"Hm!?"
Suddenly, Chen Qing's brow furrowed, and he paused his steps.
Having just broken through to the second level, his five senses were exceptionally sharp. He could hear every stir within a five-zhang radius with perfect clarity.
The nights were already extremely unsafe. Desperados often robbed and brutally murdered passersby—such incidents were all too common.
"Meow~!"
Just then, a stray cat darted out from the eaves, dislodging a roof tile that slid to the ground.
PAT!
With a crisp crack, the tile shattered on impact.
It all happened in a flash.
A black shadow shot directly toward him, its approach sharp and fierce, attacking with vicious intent.
Grappling Skills!
The Grappling Hand was a remarkable form of Martial Arts that specialized in attacking the weak points of the human body: its joints, acupoints, and vital areas. It had numerous schools, and its system included techniques like Groin Kick and Arm Twist, Cross-Body Block, Wrist Carry, Small Coil, Large Coil, Lamp Hold, Leading the Sheep, Leg Wrap, Wrist Roll, and Arm Break.
It was primarily divided into three Fighting Methods: bone-grappling, tendon-grappling, and meridian-grappling. The core principle was using skill to overcome clumsiness and yielding to conquer the rigid.
A single grappling twist could sever tendons and meridians, tearing an arm clean off.
The former leader of the Cao Sect, once the largest gang in Gaolin County, had integrated these Grappling Skills to create the Tendon-Separating Bone-Dislocating Hand, a technique of fearsome renown.
Chen Qing used a 'Spiritual Ape Earth Escape' to directly evade the grapple.
The assailant's moves were exceptionally ferocious, his offense a rushing tide. His five fingers formed a claw, like five steel spears, locking onto Chen Qing's throat.
SWOOSH!
A piercing whistle cut through the air.
Chen Qing's frame paused for a fraction of a second before his arms and spine exploded with force. He evaded the vicious claw and simultaneously slammed hard into his attacker.p>BANG!
This 'Spiritual Ape Offers Longevity' was exquisitely executed, not only avoiding the attack but also delivering a counterstrike.
Chen Qing grunted, letting the force of the impact slide him half a step back to dissipate the rebound shock.
His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, instantly locked onto his attacker: a short, stocky man dressed in black night-crawling clothes. His face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of eyes that glittered with cruelty and greed.
The man clearly hadn't expected Chen Qing's reaction to be so swift, nor his techniques to flow so seamlessly. The collision sent a sharp pain through his chest, momentarily stealing his breath.
'Have I run into some ambush robbers!?'
The thought crossed Chen Qing's mind, and his brows knitted together.
"This one's tough! Get him together!" the short, stocky man growled.
Before the words left his mouth, two other gusts of force shot out from the darkness like venomous snakes!
From the left, a tall, thin figure skimmed along the ground. A cold light flashed in his hand—a short blade, about a foot long, silently stabbing toward Chen Qing's waist and ribs.
The thrust was insidious and cunning, the angle ruthless. It was clearly aimed at crippling Chen Qing's mobility.
From the right, a relatively stout figure charged out like a savage bull. His arms, corded with muscle, whistled through the air with a dull roar as he threw a powerful 'Double Peaks Pierce the Ears'.
Two fists the size of clay pots smashed viciously toward Chen Qing's temples! If that blow landed, even a head of iron would crack open.
Three of them!
Just as Chen Qing had suspected, this was a group job. Their coordination was seamless; they were clearly seasoned criminals.
The three formed a deadly net, instantly enveloping Chen Qing.
In a split second, Chen Qing stomped his left foot on a shard of broken tile. The shard shot out under the force, whistling sharply through the air as it flew straight at the tall, thin man's face.
At the same time, instead of retreating, he advanced. Facing the stout man's fists, his spine suddenly arched and snapped like a great dragon, and his upper body bent backward at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding the heavy punches aimed at his temples.
Although the tile shard was small, Chen Qing's kick had sent it flying at extreme speed.
The tall, thin man clearly hadn't anticipated this and had to hastily abandon his stab, bringing his short blade up to block in front of his chest.
"CLANG—!"
The tile shattered instantly, but it also created a gap in the trio's net.
By leaning back, Chen Qing not only dodged the Double Peaks Pierce the Ears but also caused the stout man's fists to miss, his immense momentum sending him stumbling forward.
In the instant his body was nearly parallel to the ground, Chen Qing's right foot shot up from below like the tail hook of a long-dormant poisonous scorpion!
"WHOOSH—!"
This Cunning, Ruthless, and Fierce kick was a variation of 'Spiritual Ape Climb Branch', aimed straight for the stout man's groin!
"Fuck!"
The stout man's attack had missed, his balance was off, and he could only watch in horror as the lethal kick approached. Scared out of his wits, he let out a strange cry and forced his body to twist away.
"RRRIP!"
The tip of Chen Qing's shoe grazed the stout man's thigh, tearing his pants at the crotch and sending scraps of fabric flying. The man's back was instantly soaked with sweat.
"Third Brother, watch out!"
The short, stocky man reacted in a flash. As Chen Qing's leg shot up, he ignored the pain in his chest and pounced forward again.
This time, he didn't use a pure grappling technique. Instead, his five fingers formed a hook, the Finger Wind from them sharp, as he clawed directly at the ankle of Chen Qing's supporting left foot.
If this claw found its mark, he would activate the Tendon-Separating Bone-Dislocating Hand and instantly cripple Chen Qing's leg.
At that moment, Chen Qing's body was still bent backward. His old force was spent, new force not yet generated, and his left foot was his pivot point. Escape seemed impossible.
At the critical moment, Chen Qing's core strength erupted. His body twisted sharply as if boneless, and his supporting left foot instantly left the ground.
SWOOSH—!
His entire body completed an unbelievable mid-air rotation, not only evading the stocky man's vicious grab for his ankle, but the gale force generated by his spin also forced his opponent to dodge sideways.
This was the 'Spiritual Ape Flipping Over' from the Long Arm Fist.
Chen Qing rolled the moment he landed, putting some distance between himself and the trio, finally getting a moment to catch his breath.
He quickly rose to his feet and assumed the opening stance of the Long Arm Fist: 'Spiritual Ape Asks the Way'.
"All at once! Kill him!"
The stout man, having recovered from his fright, was now a mixture of shame and fury. He roared and charged again.
He had learned his lesson this time. Instead of the wide, sweeping Double Peaks Pierce the Ears, he kept his fists clenched like two heavy hammers, sealing off Chen Qing's escape routes to the left and right.
Nearby, the short, stocky man's eyes were fixed on Chen Qing's lower body and joints. His ten fingers were slightly curled, clearly poised to strike. He was just waiting for Chen Qing to reveal an opening to unleash a killing blow from his Tendon-Separating Bone-Dislocating Hand.
The three surrounded him again, their assault fiercer and more cautious than before.
They knew this young man was no easy opponent. They had to end this quickly before they attracted unwanted attention.
Chen Qing's eyes narrowed, his Heart and Spirit tensing.
The instant the blade was about to strike, his body suddenly dropped low. His right arm shot out—quick and precise as a Spiritual Ape's Arm Stretching—pecking at the 'Shenmen Acupoint' on the inside of his opponent's wrist.
This move, 'Spiritual Ape Gathering Fruit', transformed fist to finger, specializing in striking acupoints with the speed of lightning.
The tall, thin man felt a numbness in his wrist, as if stung by a venomous wasp. The short blade nearly fell from his grasp, and his attack faltered.
Chen Qing pressed his advantage, his left leg lashing out like a whip in a low 'Spiritual Ape Tail Swing', brutally sweeping toward his opponent's supporting shin.
"CRACK—!"
The sound of bone fracturing rang out! The tall, thin man screamed and, losing his balance, pitched forward.
Chen Qing's kick had been imbued with Dark Force; though the man's lower leg looked fine, the bone within was already shattered.
"Second Brother!"
The short, stocky man's eyes looked ready to split from their sockets. He never would have imagined Chen Qing's counterattack could be so swift and precise.
Seizing the moment when Chen Qing's center of gravity shifted from the kick, he pounced like a predatory wolf. Both his hands shot out—one grabbing for the knee joint of Chen Qing's extended left leg, the other striking like a viper's tongue straight for the 'Mingmen Acupoint' at the small of his back.
This was the extremely sinister 'Knee Lock and Waist Break' from the Tendon-Separating Bone-Dislocating Hand technique!
If this attack landed, Chen Qing would be dead or crippled!
However, Chen Qing seemed to have anticipated this. He didn't retract his kicking leg. Instead, it sank abruptly, stomping onto the ground like an iron stake. At the same time, he used this downward force to arrest his forward momentum, his waist and abdomen once again erupting with a flexible, rotational power.
This move was 'Spiritual Ape Root', a variation of the Long Arm Fist.
He spun on the spot like a top. Aided by the centrifugal force of the rotation, the tip of his right elbow whistled sharply through the air as it slammed backward like a heavy hammer.
His target was the wrist of the hand the stocky man was thrusting toward his Mingmen Acupoint!