No Really, You Haven't Gone Insane

The emboldened and boisterous Mu Yun bade goodbye as he departed with his granddaughter in tow, leaving behind an empty-handed Xi Chen at the entrance of Tianguang Plaza. The youth lowered his hand towards his chest pocket that now contained a gold-plated business card, a scrap of paper hastily scrawled with an address and phone number, and a thin rectangular badge emboldened with a bizarre stamp of some crossbreed between a misshapen eagle and a jade pearl, and released a light sigh.

In complete honesty, two million RMB in liquid funds were hardly sufficient to cover the sky-shattering value of the Imperial Purple Yang Jade, much less the remainder of the treasure trove he had garnered tonight.

Although Mu Yun had promised the remainder be paid out in C-shares, granting him a solid priority of investment return and vested voting privileges within the company, Xi Chen couldn't bring that much confidence to arise within his heart.

"Tianing Corporation is certainly a blooming empire in the accessories and stone market of Jiangbei and region of Suzhou, but alas…"

The elderly grandfather had briefly let it slip from his tongue that the corporation was under dire stress, although he stopped himself before he could specify whether the threats were of external or internal. Xi Chen grasped his suitcase and walked towards the public bus stop just down the road, his mind piecing together a crude analysis.

With two million RMB in liquid funds soon to arrive in his pocket, and much more per year from his newly earned position as both investor and financial counselor of Tianming Corporation, he could begin to enact upon his plans. It was most ideal to make the most use of the time to create a company that would overtake the still-prolific empire of the Zhang Family.

Of course, he had to be prudent. As he was no more than a common villager's boy, he had additional requirements to consider compared to the average business owner of Jiangbei.

"The company cannot be established in a market that is already dominated by a local cornerstone, and I need to cater the business primarily to clientele of higher propensity and status," Xi Chen rubbed at the base of his chin with a sore frown.

"Liaison services would already be occupied by state-sponsored firms and a few domestic private corporations, hence the best I can settle for… is security?"

Security… wasn't particularly a bad idea.

It didn't have enormous, mouth-watering returns like the jewel or stone industry, nor was it able to firmly latch onto first-time customers like the gambling conglomerates. However, it provided Xi Chen with a diverse array of potential opportunities of business – given that the company held a fantastic reputation, of course.

It could undertake contracts from practically every retail or warehouse that desired to withhold its goods from being stolen by any petty thief, and if he were short on funds, he could take on some grey-lined contracts…

The main goal wasn't to make money per se, but to establish connections. After which, there would be plenty of opportunities to make substantial gains.

Only with a substantial network could he possibly begin seeking profit. Otherwise, the wolves would rush to devour him from head to toe in the blink of an eye.

"The only measure I need to take is that I need to cannibalize an existing company, and I can't appear as the personal shareholder in public…"

Xi Chen sidestepped the blistering sea of over-energetic youths and university students engaging in their decadent nightlife, and stepped onto a semi-maintained alleyway that was secluded from the darkening sky. The youth rubbed his fingers over the badge hidden under the fabric chest pocket, and nodded in satisfaction.

"It's a bit unfortunate, but I'll have to make do!"

"Who will have to make do with what?" a coarse voice teased from the corner of the alleyway, shrouded deep within the darkness.

"Little boy, you'll have to make do? Do you have a problem up there, to be talking to yourself like that?"

The figure responsible for the crude and bold words stepped to reveal a man sporting a towering set of muscles and powerful frame. The man sneered as he stared down onto the slim Xi Chen with his hardly muscular arms and self-deprecating hairstyle, and smashed his fists together.

"Haven't seen you around before, but no matter. Having stepped into Boss Liu's territory, don't you think that its fine to pay a certain fine?"

The mild threat and intimidating stature returned the youth to his senses, and Xi Chen twitched his lips upon realizing that he had fallen for his bad habit once more. He glanced towards either end of the alleyway, before settling his gaze onto the irritated countenance of the brawny man.

"What, are you looking for a way out?," the bulky man leered with a grim smile, and stamped his feet towards Xi Chen.

"Nobody disrespects Boss Liu on this street, not even the police! Do you want to pay your fine, or do you want a beating?"

"Fine for… what, exactly? If it's a protection fee, what exactly is it supposed to protect me from?"

Xi Chen retreated half a step and drawled with a pair of gloomy eyes. He lightly exhaled and lowered the backpack and suitcase onto the ground, and prepared his body to duck.

If his thirty years of experience didn't lie to him since his previous life, then the first act of combat employed by those typically untrained or thriving in gang environments was to –

"You dare talk back!?"

Shu!

A meaty fist the size of his forehead smashed through the air with great speed and strength as the brawny man snorted in anger. Xi Chen quickly dropped to a low crouch to dodge the fist before the man could bring it mid-swing, and hurled his own palm towards the outstretched elbow. The considerable tear in the otherwise pristine uniform brought a gloating sneer to the powerful man's gaze, and the tiny palm relative to his own stature caused great disdain to bloom in his heart.

When the small, almost feminine palm smacked onto the underside of his elbow, the man surnamed Liu felt himself bloom with glee.

Too light!

Not even a child could throw a punch lighter than that… where, where did his arm…?

The brawny man lowered his gaze towards his right shoulder, and discovered that in the absence of what should have been his right arm and clenched fist, was now a cauterized stump of half an upper arm. The flimsy and almost feminine youth before him was mysteriously doused in some abnormal mixture of pale, scarlet, and grey powder.

The powdery substance was scattered over Xi Chen's shirt and jacket, and his nose was fiercely scratched by the abhorring stench of burnt flesh, blood, and nerve matter. Xi Chen too, glanced at the remnants of a shoulder and arm of the man surnamed Liu, and his surprised words caused the latter to burn with humiliation and rage.

"No way… that was even after I restricted it to a tenth of its overall strength?"

"You, you little bastard! What did you do to my arm!?"

The prided combination of mighty fist and powerful arm had earned the man surnamed Liu his living income and street reputation since he was a mere teenager struggling in high school, but was now reduced into an unearthly mixture of powder.

The remaining portion of the arm revealed the fractured bone and cauterized muscle, skin, blood vessels and splintered nerve endings to the cold biting wind of the night.

Boss Liu had been thrown into a state of neural shock as he dumbfoundedly continued to stare at the distorted combination of bone and flesh that appeared in such close proximity to his body. The disorienting scene and delayed sense of pain caused his mind to reject his surroundings with vehement righteousness, and he began to laugh.

"I must have gone insane. How could an arm be reduced into powder from a single punch? Liu Hong, you're not watching an action figure movie again, are you…"

Xi Chen watched as the formerly intimidating and brawny man collapsed into a nervous breakdown, and felt a cold sensation flood through his veins. He rubbed at his chest to ease the discomfort and chill seeping through his body, and moved to pick up his suitcase and backpack.

After his solo reenactment of an industrial-strength bulldozer from the future, he had ensured to place safeguards against his new blessings of 'strength' and 'agility' that he had gained from the wooden bowl. Other than his direct intention to utilize the full capabilities of his "newfound" strength, he had set restrictions to suppress it to a tenth of what he could achieve onto the makeshift forest.

After all… breaking through furniture simply by sitting or stepping on it was hardly his intention, and would bring him far more trouble than he could stomach. Only…

"Perhaps a hundredth of its normal capabilities would serve better, a tenth seems to be too powerful…"

Xi Chen wiped at the sweat forming on his brow, and proceeded to distance himself from the screaming and groaning Liu Hong. Not long after, the agonized wail of death echoed through the dark alleyway, and the youth clamped onto his mouth to prevent the bile from spilling through his lips.

"Congratulations, Xi Chen, you've killed someone now," Xi Chen grimaced as he swallowed, and felt his throat burn.

"Death by your own hand, not by forcing them to commit suicide. The feeling truly is somewhat different."

The shock of watching their arm disintegrate into powdery bone, flesh, and muscle would cause anyone to lapse into shock, and perhaps even perish if they couldn't gather control of their emotions and impulse. Xi Chen had expected Liu Hong to fall unconscious in the first two minutes, but to have someone die by his own hand was still a traumatizing experience.

His heart continued to repeat the sinister consequence of murdering one of its own kin, and his brain dully reflected on the legal ramifications of his actions. Xi Chen glanced towards the night sky veiled under an impenetrable smoke of atmospheric pollution, and sighed.

"Life is full of surprises and twists, isn't it?"