"Hello, I am..." Dean greeted Ana, the elderly man, enthusiastically.
Ana raised his hand to stop him. "I’m not interested in who you are or why you’re here. Kapu recommended you, so you’re qualified to learn from me. Follow me."
After speaking, he didn’t wait for Dean to respond. With some effort, he started walking into the church with his cane, one step at a time.
Watching the old man’s faltering figure, Dean simply couldn’t associate him with the tragic corpses he had seen earlier.
The church was not large. The main hall, filled with tables and chairs, was used for worship. To the left was the rest area where the fight had occurred; to the right, a passage led to Ana’s living quarters.
One after the other, they proceeded to the room on the right.
The room was very simple, containing only a bed, a colorful religious statue and an altar, an old television, and a black-and-white photograph.
The moment Dean entered the room, the black-and-white photograph hanging on the wall captured his attention.
It was a picture of a rugged-looking man. He was standing over a motionless brown bear that lay prone on the ground, his eyes staring intensely into the camera.
Based on the man’s facial contours, Dean realized that the rugged man in the photo was none other than the Ana before him, only much younger, with eyes that conveyed a wild nature.
"That was my coming-of-age ceremony at sixteen," Ana said. "My master took me to Bear Country, where I hunted a brown bear with my bare hands as it was preparing to hibernate."
With nostalgia in his eyes, Ana opened a nearby cabinet, unlocked a safe, and took out two VCDs. He placed one to Dean’s left and the other to his right.
"The one on the left contains the twenty-five forms of Ancient Muay Thai. This style leans towards modern Muay Thai but is more vicious. Its attacks and training methods are comparatively gentler. The downside is that it takes longer to develop combat effectiveness. It’s impressive and visually appealing but not very practical; it’s more suitable for self-defense. This set costs 50,000 US dollars and includes a complimentary jar of Tiger Bone Balm."
"On the right is the one hundred and eight forms of Ancient Muay Thai. This style was inherited from Thailand over six hundred years ago. Its advantage is that it allows you to develop combat effectiveness the fastest, but the downside is that it’s very damaging to the body. Even today, practitioners rarely live past fifty. This set costs 500,000 US dollars and includes five complimentary jars of Tiger Bone Balm."
He looked up at Dean. "Which one do you want to learn?"
"Don’t you provide hands-on instruction?" Dean asked, astonished.
Charging such a high fee, yet he wants me to learn from VCDs? What a scam! This is my hard-earned money!
Ana pointed at his own withered hands and feet. "You don’t think I have the energy to teach you, do you?"
"But you dealt with those gunmen yourself today." Dean clenched his fist. CRACK! "Even if I used all my strength, I could never do what you did."
Hearing the CRACK, Ana’s dull eyes lit up with surprise. For the first time, he took a serious look at Dean’s torso and limbs.
After a moment, he withdrew the VCD from Dean’s left, his face unable to hide his envy.
"Your frame is robust and powerful, your limbs well-proportioned and long. In the Ancient Sect, this physique is called a ’tiger’s body.’ It’s very rare and perfectly suited for practicing the original version of the one hundred and eight forms of Ancient Muay Thai. If you’re willing to inherit my lineage, I can teach you for free and provide you with all the resources you need for practice!"
For free? Dean was somewhat tempted.
But thinking of the gunmen, he shook his head and declined. He could afford 500,000 US dollars. There’s no need to take on unknown risks.
Seeing this, Ana’s face showed a hint of disappointment, but he didn’t give up. "In that case, if you choose the one hundred and eight forms of Ancient Muay Thai, I can give you an additional vial of Secret Medicine. It’s my most prized possession."
"What Secret Medicine?"
"The Secret Medicine that brought me back from the brink of death today!"
Ana’s hands trembled as he took a glossy black porcelain vial from his bosom. "This is the Secret Medicine of my lineage. It’s not to be shared with outsiders. At a critical juncture, after taking it, you can ignore pain and unleash your body’s utmost strength—all within half an hour!"
Dean looked at the vial doubtfully, his nose twitching slightly. A pungent smell still lingered from when Ana had opened it moments before.
The doubt in Dean’s eyes intensified. "May I taste a little?"
He had indeed smelled a similar scent on Ana’s breath, so he reasoned that even if there was something wrong with it, a tiny dose shouldn’t have much of an effect.
Ana hesitated but nodded. "This has side effects. It will leave you weak for a period, and an overdose can even cause sudden death. It’s best not to take more than a fingernail-sized amount."
The vial contained a substance resembling solidified herbal jelly.
Dean took Ross’s business card from his pocket, gently scraped off a minuscule amount with it, and placed it in his mouth.
The Secret Medicine was bitter, but Dean didn’t feel any effects.
After waiting for about a minute or two, he touched his slightly warm cheeks, his expression peculiar.
Secret Medicine, my ass. Why do its effects feel so much like a stimulant?
"Um..." Dean looked at Ana with some sympathy. "Have you ever tried specially formulated adrenaline, or any oral stimulants?"
Ana shook his head in confusion and explained, "Ever since I came to this country, they believed I would be a great danger to society if I lived among ordinary people. Since I also didn’t speak the language, I was confined to this church until my health began to fail."
"Alright, I was just asking," Dean said.
Hearing this, Dean ultimately chose not to reveal the truth to Ana. The Secret Medicine Ana treasured so much had actually been mass-produced for decades and came in many varieties. Some special organizations even had more potent, specially formulated adrenaline.