Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
When Li Yan opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a row of fluorescent tubes. His headache worsened with the surrounding noise and cigarette smells.
He sat up from the concrete floor and looked around.
Li Yan found himself sitting at the corner of the room facing a boxing ring that was about twenty-five square meters. Hundreds of audience members were sitting on his left, screaming at the boxers with white tickets and bloodshot eyes.
“Is this an underground boxing match? Where’s that big guy?”
Li Yan muttered to himself.
At that moment, he heard a deep, hoarse voice clearly through the noisy, messy environment.
“Mr. Walking Half, welcome to the Yanfu. We have prepared a new identity for you. No one will be suspicious of it. Go ahead and make a mess out there at ease.”
After that, Li Yan saw some smoky words appear on the other side of the wall:
“Time: A.D. 1986
Location: Mong Kok; Northern latitude: 22.45O, Eastern longitude: 113.5O
In the northern New Territories of Hong Kong, the walled city of Kowloon is cramped and messy. It is almost complete darkness. Drug dealers, smugglers, murderers, and robbers are waiting around every corner. There are hundreds of casinos, brothels, opium rooms, and illegal eating houses. Public security is in disarray and underworld gangs are rampant.
This is the city of sin, trash, violence, and profiteering.
The requirements for today’s Yanfu case are as follows:
1. Fight in the Kowloon Boxing Ring until Stage Seven.
2. Acquire any “The Probe into Ancient Novels” transcript fragments
3. Awaken the Bird of Ubume in the “The Probe into Ancient Novels”.
(Once any of the aforementioned tasks are complete, the Yanfu Case officially starts.)
You can stay here for one month. (Please pay attention: once you lose the boxing match, you will be sent back regardless of the progress of the Yanfu Case.)
Mo Tapir’s gift: Extra right for acquisition (1/1)
You personal information is listed below:
Name: Li Yan
Status: High fever, inflammation, bleeding
Skill: ancient martial arts 81%”
Li Yan stood up and looked at his “skill” feeling a bit confused. He felt that there should be something more, but he couldn’t figure it out.
As Li Yan was thinking, a sweaty palm smelling of cigarettes aimed a slap at his head.
Li Yan captured his wrist and was about to fight back, but before he could do so, the man started to yell at him.
“Are you a zombie now? Damn it! Go up to the boxing ring!”
He looked at the man, who was around forty years old and wearing a poorly fitted suit. His face was chubby and large while his eyes were as small as peas. The man looked scary and funny at the same time.
Li Yan lowered his head and let go of his wrist. He looked sideways at the wall and, as expected, all the words were gone. All he could see were messy cigarette stains.
The man was frightened by Li Yan’s stare, but he regained his confidence after seeing Li Yan lower his head. He tidied up his suit and spat at the ground, muttering, “What a strange dude!”
“If he could bring me back to Hong Kong in 1986, then it’s without a doubt that he should be able to cure me.”
Li Yan walked towards the boxing ring silently with a small fear in his heart.
“Next, let us welcome the contestant with the highest bidding rate! He has claimed he can beat each of the six boxers up tonight.”
The emcee with thick makeup was shouting into the mic exaggeratingly, trying to amp up the ambiance.
Li Yan did not feel intimidated by such an environment. The monster at the music store had motivated the violence inside of him. He walked towards the platform, but just as he was about to go up, a security guard in sunglasses stopped him.
“That way.”
He pointed towards the boxers, who were standing next to the boxing ring.
At this moment, the audience began screaming and cheering for the tanned, muscular boxer who had just entered the ring.
“Cha Cai! Cha Cai! Cha Cai!”
Li Yan looked at Cha Cai with a spurious smile on his face. Cha Cai was wearing a tight tank top that showed off his muscles. There were obvious calluses on his knees and elbows.
Feeling Li Yan’s stare, Cha Cai turned his head to lock eyes with Li Yan.
Li Yan stared at Cha Cai for a while, then walked towards the remaining boxers, a bit surprised.
He noticed that this man was surrounded by dim red light that nobody else seemed aware of. More interestingly, he even saw red lights emanating from the remaining boxers, slightly dimmer than Cha Cai’s.
The emcee lifted his shoulder and said forcefully,
“I don’t have to mention how fierce and powerful Cha Cai is. Those who bet on him today will surely win! Alright, let Cha Cai pick who he wants to fight today.”
Cha Cai stared at Li Yan like a wolf. He walked to the centre of the ring and pointed directly at him!
The audience began booing Li Yan. He looked too pale and lean to fight Cha Cai. Li Yan was a stranger to them. They all believed that he was out of his mind and only wanted to earn quick money, and assumed he must have been forced to fight to pay a debt.
The emcee took a look his cue card and announced his choice,
“Cha Cai has chosen Li Yan! Let’s welcome Li Yan!”
Li Yan warmed up his shoulders and neck and flipped onto the boxing ring platform.
Cha Cai gave him a cruel smile and slid his thumb indifferently across his neck.
Li Yan looked at Cha Cai as he rocked his body. He leaned back and pulled out a horse stance.
Some of the audience whistled.
“Little boy, imitating Bruce Lee won’t help.”
“They just need a loser for the first match. The ones after that will be stunning.”
Many of them had bet on Cha Cai to win all six matches and fight through the night.
Cha Cai was born in southern Thailand and taught by the famous Muay Thai champion, Put Lolerk. He had learnt Muay Thai for twenty years and had no idea how many lime trees were destroyed by his kicks. He wouldn’t have been so arrogant by claiming to fight through the night at the Kowloon Boxing Ring if he did not have the abilities.
All of the sudden, Cha Cai rushed toward Li Yan with a straight punch. He twisted his left leg slightly, ready to attack with his knee. This was a classic move for Muay Thai; though the straight punch acted as a cover, the actual attack was from the knee, which would be followed by countless elbow and knee hits if successful.
Li Yan stepped to his left and curved his left palm slightly to tap on Cha Cai’s wrist and lift it up. His right hand immediately followed to go across Cha Cai’s right arm, aiming directly for his neck.
The quick speed shocked Cha Cai. The opponent’s hand was already near his neck, but he hadn’t even managed to lift his knee! He quickly dogged to his left and found Li Yan missing.
The hit to his knee landed like an axe before he could even realize what had happened. Cha Cai lost balance and was forced to his knees, sweating.
Li Yan stood with a straight face behind him.
At the front row of the deck, a man wearing a white suit with a gold chain tilted his head and murmured, “Zi Xu’s Hit from the Eight Trigram Fist?”
He had seen clearly how Li Yan went underneath Cha Cai’s armpit and kicked at his right knee.
That was exactly like Zi Xu’s Hit from the Eight Trigram Fist!
The audience was stunned,
They found it hard to believe that the Thai boxer was nailed down with a single attack by a nobody.
Many of them threw their tickets down at the ring, furious. They suspected that Cha Cai hadn’t tried his best on purpose.
Cha Cai stood up gloomily. He twisted his right leg and raised his fist at Li Yan.
“It’s my turn.”
Li Yan initiated the attack this time around and thrust his fist at Cha Cai’s face.
Cha Cai covered his face, trying to minimize the impact. He didn’t expect Li Yan to attack his crotch with his right kick, which was exactly what he wanted to do.
Cha Cai felt irritated by Li Yan’s intention and took it as an insult. He tried to neglect the pain and kneed him.
What surprised Cha Cai the most was that Li Yan twisted his calf abruptly and kicked right at his knee before he could even lift his leg high enough to gain the energy.
“Crack!”
The audience went mute, as they could clearly judge from the sound that Cha Cai’s joint was broken from that kick. His calf twisted at a weird angle and Cha Cai fell to the floor.
Li Yan touched his nose and felt the blood coming down.
He stared at the emcee with his eyes wide open and lifted his chin, “Announce the result.”
The emcee was still shocked that Cha Cai was actually lying on the ground. He swallowed some saliva and stuttered, “The…the winner of the match is, Li Yan.”
The one who had claimed to be able to fight through the night was knocked down in the first match. Even the experienced gamblers were shocked.
Li Yan waved at the boxers with a straight face and said,
“Who wants to be the winner of the night? Cha Cai is down, who’s next?”