Crimson Instinct

Time: 8:56 PM

*Bai Li*

I had no time to answer Luo Zhiqiang's question because I was busy jumping to the side, dodging his punch and simultaneously knocking his gun away.

The faint smell of gunpowder hit my nostrils and I exactly sensed the direction of it from me. His punch missed and I slapped his incoming wrist. I heard the gun land on the floor and kicked it far away.

We both stopped but I had aimed my gun at his direction.

"Heh! You think you can run away?"

I heard the guard's voice sneering at me. The distaste was so evident. 

From the few seconds of close combat we had just now, I figured that he wasn't as useless as the other guards. 

When he hit me on the shoulder, I felt the weight of his punch on my arm. He wasn't just taller than me but was also bigger in size. I guessed he was around 280 pounds in weight and four inches taller than me.

His voice was heavier and gruffer as he spoke that seemed to match my assessment of him. I smelled a faint smell of tobacco and sweat.

*Bang Bang*

The gunshots were still echoing down at the second floor.

Luo Zhiqiang's voice rang in my ears. "Bai Li. Just give me a hum if you are okay."

"Hm," I quietly whispered.

Well, I was okay. At least until now. But defeating this big guy was going to take time. Not an impossible fight though.

I heard him say, "You have signed a death warrant by coming to this place, man."

"Have I?"

"Of course."

"Actually, there is another option."

"What is it?"

"How about you free my way? I need to have a good talk with your boss and discuss all sorts of morality with her. You don't have to get hurt in the process. Spare yourself."

"You see the difference between us?"

"Actually, I cannot."

"Precisely why you are a dead man."

"I understand your theory but I assure you practically that won't be the case. Blind or not, smaller than you or not, the end result will not change. You are going down. I am giving you a choice."

"I don't need any choice."

"And my job is to make you regret making that choice."

"Easy for you to say. You have a gun. Even if you cannot see, I can feel you have good instincts. The bullet would hit me in no time."

I raised my brow. "I can still fight you without a gun. Pure hand to hand."

"Who are you kidding?"

"I came here to save my buddies. I am not in the mood to kid around. Want to give it a try?"

Silence.

I strapped my gun in my pocket. I knew he was provoking me and I knew he must be thinking that he won. He was confident purely based on our size differences.

Overconfident.

He must be already celebrating my death in his mind.

Fighting a huge bulk of a man without a gun? 

That sounded crazy but not impossible.

Now there are a few things to keep in mind when you fight a man taller and heavier than you. If this was any other guard smaller than or roughly equal to my body structure, the fight was as good as won already.

But not this man. He would take more than a punch to take him down.

Tip no. 1. Don't fight unless you have to when faced with a bigger opponent. 

Well, I had the choice of shooting him dead, but I didn't because I needed to show him that he was underestimating people just because they were smaller than him and he is the type of those men who must have been always bullying people exactly because they were smaller than him. So, on behalf of all those smaller people, I will show him that I can take him on just fine.

Tip No. 2. Keep your guard up.

Which I had.

Tip No. 3. I am completely sane when I say to throw the first punch. The best advantage you can give yourself is ending a fight before your opponent even gets a chance to react.

The guard said, "Heh. You I will show you-"

And that's why I threw my fist straight towards his jaw or at least was trying to aim there while he was still talking because his guard was down. It did land on his jaw and I immediately stepped back.

I heard his footing and knew he was charging at me in full force.

So Tip No. 3. Use evasive tactics.

Move around constantly while staying outside his striking range. I was light on my feet that helped me quickly change my direction.

But the problem was that this was a narrow corridor and I didn't have much room to move around. I needed to have a bigger space. And there were classrooms on my left according to the school structure I knew that could just do the trick.

I hopped towards my left and felt the walls while dancing around and dodging his hits. It touched one door and I stopped.

I felt a wave of cold air rising.

Another punch.

I banged the door open and ducked as I went inside.

"Ugh…"

I sensed him stagger and at this point he must be bent towards the floor close to falling which was a golden opportunity for me to hit so I jabbed my elbow roughly where his kidney was.

I heard the sound of him jumping back. It was like my jab was worth a fly's sting. Which it was, at least for him. A normal man's kidney would have been badly crushed by my blow by now. But his huge body absorbed the shock and strength from my hits so it didn't do a thing.

That didn't mean I lost because every punch helps in the end.

I got out of his strike zone and began my dancing around in the classroom to miss his hits because every missed hit takes off a little steam from the opponent.

My ears were solely focused on the direction of his footsteps, his rapid breaths and the faint sound of the air that rings when a hit is about to strike. Then there was my instinct and years of experience that told me how a man fought and what tactics he used.

"Bastard. Running away? You are a coward."