Chapter 14

"Are you the student who's really good at fighting?" Hei Gou asked with a smile, looking at Xia Hou Zhong Ying with interest.

"Are you the one he brought here?" Xia Hou Zhong Ying ignored Hei Gou's question and first glanced at the student standing beside Hei Gou, who was glaring at him with hatred, before slowly countering.

"Heh, kid, you're pretty arrogant." Hei Gou was amused by Xia Hou Zhong Ying's disregard. Regardless of whether this kid's skills were as good as the student beside him claimed, his attitude was certainly arrogant.

"So what? We're here to fight, not to drink and chat. Do we need to build some rapport first?" Xia Hou Zhong Ying sneered, showing his disdain for the Black Society.

Hei Gou, hearing Xia Hou Zhong Ying's impolite words, chuckled but didn't get angry. He had been through many storms, and a little verbal attack had no effect on him, not even a ripple in his emotions. He was past the age of impulsiveness. If he were still the young man who would get angry at a few words when he first joined the gang, he would have died many times over.

Hei Gou's lack of anger didn't mean his subordinates could tolerate the humiliation from a kid. Without waiting for Hei Gou to speak, they started shouting loudly, threatening to cripple Xia Hou Zhong Ying. However, since the boss hadn't given the order, they didn't dare to act first, so they just said more harsh words to maintain the facade.

Xia Hou Zhong Ying didn't know that it was Hei Gou's rule: whoever acted first without the boss's order would be punished. Having come from the military, even though he was now in the Black Society, he still retained some military discipline, which was far more stringent than that of ordinary gangs. Although his subordinates were just small-time hooligans, disciplined hooligans were much more effective in combat, which was the capital that allowed Hei Gou to thrive in Seoul.

"What are you all shouting about? Are you mourning?" Seeing that none of them dared to make the first move, Xia Hou Zhong Ying looked down on Hei Gou and his men even more, thinking they were just scaring honest people. He shouted at them, then waved at Hei Gou and said, "Hurry up, draw the line, I want to finish the fight and go home for dinner. My family is waiting for me."

Xia Hou Zhong Ying's arrogance made Hei Gou's subordinates almost explode with anger, and they all asked for permission to fight.

Hei Gou was also a bit annoyed by Xia Hou Zhong Ying's arrogance, so he nodded in agreement and pointed at one of his subordinates, signaling him to take care of Xia Hou Zhong Ying.

The chosen subordinate immediately became excited, licking his lips and showing a cruel look, determined to break Xia Hou Zhong Ying's limbs and make him unrecognizable. He charged at Xia Hou Zhong Ying with a cold laugh, pulling back his hand when he was two meters away, and then swung his arm forward with all his might, aiming a punch at Xia Hou Zhong Ying's face.

Seeing the sloppy attack from Hei Gou's subordinate, Xia Hou Zhong Ying sneered, standing still with his hands in his pockets, as if he hadn't seen the man charging at him.

"Be careful." Hei Gou, who had been sitting lazily on a fallen log, suddenly stood up and shouted at his subordinate. Before he could finish the word "small," his subordinate's body was already flying backward. By the time he said "small," the body was already in the air, and when he finished "careful," the body had already fallen two meters back, landing on the ground.

Everything happened so fast that the other subordinates, who had been watching with amusement, took two seconds to react and still didn't understand what had happened. The sudden change left them stunned.

"You've got some skills. No wonder you're so arrogant. You have the capital for it." Hei Gou had initially thought Xia Hou Zhong Ying was just a skilled kid, but he didn't think he could match the seasoned fighters under him. He thought anyone could take him down.

However, when he saw Xia Hou Zhong Ying's foot move so fast that it left a trail, he knew he had underestimated him, and by a wide margin.

Seeing his subordinate being kicked away by Xia Hou Zhong Ying and unable to get up, Hei Gou wasn't angry but rather excited to see a skilled opponent. It had been too long since he had a good fight, and Xia Hou Zhong Ying's fast footwork made every cell in his body excited.

Hei Gou took off his coat and threw it to one of his subordinates, then unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt to move more freely. He twisted his neck, making a cracking sound, and then waved at Xia Hou Zhong Ying, saying, "Kid, come on, let's have a few rounds. If you can knock me down, we'll call it a day. No matter how deep your grudge, I won't interfere in your affairs anymore. What do you say?"

"Knock you down means make your body touch the ground? Or completely knock you out?" Xia Hou Zhong Ying, seeing that his kick hadn't scared Hei Gou but rather excited him, knew he had met a skilled opponent. He wasn't a fool and quickly set a small trap, asking, "Do you mean make your body touch the ground, or completely knock you out?"

"Making my body touch the ground counts as a loss." Hei Gou looked at Xia Hou Zhong Ying with a half-smile, recognizing the trap but admiring his quick thinking. This kid wasn't simple; he could quickly analyze the situation and set a verbal trap, using a psychological tactic to provoke him.

Although Hei Gou saw through Xia Hou Zhong Ying's provocation, he didn't care. Even if Xia Hou Zhong Ying's skills were impressive, ranking him among the best he had faced, Hei Gou was still confident in his own abilities and believed he could outmatch Xia Hou Zhong Ying.

Knowing that Hei Gou had seen through his trick, Xia Hou Zhong Ying's face turned slightly red, but he didn't want to miss this opportunity. He chuckled and said, "Then it's settled. If I can make your body touch the ground, I win."

Hei Gou laughed and waved him over, "Come on."

Xia Hou Zhong Ying put away his smile, his expression becoming serious. He rubbed his right foot on the ground, leaned forward slightly, and then pushed off with all his might, creating a small pit in the ground as he charged forward. His steps seemed to form a straight line, but each step had a slight change in direction, making his movements unpredictable and hard to predict.

"Nice." Seeing Xia Hou Zhong Ying's footwork, Hei Gou's expression also became serious, praising him and carefully observing his feet and body.

As Xia Hou Zhong Ying approached Hei Gou, he lifted his foot as if to kick, but then his body drifted to the right, and he swung his right foot up from behind, aiming at Hei Gou's right leg, while tilting his body slightly to guard against Hei Gou's hands.

Hei Gou took a step back with his right foot to avoid Xia Hou Zhong Ying's kick. Just as he was about to counter, he quickly took another step back with his left foot, narrowly avoiding Xia Hou Zhong Ying's sudden change in direction, turning the kick into a direct strike.

Hei Gou then took another step back with each foot, blocking twice, and managed to counter Xia Hou Zhong Ying's right leg, which had changed direction five times in mid-air, increasing the distance between them to over a meter.

"Very good." Xia Hou Zhong Ying's level was much better than Hei Gou had expected, and he couldn't help but praise him again. As he spoke, he took two more steps back, blocking three times to fend off Xia Hou Zhong Ying's rapid left-footed kick.

Xia Hou Zhong Ying kept alternating his left and right feet in his attacks, while Hei Gou was on the defensive, constantly retreating to counter Xia Hou Zhong Ying's attacks. It looked like Xia Hou Zhong Ying was completely overwhelming Hei Gou, making Hei Gou's subordinates and the student from Kent exchange glances, wondering if even Hei Gou couldn't match Xia Hou Zhong Ying.

In reality, Xia Hou Zhong Ying seemed to have the upper hand, but he couldn't really harm Hei Gou. His attacks, though fierce, didn't cause much damage.

Hei Gou, on the other hand, seemed to be easily blocking Xia Hou Zhong Ying's attacks, appearing to have plenty of room to spare. In fact, he was struggling. Xia Hou Zhong Ying's attacks were too fast, and the time between his foot movements was too short, leaving Hei Gou no time to counterattack while defending.

After retreating about twenty steps, Hei Gou seized a moment of hesitation from Xia Hou Zhong Ying, lunging forward with a punch that collided directly with Xia Hou Zhong Ying's foot. This was the first real exchange between them.

The force from the foot was significant, and after the collision, both Hei Gou and Xia Hou Zhong Ying lost control of their bodies, taking two steps back to stabilize themselves. Hei Gou couldn't take advantage of Xia Hou Zhong Ying's backward momentum to continue his attack.

The impact area of the punch was small, and after the collision, Xia Hou Zhong Ying felt a burning pain in his foot. Using the momentum from Hei Gou's punch, he flipped in the air twice, landing two meters back. He then quickly took a step back with his left foot and crossed his hands in front of his chest, both to reduce the backward momentum and to prepare for any further attacks from Hei Gou. If Hei Gou charged forward quickly, he could immediately counter or defend.

"Amazing." Seeing Xia Hou Zhong Ying immediately ready for another attack or defense upon landing, Hei Gou couldn't help but praise him again. His evaluations, from "nice" to "very good" to "amazing," showed his changing attitude toward Xia Hou Zhong Ying. At such a young age, Xia Hou Zhong Ying had reached a level where he could make Hei Gou unable to counterattack and find no opportunity to attack.

"You're not bad either." Xia Hou Zhong Ying smiled and subtly rubbed his right foot on the ground to relieve the numbness and pain.

(I've always liked the fight scene between Jet Li and the killer in "The Bodyguard of Beijing." The killer's footwork is beautiful, but due to my writing skills, I can't describe it well. I'm not good at writing fight scenes, so please bear with me.)

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