Chapter 42  

"Huh?....." Jia Shao let out a low questioning sound and she frowned slightly. The next moment, she subconsciously moved to stand in front of Zhen Lang in a defensive stance.

Just as she moved a step, the tight dress made her trip and at that moment when she swayed, Zhen Lang held down her hands. Quietly, he stood in front of her with a calm expression. "Gentlemen, if you are a bit tight, there is money in my wallet which you can feel free to borrow."

He shielded Jia Shao and very smoothly, he pulled out his wallet from his pocket. Taking all the money out of it, he handed the money to the man standing in front nearest to him. "Consider this as my treat to a meal for everyone."

The stack money was not considered little and with a glance, it amounted to several thousand. The leader of the group of men narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze on Zhen Lang's face.

"We both don't have any valuable jewelry on us." Zhen Lang took the initiative to pull his collar opened to show he did not have anything valuable on him.

The man nearest to Zhen Lang threw a glance at his partner standing behind him who was holding an iron pipe and then reached out to take the money from Zhen Lang. Brushing the money across his palm, he said. "Kid, since you have the wisdom to do the right thing, you can go."

Zhen Lang held on tightly to Jia Shao and gave her hand a squeeze. Instantly she became quiet. Standing behind him, only her pair of big eyes moved, rolling around to look at the men.

Zhen Lang placed his arm around Jia Shao's waist and led her out of the alley. She just took a step forward when a voice sounded behind her. "Wait."

Zhen Lang halted his footsteps and just like before, he stood in front of Jia Shao to shield her.

The man moved two steps forward and stood in front of Zhen Lang. His eyes with a cold expression rested on the person behind him. "I said you can leave but I didn't say the person beside you can leave."

The moment Zhen Lang lifted his eyebrows, his manner became even calmer. The sharpness of his gaze instantly exceeded the dimness of the streetlights around him as he stared straight at the men in front of him.

The man unconsciously retreated two steps when he saw the sudden change on Zhen Lang's face and was stunned for a few seconds.

Looking at the seven or eight companions around him, the man bravely pushed his chest out. "Kid, to be honest, we are only looking for the woman named Jia. This has nothing to do with you and since just now you have shown you are smart and did the right thing, this old man will not give you trouble. This is not the time to act like a hero."

"The woman named Jia?" The corner of Zhen Lang's mouth twitched. "So, this doesn't seem like a sudden decision."

"We have been squatting here for a few days until finally, you have made an appearance."

"Damn!......." Another man standing at the side fiercely spat on the ground next to him. "Finally, this deal can be settled.........."

Before the man could finish what he wanted to say, the man in front of him turned around and gave him a hard slap on his face suddenly cutting off the remaining sentence.

Then the man raised his face towards Zhen Lang. "This old man likes this woman. You'd better scram or else you will be disposed of today."

"How should I scram?" The calm gaze of Zhen Lang did not change even a bit. "Can you show me?"

The man's face turned pale. "You're looking for death!"

"Where is death? I don't see it. Why don't you help me find it?" Zhen Lang kept Jia Shao behind him and with one hand inside his pants pocket, he still had a lazy and casual appearance.

Anger was reflected in the man's eyes and picking up an iron pipe in his hand, he furiously lowered the pipe on Zhen Lang's head. "You will see it immediately!"

His movements were very fast and the iron pipe in his hand broke through the air with a ringing sound. It could be seen that the man delivering the blow was savage and crazy.

It looked as if Zhen Lang was scared out of his wits and he stood still without avoiding the blow. He watched with dull eyes as the iron pipe fell on his head and his face was expressionless.

But his hands were completely inconsistent with his seemingly sluggish expression and he gave Jia Shao a push to move her further behind his back.

It was a pity that this push could not stop someone's powerful strength. Her slender legs kicked out and a snow-white figure erupted like thunder........

*Si!.......*

"Ah!......."

*Dang-lang!........*

The man in front staggered backward about 2 meters away and fell heavily on his back. The iron pipe in his hand flew from his hand in an arc cutting through the night sky and landed far away.

Everyone present was shocked.

The man who had fallen on the ground remained motionless for a while. All the men he brought with him only stared at him. They forgot to assist him and they also forgot about the man and woman standing in front of them.

Jia Shao widened her big eyes and surprise was mirrored in her eyes as she stared at the man standing beside her. Suddenly, she felt that this man whom she had known for more than 20 years had become somewhat like a stranger to her.

Just now when she kicked out, the tight dress on her had hindered her movements. Just now, her kick was too powerful and it had caused her skirt to split into a two-piece design.

But that was not the main point......the main point was that when her leg kicked out, she struck empty air and only saw the man flying away miserably.

"You......"

It was a long time before she found her voice and she could only fix her eyes on the person next to her.

If she was not mistaken with what she saw, just now this man's move was faster than hers and the explosion of his gathered strength was so strong that it was way beyond her capability to muster.

This is by no means the gap between ordinary men and women, especially the angle and direction of that leg kick. She is very familiar.......very, very familiar with it.

Zhen Lang threw her a brief glance and only said two words. "Behind you."

Suddenly, Jia Shao's mind became clear. At the same time, those men had also regained their senses and surrounded the two people. Waving the iron pipes in their hands, the men rushed at them.

Without a word, Jia Shao began to bounce with flexibility on her feet and clenching her fists, she kicked on the jaw of the man nearest to her. Instantly, the man knelt down holding his jaw, groaning in pain.

She landed a fist on another man's nose and before Jia Shao could gloat over her precise hit, a hand reached out to pull her backward just in time to avoid a blow from an iron pipe.

A calm voice drifted into her ear. "Be careful. This is not a training session."

He is right. This is not a training session. This is not a step-by-step attack and defense-training session between fellow trainees. There are no restrictions on the rules of this game and the main aim is to bring down the other person. Their opponents have no rules to abide by, no restrictions to control them and they also have weapons in their hands.

She is fast, he is even faster and at this moment, the man's power exploded. Every move he made landed with a dull thud on the body and almost every time the other person would fall to the ground.

This is a street fight! When so many people are involved, this is called a gang fight!

Jia Shao is once again a little lion, surrounded by several people. There were constant sounds of iron pipes falling and even if her defensive moves become faster, she could only guarantee her own safety. With calm judgment, occasionally, she would also fight back.

The two people had their backs against each other, protecting each other. She did not have time to ask Zhen Lang how he could have such sturdy fighting skills and only stared fixedly at the group of men in front of her.

"Hit the woman!" It was not known who had shouted out and at the same time, the men in front of her rushed at her. It seems that weapons, kicks, and fists were all aimed at Jia Shao simultaneously.

She turned her body slightly sideways and grabbed the hand holding an iron pipe that was aiming at her face. Then she hit the man's elbow like a knife cutting through and the man could not keep his hold, released the iron pipe in his hand. Jia Shao took advantage and swiftly flipped his wrist backward. The man screamed out in pain and holding his snapped wrist, he fell to the ground.

Jia Shao only had time to knock down one man but was not fast enough to avoid another man who was charging at her madly with an iron pipe raised in his hand. She saw the man coming at her but she did not have any more strength to ward off the blow.

She could only try her best to dodge and mentally prepared herself for that blow.

A hand stretched out with the speed of lightning from her side to hit the man's lower abdomen fiercely. At the moment when the man bent over, an elbow landed on his back and there was a dull thud.

Fast......Accurate......And the most important is......Ruthless!

When the elbow came into contact with the man's body, Jia Shao momentarily took her eyes off him, feeling the poor man's pain but she did not slow down her moves. Her toes kicked up from the ground and with a powerful force, landed between the man's legs.

Similarly ruthless, Jia Shao had to turn a blind eye to the coach's repeated teachings. At this time, she has only one aim and that is to protect Zhen Lang and protect herself.

Facing ten men wielding weapons and being constantly attacked, even people who are well-trained in martial arts will eventually be physically exhausted. Gradually, Jia Shao began to feel her kicks and fist moves were not as forceful and nimble as before.

Breathing heavily and panting, she looked at the man standing in front of her, shielding her and depending on this one person's strength, he had to counter attacks from the remaining few men.

His movements were more fluid and compared to hers, they were more concise, more clear-cut and more powerful. Every hit was precise, every hit was aimed at the weak points and in a few moments, two more men were brought down.

When another man fell, the remaining two to three people in front of them no longer dared to move forward. The men looked at the both of them then suddenly they turned around and fled.

Zhen Lang turned to look at Jia Shao with concern. "Are you alright?"

Shaking her head, she looked at him with amazement. "Did you mix around with that Old Man?"

Each coach has his own different teaching styles and techniques. Because of Jia Shao's interest, even if she did not get to enter the national team, she had participated in many competitions. She had involved herself in a lot of discussions and exchanges with many famous teachers in the country. From the moves that Zhen Lang had made just now, she was very certain that those were the Old Man's tactical moves.

It was not a simple mix of fighting moves. Those kinds of neat moves, those kinds of explosive moves were skills of mastery that could only be developed after years and years of training, but why was she not even aware of this?

Zhen Lang is generally known to be calm, not to mention practicing with his fists and legs, even a slightly fierce action from him had never been seen before. One who had always been calm and indifferent could actually be so powerful, so similar to the powerful eruption of a volcano.

"I didn't mix around with him. He was the one who kept pestering me." Zhen Lang smiled. He reached out to wipe the sweat on Jia Shao's forehead and looked down into her eyes. "You should be clearer than me on his persistence."

She could not help but reach out her hands to knead his arms. Unable to control her herself, she stared at his face and gave him a hard pull. "Are you really Vet? You're not someone in disguise, are you?"

Zhen Lang lifted up his hands to his face and revealed a smiling expression. "You have read too many martial arts novels."

"But......" She could not really believe that a man whom she had known to be soft and weak for 20 years had suddenly turned into a martial arts master.

Just based on that fight earlier, she was sure that if this guy had participated in competitions, he would have at least landed in the top 3 positions and he had hidden it so well.........

It is difficult for her to accept.

For so many years, she had proclaimed she wanted to beat him up and bash him. The numerous times she had been merciful and careful, afraid of making him land up in the hospital, the numerous time she just brushed past his face and did not dare to use force on him......all turned out to be because she had affections for the other party.

Zhen Lang watched as the expressions on her face kept changing. On the ground, there were still a few people who were groaning miserably in pain. He supported her by putting his arms around her. "The police should be here soon. Do you want to rest for a while?"

It was only now that Jia Shao felt a slight pain in her ankle. The pain was slowly rising from her ankle and her calf started to tremble involuntarily.

In the past, she had hurt this ankle and if she did general exercises it would not give her any problem. But just now she had exerted a lot of force during that life-threatening fight and now it seems her old injury is starting to give her problem again.

She tried to move her leg and there was a familiar numbness. She looked up and said. "It seems like it is dislocated."

Zhen Lang stooped down. "I'll take you to the hospital."

Jia Shao leaned on him to look down at her ankle injury and was completely unaware of what was happening behind her. The man who was the first person to fall down earlier had slowly got up and gripping something in his hand, he charged at her.

Almost instinctively, the sensitive Jia Shao turned her head around and the thing in the man's left hand flashed brightly before a very strong beam of light hit Jia Shao on her face, making her instantly sink into a blinding state.

She could not see anything and subconsciously, turned away her face to dodge the glaring light.

*Ka!* The spring assisted knife popped out and the knife sliced down the side of her face.

Throwing both arms around her, Zhen Lang embraced her tightly, shielding her face entirely with his arms and the knife sliced through the air then slid down his arm.

It was too late for the man to cause any further damage. Zhen Lang fiercely kicked into his chest and the man landed on the ground again.

From afar, there were sounds of a siren. The people who were lying on the ground struggled to get up and rush away to escape.

In front of Jia Shao's eyes was only darkness with blurry lights and shadows constantly swaying. She could only hear the sounds of a siren getting closer and closer and the sounds of chaotic footsteps.

She was holding onto Zhen Lang's arm when she felt the palm of her hand getting warmer and the smell of blood began to drift and spread.

"Vet, what's wrong?" She fiercely shook her head and with much difficulty, she was finally able to recover her eyesight. Then she saw Zhen Lang's snow-white shirt sleeve covered with a patch of shocking red.