Chapter 47: A Voice Raised Against Injustice

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Facing Liang Lingzhi’s provocation, the tattooed brute threw an arm out to stop his eager lackeys behind him. “You lot stay back. If he wants a one-on-one, I’ll give him what he wants!”

Amused, Liang Lingzhi thought to himself, “I’ve been brawling since kindergarten—they used to call me the Solo King! Why would I be scared of you?”

He sneered, “We fight until one admits defeat or passes out—then it’s over. No one breathes a word to the guards. Do you dare?”

Towering over Liang Lingzhi by half a head, the tattooed man felt supremely confident. “If this little sissy wants to kneel and grovel, I’ll teach him a lesson!”

He replied coldly, “Fine! But don’t come crying later!”

The other inmates formed a ring around them, hemming the pair in.

“Come on, son!” Liang Lingzhi taunted again, knowing full well that anger is the enemy of reason. The more furious his opponent became, the more it would play to his own advantage.

“You little—!” The big man lunged in with a straight punch.

Liang Lingzhi slipped aside, grinning. “Is that all you’ve got, son? Even your shiny bald head looks just like a marinated egg, I thought you’d at least know some iron headbutting!”

The brute faltered—this kid had some moves! “He’s got technique, his footwork’s sharp—has he trained before?” He attacked with both fists, swinging hard at Liang Lingzhi’s face.

Liang Lingzhi ducked low and swept a leg at the brute’s ankle. “Down!”

The big man hadn’t expected Liang Lingzhi to rely on skill rather than brute force. His ankle buckled and he nearly toppled, but managed to recover. “Didn’t expect a coward like you to have any tricks!”

Liang Lingzhi chuckled again. “Why would I tell you I know Wing Chun?”

The brute was startled—so this kid really was trained!

Seizing the moment of distraction, Liang Lingzhi rooted himself and launched into an intermediate Wing Chun sequence—“Seeking the Bridge.”

The rapid-fire strikes of “Seeking the Bridge” hit like a storm—Wing Chun’s speed and precision, combined with practiced flow, overwhelmed the brute in an instant.

“Boss!” The lackeys encircling them saw their leader faltering and began to murmur encouragement. “Hang in there, boss!”

Panic seized the tattooed man. “This kid is a monster! My ‘Low-blow Thug Boxing’ isn’t working at all!”

Before he could react, Liang Lingzhi had already seized both his shoulders and, with a cold smirk, threw the two-hundred-pound brute hard onto the ground.

“There’s more where that came from!” Liang Lingzhi pressed the attack, fists raining down like hail on the brute’s face.

If you’ve seen Ip Man, it was much like that scene.

The brute squeezed his eyes shut as blood spurted from his nose and mouth.

Liang Lingzhi wrapped an arm around the brute’s neck, glaring menacingly at the other inmates. “From now on, I call the shots here! Got it?”

He threw the brute down and walked aside to wipe his hands clean with a rag.

Dazed and groggy, the brute finally regained consciousness. “You’re ruthless, I’ll give you that.”

Some lackeys wanted to help him up, but Liang Lingzhi’s presence kept them frozen in place. Suddenly, Liang Lingzhi barked, “Help him up! Don’t let him die there!”

“Yes, yes!” Two lackeys hurried over to lift their boss.

Clang!

Something struck the iron door, echoing through the cell. “Well, well, what happened to our Big Brother Liu Fei? Why the bloody face?”

The speaker was the same prison guard who had locked Liang Lingzhi in that day.

The tattooed brute was named Liu Fei. He glanced at Liang Lingzhi and replied, “It’s nothing. I just fell off my bunk.”

“Oh my, so careless? Even you have days when you fall on the floor?” The guard seemed to grasp what had happened, chuckling maliciously as he strolled off.

Liu Fei turned to Liang Lingzhi. “So, big brother, what did you do to end up in here?”

Liang Lingzhi gave him a cold, lingering look before finally answering, “Assaulting a police officer.”

“Oh.”

Silence fell over the cell. The inmates exchanged uneasy glances. “So he’s a serious offender—assaulted a cop!”

Liu Fei cupped his hands respectfully. “I was out of line before—please forgive me.”

Liang Lingzhi wiped the blood from his hands. “The only reason I kept my head down in the corner on my first day was out of respect for the order here, not because I was afraid of you all. Understand?”

Liu Fei and his crew nodded repeatedly. “You’re right, big brother. We didn’t recognize greatness when we saw it, acting like we had authority. Please forgive us!”

Liang Lingzhi ignored them for a while before finally saying, “Fine. Now tell me everything about this prison.”

…

“Ye Dong, are we really sure about this?” Xiaobao whispered. “If we get caught, the punishment will be severe.”

Ye Dong replied coldly, “As long as we do it right, they won’t catch us, will they?”

Dachun nodded. “Ye Dong’s got a point.”

Ye Dong lowered his voice. “This is the police dog training base—there are dogs everywhere, so there aren’t many patrols. Over lunch, I found out that Instructor He’s dorm is Room 3 in Building 2. Xiao Yang and Xiao Wang are in Room 4; Officer Li is in Room 5, Huiyan in Room 6. Room 7 supposedly houses some mysterious people—I couldn’t find out who.”

Xiaobao guessed, “So our targets are Dorms 3, 4, 5, and 6?”

Ye Dong’s eyes swept the surroundings as he continued in a low voice, “Let me finish. I’ve noticed these guys all have a hobby—they like to go to the bathhouse together. Must be fond of picking up soap, I suppose.”

“And then?” Xiaobao prompted.

Ye Dong grinned. “While they’re bathing, we sneak into Instructor He’s room, steal the keys to the kennel. Dachun, you’re the fast runner—in a moment, you’ll take the keys and, on my signal, unleash the dogs toward the bathhouse as quickly as possible!”

Dachun gritted his teeth. “Fine! Leave it to me. But why the bathhouse?”

Ye Dong’s excitement grew. “That’s when their guard is lowest. If we smear some female dog’s secretions on their underwear and then release the dogs, well, you can imagine.”

“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!” Dachun praised. “But how will we get the secretions? Instructor He keeps them locked up himself!”

Ye Dong chuckled. “With you two clowns, how hard can it be to distract him?”

Xiaobao and Dachun exchanged a grin. “Of course! We’re geniuses, after all!”

“As for Huiyan,” Ye Dong mused, “let’s leave her out of this. She’s going to be my bodyguard one day, and your colleague. If she gets offended, it’ll be hard to work together. Besides, with her temperament, any dog that tries anything will end up dead—there’d be blood everywhere.”

Xiaobao shuddered. “After she’s done with the dogs, she’ll come for us next—probably castrate us.”

Dachun agreed. “Right, for our future safety, let’s skip her.”

The three of them exchanged glances, then Ye Dong continued, “Officer Li, though, deserves everything he gets. Let me think…”

After a while, Ye Dong’s lips curved into a sly smile. “Got it! He’ll never forget this, I promise you…”