Chapter Thirty-Six: Sudden Situation

  That night, also tense and irritable was Takeo Mutoh.

  For five days, the arena has been calm and peaceful. Although I have encountered a few somewhat interesting opponents, none of them posed a real threat. Tomorrow is the last day, I wonder if Yamashita Kengo can ensure that he completes this arena with dignity.

  Takefuji was not considered a top-notch player in Japan, and his master had determined that he would find it difficult to reach the level of a great master. The reason for this was that Takefuji was too utilitarian. His master had taught him many times to calm down, to focus, and to clear his mind, but he simply couldn't do it. He wanted to become famous, he wanted to pursue material comforts, and he wanted women.

  When Yamashita Keigo invited him to China for a martial arts competition, he had hesitated. He knew that Chinese martial arts were profound and intricate, with many skilled masters, and his own abilities seemed insufficiently impressive. But Yamashita Keigo presented him with a plan, and Mutō believed that Yamashita Keigo would definitely fulfill his promise - no matter how high the level or how formidable the Chinese masters might be, they could not withstand Yamashita's guns.

  As expected, everything went smoothly, and everything was carried out according to the original plan. He should have been able to rest easy for a night, then go through the motions tomorrow, take the ten gold bars promised by Shingo Yamashita back to Japan, back to his hometown Osaka, where his favorite songstress was waiting for him.

  However, Takeo Muto was unable to calm down, he was somewhat nervous, and he faintly felt that things might not go so smoothly.

  Takeda couldn't sleep, so he got up and took a walk in the backyard of the Hanazono restaurant with his two attendants. The moon was bright, the air was fragrant, but unfortunately the flowers had already fallen. Takeda walked around the garden once, just as he was about to return to his room, he ran into Yamashita Keigo and Matsumoto Ichiro.

  "Oh, Mr. Takefuji, you're really elegant!" Yamashita Keigo greeted Takeda with great enthusiasm. Matsumoto Ichiro was not familiar with Takeda and had only exchanged a few words with him at the welcoming dinner party, so he seemed a bit stiff in comparison: "Mr. Takeda, I'm Matsumoto Ichiro, it's an honor to meet you, sir. I've long admired your reputation, and I feel deeply honored to finally meet you in person!"

  Takefusa Matsumoto's polite remarks were well-received by Takeo Watanabe, who although not among the top in Japan, was still a renowned martial artist. Takeo Watanabe responded enthusiastically to Takefusa Matsumoto: "Mr. Matsumoto is an elite of the Empire, while I am just an ordinary subject of the Empire, it is only right that I should look up to you with respect."

  Yamashita Kengo interjected at the right moment, saying: "Matsumoto-san is also a martial arts enthusiast and would like to have an in-depth exchange with Mr. Mutoh, I wonder if it's convenient for Mr. Mutoh?"

  Takefu Sōichi's face clouded over and he said, "Tomorrow..."

  Yamashita Keigo interrupted Mutoh Koji, saying: "Tomorrow's match is just a formality, Mr. Mutoh, what Matsumoto-san meant was that he wants to ask you for advice on martial arts and philosophy, not to engage in a fierce battle with you."

  Matsumoto Ichiro bowed deeply to Mutoh and said: "I'm sorry for the trouble, Mr. Mutoh, I hope you can fulfill it."

  Takefuji smiled and gladly accepted the request.

  "Mr. Takeda, Mr. Matsumoto, please forgive me, I still have official business to attend to and cannot stay with you any longer, so I'll take my leave now, thank you for your understanding."

  Takeshi Watanabe was eager to show off in front of Ichiro Matsumoto's fans, and Ichiro Matsumoto also wanted to discuss his thoughts with Takeshi Watanabe, a martial arts master of this level. Therefore, they expressed great understanding for Keigo Yamashita's farewell.

  After Yamashita left, Mutoh and Matsumoto enthusiastically started talking to each other. Before long, they developed a sense of mutual understanding. Mutoh invited Matsumoto to his room for a chat over a cup of tea.

  That night, there was another person who couldn't sleep. This man was an ordinary cart driver named Du Lao San. In his early years, Du Lao San had also practiced a few sets of boxing and footwork, so compared to ordinary people, he could be considered a master. During the warlord era, he was conscripted into the army, and when he first went onto the battlefield, he was scared out of his wits, so much so that he urinated in his pants. Afterwards, he became a deserter and ran away to Xuzhou City, where he changed his name and became a cart driver.

  Wudang Huofu was so arrogant in Xuzhou City that Du Lao San felt like something was stuck in his chest. He almost gave up on the rickshaw business and spent several days wandering around the arena, although he knew that with his own three-legged cat kung fu skills, he couldn't defeat Wudang Huofu. However, he desperately hoped that a good hero would stand out and knock Wudang Huofu off the stage. But he was disappointed, for five consecutive days, all those who were knocked off the stage were Chinese people.

  Tomorrow is the last day, what will happen? Will there be a good man coming down from heaven to knock Wutong's husband off the stage? If not, what should I, Du Lao San, do?

  He tossed and turned, finally making an extremely bold decision: absolutely cannot let Takehiko Muto end the arena unscathed! He wanted to assassinate Takehiko Muto!

  Du Lao San chose a blow dart as his assassination tool, with the arrowhead coated in poison. He calculated that if he could get close enough to the edge of the arena, he would be within five meters of Takehiko Mutō, and his blow dart would be effective. As for the problem of it being difficult to retreat after succeeding, Du Lao San didn't consider it - as long as he could take out Takehiko Mutō, he would die without regret!

  Having made up his mind, Du Lao San got out of bed and found the blowpipe he hadn't touched in years from under the bed. The pipe had long been rusty, and with the addition of dust, it looked even more ancient. Du Lao San found a piece of cloth, moistened it with water, and carefully wiped it clean. After wiping away the dust on the pipe, Du Lao San suddenly let out a long sigh, threw the pipe aside, clenched his fist and pounded his own head in frustration.

  No matter how old the blowpipe is, it can still be used, but the plan to poison the arrowhead is difficult to implement. The poisonous medicine he inherited from his master in his early years has long been discarded.

  The power of the blow dart lies in its poison, otherwise it would be difficult to cause deep harm to humans with its size and speed. Most of the masters who use blow darts are skilled in poisoning, but Du Lao San is not interested and did not inherit the skill of making poison from his master.

  Du Lao San looked at the blowpipe that had been thrown onto the desktop, and tears flowed uncontrollably. After a while, he wiped away his tears and crawled back under the bed, pulling out a small wooden box.

  A hand grenade abandoned by the National Army during their retreat was hidden in a small wooden box.

  In the early hours of the morning, Yamashita Keigo was startled awake by a sudden ringing phone call. He picked up the phone.

  "General, just five minutes ago, the Garden Hotel was attacked by a Japanese terrorist, who used a suicidal bombing method..."

  Yamashita Kengo interrupted impatiently and asked, "Are there any casualties? How is Mr. Takumi?"

  "Report to Colonel Saigo, two of our soldiers were injured, Mr. Takeda was only frightened and has been moved to a safe location, please be assured, Colonel."

  "Is Mr. Wu just shocked and nothing else?" Yamashita Kengo asked further.

  "Reporting to Colonel Sa, yes, Mr. Wu has no other issues."

  He slammed down the phone and Yamashita couldn't help but curse his mother. In fact, last night's visit to Mutoh's house with Matsumoto Ichiro was actually arranged by Takahashi Shin, taking advantage of Matsumoto's good martial arts skills, nominally to help Matsumoto get close to Mutoh, secretly arranging for someone to poison Mutoh's tea. Once Mutoh is poisoned, the blame can be shifted to Matsumoto, who was the only one to enter Mutoh's room that night. Takahashi also designed a motive for Matsumoto's crime, saying he was jealous of Yamashita's plan and his anger led him to lose his mind, resulting in this desperate move. This way, tomorrow's match can be terminated, and no matter how well Ye Tufei and Zhan Jinbiao prepare, they will have no choice but to give up.

  However, just now, a subordinate reported on the phone that Muto Katsuo was not poisoned. Yamashita Keigo was annoyed and felt fortunate at the same time. If it weren't for this sudden explosion case, his and Takahashi Makoto's plan would have fallen through, and Haetori Tobi might have succeeded.

  Yamashita Keigo pondered for a moment, picked up the phone and dialed Takahashi Shin.

  "Oh, well, that's okay, Yamashita. Don't think too much about it. Maybe the dose of poison I designed was too low, or maybe Takeo Watanabe switched the tea water. There are too many variables in between. Fortunately, the result is not bad after all. What about the culprit who made the explosion? Is he dead? Oh, if he's not dead, you should thank him properly."

  "So, what should we do next?"

  "Spread the news of the bombing incident, and mention that Takeo Muto was slightly injured in it. Although his injuries are not serious, they will definitely affect the upcoming martial arts competition, so it can only be postponed. Immediately gather all reporters from newspapers in the city to issue an extra edition."

  He slammed the phone down, and Yamagishi Keigo slapped his own forehead in frustration. This was a habitual gesture of self-reproach for him. In reality, Takahashi Shin's analysis and guidance over the phone were all things he had thought of himself, but he just couldn't bring himself to be as calm and collected, as confident and decisive as Takahashi. This was the gap between them, and it filled him with regret.

  After breakfast, Ye Tufei and Zhan Jinbiao went out the door, immediately heard the news of the explosion in the garden, also knew that the arena was postponed indefinitely.

  What's good now? Zhang Jinbiao lost his calmness, and Ye Tufei also couldn't think of a solution for the time being.

  "Go to the drum tower and take a look, see what's going on." Ye Tu Fei made his choice with a sigh.

  The two arrived at the arena, only to see that there were many more people around the arena than usual. Everyone was indignant and loudly questioned, ridiculed, and even cursed the Japanese soldiers on the first platform of the arena.

  The topic is only one: Takao Mutō was afraid and became a turtle with its head shrunk in, the explosion case was just a pretext for you little Japan.