Chapter 45: Boxing Dojo

After school, with no club activities and no cram school to attend, Fang Jing naturally had a lot of time to waste.

He picked up his schoolbag, got off the tram, and walked down one of the city’s entertainment streets.

This entertainment street wasn’t what you’d call a red-light district. Most of the businesses here were fairly ordinary—bars, cafes, upscale clubs, pachinko parlors, mahjong clubs, love hotels, and the like. Of course, there were also places offering special services. But legally speaking, they didn’t exist. These shops operated very discreetly, and they all had business licenses. On the surface, they appeared to be legitimate bathhouses, massage parlors, or bars.

These special entertainment venues weren’t allowed to have anything too extreme inside. Their existence exploited legal loopholes. Typically, the shop only charged an entrance fee, and any further transactions or services were arranged privately between the people involved.

Of course, Fang Jing had no time to wander around such areas, nor any interest in delving into those shady industries… He had come here for a different purpose.

“The ‘Sakakibara Shaolin Temple Boxing Society branch’ mentioned online should be around here. Why can’t I find it after walking in circles for so long…”

In order to learn combat skills, he had been searching this entertainment street for a long time based on online directions but still hadn’t found this boxing dojo.

Fang Jing’s goal was obvious: he wanted to learn new martial arts techniques. For him, the more and broader the combat skills he learned, the faster his three attributes would improve.

He came here specifically to find a boxing dojo called the Sakakibara Shaolin Temple Boxing Society branch. This dojo taught a traditional martial art called “Japanese Shaolin Kempo.”

“…Japanese Shaolin Kempo.”

The first time he heard the name, he was very interested. When he found this dojo online, he was even shocked, thinking that Shaolin Temple had expanded its business to Japan.

Later, he checked online more carefully and discovered that the so-called Japanese Shaolin Kempo actually had very little to do with the real Shaolin Temple.

Japanese Shaolin Kempo was founded after World War II by a Japanese man named Sodo Shin. In his own accounts, he came from a jujutsu family, came to China as a spy during the war, learned Bailianquan in Manchuria, sought out various masters, and mastered many Chinese martial arts.

In reality, judging from his personal stories, the Japanese Shaolin Kempo he created wasn’t genuine Shaolin boxing—it just used the Shaolin name.

After the war ended, Sodo Shin returned to Shaolin Temple to pay homage, claiming to acknowledge his roots. Meanwhile, the Japanese Shaolin Kempo he founded grew gradually in Japan, opening many branches and becoming more prosperous.

The master of this Sakakibara Shaolin Temple Boxing Society branch had the surname “Sakakibara” and seemed to be a fairly well-known martial artist in the area. There wasn’t much information about him online, but since this was the only Japanese Shaolin Kempo dojo in the city, Fang Jing didn’t think too much about it and came directly, intending to apply.

After circling around, he asked the owner of a pachinko parlor and finally learned that the boxing dojo was hidden inside a building with a “host club” sign.

“That pachinko parlor owner said to use the back door. I think it should be right here…”

He walked up the stairs to the first floor and saw a man wearing a leather jacket, with a lip ring and brown glasses.

The man looked to be in his twenties, very thin, with a sharp, almost angular chin. His short hair seemed dyed, and his overall style was very trendy.

He had his hands in his pockets and walked down the stairs casually.

As they passed each other, Fang Jing’s nose twitched slightly. He caught a faint smell of blood.

Just as he continued walking upstairs, an extremely cold voice called out to him.

“Hey, kid.”

He turned around and saw the man standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking him over. A cold smile played on the man’s lips.

“Judging by your look, you’re planning to go to the boxing dojo upstairs, right?”

“Yes, is there something wrong?”

“Those cowards aren’t around. Go somewhere else!”

Fang Jing was taken aback, but he quickly shook his head and continued up the stairs.

“Tch!”

The man looked slightly displeased, but then his phone rang. Ignoring Fang Jing going upstairs, he pulled the phone from his pocket.

“Hey… Ha, it’s you again… Go on, what is it? Work? Of course I remember, no need for you to remind me.”

He hung up the phone and clicked his tongue in boredom.

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“This must be the Sakakibara Shaolin Temple Boxing Society!”

He knocked on the door first, but no one answered. So, he pushed the door open and finally got a full view of the boxing dojo.

“Such a clean place…”

Fang Jing’s first impression of the “Sakakibara Shaolin Temple Boxing Society” was its tidy environment. The floor was almost spotless. The dojo wasn’t too big, but not too small either. The floor was covered with a blue carpet, and there were several punching bags and wooden dummies hanging in the corners.

The walls of the dojo were all pure white. On the front wall hung a calligraphy piece with four Chinese characters: “Zen and martial arts become one.”

But there wasn’t a single person in the entire dojo.

This surprised Fang Jing a bit. At the very least, there should be a receptionist, right? Could it be that this dojo wasn’t accepting new members at all?

“Is anyone here?”

He called out several times loudly, but there was no response.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, several figures walked in through the door.

There were five or six of them, all tall and burly, with strong builds that clearly came from years of training.

“…Who is it? Who said they were coming to challenge our dojo?”

“I didn’t see clearly. I heard it was some guy with glasses. They say he only used three moves to knock out Akasaka and put him in the hospital…”

“Could it be this kid you’re talking about?”

The group had been chattering among themselves. They suddenly looked up and glared angrily at Fang Jing.

The one leading them was a man wearing a martial arts uniform with a crew cut. His skin was somewhat dark, his features rough, and his face carried a fierce anger.

“Was it you? Did you say you were going to smash our Sakakibara Shaolin Temple Boxing Society’s sign and beat up our people?”

This crew-cut man was 190 cm tall, half a head taller than Fang Jing. Standing in front of him, he seemed like a giant bear.

“No, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m probably not the one you…”

“Hmph! There are always people coming to challenge us, but as soon as they see me, they come up with all sorts of excuses…”

The crew-cut man sneered. He had seen too many people who lost their nerve to challenge him after seeing his physique.

“I don’t care who you are. Since you dared to come here looking for trouble, you’ll have to face my fists first…”

Fang Jing felt a chill. Before he could even finish explaining, the other guy recklessly attacked.

The crew-cut man’s right hand moved slightly, as if flicking outward, then clenched his fist like a large hammer and slammed it straight toward Fang Jing’s face.