The arm—Yang’s, which she clutched pressed against her own lower abdomen—trembled for a good while.
Only after some time did Chun-Li finally recover from that sweet, tingling pleasure.
Indeed, feeling the warmth in her lower belly, a flush of embarrassed delight surfaced in Chun-Li’s eyes.
Then, panting with a reddened face, she said: “This feeling… is a little different.
Whew, I feel like I’m about to get addicted!” Hearing Chun-Li’s words, a hint of pride showed on Yang’s face.
He lifted his head and said: “Ha, that’s the kind of physical-therapy master I am!
Just speak up whenever you need it!” “Oh, you sound pretty confident~” Perhaps because of Yang’s confidence and outgoing nature, perhaps because of his connection to Grandpa Gen, or perhaps because of the nourishment of the life energy, Chun-Li unconsciously grew a bit closer to Yang, and teased: “Just don’t let it be addictive, or big sis won’t be able to live without you~” “Don’t worry, there won’t be any problem.
Life energy is something I’ve kept studying ever since I awakened it.” At this, Yang opened his eyes, crossed his arms, and spoke with full confidence: “There’s absolutely no need to worry about any negative effects, because the essence of this pleasant sensation is the endorphins released from the brain when the body detects muscle damage, along with the endocannabinoids secreted alongside exercise.
The former relieves pain; the latter can cross the blood-brain barrier into the brain, stimulating the reward center to produce a ‘runner’s high’–like sense of pleasure, easing anxiety and discomfort.” “And life energy can, while directly repairing bodily injury, stimulate the secretion of these hormones and enhance the body’s perception.” “Eh, eh, eh—you really don’t need to explain it so seriously…” Watching Yang explain so earnestly, Chun-Li waved her hand, then smilingly patted her own chest and said: “When I was little, whenever my father wasn’t around, I’d train together with Grandpa Gen.
You’re Grandpa Gen’s heir, so that makes you my family—how could I ever doubt you!” Chun-Li had only meant to show off how close she was with Yang, but after she finished speaking, she noticed Yang’s expression darken, turning ink-black in an instant.
Seeing this, Chun-Li blinked, then said: “What’s wrong?
Is something off?” To this, after a moment of silence, Yang calmly said: “I didn’t inherit Sou and Ki.” “Eh?!” At this, Chun-Li was stunned, then said with a face full of surprise: “You didn’t inherit them?
Then what about that punch of yours when we were just sparring?
Although it wasn’t quite like Grandpa Gen’s, it should have been a Sou-type, right?” Chun-Li had once trained in martial arts under Gen—in Street Fighter 6 there’s even a skill named ‘Gen-den Ansatsushuu’ (lit.
‘Gen-Style Assassination Kick’).
Though her relationship with Gen wasn’t that of grandfather and granddaughter, it was as close as one.
Indeed, after the two even met in the Demon Realm, Gen specifically passed on his life’s ultimate technique—the ‘Zan’ei,’ used to break the Shun Goku Satsu of Akuma—a clear sign of just how close the two of them were.
It was precisely because of this relationship that Chun-Li could tell Yang’s final punch clearly carried the ‘Mu’ belonging to the Sou stream of Gen’s Sou-Ki Ansatsuken—in a single instant, an absolute focus on ultimate nothingness.
Sensing Chun-Li’s astonishment, Yang understood.
Street Fighter is, after all, a Capcom game IP; its ‘Mu’ (read mù; Japanese on’yomi mu) is, in the Japanese context, interlinked with ‘無’ in both pronunciation and concept, meaning ‘nothingness.’ And as for Gen’s Sou-Ki Ansatsuken—though the two styles differ from each other, each forms its own system.
The former is ‘Mu,’ pursuing the cleanest, most decisive way to instantly end a battle.
The latter is ‘Qi,’ finding openings through clever evasion and counters—divergence and variation in the literal sense.
And as for these two… Meeting Chun-Li’s astonished gaze, Yang said in a low voice: “I trained under old man Gen for three years, basically all spent getting familiar with life energy and grinding out the fundamentals.
As for martial arts… Old man Gen said Sou and Ki had already walked into a dead end and wouldn’t take me as a disciple, but he allowed me to study on my own.
And with peerless wisdom like mine, naturally I learned it into the very form you saw—a form that belongs to me!” Saying this, Yang pondered briefly, then said: “Rather than calling it Sou and Ki—maybe call it my-style Sou and Ki?” “You’re quite the optimist…” Though she said this, the look in Chun-Li’s eyes as she gazed at Yang became even more curious.
After all, the mere fact that Gen had taken Yang along to grind out the fundamentals, master life energy, and even allowed Yang to observe from the side and self-study the parts of Sou and Ki he could grasp—this already proved how much Gen valued and trusted Yang.
One should know that some martial artists of the new era, while quite open-minded about sectarian boundaries—even performing for audiences to cultivate their own martial heart— for an old-school martial veteran like Gen… and especially with a special fist art like Ansatsuken, simply allowing someone to learn it already, in an unspoken way, indicated a great deal.
And just as Chun-Li was still thinking, Yang at her side, after a brief silence, asked: “By the way, Sis Chun-Li, what did you all come back to Hong Kong for?
I heard it has something to do with some Shadowlaw?” His tone was light, but in truth Yang’s whole spirit had tensed up.
Even though Yang wasn’t very familiar with the plots of most fighting games, he was no stranger to Shadowlaw, the evil empire—the most far-reaching recurring villain organization in fighting-game history, a constant presence running through the entire Street Fighter series.
This organization first appeared in Street Fighter II; its leader was named ‘Vega.’ But when it was released in the Americas, because the name of his subordinate, the American boxer ‘Bison,’ was very similar to the then-popular boxer ‘Tyson,’ and because the American publisher felt Vega’s name wasn’t imposing enough, Vega swapped names with Bison, one of his four Heavenly Kings, debuting in the Americas under the name M.
Bison.
And because his image was that of a burly white man in a military uniform, using psychic power and military combat techniques, he was also given nicknames like cop, urban-management officer, electric cop, auxiliary cop, and so on.
Worth mentioning is that Street Fighter has quite a lot of unofficial lore, especially concerning Vega.
The main reason is that Vega’s unofficial history isn’t ordinary history—it’s ‘extraordinary history’ in the literal sense.
In 1993, Wong Jing once filmed a movie called Future Cops (Super School Bully).
Although it didn’t get Crapcom’s authorization, the character designs in it heavily borrowed Street Fighter’s settings.
The villain BOSS in it used ‘General,’ the nickname Hong Kong and Taiwan players gave Vega.
If the Vega in that at least was still the final big BOSS, then Hong Kong comics were a different matter altogether.
Back then, in order to expand the influence of the Street Fighter series, Capcom licensed the manga rights of the Street Fighter series to the Jade Dynasty Group.
And in the plot—at the time, the video-game industry was basically taking a hands-off approach to fighting-game storylines, with no official restrictions—Hong Kong comic authors naturally walked their most familiar old road: battles and insanity.
So, in the plot, Vega was dragged off into a secret chamber that no one could ever find, repeatedly humiliated and tormented by the Martial Hunting God, and finally had his ballsack crushed, going white-haired overnight in extreme agony… Honestly, turning white-haired overnight from such agony is only natural.
On top of that, Akuma sensed in Ken an opportunity to ascend to a higher realm, so he embraced Ken from behind and unleashed the powerful super move ‘Demons Weep, Gods Wail · Thousand Thrusts in an Instant.’ No typo—it really is that kind of ‘thrust,’ the one straight out of gay slang.
Truly, getting railed by the Thousand Thrusts in an Instant until he wailed like demons weeping and gods howling.
And to form a contrast with Ryu, Ken even awakened the ‘Conqueror’s Intent’ corresponding to the killing intent, learned the ‘Shōryū Haken’ (lit.
‘Rising Dragon Conqueror Fist’) through utter heartlessness, and after comprehending ‘acceptance,’ comprehended the ultimate technique ‘Goku Hadō’… It’s just… Hong Kong comics really are too authoritative when it comes to craziness and gayness.
But based on the experience Yang had summed up during his time living in this world, although this was a mixed worldview of fighting games and anime, there should be no Hong Kong comic elements.
To be honest, this really let Yang breathe a sigh of relief… Even for someone like himself with a peerless domineering will, things like the Thousand Thrusts in an Instant were still just too horrifying.
Good thing he didn’t have to face such things.
And in the main canon of Street Fighter… If he remembered correctly, this newfound old uncle of Yang’s, Dorai, was abducted by the Shadowlaw organization precisely because he was investigating Shadowlaw, and was brutally killed under the siege of the December Squad.
And having come to this world—whether it was Gen’s teaching, Chun-Li’s trust in him, or the way Dorai, though never saying it aloud, treated him with the closeness of a nephew or son… Yang would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen.
Just as Yang was still thinking, Chun-Li beside him said with some curiosity: “Why do you ask this?
Do you have some kind of clue?” “…Sort of.” Hearing Chun-Li’s words, Yang nodded and said: “When I’m out doing my regular shopping, I’ve heard some strange rumors, but I’m not too sure.” At this, realizing that Yang might know some intelligence about Shadowlaw, Chun-Li perked up and immediately said: “Come find my dad with me first, and tell him face to face!” “Okay.” Yang nodded.