Chapter 28 The End of Kung Fu Dreams

In his youth, Arthur had dreams of kung fu and dreams of being a hero.

But ever since his master was knocked out by a kick from a visiting kickboxing coach, Arthur's dreams were shattered.

It's a sad story.

You see, Arthur had a master who had once been the runner-up in a provincial competition. His master ran a martial arts gym near their home.

The gym had been around for many years, peacefully coexisting with other extracurricular classes nearby that taught taekwondo, Muay Thai, and kickboxing.

Looking back now, it was truly a golden age of peace.

That is, until an ambitious kickboxing coach appeared, disrupting the tranquility of the martial arts world.

A master, a third-place finisher in a city-level competition, sought to dominate the martial arts world and monopolize the training market for Arthur's elementary school. Thus, he brazenly issued a challenge.

The first to be challenged was the taekwondo gym. After the kickboxing third-place finisher kicked the taekwondo coach to the ground, the coach admitted defeat.

The second to be challenged was the Muay Thai gym. The kickboxing third-place finisher made the so-called Thai boxer yell in Mandarin. It turned out he was just a dark-skinned person from the southwest.

The third to be challenged was the martial arts gym where Arthur trained. In hindsight, Arthur felt that if his master knew that the kickboxing third-place finisher had already challenged two gyms, he probably wouldn't have been so impulsive to accept the challenge.

A martial arts runner-up was knocked out by a kickboxing third-place finisher with just one punch. What's infuriating was that the kickboxing third-place finisher wore gloves and protective gear.

And unfortunately, Arthur witnessed the whole process. From then on, he understood a truth: forms are just forms. Martial arts forms are just for show. It's enough to look good and stylish.

As the student who had trained the longest and the best under his master, Arthur was the most saddened.

Arthur also understood another truth: martial artists should win people over with virtue and reason. They should never mention real combat. Bringing it up leads to confrontation.

But while Arthur's kung fu dream ended, John's kung fu dream had not yet ended. Not only that, John had a mysterious belief in kung fu.

Now back in Los Angeles, with no money yet, and Tova's survival uncertain, John was eager for Arthur to show his skills, not focusing on the task at hand but rather on kung fu. It was simply unreasonable.

Since it was unreasonable, Arthur decided to awaken John's kung fu dream with practical actions!

Dressed in a white silk martial arts uniform, wearing small white shoes, and holding a long stick, Arthur was calm and relaxed, exuding a sense of freedom from worldly matters.

The stick was made of willow branches, uneven in thickness. Even after stripping off the bark, it was still slippery. But there was no way to buy a suitable martial arts stick, so he had to use the flexible willow branches instead.

With a light tap of the stick, Arthur raised it in a gesture, saying loudly, "Watch carefully, I'll only do it once."

Before the words fell, the stick began to dance. It was as if needles couldn't penetrate, water couldn't splash, and a white mist enveloped Arthur, making him appear like a swimming dragon and his voice like a tiger's roar. Watching for a long time, one would feel dizzy and enchanted.

When the stick danced vigorously, Arthur threw the stick out, rolled on the ground, and caught the falling stick with his hand. With one move sweeping a thousand troops and another move flowing like a mountain stream, he leaped into the air. A powerful strike like splitting Mount Hua descended, showing his years of skill.

After completing the martial arts competition routine, it was a pity that the grass was too soft, so the final blow did not make a loud noise, which was somewhat regrettable.

Arthur stood upright, and applause rang out warmly.

"Bravo! So wonderful!"

John whistled, then continued to applaud enthusiastically, looking around as if expecting praise from all sides. "Who doesn't agree? Who dares not to agree?"

Frank applauded vigorously, George looked amazed, and Rubber, though applauding, was dissatisfied. "We agreed to compete in combat. Why is he using a stick?"

John immediately said, "Don't use a stick, use your fists to teach him a lesson!"

Arthur frowned. This John, who believed in kung fu, insisted on having him fight with Rubber.

But John had a legitimate reason: Rubber and Arthur were similar in weight, but John outweighed Arthur by too much. Nevertheless, Arthur wasn't afraid of a large weight difference; he just wanted to spar with John in private.

Unfortunately, he was in a difficult situation now. Not sparring also wasn't an option.

"Let's go inside to fight instead of staying outside."

The martial arts performance couldn't be fully displayed in the gym, so Arthur came out first to perform a set, not for any reason, but to lay the groundwork for the upcoming defeat, which was called being prepared for battle.

Several people returned to the gym. Rubber took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and exclaimed, "Do you want protective gear?"

"Yes, of course!" Arthur picked up the protective gear and calmly said, "Put on all the gear but stop at the point of contact. You know what that means, right?"

The gym had a full set of gear for free combat. Arthur put on his helmet and armor, while John, after picking up his gloves, eagerly said, "Can't I use gloves? Kung fu can't be fully displayed with gloves."

"Gloves are necessary."

John helped Arthur tighten his gloves. Arthur held his hands in front of him and loudly exclaimed to Rubber, "Come on!"

Rubber also put on all his protective gear. Hearing Arthur's challenge, he rushed forward, throwing a right punch towards Arthur's face.

Arthur stepped back, avoiding the punch, but Rubber followed up with a left hook, and Arthur felt like his head was hit with a hammer.

Fortunately, he was wearing protective gear.

As Arthur fell heavily onto the mat, his only thought was, that Rubber, who had only probed with his punches, was stunned in place.

"Stop!"

Frank shouted loudly and immediately stepped forward to separate Rubber. Rubber spread his hands innocently, saying, "I was just testing. I haven't... I haven't thrown a heavy punch yet!"

Just one punch. Arthur felt like he was seeing stars. When the stars cleared from his vision, he saw John.

John looked astonished and disappointed, his expression reminding Arthur of himself in his youth.

The light in his eyes disappeared, and his mouth tightened.

Yes, this was it. This was the moment of shattered dreams.

Arthur looked at John with pity, then mockingly said in his native language, "Forget about your kung fu dreams."

John now understood the routine. Real combat was indeed impossible, and Arthur wasn't being modest; he really couldn't do it.

With a long sigh, John shrugged and then pointed to Arthur, who was lying on the mat and couldn't get up, saying indifferently, "You saw it. He... really can't fight. But it's clear he's better with weapons. You know what I mean? He's good with weapons, like if he had a knife, the outcome would be different."

Arthur was stunned for a moment, then he exclaimed, "Shut up! Do you want to get me killed? What grudge do you have against me that you want to kill me?"

Rubber nodded and said, "His weapons are indeed more impressive. If a stick counts as a weapon, using a knife in combat is also fine. We have practice knives here."

Taking off his gloves, Rubber walked to the side and picked up a rubber practice knife, flicking it a few times. He smiled and said, "It's very soft. Come on, don't be afraid. Let me see how you handle a knife."

Arthur was going to refuse, but at that moment, John warned Arthur with a fierce look in his eyes.

They were starting to develop a tacit understanding. Arthur thought John meant for him to refuse, but he absolutely couldn't refuse completely; John intended to delay.

Arthur wouldn't let John have his way. He immediately said, "No!"

Just then, Frank's phone rang, and he signaled for everyone to be quiet before answering the call.

"Hello? Yes, thank you."

Frank hung up the phone, then excitedly said, "Good news, the final payment has come through. Guys, we've got all our money!"

"Yeah!"

"Awesome!"

Everyone cheered. After celebrating for a moment, Rubber danced around and said to Arthur, "Don't lie on the ground, let's compare knives!"

Arthur shook his head and said, "No, I mean, not now."

Under John's fierce gaze, Arthur finally changed his tune, but he needed to come up with a reason.

Arthur began to think of an excuse and whispered, "I need to rest properly. I'm not in good shape right now. Um, I need time to rest."

"That gives you half an hour. Half an hour should be enough, right?"

Rubber was impatient, but at that moment, Frank's satellite phone rang again.

The sudden ring of the satellite phone startled everyone. It was evident that they were sensitive to calls on the satellite phone. Frank took out the satellite phone from his pocket and said, "Hello."

Just "hello," not a word more.

After listening for a moment, Frank suddenly said, "Oh, I see. No problem, I'll come see you right away. See you later."

After hanging up the satellite phone, Frank smiled at Arthur and said, "Unfortunately, today's match can only end here. Come outside with me for a moment."

Rubber was surprised and asked, "Why?"

Arthur was curious too, asking, "Go out now?"

Frank smiled and said, "I told you I would solve your identity and passport problems. Now is the time. Let's go."

Arthur was delighted and said, "I'll change my clothes and come right back."

Frank nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Let's disperse for now. We'll split the money when we come back. Let's go now."

Rubber shrugged, dropped the practice knife, and left. George smiled at Arthur and left too. It was then that John grabbed Arthur's arm, pulled him up, and said fiercely, "Get up!"

Arthur stood up and said irritably, "I told you earlier. Look at my swollen face."

John helped Arthur take off his gloves and said fiercely, "Listen to me. I know you can't beat Rubber even with a knife, but we can't let Rubber mock us! His mockery of you is an insult to me, to kung fu! I can't let anyone insult kung fu, understand?"

Looking at John, looking at this man who was so determined to uphold the dignity of kung fu, who was still dreaming of kung fu without waking up, Arthur felt a bit ashamed and said, "But what else can we do?"

John said fiercely, "I'll teach you practical knife combat. Rubber is far worse with a knife than me. You can do it. You must stab Rubber with a knife because it's about our dignity!"