Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 30: Even the strong fear those who disregard their own lives

“A mercenary….” Wang Chao began to think about to sis Chen’s True Record of Guoshu where she had mentioned about the methods of training a mercenary. But the information in there was small in comparison, so he had not been able to make a direct connection.

Tang Zichen had only mentioned them in passing when it came to their way of fighting: “A mercenary’s method in fighting will disregard their own safety to kill. If they could not kill their opponent, then they would take them down with themselves. The completion of the mission is the most important thing to them.”

To do or die was a dangerous method of fighting and was also the most terrifying way of fighting. Even if they were to come across a fighter that was stronger than them, it would be hard to predict just who would end up surviving at the end.

Even in the battle between Wang Chao and Zhao Xinglong, he had managed to hook his shoulder underneath Zhao Xinglong’s body and crotch. While taking advantage of Zhao Xinglong’s loss of equilibrium after trying to protect himself, Wang Chao had managed to send him flying with the Returning Body Palm.

But if he were to go against an even stronger opponent, if Wang Chao managed to hook his arm underneath the crotch of his opponent, the opponent could just as easily punch him in the face twice. With this, both sides would lose.

Humans had a self preservative instinct to ensure that harm doesn’t befall on them at a moment’s notice. But a mercenary had that instinct trained out of them, so when they moved, it was normally with a terrifying outcome.

But even as he recalled that tidbit of information regarding a mercenary’s way of fighting in sis Chen’s True Record of Guoshu, Wang Chao was excited. He was eager to fight against such a person, but he didn’t think that Zhang Tong would have given him such an opportunity.

“No wonder! When I saw their eyes, I could tell they had no human emotion almost. They must have undergone special training to become as fierce as they are now, no doubt they are fierce against others as well.” Wang Chao understood that even the strong feared those who disregarded even their own lives, “But wait. Just what type of person is Zhang Tong if she has these mercenaries as bodyguards?”

Although Wang Chao knew that Zhang Tong was an exceptionally rich business women, her having mercenaries as her bodyguard was not something he had expected.

This entire building had been dedicated to commercial goods for women, makeup, clothes, purses, and jewelry. There were even massages, cosmetic surgery, and other relaxation or entertainment facilities. Each floor had a different theme and was decorated with a glorious splendor in the style of the modern day architecture. Even Wang Chao who was not knowledgeable about womanly things knew that this was different from any regular place.

“Zhang Tong is great at business, this is most likely just a small portion. It looks like what Cao Yi said about meeting the higher ranking members of society was true.”

The elevator finally stopped at the highest floor where the entire atmosphere was calm. Walking her way into the luxurious office space, Wang Chao could only follow.

The gigantic office space had been surrounded by transparent reinforced glass that allowed for anyone to be able to see the full splendor of the S province. The horizon was so vast, and anyone watching from the office would be able to see so far away and feel their hearts soar with a comfortable sensation.

There was an ancient mahogany wood table with a Ming Dynasty styled rosewood chair right next to it. On the table was a blue-green jade pen holder and ink stone. One look at the both of them revealed that they were quite high priced. And even the entire environment looked to be more grand than the office in the Taekwondo dojo.

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But what had surprised Wang Chao most was the nearly meter long purple scabbard and sword hanging above the mahogany table.

“I had no other interest at first. I loved Wushu since I was young, but I ended up learning sword dancing, but unfortunately, I gave that up.” Zhang Tong looked over to what Wang Chao had been staring at with interest. “Although I haven’t practiced in a long time, I still remember the 13 techniques of the sword: whip, deflect, block, strike, stab, poke, burst, stir, brush, press, and chop to a decent extent. I’ve heard that even the spear has 13 techniques as well. You learn martial arts, so you should know how a spear works. Well, let’s move on from that topic. Today we have mutual interests. You wish for real battle by battling my bodyguards, and I wish to see a good battle. In a moment, I’ll allow you to see my sword dance as well.”

With that, Zhang Tong walked to her mahogany and picked up a white ink brush before dipping it onto the inkstone. Placing it on paper, she wrote out the phrase, “A single sword to light the the path.”

Zhang Tong’s words had been written nicely, but when Wang Chao looked at it, it seemed lacking compared to sis Chen’s writing in her True Record of Guoshu. Zhang Tong’s handwriting just did not carry about the majestic feel that sis Chen did.

“This woman is quite graceful and accomplished. She isn’t like some sort of upstart, I wonder what her identity is.” Wang Chao thought to himself with curiosity.

“Are you prepared?” Zhang Tong blew on the paper briefly before two bodyguards suddenly appeared to the left and right of the table.

At the same time, the bodyguard that was driving the car into the garage had finally returned. Seeing the expression on Zhang Tong’s face, the bodyguard immediately closed the door behind him and then stared coldly at Wang Chao.

Wang Chao watched the bodyguard closely, his body began to unconsciously fill with goosebumps. He felt as if he was the prey a leopard had its eye on.

“En, I’m ready!” Wang Chao looked back to Zhang Tong for a moment before concentrating on the bodyguard completely.

“Be careful then.” Zhang Tong warned one last time before giving a small cough.

Suddenly, the bodyguard sprung into motion as he flew at Wang Chao like a leopard at its prey.

But Wang Chao was prepared for this. Seeing this sight, he immediately moved back before stabbing at the bodyguard’s ribs. This was the habitual move of his where he imitated the shape of a knife that had proved well over time.

Who would have known that this bodyguard was like a machine. Without even caring as if it wasn’t him being stabbed, he continued onwards despite the fist coming at him before throwing a hand towards Wang Chao’s throat.

The bodyguard was exceptionally fast with his hands as well as being powerful. But his face hadn’t made a single twitch, making him true to his name of being a ‘killing machine’.

Wang Chao knew that if this move were to connect, than his throat would be crushed instantly. With a cold heart, he quickly drew back his hand stepped backwards. Forming a claw instead of a knife, he brought it up to his throat and tried to catch the bodyguard’s fist.

This “Eagle Claw Catching Fist” was a variation of one of the 12 postures of Xingyi. After a breakthrough he had made, this was a rather frequent move of his. Catching the explosive fist in his hands, Wang Chao’s nails dug into the bodyguard’s fist, drawing blood.

If Wang Chao had trained to the stage of the Hidden Jin, then this claw strike would have done much more than what it had done now. The fist’s muscles and bones would have been crushed most likely. But Wang Chao wasn’t strong enough yet and could only do a normal amount of damage. If it had been anyone else, then the hand may have been crippled, but the bodyguard’s hand was filled with calluses, so drawing a small amount of blood was all that Wang Chao could do.

But, while Wang Chao had dealt this blow, the bodyguard had been unflinching. Bringing up his knee to smash it into Wang Chao, he immediately drew close the instant Wang Chao moved to dodge. Both of his grim looking eyes widened as he brought one hand to grab the chest, the other hand to move back to Wang Chao’s throat once more.

This series of blows left the opponent’s upper area open, and Wang Chao was planning on throw a punch and an elbow to attack, but against this opponent, both sides would not escape harm.

Hurriedly running back, Wang Chao tried to move about the bodyguard, but the bodyguard had been able to follow his movements no matter where Wang Chao had turned to. The two were in a stalemate and tried to grapple around each other.

If it were a regular person, then the difference in strength would have been too much. But Wang Chao wasn’t afraid. A single strike of his was usually capable of making people lose their fighting strength. But this bodyguard was different, he had more strength than most and a resilience that Wang Chao had never encountered before.

As sis Chen had said, these mercenaries were extremely tenacious that would make any regular person worry. Their blows would be like a mosquito bite to them, and even if these type of men were to have their arms cut off, they would continue fighting as if nothing had happened. To let down one’s guard around them was to throw away their life.

Because he had prepared earlier, Wang Chao hadn’t gone in blindly. Using his footwork to dodge, he continued to wait for a moment to strike.

After a while, Wang Chao began to feel his endeavor had been exhaustingly fruitless. It was far more difficult than when he fought Zhao Xinglong. Although the bodyguard didn’t have Zhao Xinglong’s iron elbow or practice inner martial arts. But the only difference was that Zhao Xinglong would make an effort to protect himself while this bodyguard did not care for even his own life.

As the two continued to grapple, Wang Chao’s arm continued to try and strike at the bodyguard, and finally he had been able to make contact with the other person’s hand. In that instance, he had been able to get a feel for his opponent’s center of gravity and began to sense where he was planning to move.

Immediately, the bodyguard’s large body was swung to floor.

When Wang Chao let out a breath in relief, the bodyguard suddenly sprung back up from the ground and leapt at him once again.

“Nice!” When Wang Chao saw this, he could only sigh in praise as he brought both of his hands to and threw the other guy down once more.

For another three or four times, the bodyguard was sent flying to the ground, causing Wang Chao to think, “Is this guy made from iron or something?”

Just at that moment, Zhang Tong let out another two coughs. The two bodyguards by the table instantly shot towards Wang Chao and surrounded him.

And now, the pressure on Wang Chao had been increased!