Nightmare Despair

Chapter 47 Refined and Easygoing
After settling his luggage, Zhou Kai briefly explained his current situation to Lu Yan.

It was difficult to talk about this mess with her own sister, Zhou Qing. She simply said that she had cancelled her lease and moved in with Sister Yanzi to save on rent.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan paced back and forth anxiously, her heels clicking on the floor.

"Strange, you're usually so unassuming and gentle, how could you get into trouble... Who could have done this?"

Forget about being refined and easygoing.

Zhou Kai twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a somewhat cold smile.

"Sis, be careful when you go out these days, and try not to go alone. If anything happens, wait for me."

Zhou Kai's voice suddenly turned somber.

Since someone has set their sights on him, those around him have essentially entered a hunting ground.

With Ms. Sui Die watching over Zhou Qing, that woman is unfathomable; dealing with a few flies should be a piece of cake for her.

But Lu Yan is different.

She spends almost every day with herself, making her target too obvious—a ready-made weakness.

Using his family as bargaining chips?

The temperature in Zhou Kai's eyes dropped to freezing point.

"Don't worry, it will be fine in a while."

Zhou Kai offered a soft word of comfort.

His smile remained unchanged, but the tightness at the corners of his eyes and the subtle glint of malice in his gaze...

Once he gets rid of the troublesome things, everything will be fine.

"Okay, then."

"Don't hide anything from me, we'll face it together."

Lu Yan nodded blankly, but a strange feeling welled up inside her.

She was actually... somewhat relieved by this sudden turmoil.

In this way, Zhou Kai could legitimately live with him.

……

After finishing the moving, I rushed to the boxing gym, but it was already past midnight.

However, it wasn't a big problem, because Chen Ping was also late.

Zhou Kai glanced at Du Feng, who was instructing students in the members' area, and casually asked, "Where's Senior Brother Chen Ping? I haven't seen him today."

Upon seeing Zhou Kai, Du Feng's lips moved, but he swallowed the words back, finally managing to squeeze out only, "You've come."

"Senior Brother Chen has some family matters to attend to and won't be back until tonight."

"Row."

Zhou Kai nodded, didn't ask any more questions, and found a corner to start warming up.

In the afternoon, Fischl called to say that he wanted to finish the remaining tutoring sessions of the week over several days, but they were out having fun and asked him to come over after 7 p.m.

Zhou Kai had no objection to this.

He hung up the phone and continued practicing his boxing.

After practicing for a while, his vest was soaked with sweat, so Zhou Kai stopped and slowly strolled around the gym as a rest.

This was also the first time he had seriously looked around the gym.

The Falcon Wing Boxing Gym has four floors, but only the first and second floors are open to the public. The people coming and going are mostly members with membership cards and beginners.

In Chen Ping's words, these people are just a bunch of showpieces for now, still in the stage of honing their skills and improving their basics, and they are far from being ready to take center stage.

Zhou Kai himself only spent a little over a week to be among the top students in the group.

But something is strange...

"What about those disciples who, like Senior Brother Chen Ping, have truly become his disciples and entered into his inner circle?"

"Why can't I see a single one in the entire boxing gym?"

Not only the formal disciples, but even Wu De, the middle-aged man with the goatee whom I met that day, never showed his face again.

This matter probably has nothing to do with Chen Ping having something come up today.

Upon careful consideration, Zhou Kai realized with a start that the place had felt desolate since his first day there.

The so-called senior masters took turns managing the boxing gym, but in the end, the only one he ever met was Wu De with the goatee.

"Indeed, the population is pitifully small."

Zhou Kai now believes about 70-80% of the online claims that "ancient martial arts are declining and becoming increasingly obsolete."

He observed the trainees for a while longer and came to a new conclusion.

"The decline of ancient martial arts is probably also related to this outdated evaluation system."

"Look at these trainees, they all seem to take punching power as the standard, as if a high number means they can really fight."

But what's the use of just looking at punching power?

Those who practice martial arts aren't mass-produced canned goods; they vary in height, weight, and physique. Some are as fast as ghosts, while others are as agile as monkeys.

When it really comes down to it, the outcome is decided by the smallest of margins.

What kind of judgment can you make by simply using punching power data to determine strength?

Zhou Kai ignored the various glances he received from the other trainees.

He walked to the sensor in the student area that recorded punching power.

Without much preparation, he twisted his waist and thrust his hips, delivering a powerful punch that slammed into the soft mat.

Boom!
The cushion emitted a muffled thud that almost tore the air apart.

Accompanied by a series of rapid electronic sounds, the data for Zhou Kai's punch immediately soared to the top of the big screen.

509kg!

The chariot engravings provide a far greater boost to physical strength than one might imagine; without them, the number would barely exceed four hundred.

'A full-force punch should be able to reach 600, and if the Chariot Marks are pushed to their limit, it could go even higher...'

He glanced at the number second on the leaderboard, which was 155 kilograms lighter than his casual punch, and Zhou Kai immediately understood.

It seems I'm definitely going to get special treatment from Chen Ping.

For them, eating communal meals with these people would be a form of spiritual torture.

Zhou Kai's gaze didn't linger on that number for even a second longer.

He turned and left.

The gazes of the surrounding trainees quickly shifted from flippant observation to a frozen expression, and finally to one of utter terror, as if they had seen a ghost.

"Fuck?"

"Half a ton? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Could a human have typed this? Is the machine broken?"

Zhou Kai, who had already walked quite a distance, paid no attention to the commotion behind him.

……

Around 6 PM, Zhou Kai packed his things to leave.

At this moment, Du Feng stood in front of him like a stake.

He scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat embarrassed: "Um... how about you stay and wait for Senior Brother Chen to come back?"

Zhou Kai's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized that Du Feng's words had a hidden meaning.

He bluntly stated, "Senior Brother Du, just say what you mean, no need to beat around the bush."

Du Feng slapped the back of his head: "Oh dear, you figured it out after all."

His eyes darted around, and he lowered his voice, saying in a thieving tone, "It's... do you remember Wang Jinquan, the guy you beat up and sent to the hospital a couple of days ago?"

“I heard he’s looking for someone to deal with you. Why don’t you just stay at the boxing gym for the next couple of days?”

"With Senior Brother Chen around, there aren't many people in Xishan City who would dare to mess with you."

Zhou Kai thought to himself, "Just as I thought," but feigned curiosity on his face: "Oh? Then tell me, what kind of people does Wang Jinquan usually hire to mess with me?"

He casually took an energy drink out of his bag and handed it to Du Feng.

Zhou Kai smiled innocently: "Senior Brother Du, have a sip of water and tell me slowly. I'm actually quite curious."

Du Feng took the drink and said with a bitter face, "I have nothing to do with Wang Jinquan. Let me make it clear, I'm actually... quite annoyed by him too."

Zhou Kai understood Du Feng well; he wasn't very brave and was afraid of trouble, but he wasn't a bad person at heart.

In critical moments, one can make clear-headed decisions.

This is probably why Chen Ping was willing to give him a friendly look.

You must be very careful.

Du Feng emphasized it several times before finally speaking.

Xishan is not a port city, but decades ago, it was an important town for the Yangtze River shipping.

However, in recent years, a series of water conservancy projects have been built upstream, including dams and power stations, causing the river's flow to plummet.

The idea of ​​resuming navigation is now a pipe dream.

But with the canal route cut off, those who relied on it for their livelihood were unwilling to simply be buried in history along with it.

The canal gang, which once dominated Xishan and was repeatedly suppressed but never eradicated, still lurk in the shadows of Xishan City like a leech.

Relying on the connections, resources, and manpower they accumulated in their early years, they opened bars, ran arcades, supermarkets, and chain convenience stores.

They made even more money than when they traveled by water.

And that Wang Jinquan is said to have intricate connections with the Xishan Canal Gang.

"Rumor has it that Wang Jinquan's father is a veteran member of the Canal Gang. Since you beat his son and sent him to the hospital, these people will most likely come after you."

Du Feng's face was full of worry.

(End of this chapter)