Chapter 178: Ghostly Boxing
Chapter 178: Ghostly Boxing
The entire militia group arrived at the small mountain valley.
It was still the middle of the night!
Everyone had been awakened by Ground Rabbit, and they were very unhappy, especially Cheng Xu, who had been a legitimate ninth-rank military officer of the court with an official title. Although he had recently mended his ways, some of his old temper remained.
While walking, he lashed out at Ground Rabbit: “Kid, waking me up in the middle of the night… cough… this instructor. If we don’t see the Immortal boxing soon, I’ll hang you on a tree for everyone to practice punches on.”
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu were still half-asleep: “Mr. Rabbit, don’t mess around. If you trick us, we hit hard and it hurts.”
Ground Rabbit raised his sword: “I swear on my ancestral sword, everything I say is true. There really was an Immortal boxing on the mountain wall. Run faster, everyone—don’t be slow. I’m so anxious!”
“Fine, fine, fine!” The militia group kept walking drowsily, one after another, listless as ghosts floating in the night.
“It’s here! We’ve arrived.” Ground Rabbit pointed at the huge mountain wall ahead: “Right here—it happened right here just now, with a massive figure, as big as the wall itself, boxing high up…”
The group stared hard: Where? It was just a dark mountain slab.
“Hey, Mr. Rabbit!”
“Where’s the Immortal boxing?”
Cheng Xu was the first to rage; his veins bulged: “Hang that rabbit on the tree for me.”
Everyone chimed: “Yes, sir!”
Several men sprang into action, tying Ground Rabbit to a withered tree.
Cheng Xu clenched his fist; his knuckles cracked: “Which way should I start pounding you?”
Ground Rabbit was so aggrieved he wanted to cry: “Everyone, trust me. There really was an Immortal boxing here earlier. I… I didn’t keep it secret; I ran back desperately to tell you… I truly—”
Li Daoxuan observed the scene; he felt it was about time.
He deliberately held back to let everyone misunderstand Ground Rabbit, so when the confusion cleared later, they’d grasp his loyalty.
Heh!
He reached into the chest and tapped on the smartphone screen…
It turned out he had hung the smartphone on that mountain wall beforehand, covered the screen with a thin cloth, and dimmed the brightness to make the image murky and shadowy. It seemed as though it appeared directly on the wall.
His finger tapped; the video started.
Over here, Cheng Xu was ready to deal with Ground Rabbit when he sensed a sudden light behind him. He whipped around and saw a giant figure emerge on the mountain wall…
The image was blurred, obscuring the face, but from an upright stance, it suddenly swayed violently and began boxing. The motions were fierce and sharp, overwhelming to watch.
Cheng Xu exclaimed: “Whoa!”
The whole militia group gasped: “Wow!”
Ground Rabbit beamed with joy: “It’s back! The Immortal has started boxing again. Mr. Rabbit didn’t lie, right? Didn’t lie to you.”
The figure leaped and spun, unleashing a flurry of moves, each saturated with killing intent.
Cheng Xu watched, his jaw nearly dropping: “Such vicious boxing—every blow aims to kill.”
The Army Combat Techniques truly were moves meant to end lives, stressing “efficiency”—taking down foes in seconds—without any showmanship.
The militia men might not grasp it, but Cheng Xu watched each strike, gasping like inhaling cold air. He thought: If I faced that brawler, just a slip of focus would snap my neck. Damn, that’s brutal.
Taking advantage of the pause in the figure’s boxing, Cheng Xu turned and gave Ground Rabbit a sharp rap on the head with a “thump.”
Ground Rabbit: “Huh? Why hit me?”
Cheng Xu snorted: “This isn’t an immortal boxing at all. It’s a ghost doing the boxing.”
Those words startled the entire group: “A ghost?”
Cheng Xu said: “Only a vicious ghost would box in such a ferocious style.”
The crowd: “Huh? Then… can we learn it?”
Cheng Xu burst into loud laughter before suddenly straightening his face and speaking gravely: “Nonsense! Such a great chance must be learned. On the battlefield fighting for your life, you damn well have to turn yourself into a ghost. If you go into battle trying to be a saint like Thirty-Two—sparing this one, forgiving that one—what the hell kind of fight is that?”
The crowd replied awkwardly: “Instructor He, it’s not good to speak ill of Thirty-Two behind his back. He’s quite decent.”
Cheng Xu snorted: “He is decent, but he can’t hold his own on the battlefield. You all will fight enemies in combat someday. Remember, don’t follow his example.”
Ground Rabbit called out: “It’s starting again. The immortal’s beginning the second set of moves.”
Cheng Xu waved a hand: “Everyone, stay alert! Watch closely without missing a single stance. Master the Guanzhong Hong Fist well, and master this ghost’s lethal boxing too…”
The crowd responded in unison: “Yes, sir.”
Over a hundred people sat in rows, fixing their eyes on the mountain wall while occasionally mimicking the moves with swings of their fists and feet.
Only Ground Rabbit remained tied to the tree, shouting urgently: “Hey hey hey, you forgot to untie me! Quick, get me down!”
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu came over to free Ground Rabbit, and everyone focused on learning boxing together.
Among the large crowd, Cheng Xu learned the fastest, having the strongest foundation.
After observing for an hour, he had already grasped several moves almost entirely.
Li Daoxuan put away his phone. Enough for now—no sense letting them stay here all night. Today’s lesson would last just an hour; they’d continue tomorrow.
Seeing the “ghost” stop boxing, the opposite mountain wall darkened.
The militia members refused to leave, staring foolishly at the mountain wall instead. After waiting a long while and seeing no sign of the wall lighting up again, Cheng Xu sighed: “Such a pity. We only learned a few moves today. Who knows if that ghost will box here tomorrow.”
Ground Rabbit declared: “I’ll guard this place again tomorrow night. Maybe we’ll learn more.”
Cheng Xu shot back: “Of course! Tomorrow night, we’ll all come guard this spot. If the ghost returns to teach boxing, we’ll learn. If not… sigh… we’ll just perfect today’s handful of moves and use them as a trump card.”
Everyone responded together: “Yes, sir.”
Cheng Xu led the militia back, and each of them returned to their own rooms.
But Ground Rabbit had no desire to sleep. His brain was too excited to rest, and besides, he didn’t live in the main fortress anyway—he was staying in Short-term Workers Village, where he had more freedom to move around.
He dashed alone to an open space outside the village, struck the opening pose of the “ghost boxing style,” and started practicing: “Hah! Ha! Hah! Ha!”
Even though he’d only picked up a few moves, he trained with blazing determination.