Night Raid

Dark night.

Xue Jing walked along a street on the outskirts of South District.

The narrow neighborhoods lacked any professional planning, with all the buildings crammed together in a chaotic mess. Most of the houses were old and dilapidated; some could not even be called houses, merely shacks made from a few sheets of metal and wooden boards.

The construction materials were visibly shoddy, and they had gone without even basic maintenance for a long time. Some places had already fallen into ruin.

Empty cans and trash skittered across the ground, while puddles covered the uneven concrete. Several stray dogs watched Xue Jing, seemingly waiting for something.

"..."

Xue Jing stopped.

There was not a single person in sight on the street, yet he had a strange feeling.

Like the stillness that inevitably came before a storm, the pitch-black night seemed to be gestating a terrifying beast. Something indistinct swelled and contracted, like a fetal stir.

It was his heartbeat.

Though he had not used the Breathing Method, the blood in his body suddenly began to race, and his Body Temperature rose, nearly boiling over.

The hairs on his back stood on end, and his scalp tingled, as if an incomparably sharp blade rested against his neck, its edge slowly scraping over his flesh.

For no reason, without relying on any of his senses, the "combat" instinct buried in the deepest part of his body warned him: danger.

Without the slightest hesitation, Xue Jing chose to trust his instincts.

Run! Xue Jing dipped into a slight crouch in the middle of the street, his thigh muscles tightening. The leg strength granted by "Running" erupted in an instant, and he shot toward the end of the street!

The moment he suddenly broke into a sprint, angry shouts came from the narrow alleys between the surrounding houses.

"Fuck, he spotted us!"

"Trying to run? Get him!"

"Damn it, that little bastard is fast!"

More than a dozen figures emerged from hidden alleys, each chasing after Xue Jing.

Most of them carried weapons of some kind—knives, wooden clubs, machetes, baseball bats... The clanging of metal weapons dragging over the ground rang without end.

These people were obviously not doing this for the first time. Centered on Xue Jing, their positions had nearly formed an encirclement.

If Xue Jing had acted just a dozen or so seconds later, the encirclement would have been complete, leaving him no chance of escape.

But now, only two people stood directly in his path!

"Cheng Zi, Little Li, stop him!"

The people behind him shouted as Xue Jing looked at the two men in the road ahead: a skinny youth in a red T-shirt holding a baseball bat, and the Crew Cut Youth, empty-handed and watching him with a vicious gaze.

The distance between Xue Jing and the two men steadily closed. Though they were about to collide, he had no intention of slowing down.

The Crew Cut Youth did not move. The youth with the baseball bat stepped forward twice, raising the bat as if preparing to swing it, seemingly intending to hit the charging Xue Jing like a baseball.

Closer. Closer still.

Just as the skinny youth's eyes narrowed and he swung his bat, Xue Jing, who had not slowed at all, suddenly ducked.

The whistling bat swept over his head, grazing a few strands of hair. At the same time, Xue Jing clenched his right fist as he crouched, then rose and delivered a fierce uppercut—Rising Dragon Fist—straight into the skinny youth's chin! With the Aim skill, the accuracy of his punch was unparalleled, striking the youth's chin directly.

Bang!

A loud explosion rang out, accompanied faintly by the sound of cracking bone. Xue Jing felt something shatter beneath his fist.

The immense momentum from his sprint, combined with the one hundred and eighty kilograms of force behind his punch, sent the skinny youth flying nearly a meter into the air. When he landed, his eyes had rolled back and he lay motionless. His neck bent at an exaggerated angle, while the skin around his chin bulged unevenly. His jawbone had clearly been completely smashed.

"Little Li!"

"Fuck, this kid's tougher than he looks! Be careful!"

The people chasing behind him cried out in alarm.

But Xue Jing did not stop. After only the slightest pause, he continued rushing forward.

The remaining Crew Cut Youth had worn a casual expression before, but after witnessing that scene, he clearly understood that Xue Jing was no ordinary weakling of a student.

His expression turned serious. He raised both hands, bent his knees slightly, and assumed a boxing stance.

He was fully prepared, confident that he could react no matter which angle Xue Jing attacked from.

As long as he held this fast-running student back for even a moment, his companions would catch up. Then Xue Jing would be a turtle trapped in a jar, a dog behind closed doors.

He stood ready, his face grave as he watched Xue Jing speed toward him.

Left fist, right fist, or a kick?

And just as he and Xue Jing were about to make contact, at the moment of greatest tension...

Xue Jing ignored him and ran straight past him.

The Crew Cut Youth froze.

He even seemed to see Xue Jing give him a strange look as they passed each other, as if asking: What are you doing?

"Fuck your mother!"

The Crew Cut Youth instantly saw red, cursing as he spun around and chased after Xue Jing.

On the main street at the outskirts of South District, Xue Jing ran in front while more than a dozen people chased behind him.

A few minutes later, as they watched Xue Jing's back grow more and more distant, everyone gradually stopped running.

"That... that little bastard... how... how can he run like that..."

Someone panted heavily, propping his exhausted body up with a machete planted against the ground as he spoke in broken gasps.

"Goddamn it, we spend our days hunting geese, only to get pecked in the eye by one. We really got screwed this time. We didn't catch him, and one of our brothers got hurt."

"What do we do? Brother Duan is still waiting in the warehouse. We couldn't even handle something this simple. Who knows how badly he'll chew us out?"

"What else can we do? He's already..."

A dyed-haired youth abruptly trailed off.

At the corner at the end of the street, Xue Jing, who was about to vanish from their sight, suddenly stopped and slowly turned around to look at them.

"Heh, that little bastard can't run anymore, can he?"

Someone sneered.

"Come on, let's go over there. That bastard made us work so hard. We'd better teach him a good lesson."

"My tooth-pulling pliers are practically rusting. This kid's got a pretty face—he looks like the kind girls who like pretty boys would love. I wonder whether he'll still be able to..."

Laughing and joking, the group walked toward Xue Jing.

The curses and footsteps behind him gradually faded from hearing. Xue Jing understood that he had escaped danger.

The racing heartbeat brought on by the sense of crisis slowly settled, but a blaze of anger gradually ignited in his heart.

Fuck, a whole crowd had suddenly jumped out and chased him around like a dog. Whatever their reason, he would remember this grudge.

Reason told him that he should leave immediately and not take any risks. It would be safer to come back and settle the score after he grew stronger. There was plenty of time; a gentleman could take revenge even ten years later.

Emotion told him: screw reason! He slowly turned around and looked at the dozen or so figures across the street.

He opened the panel and checked the passive effect of "Twin Life," immediately feeling fully assured.

He looked around on the ground and happened to spot half a fist-sized red brick not far away.

Xue Jing picked up the half brick and weighed it in his hand.

Under the astonished gazes of the dozen or so people, he expressionlessly and steadily began walking toward them.

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