The next morning they started their journey in good spirit. Last night Zhang Xuan broke through several levels and now at level 8, same with Xia Yue, while Chen Yao was at the peak of level 9 and soon would break through level 10.

Huang Wen was at level 19, his current stat was :

"Level: 19 (0/270)"

"Class: None"

"Title: None"

"Strength: 10 (10)

Agility: 30 (31)

Vitality: 12(12)

Stamina: 15/15 (15)

Spirit: 17/17 (17)

Health: 11/11 (11)"

"Active Skills : Fireball lvl. 2."

"Passive Skills : Third Eye lvl. 1, Bloodlust lvl. 1"

"Equipment : Baihu's Bastard Sword. Generic boot (Agility +1)"

Since their goal was to reach Zhang Xuan's home as fast as possible, they didn't waste time by killing zombies to improve their skill. With Huang Wen among them, it was a walk in the park. Unfortunately no one knew how to drive a car. Otherwise, their journey would be done within two hours at most.

They didn't dare using shortcut and stayed on the main road, because Zhang Xuan worried that they and her father might pass each other unknowingly. After some discussion they believed, if Zhang Xuan's father wanted to save her, most likely he would go along with several other men and rode a car.

"Why can't I separate from the group for a while to kill some zombies?", Chen Yao asked, her eyes watched all the zombies who avoided them.

"First we don't know when we're going to enter some demon's territory and second we want to keep our stamina at its peak.", Zhang Xuan answered.

Chen Yao snorted, "This is boring."

Huang Wen didn't want to interfere and irritated Chen Yao even more. Chen Yao only listened to Zhang Xuan and he happily left the talk to her. He was looking around for signs of demon instead. Sometime he felt a hint of demon's existence few kilometers from their location before it disappeared. It seemed even demons were avoiding him now. It seemed a demon as strong as Baihu was a rarity even among demons.

They were traveling at close to three hours when they saw a commotion few hundred meters away.

A group of men was fighting against hordes of zombies. One man seemed to lead them and gave orders to the other.

"Zhang Yi! Get your men to clear the road faster! Un Kai! You and your men help him!"

"Deng Yuan! Watch out!"

His deep voice was booming and his tall and heavy build was inspiring. In one hand, he carried a sword and in his other hand there was a handgun. He moved around, assisting his men and kept everything in order. Slowly but steadily they moved forward. Once they cleared the road, they could jump on their truck to breakthrough the horde of zombies. Those whose task to clear the road, worked as hard as they could but unfortunately many cars wreckage blocked the road. Series of crash has happened there a few days ago.

When Zhang Xuan heard that voice, she exclaimed, "That's my father! That's my father! Huang Wen, quickly saves him!"

Huang Wen nodded his head but refused to leave the girls alone, "Come! Let's run. They're only few hundred meters from us! Hurry!"

They ran as fast as they could, Zhang Xuan asked Huang Wen to run ahead but he refused to listen. From his position, he could see that although Zhang Xuan's father and his men surrounded by hordes of zombies. His leadership kept everyone in order. Against the slow zombies, they would be able to hold on for quite some time. Zhang Xuan couldn't force Huang Wen to leave them. All she could do, was trying to run faster. Good thing she improved her stamina last night and a few hundred meters mean nothing now.

If just took minutes for them to reach Zhang Xuan's father position.

Zhang Xuan called her father, "Father! Father! We're coming to help!"

Zhang Hu turned his head and shouted with joy, "Zhang Xuan! My daughter! My little daughter!"

Zhang Hu who saw his daughter running toward the horde of zombies shouted back, "Stay! Stay where you are!"

When he saw that Zhang Xuan didn't even slow down, he cursed and charged forward, "Bro Fan Zheng!! Take the lead!! I'll go to my daughter!!!"

"Leave this place to me!", a rather small man in stature but with a wiry muscle replied.

"Yao! Cheng! You go to help Master Zhang!", he shouted and two young men, separated themselves from their group to accompany Zhang Xuan's father.

They began to mow the zombies and opened a way toward Huang Wen and the girls, but to their surprised the zombies began to run. Huang Wen and the girls were getting closer. When the zombies felt his presence, they began to waver.

Huang Wen noticed that these zombies were controlled by a demon. That's why they were quite persistent even when facing strong opponents and after some time they would definitely win the battle. But even the demon who controlled that horde of zombies, after it detected Huang Wen's presence, it decided to avoid him and pulled back its horde of zombies.

With wide opened eyes, the group was holding their position and watched the zombies dispersed in disbelief. While Zhang Xuan didn't care about any of that, she ran toward her father and hug him hard.

"Father... father.... how is mother doing? Little brother ?"

Zhang Xuan's father laughed and hug her back, "They're fine... they all are fine... now you're fine too... this is truly a good day."

The rest of the group finally relaxed as they saw the area cleared from any zombies. Even when they were yet to understand the reason behind it. They watched the scene with joy as well, if not for their well-wish for their leader, then it was because this meant that now they could return to their base, back to safety.

"Uncle Zhang...", Chen Yao and Xia Yue greeted Zhang Xuan's father.

He looked at them and smiled, "Good... you're safe too. Thanks for taking care of my daughter."

Xia Yue laughed, "Uncle Zhang you get it wrong, she's the one who is taking care of us."

Zhang Xuan's father laughed and that was when his eyes fell on Huang Wen.

Zhang Xuan quickly nudge him and said, "Father, he was the one who saves us, we were trapped in our dormitory and there was this demon who wanted to consume us but he came just at the right time and kill that demon. Then after I told him that I want to check my home, he agreed to help."

Zhang Xuan's father smiled politely, if not a bit more too polite, "Hmm.... thanks for your help young man. May I know your name?"

"Uh... Huang Wen sir... my name is Huang Wen", Huang Wen answered.

He felt the pressure coming out of Zhang Xuan's father.

Zhang Hu smiled and his eyes scanned Huang Wen, seizing him up before nodded his head, "My name is Zhang Hu. You can call me Uncle Zhang."

"And this is Fan Zheng, my sworn brother.", he introduced the wiry muscled small man next to him.

Huang Wen cupped his hand and slightly bowed to greet him. Smiling, Fan Zheng nodded at Huang Wen. His eyes weren't less judging than Zhang Hu's eyes, they were small but sharp, at the end he seemed satisfied with whatever he saw in Huang Wen.

"We have plenty to catch up, but let's not spend more time here.", Zhang Hu told them.

"Well..., come, come, let's back to our base. Your mother kept asking me to save you as soon as possible. She would be tremendously happy to see you safe.", Zhang Hu never let Zhang Xuan's hand off his.

"Uhm... you can go with your father first. Uncle, you can go first.", suddenly Huang Wen said to Zhang Xuan and Zhang Hu.

"Huang Wen, what do you mean by this?", Zhang Xuan perplexed, she was worried that Huang Wen wanted to separate from them.

Even Chen Yao and Xia Yue stared at him, asking for an explanation. Their relation with Huang Wen hadn't went as far as Zhang Xuan but whether they admitted it or not. They had a special feeling toward him.

Zhang Hu too seemed a bit surprised, "Boy, is there something? Are you not coming with us?"

"Ah, nothing important really, I just wanted to travel on foot. You know, to gain more experience and with that more power. Zhang Xuan, Chen Yao and Xia Yue, don't worry. I will surely come to see you three. Zhang Xuan, you should tell your father about that place where no demons and zombies could enter. It might be just a trick but if possible then let us find that place so everyone could live peacefully.", Huang Wen answered.

Zhang Hu saw that there was something happened between Huang Wen and the girls, he couldn't guess what it was or wanted to guess. He knew his daughter well and trusted her, he believed sooner or later, if there is something that's important, she will tell him.

Zhang Hu nodded his head while his eyes never stray of Huang Wen's, "Hmm... okay then, if you want to find us later. Currently we're living in the Freedom Army Memorial Hall. That's our base. We tried to explore the city every day and save as many survivors as possible. If you know a safe place that would be a great information."

Before Huang Wen could answer, suddenly Zhang Hu added, "I will be waiting for your visit."

There was something hidden within that words. Huang Wen could feel it through Zhang Hu's eyes and expression.

For a second he was panicked, silently he cursed himself, 'Crap.... he knows... He knows something happened between me and his daughter.'

Chen Yao and Xia Yue tried hard not to laugh, as they watched the horror on Huang Wen's face, while Zhang Xuan was blushing a bit.

"Yes, sure... I know that place. I think... at worst..., I'll be there within the next three days.", Huang Wen answered a bit stuttered.

Zhang Hu and Fan Zheng though how funny it was, but they hid it well. On the outside, they looked stern.

Fan Zheng coldly nodded at Huang Wen, "Well... see you then. Once again, thanks for your help."

Zhang Hu nodded as well before sent the girls to one of the truck and jumped in himself. As the truck turned and moved away from Huang Wen, his eyes never left him. Leaving Huang Wen with clenched stomach.

"Argh..... I'll run. I won't go there...", Huang Wen waved at them, while telling himself that he wouldn't get to see them again, over and over.

But as soon as they were gone from his sight, he knew that he would go to their base, to see the girls again and face Zhang Xuan's fierce father, "I guess this is how Zhang Fei's son in law felt."

He turned and found several zombies walked toward him, "Hmph...! Good, come closer... the merrier the better."

Huang Wen sheathed his sword and slung it across his back. Huang Wen's decision to make the trip to the memorial hall alone, decided on a whim. Since yesterday, he didn't have any confidence to meet Zhang Xuan's father. Chen Yao and Xia Yue sometime teased him about proposing Zhang Xuan. Huang Wen was torn between freed himself from the situation or since he already took a sip from the cup, why didn't he drank it all whether it was poisoned or not.

Now, he wanted to calm himself.

Huang Wen didn't move without direction, long before they left to find Zhang Xuan's father and incidentally met them. He already made a plan this morning and when he saw how Zhang Xuan's father fought against the zombies he was sure that it was a good plan. He went to the biggest book store in the city.

There, Huang Wen browsed through the hobbies and sport section. He found racks full of various kinds of martial art book.

That's right. Huang Wen had thought about it and decided real martial art would be important in the near future. After he fought against Baihu, he realized that in the future, he will meet more dangerous enemies. Zombie's attack was easy to predict and they simply had no defense but demons were different. Not to mention, the possibility to meet with thugs and criminals.

Perhaps he might even have to fight a martial artist. Huang Wen couldn't imagine, what it would be like, if a martial artist learned the secret of this new world system and leveled up.

He couldn't rely on brute force anymore. He needed the knowledge and technique to maximize his basic strength and speed. So far, all the attacks that were launched against him was direct attacks. Huang Wen wasn't confident in his skill, if his enemy is smart enough to mix a fake attack and true attack in their fight. Against another human with a similar level, real fighting skills would be important.

After he browsed carefully, he picked several books. One book of Muay Thai, since he was interested in its practical use. The book explained in detail how to use each technique in a real fight but more importantly it also explained the tactical decision during the fight. How to position your body within the ring, how to control your opponent with your attack, the easy trick to gauge your attack range during a fight and many other tips and tricks. For Huang Wen who had relatively little experience before these days, it was more important than learning various techniques which he couldn't apply in a real fight.

One book of Judo to learn grappling technique. Another two books that try to explain Xing Yi Quan in detailed manner, because that was the martial art he learned before, so he already familiar with it. He decided to deepen his knowledge in Xing Yi Quan, because it was famous for its aggressive, bursting, shocking direct attack. He knew that he didn't have much fighting experience, as such he wanted to focus on having the means to end a fight as soon as it started.

The last book he wanted to find was a bit harder to find, but he found it nevertheless. It was a book about how to use a bastard sword. It was a bit general use of various kinds of swords in medieval Europe. He read the book and quite like it. It gave him several ideas how to use his sword and some base for him to practice along with technical analysis why certain form of attack and defense was preferred for each kind of weapons.

He began to read the book diligently. When he thought he learned something, he would go outside to practice it against the zombies. Since most of the zombies avoided him, it was a bit tricky. He needed to corner a small group of zombies, before he could practice his moves against them. Cornered without any opening to escape, the zombies attacked to survive at the end they only served as Huang Wen's training dummies. He didn't need to watch for his back, since other zombies gladly use that chance to distant themselves as far as possible from him.

When his stamina near depletion, he would retreat and study more. He didn't use his weapon, but focused on practicing various Xing Yi Quan techniques he learned years ago, Muay Thai and his new knowledge of various aspects of a fight.

He killed less zombies for the similar cost of stamina. Killed them bare handed was exhausting and he didn't even broke through a level, but he was excited since he could feel his attack became more effective, more compact, his hand-eye coordination improved and he could easily blocked and avoid his opponent's attack with less movement compared than before. In short, he became a better fighter. The more he fought, the more it became his second nature. He knew he still far from mastery but through all the fight. He felt like he began to see the path. He felt like he finally arrived at the door toward the true path in martial art.

He was practicing for the whole day and night, when he wasn't fighting he would study. When his stamina restored he would fight.

It was early in the next day, he was ending one of his fights with a chopping movement that crushed the top of his opponent head with a cracking sound. Suddenly he heard a voice inside his head.

"Basic mastery of martial art is learned. Through long and hard practice. Through hundreds of real life experience, the practitioner now learns various aspects of martial art. Though their knowledge is far from perfection it will help them greatly when they attack and defend."

A passive skill Martial Art (Style: Xing Yi Quan) Level 1 learned, +5% to overall attack and defense."

"Xing Yi Quan : features aggressive shocking attacks and direct footwork. Most of the training and footwork are practiced on straight lines. The linear nature of the art hints at both the military origins and the influence of spear technique alluded to in its mythology. The goal of the Xing Yi exponent is to reach the opponent quickly and drive powerfully through them in a single burst. The analogy with spear fighting is useful here. This is achieved by coordinating one's body as a single unit, and the intense focusing of one's Intent (Yi 意) and coordinated power (Jin 勁) utilizing tight circles (usually in a forward direction)."

Huang Wen stood there silently as he felt a force ran through his body. There were five ordinary zombies facing him at various distant by that time. He calmly took a deep breath and suddenly explodes in a series of attacks. Five zombies flew to all directions. Two of them killed at once. While others suffered various kind of broken bones and easily killed within seconds.

Huang Wen laughed, his stamina was near depletion but he was really happy. He never thought that even the system would bless his hard work with an in system skill.

He felt so happy that even the thought of facing Zhang Hu couldn't dampen his good mood, "Well, after some rest, I guess it's time to give them a visit."

http://astoimm.blogspot.com/2015/12/chapter-16-zhang-hu-and-fan-zheng.html Next : Chapter 16.