118 Panlong Threads Damaged

"Run toward me! I'll take the shot."

Seeing the water buffalo charging at Du Ruo, Deputy Chief Zhang ignored his own safety, raised his gun, and shouted. After his previous few shots, he had lost all confidence in his marksmanship. With the buffalo and Du Ruo in the same line of sight, he dared not fire for fear of accidentally hitting him.

Du Ruo, however, ignored the warning. As the buffalo lunged, he charged straight toward it.

When they were about two meters apart, the buffalo lowered its head to gore him with its horns. Du Ruo kicked off the ground, launched himself into the air, and planted both feet firmly onto the buffalo's back.

This move was actually "Old Ape Climbs the Branch," one of the three great kicking techniques of Xingyi Quan. Typically, it involves leaping into the air and kicking the opponent's chest with both feet like an ape, using body weight and leg strength to collapse the chest inward.

Du Ruo had adapted the technique. Instead of striking, he used it to land on the beast's back, knowing that his force—while significant—would struggle to inflict a lethal blow on a six-to-seven-hundred-kilogram animal just by kicking it.

"Moo!!!"

Sensing someone on its back, the buffalo immediately bucked and jumped, trying to shake Du Ruo off.

A few jolts like that would be unbearable for an ordinary person, even if they were sitting on the back rather than standing on it. But it had no effect on Du Ruo. While he wasn't a master of Taiji, his grasp of basic internal energy redirection was flawless. Combined with his long-term training and exceptional balance from Ziranmen, the buffalo's frantic bucking was entirely futile.

Without waiting for the buffalo to make another move, Du Ruo felt along the animal's spine just behind its neck. He balled his right hand into a fist, channeled his energy, and delivered a fierce Xingyi drilling punch.

"Thump!!!"

The buffalo was so massive that there was several centimeters of muscle protecting the spine. A normal strike would never reach the bone, but as soon as Du Ruo's fist connected with the neck muscles, a dull, heavy thud echoed.

The buffalo's neck muscles rippled like water under the impact, followed immediately by a sharp "crack."

The massive creature’s legs buckled, and it collapsed to its knees, its head hanging limply.

"Sigh... might as well finish it."

The drilling punch had shattered the buffalo's vertebrae, but the animal wasn't dead yet. Its eyes were wide, though the bloodshot haze had cleared significantly.

Recalling the eagle claw phantom he had realized on the grasslands, Du Ruo channeled his energy into his right hand, focusing his intent on the spirit of an eagle. His hand formed a claw, and for a fleeting second, a faint red phantom of an eagle's talon shimmered into existence. Before anyone could truly see it, Du Ruo’s hand plunged into the back of the buffalo's skull with lightning speed.

He felt almost no resistance. His thumb, index, and middle fingers sank deep into the skull as if the tough hide and bone were nothing more than soft soil.

Du Ruo pulled his hand back and flicked the white matter off his fingertips with a frown. The buffalo’s eyes closed; it was finally dead.

"Young man, you...!"

Deputy Chief Zhang approached, confirmed the buffalo was dead, and carefully engaged the safety on his pistol. He looked at Du Ruo, his eyes filled with undisguised shock.

"The buffalo had already been hit by a few bullets; it wouldn't have lasted long even without me," Du Ruo said, not wishing to take the credit. To him, this was a trivial matter. He crouched down and began to uncoil the steel wire from the animal's neck.

Deputy Chief Zhang tucked his gun into its holster and smiled without responding. He knew his own shooting—even in the heat of the moment, he knew exactly where his most accurate shot had landed.

***

Deputy Chief Zhang crouched down to examine the wounds; a report would be required, and the shell casings would need to be retrieved.

"Damn, Du Ruo! I knew you were tough, but I didn't know you were *this* good. A buffalo this size, you..." Yang Chenguang stared at the carcass, sighing in disbelief.

"It was the deputy chief’s shot; I didn't do much," Du Ruo said, brushing him off. He lifted the buffalo's head with one hand and pulled out the coiled Dragon-Coiling Wire from its neck.

"Is that your... what’s it called? Did it break?" Yang Chenguang asked, pointing at the wire. He had been too far away to see the details, but he recognized the gear immediately.

Upon hearing the name "Dragon-Coiling Wire," Deputy Chief Zhang took a closer look at the steel wire and the bracelet in Du Ruo’s hand, then signaled the officer beside him. The officer nodded, adjusted his body camera to focus on the wire, and continued recording, as they had been since arriving.

"Well, I'm heading back. They probably won't be able to finish all the seafood at home. Chenguang, want to come with me?" Du Ruo asked, seeing there was nothing left for him to do.

"No, you go ahead. I have to deal with this," Yang Chenguang said, frowning. He would have loved to join, but he was stuck handling the aftermath.

"Alright, I'll see you later." Du Ruo nodded to the two officers and walked toward his car.

"Director Yang, is that young man from your village? I don't think I've seen him before," Deputy Chief Zhang asked casually.

"Oh, he's a classmate of mine from the neighboring Du Village. He came back a while ago to take over a homestay," Yang Chenguang replied without a second thought.

"I see. It doesn't look like mad cow disease, but I still suggest you have it tested before eating it," the director said.

Yang Chenguang frowned, feeling troubled. This was already a headache; he was hoping to just have a forklift bring it back to the village for the butcher. But now that the official had mentioned it, he couldn't ignore it. Testing was expensive and complicated.

"How about this? I'll handle the testing for you. Just cut off the head and this neck section and sell them to me. I'll call you once the results are in," the director said, gesturing to the neck where the fist marks were still visible.

"That works perfectly! Don't worry about buying it; it's not worth much, and we're not even sure if it's safe. You go ahead, and I'll bring the head to the station once we've processed the rest," Yang Chenguang replied, thinking the director just had a taste for buffalo head.

"Heh, alright then. We'll be heading off," the director said, smiling as he led his men back to the police car.

***

"Back already? What happened?" Xiang Yuanyuan asked, setting down her crab. Li Qiyao looked over as well, though Yaya didn't even lift her head; she was busy picking bones out of a steamed fish, eating it slowly. Du Ruo wondered if she even realized he had returned.

"It was just..." Du Ruo recounted the story, downplaying his own role, and placed the coiled wire on the table.

"What's wrong with the Dragon-Coiling Wire? Why isn't it retracted?" Li Qiyao asked, leaning in.

"Sigh... I was a fool," Du Ruo frowned. He had used the tool so effectively, he now deeply regretted the damage. "I only considered the tensile strength of the wire and the weight it could bear, assuming it could handle a few hundred kilograms. I completely forgot that the internal mechanism in the bracelet couldn't withstand that kind of force. The gears must have snapped."

He pressed the dragon head repeatedly, but the wire remained exposed, and the head wouldn't even pop back up.

"Let me see," Li Qiyao said, taking the bracelet. She didn't seem worried. "Why don't you come to my family's place? It’s just the mechanism that’s broken; my grandfather will know how to fix it. If not, he can always make a new one."

"That sounds great!" Du Ruo's eyes lit up. Her suggestion was perfect. Whether it was a repair or a custom rebuild, he even had some ideas on how to improve the design.