Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 23: The beginning of the art of offense and defense

To be honest, when Wang Chao had heard the name Li Wanji, he had been momentarily stunned.

That was because, he had suddenly remembered a dirty joke.

Legend had it that a reporter had once asked a farmer, “Who do you think is the world’s best looking woman?”

Without any hesitation or thinking, the farmer had replied, “Li Wanji!”

The reporter was shocked, “Why is that?”

The farmer replied, “The television had always said that grownups must ‘fuck Li Wanji’. If adults ‘fuck Li Wanji’ and say that Li Wanji is not beautiful, then why do they say that every adult has to fuck her?”

TL Note: There is an idiom 日理万机 (Ri Li Wan Ji) which means to do everything diligently. The character Ri is also slang for ‘to fuck’. The joke is that the farmer hears ‘Fuck Li Wanji’ instead of ‘do everything diligently’.

Though, Wang Chao knew that the surname Li was very common in Korea. There was such people like Ri Chun-hee, Li Taiji, and Li Wanji in Korea. But hearing this icy like woman have such a name like this, Wang Chao couldn’t help but secretly laugh to himself.

However, the moment the two had given each other a handshake, Li Wanji suddenly brought up her leg to kick Wang Chao.

This was a sudden but fierce strike that gave almost no chance to evade. Furthermore, the technique was rather strange as if the leg that came out from the clothes was like a viper in the way it moved.

Sleeved Kick! Issuing power would be hidden within this short distance, but the energy would be fierce and uneasy to defend against. In the time it took to hold hands for a handshake, the enemy could strike out under the chin and seriously fracture it. If the enemy was not killed, then they would be crippled.

The people from the past would wear robes with big sleeves. So when they shook hands, the kick that would come out would often times be seen as a drill coming out from their robes.

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That was why this kicking method was called the “Sleeved Kick”. It was a move that could seriously kill and was an art in every nation which would usually have their own variations of it. It was only natural that the kick heavy Taekwondo would incorporate this into their style.

However, if one wanted to use this method of kicking, then the ligaments and muscles within the legs must be enough for it to be flexible. Those who did not temper their legs and work hard would never be able to release such a kick.

But this sudden strike was evidence enough that the iceberg that was Li Wanji had a deep enough understanding of the ways of kicking.

Li Wanji’s intentions were equally clear; she was testing him. If Cao Yi had introduced someone to be the overseer, then whomever had the job must be able to know how to fight.

If Wang Chao couldn’t dodge even this, then he would instantly be asked to leave.

This viper like kick had taken advantage of the handshake to be initialized, so there was no time to prepare oneself for it. For any other martial artist, they would still find it hard to dodge such a strike.

However, Wang Chao had built up an impressive foundation for Bagua Zhang which emphasized the word “Sneakiness”. To be able to slip away and listen to the wind while being nimble and quick. These were also the principle on how to make people trip and fall.

Then, Wang Chao had also learned the ability to use the Taichi’s ability to listen to Jin after practicing Tang Zichen’s Assault of the Dragon and Snake.

The ability to listen in Taichi could be done in an instant after holding hands. By using the pores, one could sense the center of gravity in the other person’s body and then pull on it a little and divert the enemy’s Jin. This would break their center of gravity and allow them to be tripped.

Wang Chao had a deep grasp of his inner Jin and was quite keen with his pores, but he had not quite reached the realm of Hidden Jin like sis Chen who could send a person flying like a bullet with a simple push of her hands.

But in this half year where he had trained in the Smashing Fist Jin as well as reading from the True Record of Guoshu, he had a deeper understanding of the inner muscles, nervous system, and bones of a person.

The moment Li Wanji shook hands with Wang Chao, he had already came into contact with the areas of the hand which had told him her muscles relating to the leg were twitching, meaning she was about to lash out with her leg.

The nerves and muscles were interconnected. If a person wants to kick, then the brain must send an impulse to the nerves which would allow for the action to take place.

When Tang Zichen pressed against someone’s hands, she could send them flying. That was due to her Hidden Jin attacking the nerves of the arms which would be transmitted through to the legs of the enemy and cause them to involuntarily jump.

This required an understanding of the human body as well as focusing the Hidden Jin to be like a needle.

Wang Chao’s current pace was a thousand miles away from such a realm.

“If it weren’t for me practicing the Smashing Fist and have a foundation for listening to Jin, then it’d be pretty hard to dodge this kick!”

Straight after shaking her hands, Wang Chao had repeated the exact posture for the “Monkey Poking the Bee’s Nest” and leapt backwards, dodging the kick from Li Wanji.

Unable to avoid it, Wang Chao had immediately repeated what he had done in Cao Yi’s house. After leaping back, he slammed the door shut on reflex.

The next step would be the Three Pace Pounding Jin and slam his fist against the office door.

But the office door was not like the door in Cao Yi’s home. While it was luxuriously made, it was not real wood. Wang Chao’s fist had shattered the door, but it did not fly outwards in a single piece.

The Li Wanji that had just kicked outwards had not expected Wang Chao to leap back and close the door. But in the next moment, an ear splitting sound could be heard as the entire door fractured and several planks were sent flying towards her.

With a startled cry from Li Wanji, her leg immediately swept away the flying planks while Wang Chao slowly walked out from the remnants of the door.

“Miss Li, how about it, do I fit the requirements? I evaded your sneak attack and retaliated. About the door, I’m extremely sorry about that.”

Seeing how Li Wanji had kicked away the planks, Wang Chao could only think to himself about what a shame it was. If this door was real wood, then Li Wanji would have met the same fate as Cao Yi.

When a fight didn’t end with the other person knocked down, Wang Chao could only feel a sorrowful regret.

“This move is quite practical, especially in such a closed off area like an office where one can take the key moment and deliver the killing blow!”

Wang Chao had creatively leapt out behind the door and then shattered the door as an away of attack, this to him, was quite satisfying.

Although he was a bit regretful about breaking the door, Wang Chao had a single thought wake him up, “I came here for money, this will only inconvenience president Li Wanji, ai! Taekwondo has been commercialized to the point where it is for the sake of culture and not for killing. If I don’t perform, then there is no food to eat, how would I survive then?So many people have thrown about their money here to learn, sprinkling the ground vainly with it, this won’t do. I came here for fighting experience, over here, I could fight without breaking the law.”

“Good, very good! The one Cao Yi recommended is surely not lacking at all!” Li Wanji seemed to have calmed down as well before her previously cold face melted away to reveal a charming one. Returning to her desk, she pressed a button.

Ding dong! A sound could be heard as two uniformed males came in, “Clean this up and have someone install a new door!”

The two men stared at the broken door with a surprised look before immediately setting about to do the tasks set out for them.

“When we came, Chief Cao didn’t tell me much. If I could ask, if I were to be the overseer, how much would my monthly salary be?”

Wang Chao’s mentality had already matured enough for him to ask such a question freely.

“I’m sorry, mister Wang, that cannot be determined right now. However, I can tell you that you have past the first assessment from me. You must know that I have many instructors that are fighting experts. They will not accept you, so you must make sure each one of them will concede before I can formally hire you to be a part of this dojo! Our union is an institution that follow the words of the strong and the wise. If mister Wang can show everyone his true skill, then I can pay you a salary that you will definitely be satisfied with.”

Li Wanji and Wang Chao walked out of the office, “Mister Wang, please walk with me. Our instructors are all at the VIP fighting rooms waiting to see you.”

With that, Li Wanji guided Wang Chao past several corridors and around several loops where suddenly, a wide and spacious fighting ring could be seen.

This was a training ground that was several hundred square meters.The entire floor was fitted with a black and white carpet while sofas and coffee tables were seated all around. Clearly, this place was meant for people to come and watch the fights.

At this moment, there were several white uniformed males and females with black belts all standing about the center of the ring. Around a dozen of them were male while there was another three females.

Sitting on the sofas, there were plenty of middle aged men along with several pretty looking young women. From the appearances of these women, they were all from the upper class, and when they saw Wang Chao and Li Wanji enter, they all began to gossip amongst each other.

“Mister, please change into an uniform.” Li Wanji spoke.

“Don’t need to.” Wang Chao walked forward and into the ring.