Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Why Are They All Lethal Moves?
Inside the apartment, Lu Feng went through the moves of Basic Combat, one after another.
With his Strength and Agility at 9 points—nearly double the average person’s 5—his moves were not only fast but also generated a palpable gust of wind.
However, as he gauged his own speed, he couldn’t help but recall the fight with Lin Jiao and the others.
He especially remembered Lin Jiao’s reaction speed when she was ambushed by that mutated zombie skilled in martial arts.
He realized his own speed might not even match what Lin Jiao’s had been back then.
That was a stunning thought.
After all, he had a system that let him kill monsters to level up, and he was already level 6.
After running through a full set of Basic Combat, Lu Feng felt completely unsatisfied. The apartment was too small and cramped, restricting his movements.
He immediately left, got into his car, and pulled up the navigation. He searched for "gyms," found one where he could practice boxing, and started driving.
The gym was called Jianhu Fitness Club. It was located on the second floor of a large building and had a sizable parking lot out front.
After parking his car, Lu Feng headed for Jianhu Fitness Club on the second floor.
As he entered the gym, his eyes were met with rows of equipment: treadmills, stretching machines, barbells, spin bikes... It had everything you could ask for.
The decor, however, was a little dated.
In the northwest corner, there was an area with several punching bags and a proper-looking boxing ring.
"Xiaofeng, is that you?" a surprised voice called out.
Lu Feng looked toward the sound and saw a stocky man in a gym employee uniform.
Seeing the man, he said in surprise, "Brother Zhui, you work here?"
The man’s name was Huang Chui. He used to be one of the younger guys who followed Lu Feng’s father around. Later, like Ah Lin and Ah Pao, he started following Lu Feng’s cousin. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Moreover, he had trained in Sanda and was an excellent fighter—the best in his cousin’s whole crew, in fact.
Then, he apparently met a schoolteacher. It was like something out of a movie: the good-girl teacher falling for a street punk.
The crazy part was, this teacher would write entire essays. Whenever Brother Zhui upset her, she would send him these incredibly moving messages, sometimes 500 or even 1000 words long.
He’d be left dumbstruck every time, feeling so guilty that he’d have to apologize.
And yet, he’d always happily turn around and tell his friends all about it.
Eventually, they got married, and Brother Zhui completely retired from the life. Now, he was clearly working at this gym.
Naturally, when his cousin had been raising that 200,000, Brother Zhui had contributed 20,000.
Lu Feng remembered that act of loyalty.
"Just trying to make a living!" Huang Chui said, welcoming Lu Feng inside. He asked with concern, "By the way, how is your mother’s condition?"
"She’s about to be discharged," Lu Feng said with a smile. "I really have to thank you, Brother Zhui, for your generous help with that 20,000."
Huang Chui immediately shook his head. "Brother Ming paid it all back, so don’t even mention it."
But Lu Feng shook his head. "Paying it back is one thing. The favor itself is another. You can’t treat them as the same."
"You..." Huang Chui, realizing he couldn’t win this argument, changed the subject. "I heard from Ah Pao. He and Brother Ming are working for you now. You didn’t come here looking for me today, did you? I’m retired from the life."
Lu Feng shook his head. "Don’t worry, Brother Zhui. I just came to hit the bags!"
’Are you kidding me? I’m trying to get my cousin and the others to go straight. Why would I ever try to drag Brother Zhui, who’s already left the life, back into it?’
"Just here to box, huh? Then come with me. You can use my employee pass." Relieved, Huang Chui led Lu Feng toward the boxing area.
When they got to the boxing area, Huang Chui tossed a pair of gloves to Lu Feng. "Xiaofeng," he said as Lu Feng put them on, "you can hit any of these bags. If you want to get in the ring, I can spar with you a little. Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you."
"Alright, Brother Zhui!" Lu Feng nodded with a smile, walked over to a punching bag, and started throwing punches. He used the moves from Basic Combat, making the bag THWACK loudly.
He wasn’t using his full strength, though. He wasn’t used to wearing gloves, and it made all his movements feel incredibly awkward.
’It was a strange feeling. The Basic Combat technique was etched into his brain, and he had the muscle memory for it, so why did this feel so unnatural?’
’Not only were his moves awkward, he couldn’t even put his full power into them.’
’This must be what they mean online when they say traditional martial arts are killing arts, and that it’s unfair to be restricted by rules in a ring.’
He suddenly understood what they meant.
Still, despite the awkwardness, his punches landed on the bag with impressive force and speed.
The few other people hitting bags nearby couldn’t help but look over.
Huang Chui watched in surprise. "Xiaofeng, have you trained before?"
"Just messed around a bit," Lu Feng answered evasively. ’It’s too hard to explain, so I’ll just let him think I’ve trained before.’
Huang Chui’s interest was piqued. "Want to get in the ring for a round? Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you."
"Sure!" Lu Feng nodded with a smile and climbed into the ring with Huang Chui.
This drew the attention of the few other people in the boxing area. Anyone working out here was clearly a boxing enthusiast, so when they saw two people about to spar, they naturally gathered around to watch.
Besides, they all recognized Huang Chui as the gym’s boxing coach. He was better than any of them.
"Alright, Xiaofeng, I’m starting," Huang Chui said after they were both ready.
Lu Feng nodded.
The next moment, they both moved. Lu Feng was a fraction slower, not because he was slower than Huang Chui, but because he intended to let his opponent make the first move.
The Basic Combat he had learned was a killing art, designed for the apocalypse, and it emphasized one-hit kills.
And sometimes, the most fatal blow was the one that exploited an opening, striking second but landing first.
His strength and speed were far superior to Huang Chui’s.
So, the instant Huang Chui threw a punch, Lu Feng’s own speed exploded as he shot a fist toward Huang Chui’s chest, aiming to land first.
But then he remembered this was just a spar and immediately pulled most of the force from his punch.
SMACK!~
His fist still landed on Huang Chui’s chest first. Even though he’d pulled his punch, the blow still made Huang Chui grunt and stare at Lu Feng in disbelief before retaliating with an uppercut.
Facing the uppercut, Lu Feng did a half-turn, spinning back with another strike aimed at Huang Chui’s throat. He hastily pulled most of the power from this blow as well, but the remaining force still made Huang Chui’s eyes water as he coughed for a long while.
"I’m done! I’m done!" Huang Chui waved his hands frantically. "Xiaofeng, who the hell taught you to fight like that? The chest, the throat... those are all killing blows!"
In just two moves, he had clearly seen the truth: he was no match for Lu Feng.
He could even feel Lu Feng pulling his punches at the last second. Otherwise, he might have been flat on his back.
And that was the truly shocking part.
He’d known Lu Feng for a long time, ever since he was a kid tagging along with his father, but he’d never heard anything about Lu Feng learning how to fight.
’Who knew he was this skilled?’
’And the whole time, he’d been saying *he* would go easy. How damn embarrassing.’
The spectators who had gathered around were staring at Lu Feng in utter disbelief. As bystanders, they had an even clearer view: Huang Chui was getting completely steamrolled.
And that was what was so astounding. They all knew how good Huang Chui was.
At the very least, none of them had ever been able to beat Huang Chui in the ring. Yet now, in the hands of this young man, he couldn’t even last a few exchanges.
It was simply unbelievable.