"Little fellow, let's see if you're faster or if I am." Lin Yu, in high spirits, chuckled, stretched his body, and tapped into his elemental power. In a flash, he darted forward, almost levitating off the ground, racing like lightning. He quickly surpassed the wild rabbit, approaching a sharp turn ahead on the road. As he aimed to overtake the rabbit, suddenly, the roar of an engine sounded frenziedly ahead. Astonished, Lin Yu saw a Land Rover hurtling directly toward him, its bright lights blinding him. He had been so engrossed in the race with the rabbit that he hadn't noticed the approaching vehicle at the bend.
Lin Yu's natural speed was fast, but the car's speed was even faster. Given the relative velocity, especially in this poorly visible sharp turn, it was a truly life-threatening situation. Despite Lin Yu's extraordinary abilities, there was barely any time to react; he managed to summon enough elemental power to withstand the impact momentarily.
"Bang!" The car struck Lin Yu head-on, sending him flying like a kite with a broken string. He landed in the distant bushes, rolling a few times before lying still, motionless.
Zhu Xueqi, the cherished pearl in the palm of Feitian Group's Chairman, Zhu Wan Hao, was eighteen years old and in the second half of her senior year in high school, on the brink of graduating. In her blooming youth and splendorous adolescence, paired with a star-like beautiful face, wherever she went, she naturally became the focal point.
Miss Zhu was in high spirits today; she had just obtained her driver's license in the morning. It was the perfect time for her to indulge in her newfound passion. Seizing an opportunity while her parents were occupied in the evening, she stealthily took out an idle family car to practice driving.
Her upbringing had been quite traditional, with stringent guardianship. She usually stayed at the boarding school, and her parents maintained high standards and strict expectations for their only beloved daughter. Naturally, they strictly prohibited her, a novice with a freshly acquired driver's license, from playing the role of a road menace.
However, it was a Saturday, and both her parents happened to be occupied, leaving her with a window of opportunity to secretly take the car out.
Driving on an empty road at night was, in fact, a pleasant and exhilarating experience. Miss Zhu drove with the windows open. After a recent drizzle, the moist air carried a delightful earthy fragrance, and with the Backstreet Boys' music playing, she swayed lightly in rhythm with the pulsating beat, feeling extremely relaxed and carefree.
However, her good mood ended abruptly.
She assumed, after the recent rain and typically low traffic on the route to Lianyun Mountain, that she was at ease. Unexpectedly, a hapless fellow suddenly appeared at the corner ahead. Miss Zhu was instantly terrified; with the car accelerating, she was too late to hit the brakes.
Witnessing the figure ahead, she heard a loud "bang" as the person was struck and thrown into the air. They soared gracefully, tracing a perfect parabolic path before crashing heavily in the distance, lying motionless.
"Oh my God, I hit someone..." Zhu Xueqi's face turned deathly pale, slamming the brakes and clumsily crawling out of the car, staggering towards the figure.
Approaching the person, she saw their bloodied face lying still. There was no sign of life.
"I've killed someone... I've killed someone! Oh God, what do I do? What do I do..." Miss Zhu, renowned as the elite road killer, had her mind go blank. She sat there, trembling lips, feeling like she might faint at any moment.
She had caused someone's death, and as a novice with a driver's license for less than a day, even if her father had far-reaching influence and connections, she was already eighteen. She feared she would inevitably face imprisonment.
Thinking of the eerie, terrifying prison scenes she had seen on TV—infested with roaches and bugs, surrounded by convicts glaring at her like vengeful ghosts—Zhu Xueqi's entire body shuddered. She wished the person hit by the car was herself; she would rather die than spend her life in such a gloomy, terrifying place.
As she checked the person's breathing, just as she was starting to tremble in fear, unexpectedly, the person, who she thought was dead, suddenly sat up. Covered in blood, they, with remarkable vigor, yelled, "How did you drive? Couldn't you see such a big person? Ouch, it hurts terribly..."
Lin Yu's appearance was presently quite frightening. Moreover, this person, initially thought to be dead, suddenly sat up, covered in blood, and confidently yelled. Miss Zhu, in a daze, had a sense of complete loss, and the result was self-explanatory.
"Ah..." Zhu Xueqi screamed and promptly fainted there—a graceful faint, resembling a little white flower blossoming after the first rain.
Of course, the type of flower that had just bloomed but hadn't fully opened.
"Damn, you've got such a weak heart, yet you dare to come out for a night drive?" Lin Yu, still seething with anger, snorted and wiped the blood off his head, but deep down, he felt a shiver of fright.
Heaven pitying him, at the moment the car rushed towards him, his instinctive reaction was to push off the ground and leap away. However, his own speed was too quick, and the vehicle's velocity exceeded his own. Before he could take off, he was struck and sent flying by the car. If he hadn't mustered all his elemental power in that critical moment to resist, this collision might have claimed his life. Even if he was skilled, he was not a superhuman, impervious to harm; he was merely human flesh and blood. His body had not reached a level where it could withstand a high-speed car impact without precaution; a collision in such circumstances would have been fatal.
Even if he had managed to evade the collision, his current state wasn't any better. Two ribs were broken, his forehead was gashed by a stone, his clothes were shredded and tattered, barely hanging on him, drenched in blood. He resembled someone in dire need—pitiful indeed. His newly purchased clothes, now ruined, were worse than the ones he had before. He was utterly furious.
Reflecting on it, it was truly unfortunate. Engaging in a race with a childlike spirit against a rabbit resulted in such dire consequences due to a momentary lapse of attention. Even in his state of semi-consciousness a moment ago, he felt overwhelming shame and regret. It was simply too distressing; he boasted of being a highly skilled expert, yet he was left half-dead by a mere car. He was thoroughly disheartened.
If the ancestor who created that martial art were here now, he would probably suffer a brain hemorrhage out of sheer rage, berating his undisciplined disciple for shaming him so terribly.