Chapter Eight: A Setup?

"You..." Wen Xiang sat up, a flash of confusion and shock in his eyes; he hadn't even seen how Lin Lei had made his move.

But soon enough, his bewilderment and astonishment turned into humiliation and anger. His face flushed red as he stood up, looking at Lin Lei, unwilling to concede. "Let's go again!"

Lin Lei sheathed his bamboo sword and shook his head, offering no response, his gaze instead falling on Master Jiang.

Master Jiang smiled, cleared his throat, and addressed Wen Xiang, "Wen Xiang, after all, you’re not a ‘Physical Type’—it’s normal that you’re no match for Lin Lei in close combat. Well, I’ve got a good sense of your strength and skill level now. Let’s start the class. There will be plenty of opportunities for sparring later..."

The other Source Energy users dispersed, chatting among themselves.

Wen Xiang clenched his fists, but he fixed Lin Lei with a deep stare, then strode up to him. "One month."

Lin Lei was surprised. "Hmm?"

Wen Xiang’s eyes burned. "In one month, my close combat skills will surpass yours!"

"Then you’d better work hard," Lin Lei shrugged, bamboo sword in hand, and turned away.

For a non-Physical Type Source Energy user to make such a declaration, without even knowing his opponent’s gift level or abilities... Lin Lei found it hardly worth the effort to argue.

...

At five in the afternoon, after his martial arts class, Lin Lei returned home.

He took a short nap, then went downstairs, preparing to pick up Qi Fangyan.

He had just started his car and left the residential area when he turned onto a narrow lane.

As he drove along, suddenly a tricycle burst out from a side alley and rammed directly into Lin Lei’s car hood.

With a thud.

Lin Lei’s mouth twitched as he stopped the car and looked at the tricycle.

The driver was a burly man in his forties or fifties, and in the back were two tall, strapping young men, both just over twenty at most. They looked like a father with his sons.

All three were large and well-built, exuding an intimidating presence.

"This doesn’t look like an accident—it seems deliberate," Lin Lei narrowed his eyes, a glint flashing within.

In his view, coincidence simply didn’t exist.

It was nearing dusk, and he’d already turned on his headlights. While he might not have seen the tricycle, it was unlikely that the tricycle driver hadn’t seen him.

"Am I being targeted by insurance scammers?"

He licked his lips and stepped out of the car.

The middle-aged man and the two young men had already gotten off the tricycle.

The man examined his own tricycle’s front, then turned to Lin Lei, "So, how do you want to settle this?"

A crooked grin appeared on Lin Lei’s face as he turned away.

The lane was deserted, hardly anyone around. Clearly, these men had chosen their spot carefully.

"Don’t you know road rules? The one turning yields to the one going straight. My car was almost through and you crashed into me, yet you want me to compensate you?" Lin Lei was utterly unafraid.

"Watch your mouth, kid! Don’t you know how to respect your elders?" The middle-aged man remained silent, but one of the crew-cut youths stepped forward, brandishing a wrench, looking ready to strike.

He was all muscle, and the wrench in his hand made him look even more menacing.

The other young man, meanwhile, made a show of holding him back.

The father, holding a long metal pipe, squeezed between his sons and plopped himself onto Lin Lei’s car hood, smiling at him.

"Kid, my sons aren’t as reasonable as I am. I’ll give you two options. One, pay up and we settle this privately—five thousand will do."

"Or, my sons rough you up, and we smash your car..."

As he spoke, he took a deep drag from his pipe and tapped the ash onto Lin Lei’s car hood.

"How brazen," Lin Lei chuckled. "I’ll take the third option."

He strode forward, seized the man by the throat with one hand, and—with an effortless swing, as if handling a rag doll—smashed him against the nearby wall.

A heavy thud sounded.

The man slammed into the wall, and a crisp crack echoed. Blood streamed down from his head, and he collapsed, rolling his eyes and losing consciousness.

The man was sturdy enough that Lin Lei wasn’t concerned about killing him with a single blow.

Seeing this, the two burly sons were stunned for a moment.

"Father!" they shouted, finally coming to their senses and rushing forward.

But as they moved, a gunshot rang out.

The one in front fell flat on the ground, clutching a bloody hole in his leg, howling in agony.

The other froze, staring in disbelief.

Lin Lei blew the smoke from his pistol and smiled at the remaining man. "Go ahead, let’s continue."

Cold sweat poured down the man’s forehead, and with a thud, he dropped to his knees. "Please, boss, spare me! We were just following orders!"

Anyone with a gun—and who used it so brazenly—was clearly no ordinary citizen.

Though Biyang City was known for its ‘simple folk,’ ordinary people couldn’t get their hands on firearms.

Lin Lei sneered, walked over, and pressed the gun to the man’s head. "Who are you people?"

The man eyed the dark muzzle and swallowed hard. "Zi... Zilong Gang. We’re from the Zilong Gang. They said you were just an ordinary guy. If we’d known you were this tough, we wouldn’t have dared!"

Lin Lei raised an eyebrow. No wonder the whole setup felt off.

Though Biyang City’s law and order wasn’t great, this was blatant, even for scammers.

And the mention of ‘Zilong Gang’ reminded him of someone.

He licked his lips, "Did Zhan Jianming send you?"

That fellow, Zhan Jianming, was with the Zilong Gang. Lin Lei suspected this was his revenge.

But when Lin Lei asked, a look of confusion crossed the burly man’s eyes, and he shook his head.

"Not him?"

As Lin Lei pondered, the distant wail of sirens grew closer. The man's pupils darted, and a flash of hope appeared on his face.

Lin Lei’s violence was terrifying—perhaps the police’s arrival was a blessing.

Soon, a traffic cop on a motorcycle stopped at the entrance to the alley, his face wary. "What’s going on here?"

Lin Lei had already holstered his pistol and now produced an identification badge.

"I’m with the Special Operations Division. Just handling some business."

The officer took the ID, verified it, and promptly returned it.

"Sir!" He snapped to attention and saluted, exceedingly polite.

Though the regular police didn’t know the specifics of the Investigation Bureau, they were well aware of the Special Operations Division—a mysterious and high-ranking department.

After dismissing the traffic cop, Lin Lei returned to the kneeling man, who was now trembling all over, looking utterly pitiful.

"Sir, I didn’t know who you were..."

Lin Lei sneered, seized the man’s jaw, and produced a small vial of blue liquid. Forcing open his mouth, he poured in a dose.

The man choked and coughed, but soon his eyes grew vacant.

Lin Lei had fed him a Truth Serum.

He’d only administered a fifth of the vial; that was more than enough for an ordinary man.

"You don’t know Zhan Jianming?"

The man nodded.

"Who ordered you to target me?"

"It was a man in a suit and glasses named Zhou Haoran. He’s close with one of our bosses, Brother Long. He told us to break your legs so you’d be bedridden for months..."

"A man in a suit named Zhou?" Lin Lei’s expression grew subtle. "Does he have slicked-back hair?"

"Yes, yes!" The man nodded frantically.