frightfiction Chapter 1214 Martial Arts Schools and Clubs: Each Has Its Own Advantages
Chapter 1214 Martial Arts Schools and Clubs: Each Has Its Own Advantages
Da Bao put down his chopsticks and looked at Zhu Youzai seriously. Zhu Youzai continued speaking.
"Someone saw them, and judging from their height and appearance, they look a lot like Fujiwara Shizuka and Tachibana Hayako."
Da Bao picked up his chopsticks again and started feeding Nuan Nuan.
"Anlehui? A Luo, are you two familiar with them?"
Lei Luo put down his spoon, gathered his thoughts, and answered.
“Young Master, Brother Zai and I have indeed dealt with the Anle Society, but we have only met their vice president, Zhang Dongqi. I heard he is from Shanghai and came to Hong Kong in 1943. He now runs a transportation company and is considered an upper-class person.”
Zhang Dongqi is a very slick person. He is meticulous in his words and actions. We have talked to him a few times and it is clear that he is not the person in charge of the Anle Association. When we asked to see their president, he refused on the spot.
After we visited several times, we tried some methods to suppress the Anlehui, but there were always Justices of the Peace who stepped forward to protect us, and even police superintendents who came forward to suppress me. In addition, people from the Anlehui told me that they only recruit believers and don't care about those miscellaneous matters.
So we lived in peace for a while, and as time went on, we almost forgot about him.
"Iron Fry" continued.
“I arranged for someone to find out the details of the Anle Society. It is said that they have an angel son, and Zhang Dongqi is just a manager, not even in management. This angel son is very mysterious, and we can't find out anything about him.”
This surprised Da Bao. Zhu Youzai was originally a gossip, and after becoming a landlord in Hong Kong, his spies were spread all over the city. If even he couldn't find out the truth, then these eight people must be very suspicious.
However, Da Bao didn't take it to heart. After all, he would be returning to the mainland in two days. Hong Kong wouldn't stop functioning without him. Even if he had immense power, he could only change the fate of a few people.
After finishing their meal and tidying up, it was time to set off. Uncle Qing, carrying an oil-paper umbrella, insisted on staying by the two young ladies' side. Da Bao smiled and agreed. This old man had lived a lonely life, and he was extremely fond of any younger relatives he liked.
The most eye-catching feature of the Wong Tai Sin Temple is its archway, which stands about five zhang tall. The horizontal plaque on the front bears the golden characters "Chi Song Wong Tai Sin Temple." Behind it lies a spacious square, followed by the main hall and the Three Saints Hall.
In front of the main hall, inside a large incense burner, stood three incense sticks, all the same thickness as an arm. These first, second, and third sticks of incense were incredibly valuable, worth at least HK$1.5 million combined. One can only imagine how wealthy the Wong Tai Sin Temple must be.
The square in front of the ancestral hall can accommodate at least a thousand people. Villagers come here early to offer incense. Even martial arts schools and troupes, whose lion dancers are ready to perform, arrive early to warm up their hands and feet and get used to the venue.
In the middle of the square, someone had already built a bamboo mountain, but this bamboo mountain was irregular and crooked; if one lost their balance even slightly, they would fall.
At the top of Zhushan Mountain, on the tallest bamboo pole, hangs a bamboo tube with a red ribbon tied in the middle. A bundle of green vegetables is threaded through the tube from one end to the other; this is what is commonly known as "picking greens."
In some places, customs dictate that valuable items must be placed inside the greens, so the Lion King Festival wouldn't simply consist of a bundle of greens.
When performing the lion dance to pick the green leaves, if there are two lions, it's a competition to see who is more agile and whose dance is more lifelike. But in this kind of lion king competition, the final result is a contest of skill.
In Hong Kong, there are only six well-known martial arts schools that rank highly. Other smaller schools don't need to embarrass themselves by coming here. As for the triads, these five major triads, along with eleven lion dance teams, are here for the spring outing.
Hong Zhennan's health was deteriorating, so he had to temporarily let his eldest disciple, Duan Changqing, manage the martial arts school. However, martial arts requires not only hard work but also aptitude; often, each generation is less capable than the last.
Duan Changqing's Hung Kuen style was at most eight-tenths of Hung Chun-nam's, but that made him incredibly arrogant. Hung Chun-nam was good at teaching boxing, but he was much worse at teaching his disciples how to be good people.
However, the master-disciple relationship at this time is far from what it used to be, when they were treated like father and son. Now, in martial arts schools, if you pay tuition, you are my disciple, and I will teach you as much kung fu as the amount of money you pay.
Those who didn't pay tuition weren't kicked out by their masters, since if they left, there would be no one to do the work, so the relationship between master and apprentice wasn't so pure.
Duan Changqing's parents were fruit wholesalers. He was a skilled fighter with over a hundred junior disciples under his command, making him a dominant figure in the fruit market. Now, he stood at the foot of the steps in front of the main hall with four junior disciples, wielding two dragon heads and wearing colorful furs, looking down arrogantly at the people from other martial arts schools.
Ip Man was still wearing that blue robe today, but his hair, which was originally a little gray, had turned black and he looked much more energetic. This is the realm of a grandmaster: preserving one's youthful appearance.
His eldest disciple, Huang Liang, was wearing overalls and American-style boots. He was carrying a lion head in his left hand and had a lion costume hanging on his right side. The two of them stood quietly on the edge of the square, and few people paid any attention to them.
Master Xiao, the Iron Wire Fist master, led his disciples. He glanced sideways at Duan Changqing. If Hong Zhennan were here, he would give him some leeway, but now that Hong Zhennan was in semi-retirement, he didn't even consider this disciple of his a threat.
The other three martial arts schools are White Crane School, Eagle Claw School, and Mantis Fist School. The masters of these three schools also brought their disciples. They are all top-notch masters in the Hong Kong martial arts world.
However, the gangs weren't much worse. Each gang had its own top-ranking members, whose kung fu was the strongest. Their kung fu was fundamentally different from that of martial arts schools. Martial arts schools emphasized routines, while theirs emphasized real combat. All their experience was gained through fighting with swords and spears. Therefore, in terms of momentum, they completely overwhelmed the martial arts schools.
Hung Hing was still led by Lin Yiming, whose expression was rather grim. Ever since he and his men had fled in disarray at the docks two days prior, just like Han Chen, without even retaliating, the news had spread throughout the entire underworld the very next day.
In an instant, everyone in the martial arts world despised their behavior. They had lost face big time, and because of this, Boss Xiang and Ni Kun gave Lin Yiming and Han Chen a severe dressing-down.
Originally, Lin Yiming wasn't supposed to lead the team today, but in order to avenge his previous defeat, Lin Yiming actually knelt outside Boss Xiang's bedroom door for two whole hours. Boss Xiang valued brotherhood the most, and seeing his brother like this, he was heartbroken. In the end, he finally decided to let Lin Yiming lead the team to participate in the Lion King Tournament. Lin Yiming was determined to win the Lion King's Green Picking Competition.