Chapter 59: Blocking the Path
Chapter 59: Blocking the Path
After finishing his sparring with Sakaki Tetsuhei, that day’s training was pretty much done.
Next came his daily routine after returning home: reviewing his lessons, exercising on his own, and checking some information.
To be honest, his current lifestyle was almost like that of an ascetic.
Fang Jing slept only four hours a day. He spent the rest of his time on intermittent, continuous training (after all, the human body isn’t a perpetual motion machine), reviewing daily lessons, and looking up various materials he found in libraries.
He began studying cultural anthropology, religion, myths, folklore, symbolic logic, and Occult Studies on his own, using this knowledge to understand the world’s strange phenomena.
His self-study materials mainly came from books he bought or borrowed from nearby bookstores, local libraries, and his school library. He started building a systematic study pattern, setting daily study plans based on his own learning conditions. He also scheduled his boxing practice time the same way.
This was a habit he developed from his previous life. He believed that doing anything required advance planning and time allocation to get twice the result with half the effort.
Although studying to try and research supernatural mysteries might not necessarily work, the problem was that Nishizuka Tsukasa also had no way to find a method to counter “supernatural events.”
Yuasa Junichi and Enshoen both told him a harsh reality: ordinary people had no way to fight against those supernatural beings.
“Alright, finally finished everything.”
After wiping the floor and cleaning the Boxing Dojo, he left with other students who were also responsible for cleaning and locked the door.
“Akasaka and the others went to the ramen shop. Nishizuka, aren’t you coming today?”
“It’s getting late. I am a student, after all. I’ll go with you guys next time!”
He got along quite well with everyone at the Boxing Dojo. Occasionally, they would get together for a meal, like eating ramen.
It really was a bit late today, and he wanted to go home early.
“Let’s take that shortcut… If I hurry back, I might even get to have hotpot with Satsuki.”
His relationship with his younger sister had improved slightly. At least she wasn’t as afraid of him as before. The rift between them couldn’t be erased in a day or two; reaching this point was already quite rare.
“Speaking of which, Shokuba has been skipping classes frequently these past two days. Her causing trouble like this isn’t a good thing…”
Shokuba seemed to be investigating something on her own. He inquired a bit and found that Sasamori’s death was indeed very suspicious, and the police and media were avoiding talking about the details.
She really didn’t die by suicide.
On one hand, rumors had already spread saying Sasamori didn’t seem to have died from jumping off a building; it was more like she was thrown from upstairs, and her body looked like it had been bitten. On the other hand, “Fujiwara” had also disappeared during this time. There was a rumor—that Fujiwara was considered a suspect.
The reason there was no other news was that his father was a council member from a local self-governing organization and support group, who had some influence in the city. Some suspected that Fujiwara’s father might have used his power to cover something up, and that Sasamori’s death was actually related to him. But this theory was opposed by most people, who thought Fujiwara wouldn’t do such a thing.
For people in Nishizuka Tsukasa’s class, this matter felt truly unbelievable. Fujiwara was somewhat well-known in the class and grade, the kind of student who got along well with everyone and left a good impression.
…No one believed he would do anything bad.
Suddenly, Nishizuka Tsukasa, who was halfway through the alley, stopped. He heard footsteps, so he turned his head and saw a group of people moving towards him from the other end of the alley.
Some wore baseball caps, some covered their faces with masks, and others pulled up their hoodies. What was concerning was that this group held “weapons” like Metal Bats, Wooden Swords, and chains.
Fang Jing turned and tried to detour through another alley, but as soon as he went forward, he saw another group heading towards his location.
Similarly, they also carried various weapons used for street fights, and they were walking towards him with clear hostility.
“Both paths blocked?”
This old neighborhood had many deep alleys and lots of old-style buildings. He looked up at the sky; it was pitch black, with no moonlight.
The only visible light sources were the various neon lights and billboards in the alley.
He felt a shock, knowing the situation wasn’t good. These people didn’t look like passersby at all; they were clearly coming for him.
Just then, the group in front suddenly rushed forward, while the group in the alley behind him was also gradually closing in.
With his current ability, in an open environment, using his leg strength and the terrain, as long as he wasn’t surrounded, taking on over twenty unarmed thugs would be no problem.
But in a narrow space, empty-handed, if others got too close, there would be no room to maneuver, and that wouldn’t be good.
Moreover, if they carried daggers or short knives, it would be hard for him to avoid danger in such a cramped place.
Fang Jing sneered, his body darting forward. With a swift movement, the muscles in his legs tensed and released, and he covered five or six steps in an instant. Instead of heading towards the crowd, he stepped on a nearby trash can and leaped up.
With a clang, he jumped unusually high, grabbing onto a billboard hanging mid-air.
This sudden change stunned the group. Nishizuka Tsukasa’s entire body hung above their heads.
Taking a deep breath, he boldly jumped down into the densely packed crowd.
When people sense something falling from above, their bodies instinctively move aside.
Yes, they all actively moved away from the falling Nishizuka Tsukasa.
As soon as his feet hit the ground, Fang Jing’s reaction was surprisingly quick. His whole body curled up, dodging punches and bats swung at him.
Seizing the moment when his attackers missed, he pushed forward with all his strength, using his body weight to shove two people blocking his way aside.
Whoosh!
His body slid downward again, sliding through a gap in the crowd like a soccer tackle.
The series of movements were swift and smooth, like a gymnast or a Peking opera performer.
In the blink of an eye, he completed this sequence of actions with his exceptional physical ability.
By the time the people surrounding him realized what happened, Nishizuka Tsukasa had already broken through their encirclement.
“After him!”
Seeing him sprint away, someone shouted, and the large group finally reacted, chasing after him angrily.
Fang Jing didn’t run too fast. If he sprinted at full speed, shaking off these people wouldn’t be difficult, but he kept stopping and starting, pretending to be out of breath.
Eventually, the group cornered Nishizuka Tsukasa in front of a small noodle shop at a construction site.
“…Run! Go on, keep running if you dare!”
“Kid, you can run, huh! Let’s see where you can run to now.”
These thug-like people were all somewhat out of breath. The leader, a man in a mask, took off his mask, panting, with a arrogant, nasty grin on his face.
The other thugs gripped Metal Bats, Wooden Swords, telescopic batons, and knuckledusters, all looking very unfriendly as they stared at Nishizuka Tsukasa.
Now they had finally caught up to him, and there was no escape route ahead.
Fang Jing stopped. He knew there was no need to keep running from here.
“Nishizuka! What happened?”
A hand landed on his shoulder from behind. Akasaka, along with other disciples from the Shaolin Boxing Dojo, came out of the noodle shop one after another. Soon, they lifted the curtain and stood beside Nishizuka Tsukasa.
Unlike these thugs who wielded weapons to intimidate people—these students who trained muscles and practiced martial arts daily were all brawny, muscular men.
Thick, powerful arms, dark chest muscles, and intimidating large builds… When these Boxing Dojo students lined up behind Nishizuka Tsukasa, they naturally created an invisible pressure.