Nightmare’s Call

Huaisha City, a deserted part of the beach.

Among the pebble-strewn sand was a number of fishing boats docking by the beach.

The afternoon sun was shining bright, yet it was still cold.

“It’s getting colder…” Lin Sheng stood on a rock and looked at the golden sea afar.

He was wearing a white tracksuit and carried a short sword on his arm. The sword casing made him looked like a violin-playing youth.

Sarroux and another redhead youth stood on the empty ground at the side, their hair waving around by the wind.

Both of them were wearing fitting singlets and camouflage pants. They looked strong and fit. At the back of their singlets was a very clear Chinese character, “Fist”.

“Bro, I have an update on the professional you asked me to look for. But do we really need to go pay him a visit?” Sarroux may look calm, but there was concern in his eye.

He knew that the individual was not a nice person, and knowing how he had been acting, it was nothing but brutality. If anything went wrong…

“You just need to tell me the location. I’ll head there myself. You guys stay here.” Lin Sheng aid.

“But, just by my words alone is a little weak no?” Sarroux was concerned.

“And boss, even if that person is willing to join, we have yet to get our club up and running, and won’t the cost be a little too high?”

Lin Sheng shook his head.

“I know. But you don’t have to worry too much about it. You just need to focus on getting more members and stabilizing Ironfist Club.”

Sarroux did not know what Lin Sheng was planning.

The person he had scouted was once called the Deathclaw who was a famous martial artist when he was young. During his prime, he had opened a dojo and started accepting disciples.

Sadly, he did not manage to find one that could help ward off trouble, and his old nemesis came looking for him and destroyed one of his arms.

He went on a downward spiral after that, as he closed his dojo and dismissed all his disciples. Without any children, he could only live on his savings.

“So when you are going over?” Sarroux noticed that Lin Sheng had already made up his mind, and did not say anymore.

“You have his address with you? If it’s nearby we can head there straight.” Lin Sheng replied.

“It’s close by, but I’m not very familiar with that place. We might need to spend some time looking…” Sarroux responded with a frown.

“Then you two lead the way.” Lin Sheng said no more as he leaped off the rock and quickly made his way towards the road.

The two followed behind.

By the roadside was a white rental car. Sarroux’s junior had a driver’s license.

The three then got on to the vehicle and sped away from Huaisha’s city center eastwards.

After an hour, the car slowly entered a town called Baisha Town. The village was empty, and on the few streets there, only elderlies or children were seen with nary any youths or adults in sight.

As Sarroux’ junior drove, he explained.

“I’ve been in Baisha Town before last time; most of the youngsters had already left the town to work, and only the elderly and children are left. The entire town altogether numbers barely a few hundred.”

“And this sort of town will probably disappear after a few years…” Sarroux sighed.

Lin Sheng did not say anything. He only looked at the low houses on the old road.

The car quickly made a turn and slowly stopped before a yard of a farmhouse.

The farmhouse was made out of lime soil with its roof made out of mud and rice stalks with black tiles on it. However, the tiles were already in a state of disrepair by then.

The farmhouse’s entrance was half-opened, and the sound of someone washing clothes could be heard in the yard.

Lin Sheng led the group forward and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of scrubbing stopped.

“Who’s there?” A thin middle-aged lady with a dirty apron walked to the door and looked at Lin Sheng and his friends.

“Does Mr. Dao Ning live here?” Lin Sheng asked courteously.

“Yes, and you are?” The lady asked.

“We are Mr. Dao Ning’s former students, and decided to visit him since we are on the way.” Lin Sheng smiled.

“I’m a housekeeper he hired. Wait a bit, I’ll go call for him.”

The lady then turned and ran into the house.

After a moment, she came out and waved at Lin Sheng and the rest.

“Come in, he lets you in.”

“Sorry for the trouble.” Lin Sheng said loudly, as he walked into the yard and then into the slightly dim house.

A strong medicinal smell permeated in the room.

On the redwood chair sat a strong old man with white hair.

The man was clad in a gray cotton garb, and on his knee was a piece of thin red shawl.

His eyes were bright and sharp, and he had not seen it for himself, he would not have believed it belonged to an old man at all.

“Which batch were you from? Sorry, I’m old now and my memory is not what it was used to be.” The old man said slowly.

His voice was deep, powerful and clear without any signs of frailty.

“Mr. Dao Ning, I’m Lin Sheng, the leader of Huaisha City’s Ironfist Club. This trip here was to invite you to be our club’s combat advisor.

Lin Sheng smiled as he explained his motive.

“Hm?” Dao Ning’s expression sank, “Ironfist Club?”

Only then did he measured Lin Sheng’s figure.

“I never heard of any Ironfist Club before, but your body, you are a weapon user right? And you are interested in a crippled man like me?”

Before he was crippled, he was a famous person and many local factions had wanted him to join then. But after the incident, no one dared to approach him owing to the influence of his nemesis.

Only a few small factions dared to look for him, hoping to learn something and give him some money as a fee.

That was the only way he earned a living now.

“Mr. Dao Ning you are also a martial artist that had hit the limit of human strength, and I’ve heard that you had tried to break that limit without success for ten odd years.”

Lin Sheng paused for a moment, as he lifted his hand, signaling for Sarroux and his junior to leave.

The two did not say anything and left the room before closing it behind them.

“What are you trying to say?” Dao Ning looked impassively at Lin Sheng.

He had lived long enough that he had seen everything, so he was well composed and calm.

“I mean to say, I found the way to break that limit!”

Lin Sheng’s every word was resolute.

“And?” Dao Ning was still impassive, and he looked on calmly at Lin Sheng. He had seen all too many half-baked fools who had claimed to have broken the limit. But words alone would not convince him.

“I hope that you can join the Ironfist Club.” Lin Sheng said. I want to create an association that comprises and unites all martial artists, a pure martial arts association.

Too many martial artists had fallen in their fearless pursuit, and this was not just a loss for Xilin, but also the entire martial arts world.

And now that martial arts weak, with guns running rampant. Pure martial artists have found it harder and harder to survive. If we do not unite and find a way out, one day, martial arts may totally disappear under the tides of history.”

“It sounds good, far-sighted, but this old man here is beyond being wowed by delusions of grandeur.” Dao Ning sneered. “And, a mere boy like you saving the martial arts world? That’s almost… hilarious…”

Before he could complete his sentence, the sneer on his face slowly disappeared.

Lin Sheng, who was standing before him, was rapidly bulking up at a rate that one could see.

Lines upon lines of purple blood vessels appeared on his body as his muscles strengthened, and even Lin Sheng’s height was pushed up by a few centimeters.

“I… have long through that limit.”

Lin Sheng extended his hand out as his gripped clutched his palm and smashed again the way in a flash.

*Boom!*

The wall was torn through, then it exploded.

A ten centimeter thick mud wall, was blown apart like a piece of tofu.

Dao Ning swallowed hard and looked at Lin Sheng’s extended palm as he walked towards him.

“Want to bet?”

The massive hand filled with purple veins slowly extended before him.