Chapter 94: Shochu
Chapter 94: Shochu
“10, 9, 8, 7…”
The referee stretched out his fingers and began the countdown.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!”
The fallen contestant still did not choose to stand up. The referee took a step back and raised the gloved arm of the other contestant, who was still panting beside him.
“Contestant Xuan Zao, wins.”
The spectators by the viewing stands shouted loudly.
“Heh, that kid is pretty capable, isn’t he?”
Sakaki Tetsuhei squinted and smiled, nodding with satisfaction.
“Yeah, come to think of it, Senior Xuan Zao is gaining some small fame now. This magazine even has a small interview with him.”
Several days had passed since returning to normal life. Then, suddenly, that evening, Sakaki Tetsuhei invited him out and took him to watch a match.
Now, sitting in the audience seats, Fang Jing flipped through a martial arts magazine and saw a small article about an interview with Xuan Zao, who had studied boxing for many years at the Sakaki Shaolin Temple.
After signing the contract and becoming a boxer for the club, he performed excellently in several small tournaments and was now challenging bigger stages.
“Let’s go! Nishizuka.”
Sakaki Tetsuhei stood up, called out, and Fang Jing followed him out of the arena without changing his expression.
“Teacher, aren’t we going to say hello to Senior Xuan Zao?”
“There’s no need for that. He’s not a child anymore.”
Sakaki Tetsuhei waved his hand. He had only come to watch his disciple’s match and didn’t plan to meet him again.
The two left the noisy competition venue and came to a street with few people.
Sakaki Tetsuhei suddenly sighed. “I never thought that in the blink of an eye, even a clumsy kid like Xuan Zao has matured. Time is really a sad thing.”
Fang Jing didn’t speak. He was a little unsure why Sakaki Tetsuhei had called him out today, specifically to watch the match of this senior who had left the Boxing Dojo.
“Nishizuka, this is the path Xuan Zao chose for himself. He has his own goals. But no one knows what the future will become. So, what are your plans…”
“Me?”
Fang Jing said with a plain face, “Nothing much. I’ll continue to study under you, teacher.”
“Enough of that!”
Sakaki Tetsuhei looked into his eyes and shook his head. “You, child, are a bit hard for me to figure out. I don’t even know how I should teach you anymore. Besides, I have nothing left to teach you.”
“Wait, teacher, I…”
“Alright, you don’t need to lie to me either. I know very well how fast you’ve progressed recently. The things I can teach you, I’ve basically finished teaching them all.”
Sakaki Tetsuhei took a letter out of his pocket.
“I am no longer suitable to continue being your teacher. I’m giving this letter to you. Next, you should go find someone. If it’s that person, perhaps they really have a way to help you become stronger.”
“Who?”
“The person who taught me ‘Torrential Rush’.”
These words greatly surprised Fang Jing. From Sakaki Tetsuhei’s past accounts, he thought that extraordinary person had long passed away.
“Then, how do I find him?”
“Don’t worry. I have an idea about that person’s whereabouts. But, before you go, you need to prepare a gift.”
“What gift?”
“Shochu.”
Sakaki Tetsuhei touched his chin and thought seriously for a moment. “Nothing too expensive. Just an ordinary bottle under two thousand yen will do. The place he lives isn’t far from this street. You can go whenever you have time.”
“Huh?”
Wasn’t it said that person was an extraordinary recluse? Such mysterious people usually live deep in the mountains and old forests, practicing and staying away from people, leading a simple life!
“What are you thinking? It’s the 21st century. Where would you find people so detached from reality these days?”
Seeing his disciple’s dumbfounded expression, Sakaki Tetsuhei chopped him on the head with a hand blade.
“Go find him in the next couple of days. That person doesn’t actually live in this city. He might leave town after some time.”
—
The next day, Fang Jing decided to visit that “senior” named Kume Nansho. His mood was extremely excited about this, because he deeply understood that the power of the “Torrent Skill” boxing technique was completely different from ordinary fighting skills.
This kind of martial art was a killing method, a vicious method, entirely unlike any other fighting moves he had learned before.
“That extraordinary person must have a very deep understanding of this martial art. If it’s him, he can definitely guide me to master even more powerful skills.”
Fang Jing deeply believed this. So he came to this street. But after arriving, he was slightly surprised.
The place he came to could be called a “Slum”. Of course, it should be said that this country doesn’t really have places officially called “Slums”.
Even if such places did exist, urban planning would quickly demolish and rebuild them, turning them into Commercial Streets or residential communities.
According to Nishizuka’s memory, this place considered a “Slum” was actually an old urban district neglected by municipal management, awaiting redevelopment.
This area was densely packed with lots of cheap hotels, old-style video rental shops, internet cafes, and offices with strange signs.
From his recollection, this place gathered many homeless people, people sleeping rough, low-income individuals without fixed residences, and a small number of foreigners. Because the public security environment wasn’t good, ordinary residents rarely came here.
“It seems there are also underground banks, and offices of organized crime groups located here…”
Standing at one end of the street and looking towards the other end, he could see rows of high-end Apartment districts.
There were many utility poles along the roadside. Overhead was a dense tangle of wires and cables. The street’s doors, walls, and utility poles were plastered with lots of flyers, strange and varied.
A quick glance revealed flyers for lost pets, missing persons, phone dating services, secret websites for compensated dating, and posters for weird religious groups or underground bands.
He glanced around again and noticed a cardboard box tucked into a small alley entrance, with a person curled up inside… This was probably a homeless person. On this street, you could occasionally see such people becoming homeless for various reasons; some had household finances collapse, others carried huge debts.
Fang Jing, carrying the Shochu, walked towards this street. He followed the address Sakaki Tetsuhei gave him, but still didn’t find the person.
“Could it be that the person doesn’t live here after all?”
Sakaki Tetsuhei told him to find a specific hotel, but when he went, he found the hotel had closed down.
This left Fang Jing a bit puzzled. He picked up his Phone, preparing to call Sakaki Tetsuhei and clarify the situation.
Right at that moment, the 1.8-liter bottle of Shochu in his hand suddenly vanished.
That was impossible!
Someone could snatch the Shochu right out of his hand?!
“Stop!”
He turned around and saw a grey shadow moving forward at an extremely high speed.
“So fast.”
Its running speed was even a bit faster than his own, and its movements were oddly strange.
Fang Jing also gave chase. His enhanced physique gave him speed far surpassing an ordinary person’s. He sprinted with all his might, hearing the wind whistling past his ears.
The grey shadow ahead bounced off a utility pole onto a shop’s awning, then scurried along the wall, effortlessly leaping onto the second floor of a residence, just like a parkour expert.