098. A Few Grappling Tricks, and the Criminal Police Came Calling

Du Ruo had already started rolling his eyes after hearing that, though he no longer felt like complaining. He simply pretended he had not heard it and kept on talking.

“If the other side does not want your life, and you want quick results without accidentally injuring or killing them, and they happen to be an ordinary person, then the best method is only joint locking. As long as you seize them properly, they will be completely at your mercy.”

This was the best countermeasure Du Ruo could think of. Once one understood the key to it, even an ordinary person could easily subdue another. It was a practical self-defense skill, and especially suited to his cousin’s situation.

“Good, I want to learn this one.”

His cousin nodded repeatedly. The moment she heard the words at your mercy, she knew at once this was exactly what she wanted to learn.

“All right, then I’ll start by explaining the principle. Joint locking uses the weaknesses of the body’s joints, pressure points, and vital spots to subdue an opponent by forcing intense pain into a local area of the body.

“The techniques include rolling the elbow, twisting the wrist, pressing the wrist, wrenching the shoulder, wrenching the elbow, pressing the leg, extending the arm, and stamping the foot.”

As Du Ruo named each technique, he used his cousin standing opposite him as a test subject and demonstrated them on her body.

“Ah, ah, ah—ow, ow, ow—”

In Du Ruo’s hands, his cousin was as soft as a puddle of mud, left entirely to his manipulation. Not only that, but because he performed the motions very slowly while explaining them, she was able to gradually feel the pain of each joint being locked one by one.

“The reason I’m using you for the demonstration is so you can understand the effect it can achieve. That way, when you do it yourself, you’ll know what to expect.”

When he was done, Du Ruo released her and let her move the joints that had just been seized.

“Mhm, mhm. Do I have to learn all of that?”

His cousin rubbed her arms and legs. She had truly experienced it just now, and the feeling really was one where she could not resist at all, utterly at someone else’s mercy.

“Oh, no. What I just used on you included joint-locking techniques from Xingyi, Eight Extremes Fist, and Eight Trigrams Palm. You don’t need to learn that much.

“Eight Trigrams Palm is mainly about wrapping around the body, which is the leg pressing and arm extending I just used on you. Those techniques require a very high degree of skill and a solid foundation, so you don’t need to learn them.”

Du Ruo spoke with a hint of mischievous pleasure, though what he said was true enough. Eight Trigrams Palm was mainly about using one’s body to entangle the opponent, and it did demand footwork.

“Wrenching the shoulder and elbow belongs to the great locking techniques of Eight Extremes Fist. That requires a certain level of physical strength and speed, and you won’t be able to learn it either. It’s very easy to get reversed and countered.”

As he finished, Du Ruo also demonstrated the corresponding movements and some force-generating methods to explain why she could not learn them.

“What else can I learn, then?”

The one who asked was Xiang Yuanyuan. At this moment she was sitting lazily on a stool, resting her head on one hand, looking as though nothing could stir her interest.

“You can still learn the small locking techniques of Eight Extremes Fist. Those are also called the Golden Thread Hand. The big locks seize the arm; the small locks seize the wrist. This requires the least experience and strength, and it is the best for self-defense. Against trained specialists, there can still be a chance of countering it, but against ordinary people? One grab and it’s over.”

As he spoke, Du Ruo took his cousin’s hand again and began demonstrating. Seizing the wrist, winding around the wrist—each movement required very little strength, yet each one could strip his cousin of her fighting ability.

“What if the other person won’t cooperate?”

Xiang Yuanyuan, looking as if she were deliberately picking a fight, raised another question. By now she was actually showing mild symptoms of alcohol withdrawal: irritable, impatient, with no desire to do anything at all. Du Ruo heard her out and did not argue; instead, he explained patiently.

“If they won’t cooperate, then the small locks need to be paired with a few additional techniques, such as the stamping step of Eight Extremes Fist.”

As he said that, Du Ruo forcefully stamped his foot downward.

A heavy thud rang out.

The tremendous force left a clear footprint in the path, which had been built from small stones mixed with a little cement. That alone showed how much power was behind Du Ruo’s stamp. If someone had been lying beneath his foot, that one blow would have been enough to crush their breastbone or shatter their skull.

After Du Ruo stamped his foot, he looked up and saw the three of them all staring at him blankly. Clearly, they had no idea what he had been trying to demonstrate.

“Ah, this is why comprehension matters so much. Someone with good understanding will see the purpose of this move at once.”

Du Ruo shook his head and continued. It was not really the three women’s fault for lacking insight. They had not yet shifted their way of thinking, so they could not grasp the meaning behind each technique.

“You stamp on the foot. With one step down, even if you have not mastered the force-generation methods of Eight Extremes Fist yourself, your own strength, combined with the sole of your shoe, is enough to land on the opponent’s toes. The intense pain alone is enough to make most untrained people lose the ability to resist. At that point, if you go for the wrist, can’t you grab it however you like?”

Since that was the case, Du Ruo stopped making her guess and simply said it outright. He was no longer expecting the three women to infer one thing from another.

“Ohhh.”

This time, all three understood and nodded repeatedly.

“If I wear high heels, wouldn’t that be even more powerful?”

Li Qiyao even put forward her own idea. Clearly, she was the quickest to adapt her thinking.

“Yes. High heels are not only for stamping; you can also kick with the toe. Anyway, I’m only giving you the general idea. The details you’ll have to work out for yourselves.”

Du Ruo nodded in affirmation before continuing.

“Apart from stamping, an even better method is hand locking. Xingyi has many techniques related to hand locking, but I won’t teach you all of them. I’ll just teach you the simplest one.”

When he finished, Du Ruo’s eyes once again turned to his cousin.

“No, no, no—let me catch my breath. It still hurts.”

His cousin waved her hands frantically. Being locked like that felt terrible. Her vital points had been seized, and she had no way to resist; the more she struggled, the more it hurt.

“I’ll do it. I’m pretty interested in this.”

Li Qiyao walked over with a bright smile. She felt a little sorry that she had not met Du Ruo earlier. If she had, perhaps she would not have suffered so much over the past two years. As she spoke, she held out her hand.

Li Qiyao had very beautiful hands: long, slender, and fair. Soft, jade-like fingers were perhaps just this.

But Du Ruo did not hold back. He was teaching self-defense, not flirting, and he was not the sort of man who went weak-kneed at the sight of a woman.

“Hand locking sounds like it’s about the hand, but the fingers are actually even more important. Fingers are easier to lock than wrists or arms, and it takes less effort. The effect is also more obvious. But there’s one thing to keep in mind: the hand is actually very flexible, so when you seize the hand, it’s best to use both hands together—one hand for the wrist, the other for the fingers. That’s the fastest and most effective way.”

Du Ruo took hold of Li Qiyao’s palm in one motion and, reversing the joint, made her body sway involuntarily with his movements.

That was the natural response of the body when it was in pain.

And that was not all. Du Ruo also used Li Qiyao’s fingers to demonstrate, twisting them and testing the effect. It was done with almost no effort at all, yet each time Li Qiyao was easily put at his mercy.

“Then—”

“Shut up and listen carefully.”

Du Ruo cut Xiang Yuanyuan off the instant she started to speak, then went on.

“Of course, when you go for the fingers, the other person is not stupid enough to simply hold out a finger and let you do whatever you want. Once they clench a fist, then there’s no need for joint reversal.

“We can seize the little finger on the clenched fist. The little finger is the opening in the fist. Most people cannot fully grip it there. If we simply pinch the top two joints of the little finger, it will produce intense pain, and then the other person will no longer be able to keep the fist closed.”

As he spoke, Du Ruo motioned for Li Qiyao to make a fist, then used two fingers to pinch the upper two joints of the little finger on her clenched hand. With only the slightest force, Li Qiyao’s fist involuntarily loosened.

“All right, that’s the explanation. If you learn and apply these things, then dealing with your husband will be a piece of cake.”

When he finished, Du Ruo released Li Qiyao’s hand and indicated that the lesson was over.

“That’s it? That’s enough?”

His cousin looked somewhat dazed. Her mind had clearly learned it, but her hands were still clumsy as blocks of wood.

“What are you thinking? What I just taught you was the forms and the drills. You haven’t even practiced yet, so how could you possibly know how to fight? If you go up against someone like this, they can slap you senseless with one hand.”

Du Ruo curled his lip, then walked toward his seat. Once he was settled, he spoke again.

“Next, the three of you will spar with each other. Cousin, you’ll play the role of your husband first. Use the way your husband hits you as the model for how you hit A Qi. Just make it look the part; keep the speed, but hold back the force. A Qi, you’ll use what you just learned to start locking her up.”

“The three of us?”

Xiang Yuanyuan blinked, looking a little confused.

“Yes, all three. You’re going too. Sitting around doing nothing only makes you dwell on things. Work off some energy and you won’t think so much.”

Du Ruo also sent Xiang Yuanyuan over.

“I have a question. What do we do after the lock?”

His cousin raised her hand again.

“You’ve already got them locked. If you still don’t know how to hit them, then come on, I’ll demonstrate for you.”

“Ah—ow, ow…!”

...

It had to be said that watching women fight was actually rather interesting. Du Ruo was not the only one who thought so. Over the next three days, the nearby guesthouses all had people drifting, intentionally or not, around the courtyard where Du Ruo was staying.

Still, the three women were not the sort to shriek and tear each other’s hair like shrews in a street brawl. Though they ended up drenched in sweat, their overall appearance remained decent enough, so they ignored the onlookers.

All three were actually very intelligent. With them feeding one another moves, and with his cousin’s rich “real-world” experience, their progress was astonishingly fast.

At the very least, they had become reasonably presentable. Add in some of the small tricks Du Ruo taught them, and it would be more than enough for his cousin to deal with her husband.

As for Xiang Yuanyuan, her condition only grew worse with each passing day. Liver damage was not something that could heal in a day or two, and neither was quitting alcohol. But after being locked by Li Qiyao and his cousin in rotation every day, she no longer had much energy left to think about drinking.

...

“Boss, someone’s here to see you.”

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Early that morning, Yang Ling brought three police officers to the outside of the courtyard where Du Ruo was staying, calling out to him from a distance.

When Du Ruo saw the police, his first instinct was to reach for the coiling dragon silk. But his expression quickly relaxed. If they had truly come to arrest him, he was certain they would not have sent only a few officers. At the very least, they would have needed armed special police or the like.

“Mr. Du, we’re criminal investigators from the city bureau. We have a case we’d like to ask you about. Would you have time to come with us for a moment?”

A middle-aged man in police uniform, followed by two officers, came to stand before Du Ruo.