Chapter 23: Hot-Blooded Rogue

"Grandpa, Grandpa!"

"You're my grandpa!!!"

Brother Fei did not show the same toughness as Huang Mao, he quickly opted to beg for mercy like a rogue.

Fang Cheng released his hand, his expression calm, allowing him to collapse at his feet.

"Brother Cheng..."

Zhou Xiumei hurriedly hid by Fang Cheng's side.

Her face was tense, her heart filled with panic and astonishment.

The usually gentle Fang Cheng had such strength to easily subdue the overbearing hooligan with one hand.

"Brother Fei!"

The other two henchmen snapped back to reality and rushed to help their agonizing boss.

Brother Fei shakily got up from the ground, cradling what seemed to be his fractured right hand, looking at Fang Cheng with both fear and anger in his eyes.

"Fine, fine, you've got guts, just you wait..."

His voice slightly lacked confidence.

After spouting a few harsh words, he put a finger to his mouth and whistled sharply.

Accompanying the whistle slicing through the night, a turmoil of tables and chairs crashing could be heard from a nearby food stall.

Following that, a group of young men with dyed hair and earrings pushed through the crowd, running over while shouting:

"Boss, what happened?" "Brother Fei, who needs a lesson now?"

With a boisterous and aggressive attitude, each of them armed with folding stools and beer bottles as weapons.

Seeing this, the surrounding crowd immediately dispersed far away, fearing trouble.

"Brother Cheng, they are from the underworld, let's run quickly!"

Zhou Xiumei nervously tugged at Fang Cheng's sleeve and whispered.

"It's okay, move back further."

Fang Cheng took off his bag, handed it to Zhou Xiumei, and smiled at her:

"To tell you the truth, I've been practicing boxing at the gym. Tonight is a good chance to test out my skills on them!"

"But..."

Zhou Xiumei hesitated, subconsciously taking the bag.

In the midst of talking, Fang Cheng had already taken big strides, advancing towards the gathering gangsters.

He swung his arms and legs, stretching his muscles, then swept his gaze around and casually asked:

"Is everyone here?"

Now standing in front of him, aside from those three henchmen, were an additional eight or nine people.

"You punk, who do you think you are, one against ten?"

"Since you're so brave, don't blame us for ganging up, everyone attack together!"

Under the public eye, Brother Fei also cared about his image, spoke some opening remarks, then waved his hand ordering his boys to charge.

He himself quickly retreated back to a safe spot, to avoid being caught and beaten again.

Fang Cheng raised his fists, assuming a stable stance.

Without any intent to capture the leader first, but instead fixed his eyes on one hooligan who was the bravest and leading the attack.

With a push of his feet, his body shot out like an arrow.

Snap!

A sprint step, a Side Flash Straight Punch, swiftly cutting through the air, fiercely striking the opponent's nasal bone.

The enormous impact made the hooligan's head reel, causing him pain that knocked him out, and he fell straight back.

Having knocked out an opponent cleanly and neatly as soon as the fight started, Fang Cheng did not relax at all.

A faint swooshing sound rose by his ear, with a peripheral glance, he promptly sidestepped and kicked.

Clang!

The beer bottle smashed as it slipped from the attacker's grip, the ambushing person also bent over like a shrimp, collapsing onto the ground.

Without pausing, Fang Cheng moved again with a Shake Flash, dodging the swinging punch of another two.

Then quickly retreated, both opening the distance and adjusting his stance, trying to escape from being surrounded.

However, after a few seconds of fighting, he realized that all the gaps around him had been blocked.

These gangsters don't fight with any codes of honor; they don't take turns in a fair fight but rather surround and overwhelm in a street brawl.

Suddenly!

Another swooshing sound from behind, closing in fast.

Fang Cheng was just dodging a kick from a hooligan.

Without time to evade further, he could only turn sideways, using his arm to block a swinging folding stool.

Thwack!

With a whooshing sound, the stool struck his arm muscle.

The dull sound made the onlookers shiver in unease.

People were predicting that this handsome and refined-looking young man was about to have a terrible time!

Standing beside him, Zhou Xiumei's heart instantly tightened, her hands clenching the corner of her clothes tightly.

She couldn't help but step forward a few steps, not caring about anything else, just wanting to help Fang Cheng.

However, just as she moved, her eyes suddenly brightened, filled with surprise and joy.

She saw Fang Cheng suddenly duck down, using his back to tough out the punches and kicks from others, his arms tightly wrapping around the thugs wielding stools.

With a waist-hugging body slam, he lifted his opponent straight up, turned 360 degrees in a wide circle, and then furiously threw him away.

The assaulting thugs were forced to retreat and scatter.

The unlucky guy was thrown three meters away, crashing directly into a barbecue stand.

The hot charcoal set his clothes on fire, and also scorched his skin, making him roll on the ground, crying out for help.

Several bystanders nearby also suffered from this.

"Phew—"

Fang Cheng breathed lightly, calming his violently thumping heart from the explosive moment before.

The pain in his arms and back did not make him consider retreating.

Instead, it made his blood surge, and he became even more excited.

He twisted his neck, started taking small jittery steps, adjusting his state.

Obviously not very satisfied with his previous combat performance.

"This chap has learned martial arts, don't give him a chance to breathe, keep going at him!"

In the blink of an eye, they lost three main forces. Brother Fei's face changed slightly, yelling and directing from within the crowd.

Facing the thugs regrouping, Fang Cheng's eyes glinted fiercely, and he murmured softly:

"Concentration Skill, activate!"

In an instant, his eyes calmed, and his breathing steadied much.

The noise from spectators around, along with Zhou Xiumei's shouts, quickly passed by his ears, fading into the distance.

All he saw in front of him were a group of grinning figures, resembling fierce dogs.

Realizing the advantage of their numbers, two thugs exchanged glances and charged from both sides.

They tried to replicate Fang Cheng's previous waist-grabbing technique to restrict his movement, allowing their comrades to attack.

But Fang Cheng didn't give them a chance.

Quickly raising his leg and sending a kick, he flipped one of them.

Then he turned his head to deal with another whose hand had already reached his shoulder.

Grabbing the wrist and turning forcefully, he performed a one-armed shoulder throw.

The man flew straight over his head, crashing wildly.

In a flash, Fang Cheng quickly handled two adversaries, and then grabbed another leg that was flying toward him.

Using momentum, with little effort, he made that thug perform a painful split on the ground.

Having been through several actual combats, Fang Cheng's fighting experience had evidently grown.

This time, he changed his strategy, not seeking to finish them in one hit.

Instead, he used his arms to protect vital areas, relying on the dodging steps from boxing, moving flexibly, fighting while retreating.

His main counterattack method was various hand-to-hand combat techniques he just learned.

Straight kicking, side-kicking, high sweeping from high sections, horizontal kicking from mid-sections, low chopping from low sections...

If someone rushed into close range, he would immediately perform wrist-grabbing throws or hooking leg trips, breaking away without lingering.

During that time, the thugs thrown out and crashing into the crowd caused upheavals.

Fang Cheng didn't care about harming the innocent, his eyes remained terrifyingly calm.

After activating the Concentration Skill, his mind was filled only with fighting.

Handling various techniques smoother and more fluidly.

Even subconsciously, he slightly reduced the force of his strikes, wanting to fight with his enemies a bit longer.

He didn't look like he was just brawling on the street, but rather as if he was in a boxing gym, practicing attack and defense with a sparring partner.

Or repetitively reviewing leg techniques, kicking at punching bags.

However, the "punching bags" before him couldn't take much, one by one, they fell.

Bang!

Fang Cheng turned and delivered a Whip Kick, striking the last stubbornly standing opponent.

That tall and stout thug swayed like a pendulum before crashing heavily to the ground.

At the same time, a notification message appeared before him.

[You defeated a group of street ruffians, Boxing experience +45]

Fang Cheng took deep breaths, his eyes bright, regaining alertness.

Looking at the results of this battle, his expression showed both satisfaction and a hint of disappointment.

Before he could think more.

The panel flickered, and another somewhat delayed message also appeared.

[Congratulations, you have diligently practiced your skills, reaching an impressive level, successfully mastering a combat skill]