With each death, Lin Xing soon realized one thing: facing two armed criminals with bare hands, a frontal attack had no chance of success.
So, after dying about seven times, he opted for a sneak attack.
He hid around corners, behind doors, and on rooftops, trying to get close to them to engage in close-quarter combat.
After dying ten more times, Lin Xing recognized that each of the military thugs inevitably had several skills.
Both were stronger than him and both had guns; even if he got close through a sneak attack, it was impossible to defeat them simultaneously.
Again and again, through combat and death, Lin Xing felt a fiery anger in his chest, and the recently learned Taiching Long Fist rapidly improved amidst constant fighting.
Constantly dying and living, living and dying—that was Lin Xing's own perspective.
But from Bai Yiyi's point of view, it was a completely different scene.
Suddenly, Lin Xing swirled around and led her to an unfamiliar location, placing her on an earthen wall.
"There are two villainous guys coming— I've died thousands, if not tens of thousands of times at their hands, and finally, I've managed to advance my Taiching Long Fist to the second level."
Lin Xing calculated the time and felt that he was indeed honing his martial arts through life-and-death battles for several months.
Suddenly, a popping and cracking sound came from inside Lin Xing's body; his muscles and bones seemed interconnected, and after the second level of Taiching Long Fist enhanced his physical quality, it had leaped forward once again.
The experience of barehanded combat flashed instinctively in his mind.
At the same time, he felt a strong impediment, and his mind revived new memories.
"Taiching Long Fist can be practiced no further for now," he thought, recalling the revived memories. "To advance further, I must first comprehend the legacy."
Meanwhile, under Bai Yiyi's astonished gaze, the fierce aura and terrifying murderous intent emanating from Lin Xing at this moment were completely different from just a moment before.
"To deal with these killers who have thousands of lives on their hands, one cannot afford any hesitation or mercy; the most effective methods must be used to quickly disable their ability to commit further crimes to prevent injury to oneself."
While Lin Xing spoke, he had already grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and then hid behind a corner.
Moments later, as the two military thugs approached, one of them crossed the corner only to have Lin Xing, who was hiding nearby, throw the dust in his eyes.
In a one against two situation no matter what, it was impossible to win—this was the precious experience Lin Xing had gleaned after countless deaths.
He had to temporarily incapacitate one to create a one-on-one opportunity with the other.
Next, Lin Xing seemed to anticipate his move as he leaped forward and blocked the raised gun of the man behind with a palm strike.
Then with a soft thud, as if rehearsed countless times, Lin Xing's foot accurately kicked the other's groin.
In a swift motion, one thug already doubled over, clutching his groin and screaming as he collapsed to the ground.
As the other thick-faced thug barely wiped the dust from around his eyes, he felt strong arms encircling his neck from behind.
Position, speed, power... everything was just right, as if it were rehearsed countless times.
His eyes widened, desperately trying to resist, but in a blink of an eye, he felt breathless, and finally passed out completely.
Feeling the opponent had completely lost consciousness, Lin Xing finally relaxed his arms, letting the body fall to the ground.
He thought to himself, "This naked choke I learned from the internet is quite effective."
The lightning-fast ambush had been witnessed entirely by the plush cat toy on the side.
She watched in shock, her mind filled with disbelief, thinking, "Has he truly mastered the second level of Taiqing Long Fist? How is that possible? How could he have reached the second level so suddenly?"
Mastering the second level of a martial arts technique usually requires years of daily practice and one combat encounter after another.
Yet, Lin Xing had managed to accomplish this on his very first day of learning the technique, which in Bai Yiyi's view was no longer something that could be explained by terms like "genius" or "freak."
Especially reflecting on recent events and the words Lin Xing had spoken, she couldn't help but speculate, "Could he really reverse time? How could that be possible?"
But the reality was right in front of her eyes, whether it was foreseeing the appearance of the two scoundrels, killing them as if having rehearsed countless times, or mastering the second level of Taiqing Long Fist in an instant—all seemed to align with Lin Xing's description of reversing time.
For a moment, the plush cat toy seemed to have forgotten to speak to Lin Xing, instead sinking into silence, as if pondering something.
On the other hand, upon seeing the two men who had finally been executed on the spot, Lin Xing relaxed completely, a trace of deep fatigue flickering in his eyes.
He felt as if he had just played an extremely anti-human high-difficulty game, stuck with twin bosses and having to repeatedly strategize day and night, finally achieving victory after several months of relentless assault.
Of course, in reality, such physical combat was a hundred times more complex than any game.
Although his body remained unharmed, the mental exhaustion still made him feel immensely tired.
Glancing at the woman who had just been dragged by her hair by the thugs and now sat dazedly at the side, Lin Xing said, "Let's go, it's all right now."
The woman screamed and ran out, causing countless villagers to open their windows and look out.
Lin Xing lay down on the ground, feeling that he needed a good sleep to recover from the mental fatigue.
Just then, the plush cat toy suddenly suggested, "Lin Xing, why not take one of these guns for self-defense?"
Lin Xing looked toward the ground where the guns used by the two thugs lay.
He waved his hand and said, "I can't take the guns, otherwise I'll be committing a crime of illegal possession of firearms."
"Huh?" The plush cat toy froze, puzzled, "What are you crazy about now?"
She couldn't help but think, "Even if reversing time is real, this guy must have some other issues, and those quacks must have gotten the treatment wrong."
Lin Xing ignored the toy's doubts, now wanting only to lie down and rest.
But before he could rest for long, he noticed more and more footsteps approaching.
Lin Xing stood up and saw that many villagers had unknowingly gathered around.
Looking at the sickles and pitchforks they held, and feeling the surging hostility, Lin Xing said, "It seems you're not here to thank me."
The scar-faced man who had previously attacked Lin Xing and abducted the little girl was now standing at the forefront of the villagers.
He glared coldly at Lin Xing, his eyes filled with anger, "Who asked you to meddle? How dare you kill Commander Zhang's men?"
"Letting them go, they would've at most plundered a bit. Now that you've killed them, Commander Zhang will flatten our entire village."
The villagers around him became agitated.
"Don't let him escape."
"Send him to the commander to pay for this."
Amidst the increasingly restless crowd, an old woman suddenly darted out from behind Lin Xing, her pitchfork thrusting forward with the sound of thunder, piercing right through Lin Xing's waist.