September 20, Sunday.
Bright’s family packed their bags, ready for a day out, and the three of them got into a Ford Sedan and set off.
In the back seat, a 12-year-old blonde boy took out his phone to watch a video.
"Welco to the TUF Ultimate Fighting. This edition of TUF has a total of 37 outstanding contestants from around the world..."
"First challenge, speed and power, this is the UFC’s latest testing equipnt. Let’s see how these contestants fare..."
"Seven people have failed in succession, and the next challenger is Xiaoze Wutian from Japan, known in his country as a fighting prodigy that cos once every five hundred years..."
"Oh! 227.5 points! This Japanese prodigy has scored an incredible number!"
"The next one up is Wu Li from Hua Country. He practices the famous Hua Country’s Kung Fu. Let’s see what he can do..."
"Oh! He’s going to hit the perfect score!"
"Bang!"
"OH my God!"
Watching Wu Li knock over the testing machine with a punch in the video, the little boy suppressed a cry of amazent.
"What’s up, Tommy?" asked his mother, sitting in the front passenger seat as she turned her head.
Tommy was the little boy’s na. He looked up and said to his mother, "That Hua Country man is so fierce, he knocked over the testing equipnt with one punch!"
"Tommy, are you watching the latest episode of TUF?" his father, who was driving, asked.
Tommy continued to look at his phone screen, "Yes, this episode has a contestant from Hua Country. He says he practices Hua Country’s Kung Fu. Dad, is Hua Country’s Kung Fu like Jack Chen’s, jumping around all the ti?"
The father driving laughed, "Jack Chen does that for the movies. Real Hua Country’s Kung Fu isn’t that flashy."
Tommy: "Dad, is Hua Country’s Kung Fu really that powerful?"
The father looked ahead as if recalling sothing and nodded, "Pretty powerful. When I was young, I sparred with one of the Chinese Boxers from Chinatown. He was very fast and he shook to my back in an instant, giving a light tap on the back of my head. You know, if he had wanted to hurt , I would have been down right then."
"Right, his style was called, ’Ba, Gua, Zhang,’" the father said in vague Mandarin for the last three words.
Tommy: "Wow, that sounds really powerful."
He knew his father was very tough when he was young since his father was a retired UFC fighter.
It was also because of his father’s influence that Tommy developed an interest in fighting from a young age and followed TUF.
"Dad, if Hua Country’s Kung Fu is so powerful, why are there so few Hua Country contestants in UFC, and nobody claims to use Hua Country’s Kung Fu?" Tommy wondered.
The father paused and then laughed, "You know, you’ve really stumped with that question, haha."
Tommy also laughed and didn’t mind, continuing to watch the video.
"Dad, that Hua Country guy almost fought with Charles, he’s really got guts!"
"Dad, that Hua Country guy is so agile, he outperford everyone else in the dodging drills!"
"Dad, this Hua Country guy actually said it would only take him three days to break Charles’s record!"
"OH my God! Dad, Wu broke the record, he did it in just three days!"
...
From the back seat ca Tommy’s shouts of excitent from ti to ti, and his reference to Wu Li evolved from ’that Hua Country man’ to simply ’Wu’.
After a drive of about an hour and a half, Tommy finished watching the latest episode of TUF. The two-week program had been edited down to more than 90 minutes of content, all the most thrilling and exciting parts, which all revolved around Wu Li.
Upon arrival at their destination, the family of three alighted from the car. In front of them was a large lake with beautiful scenery all around. Many people were frolicking on the grass around the lake.
"Dad, Wu is so aweso, he went from student to coach!"
Tommy was still talking to his father about Wu Li’s feats, and the father jokingly said, "Hey, Tommy, you’re almost a fan of his now."
Tommy looked up at his father and earnestly said, "If Wu can perform well in UFC next, then I’ll be his fan. He’s too charismatic!"
"Oh, who is this amazing person that could make our little Tommy admire them so much?"
A voice ca over, and Tommy looked up to see a middle-aged uncle with sideburns.
"Hans Uncle," Tommy greeted him with a smile.
This was the father’s good friend, and the two families often got together on weekends.
"It’s a new Chinese Boxer signed by UFC. He made a fantastic impression in TUF," Tommy’s father said to Hans with a smile.
"Is it Wu Li?" Hans said, surprised.
"Hans Uncle, you know about him too?" Tommy’s eyes lit up.
Hans nodded, "I watched the latest episode of TUF last night, and that kid from the East was simply miraculous!"
"You all say that, it seems I have to check out this episode of TUF tonight when I get ho," Tommy’s father said.
Hans draped his arm around his shoulder, "You know, the day after tomorrow there will be a live match, it’s a UFC fight like never before, an entirely new endeavor."
"What is it?" Tommy’s father asked, curious.
"Real combat match!"
...
On the sa day, many Arican households like Bright’s, where soone followed fighting and UFC, were discussing the latest episode of TUF and that miraculous Easterner—Wu Li.
TUF officially ended on September 18, and the edited video was released online on the evening of September 19.
Then, with UFC’s powerful promotional capabilities and a vast fan base, news of the real combat match scheduled for September 22 also spread rapidly, becoming known to more and more people.
At the sa ti, in Hua Country, on Mo Yin and Weibo, the news about Wu Li’s upcoming participation in a real combat match also spread, and Wu Li’s fans along with many people who enjoyed Seeking Martial Arts or Traditional Martial Arts were eagerly anticipating that day.
...
New York, Manhattan District, Gangrou Karate Dojo.
Four people were sitting in a room, including Takeuchi Kazuo, the Guandong Association’s head of New York’s division, and Watanabe Ryosuke, the Sword Master who had attacked Wu Li and Li San with a knife that night.
"What did Hongn say?" Takeuchi Kazuo started.
The man with a scar on his face sitting to his left said, "The sa attitude; they aren’t willing to release him, and Li San has already set a ti to fight publicly with Xiaoze."
"Damn!" Takeuchi Kazuo’s complexion turned ugly, "Hongn is going too far!"
That night, Guandong Association had planned to assassinate Li San, and they made all sorts of preparations, but unexpectedly, they still failed.
That in itself was bearable, but what was key was that afterwards, Hongn directly detained Xiaoze Wutian and others who were still in the underground boxing ring.
Sending Xiaoze Wutian out to challenge, luring Li San to make a move, was a vital part of the Guandong Association’s assassination plan, which was the reason they didn’t imdiately arrange for Xiaoze Wutian to evacuate afterward—to clear any suspicion from Guandong Association. Otherwise, it would have been too obvious if Xiaoze started to flee as soon as sothing went wrong outside.
Hongn’s detention of Xiaoze Wutian and others was expected by Guandong Association, but they did not anticipate Hongn would hold them for so long and with such a tough stance.
Originally in Guandong Association’s plan, as long as Li San was successfully killed, Hongn would lose their Evil Spirit’s deterrence in the dark, likely provoking imdiate retaliation from various forces, and at that ti, Hongn would certainly not care about a Xiaoze Wutian.
Even if it was unsuccessful, Guandong Association had not left any evidence behind. The gunn were desperados hired from xico, having nothing to do with Guandong Association; and the insider in Hongn’s underground boxing ring that night was a dead man set up by Guandong Association in advance, who wouldn’t reveal any information.
Logically, if Hongn couldn’t find results, they should have released Xiaoze Wutian.
However, no matter how Guandong Association communicated or how tough they were, Hongn’s response was always the sa: They wouldn’t release the prisoners.
Hongn’s reason was: since Xiaoze Wutian had chosen to issue a challenge, Hongn would certainly accept, and they were preparing to set a ti for Li San and Xiaoze Wutian to fight publicly.
Guandong Association certainly did not agree with this. The reason they chose assassination rather than settling it through a boxing match was because Guandong Association was not confident they could beat Li San in the ring, and they did not favor Xiaoze, even as a fighting genius, in a match against Li San at this ti.
But no matter how Guandong Association protested or how many connections they tried, Hongn steadfastly refused to release anyone, and they even set the date for the public fight and notified various forces to attend the event.
"The reason why Hongn is being so assertive this ti is firstly to give Li San an explanation, to quell his rage; secondly, it’s probably to deter the others. After all, an assassination attempt on Li San is a big deal, and Hongn will certainly respond. Since they can’t find out who’s behind it, using Hua Country’s saying, they want to ’kill a chicken to warn the monkeys,’ and our Guandong Association, or say Xiaoze, has beco that chicken."
A man wearing glasses on the right side of Takeuchi Kazuo spoke softly.
Takeuchi Kazuo’s complexion darkened, "We can’t wait any longer, the association leader has sent instructions, demanding us to act imdiately and rescue Xiaoze!"
"Yes!"
The other three people bowed their heads in unison.
...
Also in the Manhattan District, inside a building, the main figures of New York’s Hongn division were also holding a eting.
Eight people were seated in the conference room, and sitting in the main seat was an old man with a face full of wrinkles, wearing a red tangzhuang, with droopy eyes, seemingly dozing off.
Sitting to the old man’s left was Hongn’s Sixth Master Zheng Yingrong, and to his right sat Li San.
"Gentlen, what do you think about the matter Li San just ntioned?" Zheng Yingrong asked.
The other five people, three of whom were elderly n, and two middle-aged.
The three old n looked at each other, and one of them spoke up, "Sixth brother, the Bill Brothers Association is like a rabid dog; if you can’t beat it to death with a stick, I’m worried it will cause trouble."
The middle-aged man sitting opposite the old n sneered, "Uncle En, you all saw the data just now; if handled properly, we can definitely wipe out the Bill Brothers Association! The Bill Brothers have been increasingly rubbing us the wrong way in the last few years, a fight is inevitable sooner or later. I say we take this opportunity to strike first!"
Uncle En frowned, "The key question is, does Bill know that we have the data?"
As his words ended, everyone turned to look at Li San.
Li San thought for a mont and said, "He doesn’t know."
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