Chapter 40: Sinking the Ship in the Ditch!

Tang Chong's extensive reading of martial arts novels told him that any 'First Under Heaven' in any era would face countless challenges. Everyone knew that if you took down the Buddha, you would become the Buddha. If you took down the First Under Heaven, you would become the new First Under Heaven.

This was the best ladder to climb, and the best stage to make a name for oneself. Countless heroes, villains, ruffians, and thieves all vied for it.

According to statistics, thirty percent of the First Under Heavens were killed by minor characters, which is what we commonly refer to as 'sinking the ship in the ditch.'

Why would they sink the ship in the ditch? Because there were too many minor characters who had their eyes on the prize. You might take one down, but a whole queue of others would be waiting. It was both annoying and hard to guard against.

Tang Chong did not want to be an NPC in a game, where you could level up by defeating them. He was not an NPC who would come back to life with full health after being killed, and he did not have the chance to start over countless times.

Tong Shangwu was his first challenger, and he hoped the last.

Therefore, his moves were particularly ruthless.

He had to be ruthless.

This was the fighting style he had learned. More importantly, the kid was indeed very skilled.

He wanted to play it safe and end in a draw, neither losing face nor standing out.

However, the kid's constant taunts upon his appearance clearly indicated that he was not just aiming for a draw. Because of his different living environment, Tang Chong always saw things a bit further than others.

When Tong Shangwu first stood up, Tang Chong did not dislike him. He even liked him a bit.

He had a simple and honest face, firm and spirited eyes, and a straight back, giving off a sense of stability and righteousness.

What he did not expect was that the kid would immediately challenge him, and with such a despicable excuse, which made Tang Chong feel that he had wasted his good looks.

To have a good face but use it for evil was truly hateful.

You see, at heart, Tang Chong was still a perfectionist.

"What are you doing? What are you all doing?" Li Tieshu shouted loudly. "Tang Chong, do you want to kill someone?"

"Report, Instructor. I don't want to," Tang Chong replied loudly.

"You don't want to? You don't want to beat someone up like this?" Li Tieshu was furious.

"Report, Instructor. He challenged me first, and I repeatedly refused. It was you who encouraged me to stand up and fight."

"Do you have a reason for this?" Li Tieshu was almost amused by Tang Chong's words. "We encouraged you to stand up and fight to foster friendly competition, not to beat someone up like this."

"Report, Instructor. If I didn't beat him like this, he would have beaten me like this," Tang Chong said.

"Bullshit," the Second Class Instructor Jiang Kaiyang also scolded. "You're not him, how do you know he would beat you like this?"

"There was a murderous intent in his eyes. I was afraid," Tang Chong said.

"..."

The instructors looked at each other, and for a moment, they even had the thought of dealing with this demon together.

Just now, when he was fighting, his punches were so powerful that they made people tremble with fear, and now he was saying that he was afraid because of the murderous intent in the other's eyes?

There were countless men in the military, some heroes, some scoundrels. They had seen shameless people, but never someone as shameless as this.

Another lesson he learned in prison was that principles were also whores—they always stood on the side with more money and power.

That was the truth.

Tong Shangwu had challenged him, and Tang Chong, aiming to maintain harmony and not hurt his classmate's feelings, had refused. However, the students and instructors' continuous cheers and applause forced him to retaliate. Even if this case were brought to the principal's office, he would still have a valid point.

Seeing that the instructors were speechless, Tang Chong put on a guilty expression, adjusted his glasses that were about to fall off, and said apologetically, "Instructor, I really didn't want to beat him up like this. We are all classmates, with no grudges or enmity. We will see each other often in the future. It's just that he was too skilled. Do you know what kind of boxing he used? Wing Chun."

"Do you know what Wing Chun is? If many countries' special forces are experimenting with ninjutsu, then a traditional martial art from the East has already been adopted by the Western military and police, and has become a mandatory course. Yes, the boxing style he used is Wing Chun."

"For example, the U.S. Marine Corps, the FBI, Germany's special forces, and Egypt's paratroopers—all these elite units have made Wing Chun a mandatory course. When I saw how skilled he was, I was afraid. I just wanted to knock him down as quickly as possible. I had to knock him down. After finally knocking him down, I had to give him a few more punches. Otherwise, if he recovered, I might not have survived."

"..." Li Tieshu really wanted to shoot this kid. If he had a gun at that moment.

Did he have a gun? No.

So, he could only watch the face hidden behind the large glasses continue to act.

"You said you don't know martial arts. How do you know he used Wing Chun?" Jiang Kaiyang questioned. He was Tong Shangwu's instructor, and with his own team member beaten up like this, he was also embarrassed.

"I like watching Chinese kung fu movies. I remember a line that says 'hands without feet.' When I saw his hands moving like they were cramping, I knew it was Wing Chun," Tang Chong explained.

Jiang Kaiyang knew he couldn't argue with this kid, so he pulled Tong Shangwu up and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Tong Shangwu said, his eyes filled with malice as he stared at Tang Chong. His body was not seriously injured, but his nose was badly hurt.

He covered his nose, and the blood still seeped through his fingers.

"I'll have someone take you to get bandaged," Li Tieshu said, frowning. "Lu Yifei, Huang Wenyu, you two take him to the medical office."

Lu Yifei was the temporary class leader of Class One, and Huang Wenyu was the temporary class leader of the girls. So, it was appropriate for them to go.

Lu Yifei and Huang Wenyu quickly ran over, supporting Tong Shangwu as they rushed to the school medical office.

"Instructor, since the incident was caused by me, I should go and check on him," Tang Chong said.

"No need," Li Tieshu refused. He glanced at Tang Chong and shouted, "Tang Chong, return to your position."

"Yes, Instructor," Tang Chong replied loudly.

The entire scene was silent.

Everyone stared at Tang Chong, the new freshman who would be living with them for four years.

They knew that having such a person as a classmate would probably make their days anything but boring.

At the school medical office.

The old doctor, Xiao Xueming, wearing glasses, examined Tong Shangwu's nose while complaining, "You students are really something. Instead of studying, you think about fighting all day. What's so good about fighting? Beating someone up until they bleed, is that fun? If your parents found out, what would they do?"

"Doctor, we weren't intentionally fighting. It was two students who practice martial arts sparring," Lu Yifei explained with a smile. "The instructor was there. You can ask the girl next to me if you don't believe me."

Huang Wenyu was a tall, thin girl with acne on her face. Each of her features was nice, but her long face made her look a bit odd.

She nodded and said, "Yes, Doctor. We were just playing around. We didn't mean to hurt him."

Thinking about what had just happened, she felt a lingering fear. She wondered what kind of martial arts Tang Chong had learned, hoping he wasn't in the same major as her. Otherwise, if they ended up in the same class, it would be hard to manage. She had already positioned herself to be the class leader after the class division.

To get this position, she had been active among the students. Some boys had received small favors from her and might vote for her.

"If it's a fight, how can you not make a mistake?" Xiao Xueming continued to nag. "I'll fix your nose. It will take some time to recover. Fortunately, the bridge of your nose isn't broken. Otherwise, you'd need surgery."

"Thank you, Doctor," Lu Yifei said with a smile.

"The best way to thank me is to fight less in the future," Xiao Xueming said bluntly.

Lu Yifei and Huang Wenyu exchanged glances and ignored the talkative old man.

At that moment, Huang Wenyu's phone rang.

She took it out, glanced at it, and said apologetically, "Yifei, it's my mom. Can you stay with him for a bit?"

"Go ahead. I'll be here. Nothing will happen," Lu Yifei said considerately.

Huang Wenyu smiled and ran out, clearly not wanting others to hear her conversation with her mother.

After Xiao Xueming bandaged Tong Shangwu's wound, he said, "Thirty-five yuan. Pay and you can go."

Lu Yifei quickly paid and said, "Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master."

Xiao Xueming waved his hand and walked out to smoke.

When the room was left with only Lu Yifei and Tong Shangwu, Lu Yifei held Tong Shangwu's hand and said apologetically, "Shangwu, I'm really sorry. It's all my fault. I just thought his skills were good and wanted you to spar with him. I didn't expect him to be so ruthless."

Indeed, the reason Tong Shangwu challenged Tang Chong was because he was incited by Lu Yifei.

Tong Shangwu and Lu Yifei were from the same hometown and were high school classmates. In high school, Tong Shangwu was already well-known in the school. Once, a group of small-time hooligans rushed into the school to beat up one of Tong Shangwu's classmates, but he single-handedly took down all of them.

From then on, the previously unknown Tong Shangwu became famous in the school, and everyone knew he was skilled in martial arts.

Lu Yifei, who sat in front of Tong Shangwu, had a good relationship with him and knew more about him. He knew that Tong Shangwu had been learning Wing Chun since he was young and was a descendant of the Liang family, a branch of the Wing Chun lineage.

The creator of Wing Chun was the Fifth Patriarch of Shaolin, Master Wumei, who passed it on to Yan Yunchun, who named it 'Wing Chun.' Yan Yunchun passed it on to her husband, Liang Bochou, and the Liang family became an important branch of the lineage.

If calculated by the family tree, Tong Shangwu and Master Yip Man were from the same branch, though their generations were different.

After lunch that day, Lu Yifei went to find Tong Shangwu to catch up. He deliberately mentioned Tang Chong's feat of fighting six people at once and how skilled Tang Chong was. Tong Shangwu's roommates also joined in, saying they had heard about Tang Chong throwing people into the lotus pond.

Tong Shangwu was not impressed, thinking Tang Chong was just a small-time hooligan, slightly more skilled than others.

He came from a prestigious family and was a person of status. He did not want to stoop to the level of someone like Tang Chong.

Lu Yifei understood his thoughts and suggested that they challenge Tang Chong during the evening bonfire to liven things up. Tong Shangwu knew his old classmate was a power-hungry person. Since he wanted to overshadow Tang Chong, he naturally wanted to help.

What he did not expect was to be defeated by the small-time hooligan, sinking the ship in the ditch.

PS: I'm not afraid of others criticizing me. Because I'm already dark-skinned...