Madman!

Chapter 5: Self-Reflection

By the time Chen Wujun returned to the dental clinic around noon, his body was covered in bruises from all the falls.

Chen Hanliang took one look at his son and nearly jumped out of his skin. "Did you get into a fight?"

"No, just fell while practicing stances," Chen Wujun replied, his voice thick with frustration.

Senior Brother Li had praised him a few times that morning, but when it came to practicing the Golden Rooster Stance, he'd fallen into an endless cycle of toppling over and picking himself back up.

A smoldering irritation had built up in his chest the entire time.

Even Lin Zetao and the other students had watched with their tongues practically clicking in disbelief.

Senior Brother Li had never been this strict when training them.

It was as if Senior Brother Li held some personal grudge against Chen Wujun.

Yet they all understood, deep down, that this was Senior Brother Li singling Chen Wujun out for special attention. Envy and jealousy churned in equal measure.

Though Chen Wujun harbored a sliver of resentment, he wasn't the type to mistake kindness for cruelty.That afternoon, Chen Wujun tried standing in the Charge Stance while using the breathing technique Senior Brother Li had just taught him, controlling his breath to hover at the edge of As If Facing a Great Enemy without fully entering the state.

Occasionally, every hair on his body would bristle upright, but then he'd settle back to normal. His body would only break a light sweat, nothing like before when he'd lose control, lunge forward explosively, and end up drenched and nearly collapsed with exhaustion.

Moreover, in this state, his focus and mental awareness were far sharper than usual. Everything around him was crystal clear, and the slightest rustle of movement registered instantly, though it was a touch weaker than the full As If Facing a Great Enemy state.

Chen Wujun mulled it over. 'This state could be maintained all the time.'

Whether walking or resting, if he could keep this up constantly, he'd never have to worry about being ambushed.

While Chen Wujun stood practicing his stance, his old man Chen Hanliang was tossing and turning on a reclining chair nearby.

He'd just started to doze off when a wave of chilling pressure stabbed at him like needles, jolting him wide awake.

He cracked his eyes open to look, but Chen Wujun had already returned to normal.

After an hour of this torment, Chen Hanliang got up and shooed him away. "If you've got nothing better to do, go home and practice. Stop disturbing my patients!"

'Who could put up with these constant scares?'

Chen Wujun thought to himself that there weren't any patients. Not a single person had come in all afternoon. His old man was just waiting for one regular customer to pick up a set of custom dentures.

"Fine, I'm heading home!" Chen Wujun hadn't wanted to hang around the clinic anyway. He might as well go practice at home.

As he walked, his mind kept turning over how to maintain the stance's state even during everyday movement.

With every step, his toes gripped downward, trying to claw at the ground through the soles of his shoes.

'Shouldn't have worn sneakers. The soles are too thick. My toes can't grip the ground, and the cushioning is too soft. Not stable enough.'

'I need thin-soled shoes. Flat soles.' The thought struck Chen Wujun suddenly.

He recalled that Senior Brother Li wore a pair of black thin-soled cloth shoes. He hadn't paid attention before, but the realization hit him now.

Though he always took off his shoes when practicing stances, sneakers were impractical for walking this way.

He promptly changed direction, turning onto Lung Tsun Road to buy shoes.

Though it was the main thoroughfare, it was only slightly wider and busier than the other streets. There was still barely any natural light to speak of.

It was clearly still afternoon, yet this place looked the same as nighttime. Shops on both sides had their lights on.

One glance upward revealed a tangled web of electrical wires and pipes crammed together overhead, along with a thick pipe that dripped water in a steady rhythm.

That pipe was the Street Pipe, the single water supply line for the entire Walled City.

Passing a corner shop, Chen Wujun patted his pocket, tempted to duck in for some snacks.

He currently had 172 dollars on him. Ten were pocket money his father Chen Hanliang had given him a few days ago. The other 162 were what his mother had intended for that degenerate gambler, which he'd pocketed outright.

The kid whose lollipop he'd snatched last time was standing right at the shop entrance, gnawing on his fingers. The moment he spotted Chen Wujun, his eyes went wide as saucers, and he burst into a wailing cry.

Chen Wujun's brow twitched. The foot he'd been about to set inside the shop veered sharply, and he slipped into the crowd.

At the same time, a twinge of regret nagged at him. That kid had actually remembered his face.

'From now on, whenever I do something like that, I need to cover my face. Can't let people recognize me.'

'And if I can't hide my identity, then I need to make sure the other person can't talk.'

'Otherwise, trouble could come knocking at any time, or it could derail my plans entirely.'

'Just like now. I wanted to go buy something from the shop, but I got recognized and had to leave.'

The old saying went "examine yourself three times daily." Chen Wujun decided those were wise words. He'd figured out another lesson today.

He went and bought a pair of cloth shoes. Twenty dollars.

Then he took a detour to avoid that corner shop on his way home.

Chen Wujun walked at an unhurried pace, his toes gripping forcefully with every step. These thin-soled shoes were exactly as he'd imagined, making it far easier to exert force.

Walking like this was exhausting, but Chen Wujun was sensing the subtle changes in his body with each step, which kept fatigue and boredom at bay.

Once home, Chen Wujun switched to practicing the Golden Rooster Stance.

The Golden Rooster Stance required standing on one foot, toes gripping the ground, while the other leg served as shield, as hammer, as a weapon to kill. Its difficulty dwarfed the Charge Stance many times over.

Chen Wujun couldn't hold it for long before his form began to sway. He was far from being rooted to the ground like a tree.

......

That evening, the family was eating dinner when the front door was suddenly hammered from outside with heavy bangs.

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Chen Hanliang rose, crossed the cramped living room, and pulled open the wooden door. Several men in garish floral shirts with the unmistakable air of street thugs stood behind the iron security gate, blocked from entering.

The Walled City was stiflingly hot. Most apartments had windows facing inward rather than toward the outside, and keeping the door shut made the heat unbearable. But opening it created safety concerns.

So most households had two doors: an outer one made of iron bars like a gate, and an inner wooden door.

When it got too hot, they'd open the wooden door to let air circulate.

"Debt collection! Where's Gambling Hong? Get him out here!" The men outside glared menacingly, banging their palms against the iron gate.

At those words, Chen Hanliang's face went ashen. Huang Meizhen set down her chopsticks, rising to her feet with worry etched across her face.

Their worst fear had arrived.

Ever since their eldest had gotten hooked on gambling, Chen Hanliang and Huang Meizhen had dreaded the day loan sharks would come knocking.

Now the inevitable had come to pass.

"No idea where that deadbeat's run off to. Haven't seen him in days! You want to find him, look somewhere else!" Chen Hanliang spat, his face dark as iron.

"If Gambling Hong's not here, then where is he?" The one who seemed to be the leader silenced the others with a gesture, sizing up Chen Hanliang with lazy insolence before sneering. "Doesn't matter if he's not around. He's your son. If he can't pay, you pay."

Chen Wujun stood up and moved behind Chen Hanliang, his expression hostile as he sized up the men outside. He spoke up:

"You've come to the wrong door for your debt collection."

There were four of them in total. Two of the floral-shirted ones were scrawny, looking like they'd been hollowed out by booze and women. Each of them held a club.

The leader was a burly man who clearly had some fighting experience.

"Hey kid, what are you looking at?" One of the floral shirts noticed Chen Wujun's gaze and jabbed a finger at him.

"What do you think you're doing? That punk's the one who owes money. Leave us out of it," Chen Hanliang cut in sharply.

The leader let out a mocking laugh. "Even banks chase next of kin for inheritance debts. And we're loan sharks! One person borrows, the whole family pays. Gambling Hong's vanished? Then you lot are settling up."

He produced an IOU and waved it in front of Chen Hanliang's face.

"Let me make this clear. Gambling Hong currently owes us 28,961 dollars! If this isn't paid within ten days, I'll burn this apartment to the ground!"

The color drained from both Huang Meizhen's and Chen Hanliang's faces.

"How can it be that much? How could he possibly owe that much?" Huang Meizhen cried out in disbelief.

Hearing that number, she felt as though the sky had caved in.

"That debt note clearly says 6,000 dollars!" Chen Hanliang jabbed his finger at the paper in the man's hand, his voice shaking with fury.

"Sure, he borrowed 6,000. But he never paid it back, and interest compounds, you know!" The leader smirked coldly.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance. You've got ten days to scrape the money together and pay up. Oh, and one more thing I almost forgot to mention. In ten days, the total will be 37,650... Have it ready when I come to collect."

Chen Hanliang and Huang Meizhen went even paler.

"Why don't you just rob us outright? We can't possibly come up with that." Chen Hanliang felt the blood rushing to his head.

The leader craned his neck to peer past them into the apartment. When he spotted little Chen Wuqi standing in the back, a malicious grin spread across his face. "Cute kid you've got there."

"What do you think you're doing?" Chen Hanliang immediately stepped in front of Chen Wuqi.

"Nothing! Just saying your boy's adorable!" The man's grin dripped with ill intent. "Just have the money ready in ten days and everything will be fine."

"If you don't... well, don't blame me for whatever happens next."

"Oh, and you've got that dental clinic, right? We know exactly where it is."

"How do you think I dared lend him money in the first place?"

Having delivered his threats, the leader stood at the doorway with a few cold laughs, then swaggered off with his lackeys in tow.

On his way out, he kicked over a stack of cardboard boxes piled beside the entrance.

Chen Hanliang shut the wooden door, clutching his chest and gasping for air. He couldn't eat another bite.

Huang Meizhen couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face.

"What are we going to do?"

"That worthless degenerate!" Chen Hanliang erupted. "I knew it was only a matter of time before he caused something like this. Ever since he picked up gambling, I've been living in fear every single day, dreading loan sharks showing up at our door!"

Over thirty thousand dollars. The dental clinic would take more than half a year to earn that much.

And the whole family still needed to eat.

Where would they borrow? How would they pay?

Borrowing money was the hardest thing in the Walled City.

And even if they cleared this debt, who knew if there was another one waiting?

But if they didn't pay, those loan sharks were utterly inhuman. There was nothing they wouldn't do.

The family had lived in the Walled City long enough to know exactly what kind of people they were dealing with.

Inside the tiny living room, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt hard to breathe.

Chen Wuqi didn't understand the family's situation, but even he was cowed by the suffocating tension, not daring to utter a word.

Only Chen Wujun continued eating in silence. He needed to eat his fill. A full stomach meant energy to train.

When he finished, he retreated to his room.

He had no mood to look at his Vivian Zhou poster, no mood to practice stances. He collapsed onto his bed and began to think.

The family couldn't produce that kind of money. Even if they borrowed and paid, they'd spend the next year or two tightening their belts to repay the loans.

How would he afford the martial arts school then?

A bold idea formed in his mind.

'Paying your debts is only natural. But if the creditor is dead, there's no one to pay.'

'If they die, the problem goes away.'

'Then they should die.'

'As long as someone else dies to solve the problem,' Chen Wujun decided that was perfectly fair.

But what if there were people behind them?

After thinking it through, Chen Wujun decided he needed to gather more information first.

'There are still ten days, after all...'

'Find out everything first, then figure out what to do.'

'But before all that, I need to train harder.'

With that thought, Chen Wujun hopped down from the top bunk, planted his bare feet on the floor, and began the Golden Rooster Stance.

Simultaneously, he conjured an enemy in his mind's eye, standing right before him, and imagined driving his knee upward to shatter the man's organs.

The enemy in his imagination was the leader of the loan sharks who had just come to collect.