Chapter 50: Four Years

Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and four years passed, bringing them to the year 1991, with only a few months left before the collapse of the giant.

Orlando, Florida.

Inside a newly established martial arts academy within the emerging Chinatown, the sounds of shouting and flesh colliding echoed from time to time.

Passersby frequently cast curious and envious glances toward the entrance.

There was no help for it; Orlando had only developed in recent years, so many things found in major metropolises were absent here. Chinatowns existed in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Washington, but for Orlando, it still felt quite novel. Of course, what caught their curiosity wasn't merely the architecture. To them, Chinese customs bore a certain mysterious resemblance to the secretive ways of the Gypsies.

What truly fascinated them was the authentic Chinese kung fu taught inside.

Following the explosive popularity of Bruce Lee, the 1970s and 1980s saw a craze for kung fu sweep across America, evolving to the point where practically any Chinese person would inevitably be asked whether they knew martial arts. It was also during this era that a multitude of martial arts schools crossed oceans to take root in this gunpowder-laden soil.

Thus, it was hardly surprising that they stared with such intense curiosity.

Zhenkun Martial Arts Academy.

A young man with streamlined muscles, entirely devoid of any bulkiness, kicked a two-meter-tall giant to the floor with a single sweep, then brought his fists together in a salute. "I yield to your courtesy."

Clap, clap, clap!

A chorus of applause erupted.

The surrounding fellow apprentices and disciples all cheered.

"Louis is amazing!"
"Incredible!"
"Aside from Master and a few senior martial brothers, probably no one in our academy is stronger than Louis, right?"
"..."

"Yo, Emma is here? Come to check on your little sweetheart again?"

In the corner, a cool-looking girl with long black hair bit down on a lollipop, casting a sidelong glance at the speaker.

Without uttering a word, she simply waited quietly.

Soon, Louis walked out from the inner room, having changed into everyday casual clothes.

"Let's go."

Emma nodded and followed closely at Louis's heels, step for step.

Behind them, a group of martial brothers wore expressions of envy. Emma had grown into a strikingly beautiful young woman with smooth, long black hair and delicate facial features that lost none of their charm. If anything, her trademark expressionless coolness lent her an even more distinctive temperament. Only her height held her back slightly; otherwise, she would have perfectly embodied the archetype of the aloof, untouchable ice-queen.

With such a beauty trailing behind Louis all day long, who wouldn't be envious?

In fact, quite a few people had pursued Emma—fellow students from the academy, schoolmates, and locals alike. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, she gave them all the cold shoulder. If they pushed her too far, she would pull out an electric stun gun and zap them without hesitation, making her utterly ruthless.

Of course, what they did not know was that had Louis not reined her in, they would have been greeted by something far worse than a stun gun; bloodshed would have been inevitable.

Walking down the street, Louis casually bought a deep-fried chicken leg to snack on. Ever since he began practicing martial arts, his internal energy cultivation had accelerated, leading to a corresponding increase in physical consumption. He constantly needed to replenish himself with high-calorie, high-nutritional foods.

At that moment, Emma, walking beside him, asked, "We'll be graduating to the next level of schooling together this year. Have you decided where you want to go?"

"Probably Lakeland Preparatory School. I've asked around about that place; it's the largest private school newly established in Orlando in recent years. The faculty is solid, the school benefits are decent, and they offer all sorts of perks year-round, frequently organizing activities. Academically, a large number of their students manage to get into the top fifty universities," Louis replied casually.

In America, educational systems varied, such as the 6-2-4 or 6-3-3 formats. Louis was enrolled in the 6-2-4 system: six years of elementary school, two years of middle school, four years of high school, and then advancement to university.

Because of his exceptional academic performance, he had previously skipped a grade, making him a classmate of Emma. Consequently, even though he was only twelve years old this year, he would be advancing to high school alongside her.

"By the way, Yurenka isn't planning to return anytime soon. She's probably still lording it over everyone back at her school."

"Oh? Send word for her to transfer schools."

Emma nodded in understanding, the corners of her mouth curling into a delighted smile. She had mentioned it on purpose, laying a trap precisely because she wanted this exact outcome.

Did Yurenka really think she could stay far away from Louis? Heh. Just because she was three years older and had advanced to middle school earlier, she had enjoyed nearly two years of carefree days. Now it was time for her to return to hell. Haha!

However, today's primary objective was not this. Emma quickly reined in her thoughts.

"Louis, are we going today?"
"Mn, let's go take a look."

Louis and Emma returned home, but instead of going inside, they headed straight toward the mountain behind the house. Passing the warehouse, they arrived at a specially reinforced, sunless, and gloomy cave.

In the bushes outside the cave mouth, several mafia members holding firearms were concealed. Recognizing Louis, none of them revealed themselves.

They walked deep into the cave.

A massive, blood-red hound—ferocious enough to kill an ordinary dog with a single paw—pounced forward, only to flatten itself submissively at Louis's feet, its tail wagging furiously.

Louis squatted down and patted the hound's head a few times. "Alright, I know you did a good job. Take your underlings and guard this place well."

The hound blinked its eyes in comfortable satisfaction and nodded briskly.

Emma, standing nearby, maintained a careful distance. There was no helping it; this massive beast was not easy to please and acknowledged no master other than Louis. The last time Yurenka had let her hands wander where they shouldn't have, she had almost gotten her head bitten off.

Dismissing the hound, Louis led Emma to the deepest recess of the cavern.

There, astonishingly, lay six corpses!

The bodies bore distinct Mexican characteristics.

The facial orifices of all six corpses were covered with talisman papers painted with red spell scripts. However, a few of the bodies appeared to have sunken inward, with something vaguely writhing beneath the skin, presenting a spine-chilling sight.

Even more terrifying was the pile of discarded, clothing-like empty skins heaped in the corner!

"This batch is pretty much used up. Hard to tell whether it succeeded or not."

Louis squatted down, inspecting them closely.

Beside him, Emma's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Over the past few years, Louis had gradually revealed more bizarre and eerie methods to her. Yet, after the initial shock wore off, what she felt was a twisted, alluring fascination.

Consequently, step by step, she had joined forces with Louis.

In fact, several of the empty skins in that pile belonged to local junkies who had harassed her; she had disposed of them and delivered their remains to Louis as raw materials.

At that moment, Louis made his move.

He tapped gently.

One of the heads instantly collapsed inward, as if devoid of a skull.

The collapse of the head triggered a chain reaction; the neck, torso, and limbs all caved inward simultaneously.

At the same time, the writhing entities beneath the skin swarmed frantically toward the head.

In the blink of an eye, the previously sunken head bulged outward, then slowly shrank back down once more. The spells written on the seven blood-red talismans began to writhe like tadpoles before rapidly fading in color.

Finally.

The talisman papers dissolved into ash.

The skin of the forehead split open.

A single blood-red pearl, about the size of a Buddhist prayer bead and as smooth and lustrous as jade, slowly floated out into the air.

Seeing this, Louis wore a satisfied smile. He reached out to catch it, inadvertently revealing a string of blood-colored prayer beads wrapped around his wrist.