bottle like a precious treasure to his chest. "This is dinner prepared for my brother's pet!"

Looking at his younger brother's innocent and carefree face, Lin Hai felt the gloom that had been building up in his heart all day dissipate considerably.

He walked over and ruffled Lin An's hair.

Dinner was simple: one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a soup. But the family sitting together made it feel especially warm and cozy.

At the dinner table, Lin Wan talked about some interesting things that happened at the hospital, while Lin An chattered on about what happened at school. Lin Hai listened quietly most of the time, only occasionally interjecting a word or two.

He looked at his sister's gentle smile and his brother's carefree face.

This is what he wants to protect.

After dinner, Lin Hai took the glass bottle Lin An had given him and returned to his room on the second floor.

Inside the glass tank, the skink was resting on the sand and stones at the bottom. Sensing the presence of the forest, it slowly opened its eyes.

Lin Hai unscrewed the bottle cap and poured the frogs and insects from the glass bottle into it one by one.

The hunt has begun.

The skink moves with lightning speed, each strike precise and deadly.

Lin Hai's consciousness once again sank into that peculiar shared state.

He could feel the pleasure of tearing flesh, the satisfaction of swallowing food, and the faint but pure warm currents flowing back to his own body from the skink's body through an invisible soul connection.

Soon, the frogs and beetles were all devoured by the skink.

Its little belly was bulging and round, and it lay lazily at the bottom of the tank.

Lin Hai noticed that the skink's body began to slowly stretch at a speed visible to the naked eye during the process of digesting food.

It was as if an invisible hand was stretching its tendons and bones, and reshaping its flesh and blood.

It was just a fleeting moment.

When Lin Hai looked again, he was surprised to see that the skink in the glass tank had grown even longer.

Originally a little over eleven centimeters long, it has now firmly exceeded twelve centimeters!

The next morning, a sliver of light shone through the window.

Lin Hai found a clean cloth and carefully wrapped the skink in it, leaving only its small head sticking out. Then, he unbuttoned the cuffs of his large black police uniform and stuffed the skink, along with the cloth, into the cuffs.

The skink was very quiet, pressing its little head against his wrist without moving.

Upon arriving at the police station, the morning patrol proceeded as usual.

The group walked slowly, and soon they approached the alley where the incident had occurred on West Street yesterday.

"Uncle Zhang, I... I have a bit of an upset stomach and need to use the restroom." Lin Hai said, clutching his stomach and making up an excuse.

"Go quickly and come back quickly." Zhang Yuanshan waved his hand.

"Yes."

Lin Hai responded and quickly turned and disappeared into the familiar alley.

The streets gradually became lively, with pedestrians appearing in twos and threes. Lin Hai glanced around, walked to the sewer drain, and squatted down, pretending to tie his shoelaces.

He took out the skink from his cuff.

"Go," he said softly.

With a twist of its small body, the skink squeezed through the narrow gap in the iron fence.