The boxing training ground, named Garden, was located in an inconspicuous corner of the old city. Downstairs was a second-hand sporting goods store, which maintained the brick and tile structure of the old city buildings. The mottled walls looked quite old, and the neon sign hanging in front of the window did not light up at all. Perhaps it was to save on the electricity bill or it was broken, but fortunately, the light coming through the window proved that the training ground was still open.
Zhang Heng and Leah went up the stairs of the sporting goods store to the second floor. From afar, they could hear the sound of punching sandbags. Two shirtless, muscular men were sweating profusely.
Other than that, there was a rope skipper, a dumbbell-lifting trainer, and a group of children sitting on the ground, listening to a lecture. The lecturer was an old man with gray hair, probably the person in charge of this training ground.
Including the group of children who looked only eight or nine years old, everyone was focused on the matter in front of them. No one came to talk to Zhang Heng, who had just walked up.
However, Leah's appearance made the dumbbell-lifting man take a second look at her.
"My brother is not here," Leah whispered to Zhang Heng.
Zhang Heng nodded, not in a hurry. He stood there and waited patiently for about a quarter of an hour. The gray-haired coach finished teaching the group of children the key to punching and asked them to start practicing. Then, he walked over to Leah and Leah.
"How can I help you?"
"We are looking for someone," Zhang Heng said.
The old man gestured for them to go ahead.
"But he is not here."
"Then I can't help you." The old man turned around and went back to his lecture.
"Wait, are you a Catholic?" Zhang Heng took out the leaflet he received outside the monastery.
The old man took the leaflet, glanced at it, and then returned it. "Sorry, I'm not a religious person."
"Sorry to bother you."
Zhang Heng put the leaflet back into his pocket and was about to leave. Unexpectedly, one of the two punching bags suddenly stopped, pointed at Zhang Heng, and then pointed at the boxing ring.
"He wants to fight you," the old man frowned but said anyway.
"Sorry, I've never practiced boxing," Zhang Heng said, then looked at Leah. "Let's go."
The punching bag man seemed a little dissatisfied. The old man sighed and had to speak again. "He may know where the person you are looking for is."
"Sorry, is he mute? Can't he speak for himself?" Zhang Heng turned around.
The punching bag man obviously understood the word 'mute'. His expression changed, and he looked very unhappy. He patted his chest with his gloved hand and then looked at Zhang Heng with a provocative gaze.
The other people on the training ground also noticed the situation here and stopped what they were doing.
"I don't know the rules of boxing very well," Zhang Heng said.
"It doesn't matter. You can use whatever fighting techniques you're good at. You can even use weapons if you want."
"Can someone lend me a knife?" Zhang Heng asked. It was a pity that he could not bring his folding knife out of the parallel quest.
"How about a steak knife?"
"Okay." Zhang Heng borrowed some tape and wrapped it around the blade.
Seeing this scene, a contemptuous smile appeared on the punching bag man's face. He seemed to be laughing at Zhang Heng's unnecessary move. Let alone a mere steak knife, even if Zhang Heng was holding a Tang sword in his hand, he would not be able to hurt him.
"You will thank me for the extra tape later," Zhang Heng said.
The old man offered to give Zhang Heng protective gear, but Zhang Heng declined. He took off his suit and handed it to Leah. After that, he stood in the boxing ring with the punching bag man.
The punching bag man seemed to be amused by Zhang Heng's arrogance. When he saw his opponent in front of him still wearing a shirt and trousers, he stretched his limbs and was too lazy to put on a defensive posture. Instead, he hooked his finger at Zhang Heng, signaling for the fight to begin.
The next moment, his pupils shrank abruptly. He was still thinking about whether he should use a hook or a straight punch, and how much strength he should use to knock down the opponent in front of him without killing him. Suddenly, he saw Zhang Heng move.
The punching bag man was not weak. He had practiced amateur boxing for three years and participated in many boxing matches. He had seen all kinds of opponents, but this was the first time he met someone who moved so fast.
Just as he was still in the posture of a hook to provoke his opponent, the tip of the steak knife in Zhang Heng's hand flashed in front of his eyes. If it moved two centimeters closer, it would pierce through his eyeballs.
Who would have thought that what was supposed to be a fierce battle would end in less than a second?
It was so fast that most people didn't even have time to look surprised.
"It's too fast. Doesn't it count?" Zhang Heng retracted his hand. "Then, why don't you make the first move this time?"
The punching bag man wiped the sweat on the tip of his nose. After this surprise attack, he was no longer as relaxed and contemptuous as before. Instead, he became vigilant. He had noticed that Zhang Heng was not as easy to deal with as he looked. However, he was also very confident in his own strength. Once he got serious, he still had a good chance of defeating Zhang Heng.
While thinking about this, the punching bag man finally began to show off his footwork. In order to prevent Zhang Heng from sneaking up on him like before, he deliberately put some distance between the two. He carefully tested Zhang Heng's rhythm by shaking his shoulders.
This was exactly the posture one would take when facing a strong enemy.
On the other hand, Zhang Heng still didn't react. He just stood there quietly.
The punching bag man tried to test Zhang Heng for a while, and he began to feel embarrassed. Every time he made a small move, he would immediately imagine Zhang Heng's reaction. After that, he would immediately make a defensive move based on the reaction he imagined. As a result, he ended up scaring himself for a long time like a silly [Beep]. On the other hand, Zhang Heng did not move at all.
The punching bag man realized that he couldn't go on like this anymore. He had to attack.
With that thought in mind, the beach man finally took the first step and swung his right fist. Zhang Heng also finally moved, leaning back a little and dodging the punch. Immediately after that, the beach man threw a second punch. This time, he aimed for Zhang Heng's chest. Again, Zhang Heng easily dodged it.
The punching bag man didn't have so many thoughts in his mind at this time. All he did was to attack Zhang Heng faster and faster. Incredibly, his storm-like attacks were dodged by Zhang Heng.
"Huh?" A look of surprise flashed in the eyes of the old man who was watching the fight. It was the first time he saw such flexible footwork. Even a professional boxer would find it difficult to do this. This was not something that could be achieved through simple training. It also required a lot of actual combat experience.
"Are you done attacking? If you are, I'm going to make my move next. "Zhang Heng finally spoke after dodging another round of attacks from the punching bag man.
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