Romance of Dragons and Snakes

nded together into a congee.
I am but only a man of martial arts, I am not a Daoist Immortal from the legends who can ascend into the Heavens to evade the Earth.
I require food, I need to live.
I have parents, a country, an ethnicity, reasoning, and feelings.
I am born, I grow old, I grow sick, and I die, whether it be by gun or by human.”

Being tied up by the worldly affairs and have one’s will and intent shackled.
To a practitioner, that was deadly.

Due to his business becoming bankrupt, Zhang Wei was forced to enter a competition.
His heart and will to fight was not at its peak and was shackled.
That was the reason why he had lost.

After Wang Chao returned from Singapore and learned of Tang Zichen’s identity, his heart had felt a knot inside.
And after today where he had heard from Lin Yanan’s lips that not only did they know about his connection with Tang Zichen, but they had investigated it, the knot had only grown bigger.

To have such a knot in his heart, it would be incredibly dangerous to enter a match now.

Wang Chao was fully aware of this fact.
When he returned to his room to rest, he had adjusted his frame of mind and brought his shackles to mind for him to unravel and figure out what path he should take in the future.

Just as Wang Chao sat on his bed to unravel his mind of his thoughts, a scheduled plane was flying from Beijing to Hong Kong.
In the first class cabin sat three youths.

Amongst these three youths were two males and a female who all ranged from being 26 years old to 30 years old.
Although they wore casual attire, the aura they would occasionally emanate marked them out from the rest.

Amongst these two males was one who wore silver sportswear.
With slender white fingers that resembled jade, his body was well proportioned, resulting in a feeling that screamed perfection.

This male was extremely attractive with his facial appearances.
His skin was glossy without any creases, but it was unlike the faces of a pretty boy or gigolo.
His skin was red without any darkness, meaning he was extremely healthy.

His eyes fluttered shut and his lips remained motionless.
Just from his appearances, there lied a heroic and elegant air around him.

The other young male was quite different to the first.
Although his face was rather proper, it lacked grace.
And his skin was rough and dry.
His physique was robust and his joints were large.
His eyes seemed to radiate the light of a showboat like an unsheathed decorative blade.
In that frosty light, nothing was hidden.

The female was somewhat attractive.
Her eyebrows were like willow leaves and her eyelashes were quite long.
The skin on her face was healthy, but the skin on her hands were quite coarse while the skin on her joints had traces of old brown skin.
However, she carried herself upright and her eyes were quite intimidating.
Her slightly pointed lips had given off an air of haughtiness that would make it quite hard for any stranger to approach her.

“Brother Duan, although we have orders to take control of the situation this time in Hong Kong, I’m afraid it might not be as easy.”

The woman was sitting right next to the side of the male with the silver sportswear.
Tilting her head down, her bangs swayed to the side as she whispered in an extremely soft voice.

“That I know.” The silver sportswear wearing male opened his eyes slightly.
His lips barely seemed to move as a soft voice could be heard, “I’ve heard their side recently brought in a talented youth who made himself known of late.
Opening up a martial arts school in Shandong, it’s clear to see his objective–he wishes to gain influence and expand.
In a few years, he could possibly stamp out the sect of my teachers.
This time, he has imprisoned one of my shishu, and killed the other one.
Although my shishu have committed a crime, their intent on doing so is worth some time looking into.”

These three men were members of the Ministry of State Security sent to bring back Yong Bao.

The male wearing silver sportswear was the number one disciple of Shaolin, “National Arhat” Duan Guochao.
The other two were his colleagues, the female was named Chen Ke, and the male was called Dong Ling.
The both of them were experts at their jobs.

“Brother Duan, let me ask you, are your injuries from last time healed up? That mission where you had to infiltrate Japan and fight Iga Eiyu was incredibly dangerous.
Wasn’t it me that said, brother Duan, that your arrogance hasn’t been whittled away at all? You’re always talking about to Minister Wang Ziwen, and the higher ups always gives you a hard time by always giving you dangerous mission after dangerous mission.
If it weren’t for your connection to the Shaolin Temple, Wang Ziwen would have gotten rid of you already.” Chen Ke spoke up in concern.

“Chen Ke, it isn’t arrogance, but me being unyielding.
For us practitioners, this remains true for all of us.
To comply with the higher ups, to bow and scrape our knees, and to lick the boots of others, those are the actions of a puppet.” Duan Guochao’s eyes lit up.
“My injuries have healed a long time ago.
The Iga family is truly deserving to be called one of the two strongest families within the Japanese martial arts world.
That Iga Eiyu has already entered the Transforming Jin realm.
So I wonder, just what world has his elder brother, Iga Minamoto, stepped into? There’s also the master of Taichi in Singapore, Chen Aiyang.
I was tempted to take on several missions relating for him to see if I could exchange fists with him.”

“Brother Duan, back to our main subject at hand, do we know anything about the talented youth they have? He had to have been trained well if he was cultivated to go against the men of the Shaolin Temple as you say.
Do they think he is Zhang Sanfeng? How laughable.” Chen Ke’s lips curled up into a disdainful smile.

“Perhaps he won’t be the only one.
As the highest tree, our Shaolin Temple attracts the greatest winds.” Duan Guochao smiled as well.
“If there is just only one, then I will ensure to show the power of my teacher’s sect and eliminate that hidden threat.”