Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 193: A Battle of Dragons in the Fields With Blood Both Black and Yellow (First)

He was captivated. Spellbound by the one Wang Chao considered his sister. Someone that had irrefutably changed the entire direction of his life—Tang Zichen.

“You haven’t changed at all, sis. Even now, you look the same as before.” Wang Chao’s eyes met Tang Zichen’s. All that he could feel in his heart was jubilation. No longer was he a grandmaster with the aura of an experienced veteran. In this one moment, he was back to the young and naive teen from years ago.

Hesitantly, Wang Chao’s arm stretched out and back in several times before finally latching onto both of Tang Zichen’s hands firmly. To him, her arms may as well be the happiness he wanted for himself to never let go.

Tang Zichen made no moves to evade him and instead allowed him to grab hold of her. Not a single tidbit of emotion could be seen on her face but the cloudy mist in her eyes in her silent observation of Wang Chao. Ever so silently, she studied the young brother she had once taught.

Like it was before, Tang Zichen’s hands were soft, smooth, and exquisite with a tinge of her aroma to it. Even now, Wang Chao could only feel as if he had been casted into the seventh heaven.

“Even if I were to die today, I’d have no regrets now that I’m able to grab onto sis Chen’s hand. If only time would stand still so that I’d not need to let go.”

This one thought swam through Wang Chao’s mind. He was happy. The happiest he had ever been in his entire life.

Whatever victories he won, whatever money he made, whatever rank he earned, whatever improvements he learned. The happiness and bliss he gained from those achievements didn’t even measure up to a fraction of the happiness he felt now.

To hold onto sis Chen’s hand again was a moment eternal.

“Little brother, you’ve grown up.” The joint in Tang Zichen’s wrist squirmed just enough to pull away from Wang Chao’s grasp.

But he followed after her as if unwilling to lose her yet again. But when he moved to do so, Tang Zichen gave a slight shake of her head.

“Little brother, we shouldn’t have met. This’ll only give you a hard time.” Tang Zichen’s hand caressed Wang Chao’s face.

Wang Chao’s face wasn’t what it was from before. It wasn’t the supple flesh of that of a youngster. It was a face that experienced many hardships and matured by trial by fire.

“Sis. If I never met you, I’d live the rest of my life in mediocrity. It wouldn’t be filled with the marvels that you’ve given me today.” Wang Chao reached out again to grab at her hand.

Smiling, Tang Zichen’s arm turned over with all of the hair on her arm standing straight up as if the quills on a porcupine.

His heart skipping a beat, Wang Chao twisted his waist and lifted his foot ever so slightly to step back down onto the ground. His arms bent just slightly with a smooth curvature to the webbing between his thumb and index finger for an optimal submission technique. But then something happened. The very same hand that grabbed onto Tang Zichen’s arm turned red while white mist began to rise up from it.

This was the Hidden Jin that Wang Chao would use to counteract against Tang Zichen’s Jin. It was a perfect mixture of the utmost softness and the utmost hardness while also maintaining a vigorous cannon-like blast. At its release, the sweat from his arm would evaporate into thin air in a way unlike what most normal experts would do.

Tang Zichen’s Hidden Jin dissipated as fast as it was released with an extreme softness to it as if her hands were as soft as mud fish. Within these hands was the hidden floweriness of Baguazhang which allowed her to slide out from Wang Chao’s own hands. The joints in her fingers twitched just minutely enough for her fingers to flick out to jab at his waist.

With a fist like a hammer, Wang Chao brought it down like a pendulum to block Tang Zichen’s jab.

“Little brother, your martial arts has already reached the peak of Transforming Jin almost. Your older sister can’t toss you around as easily as I’d like anymore.”

Having failed in her attack, Tang Zichen drew back to allow Wang Chao to close in. The sight of the two fighting was reminiscent of the days when Wang Chao studied under her tutelage.

This gave rise to even more nostalgia from Wang Chao.

“Actually, it should be me that shouldn’t have met sis. But in the end, I couldn’t help it. It had nothing to do with you. I chose this decision.”

This appraisal from Tang Zichen was far more important than anyone else’s in Wang Chao’s opinion. No matter how respected or feared he was, no matter what moniker he was given, it did not beat Tang Zichen’s praise. Wang Chao the undefeated, Wang Chao the Immortal. Those didn’t matter to him.

But he knew that the main reason why he had such an esteemed status in China and such a high promotion in the organization wasn’t only just because he was a talented genius whose martial arts prowess was outstanding. It was also because of Tang Zichen.

His martial arts had underwent a magical transformation to shine brilliantly. It had experienced a trial by fire that brought his senses to their limits and his perception to its zenith. He was as calm as water, and a grandmaster at a ripe young age with no deviation in his ability to do as he could.

Ever since he became capable of Transforming Jin after his fight with the “Little Wargod” Zhou Binglin, Wang Chao’s understanding had increased by a tremendous amount. He could not only guess how Zhou Binglin had managed to maintain his strength at its peak, he could comprehend it. Whether it was when Zhou Binglin ate, slept, worked, or rested, his actions were perfect in all aspects, and empty in none.

Just gradually, he became someone whose Qi was sharp like a spear but pointed inwardly until the last moment. Nothing was shown and everything was hidden with his demeanor. This was what was said to be the realm of “swallowing the Golden Elixir” in the Study of Baguazhang.

A state like this was close to what was known as the path into the divine. A place where no human could violate. A thorough hole in what was known as life. Naturally, he knew that he himself was just an important clue to the whereabouts of Tang Zichen.

The moment when he saw Tang Zichen again was the day that his superiors planned on setting their plans into motion.

Being a major general was nothing more than a shackle. And if that were the shackles, then his assets and status were the ball and chains.

“Sis’ identity is far too mysterious if the higher ups are using so much energy on fostering a clue like me to get a clue on her.”

His intelligence was practically at a freakish level. On the airplane, he knew that Tang Zichen had arrived in Korea the moment he saw Choi Jang Baek and Miyagi Yoshida beaten up on the newspapers. As soon as he got out from the hotel, he made sure to hurry on by himself outside to be by himself. By following his senses, he was able to get to Tang Zichen.

She didn’t notify him, and she wasn’t connected to him either. He found her out himself.

It was a test. If his martial arts wasn’t yet at a stage where he could sense even life itself, he wouldn’t have the right to meet Tang Zichen. Neither would he be able to cope with the series of chain reactions that’d happen with their meeting.

“Sis, I’ve measured myself up with countless of martial artists within China and observed many different disciplines. I’ve put my life on the line countless of times, and yet I’ve not yet lost.”

He was in a hurry to recount his achievements to her. Starting from his competition with the Wingchun practitioner Zhang Wei, the Japanese youth Ye Xuan, his chance meeting with Liao Junhua and Dai Jun, the lesson from Chen Aiyang with the Flying Horse Treading Sparrow, his match with Cheng Shanming and how he used the Rising Wave of Dragon and Snake to win the upper hand before finally becoming friends, and then to how he learned the secrets of practicing martial arts underwater.

Then came the story of how he killed Duan Guochao, to how he fought many masters in Beijing, to how he tore of Zhou Binglin’s arm, and then to his public match with Nguyễn Hồng Tú.

Each and every battle was retold with the brightest imagery and the liveliest descriptions Wang Chao could muster. Him retelling his memories of the battle made Wang Chao feel like a kid trying his best to impress his older sister.

Every so often, Tang Zichen would interject and offer up her perspective or tips on where Wang Chao went wrong.

“You may all go back.” She ordered the women around her.

“But–your safety, sister Chen.” The head woman protested.

“In this place, the ones that aren’t safe are you. In this world, what could possibly befall me or my little brother?” Tang Zichen waved them off with a smile.

The women all looked at Wang Chao with an incredulous stare, but they immediately scattered into the city and disappeared out of sight.

“To not put your life on the line again and again is to never improve your martial arts. Little brother, your experience has well and truly made you grow. I wanted you to live an ordinary life, but it seems that was wishful thinking.”

The two of them sat down on a stone bench near the riverbank.

From the outside, this conversation looked nothing more than one between a male and female. But who would have thought that it was actually a conversation between two grandmasters whose martial arts had basically transcended humanity into that of an arhat? The hands of these two were stained with the lives of many.

“Little brother, there’s a clear gateway from the Clear Jin to Hidden Jin. How did you overcome that?” Tang Zichen suddenly asked.

Thinking back to what elder Li said to him before, Wang Chao immediately repeated what he had learned from one year ago.

“Harmony of the mind and will, harmony of the will and Qi, and harmony of the Qi and power.”

Tang Zichen nodded her head in satisfaction before turning it to the sky. “The history of men like elder Li are what we can say to be ‘a battle of dragons in the fields with blood both black and yellow’. They are dragons of the greatest caliber, but it’s a shame that the later generation bore no one with as sharp fangs or the determined aura as they had.”

“A battle of dragons in the field. Their blood being both black and yellow.” This was something Wang Chao chewed his mind over once before when reading the Book of Changes, but it was only with Tang Zichen’s words that he finally made the last connection to everything. He could see the vivid history of elder Li and the men of his generation, and how hostile the environment was.

Thinking back to when Wang Chao headed straight for the military district in Beijing to visit the old man, he was able to integrate himself with elder Li’s history. He too was also able to understand that no one else had fangs as sharp as a dragon and a temperament like one. On the contrary, Wang Chao felt himself to be as sinister as a snake instead.

The internal strife that followed Duan Guochao’s death restricted the Shaolin Temple. His battle in Hong Kong earned Cao Yi a lot of money. He was involved in plenty of major events.

“Ai! Guoshu is Guoshu. A strong country has strong seeds. And to have strong seeds means to be truly strong. To not have strong seeds means that a country will be short-lived.” Tang Zichen immediately headed straight for another line of thought. “The Qing Dynasty was where the nation was strong enough to be called number one in the world. But without a strong seed, it quickly fell into decline. It was in this era that Guoshu was at its golden era.”

“Sis Chen, they’re here.” Wang Chao’s ears perked up.

“Ai! They are your colleagues after all. Let us talk then.” Tang Zichen stood up.