When Li Yan opened his eyes, what greeted him was a row of white fluorescent tubes; the noisy cheers around him and the pungent smell of cigarette smoke gave him a headache.
He sat up, feeling the concrete floor beneath him, and looked around.
Li Yan was sitting against a wall, directly facing a five-meter square fighting ring. To his left, hundreds of seats rose in disarray, filled with people who were screaming at the top of their lungs, frantically waving white paper tickets in their hands, their eyes bloodshot.
"Is this, underground boxing? Where's that fatso?"
Li Yan murmured to himself.
At that moment, in the midst of the deafening noise, a distinctly hoarse and deep voice clearly reached Li Yan's ears.
"Esteemed Walker, welcome to Yan Fu. We've prepared a new identity for you that won't arouse anyone's suspicion. Please feel free to cause a scene."
Following that, Li Yan clearly saw some black sooty characters on the wall beside him:
Time: AD 1986
Location: Mong Kok, 22.35 degrees north latitude, 113.5 degrees east longitude.
North of the New Territories of Hong Kong, Kowloon City, cramped, dirty, crowded, dark as night, drug dealing, smuggling, murder, robbery. Casinos, brothels, opium dens, heroin lounges, dog meat restaurants abound, lawless, rampant criminal forces.
This is the city of sin, the city of trash, the city of violence, and also the city of exorbitant profits...
The requirements for this Yan Fu event are as follows:
1. Fight to the seventh round in the Kowloon boxing ring.
2. Obtain any fragment of the Sink Hook Chen Record Book.
3. Awaken the Gu Huo Bird from the Sink Hook Chen.
(Upon completing any one condition, the Yan Fu event officially begins.)
You can stay for a maximum of one month. (Please note that if you lose the boxing match, regardless of the current progress of the Yan Fu event, you will return immediately.)
Mo's gift: Gain additional purchase privileges (1/1)
Your personal information is as follows:
Name: Li Yan
Status: Fever, inflammation, bleeding.
Expertise: Ancient Martial Arts 81%
Li Yan stood up, stared at the line about his expertise for a while, feeling there was something unfinished about it, but he couldn't quite figure it out yet.
As Li Yan was pondering these things, a hand reeking of sweat and cheap cigarettes lunged towards his head.
"Smack."
Li Yan grabbed the wrist of the incoming hand, just as he was about to exert force, he heard a string of curses like exploding soybeans beside his ear.
"Standing there like a zombie? Fuck! Get up on the stage and box."
He glanced at the man who had spoken, who was probably in his forties, wearing an ill-fitting suit. His face was filled with bulging flesh, his eyes round and the size of soybeans, looking a bit fierce but also somewhat comical.
Li Yan quickly lowered his head, released the man's wrist, and with a sidelong glance at the wall, sure enough, saw nothing but chaotic nicotine stains, making any words indiscernible.
The man had initially been startled by Li Yan's gaze but, seeing Li Yan lower his head, he quickly recovered his arrogant demeanor, straightened his suit, spat on the floor, and muttered, "Dumb as a rock."
"If he really managed to bring me to Hong Kong in 1986, then there's no reason why my illness couldn't be cured."
Li Yan walked towards the ring in silence, his heart trembling slightly.
"Next up, please welcome tonight's highest-stake fighter. He's really something, claiming he'll clear all levels tonight and defeat all six boxers below the stage."
The greasy, powdered host on the stage shouted into the microphone with an exaggerated tone, trying to whip up the atmosphere.
Li Yan didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable in this environment. The monster in the video store had stirred up a long-absent ferocity in him. He walked to the edge of the ring, about to step up, but was stopped by a security guard wearing black sunglasses.
"Over there."
The man pointed towards a few boxers standing underneath the ring.
Just then, a roar like a tidal wave erupted from the crowd. Li Yan looked up to see a dark-skinned, muscular man with crossed arms stepping onto the stage.
"Cha Chai! Cha Chai! Cha Chai!"
Li Yan looked at the man known as Cha Chai on the stage with a smile that was not quite a smile. He was wearing a tight tank top, his body rippling with muscles, and his knees and elbows were covered in thick calluses.
As if feeling Li Yan's gaze, Cha Chai turned his head and stared straight at Li Yan below the stage.
After exchanging glances with Cha Chai for a while, Li Yan walked towards the five boxers waiting below the stage for Cha Chai to choose from, but internally he was secretly astonished.
He saw a trace of dull red glow on this man's body, which seemingly went unnoticed by others. What was more interesting was that when he sized up the few boxers around him, he noticed the same red glow emanating from them as well, just fainter compared to Mo.
The host on the stage shrugged his shoulders and said in a deliberately nonchalant tone:
"There's no need to say how fierce Cha Chai can be. Those who bet on him to win are in for a profit today. Next, please, Cha Chai, choose your first opponent for the day."
Cha Chai's wolf-like vicious gaze was fixed on Li Yan until he walked to the center of the boxers, then he raised his hand to signal the host and pointed his finger at Li Yan!
A chorus of boos rose from the audience. This pale-faced, tall, and thin young man did not look like a fighter at all. Some of the seasoned bettors at the ring were sure that this was a face they had never seen before—either a hotheaded hooligan out to make a quick buck or a student so deeply in debt that he had been forced into the ring.
The host glanced at the slip in his hand and shouted loudly.
"Cha Chai has chosen boxer Li Yan. Li Yan, onto the stage!"
Li Yan loosened his shoulders and neck and flipped onto the stage.
Cha Chai flashed a cruel smile and made a throat-slitting gesture at the expressionless Li Yan.
Li Yan watched Cha Chai, who was swaying from side to side, leaned his body slightly back, and took the stance of a Bagua stepping pattern.
Some of the audience whistled from below.
"Kid, playing Bruce Lee won't help you win."
"It's just the first fight; just pick an easy target to knock around, and the later fights will be more lively."
Many in the crowd came with the expectation that Cha Chai would win six consecutive matches, not to mention those who had placed bets on him to win outright.
This man named Cha Chai was born in the Trang province of Southern Thailand and followed a Muay Thai master known as the Comet of Southern Thailand, Naifo! He had studied Muay Thai for twenty years and had kicked down who knows how many sour orange trees! Without sufficient strength and confidence, Cha Chai would not have dared to claim he would fight his way through the matches in Longcheng.
Suddenly, Cha Chai rushed over, hurling a fierce and fast punch straight at Li Yan's face. A barely perceptible hesitation of his left foot, and his knee was already poised to thrust. This was a common Muay Thai offensive routine: using the punch as a feint to open up the fight with a knee thrust. Once gaining the upper hand, it would lead to a torrential downpour of elbows and knees!
Li Yan stepped to the left, slightly bent his left palm to catch Cha Chai's wrist, lifted it, and his right hand shot straight past Cha Chai's right arm, hooking towards Cha Chai's neck.
This ghostly speed startled Cha Chai. His knee hadn't even lifted yet, but his opponent's palm was less than a foot from his throat! Instinctively, he dodged to the left, only for Li Yan to vanish from sight!
Before he could recover, there was a sensation as if a small hammer had firmly struck his knee pit. Cha Chai's lower body collapsed, and he fell to his knees, beads of cold sweat streaming down his forehead.
Behind him stood Li Yan, with an icy look on his face, just getting to his feet.
In the front row of the stands, a man wearing a gold chain around his neck and dressed in a white suit tilted his head and muttered to himself:
"Subduing Zi Xu? Bagua Palm?"
The man in the suit saw it clearly: Li Yan had passed under Cha Chai's armpit and kicked straight into the pit of his right knee.
It was indeed the "Subduing Zi Xu" from the Bagua Palm!
Astonishment swept through the audience.
What was going on? The Thai was knocked to the ground in the first exchange by an unknown newcomer.
Many angrily threw their tickets to the floor, the crowd was incensed, and they all questioned whether Cha Chai was throwing the fight.
Cha Chai stood up with a dark expression, moved his right leg a bit, and raised his fists at Li Yan.
"My turn."
This time, Li Yan lunged forward with a swift step, his right punch aimed at Cha Chai's cheek.
Cha Chai guardedly protected his face and firmly blocked the punch, but Li Yan's right leg sprang up, kicking towards Cha Chai's groin—the very move Cha Chai had intended to use!
A fierce light flashed in Cha Chai's eyes. Li Yan's fighting style was a great insult to him. Despite a lingering pain in his knee, he didn't hesitate to launch a knee strike.
But what Cha Chai failed to notice was his leg didn't lift very high and lacked power. As his leg was still in the air, Li Yan suddenly twisted his leg outward in a swift motion, unleashing astonishing speed and viciously striking Cha Chai on the side of his knee!
"Pop."
The shouting from the crowd abruptly ceased as they clearly saw Cha Chai's knee joint snap from Li Yan's brutal kick, his lower leg now at an unnatural angle. Cha Chai lost his balance and collapsed to the ground.
Li Yan touched his nose, which was already trickling with two streams of fresh blood.
He glanced at the host with wide eyes and tilted his head, "Announce it."
The host stared blankly at Cha Chai lying on the ground and swallowed hard before stammering out:
"The, the winner of this boxing match, Li Yan."
Cha Chai, who boasted he would fight his way through the matches, was floored in the first round, even leaving the experienced bettors in disbelief.
Li Yan on the stage, expressionless, raised his hand:
"Wasn't it about fighting through the matches? Since Cha Chai lost, who will fight me next?"