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Standing in the back, Tian Aihua, Xiao Jing, "Grass Chicken," and Gong Jiaojiao were all left speechless, their mouths agape for ages. Only Cheng Yuhan seemed merely surprised—after all, she knew Shawn Young had received guidance from Master Winston Yuan, so such skills were to be expected. What truly amazed her was the sheer power and speed of Shawn's Flash Strike; even she couldn't see how Shawn made his move. All she saw was a flurry of fists whistling past, and in less than a minute, dozens of Tiger Mafia thugs were all knocked to the ground! Even more surprising, Shawn's force was so strong it could twist and shatter their knives. And yet, none of the Tiger Mafia enforcers were killed outright. Just how powerful and skillful did one have to be to pull that off?
"Heh heh—fighting these rookies is no fun at all!" Shawn Young withdrew his true energy and dusted off his hands, shaking his head.
Cheng Yuhan stepped forward, her beautiful eyes sparkling as she gazed at him. "Haha—looks like you really learned something from Master Yuan! I'm seriously impressed! What kind of power was that?"
"Haha—yep, that's the Triple Fist Lightning Strike! Lightning-fast power and impact. But I mixed in some Transforming Force, or else these guys would've been dead on the spot!" Shawn explained to Cheng Yuhan without holding back.
"Oh! So the legendary powers of Chinese martial arts are actually real—I always thought that stuff only existed in novels! Haha—Shawn, congrats! You've really become a true martial arts master. When it comes to fists and kicks, you could go head-to-head with the best in the country!" Cheng Yuhan was genuinely happy for Shawn. After all, the more capable her man was, the prouder a woman would be.
"Heh heh—gotta keep practicing whenever I can. I realized that if you train martial arts well enough, it's just as powerful as Taoist magic. Plus, in lots of situations, using martial arts is way more convenient than using Taoist spells—it doesn't freak people out!" Shawn laughed.
At that moment, Tian Aihua, accompanied by Xiao Jing and Gong Jiaojiao, along with "Grass Chicken," nervously shuffled up to Shawn. Tian Aihua stared at her precious son with a puzzled look and muttered, "Xiao Yuan, are you... are you really my Xiao Yuan?"
"Mom! I am really your Xiao Yuan, one hundred percent! Don't worry!" Shawn said, half laughing and half crying.
"But Xiao Yuan, when did you get so amazing? I can't believe what I just saw!" Tian Aihua voiced her doubts.
"Uh—yeah! Yeah! Bro, how did you suddenly get so awesome? You're just like one of those heroes in the movies—no, even better! You knocked out all those bad guys in one go! How'd you do it?" Xiao Jing asked excitedly.
"Bro, now that you're this powerful, I think you could take on the whole Tiger Mafia single-handed! Guess I was overreacting before!" Grass Chicken said, full of envy.
"Oh, I met a real master and learned some kung fu from him. Turns out, these skills are pretty useful! Haha—" Shawn Young replied vaguely.
"But you better be careful. Besides Longhair, who loves to solve problems with his fists, the other Tiger Mafia bosses are all packing guns! No matter how tough you are, you gotta watch out for them!" Grass Chicken warned Shawn.
"Yeah, I know. I'll be careful. By the way, Grass Chicken, is Goldtooth, the Tiger Mafia boss, still overseas?" Shawn asked, suddenly remembering.
Grass Chicken was startled and quickly asked, "Uh—why, you want to find Goldtooth?"
"Of course! If you want to catch the thieves, you have to nab the ringleader first. I swear I'm going to bring down the Tiger Mafia! First, I need to find Goldtooth and bring him to justice! That way, Clearview will finally be peaceful! No more living under the Tiger Mafia's tyranny!" Shawn declared.
Grass Chicken scratched his head, looking troubled. "Bro, your idea and wish are great, but you gotta know—the Tiger Mafia is deeply rooted. Just taking out Goldtooth won't solve everything. They've got support from Chief He Kaiyuan at the Public Security Bureau. These guys are the real overlords of Clearview City! It's not easy!"
"Heh heh—I know all about that, so don't worry. This time, we're not just going to uproot the Tiger Mafia, we're also going to take down that corrupt cop He Kaiyuan! Just tell me how to find Goldtooth!" Shawn said, brimming with confidence.
Grass Chicken said awkwardly, "Uh—bro, I'm just a low-level punk. I've already decided to leave the Tiger Mafia. If you want to know Goldtooth's whereabouts, you'd better ask Longhair. He's the best fighter in the Tiger Mafia and Goldtooth's most trusted right-hand man. If he tells you, finding Goldtooth will be a breeze!"
Shawn Young was taken aback. He'd just dealt Longhair a heavy blow and wasn't sure if the guy was even conscious. So, he strode over to the trash bin a dozen meters away and saw Longhair's two hairy black legs sticking out. The rest of his body was buried in a pile of rotten fruit and plastic bags—you couldn't even tell if he was dead or alive.
Shawn frowned, reached out, grabbed one of Longhair's legs sticking out, and with a powerful yank—"splash!"—pulled Longhair out of the bin and dumped him onto the floor. Longhair's mouth was smeared with blood, his head reeked of rotten fruit and eggs, and he lay there twitching unconsciously, clearly half-dead from Shawn's earlier moves.
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"Uh—I'll go get some water to wash him off, he's way too stinky!" Grass Chicken pinched his nose, ran back to the Xiao family, fetched a bucket of clean water, and dumped it over Longhair's head. The cold shower snapped Longhair out of his concussion daze.
"Ah—please, don't hit me anymore! I can't beat you! I give up! Totally give up—" As soon as Longhair woke up, he saw Shawn Young staring at him with a mischievous look and started shrieking in terror.
"Heh heh—is that so? You really give up? So if I tell you to do something, you'll do it?" Shawn sneered at Longhair.
Longhair saw Shawn's wicked grin and knew he was up to no good, but he was too scared to risk another beating. Trembling, he said, "I—I just hope you don't hit me again. You beat me so bad, my grandma will have no one to take care of her. Please, hero, spare me!"
"Oh?! You're that kindhearted? A mafia thug who still looks after his grandma? Seriously?" Shawn asked, curious.
"It's true, hero. To be honest, my grandma got uremia and needed a kidney transplant to survive. The surgery cost nearly a million yuan, but all I know is martial arts. Even with my Sanda champion title, I couldn't make much money—after scraping together everything, I only had about ten thousand, still far from enough. If I didn't save my grandma, she was done for! My parents died when I was young; my grandma raised me. We're all each other has. I swore I'd do anything to save her. Someone pointed me to the Tiger Mafia, so I went to Goldtooth. He saw I was good at fighting and helped me out with some cash. That's how I could pay for the surgery. Sigh—money really is the bane of heroes! I never wanted to be a bad guy or join the mafia, but I had no choice!" Longhair said, tears streaming down his face.
"Uh—your life is that tragic? Are you making this up?!" Shawn asked skeptically.
"Oh, Longhair's story is actually true. After his grandma's surgery, she wouldn't let him live with her. Instead, she opened a little shop near Huaqiang Road Elementary School, selling snacks to get by. Longhair always had us buy lollipops and mini buns from her!" Grass Chicken explained.
"Hmm—so why are you mixed up in this again?" Shawn asked Longhair curiously.
"Uh—my grandma, she's an old revolutionary, a party member, an old cadre. She's never done anything wrong her whole life. But I—I joined the mafia to save her, did a lot of bad things, so she got really angry! She broke off with me, wouldn't let me take care of her, didn't want to see me! Damn, my life is a pile of crap! I never thought I'd end up like this—what a tragedy!" Longhair sighed heavily.