Gu Jing stepped in front of Zhen Lang, but he pulled her behind him.
‘Gentlemen if you need money, I’ll give you money,’ Zhen Lang said.
Zhen Lang opened his wallet and he gave all his money to the group of men.
‘Gentleman, think of it as me treating you dinner,’ Zhen Lang said.
The group of men were surprised to see the few thousand Yuan that Zhen Lang gave them and they looked at Zhen Lang’s neck.
Zhen Lang unb.u.t.toned his shirt collar. ‘We don’t have any jewellery on us.’
The leader of the group of men smacked Zhen Lang’s money on his palm and he looked at Zhen Lang. ‘Little boy, looks like you know what’s good for you. You can leave.’
Zhen Lang wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and they took one step out of the alley street.
‘Wait,’ the leader said. He stood in front of Zhen Lang and he looked over Zhen Lang’s shoulder at Gu Jing. ‘I said you can leave, but I didn’t say she can leave.’
Zhen Lang glared coldly at the group of men and they took two steps back away from Zhen Lang.
‘Little boy, honestly we just want to find the little Miss Gu. This has nothing to do with you. Considering your generosity before I don’t want to trouble you. If you know what’s good for you then you should disappear. Right now isn’t the time to play the hero,’ the leader said.
‘Little Miss Gu? Gentlemen, it appears you’re not here out of greed,’ Zhen Lang said.
‘We’ve waited here for a few days for her to show up. Finally we can fulfil our contract,’ the leader said.
The group of men stepped toward Zhen Lang and Gu Jing.
‘Our target is the little girl. You better leave otherwise today you’ll be crippled,’ the leader threatened.
‘Why don’t you demonstrate how to disappear?’ Zhen Lang asked.
‘Do you want to die?’ the leader asked.
‘Who’s dead? I can’t see clearly, show me where,’ Zhen Lang said.
‘You’ll see clearly soon,’ the leader said.
Another man stepped in front of the leader and he aimed an iron pipe at Zhen Lang’s head. Zhen Lang pushed Gu Jing back, but she aimed a leg at the man’s stomach and the sides of her dress ripped into two slits. Then in a blink of an eye Zhen Lang kicked the man’s stomach. The man and his pipe fell onto the ground.
Zhen Lang’s powerful kick shocked the group of men. They underestimated the couple in front of them.
‘You…’ Gu Jing said.
The man Gu Jing thought she knew for more than twenty years felt like a stranger to her. Zhen Lang’s one kick was faster and more powerful than any of her kicks in the past.
Zhen Lang looked over his wife’s shoulder. ‘Behind you.’
Gu Jing snapped out of her shock. She kicked and punched the man behind her. The man dropped his iron pipe, held his head and he groaned in pain on the ground.
Zhen Lang turned around, he pulled his wife behind him and he kicked another man who aimed an iron pipe at her head. The man flew to the back of the alley way.
‘Be careful, this isn’t a tournament match,’ Zhen Lang warned his wife.
Gu Jing knew Zhen Lang was right. These group of men weren’t her compet.i.tors in a tournament match who needed to abide by tournament rules. They were contract killers with iron pipes in their hands.
Gu Jing’s attacks were fast and strong, but Zhen Lang’s attacks were faster and stronger.
Gu Jing and Zhen Lang protected each other’s backs. There was no time for her to ask him when he learned martial arts. She focused on the men who stood in front of her with iron pipes.
‘Attack the little girl,’ the leader ordered.
The men left standing stepped toward Gu Jing and they aimed their iron pipes at her head.
Gu Jing kicked another man’s elbow and the iron pipe fell out of his hand. She kicked his stomach and the man fell onto the ground. The man’s uninjured hand gripped his broken elbow.
Gu Jing picked up the man with the broken elbow’s iron pipe and she broke it in half with her hands.
Gu Jing kicked another man to the ground, but someone else charged toward her with an iron pipe. There was no time for her to avoid the man who charged toward her and she mentally prepared her body to be hit.
Suddenly Zhen Lang punched the man who charged at Gu Jing. She saw Zhen Lang’s powerful and accurate punch left a fist imprint on the man’s stomach.
Gu Jing kicked another man between his legs. She fought in a way that went against her martial arts training, but in that moment her only thought was to protect Zhen Lang and herself.
Gu Jing fought against ten men. Even though she was a highly trained martial arts athlete, her energy depleted after defeating ten men. She felt her attacks were slower and weaker.
Gu Jing breathed heavily and she watched Zhen Lang fight against another two men. Zhen Lang’s attacks were smoother than water and surpa.s.sed her own attacks. Zhen Lang attacked the vulnerable spots of the two men’s bodies and the two men flew outside the alley way.
There were only two men and the leader left standing, but they were scared of Zhen Lang. They dropped their iron pipes and they ran away from the alley way.
Zhen Lang turned around and he looked at his wife. ‘Are you hurt?’
Gu Jing shook her head. ‘You trained with the old man?’
In the past Gu Jing fought in many tournaments and she recognised each of her compet.i.tors’ fighting styles that their martial arts teachers taught them. She knew Zhen Lang’s fighting style was uncannily similar to hers, which meant they shared the same martial arts teacher. She also knew Zhen Lang’s high level attacks and the accuracy of his attacks meant he trained with their master for many years. But she didn’t know why she never knew Zhen Lang was a martial arts athlete too. She didn’t expect someone as calm as Zhen Lang could fight fiercely and his attacks were strong as fire.
‘I didn’t want to train with the old man, it was the old man who wanted to train me and he didn’t want to let me go,’ Zhen Lang said. He wiped sweat off his wife’s forehead and he a.s.sessed her body from top to bottom for any injuries. ‘You know better than me how tenacious the old man is and how gruelling his training is.’
Gu Jing held Zhen Lang’s hand and she pinched his cheek with her free hand. ‘Are you Mr Vet? Or are you another soul who possessed Mr Vet’s body?’
Zhen Lang held his wife’s face and he smiled. ‘You read too many ancient martial arts novels.’
‘But…’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing didn’t expect someone who she thought was a weakling for more than twenty years suddenly turned into a martial arts athlete in front of her eyes. She knew if Zhen Lang was part of national taekwondo team and he competed in the Olympics he would at least be ranked third in the world. She was shocked how good he hid his martial arts skills from her for many years… it was hard for her to accept.
In the past Gu Jing threatened to give Zhen Lang a beating many times, but she never used her real physical strength if she hit Zhen Lang. She realised there was no reason for her to hold back her real physical strength against Zhen Lang.
Zhen Lang could guess his wife’s thoughts by the changes of her facial expressions. He saw her face muscles twitched and he worried about her old ankle injury. He wrapped an arm around her waist. ‘The cops will be here soon. Do you need to rest?’
Gu Jing felt her old ankle injury resurfaced. Usually if she trained moderately her old ankle injury didn’t hinder her. But she overexerted herself during the fight with the contract killers, and she felt pain in her ankle. ‘It feels like I fractured my ankle.’
‘I’ll take you to the hospital,’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing leaned her head on Zhen Lang’s shoulder and she focused on not putting pressure on her injured ankle. Suddenly when she lifted her head her eyes were blinded by a bright light that reflected off a weapon.
Then she saw Zhen Lang shielded her face with his arm, and a man struck Zhen Lang’s arm with a knife. Zhen Lang kicked the man’s chest. The man dropped the knife and the man fell on the ground, but the sirens of cop cars were heard so the man forced himself to get up from the ground and the man limped away from the alley way.
Gu Jing heard sirens and the footsteps of cops were near the alley way, but she was more concerned about Zhen Lang.
‘Mr Vet, are you hurt?’ Gu Jing asked.
Gu Jing saw one of the white sleeves of Zhen Lang’s shirt turned red. She gently held Zhen Lang’s arm that shielded her face and she felt blood dripped down onto her hand.
End of Chapter Forty-Three