Hidden quest

With a bang, the gym's iron door was smashed open. Several rough-looking figures blocked most of the light outside, leaving only a few glaring shafts of backlight slanting in.

Toby was shoved hard through the doorway from behind, his face swollen like an overproofed steamed bun. His eyes were reduced to narrow slits, the corners of his mouth split, blood mixed with saliva dripping down.

His massive frame, over six feet tall, was hunched now, as though his bones had been pulled out. Every step came with heavy panting and a muffled groan of pain.

Five burly young men followed him, ranging from seventeen or eighteen to their early twenties. Their T-shirts stretched tight over bulging muscles, and vicious-looking tattoos crawled over their arms, necks, and the backs of their hands. They looked like a pack of predators entering their hunting grounds.

The leader was the biggest, his shoulders broad as a wall, his chest stretching his shirt almost to bursting. One look made it clear he was on steroids; normal training could never produce that physique.

Faced with these real street thugs, Molly's group of fourteen- and fifteen-year-old students instantly froze. The boys and girls who had been chattering moments earlier looked as though cold water had been dumped over them. Their faces went deathly pale as they hurriedly shrank toward the corners.

Someone knocked over a dumbbell rack with a deafening clang; someone else huddled by the wall with both hands over their head, like a flock of frightened chicks.

Molly herself was even more of a mess. Pressed against the base of the wall, her eyes darted wildly, scanning every possible hiding place and escape route in the gym-the back door, the equipment room, even the ventilation ducts.

Her breathing was rapid, her chest heaving. Her little delinquent's swagger had vanished without a trace, leaving only instinctive fear.

Lin Rui had just finished a set of squats at his maximum load. He was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently, his lungs burning, his leg muscles still twitching faintly.

In his exhausted state, every breath carried the taste of rust.

He quickly racked the barbell, grabbed his bottle of electrolyte water, and tipped his head back to gulp down several large mouthfuls. At the same time, he pulled the chocolate he carried from his pocket and swallowed it whole, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Toby dragged himself a few steps closer and said hoarsely, "Leon... watch out. These guys are gang members. They came specifically to cause trouble for you."

The burly leader stepped forward, fixing Lin Rui with a vicious grin. "So you're the yellow monkey stirring shit behind my back? Toby's one of my men. Who gave you permission to poach him?"

The other four thugs had already spread out, closing in in a semicircle. Their steps were slow but oppressive, like wolves tightening their ring.

One of them scanned the students in the corner, his gaze suddenly settling on Molly. "Well, well, Molly? You're here too? Didn't you say you were joining us this week?"

Molly's expression changed, as though something had been exposed on the spot.

She turned and ran, her slight figure darting into the corridor beside the gym as she tried to find the back door and escape. But her panicked footsteps nearly tripped her several times.

The burly leader glanced over and sneered. "Don't let her get away. Go grab that little bitch. I'm fucking her today, no matter what."

Before he finished speaking, he took a few steps forward. His palm, broad as a palm-leaf fan, whipped toward Lin Rui's face with a rush of air. "Kid, you made a mistake..."

Only a dozen or so seconds had passed since these men entered.

Lin Rui was still panting, his stamina bottomed out. But as the burly man closed in, he abruptly hurled his water bottle-the stainless steel body flying straight at the man's face.

Smack! With a dull crack, the bottle struck the bridge of his nose. In pain, the burly man instinctively turned his head to dodge.

In that instant, Lin Rui sidestepped his opponent's frontal attack and quickly grabbed the nearest small 1.5-kilogram dumbbell from the rack with his right hand.

It was meant for female beginners, its surface wrapped in thick black rubber. It was light, but it was still a solid lump of iron.

The burly man's slap missed, and rage blazed inside him. "Wha-" Just as he was about to strike back, Lin Rui swung the dumbbell, moving into the blind spot at his opponent's side and smashing it down at his forehead with all his strength.

These guys had plainly come looking for trouble. He could not entertain any hope of getting lucky, much less waste words begging for mercy. Strike first, and worry about the rest later.

Thonk! The rubber-wrapped iron struck hard, and blood instantly blossomed. The skin on the burly man's forehead split open, blood streaming down his brow. The heavy blow blacked out his vision and sent him staggering backward.

Lin Rui gave him no chance to catch his breath. As he raised the dumbbell for a second blow, he shouted at Toby, "What are you standing there for? Fight! You think they'll let you go after they're done with me?"

On his way back to the gym, Toby had been cornered on a street corner by these gang thugs and savagely beaten. Seeing how badly they outnumbered him, he had originally had no thought of resisting.

But now blood flashed before his eyes, and the lead thug's head had been cracked open. One thug had gone after Molly, while the remaining three were still rooted to the spot, just about to rush in to help their boss.

His pent-up anger erupted like a volcano.

Toby roared and hurled his mountain of flesh, over 130 kilograms, at the nearest thug-not a shove, but a full-body charge that rolled over him like a tank.

Being grossly fat had its advantages: he could take a beating.

Toby had taken plenty of punches and kicks, but apart from his face swelling into a pig's head, his limbs and torso had suffered little damage. In his fury, his strength was tremendous.

The thug he struck flew into the air like a kite with its string cut and slammed hard into the dumbbell rack. The iron frame shook violently with a clang, and weight plates scattered and rolled away.

The back of the man's head struck the rack, splitting open and bleeding on the spot as he let out a heart-rending scream.

The gym instantly became a boiling pot of chaos. Screams, footsteps, and clashing metal mingled together. The students in the corners scurried away with their hands over their heads, some bursting into tears.

Lin Rui's chest heaved violently. Sweat slid from his temples into his eyes, stinging fiercely. His right hand clenched the bloodstained little dumbbell in a death grip, his gaze sharp as a blade as it slowly swept over the two remaining thugs.

Their formerly arrogant faces held only terror and bewilderment now, as though their souls had suddenly been ripped out.

The situation had reversed too quickly.

When the five tattooed men entered, they had been certain their overwhelming numbers would let them crush this Asian "outsider" without effort.

But now their leader's forehead had burst open, blood covering half his face, while the man Toby had sent flying still lay crumpled beneath the dumbbell rack, clutching the back of his head and groaning intermittently.

The two remaining thugs exchanged a glance, their calves instantly going weak.

Lin Rui gave them no time to react. With a low roar, he charged forward and swung the little dumbbell at them, plainly ready to fight to the death.

The two thugs were scared out of their souls. How could they have any thought of standing their ground? They staggered backward, knocking over the nearby cup rack and sending plastic cups clattering across the floor.

One of them shrieked, "Run! Run!"

Both turned and bolted through the doorway, their steps as frantic as two homeless dogs. They crashed into the iron door with a thunderous bang, making it shudder as dust rained down.

Lin Rui did not pursue them. Panting heavily, he turned and locked his gaze on the burly leader again.

The blows had left the man dizzy, stars dancing before his eyes, yet he had stubbornly stayed upright. Blood streamed down his brow and dripped onto the floor, splashing into several dark flowers.

He wiped his face. His fingers touched the wound, and the searing pain instantly ignited his savagery.

The burly man let out a low, animal roar and pulled a butterfly knife from his back pocket. A flick of his wrist produced several crisp clicks as the blade swung open, flashing with an icy gleam beneath the lights.

"Fuck! You yellow monkey, you actually dared lay a hand on me?" His voice was hoarse, the words spraying out with all his hatred. "I'm fucking killing you!"

At the flash of the blade, Toby instinctively stopped and backed away two steps. His huge body pressed into the corner, his hands slightly raised in a defensive posture.

His gaze flickered-if the man fled now, he would not stop him; but if a real fight broke out, he would only dodge. He did not want to get stabbed.

Lin Rui, however, strode to the gym's main entrance, blocking the only exit. He casually tossed aside the little dumbbell, which rolled into a corner with a clatter.

Then he bent down and snatched the 2.2-meter unloaded barbell from the rack-even without plates, the bare bar weighed twenty kilograms. The cold steel weighed heavily in his palms, like a rough short staff.

He gripped the bare bar with both hands and bared his teeth in an equally savage, cold grin, his voice low. "Want to kill me? Come on, then."

The burly man's pupils abruptly contracted.

"I won't kill you, though." Lin Rui pressed a step closer, the tip of the barbell trembling slightly in the air. "But I'll make you remember me for the rest of your life."

Before he finished speaking, he thrust forward-the barbell driving straight into his opponent's chest!

A straight thrust with a long weapon, simple and direct, without any flourish.

The butterfly knife in the burly man's hand was like a broken scrap, utterly incapable of blocking it. He took a heavy blow-agonizing pain shot through his chest, and even his breath seized up.

"Victory!"

"An indisputable result."

"Demon hunter, you have won a duel."

"Your opponent was crushed by your decisive actions and formidable strength."

"You have completed a sudden hidden quest and gained one free attribute point."