Yang Yi returned to the cell, and by the time he got back, Zhang Yong was already inside.
Zhang Yong sat on the bed, and when he looked at Yang Yi, his eyes were especially icy cold.
"Brother Yong, what’s the matter?"
Zhang Yong took a breath, then slowly said, "So now you can fight ten at a time, huh? Think you’re pretty tough?"
"Ah, what’s wrong, no..."
Yang Yi was thrown into confusion, he had no idea what Zhang Yong meant by these words.
Zhang Yong stood up, walked up to Yang Yi, and then suddenly made a move, slapping Yang Yi’s face with the back of his hand.
With a crisp smack, Yang Yi immediately covered his face and said in utter astonishment, "What are you doing?"
Zhang Yong, with a cold face, said, "Aren’t you all tough now? How come you couldn’t dodge that?"
Another crisp smack, and Yang Yi covered his left cheek.
Yang Yi felt a burning pain on his face.
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a man in the face. Even if Zhang Yong were angry about something, he shouldn’t strike his face. That’s what Yang Yi thought, so he angrily said, "Are you crazy? What the hell!"
Zhang Yong did not answer Yang Yi’s question. He just stepped back two paces, then spread his hands and took up the starting stance of Wing Chun. He immediately attacked Yang Yi.
Yang Yi, in his urgency, swiftly met the attack, but before his hands could touch Zhang Yong, his chest felt like it was being pierced with pain, and then he staggered back several steps until his back hit the iron door.
Yang Yi felt it even hard to breathe, he slowly slid down to the ground, but at this moment Zhang Yong said sternly, "Stand up!"
Although he often sparred with Zhang Yong, and Zhang Yong had always pulled his punches, this was the first time Yang Yi had been hit so painfully, so brutally.
But Zhang Yong had still shown restraint; if he hadn’t, that punch could have killed Yang Yi or certainly broken his bones even if it didn’t kill him.
Zhang Yong shouted again in anger, and Yang Yi clenched his teeth, exerting himself to stand up.
"Come on, hit me. You think you’re so tough now, don’t you? Hit me, come on!"
Zhang Yong roared once more, Yang Yi gritted his teeth and suddenly launched an attack at Zhang Yong.
Yang Yi was furious, so he didn’t hold back, but his grab toward Zhang Yong’s arm was easily deflected aside, and then another heavy punch landed on his abdomen.
This time, Yang Yi found himself sprawled on the ground, curled up like a shrimp, in so much pain he couldn’t even make a sound.
Yang Yi was in so much pain that tears and snot streamed down his face; it wasn’t that he was weak, he simply couldn’t control it.
It was a good while before Yang Yi managed to huff out, "Can’t... get up..."
Zhang Yong let out a long sigh, then he squatted down, looked into Yang Yi’s face, and said angrily, "Do you think you’re really good at fighting now, huh? Do you think you’re invincible?"
After wiping his face with his sleeve, Yang Yi slowly rolled over and lay on the ground, then said helplessly, "Why did you hit so hard, dammit! I certainly didn’t think I was unbeatable, otherwise I wouldn’t be lying here! Dammit! It hurts like hell!"
Zhang Yong grabbed Yang Yi’s clothes and yanked him up off the ground, suspending him mid-air, and he snarled, "Then why the hell did you stop hitting? Huh? I want to ask you, where did you get the confidence to stop and give your opponent space and reaction time? How did I teach you!"
Yang Yi had a sudden realization; Zhang Yong had hit him simply because he had held back at the end when dealing with the Hell’s Angels.
Yang Yi stuttered, "No mercy in attack, no attack in mercy, but, but..."
Zhang Yong let go, and Yang Yi immediately fell back onto the concrete floor, in so much pain he grimaced and rolled over again.
Zhang Yong exhaled and then coldly said, "What place is this?"
"Do the prisoners here have guns?"
Zhang Yong snapped fiercely, "Shut up! No ’buts’, no ’ifs’, you idiot! You’re facing the most dangerous group of people in the world, and if you give them the slightest chance, you’re the one who’s going to die! The moment the opponent says stop, you actually stop—do you think you’re in a ring? If this were outside instead of prison, what would be the consequences? He could pull a gun and shoot you dead in a heartbeat!"
Yang Yi spoke weakly, "But this is in prison, they don’t have guns, that’s why I stopped..."
Zhang Yong looked even angrier as he grabbed Yang Yi by the collar and shouted, "Admit your mistake and just damn change it! No excuses, you idiot! One mistake, and you’re dead! Dead!"
Yang Yi opened his mouth, then said softly, "I was wrong, I understand now, Brother Yong. I’ll remember, I won’t make the same mistake again, never!"
Zhang Yong took a deep breath, then glared at Yang Yi and said, "Do you think beating up a dozen prisoners makes you something special? I’m telling you, it doesn’t! They’re just scum, just more ruthless than ordinary people, just more shameless than ordinary people, and they dare to shoot if given a gun, that’s all! They are not experts; they’re just ordinary people who dare to take a knife and stab someone, got it?"
"So don’t think too highly of yourself. With your half-baked skills, facing a true expert means certain death, not to mention you’re just a beginner, not an expert, so don’t be in a rush to lift your tail to the sky!"
Yang Yi slowly sat up, then said in a low voice, "Sorry, Brother Yong."
Zhang Yong waved his hand irritably and said, "You haven’t wronged me. You’re just being irresponsible with your own life. Do you know how many experts are out there in the world? Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. You’re supposed to be a spy, but you have no idea how dangerous the world you’re trying to blend into is."
Taking a breath, Zhang Yong said gravely, "Experts die from carelessness every year, who knows how many. You must understand that it’s not fists that are dangerous now, it’s guns! Can you be faster than a bullet? A flick of their finger and your life is gone. Do you think being able to fight makes you invincible? Nonsense, even a child with a gun could shoot you dead; it wouldn’t be difficult for those child soldiers in Africa to shoot and kill you."
After exhaling, Zhang Yong said in annoyance, "With your current skills, facing an expert means death. And if you encounter someone with a gun, heh, either don’t fight, or make sure your opponent is incapacitated and can’t get the chance to pull a gun on you! And look at you, so fierce that you even dare to show mercy in a fight."
Yang Yi said in a low voice, "I know I was wrong, Brother Yong. I promise I won’t do it again."
Zhang Yong spoke slowly, "Don’t promise me, just remember it yourself. You only have one life; be responsible for yourself."