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Chapter 112: Chapter 103: Come at Me Together (Please Subscribe!)_1
"January 9
Sunday
The cold wind was harsh, and light snow was falling from the sky, but as soon as it touched the ground, it instantly melted.
Having finished his breakfast, Tang Qing went to Han Leng’s place again. He initially wanted to visit Lin Jiaxue, but considering that she had the upcoming Monthly Exam, he decided not to disturb her. After all, even a top student like her needed to put in considerable effort to maintain her status, not everyone possessed a ’brain hack’ like Tang Qing.
Since he began studying martial arts, Tang Qing felt as if his violent genes had been activated. Unconsciously, he would often clench his fists, satisfying himself by the cracking sound they made. On several occasions, en route home, he would come across dilapidated houses in alleyways - due for demolition - and couldn’t resist throwing fierce punches against the walls. If he wasn’t worried about causing a disturbance, he definitely would have brought the few houses down with his bare hands. He knew this wasn’t normal, even wondered if he had developed some psychological disorder.
For this, he consulted the system. The system informed him that this was caused by his nerves being unconsciously excited by his newfound strength, which he was not fully accustomed to yet. It further explained that once he unlocked the Level 2 Genetic Lock, this reaction would cease. Hearing this relieved Tang Qing; as long as he was not sick, all was good.
Tang Qing came back here, eager to find someone to spar with, or even to punch a sandbag, he just had an urge to punch something.
This time Sun Chao, who had no complaints about working during the weekend (given the nature of his job and mostly laid-back workdays), drove him to Han Leng’s place.
As soon as Tang Qing entered the door, he saw Han Leng stocking up, while the bespectacled man was moving goods. The other day Sun Chao had arrived here in an Audi, which hadn’t surprised Han Leng. However, seeing Tang Qing carrying large and small packages, Han Leng voice held a hint of resentment as he said, "Little Tang, it’s enough that you came, why did you bring stuff?"
"This is Hairy Crab, sent to my uncle from a boss friend of his. We had more than we needed at home, so I brought some out. Let’s have Aunt cook them for lunch." Tang Qing grinned and then put the stuff on the Cashier.
Actually, these were not leftovers from his uncle’s house, but items he had just bought from the Seafood Market. The crabs Liu Qian gifted were eaten up almost instantly by a group of grown men at their place. The few left were finished by the Qin Shiqi sisters the next day.
Given that Han Leng had taught him so much, even if Tang Qing hadn’t officially become his disciple, he felt obliged to show his gratitude. Given Han Leng’s character, giving money as a thank you gift would have likely caused trouble. It was better to gift something tangible. The last time they had eaten the crabs, they found them quite delicious, so Tang Qing decided to buy some for Han Leng to enjoy.
Sun Chao, who was standing aside, knew that the crabs were bought by Tang Qing this morning. The fact that Tang Qing bought more than two thousand yuan worth of crabs made him feel lucky for associating with such a grateful and generous boss.
Hearing this, Han Leng did not keep up pretenses. He wasn’t foolish. Tang Qing said it was leftover from Qin Yugang’s house, but how could there be so much leftover in at least three large bags? Who would gift so many Hairy Crabs? Furthermore, Han Leng recognized the trademark from the bag; he had bought stuff from that particular shop a few days ago. But he wouldn’t embarrass Tang Qing by exposing his well-meaning lie, he acknowledged and accepted the gesture.
"Not bad, Hairy Crab... reminds me of the wild ones I had during missions in the past. They were three to four times larger than these. Unfortunately, due to limited conditions at the time those were eaten merely for sustenance, they weren’t as delicious." Han Leng went over, flipped through the bags, recalling the past.
"Hehe, you have to savor these properly," Tang Qing laughed.
Tang Qing knew that Han Leng wasn’t being arrogant but rather sharing his experiences; it was just the kind of person Han Leng was.
Moreover, many Special Forces travel to different places and environments for missions, so what unusual things hadn’t they eaten? Like Bear Grylls, regardless of whether his meals were as good as what’s served in a restaurant or not, the fact that he could stomach horrifying-looking food was commendable. At that moment, Tang Qing developed an interest in learning survival skills from Han Leng, based on the little Han Leng had explained to him before; he wanted to personally experience such lessons.
Soon after, Han Leng placed a call to his wife, letting her know to pick up the bags of crabs.
While Han Leng continued with the stocking up process, Tang Qing headed straight into the training room. He started to throw punches at the sandbag, only using about seven layers’ worth strength to not scare Sun Chao).
"Thud..."
"Thud..."
"..."
Inside the training room, Sun Chao was dumbfounded. The sandbag, which he couldn’t punch very high, was just like a toy in Tang Qing’s control. With his first punch, the sandbag was sent flying into the air. As it fell, Tang Qing punched again and leveraged both kinetic and potential energy to send it rebounding. This seemed just about as high, or even slightly lower than what he could manage, but the strength contained in these punches was undeniably stronger than his by a large margin. Hearing about it was one thing, but witnessing it was an entirely different, startling experience.
Could this be the amount of power a high school student was capable of?
Of course, he would never equate this to any mystical ’internal power’ or magic. As one of the country’s top-tier Special Forces soldiers, he had access to classified information and met personnel beyond the comprehension of an average person. Even then, he had never seen or heard about the existence of any mystical ’internal power’ or magic. As an atheist himself, he certainly wasn’t going to entertain such thoughts; he simply chalked it up to natural born power."
Before long, Han Leng tidied up and came in. Seeing Sun Chao in a trance, he couldn’t help but lightly laugh. He could understand Sun Chao’s feelings; anyone who encountered the abnormally talented Tang Qing would inevitably doubt themselves.
There wasn’t much left for him to teach Tang Qing when it came to combat techniques. He even contemplated teaching Tang Qing about firearms. With his inordinately impressive physical abilities, Tang Qing could quickly grasp the concept of firearms. However, they didn’t have firearms to practice with. Although Han Leng did have connections in the military, it wouldn’t be possible for Tang Qing to bend the rules drastically enough to bring Tang Qing into the shooting range.
Han Leng shook off these stray thoughts, took off his jacket, and placed it on a hanger. He said to Tang Qing, "Little Tang, let’s spar. I’ll launch an offensive, and you’ll play defense. Let’s warm-up."
Upon hearing this, Tang Qing stopped throwing punches and excitedly exclaimed, "Sure!"
Although he was only on the defense, it was certainly more interesting than hitting a sandbag.
"Huh..." Han Leng let out a yell as he charged towards Tang Qing, beginning the round with a groin kick. With a wry smile, Tang Qing thought to himself, "Not again... why are you so partial to this move? Where’s your integrity?"
Han Leng’s kick reached Tang Qing in an instant. Sun Chao was left dumbstruck, watching Han Leng’s attack. Is it really okay to deal with a high school student in such a ruthless manner? However, Tang Qing’s subsequent move dispersed his worries. With a casual push of his hand, Tang Qing easily blocked the attack. There wasn’t the slightest hint of panic on his face; he didn’t fear such tactics at all.
As the bout progressed, Han Leng’s attacks became increasingly fierce. He was using every trick in the book, the moves he usually dared not use were being fully executed against Tang Qing. The more Han Leng fought, the more ecstatic he became. The sensation of only launching attacks and using any technique without considering defense was exhilarating. It was like having a cold drink on a scorching day, refreshing from head to toe.
Knowing is one thing; seeing is another. A usually calm and mature young man had transformed into a fighting expert, easily holding his own against special forces soldier Han Leng. Han Leng was unable to land a single strike, regardless of how underhanded or peculiar his moves were. Tang Qing’s calm and relaxed demeanor throughout the fight was remarkable.
About ten minutes later, Han Leng ended his warm-up.
"Stop, that’s enough. I’ve completely given up. Xiao Sun, come here; let’s both take a crack at him," Han Leng said between pants, addressing a slightly bewildered Sun Chao on the side.
"I... That’s not a fair fight, right?" Sun Chao responded, worrying about the proposed fight. After all, the saying is "one cannot fight against four hands." Unlike in films and TV where martial arts masters single-handedly fight off dozens, in reality, the effort required to fend off an additional person greatly increases. If there were three or four opponents, let alone if they were armed, defeat would be inevitable. Reality is nothing like movies, where villains have to take turns attacking while others idly wait for the ’right opportunity’. When multiple people attack at once, there’s simply no way to defend.
"Never mind, Little Tang is resilient. We can start with standard techniques and control our force," Han Leng reassured with a laugh.
"Um... This..." Sun Chao was still hesitant, fearing he might hurt Tang Qing.
"Brother Sun, let’s just go with it. Beating Uncle Han doesn’t give me a thrill," Tang Qing reassured.
"You cheeky brat, you’re getting too cocky," Han Leng jokingly chided upon hearing Tang Qing’s comment.
"Heh, where’s such a thing," Tang Qing replied bashfully.
"Alright, Xiao Sun, let’s both go together. Little Tang, you must be careful. The combination of two people is in a completely different league from a single person. Especially when dealing with opponents at me and Xiao Sun’s level. Your reaction speed and abilities have to improve by at least half to remain unscathed like before," Han Leng advised seriously. He had to remind Tang Qing about this; it was no joke.
"Understood, come on, I’m ready," Tang Qing responded with a sober expression. Once done speaking, his entire being seemed to calm down. He assumed a classic fighting stance, his eyes slightly widened, and brain whirring with information. During a fight, while you can’t focus on one element, your eyes have to grasp the overall situation. With his slightly unfocused vision, though he couldn’t see faces clearly, his eyes could capture the entire blurry scene in front of him, making it easier for his brain to process the vast and complex fuzzy information.
Flicking between this unfocused vision mode when necessary was also key.
Seeing Tang Qing ready, Sun Chao and Han Leng exchanged a glance and nodded.
Without a shout,
The duo simultaneously attacked Tang Qing.
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