Chapter 155: Don’t Destroy the Bowl One Makes A Living From (1/2)

Chapter 155: Don’t Destroy the Bowl One Makes A Living From

“I’ve heard master Wang is recuperating here. May I come in to take a look?”

Five or six plainclothes men came walking into the corridor of the hospital. They were all well-built, and their faces had a firm and determined expression. Their walking patterns had been similar to that of a meddler, and some of them could be seen holding something in their hands, but the majority of them were empty handed. Clearly, they did not look like they were here to pay a social visit to a patient.

“Master Wang is recuperating at the moment. My apologies, please come back in another month when he has time to receive visitors.”

There had been a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes when Chen Aiyang greeted them. His words had been tactful, but the meaning within his words had been clear and unrelenting.

“Ah, is that so.” The men each gave each other a mutual look, but their feet didn’t stop moving and continued to walk towards the sick room where Wang Chao was.

Chen Aiyang held out a hand to stop them from continuing. At the very front of the group, one man sneered and lashed out quickly with his hand. His wrist bent at an angle as it pushed outwards in a way that made the entire strike seem soft, but there was a deceptive amount of power that was commonly seem in the art of Chin Na.

And yet it had been completely unexpected to see that when his hand made contact with Chen Aiyang’s own, his gigantic body would be ejected backwards with a pow! Slamming into the nearby wall, the man’s body slid down to the floor in an unconscious state.

“Are you practitioners of Yiquan?” Chen Aiyang had used the soft Jin of Taichi to send a single person flying while staring down the rest of the group. “With how your martial arts are, you have no right to come see master Wang Chao. Why has your master not come? Master Wang’s martial arts is ten times more brilliant than mine own. If you wish to see him and seek his guidance, that is fine. But see that you can defeat me first.”

“Who are you?” Someone had asked.

“Perhaps you might not know the name Chen Aiyang. Go back to your master and ask, you’ll know then.” Chen Aiyang flicked up the fingers to his hand. “What, will you stay here then?”

“Very well. We’ll come back next time to visit.” The group spoke before taking the fallen person and disappeared like a puff of smoke.

This situation was a very common occurrence that would happen outside of Wang Chao’s ward almost every day.

Wang Chao and Zhou Binglin had fought in a park. It was true that Zhou Binglin had eaten up a heavy loss with his arm being severed by the “Cutting Tail of the Crocodile”. Even if it was reconnected, it wouldn’t be able to exert as much power and would essentially be no better than a prosthetic limb at most. For a martial artist, this was as good as a death certificate. To lose a single arm for them was to have their martial arts capability reduced by eighty percent.

But Wang Chao had his internal organs severely injured as well. Thus, he had called over his good friend, Chen Aiyang, the number one expert in the Southeast Asia world of martial arts, to oversee him as he recuperated.

Needless to say, his help was quite timely.

Neither parties had said anything about their battle in the park, but several people who had been strolling around there had already seen it. Quickly, word of it had spread its way around the martial arts circle of Beijing.

Wang Chao and Zhou Binglin were both great experts of martial arts. With the both of them fighting, no matter how covert their fight had been, it was useless to hide. There was no such thing as a wall that didn’t allow wind to pass through or a dam that didn’t leak water. And with Wang Chao’s reputation for beating everyone in Beijing, he was already under watch by many people. The situation between he and Zhou Binglin had long since been of interest to them.

Zhou Binglin didn’t fit in with the martial arts circle in Beijing. But because of his overwhelming skill of it and fighting capabilities, the other martial art experts had conceded that he was strong despite never saying so in public.

And now with Wang Chao defeating him–with such a vicious move nonetheless, his name had grown even higher after people had heard about it. Just faintly, he was being called “Wang the Undefeated”.

But with him injured and stuck in the hospital, what previously defeated master wouldn’t borrow an excuse to come and visit to try and take advantage of the situation? Even if they couldn’t strike him down in the hospital, they could at the very least strike at him with words to regain their beaten pride.

They weren’t even able to see Wang Chao when they came, however. Like a gatekeeper, Chen Aiyang had prevented practically everyone from being able to enter his room.

Wang Chao was a man of the military and could call soldiers to prohibit anyone from visiting him while he recuperated as well.

But this simply had no use. The people he had offended were all well connected as well. He was only a title without actual power, a figurehead. In any aspect or field, it was hard to say the people he hired to protect him would show devotion on the surface but opposition underneath and fail to protect him.

A general that doesn’t lead would have no ears that would listen.

A staff officer that doesn’t give advice wouldn’t even be heard even if he farted.

From the very beginning, Wang Chao hadn’t allowed the organization to hire people so as to avoid trouble. He had complete confidence in Chen Aiyang.

Ever since he had substituted for Chen Aiyang and exchanged martial arts, they had bonded over the hardships and trials to life and became friends that could treat one another with absolute sincerity.

Chen Aiyang had already made a name for himself ten years prior. He had been in countless matches, and the lives he claimed were far more numerous than Wang Chao’s. He was the number one expert in the Southeast Asia world of martial arts and in his prime had his martial arts at the peak. From all those Yiquan practitioner military instructors, not a single one would be able to find a way to retrieve what was lost with him around.

In this period of weakness, Wang Chao’s high-profile name hadn’t suffered a hit. On the contrary, Chen Aiyang’s assistance had help add to his name.

Ever since half a month ago when the head of the Yiquan dojo, Wang Yunlian came, he had unsuccessfully pressed hands with Chen Aiyang thrice before finally leaving in shame. From then on, none of the military instructors had come by.

But some of their soldiers, or even disciples had sometimes come by in their stead. Yet, for what reason would they be able to see Wang Chao?

Pitter patter! The sounds of rain could be heard as it fell against the windows. It was especially verdant on the outside with the hazy autumn rain bringing forth a calm atmosphere.

One daytime after half a month, Wang Chao was standing straight up as he stared out the window. With the rainy background, it was quiet and peaceful, a rare occurrence.

“In another month, it’ll be December. Ai! In a flash, five years have gone by, where has the time gone? It really is like a dream. The fate of life is truly inconceivable.”

Five years ago in December, Wang Chao had met Tang Zichen.

For an entire half month, Wang Chao had nourished his health and healed his internal organs back to fifty percent of its regular state. This was mainly due to Chen Aiyang’s daily usage of acupuncture and the soft Hidden Jin massage to stimulate the blood vessels and the entire internal organs.

Not only did Chen Aiyang succeed the Li Style of Taichi, he had also inherited their art of healing.

Having an expert of Transforming Jin treat and nurse him everyday with his medical expertise, Wang Chao’s recovery was naturally very swift.

If Chen Aiyang wasn’t there, it would take at least a year to recover with the treatment of the hospital. Wang Chao would never be able to handle such a long duration like that.

The science of modern medicine was well developed, but those doctors and medical practitioner’s comprehension of the human body could never compare to an expert of Transforming Jin.

Gently taking in a deep breath, Wang Chao closed his mouth let the breath warm up in it. Sticking his tongue to the roof of his mouth, he swallowed his saliva and breath.

“Gulp!” The saliva and breath was swallowed down his throat in a single gulp. Wang Chao’s chest let out a muffled sound that was akin to the sounds of a frog. After that, his two hands pressed against his chest and slowly massaged the abdomen. The intestines below the abdomen then let out a slight rumble as well.

The internal organs within his body began to squirm. With a sound that circulated from down to up and then from up back down, it was as if spring had come back to the pond next to the fields. Many frogs could be heard croaking in unison and joy.

The Wudang method of dining on the breath, “Fishing Toad Jin”. Originally, a Daoist priest generations ago had heard the frogs in a pond joyously croaking one after another and combined it with what he knew of the human body to create a way to breathe and swallow the air to feed on it. Via this method, the way to strengthening the internal organs and nourish the health was made.

The way to nourish health in Chinese boxing originated from the natural movements and understanding of animals in the world.

These past few days, for the sake of helping Wang Chao treat his internal injuries, Chen Aiyang had given a thorough description of the secret “Fishing Toad Jin” of the Li Style of Taichi over to Wang Chao.

Wang Chao had taught himself the Li style while also explaining the killing moves of “Assault of Dragon and Snake” to Chen Aiyang. The two had exchanged martial arts without holding anything back.

At first, no matter how close two masters were, they would generally leave behind something when exchanging martial arts.

Like in the novel Dramatized History of Sui and Tang, the two male cousins Qin Qiong and Luo Cheng had taught each other their martial arts. But Qin Qiong had hidden his “Killing Jian”, and Luo Cheng had similarly hidden his “Returning Spear” from each other.