Brother Xiao Liang

Lu Yang had no idea Zheng Yuan already hated him. After taking off the Virtual Helmet, he changed positions and fell asleep.

It was already one in the afternoon when Lu Yang woke up. After a simple lunch, he began working out. His father had once been a soldier and had been extremely strict with him since childhood, so his foundation was quite solid.

Before his rebirth, in order to kill Liu Jie, he had spent five years training under the professional guidance of one of his father's former comrades. Unfortunately, Lu Yang had already been twenty-six by then and had missed the best age for training. Even so, he had made a name for himself in the mercenary world as Bloodfire, striking fear into people across Southeast Asia.

Now that he had been given another life, Lu Yang decided to first restore his physical condition to its former peak, then see just how far he could go.

He tried out a set of fist techniques his father had taught him. Once he had loosened up his muscles and joints, Lu Yang began training according to the methods his master had taught him.

This training method was a secret technique used by a certain South Asian organization to train expendable fighters. As long as one could endure it, physical fitness could improve at a tremendous rate. But it had one enormous drawback—it was excruciatingly painful. Fewer than one in ten ordinary people could persist.

Two hours later, Lu Yang could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground. Every inch of muscle in his body felt as if it were about to tear apart. Even so, if he wanted to improve, he had to force himself back to his feet.

That year, what had kept Lu Yang going was his desire to kill Liu Jie. In this life, it was still the same!

After holding on for another half hour, Lu Yang finished the day's training with an angry roar. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with trembling arms, leaned against the bathroom wall, and barely managed to strip off his clothes before turning on the shower and letting the icy water pour over him.

Whenever this happened, Lu Yang would sink into deep memories. But in his previous life, those memories had all been filled with regret. This life was somewhat different.

They said the righteous were often butchers and dog-slaughterers, while the heartless were often scholars. Lu Yang understood that saying deeply. The ones who had betrayed him in his previous life were the "brothers" who had shared a dorm room with him for four years in college. Yet when Lu Yang had hit rock bottom and owed tens of millions in debt, the one who had not betrayed him was Xiao Liang—a foolish, uneducated kid who had failed to get into college.

As a brother, Xiao Liang's loyalty was beyond reproach. Back then, when Lu Yang's parents went to work at construction sites, Xiao Liang went with them to earn money and help repay the debts. Later, when Wang Teng came to kill Lu Yang, Lu Yang would have died long ago if Xiao Liang had not taken that bullet for him. Lu Yang owed Xiao Liang his life.

But Lu Yang truly could not remember doing anything that had made Xiao Liang's devotion worthwhile.

After being reborn in this life, the first person Lu Yang wanted to find was Xiao Liang. Once he had washed up, Lu Yang changed into a fresh set of clothes, took his bank card, bought another Virtual Helmet near the school, and headed toward Xiao Liang's home in the Urban Village.

The Urban Village was synonymous with dilapidation and poverty. The people living there were at the very bottom of society, and the term fit perfectly. There were only run-down single-story houses here; actual apartment buildings were exceedingly rare.

After weaving through the streets, Lu Yang arrived outside a shabby brick-walled courtyard. This was Xiao Liang's home.

Just as Lu Yang was about to enter, he suddenly heard angry curses coming from inside the courtyard.

"Kid, are you asking for a beating? I told you to bring fifty yuan today. Where's the money?"

"No money? Couldn't you go steal it? If you don't steal, are you asking for a fucking beating?"

The voice was familiar. Lu Yang vaulted over the wall and into the courtyard, just in time to see a group of people beating up a teenager. That teenager was Xiao Liang.

"Stop." Lu Yang shouted.

The group turned around, and when they saw Lu Yang, they burst into laughter.

"Oh, another one here to hand over money. Luck's pretty good today." The pockmarked leader planted a foot on Xiao Liang's face and said, "Lu Yang, haven't seen you in a while. Got any money? Give me a hundred yuan, and I'll let you go today."

Lu Yang recognized the man in front of him. Although fifteen years had passed since they last met, the man had left a deep impression on him. His name was Guan Dahai, a local thug about ten years older than Lu Yang and the others. Ever since they were children, he had relied on his larger build to bully Lu Yang, Xiao Liang, and the rest.

Lu Yang had been fairly clever and had always managed to avoid Guan Dahai. But this time, Lu Yang had no intention of hiding.

"Guan Dahai, I told you to let Xiao Liang go," Lu Yang said.

"Oh? This kid actually dares order me around." Guan Dahai's thug nature flared up. He did not have anyone else follow him and walked toward Lu Yang alone.

"Kid, haven't been beaten in a while? Your skin's itching, huh?" Guan Dahai walked up to Lu Yang and kicked at him.

Just as Guan Dahai imagined he would send Lu Yang flying with one kick, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. When he looked again, Lu Yang had already turned sideways and delivered a beautiful spinning back kick straight into his chest.

Although Lu Yang had just finished training and did not have much strength left, the force generated by his one hundred and forty pounds of body weight through the rotation was not something an ordinary person could withstand. Guan Dahai clutched his chest and dropped to his knees.

The other thugs had been watching, expecting to see how Guan Dahai would beat up Lu Yang. They had not expected Guan Dahai to be kicked down by Lu Yang for some unknown reason. The remaining four thugs immediately panicked and charged at Lu Yang with wide eyes.

"Lu Yang, you fucking want to—"

Before he could finish, a brick smacked into the thug's face with a bang. Xiao Liang had just raised his head and watched without blinking as Lu Yang ducked beneath the first thug's punch, then accurately smashed the second thug in the side of the face with a stone in his hand.

Then Lu Yang kicked out, striking the side joint of the third thug's knee. The third thug let out a miserable scream and fell to the ground.

The first thug turned around and saw that the three people who had charged in with him were all lying on the ground, unable to move. He looked at Lu Yang with terror in his eyes.

"Y-you, what did you just do?"

Lu Yang picked up a brick from the ground, stared at the thug without saying a word, and walked toward him step by step.

The thug had already been scared out of his wits. Faced with Lu Yang's bloodthirsty gaze, he completely broke down. With a scream, he turned and ran.

Guan Dahai had just caught his breath and saw the scene. He cursed, "Why the fuck are you running? Get back here!"

Unfortunately, the other man did not dare look back.

"Damn it, what a bunch of trash." Guan Dahai rose while clutching his chest and turned to find Lu Yang. He felt that Lu Yang was acting strangely today. He wanted to leave behind a threat and come back another day with more people to deal with him, but before he could speak, a whooshing sound cut through the air.

Bang~!

The brick struck Guan Dahai squarely in the side of the face, knocking him to the ground. When he touched it with his hand, blood poured out.