Chapter 75

Not knowing how much time had passed, Green Hair suddenly snapped back to reality. He sprinted over to Black Bear, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and shook his head, muttering, “Boss, wake up, you can’t fall asleep.”

The Eight Great Apes, seeing their leader knocked out cold by Song Haowen’s punch, with several ribs possibly broken, though finding it unbelievable, knew what to do in such situations.

Without hesitation, they exchanged glances and raised various weapons such as sticks, steel pipes, knives, and three-section staffs, all charging towards Song Haowen.

The onlookers, still recovering from shock, witnessed Song Haowen plunging into extreme danger. Not only was he facing eight thugs armed with weapons, but even if they were unarmed, challenging one against eight was a daunting task.

Faced with this overwhelmingly one-sided situation, even his diehard fans dared not join this brutal battle. Apart from silently praying, they felt utterly helpless.

However, in the midst of danger, Song Haowen remained fearless. He swiftly stepped backward, evading the direct attacks from the Eight Great Apes.

With a quick motion of his hands behind him, as if he had eyes on his back, he seized two of Green Hair’s lackeys blocking his retreat.

Then, with a powerful swing of his arms, the two thugs were sent flying towards the Eight Great Apes charging forward.

Before the Eight Great Apes could react, they had no time to retract their attacks. The weapons in their hands struck their comrades, causing two of them to suffer serious injuries. Amidst the screams, they fainted, oblivious to their fates.

This move by Song Haowen frightened Green Hair’s lackeys, who, though not retreating immediately, dared not get too close. They could only watch their opponent from a safe distance, refraining from shouting slogans.

The Eight Great Apes, thinking they were about to hit Song Haowen, inadvertently harmed their own comrades instead. They were left bewildered.

Seizing the moment of their confusion, Song Haowen swiftly reached the Eight Great Apes, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks. In a matter of moments, all eight thugs were knocked down.

After dealing with the Eight Great Apes, Song Haowen executed a graceful mid-air turn, landing right in front of Green Hair. Terrified, Green Hair couldn’t move a step to escape. This time, Song Haowen didn’t show mercy. With a swift kick, he broke one of Green Hair’s legs.

Following that, Song Haowen took down the remaining lackeys of Green Hair one by one. From knocking out Black Bear with a single punch to defeating the last thug, the entire sequence took no more than a minute. Spectators felt dizzy and confused, unable to comprehend what had just happened, and the fight was already over.

Suddenly, applause erupted from the crowd. It intensified like a storm, accompanied by shouts of “We love you, Song Haowen,” “Song Haowen, you’re so handsome,” “Song Haowen is a hero,” and more.

Before long, police officers arrived at the scene. After interviewing Song Haowen and gathering evidence from the crowd, they allowed Song Haowen to leave.

The thugs involved in the brawl, regardless of injuries, were all handcuffed and taken away, awaiting strict legal consequences.

When Song Haowen returned to the store riding his bike, it was already past eleven at night. Tonight, Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua didn’t return to the dormitory; they stayed in the store.

The commotion caused by Song Haowen’s return awakened the two girls from their dreams. They came out wearing their clothes, asking him why he was coming back so late.

U8i[iUnwilling to reveal that he was late due to a fight, he vaguely mentioned something about an issue in the music room that delayed him.

Upon hearing Song Haowen’s explanation, Zhu Hongyu and Ren Hua didn’t want to inquire further. After bidding each other good night, they went back to their respective rooms to rest.

Reflecting on the two fights he had today, Song Haowen felt that his martial arts skills were proving useful. In the future, he thought it would be good to further enhance his skills. If he encountered similar situations, he could handle them more effortlessly.

However, what puzzled Song Haowen was that since his rebirth, not only had his martial arts improved, but his courage had also strengthened significantly, making him extremely confident.

In his previous life, he was timid and inclined to compromise, never engaging in physical confrontations and certainly not brawling with a dozen people.

Yet, since his rebirth, he had already been in several fights, both big and small. Shortly after arriving, he fought with Huang Mao, the cousin of his classmate Zhu Yuanyuan.

Although those he fought against were just street ruffians and lacked real combat skills, he still faced multiple opponents at once.

Later, Song Haowen had a dispute with a group led by Zheng Yishui from the brigade. These guys were inexperienced and relied solely on brute strength.

While their fighting techniques were laughable, being taller and stronger in numbers made them difficult opponents.

On his way to report to Beijing University, Song Haowen fought four hijackers single-handedly on a bus, showing no fear.

In his previous life, if faced with such a situation, he would likely have chosen a safe path, avoiding any unnecessary troubles.

During the first semester, Song Haowen intervened twice to help Qian Youlai and Ren Hua, both times acting without hesitation.

Today, facing the green-haired, black bear, and Eight Great Apes, who were not ordinary small-time thugs but wielded serious weapons, he still faced them without fear and dared to take action.

Thinking about all this, Song Haowen couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, and sleep seemed to elude him. He had to get off the bed and practice some Tai Chi.

Then, he squatted into a horse stance, performed breathing exercises, and imagined the true energy described in martial arts novels, hoping to discover it within himself.

Song Haowen knew that in the previous decade, influenced by Hong Kong and Taiwan martial arts novels, there was a Qi Practitioner in China. Qi associations were established everywhere, but very few genuine Qi masters were found, and many frauds were exposed. Considering the development from his previous life, he expected that soon there would be a nationwide Qi Practitioners, and Qi associations would emerge at all levels.

The understanding of Qi in his previous life was extremely complex and confusing due to concepts like true qi, elemental qi, internal energy, and spiritual power.

From martial arts novels to cultivation novels, they created concepts like qi cultivation, foundation building, golden core, primordial infant, Nascent Soul, and enlightenment, Nirvana, confusing countless Qi practitioners with dreams and uncertainties.

To practice martial arts, one must endure hardship and, more importantly, persevere. In the previous life, due to the fast pace of life and the fear of enduring significant hardships during practice, lacking perseverance, many practitioners focused on superficial achievements, sought quick results, and achieved little in Martial Arts.

Those who could generate internal energy from true qi were even rarer. In that life, there were thousands of Qi practitioners, but few understood the basic acupoints and meridians. Most were clueless.

In the previous life, the most common street performances of Qi were hardening, such as breaking large stones with the body, palm-breaking bricks, iron cloth shirts, golden bell shields, and even necks supporting javelins.

These held no attraction for Song Haowen. He preferred light skills like soaring through the clouds, walking on water, and leaving no trace in the snow.

Moreover, he fantasized about one day possessing powerful internal energy, enabling him to acupuncture from a distance, heal the sick, perform miracles with a snap of his fingers, and exhibit extraordinary martial arts skills.

Song Haowen in his previous life knew that such thoughts were unrealistic and naive, pure fantasies. However, he couldn’t resist being deeply attracted to them.

Whenever he had free time, he couldn’t help but search for secret manuals. It was like most smokers who, despite knowing the harm, believed that smoking wasn’t that dangerous and wouldn’t have immediate effects, allowing them to keep smoking despite pledging to quit.

In his previous life, Song Haowen had practiced Qi techniques for a long time based on publicly available martial arts books.

He studied meridians and acupoints extensively but gained nothing. He couldn’t sense any true qi within his body, let alone produce internal energy.

Tonight, unable to sleep, he turned to qigong as a way to calm his mind and pass the time.

Ironically, in his previous life, Song Haowen found a handwritten silk book claiming to be a secret martial arts manual titled “Tai Chi Profound Art.”

The silk paper seemed quite old, possibly over a hundred years. Despite spending a hundred yuan, he found the content mostly incomprehensible, resembling the ramblings of a madman.

After a week of fruitless study and consulting with experts, the book was dismissed as worthless.

Embarrassed, he understood that he had not found a hidden gem but a useless item. The book was eventually stored away and lost track of during several relocations.

Tonight, during his practice, he suddenly recalled this worthless book, possibly due to having read it too many times in his previous life. Although he couldn’t understand the meaning, the content vividly appeared in his mind.

Before Song Haowen could enjoy his practice fully, there were light knocks on his door, and Zhu Hongyu’s concerned voice came from outside, “Younger brother, it’s late. Don’t work overtime anymore. Get some rest.”

Song Haowen quickly agreed, hearing her enter the room. He lost interest in practicing and lay down to rest.

That night, Song Haowen slept soundly. If it weren’t for Ren Hua coming to knock on his door, he might have slept until the afternoon.

He hurriedly got up, washed up, ate a steamed bun brought by Zhu Hongyu, took a few sips of cold tea, and then went to school with the two of them.

He had completely forgotten about the fight with the hooligans on the street the night before.

However, the events leave traces. Even though there wasn’t an advanced internet in those times, information still spread rapidly through word of mouth.

By noon, the incident had almost circulated throughout the streets and alleys of Beijing. The police station and the gathered crowd couldn’t forget what happened.

Although Song Haowen could forget everything that occurred yesterday, the police and the public could not. By midday, the news had almost spread throughout the entire city.