Zhang Feng watched as he evaded the clenched fist, steadied his steps, and turned to wield his hammer.
"Good!" The Xingyi representative shouted briefly, drawing strength from deep within his lungs, and met Zhang Feng's hammer with a full moon-drawn drilling fist.
Bang!
The hammer and the drill collided with a muffled sound of flesh and blood; neither held back.
The Xingyi representative's mouth twitched slightly, his fist joints ached.
Zhang Feng appeared calm, as the hammer hand he swung transformed into a hold, finally changing to a peck, pointing at the wrist he had yet to retract.
The Xingyi representative hurriedly withdrew his hand, then somewhat dejectedly cupped his fist, saying, "I lost."
If Zhang Feng hadn't changed to a peck, but continued to grip and twist bones.
Then this arm, exhausted of strength, would have been ruined.
'At least five variations...' the crowd saw Zhang Feng applying force at will, sparing his opponent; clearly, he had not used full strength.
...
Evening.
On the way home.
The meeting Zhang Feng had waited for decades had finally come to a perfect end today.
Except for the Xingyi representative.
Daring not to compete against oneself, unable to compete against oneself, became the recurring theme of this meeting.
'Could it be because I worked too hard? And then everyone became afraid?'
Zhang Feng was filled with doubts, recalling the envious and congratulatory glances from the afternoon.
The first in the north and south at eighteen!
...
The fleeting years.
Twelve years later.
In a farmyard on the outskirts.
The master was looking in the mirror, counting the number of age spots on his face with a slight interest.
The third senior brother lay on the recliner, reading the newspaper with presbyopic glasses.
Zhang Feng, in his prime, sat on the flat ground, contemplating Tai Chi techniques.
In front of Zhang Feng, there were several Tai Chi manuals.
Since the end of the North-South meeting twelve years ago.
Zhang Feng, with the title of 'the first in the north and south,' borrowed various manuals and began to truly bury himself in training.
As for how the twelve years of time felt.
Zhang Feng truly couldn't see these slow changes amid this passage of time.
He only focused wholeheartedly on martial arts, seizing this twelve-year opportunity.
Even though he could return a month ago, Zhang Feng had grown to love the tranquility here, wanting to stay a while longer.
But at this moment.
The phone rang with a jingling sound.
The third senior brother took out the mobile phone from his pocket and tossed it to Zhang Feng, who was looking over.
"Little Feng, your eldest brother's call."
"Okay." Zhang Feng answered.
"Little Feng!" The eldest brother's voice was a bit anxious, "Dad fell and is now under hospital observation..."
"Dad fell?"
The phone call from home seemed to tear away the veils of time.
Zhang Feng suddenly came back from his martial arts focus, looked at the master under the eaves who was a bit immobile, and then at the third senior brother who had moved to the small courtyard to conveniently care for the master.
At this moment, everyone seemed to have aged.
Only then did Zhang Feng clearly realize that thirty years had passed.
Longer than his past life.
"How is Dad now?" Zhang Feng stood up swiftly, "Which hospital?"
"The second hospital." The elder brother's voice had the unique resonant tone of a middle-aged man but slowly relaxed afterward, "The X-rays just came out, fortunately, no bones were injured. If you're busy, you don't have to come.
I was just too anxious while waiting for the results, had no one to talk to, and somehow just wanted to let you know."
"Hmm, I got it." Zhang Feng hung up the phone, looked at the master and the third senior brother,
"I'll be heading out for a while."
Zhang Feng walked over to the master, holding his wrinkled hand, "I'll probably be back in a couple of days, what would you like to eat? Still pig's head meat?"
"Can the master still eat it?" The master patted Zhang Feng's hand and pointed to his own teeth, "The master barely has any teeth left."
"Everyone told you to get dentures." Third senior brother looked at the newspaper, "You refused, saying it's troublesome. Now look, even eating has become difficult, I really don't know what you're thinking."
"Why are you acting like Hao Hao now?" The master glared at him, "Can't go a day without jabbing at the master to feel at ease?"
"It's for your own good." The third senior brother continued reading the newspaper.
"Don't mind your third senior brother." The master also ignored him and instead looked at Zhang Feng kindly, "Go, take your time on the way."
"Yes." Zhang Feng nodded, but somehow suddenly felt a bit reluctant.
The phrase about the elderly 'seeing one time, losing one time' kept swirling in Zhang Feng's mind at this moment.
So much so that the short twenty or so steps from the courtyard to the gate.
Zhang Feng paused and walked, feeling as if he had walked for ages.
"What's the matter?" The third senior brother looked up at Zhang Feng who had stopped again, "Do you have something on your mind? Can you talk to the senior brother? See if the senior brother can help."
"Nothing." Zhang Feng looked at the concerned faces of the master and senior brother and turned to leave the courtyard,
"Master, senior brother, I'm heading out."
[You have archived, you have left this world]
[This adventure world is permanently open to you, you can continue from the archive point]
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