Chapter 96: The Contest

“Brother, this is just my personality—I’m not good with words,” Li Yunlong said after a moment’s thought, deciding that he had better soften first. “What I just said was only casual criticism. I meant no harm.”

Wang Lang looked mildly taken aback.

With a strange expression, he asked, “Are you Li Yunlong?”

“That’s right,” Li Yunlong said. “And how should I address you?”

Once the other man had confirmed it, Wang Lang’s expression turned solemn. He sprang upright and saluted smartly. “Wang Lang of the People’s Liberation Army. My respects, Commander Li!”

This time, it was Li Yunlong’s turn to stare.

But very quickly, he remembered what Qiao Mian had told him earlier.

“You’re with the Eighth Route Army too?” Li Yunlong asked.

Wang Lang nodded. “Once we drove the Japanese out, we changed our name to the People’s Liberation Army.”

Li Yunlong could not help but smile with quiet satisfaction.

He sized Wang Lang up, then reached out and slapped him on the shoulder. “You’re built solid enough. How’s the food in the army?”

“Meat, soup, and all you can eat,” Wang Lang said, and his voice suddenly grew a little thick.

His grandfather had taken part in the revolution and lost a leg.

As a child, he had often listened to his grandfather tell stories of those days, and he had always held deep respect for the ancestors who had cut through thorn and bramble to blaze a path for those who came after.

Now, seeing Li Yunlong standing before him in tattered clothes, his skin dark from the sun and his hands crisscrossed with deep, rough cracks, he could not help feeling a sting in his heart.

Li Yunlong was touched as well.

But more than that, he was glad.

The revolution had at last been won.

That blood they had spilled had not been shed in vain.

Even if he died, it would have been worth it.

“You work here too?” he asked with a grin.

Wang Lang shook his head. “I’m not that lucky. Only those chosen by Mr. Qiao get the chance to come here.”

Thinking of this, he recalled the Iron Man suit Guo Jing had redeemed, and his eyes turned red with envy.

The reason he had come so early today was that the higher-ups wanted to exchange for one from Guo Jing as soon as possible.

Of course, once the shooting range opened, everyone would have another way to obtain a suit.

But the world was full of hidden masters and unexpected talents; no one could guarantee that first place would definitely go to one of their own.

As for intercepting it somehow...

The government of Rabbit Nation, after all, did not have the shamelessness of the Eagle Country.

“Tell me what the outside world is like,” Li Yunlong said familiarly, slinging an arm over Wang Lang’s shoulder.

Wang Lang was just about to speak when his phone suddenly rang.

“Commander Li, I need to take this call,” he said apologetically.

“Go ahead,” Li Yunlong said, staring avidly at the phone in Wang Lang’s hand.

He was astonished. So this thing was a telephone?

Wang Lang answered.

Li Yunlong pricked up his ears. They really were talking on it!

He would have to figure out a way to get a batch of these back there.

Not long after, the two of them arrived beside the fitness square.

Guo Jing and the black-faced young man were already waiting there.

Seeing Guo Jing dressed in ancient robes, Li Yunlong showed a trace of curiosity.

The black-faced young man, meanwhile, stared straight at him.

It was obvious that he had also recognized Li Yunlong from the world of Bright Sword.

“Hero Guo!” Wang Lang stepped forward and cupped his hands in salute.

Guo Jing nodded, then looked at Li Yunlong. “And this is?”

“I’m Li Yunlong,” he said.

“So you’re Li Yunlong,” Guo Jing said with a smile, cupping his hands in greeting. “I had already heard Mr. Qiao mention you. I am Guo Jing.”

“He’s a hero from a wuxia world, and he’s got several centuries’ worth of internal power,” Wang Lang explained.

As for how much Guo Jing had redeemed to increase his inner energy, he actually did not know.

“Wuxia?” Li Yunlong asked in surprise. “So you’re really good at fighting?”

He had heard a few things from Drift before, but he had never given it much thought.

As for the martial arts manuals in the mall, he had been too busy to take a close look.

Looking at Guo Jing standing before him, he felt that the man must be some kind of wandering hero.

Guo Jing smiled and shook his head. “Those of us who practice martial arts do so to defend our homes and protect the people, not to fight for personal glory.”

“Well said!” Li Yunlong applauded.

Guo Jing smiled.

“I’ve trained my fists and kicks for a few years too. Want to spar with me?” Li Yunlong asked.

Wang Lang kindly reminded him, “Commander Li, Hero Guo is very formidable.”

“I was once counted among the best fighters in a radius of ten villages,” Li Yunlong said with an easy laugh. “Don’t worry. When masters exchange blows, they stop at the point of contact. I won’t hurt Brother Guo.”

Guo Jing studied Li Yunlong from head to toe.

He could not sense the slightest fluctuation of internal energy from him.

Could this be a true master?

Had he already reached the realm of returning to simplicity?

“Come on then.”

Li Yunlong took a starting stance, then gave a sharp cry and charged forward.

Guo Jing’s expression turned grave. Almost instinctively, he unleashed the first stance of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.

The Proud Dragon Repents!

One palm strike flew out...

“Ah!”

Li Yunlong cried out in pain and was sent flying backward.

Wang Lang reacted with lightning speed and hurriedly reached out to catch him in midair.

“Are you all right?” Guo Jing asked anxiously.

Li Yunlong clutched his stomach and took a long while before he finally recovered.

He looked up at Guo Jing. “Brother Guo, your strength is a little too monstrous, isn’t it?”

Guo Jing looked innocent.

Wang Lang could not help saying, “Hero Guo has several centuries of cultivation. Breaking a tank with one punch would be no problem for him.”

Li Yunlong turned to look at him.

Wang Lang nodded at the black-faced young man. “Show Commander Li a trick.”

The black-faced young man nodded, activated his inner energy, lightly tapped the ground, and sprang up seven or eight meters into the air.

Li Yunlong gaped in shock. “Is this still a human being?”

Only then did Guo Jing finally understand.

So this fellow was just an ordinary man.

“My apologies. I was not careful,” he said.

Li Yunlong waved it off. “No matter. It was my own ignorance.”

His eyes then brightened. “If I had a group of soldiers like that and formed an assault unit, wouldn’t that mean...”

“Hero Guo, let’s count the supplies first,” Wang Lang said.

“All right.” Guo Jing’s eyes showed anticipation.

After that, Wang Lang began opening the crates one by one and introducing their contents to Guo Jing.

Guo Jing nodded repeatedly, praising them without reserve.

Li Yunlong, meanwhile, had his eyes wide open.

Communism...

Damn it, they really were one of ours!

So much compressed food—eaten carefully, it would be enough to feed a whole regiment for several days, wouldn’t it?

And these weapons...

Looking at the crate full of gleaming automatic weapons, Li Yunlong could not help feeling his hands itch.

“Can I touch one?” he asked at last.

Guo Jing turned back with a smile. “If Brother Li likes it, take whichever one you want.”

He still had to go back and recruit men at his own pace, then train people to use these weapons. Losing one would not matter in the slightest.

Li Yunlong grabbed an automatic rifle and weighed it in his hands.

“That’s hefty!” he said with satisfaction. Then he raised the barrel, flipped off the safety, and began firing into the air.

A tongue of fire spat from the muzzle. The tremendous recoil made Li Yunlong’s arms ache, yet his heart surged with astonishment and delight.

...