328: Chapter 328 The Fighting Training Room, The Strange Neighbor

Regarding the master worker's question, Fang Cheng smiled and casually replied,

"A friend asked me to keep it here. He runs a pork business in the shop downstairs, and his place isn't big enough."

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This reason was entirely reasonable, so the master worker didn't think much of it and nodded with a smile.

They had just exerted a tremendous amount of effort to snugly install this behemoth into the reserved spot in the kitchen.

Afterwards, the bed, wardrobe, cabinets, tables and chairs, sofa, bookshelves...

Piece after piece of brand-new furniture was successively moved into this empty room, settling into their respective positions.

The bare apartment that originally echoed with hollow sounds was being filled up bit by bit by these items, gradually taking on the warmth and outline of a "home".

After more than half an hour, everything was back in place.

Fang Cheng readily settled the wages and saw off the sweat-drenched workers.

Click.

Along with the faint sound of the lock cylinder turning, the heavy security door was gently closed.

The room instantly became incomparably quiet.

Only the vague white noise mixed from cars and ocean waves coming from afar outside the window remained.

Fang Cheng's eyes gleamed as he surveyed this "new home" that was beginning to take shape.

A circle of brand-new dark gray fabric sofas was placed in the living room, and there was a sufficiently spacious and comfortable single bed in the bedroom.

In the kitchen, that huge freezer was emitting the scent of brand-new plastic while standing quietly.

Everything was like the residence of an ordinary single man, simple and practical.

Except for——

The living room, which had been almost completely forged into a "Boxing training room" according to his unique demands.

Thick soundproof gypsum boards were embedded within the walls and ceiling here.

The surface was painted with a layer of light blue latex paint that made one's mood calm and comfortable like the ocean.

The ground was covered with professional PVC sports flooring of the same color scheme, which was elastic and could effectively absorb impacts.

Except for the living room which was paved with flooring and the bathroom and kitchen which were installed with non-slip tiles, the other locations directly exposed flat and smooth cement floors, exuding a rugged and pragmatic aura.

On the ceiling, industrial-grade load-bearing structures and sturdy, thick iron frames crisscrossed, forming a solid "skeleton".

In the center of the iron frame hung a black punching bag over two meters tall and weighing 800 kilograms.

It was like a colossal beast imprisoned here.

In the corner, training equipment used for practicing Pull-up and Hanging Leg Raise—a horizontal bar and gymnastics rings—was also installed.

In addition, an Immortal Master-sized tumbler standing striking target and a heavy sandbag wooden dummy occupied two corners near the floor-to-ceiling windows respectively.

Fang Cheng's gaze slowly swept across, he raised his foot to step into the living room, and stomped the floor with a bit of force.

A clear rebound sensation came from underfoot; that was the thick rubber damping pad beneath the PVC flooring playing its role.

After feeling the new environment, Fang Cheng walked up to the punching bag, extended his fist, and casually struck it lightly.

The punching bag only swayed slightly, and the feeling transmitted from his fist tip was as if he had hit a solid wall wrapped in leather.

To increase the weight, besides high-density fillers, a large amount of iron sand was mixed inside the punching bag.

To be honest, a punching bag of this specification had long exceeded the category of training equipment, looking more like a weapon used for sieging cities.

For the vast majority of Boxing athletes, a punching bag of tens of kilograms to over a hundred kilograms was sufficient to provide effective daily training.

Even world-top heavyweight boxers rarely used heavy punching bags of several hundred kilograms for training.

When facing such a behemoth, they had to throw punches with extreme caution, otherwise, they would be extremely prone to injury, causing wrist fractures.

But for the current Fang Cheng, an ordinary hundred-kilogram punching bag was no different from a doll stuffed with cotton, and could not achieve training effects at all.

After all, striking a heavier punching bag required a greater force output.

The heavier the target, the more helpful it was to train the fist's penetrating power and overall explosive force, and it could also better simulate the feeling of piercing through a formidable enemy's defense, adapting to that powerful impact and resistance.

This 800-kilogram super-heavy punching bag was already the largest product he could find on the market.

In order to make it better withstand its own terrifying impact force without easily breaking.

Fang Cheng also specifically instructed the manufacturer to carry out deep customization.

The outer skin of the punching bag was additionally reinforced, adopting a superimposed composite material of double-layer high-strength military canvas and Kevlar fiber, and treated with a coating.

Its beat-resistance and wear-resistance were both elevated to the highest degree.

Between the outer skin and the inner lining, a buffer interlayer made of gel pads was stuffed.

It possessed good impact resistance, and when the outer skin was damaged, it could also prevent fillers from leaking, making replacement relatively convenient.

Furthermore, all seams entirely adopted Kevlar fiber Materials to carry out a double-row cross-stitching reinforcement process.

And they were bonded with industrial strong glue to further enhance connection strength.

Crafted with such meticulous care, a single punching bag cost Fang Cheng a full 60,000-plus yuan.

As for being even heavier, it was not very realistic.

This not only involved the limits of the punching bag's Materials and craftsmanship, but more crucially, the load-bearing issue of the house itself.

Even professional gyms rarely had facilities that could safely hang nearly a ton of heavy objects, let alone the beams of ordinary residential houses.

In order to successfully install this big guy, several decoration masters also exerted a tremendous amount of effort, and just reinforcing the ceiling took half a week.

Moreover, the purpose of Boxing striking bag training was not only to improve the power and speed of punches, but more importantly, technical accuracy and the fluency of combination attacks.

The swaying and feedback of the punching bag itself simulated actual combat, which was a crucial link in training.

A target so heavy that it didn't budge an inch could not provide the dynamic feedback needed for adjusting rhythm and force output, which was no different from practicing against a wall.

Thoughts reaching here, Fang Cheng no longer hesitated.

He quickly took off his upper garment, revealing bronze skin and well-defined muscle groups.

Exercising his wrists and ankles, his joints emitted a series of crisp cracking sounds.

Each muscle slightly bulged outward, just right as if undergoing precise calculations.

Without a trace of excess fat, it was filled with restrained and explosive power.

Fang Cheng twisted his neck, his gaze burning as he stared closely at the heavy punching bag suspended in front of him.

Next, it was time to test the actual effect of this new equipment.

Bang!

A heavy punch retaining 50% of his strength suddenly blasted out, slamming solidly into the punching bag.

A muffled, thunder-like explosion instantly burst open in the living room.

The 800-kilogram huge punching bag was actually blasted high into the swing by this punch, and the iron chains at the connection emitted a harsh, screeching "clatter".

Fang Cheng did not stop there, swiftly surrounding the violently shaking punching bag, his shoulders slightly swaying as his steps moved rhythmically.

At times dodging the whistling and slamming punching bag, and at times lunging forward to meet it.

Using fists, elbows, knees, and legs, he launched a storm-like attack from various tricky angles.

Sizzle—

His soles emitted a hurried and clear friction sound on the floor.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

His double fists struck continuously, like dense drumbeats, fast and accurate.

Each strike made the huge punching bag emit a muffled sound as if being ravaged, resembling a giant beast wailing in pain.

The entire living room had truly transformed into an arena for his solo dance.

As the swaying of the punching bag gradually subsided, a hearty and exhilarating striking training also came to an end.

The first round of testing passed smoothly, but the real training had just begun.

Immediately afterwards, Fang Cheng successively practiced fist-and-leg combination techniques against the tumbler humanoid target and the wooden dummy.

Until his body slightly sweated and his breathing accelerated, this combat and warm-up training was finally over.

Fang Cheng adjusted his breathing slightly, calming down his surging Qi and blood, and then walked towards the horizontal bar in the corner.

With a light leap, grabbing the bar, he intentionally used a relatively large amount of force to continuously perform a few Pull-up exercises.

The connection of the bar immediately emitted a teeth-aching metal groan.

But it was still as stable as Mount Tai, clearly very sturdy.

Fang Cheng tried practicing a few times, jumped down from the horizontal bar, and raised his head to glance at the gymnastics rings beside it.

Taking a deep breath, he hooked one of the rings with the index finger of one hand, his body suspended stably in the air.

Using the strength of this finger, he pulled his entire body up, then slowly lowered it, continuously for 100 times.

Then he switched to his left index finger, repeating the same action.

Then came the single-finger Hanging Leg Raise, similarly using both left and right, 100 times each.

After thoroughly "ravaging" every newly added piece of training equipment.

This probing test could truly be considered complete.

Fang Cheng stood still in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, stretching his limbs and relaxing every inch of muscle.

At the same time, a thought moved in his mind, looking at the prompt information appearing on the panel.

[Boxing Experience + 2]

[Boxing Lv3 (41/1000)]

[Sanda Experience + 2]

[Sanda Lv3 (15/1000)]

[Muay Thai Experience + 3]

[Muay Thai Lv2 (219/500)]

[Leg Raise Experience + 5]

[Leg Raise Lv2 (395/500)]

[Pull-up Experience + 4]

[Pull-up Lv2 (438/500)]

The exercise effect was quite good.

The key was that he could ignore the gazes of others secretly peeping, shedding sweat and exposing his muscles without any scruples.

This feeling of freedom made one exceptionally comfortable.

Fang Cheng was very satisfied with this new stronghold.

Except for some pungent decoration smells, other aspects could be called perfect.

Unexpectedly, his grandfather's old house in Wanghu Town was still going through the decoration process, yet he was able to move in with luggage in advance on his side.

When he brought the barbell plates and binding straps from home later and bought a treadmill, this exclusive training ground would be completely ready.

Twisting his neck, Fang Cheng suddenly thought of a matter that was equally important.

The commotion of the exercise just now was not small; what the sound insulation effect was really like would have to be decided by the neighbors.

Thinking of this, Fang Cheng first went to the bathroom and heartily took his first cold shower in the new house.

Then he changed into the brand-new sportswear bought to celebrate the housewarming, and only then stepped out of the door.

Haitian Garden belonged to mid-to-high-end apartment buildings, featuring a design of two elevators and eight households per floor.

Each household had a semi-independent anteroom, ensuring lighting, ventilation, and relative privacy.

Today was a weekday, plus the residential area had been built for only half a year, so the occupancy rate was not very high, hence the hallway was very quiet.

Fang Cheng first knocked on the doors of several households on the same floor.

Only room 1904 next door opened its door.

Inside was a young lady wearing glasses and working from home.

She stated that she didn't hear any sound, her cheeks slightly flushed as she took the initiative to ask for Fang Cheng's phone number, proposing that as neighbors, they could interact more in the future.

Under the pretext of not having bought a mobile phone yet, Fang Cheng smiled and politely declined the other party's goodwill.

Afterwards, he took the elevator upstairs and knocked on the doors of the four neighbor households located above his own house.

Three of them had no one answering, and another household was an old lady watching television, who also said she didn't hear any abnormal noises.

It seemed that this soundproofing project was truly worth the money.

Fang Cheng felt assured in his heart and took the elevator down to the 18th floor.

Intending to finally greet the residents downstairs and confirm things, it would be considered done.

The situation on this floor was about the same; either no one had moved in temporarily, or everyone had gone to work.

Fang Cheng came to the door of room 1803, which happened to be located directly below his own home.

Thump, thump, thump.

He raised his hand and knocked a few times lightly.

Waiting for a moment, there was still no response.

Fang Cheng shook his head, just about to leave to knock on the last household, when his heart stirred slightly.

That wasn't right.

Fang Cheng raised his eyebrows, instantly collecting his mind and calming his breath, amplifying his five senses' perceptual power in an instant.

He leaned forward, gently pressing his ear against the cold security door.

An extremely subtle sound of breathing, along with an even weaker heartbeat.

Like a small stone thrown into calm water, rippling circles in the air, clearly transmitted into his ears.

There was someone in the room.

Moreover, the other party seemed to have deliberately restrained their presence, as if hiding inside.

Tap... tap...

Then, an extremely slight, slow sound of shuffling footsteps came over.

It seemed someone was stepping barefoot on the floor, approaching the door, wanting to check the situation outside through the peephole.

The corner of Fang Cheng's mouth hooked into an arc, and then he straightened his waist, turning around to leave as if nothing had happened.

Since the other person was so shy and afraid of strangers, there was no need to insist on greeting them.

But just as Fang Cheng walked out of this household's semi-independent anteroom, a light sound of the lock cylinder turning came from behind him.

Click.

The door was pushed open a crack from the inside.

"Hello, is there something you need?"

A gentle male voice came over, the voice carrying a polite magnetism.

Hearing this, Fang Cheng turned back to look.

Only to see a young man with handsome features and fair skin standing behind the door, concealing most of his body.

He looked at himself with a smile, his eyes carrying a hint of surprise.

Fang Cheng's heart moved slightly, a trace of doubt also flashing across the bottom of his eyes.

For a moment, this man who was clearly a stranger gave him a sense of déjà vu.

"Oh, nothing major."

Fang Cheng quickly collected his mind, an apologetic smile appearing on his face:

"I am the resident of 1903 who just moved in upstairs from you.

"My home was being decorated a while ago, and today I asked masters to move furniture. The commotion might have been a bit loud, so I thought I'd come over to greet the neighbors. If I disturbed you, I am truly sorry."

Hearing this, the young man's smile grew even wider.

He pulled the door open a bit more, revealing more of his body, and his posture appeared very open and frank:

"So you're the new neighbor, hello."

"It's fine. I'm often away on business trips and not at home; I only returned these past two days and was catching up on sleep just now, so I didn't hear any sound at all."

He looked very polite and quite enthusiastic, not at all like the stereotypical reclusive, anti-social otaku one might imagine.

"Oh, then I can rest easy."

Exchanging a few polite pleasantries with the young man, Fang Cheng turned around to take his leave.

However, right at the moment of turning around.

Fang Cheng clearly felt that the gaze behind him was still staring intently at him.

A trace of chill vaguely rose up his spine, as if he were being stared dead in the eyes by a beast.

That gaze didn't have overly obvious hostility, but was filled with a scrutinizing meaning, sharp like a scalpel used for dissection.

It seemed as if it wanted to see right through him inside and out.

Fang Cheng remained calm and collected, without turning his head, walking straight into the elevator alcove and pressing the upward button.

Until the elevator doors slowly closed, cutting off that line of sight, did the feeling of pins and needles on his back completely disappear.

Click.

Returning home, Fang Cheng closed and double-locked the security door.

The easygoing expression on his face instantly faded, replaced by deep contemplation.

The neighbor downstairs was definitely not an ordinary person.

That vigilant behavior of deliberately hiding his presence, as well as that gaze full of scrutiny at the end, were extraordinary.

Could it be that he was also an extraordinary individual hiding among ordinary people, or some fugitive on the run?

Fang Cheng raised his right hand that had just gripped the door handle of the downstairs household, brought it close to the tip of his nose, and sniffed carefully.

A faint, carefully formulated cologne scent drifted over.

Fresh, steady, slightly rich, just cleverly covering up the user's original body scent.

Fang Cheng frowned.

Was this fellow so effeminate?

A grown man spraying perfume—was it because he felt his body odor was too heavy?

Or did he have an ulterior motive?

Unable to guess the other party's background, Fang Cheng simply stopped thinking about it too much.

He only calculated secretly to pay more attention to this eccentric new neighbor.