Chapter Twelve: The Flow of Inner Strength

Smack—

A backhand whipped through the air like a lash, the sound of palm striking wrist exploding in the narrow alley.

The young assassin felt a sharp pain in her wrist.

Even with all her brutal training, she nearly lost her grip on her weapon.

But “nearly” meant she didn’t.

Her shoes scraped harshly against the ground, arresting her off-balance momentum. Without hesitation, she pressed the attack.

Bang! Bang, bang!

The short pistol was tucked against her chest and stomach, sparks flashing.

In Bai Tangjing’s astonished gaze, the assassin was wielding her firearm at point-blank range, blending gunplay with dagger fighting techniques.

The pistol became an extension of her own strength; pulling the trigger was like a stabbing thrust.

So long as she kept the weapon within her safe zone, a slight twist of her wrist could bring her opponent’s entire body into her attack range.

A flurry of swift movements, bullets whistled past, barely grazing flesh.

This real-life “gun-fu” intrigued Bai Tangjing, but it was far from enough to leave him helpless.

He turned fully, one hand darting out like a phantom toward the weapon pressed to her chest and belly.

The gun was her only advantage against him. She couldn’t risk losing it by aiming at his larger torso.

She had watched his fight recordings—given his physical resilience, even three non-lethal shots wouldn’t guarantee her victory.

So she could only aim for the outstretched arm, preserving her weapon.

But as she adjusted her wrist to aim upward, before she could fire—

A blur of a leg swept up from below, smashing into the pistol.

Crack—

“Ugh—”

The most penetrating jumping side kick in Jeet Kune Do didn’t just make the gun groan ominously and lose its function; the hand gripping it was also distorted by the tremendous force and the crushing of the polymer grip.

Sucking in a cold breath, she flung away the now-useless pistol.

Impossible!

There hadn’t been a hint of warning between his punch and kick!

Was this man’s upper and lower body muscle structure not even connected?

A glimmer of confusion flashed in her dark eyes ringed with white.

The human body moved by the cooperation of muscles—tug one strand and the whole is set in motion.

Masters could often discern a punch’s trajectory just by a twitch of the shoulder—kicks, which required even greater shifts in balance, should be even more obvious.

But she couldn’t detect a thing! The kick had come swift as lightning, yet landed with the force of a sledgehammer.

The absurdity of it pressed on her heart.

For thousands of years, her clan’s martial arts had claimed: “There is no technique the Wu Clan cannot overcome.”

Yet she couldn’t comprehend how he did this!

“What in the world is this guy’s skill?!”

At the same moment, the shadow of death loomed over her, an entirely unexaggerated feeling.

Because whether fists or feet, every strike from this man was enough to disable with ease.

Her eyes grew calm and resolute; she no longer hesitated, and immediately activated her family’s secret art.

“Release!”

Blood vessels bulged like earthworms across her skin, which grew flushed and fevered.

Her delicate features twisted into a demonic visage.

This was the culmination of centuries of selective breeding within the Wu Clan, forging their bloodline as one would cultivate wheat, producing a lineage specialized for combat.

It allowed members to accomplish feats straight out of science fiction—shattering the body’s natural limits.

The total output of all human muscle averages around fifteen tons, but fragile bones, nerves, and blood vessels can’t withstand that force.

Even in the gym, people sometimes break bones under less.

Yet after thousands of years, the Wu Clan’s bodies were just barely strong enough. Paired with their secret technique, they could achieve the impossible.

But the assassin herself didn’t consider this an overreaction.

In the face of this man, if she didn’t give her all, she might die in the next instant!

Years of slaughter and training had honed this intuition.

And, as she suspected, the development was immediate.

The youth calmly adjusting his glasses wore a relaxed smile—

The next moment, he vanished from his spot!

“Again!”

No indication from his upper body muscles, but his lower body had already gathered the strength to dash—a phantom.

The assassin’s veins pulsed around her eyes as she searched rapidly with black-and-white pupils.

Whoosh—

A foot appeared out of nowhere, slicing the air toward her temple.

But now, her body unleashed, she was not so helpless.

One hand shielded her head and neck, the other formed a knife edge.

She stepped in close to Bai Tangjing, thrusting her spear-hand straight for his lower body!

His brow rose in response.

The leg aimed at her head bent at the knee, the calf tracing a graceful arc.

Momentum seemed to vanish in an instant, shifting naturally from a kick to a stomp.

With the advantage of reach, his shoe left a clear print on her short-sleeved shirt, sending her flying.

Yet, true to her ruthless nature, even as she was struck, her spear-hand sliced toward his leg.

Rip—

Cloth tore, and Bai Tangjing lowered his kicked leg.

“……”

“……”

Their eyes met for the first time.

He crouched, brushing his pant leg where her fingers had grazed, then looked up with interest as she calmed her surging blood and restored herself.

To recover so quickly from that demonic state—clearly, it was a heavy toll.

“Using rubber bullets? I don’t recall Faruyama Hideki being a merciful man.

And…so that was the Wu Clan’s secret—‘Release’?”

By now, all bystanders had fled at the first sound of gunfire. With the alley deserted, he could speak freely.

“Curious but not surprised. Honestly…compared to your renowned ability, your bizarre movement is the real secret, isn’t it?

How about sharing some intel? I’ll trade you information on this mission. You’re curious too, aren’t you?”

The girl smiled radiantly, her fingers subtly flexing behind her back, recovering from the spear-hand strike.

He had tensed his muscles the instant he was hit.

It wasn’t exactly a defensive technique, but with his sheer physical strength, if she hadn’t used “Release,” her own fingers would have snapped.

“……”

But Bai Tangjing said nothing, only taking off his glasses in silence.

Inner power was a force beyond ordinary biology.

Possessing it didn’t simply add power like an engine to muscle and bone.

Instead, it was as if a new set of biological systems had been grafted onto the body, working in perfect harmony.

In combat, it manifested just as she had seen—movement beyond the normal rules, bordering on the supernatural.

He could move with lightning speed and tempestuous force, even when his muscles and bones didn’t visibly engage.

But Bai Tangjing was never one to explain his secrets to an opponent.

He slipped his glasses into his pocket, smoothed back his hair,

And shifted his stance into a fighter’s guard, feet dancing and body turned sideways.