And so, the two of them continued to clash like two bulls. This time, Wang An held nothing back, opting for a very aggressive fighting style.
"Strike while the iron is hot" had always been Wang An's guiding principle in a fight. While Xiong Tao wasn't sick, his rapid, labored breathing made it clear that his stamina could no longer keep up.
However, as the old saying goes, "a cornered beast still fights," or rather, it was a "deathbed struggle." Facing Wang An's storm-like onslaught, Xiong Tao summoned the last of his strength, intending to take Wang An down before he completely collapsed.
Finally, after risking taking two punches, Wang An landed a heavy blow squarely on the base of Xiong Tao's ear—right on the trigeminal nerve.
This single punch ended the fight. No matter how high your martial arts skills were or how "badass" you thought you were, the trigeminal nerve was the least durable spot on the body.
After knocking Xiong Tao down with one punch, Wang An's large feet began kicking rapidly. Just as Wang An was getting into the swing of it and planning to land a kick right in Xiong Tao's balls, Sun Nian suddenly appeared behind him and pulled him away.
Already exhausted, Wang An was yanked quite a distance by Sun Nian's pull.
Sun Nian spoke with a hint of speechlessness
"Xiao An, what are you doing? A few kicks are enough; do you really intend to cripple him?"
Wang An didn't answer. He realized he had lost his cool for a moment; if that kick had actually landed, he would have formed a blood feud with Xiong Tao and the powers backing him.
Given Wang An's current strength, picking a fight with them would be completely irrational. There was simply no reason to gain a powerful enemy for no cause.
Once pulled away by Sun Nian, Wang An pointed at Xiong Tao, who was trying to stand up, and began jeering sarcastically again
"Weren't you so badass? Weren't you going to cripple me? Look at your pathetic self now. Come on! Come over here!"
At this moment, Wang An was like a triumphant rooster, arrogant and insufferable.
Taking a few deep breaths, Wang An continued to shout
"When Sister Nian told you to get lost, you should have just gotten lost. Why are you so shameless? You had to make me beat you up. Fuck, this actually wore me out. Tell me, aren't you just fucking pathetic?"
To be fair, although Xiong Tao didn't seem like a decent person, the fact that he didn't talk back after losing was somewhat commendable.
However, the most likely reason he didn't talk back was that he was afraid Wang An would beat him again. After all, it isn't the act of a wise man to satisfy a momentary urge to speak only to suffer more physical pain.
After standing up, Xiong Tao merely gave Wang An a fierce glare, glanced at Sun Nian, picked up his suitcase and backpack from the ground, and limped slowly out of the courtyard.
Xiong Tao's departing figure looked utterly lonely and desolate, like a defeated rooster, slinking away in disgrace.
Wang An wanted to curse him some more, but Sun Nian gave him a tug. Seeing the look in her eyes, Wang An shut up helplessly.
Then, Sun Nian caught up to Xiong Tao and said
"Xiong Tao, let me make this clear to you one more time: there is no possibility between us. Stop wasting your time on me. The person I've always loved is Brother Yu. Even though it's impossible between us now, I will never love you."
Xiong Tao looked at Sun Nian, appearing as if he wanted to say something, but Sun Nian gave him no such chance and turned back.
Wang An's previous arrogance vanished, and he shouted to Xiong Tao with a face full of speechlessness
"Alright, just shut up. Nothing you say now is worth a damn. Buddy, remember this: in front of someone who doesn't love you, even if you're hanging yourself, she'll think you're just swinging on a swing."
Wang An had heard this phrase from a young man back in his previous life while he was in the "fence" (prison). That young man had been stabbed into a cripple because of a woman and ended up in the fence.
Surprisingly, after entering prison, the guy had a sudden epiphany and came up with that line.
While Wang An felt the phrase actually made a lot of sense, he realized that saying it now was a bit off-track. But considering how pathetic Xiong Tao had been toward Sun Nian, it didn't seem like a big deal.
Upon hearing Wang An's words, Xiong Tao froze. The fierce look in his eyes vanished instantly. After standing dazed for a long while, he turned and continued walking.
It was noticeable that although his steps were still limping, they seemed much lighter.
As soon as Xiong Tao left, Wang An immediately closed the main gate and bolted it with a wooden bar. Once the two entered the house, Wang An looked at Sun Nian with a grin and said cheekily
"Nian Nian, did you miss me?"
Sun Nian gave him a playful roll of her eyes and didn't answer the question, but said with a hint of disbelief
"I didn't expect someone with a middle school dropout's diploma to be able to say something so profound."
Wang An chuckled and said
"That's not important. I'm wondering if you missed me? Because I've been missing you like crazy."
Sun Nian gave a "humph" and said
"Miss you? I didn't notice. If you missed me, how could you go this long without visiting?"
Wang An smiled awkwardly and said
"I just didn't have the chance, hehehe..."
As he spoke, Wang An slid over to Sun Nian and opened his arms, pulling her into his embrace.
Sun Nian stood there like a statue, neither responding nor resisting, while continuing to ask
"Tell me, where have you been for over a month? Why didn't you come here once?"
While getting frisky, Wang An told the truth
"My wife had a baby—she gave me a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. I was at home soothing the kids. Now that the baby is a month old, I've come."
Sun Nian humphed again, but she didn't continue to criticize him. Instead, she reached out to hug Wang An back and began interacting with him.
It was clear that in Sun Nian's eyes, there was no real love for Wang An; he was indeed just a tool for her emotional and physical needs.
Thus, after some simple foreplay, the two stripped off their clothes and impatiently began "that."
However, Wang An had arrived with strong desire, but after the fight with Xiong Tao, his stamina hadn't recovered, and he was inevitably less fierce than usual.
Consequently, in just over ten minutes, Wang An was defeated.
Sun Nian only reached her peak once, so she said with some dissatisfaction
"Why were you so pathetic today? You're useless."
Wang An defended himself helplessly
"Then why didn't you mention that I just fought Xiong Tao? I beat him so badly he couldn't even fight back, and now I'm fighting with you—how could I possibly keep going?"
Hearing this, Sun Nian suddenly burst out laughing and said with interest
"Your martial arts are actually quite good now. I thought you'd get beaten up by Xiong Tao and then I'd have to step in. I didn't expect you to beat him into that state, giggles..."
With her bare backside exposed, Sun Nian laughed so hard she doubled over, causing her snowy white breasts to tremble along with her.
Despite such a beautiful sight, Wang An had the will but not the strength. This was truly tragic.
Wang An stared at the ceiling and said speechlessly
"You knew I couldn't beat him, yet you still made me kick him out. Why are you so mean?"
Sun Nian replied righteously
"What of it? Did you want me to fight him? Do you have any masculine responsibility? When your woman is aggrieved, shouldn't you do something?"
It had to be said that when Sun Nian started talking, she actually sounded quite logical.
Wang An rolled his eyes at her and suddenly asked
"Sister Nian, does this Xiong Tao have an older brother named Xiong Kai?"
Sun Nian frowned and thought for a moment before saying
"Never heard of one. There are four of them—cousins and brothers—and none of them are named Xiong Kai."
Hearing this, Wang An frowned and fell into deep thought. Trying to find the enemy from his previous life was truly a long and arduous road!
*** (End of Chapter)