===Preface===

Before the main text, let me briefly introduce a few things about this book.

As you can see, the title is ""Peerless Double Jokers""—it's basically a martial arts novel with two protagonists.

Those who know me are aware that I like to change genres with every book, and I've especially loved martial arts since I was a child, so this time I'm finally fulfilling my own martial arts dream.

A few months ago, I mentioned to some friends that I wanted my next book to be a martial arts story, but many friends in the industry just shook their heads, either subtly or directly expressing their doubts, as if I was about to jump into a pit of fire.

Indeed, the decline of martial arts in this era is obvious to all. The martial arts stories we still talk about today are basically works created by masters decades ago.

So over the years, I've often heard the phrase—""Martial arts is dead.""

I can understand the sentiment behind it.

In today's world, most people clearly prefer fantasy, and most authors also prefer to write fantasy, because the world-building is grander, there are fewer restrictions in the settings, and the creative process is more free.

Meanwhile, martial arts seems to have been pushed to its limits by the masters, with no higher peaks left to climb.

As the saying goes, ""extremes meet, and going too far is as bad as not going far enough."" It seems the path for those who come after has been blocked.

So... I'm not going to climb that peak, nor will I follow the conventional path. I'll dig a tunnel and see how low this field can go (laughs).

If ""martial arts"" really has breathed its last, then let me give it a round of CPR with this book. After all, there's nothing to lose by trying.

This book will probably be the most entertaining, relaxed, and joyful of all my works so far. As for the two protagonists, I'll just say it outright... I found inspiration from Andrew Bennett and David Clark; if you haven't heard of these two, that's fine, it won't affect your reading, because I'm just playing with some of their jokes in the book. I won't bring in, and please don't bring in, any real-life people or events to avoid unnecessary trouble.

But if you do know these two guys, or are familiar with them, I believe you started laughing as soon as you saw the title and synopsis.

As for what this book is about... you know me, I never outline my stories.

I'll just write the beginning, and let the plot take off on its own.

===Prologue===

Dusk, light mist.

On a country road, a Porsche Cayenne was slowly driving by.

There were two people in the car.

The man driving was surnamed Clark, about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with a wide back. His willow-leaf eyes seemed never to open fully, but they were sharp and lively, as if he had four eyebrows, with a smile that hid a knife.

The man in the passenger seat was surnamed Bennett, about the same age as Mr. Clark, with sword-like brows and drooping eyes, a broad nose and thick lips; at first glance, his features were quite defined, but unfortunately, like Mr. Clark, he was broad-minded and stout, with too much flesh on his face. Plus, Mr. Bennett was born with a rather short neck, so he gave the same impression as Mr. Clark: chubby-faced, big-eared, the greasy look of middle age.

""Clark bro, we've been circling for over two hours now. Are you lost?"" Mr. Bennett looked at the somewhat familiar scenery outside the window and asked, for who knows how many times.

""Don't worry~"" Mr. Clark replied, ""I'm following the GPS. If you don't trust me, you should at least trust the GPS, right?""

""This place is so remote..."" Mr. Bennett said hesitantly, ""I'm not sure the GPS is accurate here.""

""So what can we do?"" Mr. Clark responded, using a tone as if he didn't care at all, ""You can see for yourself how remote it is—just mountain roads everywhere. There's no one to ask, not even a road sign. All we can do is keep following the GPS.""

""That's why I asked you at the gas station earlier if we should ask a local for directions,"" said Mr. Bennett. ""You insisted the GPS was fine. Now look, aren't we in trouble?""

""What's the point of saying that now? We've already come this far, it's not like we can just turn back, right?"" said Mr. Clark.

""Sigh..."" Mr. Bennett let out a long sigh. ""I really can't take it anymore. Why did I agree to go on a road trip with you? You're the kind of guy who can even get on the wrong high-speed train. Once you leave the highway, you're probably going to die in the mountains. Looks like I'm finally going to die at your hands today.""

""Shut up~"" Mr. Clark drawled, ""Don't panic. We still have plenty of gas, and it's not even dark yet. Worst case, we'll just drive back.""

The two of them kept bantering back and forth, occasionally throwing in some swear words. To outsiders, it might sound like they were arguing, but in fact, this was just their usual way of communicating.

Clark and Bennett had known each other for many years. Their day jobs were as game commentators and streamers. Judging by their car, you could tell they were fairly successful; but judging by their physiques, it was also clear that they rarely did any outdoor activities or exercise.

Today, on a whim, they decided to drive to some obscure scenic spot, but ended up getting lost.

After a while, the fog grew thicker and thicker.