Chapter 23: Dislocating Bones and Severing Tendons

As Song Ren closed the distance, the pressure bearing down on Ah Ji grew increasingly suffocating.

Ah Ji could no longer hold back. With his knife held in a forehand grip, he lunged toward Song Ren’s lower abdomen. Song Ren stepped forward half a pace, parrying the knife-wielding forearm with his wrist. His other hand curled into a claw and pierced upward, striking fiercely toward Ah Ji’s throat, only to be deflected by an elbow.

Song Ren tilted his head to narrowly dodge a flash of the blade, then stepped in again, his hands moving like dragons to seize Ah Ji’s shoulders. Ah Ji retreated half a step, pivoting to evade while driving his elbow horizontally into Song Ren’s head. Song Ren retracted his arm and pivoted, using his own elbow to push him back.

Yet, a blade tip struck from a cunning angle, hidden and precise. Song Ren countered by slamming his right leg into the inner calf of Ah Ji’s leg. A wave of numbness surged through Ah Ji’s limb, causing him to stagger and lose his footing.

Seizing the opening, Song Ren clamped onto Ah Ji’s wrist, pressing his thumb into the back of the hand holding the knife and shoving inward with explosive force. Agony flared in Ah Ji’s hand, and his grip involuntarily loosened. The pipe-knife fell, but Ah Ji snatched it from the air with his left hand, lowered his center of gravity, and thrust straight at Song Ren’s midsection.

The angle of the strike was lethal; a hit would cause internal organ damage at the very least. Song Ren retreated decisively, arching his knee to block the left arm while slamming his body into Ah Ji’s chest.

Thud!

Ah Ji’s expression shifted slightly. But it was not over yet. Having gained the upper hand, Song Ren pressed his fierce assault. As his feet touched the ground, he reached out, grabbed Ah Ji’s arm, and gave a violent, backward yank.

Ah Ji’s balance faltered again, causing him to stumble forward, right into Song Ren’s left hand, which clamped onto the protruding scapula on his back. His fingers, like iron hooks, dug deep into the grooves of the shoulder blade. With a surge of force from his palm, he wrenched upward.

Crack!

Ah Ji’s right shoulder was dislocated. The excruciating pain from the severe muscle tear and bone displacement turned his complexion deathly pale. Song Ren’s face remained frigid, but his movements grew increasingly brutal.

He had promised he wouldn’t let him leave, and he was a man of his word.

Song Ren sidestepped Ah Ji’s desperate counter-attack and drove a pre-positioned knee into him, sending Ah Ji staggering once more. He hooked his hand around the back of Ah Ji’s head and, stepping backward, forced his wrist down, compelling Ah Ji to stumble forward with his head bowed. Song Ren then kicked out, striking the hand that held the knife. As he dragged Ah Ji backward, he delivered a violent knee strike to the mandible of Ah Ji’s jaw.

Crack!

The jaw was dislocated. Ah Ji staggered, mouth agape, drooling as he stood in a daze, his reactions slowed by a heartbeat.

Once he let go, Song Ren followed up with a vicious side-whipping kick. The angle was high, snapping against Ah Ji’s neck.

Thud!

The sound of the impact was dull and heavy. Under the immense force, Ah Ji crumpled to his knees, vomiting a mouthful of blood.

The surrounding inmates felt a chill in their hearts. Ah Ji, the hitman for the Chung Yee Shing triad, was feared by many—not because of his marksmanship, but because of his ruthless combat skills and his near-supernatural mastery of the short blade. No one had expected such a formidable man to be beaten to his knees, coughing up blood by someone fighting with bare hands.

Two of Chung Yee Shing’s henchmen could no longer stand by and charged from behind Song Ren.

Song Ren’s blood was racing with unprecedented excitement. It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head; balancing on one leg, he twisted his waist and delivered a side-rear kick that sent the attackers sprawling. After landing, he side-stepped, clamped onto the other man’s forearm, and pulled him forward. He then delivered an upward strike to the man’s armpit. As the arm straightened, Song Ren seized the moment to strike the top of the man’s elbow joint with his left elbow.

Crack!

The man’s elbow snapped inward, and his face contorted in agony.

By then, Ah Ji had climbed to his feet. Pressing his hands against the ground, he endured the blinding pain and forcibly shoved his dislocated shoulder back into place. He moved it slightly; it remained unnatural, trembling faintly. Then, with a cold expression, he reset his jaw with a forceful grip, his face pale and his brows furrowed in torment. He pressed his tongue against his teeth and spat out a glob of blood, which contained a tooth flecked with red.

His expression turned colder than ever. The opponent’s skills were terrifyingly good. Had he been carrying his own short blade, he might have felt some confidence, but in this situation, even a man as proud as Ah Ji had to admit he was outclassed.

With a flick of his eyes, he signaled the man in the suit and another inmate from the Wo Shing Wo triad to close in. The man in the suit was among the best fighters in Chung Yee Shing, and the Wo Shing Wo inmate, known as "Old Ghost," was a man of some reputation; while not a "double-flower red pole" of the triad, his fighting skills were highly respectable.

The man in the suit had been scowling, originally intent on crippling Snake-Boy Ming, but it was clear that dealing with the man in front of them had become the priority. To be able to suppress Ah Ji in hand-to-hand combat meant this guy had real talent.

Old Ghost, whose face was half-covered in a tattoo of a blood-red Yaksha, stared at Song Ren with sinister eyes. In the entire cell block, the members of Chung Yee Shing and Wo Shing Wo were the most at odds with Song Ren and harbored the greatest hostility toward him.

Old Ghost spat on the ground. "Ah Ji, beaten to the point of vomiting blood? Are you even capable of anything?"

Ah Ji’s face was dark. "Old Ghost, you talk too much."

Old Ghost offered no further mockery; he was not blind and understood the situation. His hideous Yaksha tattoo seemed to writhe as he fixed a cold, murderous gaze on Song Ren. "Damn it, Stanley Prison doesn't need someone as arrogant as you. I’m sending you to be reincarnated right now."

Song Ren glanced left and right, and before the three could encircle him, he chose to strike first. He lunged forward, charging straight at the fierce-looking Old Ghost.

"You brat, you sure talk loud!"

Song Ren’s hands formed claws, striking toward Old Ghost’s shoulders and ribs in rapid succession, only to have them blocked one by one by the calm Old Ghost. Song Ren changed his tactics instantly; he stepped back, and as his hands were parried, he flipped them to clamp onto Old Ghost’s upper arms.

His five fingers dug deep into the muscle. He took a long step back, narrowly dodging a punch from the man in the suit and a fierce stab from Ah Ji.

The muscles on Old Ghost’s arms felt as if they were being seared by fire as he was dragged along, stumbling. Song Ren arched his knee and drove it into Old Ghost’s chin. The man’s head snapped upward, two teeth flew from his wide-open mouth, and droplets of bright red blood sprayed into the air!

Having succeeded, Song Ren released his grip and retreated. Ah Ji’s horizontal slash grazed his abdomen, slicing through his prison uniform.

Thud!

Song Ren took a kick to the shoulder, staggering back two steps before regaining his footing. The man in the suit scraped his shoe against the concrete, a triumphant look in his eyes. He was confident in his legwork and became even more arrogant after landing the hit. "Tsk tsk, did I overestimate you? You don't look like much after all."

Song Ren only raised an eyebrow, while Old Ghost, after wiping the blood from his mouth, shot a vicious glare at the man in the suit.