Three burly, bull-like bodyguards moved in to subdue Su Jie.
One kicked at his knee; the other two grabbed for his arms.
Even a professional fighter struggles against four hands, let alone six. And these werenât amateursâthey were trained pros.
But in Su Jieâs eyes, they were slow, weak, practically children.
He didnât even bother to move his torso. His hands twitched, his legs snapped out.
Crack!
The two bodyguards pinning his arms felt as though they were gripping an elephant. With a single shake from Su Jie, their shoulders dislocated. They screamed.
Su Jieâs counter-kick landed square on the thigh of the third bodyguard.
The guy who had just tried to kick Su Jieâs knee lagged by half a beat. Before his foot even reached its target, his thigh cramped violently. He lost balance and hit the ground.
Su Jie followed with two quick kicks, one to each remaining bodyguardâs calf.
Both dropped immediately, twitching and groaning.
He had shown mercyâonly targeting their muscles, causing short spasms and a week of bruising. Had he aimed for joints or bones, their legs wouldâve been ruined.
âLetâs go.â
In under five seconds, all six were on the floor.
Tan DashĂŹ had been trying to decide whether he should jump in; blink of an eye and the fight was over.
He wasnât weak, but he clearly only had ring experienceâno street-fight instincts. When things got real, he hesitated. Thatâs the flaw of ring fighters: too cautious when it counts.
âBoss is vicious,â Tan DashĂŹ shivered. âWill this cause trouble? Those guys were clearly working for some big shot. They were just clearing the area, pushing Lin Tang aside. You beat them this badly⊠what if their boss has connectionsâŠ?â
âScared?â Su Jie shot him a look. âIf I hadnât pulled Lin Tang, heâd have lost teeth. These flunkies throw their weight aroundâteaching them a lesson is doing the world a favor.â
Lin Tangâs face, stiff with anger, loosened a bit. Heâd finally vented and felt a grudging admiration for Su Jieâs decisiveness.
âYouâre my friend from now on,â Lin Tang said. Earlier, despite being dormmates and having cooperated a little, he still viewed Su Jie as a business partner heâd just met. After this, that line vanished.
âLetâs go.â Su Jie glanced at the groaning bodyguards on the ground, utterly unfazed. After facing real gunfire, this was nothingâants, really.
They were about to leave when four people walked in.
Leading them was a middle-aged man in athletic casual wear, running shoes, and a golf capâyour classic successful businessman just back from the course. Behind him was a skinny bodyguard.
Beside him stood a young woman, around twenty-five. Next to her was a bearded middle-aged man in a Tang suitâlooked like a âmaster,â but also like a mix of butler and guard.
They were clearly here to talk business.
âPresident Yun, Jiu Ding Security can guarantee your safetyâespecially overseas. You can travel and work freely without worrying about local gangs,â the young woman said.
She stopped mid-sentence.
All four of them frozeâtheyâd seen the pile of groaning bodyguards.
Her voice died in her throat.
âWhat happened?â President Yun frowned, scanning the courtyard and then the four students.
No matter how he looked at them, they didnât seem like the culprits. No scuffle marks on their clothes, and they were obviously studentsâWang Shun even had a freshly issued university badge pinned to his chest.
The young woman was clearly the squad leader here. Sheâd ordered the clearing of the grounds to impress President Yun with her âsecurity competence.â
This outcome was⊠not exactly the pitch she had in mind.
She shot a look at the âmaster.â
âOld Peng, go ask them.â
Old Peng strode toward them. His presence alone made Lin Tang swallow the words he was about to spit out. Same for Tan DashĂŹ and Wang Shunâthey shrank back instinctively.
Su Jie narrowed his eyes and waved him off. âStep aside.â
Heâd already seen the relationship between this group and the fallen bodyguards. He had no interest in explaining anything.
ââŠHmm?â
Old Pengâs eyes sharpened. His arm snapped out like a bladeâfive steel-like fingers clawing toward Su Jieâs collarbone.
A classic Da Qinna technique.
Traditional martial arts had small qinnaâwrists, fingersâand big qinnaâany part of the body. Modern combat sports donât train these; you canât exactly apply joint-locks wearing gloves.
His fingers were long, hard, tinged blueâclearly someone whoâd trained claw techniques like Eagle Claw. A true horizontal-strength practitioner; a grip like his could gouge bricksâand crush bone.
As he struck, Su Jie felt the sharp wind from his attack.
He angled his body slightlyâjust enoughâslipping past the grab.
âWhat?â Old Peng was shocked.
A university student dodging his grab? His qinna had twenty years of training behind it. He could crush bricks like powder and moved like lightning.
âThese bodyguardsâdid you beat them?â He stared at Su Jie. âWhy?â
âYou cleared the area too violentlyâyou nearly knocked over my friend,â Tan DashĂŹ said coldly.
âSince you admit it, fine. Looks like you know a bit of kung fu. Kids donât know their limits.â Old Peng ignored Tan DashĂŹ. âYouâre Q University studentsâI wonât make this too hard. However you injured those bodyguards, Iâll return it to you: dislocated arms, muscle spasmsâexactly the same. Consider it a lesson.â
His eyes locked on Su Jie.
Su Jie just shook his head.
Old Peng lunged againâone hand grabbing at Su Jieâs chest, the other leg snapping out like a venomous snake. His lower-body movement was hidden, subtle, viciousâa real âshadowless kick,â aimed low at Su Jieâs calf to drop him.
The chained movementâgrab up top, kick belowâwas fast, brutal, precise. His true skill finally showed.
Su Jie didnât even look. He stepped forward slightly, absorbing the attack.
Old Pengâs grip hit iron. His kick hit steel. Pain shot through his foot.
This wasnât a personâit was a mountain of bronze.
Su Jie had perfected horizontal trainingâhis âGolden Body.â Unless someone used blades, fists and kicks did nothing. Even Old Pengâs penetrating strikes were useless.
Crack!
Su Jie raised his palm.
The intent: Heart-Intent Style â Hoe-Head Palm.
It descended like a falling sky.
Months of refining itâeven spending a month doing real farm work with Gu Yangâhad let him shift between any intent at will. Soft, hard, large, subtle, benevolent, ruthlessâwhatever he wanted.
This palm was an amalgamation of all martial conceptsâever-changing yet unified.
âNot goodââ Old Peng felt the palm rise. It was like watching the sun break the horizonâinescapable, overwhelming.
The rising sunâno shadows to hide in.
Su Jieâs hand descended.
In that instant, he saw sunrise above a sea of clouds, and then infinite radiance falling to earth.
Before Old Peng could react, the palm struck his face.
Smack!
A crisp explosion. Stars burst in Old Pengâs vision. He spun like a drunk and dropped to the ground, dazed.
A perfect palm print, fingerprints and all, bloomed on his cheek.
Su Jie had held back. Otherwise, Old Pengâs skull wouldâve caved in.
âLetâs go.â Leaving Old Peng stunned on the floor as if it were nothing, Su Jie walked to the doorway. He glanced at the young woman and President Yun. âExcuse us. Please step aside.â
Polite tone, courteous phrasingâyet colder than anything heâd done.
They instinctively stepped away. No one dared block them.
Wang Shun, Lin Tang, and Tan DashĂŹ hurried after him, now orbiting him like he was their natural leader.
Just as the four of them were about to leave the alley, President Yunâs thin bodyguard looked like he wanted to chase after themâbut Old Pengâs weak voice cut through the air: âAbsolutely not.â
He forced himself up, finally clear-headed, and stopped him.