When Somad returned, he found Mingliang meditating. He didn't notice the changes in his body. The sword perfectly concealed itself under Mingliang's loose clothing.

Seeing Mingliang deep in his meditation, Somad didn't want to disturb him. He sat on a corner and studied the rune in the book. He glanced at Mingliang's book collection on the computer table. For a moment he was wondering, what would be written in there, but greed never took control over his heart. He was curious, that was all, and his respect for Mingliang was too great for him to open the book without permission.

Two hours later, Somad stopped studying and ate his dinner. After he cleaned up, he went to sleep. Mingliang still deep in his meditation, Somad did all that on his own, he didn't wait for Mingliang to remind him.

Time flew as midnight was approaching. Mingliang opened his eyes. He found Somad still sleeping soundly. Gently he shook the boy's shoulder. Quickly Somad woke up, but it took some time before he was completely awake.

"Is it midnight already?". the boy rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Yeah, go wash your face. I'll wait.", Mingliang nodded.

A few minutes later, teacher and disciple were on an old bike, that made a creaking sound as Mingliang pedaling.

"Teacher, how are you going to deal with the police who are following us?", Somad asked. He stood from the back seat, like a meerkat. Mingliang's broad back protected the boy from the wind.

"Nah... leave them be. You see, I've been thinking, we're just visiting a crime scene. We are not going to break any laws. They won't do anything unless they catch us breaking the law. Plus, they're extra protection for free. Now, sit properly.", Mingliang answered.

"Yeah... but that's boring. I wish Sister Sari is here. We can use her car then.", the boy murmured as he obeyed his teacher.

"Are you saying something?", Mingliang shouted from the front seat.

"No, teacher, nothing.", the boy shouted back.

"Are you sure?", Mingliang teased his disciple. His ears were sharp enough to hear that boy's murmur.

"Hee hee...", the boy just laughed.

Few hundred meters behind them, a car was following. The windshield was dark. There weren't many cars on the street at this hour, so they didn't dare following too closely. Mingliang's bike wasn't fast either so that the car had to stop every once in a while to keep their distance.

"Damn...", the middle-aged man who drove the car, swore as he had to pull over once more.

"Haha... don't lose your patience. Now, who acts likes a new cop?" his younger partner laughed.

The middle-aged cop turned off the engine, "Yea yea yea, now you drive."

He opened the door and went to the other side. His partner moved to the driver seat, laughing. They still waited for Mingliang to disappear from their sight. The road wouldn't have any branches for another six kilometers, so they had nothing to worry.

"What do you think about that guy?", the younger cop asked.

"A weirdo, that's all. Detective Jim is, just desperately grabbing at straws.", the middle-aged cop thinned his eyes and snorted.

"You don't believe his cult hypothesis? But all those cuts in the corpse body, it seems fit with the doctor's theory."

"Hmph... ritual, kiss my ass... It's just a madman on the loose. Start the engine now." the middle-aged cop was slouching on his seat. His lips always formed a sneer.

"They checked the drawing, and it closely resembles an ancient Jewish alphabet.", the younger cop started the engine and once again slowly closing in on Mingliang's bike.

"Then it's a Jewish madman.", the middle-aged cop snorted, and the younger one secretly rolled his eyes.

"Hey, look where he is going... doesn't it seems... is he going to the first murder location?", the younger cops saw Mingliang take a turn and figured out his destination.

The middle-aged cop straightened his body. He watched Mingliang who was still pedaling his bike casually. When he thought that his colleague might be right, he harrumphed, "Hmph... I think you're right..."

Meanwhile, from time to time Somad kept looking at the road behind them. He noticed the same car kept on appearing every once in a while. He nudged Mingliang and whispered to his ear, "Teacher, I think I recognize that car, it has been following us all this time."

“I told you, just ignore them.”, Mingliang calmly replied.

He pulled over and jumped down the bike, Somad quickly followed. Mingliang looked around to find any hints showing where he was right now, “Hmm, according to the information, there should be a pharmacy nearby.”

"Teacher, I think you passed the pharmacy.", Somad pulled Mingliang's sleeve and pointed at a building a block away behind them.

Mingliang turned to check it out. There was a big billboard on the pharmacy's rooftop. It was lit up in bright neon around its border, facing the street.

"KIMIA PHARMA.", was written on the board.

"Haha, you got it right.", Mingliang gave Somad a thumb up.

"Come, they found the body in a dead end alley nearby.", he turned and walked toward one dark alley.

The two detectives parked their car about a hundred meters from the pharmacy. The younger cop turned to his partner, his hand was on the door handle, "I'm right!... I mean we're right. What should we do now?"

The middle-aged cop hit his partner's head with a folded newspaper, “Wait! Are you crazy? We don't want him to know about us. Just stay and observe!”

“What if he fudges with the crime scene?”

"Hmph! The forensic team had checked everything. They took pictures and all. If they missed anything, then we would never find it anyway. Just leave him be for now. We only observe and make our report, until we got any stronger evidence against him.", the middle-aged cop waved away his partner's question.

He was turning back his attention to Mingliang and Somad but what he saw was not expected.

Mingliang and Somad were walking toward the dark alley when a huge man walked out of that alley. That man was over 2 meters tall. He had a pot belly. His torso was thick and wide. He stood on two pillar-like legs. His pair of muscular arms hung at his side. His presence was towering.

One by one muscular man came out of the alley. No one as big as the giant, but each one of them was wearing a tight t-shirt, showing their muscles. There were six of them all up, and the last to appear was their old acquaintance. He was the man who had gotten beat up by Sari at the haunted house this morning.

"It's you...", Mingliang's hand touched the sword handle behind his shirt.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Hehehe... apparently Uncle Rangga guessed it right. There is a good chance that you will appear here.", the muscular man laughed, he gestured his men to surround Mingliang and Somad. The giant silently stood behind him like a looming giant statue.

"Rangga? Is that the name of that old gray-haired man?", Mingliang took a glance at Somad. He saw the boy already had the bronze medal grasped in his hand.

"Hmm..., too bad that bitch isn't here. Where is she? I can't wait to get my hands on her", the muscular man ignored Mingliang's question. His hand was indecently gesturing grabbing movement as he asked about Sari.

"It seems you have a short memory. I still remember how she gave you a lesson this morning. I almost feel sorry for a big guy like you. I wonder how you can gain all those muscles but easily get thrashed by a girl? Had you traded your brain for a muscle?", Mingliang sneered. Without anyone noticing he reached and a dagger appeared in his right hand.

"Hmph... she's just lucky. She has speed but no strength. Once I get my hands on her, she won't have any chance to win.", the muscular man's face twisted in anger.

"Keep dreaming..., it's a well-known fact, a loser can't face reality. Somad, keep that in mind. You can't always win in life, but to fail to acknowledge it, you'll end up a loser for a lifetime.", Mingliang felt his anger arose. He hardly contained his murderous intention, but he knew someone from the police force was watching them.

Somad nodded his head. Mingliang couldn't see it, and the boy wanted to answer, but he afraid to show how tense he was if he spoke.

"Hah... full of talk. Now, come with us peacefully. If you don't, then I don't mind breaking every bone in your body before I tow you back to Uncle Rangga.", the muscular man didn't wish to rubbish anymore.

"Hehehe, what's the source for your confidence? You think you'll win with numbers?", Mingliang laughed. Inwardly he waited for the police to make a move.

"Somad, leave them all to me. Your duty is not to get caught.", Mingliang openly gave the command to Somad in front of his opponents.

"You'll be sorry for your arrogance...", the muscular man gestured his friends to start.

The muscular man and the giant stood and watched. The other walked toward Mingliang and Somad. They slightly lowered their stance, with their fists ready to a punch at any time. Like a predator a watching its prey, even with a dagger in his hand, they didn't see Mingliang as a threat.

They came for Mingliang from all side. Fortunately, no one tried to get Somad. They focused on disabling Mingliang as soon as possible. Mingliang pushed Somad away from their circle. The boy always followed his teacher's command. He escaped from the circle and watched.

Mingliang calmly stood in the middle. He didn't try to break through their circling. Their distance was getting closer. His opponents approached him more carefully. Suddenly two of them, one in front of him and one from Mingliang's back, jumped to attack.

They were fast, but Mingliang was faster. He moved forward and quickly enter his opponent's range. He slipped inside and closed the gap. Before his opponent could pull-back his punch for a defense, Mingliang's dagger had drawn the first blood. He stabbed his opponent's front leg and left him immobile.

"Argh....", yelling in pain, one opponent fell.

Mingliang dashed to get his next victim, but one of his opponents sent a roundhouse kick toward his opened wide back.

"Bang!", the kick sent Mingliang flying away.

"Oh shit!" His opponent felt like he just kicked a sheet of iron.

The pain made him failed to send the second attack. Meanwhile, Mingliang used the momentum to roll on the cement floor, away from his opponents. He quickly jumped back onto his feet, just in time to avoid another attack.

His opponents had years of experience fighting on the street, while Mingliang had the skill but lack the experience. He managed to injure one of them because they had been underestimating him. Now, they took him seriously, and Mingliang did not have another chance for a surprise attack. They took out their weapons. One was using a meter length of heavy steel chain. Two of them took out a knife. The last one got himself a thick wooden stick. Probably, he just grabbed it from the nearby alley.

Several hundred meters from them, the middle-aged cop and his partner watched as the tussle developed.

“Oh shit... It's getting out of control. Shouldn't we stop them?”, the young cop turned to his partner.

The middle-aged cop wiped the sweat on his forehead. He thought about the situation and then quickly made a decision, "No... First, call Detective Jim. Report the situation to him."

The younger cop dialed a number and waited for his call to be picked up. He watched the fight and getting anxious, "What if they killed him? At least two of them have a knife."

The middle-aged cop watched the fight and shook his head, "Don't underestimate that skinny Chinese boy. He's got some skill. Hehehe... now this stakeout is becoming interesting. My gut is telling me, there is something fishy about these people."

The younger cop secretly rolled his eyes in his mind, 'What a dull intuition... just an hour ago you still grumbling about doing stakeout in vain.'

Back to the fighting, once his opponents took him seriously, Mingliang began to lose the fight. He had taken several hits already. Fortunately, his 1st layer Xuan Wu body was a perfect defense for such physical attack. He still had to bear the brunt, but aside from sore muscles and bones, he didn't receive any serious injuries.

The muscular man enjoyed seeing Mingliang knocked around back and forth. He didn't anxiously try to end the fight quickly.

Somad watched the fight anxiously. Somad didn't know about Cheng Ying sword. He was surprised when Mingliang took a short dagger out of nowhere. But even with a weapon, Mingliang was in losing position. He had to fight against four armed opponents. Somad wanted to help, but Mingliang had asked him to stay out of it.

Somad also noticed that the muscular man and the giant hadn't joined the fight. He decided to watch them closely. He wouldn’t let them plan a sneak attack on his teacher.

It took some time, but along with the fight, Mingliang began to adapt. He had used this fight, for practice. He learned to judge distance, sharpened and hone his intuition. At the same time, Mingliang was waiting for the police to take action.

Since he knew the police were watching him, Mingliang knew he couldn't seriously harm his opponent. Although he saw the muscular man as a threat for Sari and wanted to eliminate him, he knew he had to wait for a better opportunity. He kept the complete form of Cheng Ying sword out of the fight and treated as his hidden card.

When the muscular man saw Mingliang's situation was improved. He began to lose his patience. Now, Mingliang had already had several chances to counter-attack his opponent.

While Mingliang showed no sign of injuries, his opponent had traces of blood decorating their bodies.

The muscular man's eyes burned in anger. He turned to the giant, "Finish him quick. I want you to break his arm and leg."

The giant was grinning from ear to ear. He seemed to enjoy the chance to torture someone. Compared to his body, his speed was surprisingly quick. The ground seemed to tremble, as the giant charged toward Mingliang. Somad who had watched them closely, quickly drew a rune and sent across gale of wind.

The wind brought dust and debris against the giant. It couldn't stop the giant, but for a few split seconds, it was enough to cause a distraction. The giant was stopped in his tracks by Somad's attack.

That short moment gave Mingliang enough time to avoid most of the charging giant's attack. The giant's body just brushed him slightly, but even that was enough to send him flying.

Mingliang quickly balanced himself. He was afraid his opponent was going to target Somad, and yelled to the boy, "Somad, I told you to stay away!"

The giant saw Mingliang escape his first attack and roared like a wild beast. He charged forward again, but now Mingliang was ready. He quickly avoided the attack once more, but the other four men didn't watch the fight idly. Quickly they blocked Mingliang's path to escape.

Mingliang was quickly losing the fight once more. He escaped only by a split of a second. Several attacks landed perfectly on his body. He can't avoid the giant's attack without getting a hit from the other four.

'Should I summon Cheng Ying's complete form?', Mingliang hesitated.

"Ugh!", He grunted in pain. A thick wooden bat hit his shoulder.

'When will the police start to take action?', he silently complained as the pressure against him grew bigger.