Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
Although Goju-Ryu Karate was not as well-known as Kyokushin Karate, which had been propelled to fame by Oyama Masutatsu, it was still one of the more famous, practical styles of karate, with roots in traditional Wushu of the southern style.
Goju-Ryu’s founder, Miyagi Chojun, was a disciple of the famous Tang Soo Do master Higaonna Kanryo, who had once practiced under a famous Fujian master, Xie Zongxiang. Higaonna himself had travelled to China to learn martial arts. The lineage of both these masters traces back to the southern Shaolin’s White Crane style. Even the name “Goju,” which means both hard and soft, comes from the famous Ming Dynasty military book, Treatise on Armament Technology.
The way that people nowadays flock to learn Goju-Ryu but consider traditional Wushu useless and flashy is a paradox, but the underlying reasons are complicated and impossible to summarize briefly.
Li Yan came from a Wushu family of the northern style, but he spent a whole seven years in Guangdong in the South. With a good foundation and being naturally gifted, his understanding of the southern style of Wushu was no less than any southern style master his age. When he said he wanted to show off his Kido Minami White Crane style kung fu, he meant it!
Li Yan positioned his fingers like claws, grabbed onto Kido Minami’s wrist, and twisted it outwards. He positioned three fingers of his left hand into the shape of a beak and attacked Kido Minami’s armpit.
Kido Minami was a seasoned fighter. He may have lost the upper hand, but his reaction was extremely quick. At that moment, instead of widening the distance, he resisted the pain in his right arm which felt like it was being impaled by an iron nail and slammed his body against Li Yan. He wrapped his right arm around Li Yan’s waist like an iron whip, and, as though he was in a street brawl, opened his mouth to bite Li Yan’s ear!
Without experience fighting for one’s life, even a more senior Wushu master with better technique than Li Yan would easily lose momentum when faced with such animal-like behavior. But Li Yan, who was barely twenty-five years old, already had an unbelievable fighting history and had already earned the moniker “Skinny Tiger of Hejian.” These four words were earned by fighting tooth and nail, each carrying blood.
By the time Kido Minami’s arm touched Li Yan’s waist, Li Yan had already struck back with a vicious right elbow to his face, giving off a loud thud!
Blood mixed with sweat as it flowed out. Two broken teeth spun through the air and out of the ring.
Kido Minami was dazed by the elbow to his face. Li Yan’s two hands shot forward like arrows, assaulting his opponent’s body.
The spectators below the ring could clearly see that Kido Minami’s feet were on the ground, but the rest of his body seemed as broken as a rag doll as it endured a rain of punches from Li Yan’s fists.
White Crane Fist’s Twin Intersecting Arrows! Single Chop Strike! Double Chopping Palms! Forked Snake Tongue! Hammer Fist! Crane’s Crest! All of these moves rained down on Kido Minami’s body. Large patches of blood began to appear all over as the powerful blows beat Kido Minami to a literal pulp.
The spectators stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths at Kido Minami, whose body was soon to be completely covered in blood. Some didn’t even notice when their cigars burnt out.
After three breaths, Kido Minami finally fell to the ground with a crash. He was soaked in blood and bloody foam came out of his mouth and nose. After a while, he stopped twitching.
There was a moment of total silence both in and outside of the ring.
As Li Yan straightened up, blood dripped from his fingers onto the canvas. He raised up his fist and turned back to look at the viewing platform.
At that moment, Fuyi Tower finally rang with deafening screams and applause.
“Amazing! That’s amazing!”
“I’m putting in a million on this kid’s next fight. I’ll definitely bet on him!”
“Hey handsome, have a weapons duel next!”
As Li Yan looked around at the audience, a flash of bloody frenzy momentarily appeared in his eyes, but he quickly reined himself in.
Red Ghost nodded his head in satisfaction.
“Not bad.”
It was already dark in the little private box, and no one could see clearly what was going on inside.
Under the mesmerizing lights was the continuous seductive sound of heavy breaths…
A slender hand searched around in the darkness for something, not stopping even when it found the wineglass. After a while, it finally reached for the already open bottle of champagne.
Judy’s face was flushed. There were droplets of sweat on the smooth skin of her collarbone. She picked up the bottle and poured it all over her body.
She flipped around and propped herself up on her elbows to look at Li Yan on the screen. Her eyes on her pretty face followed Li Yan on the screen, and the corners of her lips curved upwards.
…
“What issue is so big it requires Li-sir’s involvement?”
Kowloon Association’s Executive Committee Member and Kowloon Public Order Division Commander Si Lizheng smiled as he poured a cup of tea. He handed it to a stone-faced old man with a head half full of white hair.
This was Li Yaoguang, Hong Kong Police Chief Inspector, who had the impressive nickname, “The Genius White-Haired Detective.”
“Commander Si, I’ll get straight to the point. I want to mobilize the Special Duties Unit into Kowloon Walled City for a case.”
Si Lizheng shrugged his shoulders.
“Since when did the Hong Kong Police have to report to the Association to work a case? Li-sir, you have the final say in this.”
He took a sip of tea as he spoke, and then there was a glint in his eyes. “But mobilizing the Special Forces… What’s big that’s going on? Did someone assassinate the governor?”
Li-sir placed four photographs on Si Lizheng’s table.
“Where are they from?” asked Si Lizheng casually.
“Mainland.”
Si Lizheng furrowed his brows as though scalded by his tea.
“Their leader is called Dong; he has a record. The other three are from his village. Four days ago, they robbed Fengbao Bank and got away with 4.6 million Hong Kong dollars and around 20 million in jewelry, as well as a stash of antiques. In the process, they killed five security personnel. These guys are accurate shooters, bold, and hard to deal with. When our forces managed to surround them, one of them suffered a gun wound. And although we managed to get back most of the valuables, the antiques are still nowhere to be found. We’ve locked down the Tseung Kwan O and Kwun Tong areas and searched all the hospitals in Hong Kong, but their whereabouts are still unknown.”
As he spoke, Li-sir took out another photograph. On it was the image of a middle-aged man with a receding hairline.
“This man was the manager of Fengbao Bank and has already been fired. We always suspected that he was an inside man, helping to coordinate mainland thugs. He probably even hired their help. But last night, his body was found within the Kowloon walls, killed by a blow from a blunt object to his head. Our lead is now dead.”
The old man tapped the table to emphasize his point.
“This case is sending shockwaves through all of Hong Kong. Throughout Hong Kong, Kowloon is the only place they can find a private doctor to take them in, and that bank manager was found dead here. Which is why I hope that the Association can help us locate them.”
Si Lizheng didn’t take too long to consider the request. After weighing the matter for a brief moment, he replied confidently.
“Three days. If this group of people is actually in Kowloon, I can find them in three days.”
Li Yaoguang’s tightly knit brows finally relaxed a little.
“Then I won’t trouble you any longer, Commander Si. These men are at the end of their rope, and they’re capable of anything. If you do find them, don’t scare them. Hand them over to the police.”
“It’s our civic duty to cooperate with the police.”
Si Lizheng smiled, “Oh right, what bloody antiques did they rob? I’ll send someone to check if there’s a lead on that.”
Li Yaoguang handed him a list of antiques. Si Lizheng glanced at it and read the first line with shock: “From Lin Yutang’s Collection: Transcript of ‘The Probe into Ancient Novels’!”