Hearing his explanation, Che Gaoyi found the situation tricky, but an idea struck him, and he said in a deep voice, "You have the wrong person. The people you're looking for should be behind us. If you wait a little longer, they'll be here."
"Is that so?" Xiang Tiancheng looked him up and down. "How are you so certain?"
Che Gaoyi had no desire to tangle with someone from a resistance organization. Some people in these groups acted with complete disregard for consequences, and they were intensely hostile toward the corporations and the government.
He said, "I sensed them when I came through earlier. My business has nothing to do with you."
Xiang Tiancheng smiled slightly and said, "How do I know whether you're telling the truth? Besides, I already gave you my name. To make sure word about me doesn't get out, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to stay right here."
With that, he raised a hand. Che Gaoyi immediately assumed a defensive stance, but right then, with a loud crash, Xiang Tiancheng was shoved backward by a massive figure—Number Nine had charged up again at some unknown moment, slamming straight into him and bowling him away.
Seeing this, Che Gaoyi didn't hesitate for a second and immediately strode away.
Though knocked backward, Xiang Tiancheng seemed unbothered in the least. He even looked at Number Nine with keen interest, then pressed a hand against Number Nine's chest, right where a sunken crater had formed.
Originally, the heart there had been shattered by his shock force. Even for a third-limit fighter, recovering from that wouldn't be easy.
Yet at this moment, he felt a heartbeat again, as if it were rapidly recovering—and he seemed to detect another heartbeat in a different spot as well.
Two hearts? A combat doll?
Technology from the Yuanren Corporation?
His eyelids twitched. Splitting his hands outward, he grabbed both of Number Nine's arms. Digging his feet in, he instantly arrested both of their momentum; heaving backward with force, he hurled Number Nine's massive frame behind him.
He didn't plan to keep tangling with Number Nine. These modified humans were remarkably tough. They had specialized bio-fiber skeletons, artificial mutated tissue covering almost their entire bodies, and integrated viscera. If they weren't killed in a single blow, they could get right back up; even if smashed to pieces, as long as their regenerative capacity remained, they could keep fighting.
More importantly, this thing would continually adapt to his rhythm of combat. The longer the fight dragged on, the harder it would be to deal with. Besides, between the two of them, Che Gaoyi was clearly the priority. Why waste his energy here?
So after throwing Number Nine off, he spun around and surged forward. Pinching his fingers like a blade, he stabbed toward its chest. A distinct ripple of transmitting jin surged through the muscles of his arm, rushing all the way from his upper arm to the tips of his fingers.
With a sharp crack, Number Nine's back arched backward at a grotesque angle, and the massive frame abruptly ground to a halt.
Seeing that it was no longer moving, Xiang Tiancheng paid it no further heed. He glanced in the direction Che Gaoyi had fled, tapped the ground with his foot, and bounded forward at high speed.
Yet barely a moment after he left, Number Nine's fingers twitched. A clicking sound came from its twisted spine as the vertebrae began slowly resetting and straightening themselves.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Chen Chuan emerged from the opening and surveyed his surroundings. He could confirm that he had already exited Center City.
Judging by the terrain and vegetation, this had to be the southwestern stretch outside Center City. If he kept heading in the direction he was looking right now, he should reach Split Wave Canyon, where the Secret Snake Cult was located.
He remembered Lan Xinnan mentioning that another exit lay below. If someone had passed through, they would likely have gone that way. So he walked down directly from above, followed the sound of water, and soon located that exit.
He inspected it carefully and discovered footprints left behind by two individuals. The tread indicated they were wearing some kind of standard-issue footwear, and judging by the moisture, they couldn't have left very long ago.
As he was examining them, he seemed to sense something and glanced into the depths of the tunnel.
However, he quickly withdrew his gaze, turned around, checked the trail of footprints leading outward, and picked up his pace to pursue them.
A good while after he departed, Zhen Ping and Guan Xiaohui stepped out cautiously from inside.
Guan Xiaohui said uncertainly, "Was that person just now... Classmate Chen?"
She had sensed his field from a distance a moment ago, but she hadn't been able to confirm it. Chen Chuan had exerted far greater pressure on her than the two people before, catching her breath in her throat for a brief second.
As a fighter, Zhen Ping had sharper eyesight. She said, "It looked like Junior Chen." She cautioned seriously, "Xiaohui, Junior Chen works for the government now. He might have come here for us, or he might be after the two who went ahead. We have to be careful and make sure we don't cross paths with him."
"Right!"
Guan Xiaohui nodded heavily. She understood clearly that as a government agent, Chen Chuan was naturally an enemy of their organization. As long as they didn't come face-to-face, it was fine, but if they crossed paths, there was no telling how things would end.
After running for a stretch, Che Gaoyi sensed something amiss behind him and knew Xiang Tiancheng had likely caught up again. He crunched down on the explosive stimulant held under his tongue. An instant surge of power flooded his body. Spinning around, he backed against the trunk of a large tree, hurled the briefcase far to the side, and dropped into a combat stance.
He knew explanations were useless now. Moreover, Number Nine wouldn't go down that easily. As long as he held out a little longer, it should catch up, and then he would still have a chance to escape.
By now, Xiang Tiancheng had closed the distance. Reaching him, his figure came to a sudden halt—stopping dead on a dime with apparent effortless ease, as though the momentum and inertia of his charge didn't exist at all.
He glanced at Che Gaoyi's stance and smiled slightly. The latter instantly sensed danger and dodged to the side, only to see the opponent's arm thrust straight into the tree trunk, sinking halfway in with a flash.
An opening!
Yet exposing such an obvious flaw felt like bait to lure him in. Still, if he couldn't seize even an opportunity like this, he stood no chance in the fight ahead anyway.
So he reached out, clutching the opponent's arm in an iron grip. Jin penetrated inward in an instant, encountering no resistance whatsoever.
Ordinarily, since he specialized in seizing jin, the match would be practically won at this point. Yet he felt something was wrong, even if he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
A playful smirk touched Xiang Tiancheng's face. Seemingly unaffected, his other arm drove forward in a horizontal elbow strike. Che Gaoyi raised a hand to block. He had braced himself for impact, but what met him was not the concussive force he had anticipated; rather, it was a familiar jin.
Seizing jin?
No! That was his own jin.
The opponent had reflected his own jin right back at him!
He frantically engaged his mutated tissue to dissipate the force. Yet right behind that wave, another layer of jin collided with him. He barely managed to muster his reserve jin to ward it off, but the expected impact never hit. Instead, an instant later, pain lanced through his chest as a surge of jin inexplicably detonated there, leaving his whole body instantly paralyzed.
Xiang Tiancheng smiled. He specialized in the "swirling jin" circulated within the Resistance Alliance Front. Not only could he strike with powerful jin from every part of his body, but given the right conditions, he could also reflect an opponent's jin back at them.
Earlier, when Number Nine was forced down into the knoll, he had actually borrowed its own power.
The most ingenious aspect of it, however, was that if the opponent failed to dissipate the jin in time, it could detonate or exert a pulling force at a non-contact point under his mental guidance, leaving them entirely unable to defend against it.
Che Gaoyi could feel that he had suffered serious injury from that blow, but he didn't give up. He still had hold of the opponent's wrist, and through these few exchanges, he had grasped the basic nature of the man's jin.
As long as he understood it, he could counter it.
Now, tightening his fingers, he unleashed not a whole seizing jin, but a penetrating, destructive force. He wasn't seeking to control the opponent completely; he merely wanted to strip him of control over an arm, or even half an arm. If that succeeded, then when he followed up with a whole jin, it wouldn't be so easy for the man to redirect it.
Xiang Tiancheng quickly sensed his move and adapted just as fast, but... it was useless.
He simply allowed the opponent's penetrating jin to seep into his arm. Even someone like him couldn't fully withstand jin that dispersed and pierced like needles and threads. He could have redirected and diffused it, but there was no need.
Sensing his jin passing unimpeded, Che Gaoyi immediately followed up with a whole jin. It didn't matter even if this jin were deflected away; in fact, he hoped the man would try.
Because he had already noticed earlier that this redirection of jin required a slight interval to circulate through the body. If he disrupted it at that exact instant, he would have a chance to turn the tables.
Therefore, the moment his jin surged out, he drove a headbutt at the close-range Xiang Tiancheng, slightly lifting the sole of one foot so the toe was subtly aimed at a vital spot, while his other hand hovered in reserve as backup.
This chained offensive was formulated based on Xiang Tiancheng's previous performance, drawing upon virtually every ounce of ability he could muster at present.
Yet as the headbutt came crashing in, Xiang Tiancheng thrust his forehead forward just the same. Simultaneously, he raised a knee to block the incoming kick, and jutted an elbow outward to ward off the following reserve hand.
These movements were all executed in virtually the exact same instant, truly striking second yet landing first.
And the fundamental key here was not anticipation, but that his physical attributes were vastly superior to Che Gaoyi's. He had reacted to every single one of Che Gaoyi's moves only after seeing them. Before absolute reaction speed and raw power, no matter how clever the opponent's techniques were, none of it mattered.
Having all his attacks blocked in succession, Che Gaoyi exhausted his breath, his movements inevitably faltering.
Xiang Tiancheng brought his five fingers together and pecked lightly against the side of his neck. In the next instant, a gaping hole tore open, and a jet of blood sprayed out, splashing down onto the grass beside them. The torrent was so violent and copious that it looked as if it were spraying from a high-pressure nozzle.
Xiang Tiancheng gently pulled free from the hand clutching him, stepping backward two paces with casual ease. Che Gaoyi clutched his neck and slowly sank to his knees, unable to stem the flow as suppressed hisses escaped his mouth.
Xiang Tiancheng looked down at him and said, "Sorry about that. But who told you to be a company man? I could smell your stench from a mile away. You're the kind I despise most, yet you had to shove yourself right under my nose. If you want someone to blame, blame yourself."
He rambled on, but suddenly cut himself off and turned to look into the distance. Seeing a hand pick up the briefcase Che Gaoyi had thrown away, he called out, "Hey, that thing's mine."
Chen Chuan stood there, holding the briefcase in one hand. From beneath his peaked cap, his eyes stared straight at Xiang Tiancheng. "If you want it, come and take it."
Around dinner time, just as Chen Chuan sat down, his uncle Nian Fuli suddenly said, "Chen Chuan, you've graduated from middle school now. There are no institutions of higher learning here in Yangzhi City, and on my meager salary at the constabulary, your uncle doesn't have the means to send you off to that upper-class place, Center City, to study. Have you thought about where you want to go?"
Silence fell over the dining table. His aunt Yu Wan looked at Chen Chuan with concern, while his two young cousins held their bowls, their little heads swiveling back and forth between them.
Nian Fuli said, "If you haven't figured it out and have nowhere to go, I can arrange something for you. Don't complain about hardship, and don't cry fatigue. If you aren't willing to do it, speak up early and find your own way."
Chen Chuan looked at Nian Fuli and said with a smile, "Little Uncle, are you in that much of a hurry to drive me away?"
Nian Fuli glared at him. "Just call me uncle; drop the 'little'."
He reflexively patted his jacket pocket. The moment his fingers brushed the cigarette pack, he glanced at his son and daughter and pulled his hand back out. Frowning, he said, "Wipe that smirk off your face and give me a straight answer. Your older cousin has made something of himself, so I don't need to worry about him, but your younger brother and sister are still small. In just a few years they'll be in school, and household expenses will only grow. You're already sixteen. Your uncle doesn't ask for any repayment—all I want is for you to be able to feed yourself down the line. Doesn't that make sense?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "You're right, Uncle." After a moment's thought, he said, "Uncle, I was thinking of making my own way."
"On your own?"
Nian Fuli stared at him for a moment before saying, "Fine. Doesn't school usually give two months of vacation? Then I'll give you two months. After two months, you stand on your own two feet, and your uncle won't have to look after your business anymore."
His aunt Yu Wan looked as if she wanted to say something, but held back.
Chen Chuan said, "All right. We'll do as you say, Uncle."
Nian Fuli looked him up and down a few times. "Keep your word." Picking up his chopsticks, he said, "Eat." Seeing him pick up his chopsticks, the rest of the family finally began their meal.
Chen Chuan also reached for his chopsticks. Right then, sensing something, he looked up. By the wall stood a youth who looked completely identical to him, gazing at him faintly. His uncle's family ate with heads down, noticing nothing at all; it seemed only he could see him.
He naturally withdrew his gaze, eating while pondering the future. Before he knew it, he had swallowed his last bite of rice. His aunt, who had been watching him the whole time, hurried to say, "Leave them. Auntie will wash them. You focus on figuring out your own affairs first."
Chen Chuan glanced at his aunt, then at the expressionless Nian Fuli. Setting down his bowl and chopsticks, he said, "All right. Uncle, Auntie, I'll head back to my room then."
Nian Fuli picked up a morsel of food with his chopsticks, popped it into his mouth, and chewed slowly without speaking.
After Chen Chuan left, Yu Wan said softly, "The boy is still young."
Nian Fuli snapped irritably, "Young? How is he young? He's already sixteen! When I was his age, I was already on the battlefield!"
"Fine, fine, we all know how capable you are."
Seeing that he had finished eating too, Yu Wan rose from the table, brought over a bottle of yellow rice wine, poured him a cup, and said, "I'll go check on the boy."
"Go, go." Nian Fuli waved his hand impatiently. He took a sip from the wine cup, feeling a wave of ease wash over him, while muttering inwardly, *That kid... seems a bit different from before...*
"Dad, will you kick me out when I'm sixteen too?"
Nian Fuli turned his head to see his younger son, Nian Mo, looking up at him with wide, longing eyes.
His younger daughter, Nian Lu, a three-year-old toddler, said in a childish, piping voice, "He definitely will! You eat the mostest meat!"
"I—I don't eat that much! Dad..." Clutching his bowl, Nian Mo looked pitifully at Nian Fuli.
Nian Fuli let out a hearty laugh and patted the back of Nian Mo's head. "You little brat, you're my son. How could I abandon you? Your old man's seat is reserved for you. Go on, turn on the radio."
"Okay."
Nian Mo hopped happily off his stool, scampered over, and switched on the vintage radio, from which came a burst of static.
"...The railway maintenance department reports that due to the mudslides at Mount Xie, the section originally scheduled for repair in early June will be delayed once again..."
"...A group of prisoners has broken out of Qiguang Prison, and arrest warrants have now been issued. The primary fugitives are as follows: Fang Dawei, male, thirty-five years of age, burly build, responsible for multiple home invasions and street shootings; Tong Baitao, male, twenty-seven years of age..."
"...A gang conflict erupted between the Blood Mark Gang and the Iron Chain Gang at the intersection of Xinqu Park and Micang Street. Several civilian residences were damaged, with dozens dead and injured..."
By then, Chen Chuan had returned to his room. This combined study and bedroom was about eight or nine square meters in size. The windowsill and the aged red-painted wooden floor were spotless, and the furnishings were neatly arranged, showing that it was tidied and cleaned daily.
A few movie posters were pasted on the wall. When he looked over, the movie titles naturally surfaced in his mind: *The Lone Blade Swordsman*, *Beasts of the High Ridge*, *The Final Conquest*...
Stepping across the creaking floorboards to the window, he saw a picture frame resting on a corner of the well-worn desk. Inside was a portrait of a young couple—the woman young and beautiful, the man tall and handsome, both dressed in garments of exquisite material, smiling at him.
To the right of the desk stood a bookcase over two meters tall, packed with books. A quick glance revealed that apart from a few old textbooks, most were extracurricular reading, such as *The Great Expansion*, *The Fifteenth Year of Jianzhi*, *The Mysterious Maqiu*, and so on.
He couldn't help murmuring to himself, "Pity there's no *Dual-Use Talents for Military and Civilian Service* or *Militia Military Training Manual*. At the very least, a *One Hundred Thousand Whys* would have been nice."
"What whys? Chan'er, can Auntie come in?" Yu Wan's voice came from outside the door.
"Chan'er" was the childhood nickname given by the parents of Chen Chuan's body. Nowadays, aside from Yu Wan, only that annoying little cousin went around calling him that all day.
Chen Chuan said, "Come in, Auntie. It's nothing, just puzzling over a question."
"You've already graduated from middle school, yet you're still working so hard, Chan'er." Yu Wan walked in. She was not yet forty, with fair skin and quite ordinary features. Chen Chuan, on the other hand, had handsome, clear-cut looks, bright red lips, white teeth, and a tall stature; standing together, one could only vaguely tell they were related by blood from the contour of their brow and eyes.
Yu Wan said, "Chan'er, don't blame your uncle for what happened today. He has his difficulties. Don't be stubborn or try to be brave. I'll talk to your uncle again later."
Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Auntie. I'm not trying to act tough. I really do have a plan."
Yu Wan hesitated, then tentatively asked, "Chan'er... are you going to look for that girl from the Meng family?"
Hearing that mention, the figure of a young girl involuntarily surfaced in his memories. He shook his head and said, "I'm not going to look for her."
Yu Wan said, "It's better not to. Her family is of high standing, and the people around her hold their noses in the air. You've had a stubborn streak since you were little. Childhood playmates might share an innocent friendship, but once you've grown up, you won't get along."
Chen Chuan said, "You're right, Auntie. Things from childhood don't count for anything now. Nowadays she goes out with butlers and retainers in tow. Why would I go looking for embarrassment?"
Hearing him say that put Yu Wan much more at ease. She held up the handkerchief-wrapped bundle she was clutching and unfolded it layer by layer before Chen Chuan, revealing a stack of ten-yuan Jianyuan notes inside.
The face of the notes featured a landscape pattern in cyan. The front showed the dome of heaven over the square earth, the back depicted stalks of rice and wheat pressing down upon a nine-tasseled imperial crown, and the watermark was a felt hat.
She took Chen Chuan's hand and stuffed the money into his palm. "Take it. Spend it when you need to—don't pinch pennies. If it isn't enough, Auntie still has more."
Chen Chuan didn't pull his hand back, but asked, "Does Uncle know?"
Yu Wan said, "This is money Auntie saved for you." She gave his arm a light swat. "And don't call him Little Uncle. He doesn't like hearing that."
Chen Chuan smiled and accepted it, saying earnestly, "Auntie, consider this money borrowed. I will pay it back."
"Sigh, we're family. Why talk about paying it back? Just put it away safely." Only when Chen Chuan tucked the money away did Yu Wan feel reassured. She said, "Then Auntie is leaving. You've already graduated, so don't push yourself too hard. Remember to turn on the light when reading; don't ruin your eyes."
"Okay."
Yu Wan gave a few more reminders before leaving the room.
Chen Chuan closed the door, caught the lamp cord by the doorway, and pulled it. A small pendant lamp on the ceiling lit up, casting a faint yellow glow.
He walked over to the bookcase, casually pulled out a book, sat down by the edge of the bed, and flipped through it with keen interest.
Much later, he heard the pendulum clock outside chime ten times in succession. Knowing he had important business to attend to tomorrow, he put the book back, washed up briefly, and turned off the light to sleep.
In the pitch-black room, however, the youth who looked identical to him stood beside the bed, still gazing faintly at him as before.
In his dreams, he seemed to return to his previous life. After working for several years, he had gone on a backpacking journey. Passing through a certain city's museum, he had come across an exhibition of antique mirrors. Entering the grand hall out of curiosity, he had immediately spotted a domed mirror suspended from the ceiling. At that moment, the reflection of himself inside it had looked back at the exact same time.
The moment their eyes met, his vision blurred. His body seemed to transform into an infant, growing from birth to a child, and from a child into a youth, until one day, the blurred silhouette of a tile-blue car filled his sight. As the sound of the engine faded into the distance, everything abruptly plunged into darkness.
Bright light filtered in through the narrow gap between the curtains, tearing away the dim haze of the night.
Chen Chuan opened his eyes. He turned his head toward the alarm clock on the nightstand: 5:50. Shaking his head, he got out of bed, got dressed, and stepped out to rinse his mouth and wash his face.
Nian Fuli was on duty at the constabulary and had left early in the morning. His two younger cousins were still asleep, while Yu Wan had gone out to buy groceries, having prepared breakfast for him before she left.
After finishing breakfast, he returned to his room and put on his only set of formal student attire. The woolen fabric was grayish-black and impeccably crisp, giving him a smart, sharp look.
He fastened his collar button, put on his student cap, and straightened himself before the full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe. Taking down a gray canvas satchel from behind the door, he packed his filled canteen inside. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he went to the front yard to find his bicycle and wheeled it out the front gate.
Watching the morning sun gradually rise outside, he thought to himself, *For now, let's just stick to the original plan.*
Swinging onto the bicycle, he flicked the bell with his thumb, ringing out a crisp chime. Pedaling forward, he rode out from the alley of the residential area and turned onto the main road after just two bends.
Nian Fuli was a patrol captain at a branch of the constabulary, and this area was inhabited by constables and their families. Consequently, public order here was quite good, and the roads were spacious. Plane trees lined both sides of the street, and the late-May sunlight filtering through the dark-green leaves lifted one's spirits.
After riding along the thoroughfare for half an hour, he entered Central Square. Yangzhi City's tallest buildings were concentrated here, mostly constructed during the Great Expansion about sixty years ago. Because tensions had run high back then, the materials used were exceptionally solid, exuding a somber heaviness within their cooler tones.
After waiting for a trolleybus to pass along the road, he saw seven or eight disreputable-looking men walking over from the other side of the street.
One of them seemed very sensitive to stares and suddenly whipped his head around, his gaze vicious. But when he caught sight of the satchel Chen Chuan was wearing, he cursed under his breath, spat on the ground at Chen Chuan's receding back, and turned away.
After crossing the square, Chen Chuan turned onto the north-bound avenue to his left. Roughly five minutes later, an imposing flying eave came into view on the eastern side of the road. Drawing closer, he saw that this was the main gate of an academy. It had three archways and spanned a hundred paces across. On the stone plaque above the central gate, five characters were inscribed in vigorous, iron-stroke regular script: "Wuyi College." Imposing motorcars could be seen driving in and out from time to time.
At this moment, he squeezed the brakes and put one foot down, stopping before a stone stele beside the gate. A brief history of the academy was carved into it: "Wuyi College was founded in the fifteenth year of Jianzhi and officially renamed in the thirty-fifth year of Jianzhi. Its first chancellor was Cheng Yunbai..."
The academy's main gate faced an open expanse of level ground. The seven-or-eight-o'clock morning sun was bright, shining upon the gate and the buildings on both sides, lending them an exceptionally elegant and solemn air.
His eyes wandered as if searching for something. After a moment, he spotted an inconspicuous sign near the side entrance reading: "Entrance Examination Registration This Way."
He let out a breath and dismounted. Right then, he glanced over and saw that figure identical to himself standing by the gate, looking back at him. Chen Chuan withdrew his gaze, wheeled his bicycle with an untroubled expression, and passed through the side gate into the college.
Chapter 570