Madman!

Chapter 30: That Kid Finally Shows His Face

Chen Wujun jumped into the sand pit, paused for a brief moment, then swayed slightly before lifting his feet and wading forward.

His speed wasn't particularly fast, yet there was a strange, grounded power behind every movement. Rather than wading, it was more like gliding—like a venomous snake slithering across sand.

Senior Brother Li's mind was filled with nothing but 'What the hell?!'

How long had it even been? And Chen Wujun had already developed this kind of internal force.

What they trained in this sand pit was whole-body power—the synthesis of rooting force, penetrating force, and explosive force working in concert.

Rooting force meant planting yourself like a tree, an unshakeable lower body. Penetrating force meant channeling strength from the soles of the feet upward through the knees, hips, waist, and spine, threading through every joint in sequence. And explosive force meant unleashing the body's entire power in a single instant.

The fusion of these three forces was what created whole-body power.

Chen Wujun had always been a quick learner, but this time...

Senior Brother Li didn't even want to think about how long it had taken him to achieve the same thing.

"I don't believe this!" His expression flickered between dark and light. He stood up, walked to the weapon rack, grabbed a white wax wood staff and a shield, then turned back. "Stop!""What's wrong?" Chen Wujun looked at his senior brother with confusion.

Senior Brother Li tossed the shield directly to Chen Wujun.

"Let's see if what you learned on flat ground is any use in the sand pit!"

The words had barely left his mouth before the long staff in his hands lashed out like a rainbow piercing the sun, aimed straight at Chen Wujun's unshielded shoulder.

The strike was fast and vicious. If Chen Wujun couldn't mount an effective response while standing in the sand, he'd have no choice but to take the hit head-on.

Yet in that instant, Chen Wujun's waist and hips rotated almost instinctively—as naturally as if he were standing on solid ground.

His legs, buried in the sand, were driven by the hip rotation, shifting slightly to the side.

Smack!

Chen Wujun's shield slapped squarely against the white wax wood staff, deflecting the thrust into empty air.

A glint flashed in Senior Brother Li's eyes. With a flick of his wrist, the staff spun once in midair before sweeping horizontally toward Chen Wujun's exposed knee.

The transition was lightning-fast, vicious and cunning. The momentum was even fiercer than before, the staff cutting through the air with an audible whistle.

A hit like that could shatter bone.

The sudden change caught Chen Wujun off guard. His waist and hips fired again, dropping his center of gravity in an instant as his body sank downward. The bottom edge of his shield caught the white wax wood staff with a sharp clang.

Thud!

The staff plunged straight into the sand.

Senior Brother Li stared at Chen Wujun for several long seconds, then pulled the staff free, turned, and placed it back on the weapon rack.

"Practice on your own today!"

And with that, he left with his hands clasped behind his back.

Chen Wujun couldn't help feeling that his senior brother's retreating figure looked rather forlorn.

As the warehouse door swung shut, he faintly heard a single word: "Damn it!"

'Looks like I got the whole-body power right!' Chen Wujun pulled his gaze back and thought to himself.

He tossed the rattan shield aside and resumed his slow, deliberate wading through the sand pit.

At noon, Chen Wujun climbed out of the pit. When he lifted his feet to wade across regular ground, the absence of sand resistance actually felt unnatural.

He'd had the same sensation the previous night.

After walking a lap around the warehouse, he gradually readjusted.

When he walked now, his hips initiated a subtle rotation that drove his legs forward, rather than relying purely on thigh strength like a normal person. His feet barely left the ground, each step looking as though he were wading through invisible mud.

A single thought, and his feet glided forward—silent, yet remarkably stable.

Then he stomped down hard.

Boom!

The floor released a sound deeper and more penetrating than anything before. The entire warehouse seemed to tremble with it.

A single Shock Step launched Chen Wujun forward, noticeably faster than before.

This time, it wasn't raw leg power alone. His entire body had unified into one cohesive force.

Then his center of gravity dropped, and he pivoted direction with almost no resistance, his footwork seamlessly shifting into Triangle Step.

The entire sequence flowed like water over silk.

'Rooted like an ancient python, moving like a venomous snake... so that's what it means.' Understanding bloomed in Chen Wujun's mind.

What followed was pure elation.

He hadn't expected this footwork to come together so quickly.

A few more days refining his footwork and blade-and-shield technique, and his combat ability would skyrocket.

On top of that, the Old Bear Hugging Tree stance continued to pay dividends—with each session, he could feel his thighs and back growing more powerful.

Now that he'd achieved whole-body power, everything from punches to elbows to knees hit significantly harder.

Chen Wujun walked up to a wooden dummy, first settling into a Golden Rooster Stance. His body coiled like a drawn bow, and then his knee smashed forward with savage force.

Boom! Crack!

One of the dummy's arms—as thick as a child's forearm—snapped clean off and went flying into the wall.

Chen Wujun blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that combining whole-body power with the Five Bows method would make a single knee strike this devastating.

A wooden arm as thick as a child's forearm—snapped like a twig.

If that knee connected with a human body... it would shatter bone outright.

Chen Wujun felt the true weight of his own strike.

He looked down at his knee. The skin was flushed red, but the pain was negligible.

All these days of training had built thick calluses across his knuckles, elbow points, and kneecaps. Combined with the medicinal supplements, his bone density had been steadily increasing, making them harder than ever.

Even his shins had grown rough and hardened from all the time spent kicking wooden stakes.

'What I need next is more real combat!' Chen Wujun's thoughts drifted back to those pickpockets from before.

'One of these days, I'll round them up to use as live training dummies!'

'But I don't need them right now. I can't keep hiding forever. The moment I show my face, it won't be long before Lidong's people come knocking on their own.'

Three days later, Chen Wujun headed straight to the dental clinic in the evening.

"Grab everything. Your uncle's coming to pick us up soon," said Chen Hanliang, pulling items out from behind the curtain—paper-crafted clothes, shoes, pants, and hats, all meticulously made, along with five-colored spirit paper and joss money.

Moments later, a car horn sounded from below. Chen Wujun leaned out the window and spotted a yellow taxi parked on the street. A balding middle-aged man stepped out and waved up at the window.

"Uncle's here."

Chen Wujun's uncle, Chen Hanwen, drove the night shift for a taxi company.

The two of them carried the supplies downstairs.

Uncle's eyes lit up the moment he saw Chen Wujun. "Haven't seen you in months—look at you, all bright-eyed and sharp!"

"I swear you've grown taller too!"

Chen Wujun wore a plain blue tracksuit, but his vitality was unmistakable. His eyes were bright and piercing—impossible to conceal.

"Still growing, you know. Yeah, I'm a bit taller," Chen Wujun replied.

He'd measured himself a few days ago when buying new pants. He'd grown two centimeters in the past few months and now stood at 172 centimeters.

After stuffing everything into the trunk, Uncle started driving and asked, "I heard you've been learning martial arts lately. How's that going?"

"Not bad!"

"Nothing wrong with enjoying martial arts, but it's not a real career. Martial arts won't put food on the table. Learn dentistry properly from your old man. I didn't want to learn back in the day, and now look at me—driving a taxi! Baking in the sun all day. Fixing teeth pays better, let me tell you!"

"And if you really can't stand dental work, you could learn auto repair. Your cousin's apprenticing at a garage right now..."

Chen Wujun gazed out the window, letting his uncle's words flow in one ear and out the other.

He knew Uncle meant well.

But he refused to live that kind of life.

He'd once heard someone quote an ancient saying: 'If a man cannot feast at five cauldrons in life, then let him die by five cauldrons in defiance.'

He wanted a mansion, a luxury car, and a celebrity wife.

After a few more remarks, Uncle shifted to chatting with Chen Hanliang.

"Lately the council members have been going on TV every day talking about demolishing the Walled City. Think there's any truth to it?"

"There's over a hundred thousand people in the Walled City. Where would they all go if they tore it down? Those council members just want the land to build malls and skyscrapers..." Chen Hanliang's voice dripped with distrust for the politicians.

The group arrived at Wo Hop Shek cemetery in Fanling. They waited near the grounds for a short while before Auntie showed up.

Compared to the Chen brothers—Hanliang and Hanwen—Auntie had married well, and her life was considerably more comfortable.

She had a daughter, Chen Wujun's cousin, who was currently studying for a master's degree in psychology.

When Auntie saw Chen Wujun, her eyes lit up too. "Goodness, look how sharp you've become!"

"Like a completely different person... and before I know it, you've grown into a proper young man."

"Come visit Auntie more often, will you? Your cousin's never around either..."

Listening to Auntie and Uncle's chatter, the group entered the cemetery to pay their respects at the family graves.

They burned the winter clothing, five-colored spirit paper, and joss money. After descending the hill, they all shared a meal together before going their separate ways.

Back in his own place, Chen Wujun lay on his bed, idly flipping a bull-horn folding knife in his hand. The handle was thirteen centimeters, the blade ten centimeters, and the handle curved like a horn—ideal for chopping strikes.

'These past days, I've made solid progress in physical conditioning, footwork, and blade-and-shield work. I've got a decent level of self-defense now.'

'I've already burned through several Magnetic Field Crystals. Can't keep dragging this out.'

'The preparations are mostly in place too. I've stashed wooden boards at every alley entrance—ready to grab and use as makeshift shields at a moment's notice.'

Chen Wujun took stock of his current situation and preparations.

'Five more days...' He had two Magnetic Field Crystals left. In five days, he'd be down to one.

His mind made up, Chen Wujun slid the knife under his pillow. Within minutes, his breathing had settled into a deep, steady rhythm.

Five more days passed.

Chen Wujun went straight to the martial arts school in the morning. When he left in the evening, he headed directly for Jindi Finance.

"Jun-boy! Haven't seen you around lately. Been busy?" Ji Xiang called out loudly, his face beaming with exaggerated warmth the moment he spotted him.

Every head in the Jindi Finance office turned to look, their gazes tinged with something peculiar.

Everyone knew Chen Wujun had recently crossed Wen Long, and that Wen Long would certainly seek revenge.

The kid had vanished for over half a month, and the consensus was clear—he'd gotten scared.

Though Chen Wujun was just a teenager who'd been placed directly under Shark Jiu upon arrival, plenty of people already resented that. Now they looked down on him even more.

"Yeah, been pretty busy," Chen Wujun replied with a squinting smile. He tilted his head slightly, noting every pair of eyes fixed on him, cataloging each gaze.

"Thanks for the concern, Brother Xiang!" He flashed another grin, then turned and headed for Shark Jiu's office.

Ji Xiang watched Chen Wujun's retreating back with an amused, calculating expression.

The instant Chen Wujun stepped into Shark Jiu's office, her gaze dropped to his feet.

His walk was like wading through mud—utterly silent, yet rock-solid.

"Not bad! Achieving whole-body power this quickly, and the Mud-Wading Step looks proper too!" Shark Jiu praised with an approving nod.

"Have you trained with weapons?"

"Blade and shield!" Chen Wujun sat down, then asked: "Senior sister, where can I buy crystals?"

"The biggest Magnetic Field Crystal smuggling channel and black market in East District 9... is run by us—by Hetu. Did I never mention that?" Shark Jiu looked genuinely surprised.

Chen Wujun: ???

"Senior sister, you definitely didn't."

"Really? Must have slipped my mind... I'll take you there in a few days."

...

In the northern part of the city, Wen Long was reviewing the ledgers in his hands when a knock came at the door. One of his men walked in.

"Boss, that kid's been hiding for all this time, and he finally showed his face today! We were starting to think he'd never dare come out!"

"He just went to Jindi Finance."

"Jindi Finance... Shark Jiu..." Wen Long let out a cold snort, his gaze sweeping over his subordinate as he snapped irritably:

"Why are you telling me about this? Do I need to spell it out for you? Send people to handle it!"

The kid was nothing but a small fry—something he could crush between two fingers without a second thought.

Shark Jiu hadn't shown him an ounce of respect last time. He'd send his men to grab the kid and see how she came begging to get him back.

After they snatched him, they'd cripple the little bastard. Even if he was handed back to Shark Jiu, he'd be nothing but a broken shell.