GRANDMASTER WANG ZI-PING
Be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn't seal back up. And you come through. It's like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.
Anne Lamott
After our victorious MMA competition, we were so happy that half of us passed out from all the dancing we did. Everything was in our favor and we couldn't have been happier. Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping was so proud of Chung's accomplishments, he named Chung Lee head student of the school. We had a feast and celebrated. Meanwhile, the Ax Gang were sad and angry about their loss. They could not bear the fact that they lost the competition. It turned out that Li Qiang is the son of Grandmaster Li Jie.
Li Jie is the Grandmaster of The Ax Gang. I heard that he was one of the greatest fighters in the Ax Gang, notorious for dismembering his opponents one minute, then send flowers and sympathy cards to the opponents' family the next.
Was he mocking the dead? Maybe.
No one will ever know.
The Ax Gang was founded in 1921 by Wang Ya Qiao. Soon, the organization grew bigger and greater with the reputation for quick and calculated moves among other things. They dominated Shanghai and other Asian regions such as China and other parts of the world, making them known as the "untouchables." The Ax Gang had members everywhere from the government to the police to the streets and any place you can think of. The ax is their major weapon of choice. Two crossed axes forming an "X" which was also their recognizable logo. All the members were known for their impeccable fighting styles, their brutality, criminal activities, killings and what not.
Their choice of uniform were black suits and a top hat with a pair of shoes and a tie to match. Black is the color of danger and death, and the group represented it well.
Not only did Li Qiang lose the fight against Chung Lee, he also lost his dignity and pride. Not wanting to bear the shame of his loss, Li climbed on top of a very tall building and jumped down, thereby killing himself. His father Li Jie was so heartbroken that he couldn't bare the reality of losing his son based on something as trivial as losing a fighting contest.
He was hurt beyond measure. The father was angry at our school, at the world, at everything. I don't blame him for being angry. Losing a loved one is not an easy experience to go through and sometimes you want to blame God and others just to ease the eternal pain.
Two months later, Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping and head student Chung Lee had a conference in Hong Kong City, where they were required to meet with Prime Minister Li Jun. The trip was aimed towards getting financial funding to support and expand our school. They arrived at Hong Kong City, lodging at The St. Regis Hong Kong Hotel, located in Hong Kong, a 10-minute walk from Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. They arrived at the hotel at 2:00pm, ate, then rested until it was time to leave.
Later that evening, Chung Lee called to inform us of their arrival, in addition to inform us that he was going out to view the lovely sceneries of Hong Kong City. Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping stayed at the hotel to rest. He wasn't interested in going out to get a view of the city. After all, as a man who has traveled almost half the world, he has seen it all. At 8:00pm Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping was in the room when the doorbell rang
RING!
RING!!
RING!
"Who is there?" he asked, with an old paled voice.
"Room service." the hotel attendant replied, clearing his throat. "Your food's ready," he added. He opened the door and found one of the hotel attendants standing outside the door. It was a male attendant holding a room service tray containing his food and bottle of wine. Uncle Wang let the attendant into the room. The attendant carefully placed the tray on a table and opened it to reveal the meal. It was a bowl of Wontons, a bowl of Ma Po Tofu, a plate of Kung Pao Chicken, a plate of sweet and sour pork and a small keg of wine and two cups. The attendant left immediately after serving Wang his meal and alcoholic beverage.
Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping took a small bite of the Kung Pao Chicken because it was his favorite, then consumed some wine. Minutes later, he found himself drinking half a bottle of wine when the doorbell rang, bringing him back to reality. He looked through the peephole and saw the same attendant standing outside. He thought the attendant had brought something else, so he opened to let him in. Immediately the door opened, a kick landed on Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping's chest, which threw him over and landed him on the ground. He immediately stood up and saw the attendant standing outside the room with over fifteen men, each holding two axes.
Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping's amygdala was on alert, ready to attack and kill, if necessary. "What do you want? Why have you come to attack me?" Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping asked, angrily. "To take your life!" the attendant replied, sneering. "Do you know who I am?" Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping asked again, confused about all that was happening. Uncle Wang did not know who the men were or the reason for the attack. "I don't know who you guys are and I don't care. You morons attacked me without reason. You jerks will pay for that!" he said, pointing his index finger to the attendant and his goons.
"You're a dead man," the attendant replied. "And no one will be able to identity or recorgnize your pitiful body." he added. "Hahaha… okay, have it your way. Your call, your funeral!" Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping said, laughing. The attendant pointed his axes at Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping as an order to attack. Immediately the boys attacked, coming against him from different angles. Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping dodged and blocked every hit they threw at him. The fighting continued intensively, leaving the room scattered and messed up with broken dishes, cups, utensils and other items all over the damn place. One of the men landed his foot on the wall, lifted himself up, launched his ax and aimed it directly at Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping's head. Grandmaster Wang quickly reached out with a massive kick on the man's chest. The kick caused the man to land on his back against the wall, so the man fell and broke his neck.
The others, however, continued to attack him. Uncle Wang ran around the room, defending himself. Suddenly he was in the middle of the room, surrounded. There was no place to turn except the window. But who had the energy to jump out of the window knowing that there's a chance that he wouldn't be able to escape the goons behind him? Plus it was the top floor of the building, jumping would be suicide. He tapped his feet on the ground and elevated, suspended in the air. He landed a kick on each of the men's chest, one after the other, including the attendant who commanded the attack. They all landed on the ground. Some landed against the wall and Then down on the floor.
One guy landed on the glass table and died immediately. The other four men died along with him. Those who were still alive managed to pick themselves up and continued to fight Uncle Wang, despite witnessing five other men die from the hands of Grandmaster Wang. Unbelievable! You would have thought that they would have enough common sense to leave and forget all about wanting to kill Grandmaster Wang, but then again, logic is not common with most people, now is it?
Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping was untouchable but as the fighting continued, he began to feel strange. Something was wrong. What was happening to him? Why was he feeling so weird, so out of place? He began to feel weak. His eyes spun like a wheel, going round and round; making him lose sight. He landed a massive tiger claw fist on the chin of one of the men. That one fell on his neck and died. Then, Wang staggered backwards, holding himself from falling. "What have you done to me?" he asked the attendant with a paled-sick voice.
The attendant laughed loudly and replied, "I poisoned your wine, now you're going to die!" They attacked him again, but he managed to defend himself until the attendant landed his axe on Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping's left shoulder and severed him from bone to root.
Refusing to go down without a fight, Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping landed a punch on the attendant's chest, causing them to fly in opposite directions across the room and fell to the ground. The goons managed to stand on their feet, but was still out of breath, thinking that Wang wasn't no ordinary hotel attendee, that he was as nutty as they come and needed some serious mental treatment. Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping was weak and bleeding heavily from his shoulder, whereas the attendant was bleeding from his mouth. The attendant's injury wasn't anything compared to the damage he did to Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping. Surprisingly, Wang Zi-Ping stood strong despite the deep cut he received. No one was going to stop Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping from killing the attackers, one by one. Determination was his middle name and he was determined to win by any means necessary.
"I will kill you all!!" Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping exclaimed, staggering, holding onto his severed shoulder with one hand to stop the bleeding while holding onto the wall with the other hand. The men knew that they weren't no match for Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping, but their foolish pride made them believe that defeating him of all people, was possible. Kind of like assuming you'll get off scot-free after getting caught driving while intoxicated or worse or receiving a gunshot wound to the chest, believing you'll make it through, not going to happen. And if it does happen, then that means God was truly with you.
Wang almost defeated the men but suddenly his situation turned from bad to worse as ten more men rushed into the room to join the attendant and the remaining men. Damn! Wang couldn't possibly win. How was he going to fight ten more men with just one arm? You could only do so much with just one body part until you can't do anything else.
Shit! Now he would have to be even more creative with the attack. Meaning, he would have to be humble and pray that he survives the attack and make it to the conference.
But if not, then hey; it was fun while it lasted.
The men bum-rushed Wang like tsunami, all attacking him one by one. He tried to block off their attacks, even though he was weak and wounded. He fought hard. He soon landed a snake fist at the neck of one of the men. The man fell and died. He landed a kick on another man's head, slamming the man to the ground, causing the man to die immediately. It was becoming a long terrible night for him and he was losing his strength quickly, becoming unable to fight. Thank God for the timely intervention of Chung Lee, who rushed into the room and kicked on one of the men in the face, knocking him against the wall. Out of the corner of the room, someone else knocked Chung Lee to the ground with a triple kick to the stomach and face, causing him to fall on the ground; immediately grabbing Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping out of the room, away from the loonies. Wang was grateful for Chung's help. If it hadn't been for Chung, he would not have survived the fight.
"Master!! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Chung asked, his voice filled with worry. He noticed blood sputtered out of Wang's shoulder, a second away from turning black. Wang didn't need Chung asking questions like a cop, he needed him to find something to stop the bleeding before it was too late. Suddenly, an idea hit Chung like lightning. He took his shirt off, ripped it in half, and wrapped it around Master Wang's shoulder to cease the bleeding.
Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping thanked him for saving his life. He owed him one big time.
"I've been poisoned," Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping replied with a dying voice. "help me." he requested. "Hold on, I will get you to the hospital," Chung Lee said. Carefully, he kept Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping on the floor with his back facing the wall by a corner of the room. Just when Chung and Wang assumed the fight was over, it was far from it. The Ax gang was dead set on killing Grandmaster Wang and his comrade Chung, or whoever he was to him. As far as they were concerned, they wanted Wang dead and not him, but since he interfered with the plan in motion, then he too, had to die.
Then he got set for a fight, ready to do whatever it takes to save himself and Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping. The men attacked him from all angles, trying to kill him and Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping. He defended himself and Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping for as long as he could, until the men began to overpower him. There were too many men for him to handle all by himself, so he got cut a few times but he was relentless; Focused, Tenacious.
He grabbed Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping by the arm to escape, but once again, they were surrounded. Goodness! Had those men ever heard of the word, surrender? Do they even know what it means to do just that? Let bygones be bygones? It didn't matter because fate was staring them in the face and it was not a good look, that's for sure. Out of the corner of Chung's eye, one of the men lift his ax, aiming directly towards Chung Lee's chest. The ax would have hit him, but Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping pushed Chung Lee out of the way and received the ax with his chest instead. Blood gushed out of his mouth like a water fountain, gushing everywhere and on everyone. But Chung didn't care. He didn't care about blood being everywhere, he just wanted Master Wang to live.
That was his main concern.
"Master…!" Chung Lee exclaimed as he grabbed him and pushed backwards away from the men. With all the commotion happening, the hotel management and other guests that knew what was occurring, pretended as if nothing happened. The Ax gang had been putting fear in many people's heart for the longest time. The Ax Gang were their kings hence, their rule was law. Everything was on the line, their families, jobs, and their lives. Citizens knew that they had the world in their hands and that if anyone was stupid enough to break up the organization, they and their loved ones would pay dearly with their lives. Even if they were paid off, they'd still kill them just on general principle alone.
Nobody wanted to get involved as everyone feared the Ax Gang. Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping ordered Chung Lee to run away. "Go on son, leave me behind. I'm already dead, save yourself!" he ordered. Chung Lee was stubborn and refused to listen. He wanted to make sure that his master returned home safe and sound but deep inside, he knew that Grandmaster Wang was close to meeting his maker. "I won't leave you!!" he said.
"You're no use if you're dead son. Go now and tell your brothers about what happened here." Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping said, insisting to be left behind by Chung Lee. It was difficult to leave but what choice did Chung have? He had to leave Grandmaster Wang or he too, would have been dead right beside his master. After the sacrifice Master Wang made on Chung's behalf, Chung did not have a choice but to obey the master's instructions. They both fought to make way for Chung Lee to escape, which sadly enough, cost Wang more than just a dismembered body part, it cost him his life.
The least Chung could have done, for crying out loud, was follow his master's orders. That kid was as stubborn as a mule, true enough, but he'd fly to the moon and back for Grandmaster Wang, if needed be. Chung was as loyal as they come, and Grandmaster Wang was proud to have a good loyal soldier on his team. You need that if you want to survive in the jungle full of loony birds and God knows what else roam the streets day and night. Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping sacrificed himself to make way for Chung Lee to escape. The attackers pounced on Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping and severed him to death, leaving nothing to chance. Meanwhile, Chung Lee made his way out of the room and escaped.
Some of the goons chased after him, wanting to do what they did to Grandmaster Wang or maybe worse. They weren't worried about police or anyone else getting involved because they had everyone in the palm of their hand. It wouldn't have mattered to them if Chung informed the police department about what went down at the hotel. All they were going to do was ask a few questions, then leave the scene. By then, the blood and body would have disappeared. And the attendees and employers and employees? They too, would have been gone, on to cater to other people's needs and desires.
They would not have uttered as much as a syllable about what happened earlier. Those people had their own affairs to worry about and running their mouth to the police about the beaten and murder of an elderly man was not on their things-to-do list, that's for sure. There's a difference between wise and foolish people. Foolish people stick their nose in things that does not concern them whereas, wise people keep their eyes and ears open and their mouths shut. Although Chung was wounded and barely making it with his life, he managed to make his way out of the hotel and into the street. The men chased him until they couldn't find him anymore. He escaped and found a way to call home. Master Wang Xui Ying rushed to Hong Kong City as quickly as he could and brought Chung Lee back home to Defenge City where he would be recovered and taken great care of.
Chung Lee explained what occurred at the hotel and was placed under treatment. We later recovered Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping's body from the police two weeks later. His body was found in the dumpster near the hotel. They dumped our beloved Grandmaster in a trash heap as if he was a piece of trash. The man we loved and known for years was unrecognizable: slashed face, throat cut from ear to navel, gauged eyes, missing shoulders, feet, and ears. My God, those bastards didn't waste any time thoroughly killing him, then leaving him in a trash gurney for the rats and roaches to feast off his body. Tears welled in my eyes, witnessing the gruesome murder of our beloved Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping. The man, the legend, the surrogate father to everyone who knew, loved and respected him. One student vomited on the side of streets while one of the female students nearly balled like an infant after seeing rats and other rodents tear off his flesh.
Master Wang Xui Ying nodded, placed his hand on my left shoulder. "It's going to be alright!" he said, staring off to nothing. I wasn't sure if he believed what he was saying. "He's in a better place right now, and he will be sorely missed!" he added. That was it. Nothing more was said afterwards. We drove back to the temple in silence, everyone feeling discombobulated about all that we've seen. How could something like this had happened? Was this something that Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping wanted? How could he have given up so easily? He could kill nine people with one hand and still looked good doing it.
That was the man we knew and adored.
Knowing Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping, failure was never his style, ever.
It was just too bad I couldn't say the same thing about the police, because those jerks were the biggest failures in China. The only thing they believed in protecting and serving was themselves and coldhearted crooks such as the Ax Gang. The police officers weren't much help. They just took some pictures and jotted down some notes, then returned to the station.
Nothing else.
A week or so later, we received his body from the morgue and brought him to Defenge City, to be buried in the temple's cemetery. It was a sad moment for us all, because Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping was such a good man and we all felt his absence, unsure how we'd be able to handle the loss of such a strong, wise, and wonderful teacher and confidante. He was like a father to us all, so when the news of his passing arrived within the temple, it felt as if someone had killed us all with their sad news more so than a lethal weapon. You could have drove a knife in my heart, and I wouldn't feel a damn thing. That was how numb my mind and body were. Cold, detached from everyone.
So many questions entered my head, but I'd blocked them as usual. I had to shut my mind out from the world for the time being. Too many dead faces appeared in my mind; Dad, Mom, Li, Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping. I've never knew how to handle death well, even though I knew that death's an inevitable part of life and there's no way of getting around it.
I needed a hot shower and rest to get ready for tomorrow's tasks.
We discovered that the attack against Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping was orchestrated by Li Jie, because he blamed us for the death of his son Li Qiang. I wasn't surprised because he was still grieving over his son's untimely demise. Who knows how I would have handled things if I were in that man's shoes? Some people know how to manage their emotions, whereas others don't, and Li Jie is one of those people. But did he really have to get Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping killed? Couldn't he have handled things a little differently? Yes he could have, but then again, common sense is not common to most people. We couldn't accept the fact that Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping's killers would get away freely and elude justice, so Chung Lee and some of our brothers went to Hong Kong City and retrieved the surveillance footage of the incident from the hotel.
From the surveillance footage, they received a picture of one of the attackers. They searched for him and tracked him down. Just before they killed one of the assassins, he confessed that Li Jie ordered the attack against Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping. That's how we knew it was him. They were so hell bent on revenge, they tracked down all the other guys who were part of the attack against Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping and killed them all, including the attendant who led the attack. Li Jie was a very powerful man. It was difficult to find him because he didn't stay in one place too long. They couldn't get to him if they had a magic wand in their possession.
They returned home and gave up on the hunt for Li Jie, hoping that someday justice would prevail against him. They made peace with the fact that there wasn't anything we could do to seek retribution for Grandmaster Wang Zi-ping. The Ax Gang had millions of members all over China. Even with all of us put together, there was no way we could have stopped them. It was obvious that Li Jie would get away with murder due to his close connections with all of China, and perhaps a few other republics, as well. Who knows?
I was angry. I wished we could have done more. I wasn't a good fighter, so the only thing I could have done was heal the sick and wounded. It was a good thing I was good at that, but deep inside, I wanted to do more than heal the ill and wounded. Anyone can patch a wound with a warm towel and a gauze bandage, but it takes a special someone to seek revenge on a beloved person's behalf and get the job done correctly.
But I wasn't that person.
I didn't have it in me to get up and kill those clowns that annihilated my beloved friend Grandmaster Wang Zi-Ping, no matter how hurt or how much I imagined myself killing those jerks one by one. It would have made me proud to know that I have destroyed the men behind Grandmaster Zi-Ping's murder. Only time could tell! my conscious said, bringing me back to reality. If you want change, you must work for it. My conscious had left the building, leaving me to figure out how to channel my anger before I released it to the wrong people and find myself in a heap of trouble.