The Way of Restraint

Chapter 142: The Intent of Jeet Kune Do

After dinner, Su Jie and Gu Yang took a short break before leaving the Minglun Martial Arts Academy to head into town.

The town was becoming increasingly lively and prosperous, filled with foreign tourists everywhere.

Some areas were built in an ancient style, with storefronts mimicking the charm of the past, and the tourism industry was booming. D City had the best Martial Arts atmosphere and resources, along with a thousand-year-old ancient temple, the roots of martial arts.

Countless foreigners who loved Martial Arts came here every year to “pilgrimage.”

Haoyu was investing here, intending to create a Martial Arts town, buying land and starting large-scale construction.

Everywhere, one could see Haoyu’s billboards.

As Su Jie arrived in town, the food he had eaten was long digested, making it suitable for action.

He was here to find “Punishment.”

In a high-end hotel in town, luxurious and grand, “Punishment” was residing there, holding a foreign passport and considered an international friend.

Su Jie learned from Gu Yang about his room and went straight up to knock on the door.

The door opened automatically. Inside the room, a person was sitting on the sofa.

It was none other than “Punishment,” whose real name was Kong Dian, the one who had fought with Su Jie during the day.

Seeing Su Jie arrive, he showed no signs of panic, squinting his eyes: “Did Gu Yang send you as a negotiator? Let me be clear, he cannot escape the organization. Just come back with me obediently, or next time there will be more than just me looking for him. The only thing that surprises me is that he could teach a disciple like you. Your strength is decent, but don’t think that just because you exchanged a few moves with me in the Martial Arts Academy, you’re invincible. I’m just afraid you and Gu Yang might team up to attack.”

In truth, “Punishment” Kong Dian was greatly shocked by Su Jie’s strength.

“Let’s have another match,” Su Jie said. “If you win, I’ll leave immediately. If you lose, you’ll join Gu Yang and turn over a new leaf. How about that? It’s Gu Yang’s wish; he doesn’t want you brothers to keep fighting and killing.”

“Nonsense.” “Punishment” Kong Dian spat: “What am I even saying to a kid like you? You think you can just walk away after losing? In our world, there’s no win or lose, only life and death.”

“Fine,” Su Jie replied. “Let’s go find a quiet place outside.”

“If you want to die, then I can’t help it.” “Punishment” Kong Dian knew that this hotel was not a place for fighting.

If it were abroad, he would act without restraint, but domestically, he still had some reservations.

Su Jie walked straight out to the outskirts of the town, into the wilderness.

It was summer, and the weather was hot; the fields were filled with the sounds of chirping insects and croaking frogs, with many mosquitoes buzzing around.

The wilderness wasn’t completely dark; the light from the town allowed one to vaguely see faces.

Su Jie stopped on a ridge, watching “Punishment” Kong Dian approach from a distance.

Kong Dian had a dagger in his hand, sizing up Su Jie from five steps away: “Gu Yang sent you to find me, wanting to use my hands to train you. It’s a good idea, but doesn’t he fear that the seed he painstakingly nurtured might just be destroyed? Or does he believe I can’t kill you?”

“No killing, please.” Su Jie also drew a dagger, knowing that going unarmed against Kong Dian would be futile: “There are many things in this world worth fighting for. For example, this dagger in my hand will never kill you. In my heart, if this dagger can lead you to turn over a new leaf, it’s equivalent to saving many people.”

Dagger against dagger, there was a significant opportunity.

However, he didn’t intend to harm Kong Dian; he wanted him to realize that Gu Yang’s disciples could surpass him, prompting a change in his mindset.

“The former Judgment, Gu Yang, I don’t know how many people he has assassinated. Yet, his disciple is so naive?” Kong Dian let out a sharp laugh, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “Don’t blame me if you die later.”

Whoosh!

He lunged forward.

The dagger sliced toward Su Jie’s ribs at an awkward angle.

With his strength, if it struck, Su Jie’s kidneys and intestines would likely spill out.

Kong Dian’s strikes were ruthless and practiced; Su Jie felt that he attacked without any psychological barriers, like a butcher who had worked in a slaughterhouse for a lifetime, as if it were part of his job.

Any normal person would hesitate when picking up a knife to attack; even the most vicious criminals would only muster the courage to strike, losing their rationality in the process.

But Kong Dian’s attacks were fluid and natural, even possessing an artist’s mindset, terrifyingly calm.

He was a true world-class killer.

Su Jie felt a strong sense of impending death, the mindset of someone who had survived in a war-torn land, where one could fall at any moment under a hail of bullets, returned to him.

This mindset made him more focused than ever.

He didn’t condense his killing intent but instead concentrated all his attention on Kong Dian’s dagger. In his eyes, there was no longer “Punishment” Kong Dian; there was only the dagger.

Clang!

His dagger struck out precisely, intercepting “Punishment” Kong Dian’s dagger.

The two daggers clashed, creating a shower of sparks.

“Punishment” Kong Dian twisted his dagger, aiming for Su Jie’s eyes.

Su Jie barely glanced, raising his arm to block the dagger again. But Kong Dian’s move was a feint; he withdrew his dagger like a mirage and suddenly launched a thrust, the dagger aimed directly at Su Jie’s heart.

This method of using the dagger was akin to the “flying sword” from ancient myths, wielded at will, directed by intent rather than controlled by the arm.

It was this incredible technique with the dagger that made Su Jie deeply feel the terror of these super killers. If a fighting champion clashed with them on the street, they would be killed in one move without any suspense, and there would be no chance for any empty-handed disarm.

If Su Jie hadn’t had a dagger in his hand, he would have likely fled in panic by now.

“Punishment” Kong Dian’s strength surpassed even that of Dalu, and it was unclear how he had been trained.

In a moment of peril, Su Jie suddenly rolled and jumped out, dodging the lethal strike. After all, he had trained with the God Maker Odell in dagger techniques and had now mastered his own Martial Arts, but he still couldn’t withstand Kong Dian’s dagger.

If it were an ordinary person wielding a dagger, Su Jie could use various techniques, even directly pinning them down with muscle.

But Kong Dian’s dagger was too cunning and fierce; to resist it with flesh and blood was tantamount to seeking death.

He could only use a dagger against a dagger.

Kong Dian’s dagger came at him like a shadow.

Su Jie raised his hand to intercept!

He applied all his skills from the “hoe and shovel” technique to the dagger, treating the dagger as a hoe.

However, he never aimed to attack Kong Dian; his main goal was to intercept and deflect the dagger.

The cold light flickered.

The two men moved like rabbits, and in just a few breaths, their daggers had clashed over ten times.

No matter how Kong Dian attacked, Su Jie accurately intercepted his dagger, preventing any lethal strikes from landing, which frustrated Kong Dian. But as a killer, he was extremely patient; this minor annoyance didn’t affect his mood at all.

He was looking for Su Jie’s angles and flaws.

Under this pressure, Su Jie felt increasingly exhilarated, and suddenly, he understood the meaning of “Jeet Kune Do.”

When the enemy approached, relying on the advantage of short distance, quickly intercepting the enemy’s attack, and then counterattacking.

Because the enemy attacks you from a distance, when they reach you, using your own hands to intercept their incoming punches theoretically gives you an advantage, but in practice, it is extremely difficult; even practiced fighters cannot intercept accurately.

In many cases, it’s just that you fail to intercept, and the opponent’s punches come at you, leaving you flustered and then knocked to the ground.

But Su Jie had also gone through many life-and-death battles, with abundant physical strength, a calm mindset, and clear Divine Consciousness.

In this process of repeatedly intercepting daggers, he felt that “Punishment” Kong Dian had become a good coach for him, with each strike rapidly improving his skills.

Even training with Gu Yang couldn’t achieve this effect, as Gu Yang wouldn’t harbor any killing intent towards him, leading to distorted training.

But “Punishment” Kong Dian was deadly serious; every strike was a lethal attack, forcing Su Jie to concentrate all his spirit and think of every possible way to cope.

Kill!

“Punishment” Kong Dian moved left and right, finally seizing a flaw in Su Jie, stabbing the dagger toward his throat.

Su Jie felt a chill in his throat, but at that moment, his mind calmly broke through a certain critical point. As he shrank his neck down, the dagger seemed to magically appear at his throat.

The dagger seemed to have suddenly appeared, as if it had “transformed” from somewhere else.

He accurately intercepted Kong Dian’s dagger.

Clang!

The two forces collided, and both daggers broke into two pieces.

But just as the daggers shattered, several cold flashes shot out from Kong Dian, aiming for Su Jie’s eyes, carotid artery, arms, and even the tendons in his feet.

Hidden weapons!

Su Jie found himself once again in a life-and-death situation, but this time, his footwork was like magic. Just as the hidden weapons were about to reach him, he suddenly stepped, appearing on the other side.

This was a true breakthrough of the brain and eyes’ “instant movement.”

After mastering Odell’s “Magic Step,” even in the eyes of experts, it was like “instant teleportation.”

Six blades appeared on the ground.

These blades looked extremely sharp, and at high speed, cutting through human blood vessels was no problem at all.

But Su Jie still managed to dodge.

“Kong Dian, this ends here for today. You can’t do anything to me, and I haven’t gained anything either. I’ll come find you again tomorrow.” Su Jie smiled, exerting himself to run, already sprinting dozens of meters away. His speed in the hundred-meter dash was astonishing; if he were to compete, he could probably reach ten seconds in the hundred meters.

Seeing Su Jie run away, Kong Dian knew it would be hard to catch up, narrowing his eyes into a slit.