Chance Encounter 2

Pfft.

The man blocked the blade with one hand and whipped his right leg out in a horizontal sweep.

Almost simultaneously, Lin Sheng raised his leg to strike.

Their legs collided, and Lin Sheng let out a muffled grunt, retreating rapidly.

"Glance Slash!"

Lin Sheng pulled his sword back, falling silent for a heartbeat.

In an instant, a silver snake of light shot out, slashing toward the man's neck at a speed far exceeding his previous attacks.

"Not a bad move."

The man stepped back quickly, just barely dodging the sword light.

"Elephant Tower!!"

Taking advantage of the sword's momentum being spent, he stepped forward, slamming his right foot into the ground and sending a massive tremor through the earth. He lunged forward, channeling his entire body's strength into a shoulder check aimed squarely at Lin Sheng.

Bang!

Lin Sheng dodged the impact, causing the man to slam heavily into the concrete wall by the roadside.

Large chunks of loose concrete crumbled away, sending fine dust spraying into the air.

Some gravel shards flew off, striking the arm of a girl standing nearby, drawing a sharp cry of pain from her.

Only then did the group of girls watching the spectacle realize this was for real. Seeing Lin Sheng and the man trading blows, they turned pale with fright and hurried away toward the distance.

Lin Sheng gripped his sword with both hands, his face cold as he unleashed a flurry of slashes.

He had faced many opponents in his dreams, all of them filled with murderous intent, and the man before him was no stronger than the experts he had encountered there.

He simply hadn't been used to this style of combat—pure fists and palms without weapons.

The sword light and the man's fists and palms clashed repeatedly, emitting sounds that fluctuated between sharp and dull.

Above them, cars sped across the overpass, the rumbling noise they created perfectly masking the sounds of the fight.

Bang!!

A sudden, muffled thud echoed out.

Lin Sheng retreated several steps, his sword-wielding hand trembling violently.

On the wrists of the man opposite him, a thin line of blood slowly appeared.

"Interesting." The man looked down at his wrists. "In terms of swordsmanship alone, it has been a long time since I've encountered an opponent of your caliber."

"Are you sick? Or is there something wrong with your brain?" Lin Sheng's expression remained indifferent as he quickly steadied his trembling hands, refusing to show weakness.

He knew he hadn't offended anyone.

If it were the White Card Gang from before, they would never have attacked him so brazenly in broad daylight.

Although this man seemed a bit mentally unstable, his strength was undeniable; he was a master in every sense of the word.

Since he began practicing the sword in his nightmares, this was the first time in reality that Lin Sheng had met someone capable of going head-to-head with him in martial arts and technique.

"Heh, playing dumb? As long as the price is right and the opponent is suitable, I take the job."

The man pulled his hands back and relaxed his fingers. "Let's leave it at this for now. I didn't expect that just stopping by to take a look would lead to such a surprise."

"You mean someone put out a bounty to have me killed?" Lin Sheng's heart skipped a beat.

"That's right. The pay isn't much—two hundred thousand. Better than nothing." The man grinned.

"If the contract hadn't mentioned that you could take down five people in five seconds with a sword, I wouldn't have bothered with such a small job."

"And now?" Lin Sheng stood tall. Although the man no longer displayed an aggressive stance, he remained on high alert.

"Now? I'm giving up. Do as you please." The man spread his arms, looking completely at ease.

"You aren't using your gun?" Lin Sheng paused, glancing at the handgun resting on the railing above.

"Are you insulting me??!" The man's face turned cold, his eyes shifting slightly. "It seems your master didn't teach you the rules of our kind."

He took one last look at Lin Sheng, turned, and grabbed the concrete wall. With a few agile leaps, he reached the overpass in a second.

He picked up his handgun, threw on his coat, and turned away with an indifferent expression, quickly vanishing from Lin Sheng's sight.

Lin Sheng stood under the bridge, waiting silently for a while to ensure the man wouldn't return, before slowly walking over to the sword case that had fallen to the ground.

One side of the black box was dented, and the scabbard had rolled out, landing not far away.

Lin Sheng looked over and saw that the scabbard was being held by one of the girls he had seen earlier.

The girl was pale, her forehead beaded with cold sweat, and her hands were trembling as she clutched the scabbard.

Seeing Lin Sheng approach, she quickly stood up and held the scabbard out to him with both hands.

"Y-your... your things..." She felt her voice trembling.

"Thank you." Lin Sheng took it, gently slid the blade—still stained with a bit of blood—back into the scabbard, and placed it into the case.

He then slung it over his back, turned, and walked away at a brisk pace.

Only the girl remained, staring blankly at his retreating back, not daring to move until he had completely vanished from her field of vision.

"My leg is swollen."

Lin Sheng's expression was calm as he held an ice pack against his calf muscle.

He carefully examined his leg, recalling the moment during his clash with the mysterious man when their legs had collided.

If not for the protective effect of his Gray Seal rune, that single impact alone would have been enough to fracture his entire lower leg.

But then again, if it weren't for the Gray Seal rune, I wouldn't have been so reckless as to block with my leg. At the end of the day, my strength is still too weak, and my physical conditioning is too poor.

Lin Sheng recalled the battle that had just taken place.

His speed and strength were both significantly inferior to his opponent's; every time they clashed, he had to expend extra effort and technique to neutralize the man's brute force.

This had limited his ability to unleash the full power of his Black Feather Swordsmanship.

Sitting in the home bathroom, Lin Sheng removed the ice pack and looked at the red, swollen area. The injury felt significantly more numb.

"The bleeding has pretty much stopped."

He picked up a bottle of medicated oil for bruises from the side, dipped his finger in, and quickly rubbed it onto the injury.

As soon as the oil was applied, the entire bathroom was filled with a pungent medicinal scent.

After applying the medicine, Lin Sheng pulled his pant leg down and returned everything to its place.

"It's a good thing I keep medicine for bruises and injuries stocked at home, otherwise I'd have to go out and buy some."

He had encountered a sudden incident while out today, but fortunately, the other party seemed to follow some sort of code and hadn't used a gun.

"I've been meditating on the Gray Seal rune for so long, but the effect has only improved slightly since my last test in the park. There hasn't been any progress since then. It seems I've reached the limit."

Lin Sheng exhaled and returned to his bedroom.

"If I really encountered a handgun, I most likely wouldn't be able to block it. I'd still be dead."

He had tested it afterward, and the effect of the Gray Seal rune on his body was at most equivalent to having a textbook of several hundred pages strapped to him.

Since he didn't have any reference objects to test with, he had used a textbook as a comparison.

"The key now is, who exactly put out a bounty to have me killed? The White Card Gang?" Lin Sheng's brows furrowed tightly.

"I haven't provoked anyone before, so why would someone target me? If it's just because of an amateur swordsmanship competition, is a single spot in an HH City tournament really worth all this?"

He had no way of knowing.

What he didn't know was that the thugs from the White Card Gang had originally only intended to beat up his father.

They hadn't planned on causing fractures or permanent disability, just minor injuries to intimidate him.

They simply hadn't expected to provoke a wolf like Lin Sheng, who had taken them all out in one go and even forced out the handgun the gang leader had been carrying.

"I have absolutely no intelligence or information; I don't even know where the root of this is. It's so annoying!" Lin Sheng felt a surge of irritation.

Even if he wanted revenge, he needed to know who his target was.

The critical issue now was that he didn't even know who was targeting him.