Madman!

Chapter 45: Just Messing with You

Chen Wujun walked into Jindi Finance. The moment Ji Xiang's underlings spotted him, they greeted him warmly:

"Ah Jun, looking for Sister Shark Jiu? Congratulations!"

"That's right, you've moved up so fast. Congrats, congrats!" The other lackeys made no effort to hide their envy.

"Oi, show some respect—let me hear you call me Brother Jun!" Chen Wujun tilted his head and clamped down hard on the speaker's shoulder.

Chen Wujun's grip was like a pair of iron pliers. The man's expression changed instantly, pain surfacing across his face despite his best efforts to hide it:

"Brother Jun!"

Everyone else in the room went still.

"I was just messing with you guys—you didn't actually take that seriously, did you? We've known each other for ages. Call me whatever you want." Chen Wujun released his grip with a grin, though his gaze lingered on the man's face a moment longer.

The cold cruelty lurking in Chen Wujun's eyes snuffed out whatever anger had been building in the man's chest.

"I'm going to see Sister Shark Jiu."Chen Wujun knocked and entered Shark Jiu's office. Outside, the expressions on the faces of Ji Xiang's lackeys immediately darkened. They exchanged glances.

"Son of a bitch!" the one whose shoulder Chen Wujun had squeezed cursed under his breath.

"Petty man drunk on newfound power. Changed his tune real quick."

"How about you survive the arena first, then talk about playing boss!"

......

"Senior sister! Brother Ji Xiang!" Chen Wujun stepped into the office to find Ji Xiang holding a ledger, discussing something with Shark Jiu.

"Ah Jun, you're here!" Ji Xiang broke into a smile as soon as he saw him.

"Don't mind me, carry on!" Chen Wujun reached over and swiped Shark Jiu's cigarettes and lighter, lit one, then dropped onto the sofa off to the side. His eyes swept the room and landed on an erotic magazine tucked under the coffee table.

Chen Wujun pulled it out and flipped through it for a while. After Ji Xiang left, he held up the magazine.

"Senior sister, you actually read this stuff?"

"What, I can't admire a nice figure?" Shark Jiu opened a desk drawer, pulled out a small box, and tossed it onto the desk, then leaned back in her chair with a catlike grin.

"The crystals are ready for you. Don't worry about anything else for the next few days—just focus on preparing."

"Thanks, senior sister!" Chen Wujun stood, set the magazine on the desk, and picked up the box. He cracked it open for a peek—inside lay a cluster of Magnetic Field Crystals, each the size of a soybean. At least several dozen.

Working with Shark Jiu always felt comfortable. She anticipated everything before he even had to ask.

Chen Wujun tucked the box into his pocket, sat for a few more moments, then left.

This time, Ji Xiang's lackeys didn't greet him. Every last one of them was either on the phone hounding debtors or buried in their work.

Chen Wujun strolled out of the finance company with a lazy grin, but the moment he was outside, his expression settled into calm composure.

'I've been wanting to put them in their place for a while, but the timing isn't right. If I lose the duel, none of it matters. But if I win, my reputation and momentum will skyrocket—then I'll deal with them.'

He checked the time and headed straight for Ah Yue's place.

Ah Yue heard the knock and opened the door. Seeing it was him, she hurried to unlatch the iron gate.

"You're so early today."

"Not much going on lately." Chen Wujun stepped inside and immediately caught a whiff of something fragrant.

"Cooking?"

"Eating out is too expensive! Try my cooking—just don't complain if it's bad." Ah Yue's smile was as gentle and sweet as always.

Chen Wujun glanced into the pot and knew at once this wasn't a meal for one. There were open lunch boxes set beside it, too.

"Going to deliver food later?"

Ah Yue's father and little brother were still living at their rented market stall. Clearly, she was preparing meals for them.

"I'll make a fresh batch for us after!"

The dish was light on meat. Chen Wujun wasn't interested.

"Just deliver this portion," Chen Wujun said. "That area's full of all sorts of sketchy people—I'll have someone go with you."

"Okay!" Ah Yue smiled.

Afterward, Chen Wujun sat on the bed and poured the Magnetic Field Crystals from the box, counting them one by one.

Eighty in total.

'Four hundred thousand. Senior sister sure is generous!'

"Four hundred what?" Ah Yue turned her head, puzzled.

"Nothing." Chen Wujun swept the Magnetic Field Crystals back into the box.

Shark Jiu had handed over four hundred thousand just like that—enough to buy his father's dental clinic outright, with money to spare.

The little box felt impossibly heavy in Chen Wujun's hand.

"Want a taste?" Ah Yue picked up some food with her chopsticks, holding a bowl underneath to catch any drips, and walked over to him.

"Not bad!" Chen Wujun tried a bite and decided Ah Yue's cooking was actually quite good.

Of course, it wasn't as though he'd ever eaten anything fancy. Growing up in a place like the Walled City, you didn't get to be picky.

If it wasn't terrible, he thought it was great.

That evening, after Ah Yue delivered the food, she came back with half a kilogram of beef and stir-fried a plate for Chen Wujun.

He demolished most of it by himself.

Ever since he'd started training martial arts, his appetite had become enormous. The more he ate, the faster his body improved.

The meals his mother cooked at home weren't nearly enough to replenish his protein.

Usually, he supplemented with deli meats and roast duck from the shops.

Now that Ah Yue could cook, he could eat at home first, then come here for a second meal.

After dinner, Chen Wujun went up to the rooftop. He gazed out at the dazzling lights of the city center in the distance—that glittering skyline where all of East District 9's politicians, celebrities, tycoons, and stars resided.

Chen Wujun stretched out his hand, his five fingers clawing toward the horizon, as if he could seize that glittering world in his grasp.

He felt himself one step closer to it.

Then, with a one-handed push, he vaulted onto the parapet wall, landing steady and sure. His expression grew calm.

......

Over the following days, Chen Wujun spent almost every waking hour at the martial arts hall or the Warehouse, training. Each evening he went home for dinner, then headed to Ah Yue's for a second meal.

After eating, he'd train on the rooftop. When he came back down, he'd eat again.

Meanwhile, news of the duel between Hetu and Lidong spread through every corner of the Walled City.

It wasn't just the two gangs and the Walled City's usual well-connected gossips who knew—even gangs outside the Walled City had caught wind of it.

Yongfa Cafe, on the edge of the Walled City.

"Heard the news? Hetu's going head-to-head with Lidong in a duel! Two whole streets as the wager!" A group of young men sipped their sodas, buzzing with excitement.

"Stakes that high?" another one exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Of course—this is the biggest thing on the streets right now!"

"One side's sending someone from under Shark Jiu, and the other's sending one of Wen Long's guys. Oh, and get this—it's a death match. Apparently both sides signed life-and-death contracts."

"The Four Heavenly Kings versus the Five Dragon Generals... Even if they're not fighting in person, they're definitely sending their best. Man, I'd kill to watch that." Another young man's voice was tinged with longing.

To them, even the lackeys of these two gangs were already big shots.

The Four Heavenly Kings, the Five Dragon Generals, a death match—string those words together, and it was enough to fill these young men with awe.

"Here's the real kicker. Apparently, the one Shark Jiu's sending is a newcomer—not even twenty years old. His name's something like Chen... Wujun! Yeah, that's it. Chen Wujun!"

While the young men chattered on, a table of schoolgirls behind them was eavesdropping with pricked ears.

One of them froze at the mention of Chen Wujun's name.

"You know him?" her friend noticed the change in her expression and asked, curious.

"No... I don't..." The girl shook her head, the braces on her teeth flashing as she spoke.

Brace Girl thought back to that night she'd seen Chen Wujun... Could it really be him?

He'd always been a troublemaker at school, sure—but it was also because of him that the regular students never dared to bully the kids from the Walled City.

He was going to fight in a death match?

......

"If you've got nothing to do, you could rent some movies to watch. There's a shop just downstairs, turn left, about a hundred meters."

That morning, after finishing breakfast, Chen Wujun said this to Ah Yue.

"I have been watching some. There are discs at home... I had no idea East District 9 was this chaotic though—robberies everywhere." Ah Yue laughed.

Chen Wujun didn't even need to think to know what she'd been watching.

They were all recordings of "Crime Watch" that he'd had the disc shop owner make for him.

Watching those, East District 9's public safety did seem pretty grim.

"Still way better than the Walled City!" Chen Wujun stood up.

After all, everywhere else at least had federal police. The Walled City didn't even have that.

Here, it was Hetu and Lidong that maintained order for the Walled City's hundred-thousand-plus residents.

Chen Wujun headed downstairs and left the Walled City, making straight for the Warehouse.

Once there, he peeled off his outer shirt. The contours of his back had grown increasingly defined.

In particular, the latissimus dorsi muscles beneath his shoulder blades—after a week of standing in White Crane Exploring Branch—had visibly spread wider, expanding bit by bit. When he flexed, they looked like two wings folded tight against his back, ready to unfurl at any moment.

And this was after only one week of White Crane Exploring Branch. The change was already dramatic.

Chen Wujun attributed it to the Magnetic Field Crystals accelerating the effects of Old Arts training.

It wasn't just his physique that was transforming. With continuous stance training, his upper body and arms had grown more limber by the day, his balance steadily improving.

His reflexes were sharpening too.