Rain pattered down without letup.
Chen Shouyi pushed his bicycle along, one step at a time.
Blood streamed down his body and pooled in the puddles on the concrete beneath his feet. As he walked, the puddles behind him turned a pale red.
His shoes had been trampled to pieces during the fight. The soles had come completely off, leaving only the pitiful laces and the two scraps of canvas attached to them dangling over his insteps.
He couldn't be bothered to take them off, and let them drag along.
Passing a trash can, Chen Shouyi stopped and tore off his shirt, soaked through with blood. He tossed it into the bin.
The icy rain struck the raw, ragged wounds, bringing a piercing sting and sapping the heat from his body.
He couldn't help shivering.
The toxins left behind by the monster had greatly slowed the healing of his wounds. Before, they would have scabbed over by now, but this time they were still healing slowly. Poisoned blood kept draining from them, and dark red blood seeped out without stopping. The rain quickly washed it away, leaving the wounds looking pale.
The blood loss had left him weak. His face was deathly pale, and a chill crept through his body.
"Body defense really is important. If I hadn't practiced the Body Hardening Technique, I might not have made it through this one!"
"But my defense is still too weak. If my opponent had been armed, I probably wouldn't have held on long enough for it to let its guard down. I would've fallen first." Even though the fight was over, thinking back on it still made his heart pound with fear.
His opponents in the past had all been slower than him. Relying on his speed and superhuman reflexes, he'd