60: Chapter 60 Attacked While Night Jogging? The Provocation of a Drunk and Bulky Man

When the training hall's copper lock clicked softly, Chen Wu's sneakers had already crushed the first fallen leaf at the alley's entrance. The newly exchanged Basic Footwork flowed through his mind, and blue-gold Qi Energy spread along his ankles, making every step land with a subtle rhythm—neither heavy like a typical night runner nor intentionally light, landing perfectly on the power-generation nodes of the Stamping and Grinding Step.

Lin Mo's tactical tablet was hidden in his sports backpack. The Qi Energy monitoring map pulsing on the screen showed that Chen Wu's energy field had expanded to three times its usual size. Through his Bluetooth headset, the boy reminded him, "There's an abnormal Qi Energy fluctuation along the Moat three kilometers away. The System has flagged it as a 'potential threat,' but the intensity is only C-rank; it might just be a common conflict."

Grandpa Wang's dry tobacco pouch swayed inside the door. The old man's voice drifted on the evening wind: "In 1949, I met spies on this road who pretended to be drunks to pick a fight, hiding daggers in their wine gourds." The bronze tobacco bowl glinted coldly in the moonlight. "Remember the 'Force-Shedding Direction Change' in your footwork; don't let the onlookers see through your techniques."

Chen Wu's footsteps created ripples on the stone path along the Moat. The newly laid bluestone slabs still smelled of cement, yet they gave off extremely subtle Qi Energy ripples under his feet—this was a hidden effect of the Basic Footwork, allowing him to perceive movements within fifty meters through ground vibrations. As he ran past the third streetlight, the ripples suddenly became distorted ten meters ahead to his left.

Five blurry figures leaned against the river railing, the smell of low-quality white liquor wafting over on the wind. The lead thug was shirtless, with an over-the-shoulder dragon tattooed on his bronze back. An empty wine bottle rolled to Chen Wu's feet, making a harsh clattering sound. "Kid, you running without eyes?" His voice was thick with the smell of alcohol, but his right hand made a hidden gesture behind his back.

Chen Wu's Listening Energy captured the anomaly—the thug's breathing frequency was too stable for a drunk, and the Qi Energy fluctuations between his chest's rises and falls had a metallic texture, similar to the genetic mutants of the Gray Shadow Organization, yet mixed with a certain unstable violence. The vibrations from the stone path showed that the other four men had their weight on the balls of their feet, ready to launch an attack at any moment.

"Excuse me." Chen Wu's pace didn't falter, but Qi Energy condensed into the starting stance of the Nine Palace Steps at the soles of his shoes. The moment the thug deliberately tried to bump into him, his left foot slid toward the side and rear by a mere millimeter. What looked like a stumbling dodge was actually a perfect step into the 'Li Position' node, allowing the force of the other's impact to be channeled through the stone path, shattering an empty wine bottle further away.

The thug's fist grazed the tip of Chen Wu's nose, the wind it carried mixing with a faint scent of blood. He let out an "Ouch" and pretended to lose his balance, but his elbow struck toward Chen Wu's ribs with an afterimage—this was a dirty street-fighting trick, an attack that looked like a loss of balance but actually blocked all retreat routes.

Chen Wu's Qi Energy condensed into a shield at his side. Just as the blue-gold energy flow touched the other's elbow, he "heard" the abnormal sound of bone friction—the thug's arm bone had been modified, its surface covered in a scale-like substance. The Qi Energy fluctuations were similar to the mutants in the Shanghai factory, but the purity was lower, showing clear signs of rejection.

"Damn it, you still dare to dodge?" The thug's accomplices closed in, wine bottle shards spinning in their hands. Their positioning seemed casual, but they subtly formed a semi-circle, perfectly blocking the routes where Chen Wu might change direction. The vibrations from the stone path showed that the Qi Energy fields of these four were identical, like Puppets controlled by the same program.

Lin Mo's warning came through the headset: "Their phones are simultaneously sending out location data; a vehicle is approaching from three kilometers away at high speed." On the tactical tablet's thermal imaging, the body temperatures of the five "drunks" were abnormally high, especially at the temples, showing the same dark red color as Shadow Beast toxins. "They are 'Inferior Mutants,' created using incomplete Genetic Medicine; their lifespan is only three months."

Chen Wu's steps suddenly switched to a 'Kan Position' variation of the Nine Palace Steps. To the onlookers, he seemed to be performing a strange dance around the thugs, yet in three turns, he avoided all attacks while leading the five men to a weak spot in the river railing—there was a tiny crack in the stone slab left by municipal repairs, just enough to amplify the vibration effects of the Basic Footwork.

"This kid isn't right!" The thug suddenly dropped his disguise. His bare arms instantly swelled, veins bulging under his skin in a dark green color identical to the Shadow Beast toxin. His fist smashed toward Chen Wu's face with the sound of breaking wind, the calluses on his knuckles suddenly splitting to leak a viscous liquid that shimmered with an oily luster in the moonlight.

Chen Wu's Qi Energy moved along the trajectory of the Nine Palace Steps, forming a rotating energy flow in front of him. The moment the fist contacted the blue-gold barrier, the thug suddenly let out a scream—not of pain, but of terror. The liquid leaking from his fist was evaporating, revealing the corroded, blackened skin beneath, as if being purified by some force.

"It's the Qi Energy from the peace lock." Lin Mo's tablet suddenly alarmed. "The toxins in their bodies are reacting violently upon contact with your energy field! This isn't a simple provocation; they want to test your purification ability!" The distant vehicle had already stopped under the bridge, and tactical binoculars showed a figure in the back seat holding a camera and filming.

The other four simultaneously pulled out folding knives, their blades coated in a dark green paste. Their attacks were no longer hidden as they lunged forward with suicidal madness, but as they came within three meters of Chen Wu, their movements suddenly slowed—the Qi Energy ripples on the stone path formed an invisible nine-palace grid, causing them to involuntarily step on the wrong nodes and collide with each other.

The thug's roar turned into a howl of agony. His right hand had turned completely black, the toxin spreading up his Meridians, only to be blocked at his collarbone by an invisible force—that was exactly the Qi Energy node Chen Wu had placed using his Basic Footwork. "Who the hell are you?" His drunkenness had completely vanished, his eyes filled with fear. "Lord Gray Shadow said it was just a lesson..."

Chen Wu lightly tapped the stone slab with his foot, and Shock Energy was channeled through the ground, causing the slabs beneath the five men to bounce slightly at the same time. This seemingly simple action caused all the folding knives to fly out of their hands and embed themselves into the wooden handrail of the Moat. The moment the toxin on the blades touched the Qi Energy, it emitted acrid white smoke.

"What benefits did Gray Shadow give you?" Chen Wu switched his footwork to a defensive stance, blue-gold Qi Energy forming a spiral airflow around him. Bystanders began to gather, some taking out phones to film, but they could only see a few drunks staggering inexplicably; no one could see the flow of Qi Energy. "Is it worth trading three months of life for temporary power?"

Scales suddenly erupted from the thug's back, and the over-the-shoulder dragon tattoo seemed to come alive, oozing dark green blood. His body was undergoing a terrifying mutation, muscle fibers tearing and restructuring, yet it constantly collapsed under the purification of the Qi Energy, forming a bizarre tug-of-war. "My daughter needs money for her illness..." His voice carried a sob, a far cry from his previous ferocity.

Lin Mo's tablet suddenly accessed the hospital database. The boy's voice was filled with anger: "His daughter's medical records are forged! The Gray Shadow Organization used false information to control thirty-seven such 'Inferior Mutants,' specifically to cause trouble on your activity routes!" On the tactical map, over a dozen red dots were converging toward the Moat, all with similar Qi Energy fluctuations.

Chen Wu's Qi Energy suddenly intensified, the blue-gold energy flow no longer hidden as it condensed into a translucent protective shield in the moonlight. When the thug, now fully mutated into a monster, lunged at him, he didn't choose to attack. Instead, he used the 'Nine Palace Flying Stars' variation of the Nine Palace Steps, moving rapidly around the opponent—what looked like an evasive circling was actually using Qi Energy to draw a Soul-Quelling Array on the ground, with each footprint corresponding to an array eye.

"Look at his back!" someone in the crowd exclaimed. On the thug's bare skin, those dark green scales were falling off, revealing new, healthy skin beneath. The Qi Energy from the Soul-Quelling Array surged in through the wounds, forcing the Shadow Beast toxin out of his body, where it formed a small pool of poison on the ground that was absorbed and purified by the stone slabs.

The vehicle under the bridge suddenly started, the sound of tires screeching against the ground. Chen Wu's Listening Energy captured the sound of a camera being hurriedly put away and a frustrated voice: "Useless! They can't even perform a test! Activate the backup plan!"

The five mutants slumped on the stone path, drenched in cold sweat. The thug's mutation had receded, leaving only black spots from the toxin's erosion on his skin, his eyes filled with the daze of a survivor. Chen Wu took a small porcelain bottle from his backpack—it was the remaining nine-turn soul returning ointment—and poured a bit onto his wound: "This will hold you until tomorrow morning. Go to First City Hospital and find Dr. Zhou; give him my name."

Lin Mo's tablet showed that Elder Zhou from First City Hospital had already received the message and was arranging a special ward. The boy contacted the Special Incident Response Department through an encrypted channel: "We need to clear the Qi Energy residue from the scene and deal with the mutants who are on their way. According to our agreement, this counts as a 'common threat,' right?"

The reply from the Chief of the Execution Division came quickly: "We'll be there in three minutes." The high beams of a black sedan appeared at the bridgehead. This time, they didn't hide their presence but stopped directly outside the crowd. Uniformed personnel stepped out, ignored the onlookers, and walked straight toward the collapsed mutants, their movements as professional as if they were handling a routine procedure.

Grandpa Wang's figure appeared at the edge of the crowd, the bronze bell on his tobacco pouch jingling softly. He shot a look in Chen Wu's direction. The vibrations from the stone path showed that the old man had just used 'Qi Transmission' to warn those onlookers trying to record—the videos in their phones had automatically turned into static. Only those who were truly kind-hearted would retain a blurred memory.

Chen Wu's footsteps resumed his night run route, but this time at a normal pace. The Qi Energy of the Basic Footwork quietly withdrew, making the sweat on his back look no different from that of an ordinary runner. As he ran past the site of the conflict, he heard the Chief of the Execution Division questioning the thug: "What did the Gray Shadow's 'Shadow Warrior' teach you?"

"Footwork..." the thug's voice was weak. "They said it was footwork that could counter traditional martial arts, and told us to deliberately expose flaws to lure him into using his true skills..." He suddenly remembered something. "They said if they could film him using Qi Energy to kill people, they could ruin the reputation of 'traditional martial arts'..."

Internal communications from the Special Incident Response Department came through Lin Mo's headset. The Director's voice was cold: "Initiate the 'Scavenger' program to clear all videos that may have circulated. Additionally, find the whereabouts of these mutants' families and place them all under protection—this is the 'Special Privilege' Chen Wu exchanged with his points."

Chen Wu's footsteps moved further away in the moonlight, his reflection in the Moat's surface faintly revealing his grandfather's silhouette. The old man's phantom stepped in the same Nine Palace Steps, leaving blue-gold footprints on the water that perfectly overlapped with Chen Wu's pace. When the wind blew, the two shadows turned simultaneously toward the distant bridge and took the starting stance of the Crushing Fist.

When the night run ended and he returned to the training hall, Grandpa Wang was wiping the bronze statue. The old man's tobacco pouch was lit with new tobacco, the smoke forming the words "Tomb Guardian" in the moonlight: "The footwork just now was used cleverly; you neither exposed your full strength nor failed to suppress the situation." His tobacco bowl pointed toward the nine-turn soul returning ointment on the offering table. "The ointment was used even more cleverly—saving lives is better than killing for making people remember the goodness of traditional martial arts."

Lin Mo's tablet suddenly popped up a notification from the Global Martial Arts System: "For 'non-violently resolving a C-rank threat,' 50,000 points awarded. New achievement 'Benevolent Fist' unlocked; can be exchanged for 'Qi Concealment Technique'." The point balance on the screen became 250,000, one step closer to the "Tomb Guardian Exclusive Set."

Chen Wu's fingers brushed over a new fist print on the wooden dummy, where the Qi Energy of the Basic Footwork still lingered. He suddenly understood that the footwork his grandfather left behind was not just a technique for offense and defense, but a way of life—true strength is not making everyone fear you, but giving those forced onto the wrong path a chance to turn back.

In the training hall under the moonlight, the thread-bound book of Basic Footwork flipped softly in the wind, stopping exactly on the page with his grandfather's annotations: "Steps follow the heart, fists are launched by intent. If attacked on a night road, first consider the cause, then decide the result." Beside it, the nine-turn soul returning ointment emitted a faint medicinal fragrance, mixing with the ink scent of the pages to form the unique aura of traditional martial arts.

The distant city had fallen asleep, leaving only the blue-gold Qi Energy traces on the stone path along the Moat, as if reminding every passerby: in this world, there are always some footsteps guarding an unknown peace.