Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Guan Wuye was forced back several steps by the shock.

Two of the blue bricks underfoot cracked, and fragments squeezed out from the gaps.

He stood there, looked down at his reddened palms, then looked up at Chen Zhan, his smile growing wider and his eyes brighter and brighter, to an abnormal degree, as if they were on fire.

I've waited thirty years.

For thirty years, he was cooped up in that little room in the backyard of the headquarters, practicing his boxing moves against the wall and drawing the direction of force on the floor tiles, even dreaming about countering moves.

He thought he would never encounter an opponent who could make him go all out again in his life.

I encountered this today.

Without saying a word, Guan Wuye sprang up and pounced on the enemy like a madman.

This time it was completely different from the previous probing.

He lowered his body, his center of gravity was extremely low, and he rushed over almost touching the ground. His legs were bent, his knees turned inward, and his steps were short and fast, his soles scraping against the blue bricks with a harsh sound.

Chicken Leg Step, a stance in Xin Yi Liu He Quan (Heart-Mind Six Harmonies Boxing).

Xinyi Liuhe Quan, according to legend, originated from Ji Jike and is earlier, more ancient, and more intense than Xingyi Quan.

The earliest models were ten fierce beasts: dragon, tiger, rooster, eagle, horse, monkey, swallow, snake, hawk, and bear.

Every move is a deadly attack, every move is a desperate attempt to escape.

This style of boxing has almost been lost in the martial arts world, surviving only in a few branches in Henan and Shanxi.

When Guan Chongde was young, he traveled to Luoyang as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), where he learned the complete set of boxing techniques from an old master. He practiced it for half his life and had made it his own.

He looks crazy, but his hands are perfectly organized.

It pounces on you, the first move is a tiger pounce.

With both palms cleaving downwards, carrying a heavy force, the weight of the entire body presses down on the base of the palms, like a tiger pouncing down from a height.

Chen Zhan blocked with his right hand, their palms and arms colliding with a muffled "bang." The lanterns in the main hall shook violently, and dust fell from the roof beams.

Guan Wuye didn't stop moving. The moment his tiger pounce missed, he lowered his body and turned into a snake shape.

Snakes parting the grass.

He slid across the ground, circled around Chen Zhan's side and behind him, and slashed in from his waist and ribs.

Chen Zhan turned and used his elbow to deflect the palm strike. The two forces collided, causing a crack to appear in the blue brick beneath their feet.

Instead of retreating, Guan Wuye advanced, his figure changing again, revealing his bear-like shoulders.

With a sudden drop in his shoulder, all the power of his body was concentrated on his right shoulder, like a black bear ramming into him with its shoulder.

The force was so great that the air in the main hall was compressed, producing a muffled thud.

Chen Zhan stretched out his left hand and placed his palm on Guan Wuye's shoulder, taking the hit head-on. Both of their feet slid half an inch on the ground at the same time, and a few more pieces of blue brick broke.

Before he could catch his breath, Guan Wuye charged forward again.

Eagle catch.

With hands like eagle claws, they grabbed down from above, their fingertips carrying penetrating force, aiming at Chen Zhan's Jianjing acupoint.

Chen Zhan dodged the eagle's claws by the side, then countered with his right hand, striking Guan Wuye in the chest with a palm strike.

The moment the palm struck, Guan Wuye used the Swallow Form, like a swallow skimming the water, leaning back almost flat, sliding past Chen Zhan's palm wind, then straightening his waist and abdomen to spring up, throwing a punch from below.

Like a wild horse galloping into its trough, a fist flips upwards from the groin, heading straight for the jaw.

Chen Zhan leaned back slightly, the force of the punch grazing his chin.

One move after another, ten forms rotating, each connected to the next.

After the tiger pounce, the snake parted the grass, and after the snake form came the hawk somersault, the hawk form turned into the chicken form, the golden rooster shook its feathers, and the power of the whole body exploded out from the flesh like shaking feathers, turning into a short and sharp inch punch.

Each form has its own independent energy path and body movement, which he connects together, and the transition between forms is seamless.

Thirty years of hard work are all here. The Ten Forms have been mastered into a continuous set of killing moves, which can be used without stopping or gaps.

Chen Zhanquan accepted.

Each punch slammed into the ground with a dull thud, and every clash shook the main hall, causing the lanterns to sway violently and dust to fall from the walls in a flurry.

During the brief intervals between the two combatants, Shen Henian quickly directed them with his eyes and gestures.

Zhao Dehai and Ma Chengen slipped out from behind the armchair, their backs bent, followed closely by Shen Henian, who abandoned his folding fan. The three of them retreated through the back door of the main hall, their steps extremely fast.

The bodies of Meng Huchen and Qian Baotian are still in the hall, and no one cares about them.

Chen Zhan saw the three people run away out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't chase after them.

We've achieved our goal tonight: we got the information, and the remaining three survivors have escaped.

Twenty moves have passed.

Guan Wuye's breathing began to become erratic.

Having not fought anyone for thirty years, and now in his seventies, his vitality has long passed its peak. Twenty moves of full-force attack pushed his body to its limit.

His breathing became heavier and heavier, his steps began to sway, and the force in his fists was decreasing.

But his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Chen Zhan took a step back and stood still: "Have you had your fun? At your age, you're still out here fighting and killing."

His tone was calm, even tinged with a touch of emotion.

Guan Yu stood there, his chest heaving violently, his white hair disheveled, and his gray robe soaked with sweat and clinging to his body.

He smiled.

He laughed heartily, showing all his teeth.

"Hahaha, that was great, that was great!"

Laughter echoed in the main hall, shaking the last speck of dust off the roof beams.

Then he stopped laughing.

His expression suddenly became extremely serious, the first time he had been so serious in thirty years.

"I have one last punch left, and then I'll die."

Without waiting for Chen Zhan's response, he raised his fist.

This punch retracted its stance, abandoning the tiger pounce, the snake form, and the eagle claw; all ten forms were discarded, leaving only the concept of "intention."

His body straightened from hunched over, his back straightened, and he looked thirty years younger. All his energy and blood were concentrated in his right fist, and even the color drained from his face, turning it pale.

He poured all his remaining life force into that punch.

When the fist was raised, a very low, muffled sound rang out in the air, like a distant thunderclap. The sound came from the fist as the blood and qi were pushed to their limits and the strength was compressed to the extreme.

This punch was ferocious, extremely ferocious. The old man had devoted his life to studying it, hoping to compete with Sun Lutang again, but Sun Lutang was dead, and he had no opponent left.

Without any fancy moves, it was just a punch coming down from above, aimed straight at Chen Zhan's skull.

The force was so great that the wind from the punch extinguished all the lanterns in the main hall at the same time, and all the candles were crushed by the force of the punch.

However, Chen Zhan, who remained standing, did not dodge. It was clear that Guan Chongde was a man of deep feelings and true character. He had not come to stop him, but rather because he was eager to hunt.

Chen Zhan always held those who were extremely passionate about martial arts in high regard.

He frowned, looked up, and his spine moved.

Dragon-shaped bone search!

Starting from the coccyx, the large vertebrae push upwards segment by segment, with each vertebra exerting force. The force surges up from the waist like a wave, passing through the Mingmen point, Jiaji point, and Dazhui point, all the way to the shoulders and back, flowing into the arms, and converging at the base of the palms.

Meet with your right palm.

Their palms and fists met.

"boom--!"

The floor of the main hall exploded.

The blue bricks beneath their feet shattered, the fragments flying out in all directions and embedding themselves in the walls and pillars.

The roof beams shook violently, and tiles slid off the roof, crashing loudly into the courtyard. The blast wave overturned three armchairs, and the incense burner in front of the ancestral tablets was shaken off the altar and shattered on the ground.

Guan Wuye's fist pressed down on Chen Zhan's palm.

He was smashing it down, while Chen Zhan was lifting it up.

The moment the two forces collided, Guan Wuye felt the force coming from the opponent's palm, which was like a divine dragon coiled underground, beginning to move.

Guan Wuye's arms were trembling, his joints were cracking, and his vital energy was rapidly draining away as if it had been emptied out.

There was no fear or regret on his face.

Laughed.

He laughed heartily, showing all his teeth.

His fist loosened. His arm hung down, the strength in his body receding like the tide, and he shrunk in stature, becoming the hunched old man again.

His knees buckled, and he fell backward, landing hard on his bottom against a pillar behind him.

His chest heaved violently a few times, then slower and shallower.

"That felt great! That felt great!"

The voice was very low, as if speaking to oneself.

He tilted his head and looked at Chen Zhan, the light in his eyes slowly fading, but the smile still lingered on his lips.

"Guan Chongde has learned his lesson."

His head tilted to the side.

His chest stopped rising and falling; he died from exhaustion.

Only Chen Zhan remained standing in the main hall. Broken bricks littered the ground, all the lanterns were out, and the moonlight streaming in through the window illuminated the mess.

Meng Huchen's body was leaning against the armchair, Qian Baotian's body was lying on the ground, and Guan Chongde's body was leaning against a pillar. Three bodies, three ways of dying.

Chen Zhan glanced at Guan Chongde for a few moments.

I bent down and straightened the old man's body so he could lean back comfortably.

He turned around, walked out of the main hall, crossed the courtyard, and climbed over the wall to get out.

The night was dark.

The Avenue Joffre was deserted, and the branches of the plane trees rustled in the wind.

Chen Zhan headed east.

The address of the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station is clearly written in the documents of the Tsing Yi Society seized in Hong Kong; there's no need to ask.

I walked and thought.

The fact that the other party leaked the news of Ye Ningzhen's arrest to the Green Gang is itself problematic.

He was well aware of the Military Intelligence Bureau's secrecy system; if they wanted to keep this level of arrest secret, the Green Gang's top brass would never be able to find out a single word.

The fact that the news reached the Green Gang meant that it was deliberately leaked.

The goal is singular: to catch fish. Using Ye Ningzhen as bait, they wait for the rest to surface.

Have no fear.

Where did the confidence come from?
Chen Zhan thought for a few moments. He didn't just want to save Ye Ningzhen; the liaison officer Ye Ningzhen wanted to save was also imprisoned inside.

Both of them need to be brought out.

However, the garrison command cannot be forced open.

That's a military facility, with hundreds of people stationed there and numerous sentry posts. There are also plenty of experts from the Green Robe Society. He can either break in or break out on his own.

But the Military Intelligence Bureau isn't stupid; they might be hesitant to act rashly. They want to save people, not wipe out entire families.

Chen Zhan did not go directly to the garrison command.

He found a high vantage point.

About three or four hundred meters northeast of the garrison command, there is an abandoned four-story building with most of the windows broken and no one inside.

He climbed up from the back, squatted at the window on the top floor, and looked over several rows of rooftops, landing on the courtyard of the garrison command.

Three or four hundred meters.

Even at night, at this distance, the Kuomintang sentries wouldn't be able to see him even if they looked this way.

But he could see everything over there.

His eyesight is far beyond that of ordinary people. At night, from a distance of three or four hundred meters, he can tell whether the people standing guard at the gate have beards or what kind of guns the patrolling sentries are holding.

I squatted on the rooftop and watched all night.

The patrols in the compound at night were much more frequent than during the day. The sentries patrolled about every eight to ten minutes, twice as often as normal military facilities. After Ye Ningzhen broke through once, the security was noticeably strengthened.

Chen Zhan spent the whole night squatting on the rooftop, memorizing the operating rules of the entire compound.

He couldn't find a suitable entry point, or at least he couldn't find a way to quietly bring the two of them out.

It's almost dawn.

The sky was bathed in a grayish-white light, and the rooftops in the distance began to take shape.

The office building doors opened.

A person walked out surrounded by a group of people. Guards were everywhere, layer upon layer, completely obscuring the person in the middle.

Fear of being assassinated.

Ye Ningzhen's assassinations in Shanghai over the past few months have terrified the Kuomintang military intelligence officers, who now travel with this kind of pomp and circumstance.

The man strode toward a car parked at the door, bent down and climbed inside. The car was specially made, reinforced with steel plates, and the windows were twice as thick as ordinary bulletproof glass.

But Chen Zhan still managed to see the face that had gotten into the car.

The car started, drove out of the compound, turned onto the road, and headed west.

The streets were almost deserted in the early morning, the streetlights were still on, and the shadows of the plane trees stretched long on the ground.

The car was going very fast.

On the rooftop three or four hundred meters away, a figure flashed and disappeared.

Chen Zhan jumped off the roof and moved along the top of the roof ridge and the wall, leaping and traversing between buildings.

Its toes touched the tiles, the tops of the walls, and the crossarms of the telephone poles without making a sound or pausing, like a night bird skimming across the rooftops.

The morning light was not yet fully bright, and no one on the street could see him.

Only one stray cat, perched on the wall, suddenly bristled, pricked up its ears, glanced in a certain direction, and then shrank back.

The car was driving in front, and he was following behind.

Maintain a distance of two to three hundred meters, neither getting too close nor losing contact.

When the car turns a corner, he changes to a different rooftop; when the car accelerates, he increases his pace; when the car stops at an intersection waiting for the red light, he squats behind a building's chimney, remaining motionless.

After turning several streets, the car entered a quiet alley and stopped in front of a mansion.

The mansion was not large.

It's a two-story villa with a courtyard wall, a garden, and an iron gate that's closed.

There were no visible sentries at the entrance. Chen Zuyan's residence was a secret, and no Kuomintang agents could be stationed at the entrance, otherwise it would be tantamount to telling everyone that a high-ranking Kuomintang official lived there.

But Chen Zhan's senses told him that there were at least four people inside the courtyard, distributed in four directions, all carrying guns.

Hidden sentry.

Chen Zuyan got out of the car, accompanied by two bodyguards. The three of them quickly walked through the iron gate, which closed behind them.

The car turned around and drove away.

Chen Zuyan entered the building. The lights on the second floor turned on briefly and then went out again. The curtains were drawn tightly.

The four sentries in the yard returned to their positions and began to move slowly. The one in the southeast corner was behind the garden bench, the one in the northwest corner was next to the garage, and one on each side of the main gate stood against the wall.

Chen Zhan waited for a while, until the sentries in the courtyard had circled back to the starting point and the pace had stabilized.

Then the figure flickered and disappeared.

"Da da da, da da da."

Footsteps echoed down the corridor.

The three of them went up to the second floor. The two guards' footsteps were heavy and synchronized, while Chen Zuyan's footsteps were light and steady, interspersed with a sound:
"Squeak—!"

Chen Zuyan opened the door. The room was pitch black, with the curtains drawn tightly and their color a somber gray. His residence was naturally not visible from the outside, so the curtains were never opened.

"You all stay outside and keep watch."

"Yes."

The two guards stopped in the corridor, standing on either side.

Chen Zuyan stepped into the house, exhausted. She hadn't slept all night, her eyes were dark, and her shoulders were slumped. She rubbed her philtrum and walked towards the study.

There are still some things to take care of.

The study door was pushed open, and the light switch was turned on, instantly brightening the room from darkness to a warm glow.

But Chen Zuyan was stunned.

A person was sitting in the chair behind the desk.

She sat with her back to him in his seat, her posture relaxed, one hand resting on the armrest, as if she had been sitting there for a long time. (End of Chapter)