13 Strength

  Pei Youguang had a dream.In the dream, he had a happy family. Although his father was as serious as ever, he was always proud of him. His mother would always secretly give him pocket money without telling his father, touch his head and tell him that mom loved him. His fellow disciples in the dojo followed him as their leader, and he became a world-famous martial arts genius, attracting everyone's attention.

He would not be ignored by his father as if he did not exist, his mother was still alive, he would not always be treated as a foil for his genius brother who went to the Inner Ring City, and he would not have been repeatedly humiliated in the dojo and had to run away.

Everything is so beautiful.

"…"

The father in the dream seemed to be saying something to him. Pei Youguang tried hard to hear clearly, but he could not hear anything.

The father said it many times, seemed impatient, and slapped him.

"Bang!"

Pei Youguang woke up and felt a burning sensation on his right cheek.

"Hello."

Xue Jing squatted down and looked at Pei Youguang, who was lying on the ground with his eyes open but still a little confused. He slapped him again. The palm prints on both sides of his face were symmetrical.

"Pei Youguang, right? You want to talk to me about something? Tell me what it is."

Xue Jing spoke with a cold tone.

Pei Youguang: "…"

After waking up and realizing the current situation, Pei Youguang was silent for a while, with a wry smile on his face:

"No...it's okay."

Xue Jing nodded: "I'm glad you're okay."

"But you're okay now. I have something to discuss with you."

Pei Youguang touched his sunken nose and gasped in pain. But when he heard Xue Jing's words, he quickly said, "Go ahead, go ahead."

He is not a tough person. He has been bullied countless times since he was a child, and has long learned to be humble and swallow his anger.

Although he had gotten used to bullying others after entering the affiliated high school and almost forgot the past, Xue Jing's two slaps successfully awakened his muscle memory.

He did not use his family background to threaten others. All the students in the affiliated high school knew that he had a background. Since Xue Jing dared to beat him, it meant that he was not afraid.

No matter if he was not afraid because he had someone to rely on, or he was simply too brave, he was in trouble now.

I can only admit defeat.

Xue Jing looked down at him and asked, "I heard that you have killed someone? And bullied female classmates?"

Pei Youguang smiled and said, "No, no, these are all rumors."

"So what happened to a girl who transferred to our school last semester?"

"…I was pursuing her, but I really didn't do that kind of thing. That girl transferred to another school because she was too scared. If I had really done that, the school wouldn't have expelled me until now."

At this point, Pei Youguang glanced at the brothers lying beside him, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Don't tell anyone, I'm still a virgin."

Xue Jing slapped him in the face with his backhand.

Snap——

"I don't want to hear such useless information."

Pei Youguang covered his face: "Yes..."

"Since there has been no such thing, why don't you clarify it?"

"Clarification may not be helpful, and... with this rumor, my classmates are afraid of me... I think it's cool..."

Xue Jing slapped him in the face again.

Wu Speechless: "You are mentally retarded, aren't you? You want to take on the reputation of a rapist?"

Pei Youguang didn't dare to talk back: "You are right."

"Be a good student in the future and stop doing these nonsense. Go back and write a self-reflection, clearly stating what you have done and what you have not done. Recite it ten times in front of the whole class during the morning reading tomorrow. Ask your little brother to take a video of it. I need to check it later."

Pei Youguang said in embarrassment: "Ah, this..."

Snap——

Pei Youguang covered his face with one hand and waved his other hand repeatedly: "I'll write it when I get back."

Xue Jing hummed, and asked casually, "By the way, that punch you made against the wall was quite powerful, what happened?"

Pei Youguang answered honestly: "I have practiced martial arts. I used 'strength' in that punch just now."

Xue Jing asked curiously: "Strength? Is it something like the internal force in martial arts novels?"

Pei Youguang nodded first, then shook his head: "Strength, also known as internal strength... is not some supernatural energy, but a method of using physical strength. By mobilizing one's own muscles, tendons, blood, breathing, etc., and coordinating with each other, the technique of squeezing out the potential that the body already possesses is 'strength'."

Pei Youguang recalled what the old master in the dojo had taught him and explained.

"To put it more scientifically, the essence of 'strength' is kinetic energy. The organs inside the body move in coordination with each other, accumulating kinetic energy, which is then released out of the body through 'moves'. The power is much greater than that of ordinary punches and kicks."

"I heard that some powerful martial artists use their strength in an extremely exaggerated way, and can even punch through the armor of a tank with their flesh and blood. I don't know if it's true."

Xue Jing pinched his chin and said nothing.

Pei Youguang understood immediately after seeing this, and said quickly: "If you are interested, I can teach you, although I only know a little bit of the basics..."

Seeing that he was so understanding, Xue Jing patted him on the shoulder and softened his expression: "Thank you for your help."

Pei Youguang said cautiously: "No, no, but can I be exempted from writing a self-criticism and reciting it in class?"

Xue Jing thought about it and said, "No, but you don't have to read it ten times, just once will do."

"..." Pei Youguang felt that there was no difference between doing it ten times and once. Both of them had lost their dignity. How could he give in like this? However, he did not dare to refute and could only laugh dryly and said, "Thank you."

"Okay." Xue Jing stood up.

"That's it. I'll come to you this afternoon or tomorrow when I'm free to learn 'strength'. Study hard and be a good student. Don't let me hear you bullying anyone again."

Pei Youguang: "I'll do whatever you say."

…

After Xue Jing left the dark alley, the younger brothers who were lying on the ground pretending to be unconscious slowly got up, knocked their heads, and groaned in pain, all of them looking like they had just woken up.

"Hey, Brother Pei, where is Senior Xue...Senior Xue?"

Pei Youguang sat up, touched his school uniform pocket, took out a box of crumpled cigarettes, wanted to light one, but felt like not doing it, so he sighed.

"From now on, you should call him Brother Jing."

The younger brothers looked at each other and could only respond in agreement.

The scene fell silent for a moment, Pei Youguang looked thoughtful: "He has never practiced martial arts, but he has this kind of physical quality... He should be considered as having a good physique as the dojo teacher said..."

"Just like my elder brother..."

Not sure if he was convinced by the beating or what, but Pei Youguang had a hunch that Xue Jing was no ordinary person.

Words like "clinging to someone powerful" and "following the emperor's will" flashed through his mind, but the limits of his vision and cognition prevented him from sorting out the pros and cons.

After a long moment, he shook his head.

"Forget it, don't think about it. Anyway, just get along well with him!"

Pei Youguang decided to follow his instincts.