Chapter 129: Blossoms of Blood and Snow

Dr. Wang stared unblinkingly at Li Jun, who was rushing toward him, a contemptuous curve touching the corners of his mouth. "I had heard that the Yiming Society had a 'Mad Lion,' but I never expected it to be you... Li Jun the Mad Lion? This is somewhat interesting..."

Mind followed will, and body followed mind. As his intent shifted, Dr. Wang suddenly shot forward like a sharp arrow.

The moment Dr. Wang’s fists met Li Jun’s, Nie Yi also moved. He used a footwork almost identical to Li Jun’s, with nearly the same speed, only while Li Jun advanced, Nie Yi retreated.

The snowflakes, neither fully fallen nor suspended, seemed to linger in the air for a moment. The accumulated snow on the ground trembled, and then the flakes drifted down once more.

Li Jun maintained his punching stance, his legs rooted into the earth like tree trunks, immovable.

Dr. Wang let out a muffled groan. The fist that had connected with Li Jun trembled slightly. He retreated two steps before finding his footing, tucked away the disdain on his face, frowned, and said sternly, "Your strength is strange. Were those lead weights meant to suppress your usual power?"

Nie Yi reached out to catch a snowflake, letting it melt slowly in his palm, and smiled. "He won't talk to you right now. In this state, he only stops and speaks under two conditions: either you fall, or he falls."

Dr. Wang pouted. "AB type?" He shook his hands, clenched his fists again, and this time, instead of charging in a head-on collision, he approached Li Jun with a steady, rhythmic pace. "Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes. Your father was a brute, and so are you. I, however, am different—I possess both raw power and a brain."

As the last word fell, Dr. Wang and Li Jun threw their fists at the exact same moment. The difference was that Li Jun stuck to his original move, a straight punch. But just as their fists were about to collide, Dr. Wang suddenly transformed his fist into a palm, dug two fingers deep into the back of Li Jun’s hand, and pressed forward with the momentum.

Instantly, the force of Li Jun’s punch was dissipated into nothingness, his fist forced backward by Dr. Wang’s palm. Li Jun withdrew his hand, expressionless, and looked at the two deep nail imprints on the back of his hand—they looked like two eyes smiling into crescent moons. He loosened his shoulders, held his left palm vertically and his right hand in a fist, tapped them together lightly, and then kicked off the ground. With wind at his feet, he closed the distance to Dr. Wang, his fists striking like a beating drum. In a mere instant, he had unleashed eighteen blows.

Dr. Wang raised his arms to block, but after only a moment, his arms dropped powerlessly, and he staggered back.

Nie Yi coughed lightly and smiled faintly. "He took a rather unrefined name for this move: 'The Broken Drum Beaten by Thousands.'"

Li Jun, appearing entirely cut off from the world and devoid of his senses, flashed forward, suddenly appearing behind Dr. Wang. His right hand transformed into a blade, slashing fiercely at Dr. Wang’s shoulder.

Dr. Wang’s eyelids twitched. He side-stepped and retreated, while a syringe hidden in his left hand lunged toward Li Jun’s neck.

Li Jun seemed oblivious, ignoring the needle entirely. He kept his right palm horizontal and swung it like a thunderbolt at the side-standing Dr. Wang, the edge of his palm as sharp as a blade.

Dr. Wang’s eyes bulged. He watched as the needle stopped an inch from Li Jun’s neck. A sharp pain bloomed in his right ear, and bright red blood trickled from the canal. He swayed, nearly collapsing. Enduring the dizziness and the piercing pain in his ear, he stepped back, gritting his teeth. "Truly mad, and truly ruthless. What is the story behind this move?"

Nie Yi’s gaze dimmed, as if some unpleasant childhood memories had been stirred. He sighed, "I named that move myself. It’s called 'Cleaving the Mountain to Save Mother.'"

"A good name!" Dr. Wang exhaled a long, stale breath. Looking at the still-expressionless Li Jun, he gave a bitter laugh. "I can't beat you. Can I concede defeat?"

"Not really," Nie Yi said, stepping forward silently, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far. He rubbed his nose. "As I said before, in this situation, one of you must fall for it to end."

Before he could finish, Li Jun shifted his feet, his right leg whipping out in an arc, his toe piercing toward Dr. Wang’s abdomen like a spear.

*Pfft!* Dr. Wang spat out a mouthful of blood and foam, his legs turning to jelly, and he looked ready to collapse to his knees.

"You are not allowed to kneel!" Nie Yi smiled warmly at Dr. Wang, his tone brook no argument. "He hasn't stopped, so you are not allowed to kneel."

Dr. Wang couldn't help but halt his descent, his mouth twitching. "If I wait for him to stop on his own, I'll be beaten to death..."

Before the word "death" could fully leave his lips, Li Jun was upon him again, his hands striking various parts of Dr. Wang’s body, every blow landing with sickening thuds.

After 168 punches, Li Jun stepped back with his left foot, lunged forward with his right, pulled his left fist back to his waist, and threw his right fist out with all his might.

Dr. Wang flew through the air like a discarded sack of rags, hit the ground with a thud, and could no longer rise.

Li Jun walked over, leaving footprints in the snow, grabbed Dr. Wang’s left ankle, and swung him from the right to the left like a mop.

Just as Li Jun reached for the right ankle, Nie Yi’s left hand caught Li Jun’s right wrist. His eyes were cold. "Enough. He has already fallen. Do you really intend to beat him to death?"

Li Jun frowned, trying to pull away from Nie Yi's grip, but he couldn't break free. He relaxed his shoulders, took off his headphones, pulled an MP3 player from his pocket, and pressed pause. His face returned to its usual cheeky, grinning expression. He looked at Dr. Wang, who lay on the ground like a pile of mud, and opened his mouth in surprise. "Nie Yi, you’re too ruthless! How could you lay such a heavy hand on him? Tsk tsk, he’s got only one breath left. If Master finds out you were this vicious, he’ll definitely forbid you from speaking for three months again. In the end, I’ll have to do the social work for both of us. Are you trying to work me to death?"

Nie Yi rolled his eyes. "Master isn't blind. It’s obvious who did the hitting."

"How can you say that? Could it be that I did it?" Li Jun pouted. "I’m a man of no strength; how could I possibly beat him? Don't ruin my pure and kind image in Yunxi’s eyes..." He coughed lightly, pointed at the man on the ground, and said with a melancholy air, "What do we do now? Send him back to the hospital, or to the police station?"

"He’s still breathing. A minor injury doesn't stop the fight. Back to the police station first. We'll see after we question him..." Nie Yi looked at his watch. "There are still several hours before dawn. We can still get some things done."

"Was those five minutes last time not enough?" Li Jun said, dejected. "I’m truly exhausted tonight. It’s not early anymore—let’s just wash up and sleep. I don't want to go through any more trouble."

"Five minutes is nowhere near enough," Nie Yi shook his head. "Hurry up. We have to be back in that villa-prison by 6:00 AM. They have strict rules: wake up at 6:00, sleep at 8:00 PM. We have to follow the rules..."

Just as Nie Yi and Li Jun were discussing their next move, Dr. Wang managed to sit up with great difficulty. His head hung low, and he tried to lift the syringe in his left hand, but because his tendons and bones in his limbs had been shattered by Li Jun, he couldn't summon the slightest strength. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, gave a miserable laugh, and said with sarcasm, "You want to catch me? Not a chance!"

Taking a deep breath, Dr. Wang turned his head toward a dark corner behind him and shouted, "You coward, why aren't you firing yet! Come on! Shoot me dead! You don't actually want them to take me back to the police station, do you..."

*Bang!* As if responding to Dr. Wang’s words, a flash of light erupted from the dark corner. A bullet whistled through the air, piercing straight into Dr. Wang’s forehead and exiting through the back of his skull.

A flower of blood bloomed against the snowy ground, the deep red spreading slowly across the white.

Nie Yi and Li Jun felt their scalps tingle. They stared at the spot where the shot had been fired and exclaimed in unison, "Who's there?"

A shadow in the dark corner flashed, and by the time it reappeared, it was driving a white van, speeding away.

Nie Yi gave chase for a distance, but seeing the white van merge onto the main road and accelerate until it vanished from sight, he had to return, crestfallen.

Li Jun looked at the returning Nie Yi, his expression awkward. "Now what? We already had yellow mud in our pants, and now a lump of shit has been shoved in there too. How are we ever going to explain this... Nie Yi, should we just run for it?"

"We can't run..." Nie Yi shook his head with a bitter smile. "If I’m not mistaken, the police cars will be here in a moment."

*Wooo-ooo, wooo-ooo...*

As if to confirm Nie Yi’s words, the sound of police sirens tore through the sky from every direction. Several officers with drawn handguns ran out from the side door of the hospital’s inpatient building, slowly closing in on Nie Yi and Li Jun. "Don't move!"

Dr. Wang, lying on the ground, watched the scene unfold. A strange, eerie smile touched the corners of his mouth as he let out his final breath. "I'm sorry. I am truly, truly sorry..."